Our Reputation…
For more than ninety years Hood & Strong LLP has been known as a leader in the Bay Area for providing high quality professional services to closely held businesses, high net worth individuals and not-for-profit organizations.  Hood & Strong LLP is ranked among the top CPA firms in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Quality of Life…
Hood & Strong LLP puts a high value on quality of life issues.  We want our staff to enjoy work, family and friends, therefore we offer flexible work arrangements to accommodate the varying needs of our employees.  Hood & Strong LLP offers a positive and supportive work environment.

Variety of experience…
From entry level to experienced professionals, we offer our employees a wide variety of work experience with clients of varying sizes in many different industries. You will work on small service teams, interact with the partners, and have direct contact with the clients we serve. Our employees become involved in a variety of accounting, tax and business issues.  We have a passion for high quality, personalized client service and you will be a part of this.  We offer the opportunity to assume responsibility quickly.

Personal attention…
At Hood & Strong LLP you won’t get lost in the shuffle. Partners and managers are always nearby and available to assist and counsel you. You will be able to discuss your career goals, get your questions answered, and be mentored.  Twice a year formal evaluations take place, while informal counseling is provided throughout the year.

Training…
Training is critical to your personal development and professional growth. We provide outstanding on-the-job training, formal courses and individualized educational opportunities. Our training goals are to develop competence in all our staff members and expand their abilities to provide service in all areas of practice.

Benefits…
In addition to our standard package of employee benefits, we also offer:   Tuition reimbursement…Salary deferral plan…Cafeteria plan…Bonus arrangements…Rewards for employee referrals…Rewards for passing the CPA exam.

Giving Back to the Community…
Over 90% of our employees are involved in some kind of volunteer effort, whether it be serving on the board or a committee of a not-for-profit organization; participating as an active member of a local charity; assisting with fundraising activities; or donating goods and services to charitable endeavors. To encourage and support this participation, the firm offers 4 hours per month of paid time to be used on the charitable activity of your choice.

The firm also sponsors regular group volunteer projects which are selected by our internal Volunteer Committee (consisting of staff people from all departments and from both offices). Projects are selected based on input from all staff members.

Outside Activities…
Annual summertime picnic and golf…Athletic events, such as Bay to Breakers …. Parties, such After Busy Season and Holiday parties.

• Paid vacations
• Sick leave
• Excused time off
• Seven paid holidays a year
• Health plan: including medical, dental, vision, life and long-term disability
• Mileage reimbursement for non-commute miles
• Overtime meal allowance

Additionally, the non-traditional benefits we offer include:

Tuition reimbursement of 100% for all tax and accounting courses in a graduate degree program and 50% reimbursement for certain courses attended in connection with an advanced degree program.

A $1,000 bonus for entry level staff members who complete the CPA exam within one year of starting with the firm or a $500 bonus if the exam is completed within the second year.

A salary deferral plan (I.R.C. Sec. 401(k) plan) with an employer matching contribution.

A cafeteria plan (I.R.C. Sec. 125 plan) allowing for a pre-tax salary deduction of an amount determined by each employee. The amount deducted is used to pay for a variety of medical and child care costs not covered under the firm’s medical plan.

A bonus arrangement relating to new business brought to the firm, consisting of 5% of collected fees for the first three years.

Four hours a month paid community involvement time available for employees to do volunteer work.

What to expect

When you join Hood & Strong LLP, you will have the opportunity to obtain significant experience in the area of audit or tax. Auditors will be assigned to audit and accounting engagements for clients in various industries. Your tax experience will include varying degrees of individual, partnership and corporate tax work. Our approach to staff assignments enables our new personnel to obtain a broad base of experience in their chosen area while completing all requirements for licensure.

What our staff have to say:

“The partners at Hood & Strong LLP are open to new ideas. You’re encouraged to be creative and find ways to improve things.”

“I like working with well-known Bay Area businesses that make up many of our clients.”

“Hood & Strong LLP has a friendly work environment.”

“I feel that management encourages me to pursue my job and career goals.”

“I used to work at a Big Four firm and felt lost in the size and bureaucracy of the company. At Hood & Strong LLP, everyone knows who I am and cares about my career goals and my personal happiness.”

“I’ve been able to gain a wide variety of experience over a short period of time here.”

“Responsibility comes quickly in your career at Hood & Strong LLP.”

“I like the variety of the work assignments I’ve gotten here. At a national firm, I was limited to a very small area of practice.”

Questions and Answers:

Will my experience at Hood & Strong LLP compare with what I would get at a national firm?

No! We believe it will be superior. At Hood & Strong LLP, you never get lost in the shuffle. Because our audit teams range in size from two to five people and the engagements generally take less time to complete than at national firms, you will see all aspects of an audit early in your career. Our auditors deal directly with business owners and top managers. We develop our staff to be more than just auditors or tax advisors – you will receive training in audit, tax and a variety of general skills to become business advisors.

Do you perform many audits? Or are you like many local firms that mainly do reviews, compilations and tax returns?

The core of our Audit Department is auditing. Although we do perform reviews and compilations, you will generally spend the majority of your time on audit engagements.

Will I be able to get enough experience to meet the certification requirements for my CPA license?

Yes! We are committed to providing you with the experience required for licensure. All new staff are assigned to audit engagements so they can get the required certification experience early in their careers. Staff usually receive their required hours within 1-3 years of employment with our firm.

What type of clients do you deal with and what is your typical audit like?

We have clients of various sizes and in many different industries. Our clients range from the sole proprietor to professional organizations to multinational corporations and nonprofit agencies. The core of our practice consists of privately-held businesses with sales of $25 million to $100 million. A standard audit is usually staffed by a senior accountant, one or two staff members, a manager and a partner. The hours range from 120 to 800 and the work is performed over a two to five week time-frame. Because of the small size of the audit teams, you will be a vital part of the audit and will be involved in many phases of the work. Most of our clients are in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, but about 15% of our clients require overnight travel.