Behind the list with Ed Monborne

Q: What trends most affect your industry?

A: Transitions of older partners to the next generation. More people are leaving the industry than coming in. People no longer want to work 70 hours a week. Work-life balance is more of an issue. Our industry has changed immensely as a result of Sarbanes-Oxley.

Q: What trend will most affect your industry?

A: This year’s election will have a major impact on tax legislation that will occur in 2009. I think you’re going to have big Democratic majorities in both houses, so I’m not sure it matters who wins the presidency.

Q: What are the biggest misconceptions about your industry?

A: That accountants are boring. That we sit in the back of the room and just bang out numbers. (In fact,) we have a lot of fun. We do an annual paintball outing. One partner’s hobby is skydiving. Another partner races cars.

Q: What are your best management tips?

A: E-mail should be banned. People can read it in a bad mood and misinterpret it. I hate it. It creates more problems than it’s worth.

Q: What are your best customer-service tips?

A: Anticipating needs, communication, being there when the phone rings – they don’t want to talk to the voice mail.

Q: What are the most important things a business should seek when shopping for a CPA firm?

A: Expertise in their industry, depth and breadth of services, a firm that can meet their needs.

Q: Are you passionate about any political issues that affect your industry?

A: All the tax laws and regulations. I find the entire thing insane. It’s just a mess. I’m all for the flat tax: just seven lines and one flat rate. The whole purpose of taxation is that the government can have money for services, and they’ve turned it into an abomination, something that people can’t understand.

Q: What are the keys to success in your industry?

A: Hard work, communication skills and adaptability.

-Dennis Reardon

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About Ed Monborne

Ed Monborne, 45, grew up in Ebensburg, Cambria County. He graduated from Bishop Carroll High School in 1980. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. Francis University in Loretto, Cambria County, in 1984.

He began his career that year with Main Hurdman, a certified public accounting firm. He worked in the firm’s Lancaster office until 1988, leaving as a supervisor. He worked at the Harrisburg office of Coopers & Lybrand, another CPA firm, from 1988 to 1994, lastly as a senior manager.

That year, he joined Reinsel Kuntz Lesher as a manager. He became a partner in 1998. He was named partner in charge of the firm’s audit-services group in 2000. He was named managing partner of the Lancaster office in 2006.

He and his wife, Michelle, have three children: Chase, 16; Zoe, 13; and Ally, 11. They live in West Lampeter Township, Lancaster County. Ed likes to hunt and fish.