Biographies

Click on one of the photos below for a complete biography.

William A. Santora, CPA

Bill is the Managing Director of Santora CPA Group with over 36 years of experience in public accounting, servicing businesses and professionals in New Castle County, Delaware. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting. For his part in service to local businesses, Bill was selected as the 1988 Small Business Advocate of the Year for the State of Delaware by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Bill is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Delaware Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the Committee of 100, and has lectured on a variety of business and management issues.

He has also joined the American Society of Appraisers - Business Valuation Division. Currently, Bill is on the Board of Directors of Goodwill Industries of Delaware and Delaware County and serves on the Finance Committee of St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church.

He has served a variety of organizations and has developed a special expertise in business consulting and profitability improvement, due diligence auditing, and consulting for troubled businesses. Bill has substantial experience in providing litigation support services to the area's legal community. His prior experience includes testimony in the U.S. District Court, Bankruptcy Court, Superior Court, Chancery Court, Family Court, Court of Common Pleas, and the New York State Grand Jury.

His e-mail address is bsantora@santoracpagroup.com.

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John A. D'Agostino, CPA, MST

John is a Director of Santora CPA Group with over 20 years of public accounting experience. He is a 1989 graduate of Widener University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and has since received his Master of Science Degree in Taxation from Widener as well.

John joined Santora CPA Group in August 1994 and heads the Auditing Department. He became a Director in July 2003. In addition, John is currently serving as Board President for the Delaware Helpline, a United Way agency, and as a Board Member of The Kelly Heinz-Grundner Brain Tumor Foundation.

He is a member of the American and Pennsylvania Institutes of Certified Public Accountants, and the Delaware Society of Certified Public Accountants.

His e-mail address is jdag@santoracpagroup.com.

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Robert Freed

Robert is a Principal of Santora CPA Group with over 28 years of public accounting experience. He is a 1981 graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Robert joined Santora CPA Group in September 1999 and heads the firm's tax department. He became a Principal in July 2005.

Robert works with individuals, established businesses, and newly established businesses in a wide variety of areas including tax, estate, and retirement planning, as well as tax compliance services. He also oversees the firm's continuing education in the tax area.

He is a member of the National Society of Tax Professionals, the National Society of Accountants, the Tax Division of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Delaware Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the Cecil County Chamber of Commerce.

His e-mail address is rfreed@santoracpagroup.com.

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Linda A. Pappajohn

Linda is a Principal of Santora CPA Group and heads up its HR Consulting Division. She has been with the firm for 22 years. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. Her prior accounting experience was as a controller of a large real estate accounting service company in Boston.

Some of the areas for which Linda provides consulting services are:

• Personnel matters
• Benefits and payroll administration
• Compensation plans
• Customer service training
• Strategic planning
• Employee recruiting
• Marketing training
• Customer focus groups

She has implemented compensation and bonus plans, evaluation and goal-setting programs, and has written personnel policy manuals and competency-based job descriptions.

Some of her most recent major consulting projects include:

Development of a revised personnel payment plan for the State of Delaware's Department of Justice (DOJ). She worked with the Attorney General's Office and the State Personnel Office to develop a competency based job criteria structure for the five DOJ divisions.

She serves as the Human Resource Manager for a subsidiary of a large British chemical company that spun off from its U.S. affiliate. They out-sourced all of their HR functions to her. Besides systematizing their payroll and benefits, she developed a performance evaluation and goal-setting program, wrote personnel policies and procedures, and currently advises them on all HR issues. When they formed an out-of-state joint venture, Linda handled all HR matters for the combining of work forces and downsizing, and the payroll and benefits administration. She is currently involved in HR due diligence work for them regarding the acquisition of other specialty companies.

Linda has implemented a compensation system for a large nonprofit client with group homes and a school that complies with some of the more complex regulations under the Federal Labor Standards Act. Some of the issues involved sleep time, on-call time, and "seven days on/seven days off" work schedules. She also worked with department heads to develop the way these changes were communicated to employees so there was no loss of existing employees.

Linda has also written ADA job descriptions for a national association to use as a handout to its 500 member companies.

Linda was the national president of the Association for Accounting Administration. She was the recipient of the CPA Services, Inc.'s Firm Administrator of the Year Award and has had articles published in The Journal of Accountancy and The Practical Accountant. Recently, she has spoken at various national accounting industry conferences (AICPA and the Association for Accounting Administration) on developing competencies and performance appraisals, developing compensation and benefit plans, and hiring/recruiting/firing techniques.

She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. Linda also was elected to the Board of Governors at the University & Whist Club in Wilmington, and is the Chairperson of the Club's Human Resource Committee.

Her e-mail address is lpappajohn@santoracpagroup.com.

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Heath N. Kahrs, CPA

Heath is a Director of Santora CPA Group with over 13 years of public accounting experience. He is a 1996 graduate of the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting.

Heath joined Santora CPA Group in June 1996. He became a Principal in June 2006, and was made a Director in January 2007. He manages audit and attest services and provides a wide range of consulting services to his clients, which includes nonprofits, credit unions, governmental entities, as well as contractors, manufacturers, and service organizations. Heath also plays a vital role in the firm’s recruiting efforts.

He is a member of the American Institute and the Delaware Society of Certified Public Accountants.  He is currently serving as Treasurer on the Board of Directors for Delaware Community Development Corporation.

His e-mail address is hkahrs@santoracpagroup.com.

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Ciro Adams, CPA

Ciro is a Director of Santora CPA Group with over 20 years of public accounting experience. His background of service to a number of local, national, and international companies includes as clients: telecommunications providers, product distributors, software developers, construction contractors, development-stage companies, hospitality and entertainment servicers, and other service industries. He has provided auditing, accounting, and advisory services for businesses ranging in size from small emerging companies to publicly-held companies with over $1 billion in assets.

Ciro leads the SEC Practice Section in the areas of stock offerings and registration statements, SEC financial reporting, and the performance of due diligence procedures on acquisitions, private placements, and venture fund investments.

Ciro earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Accounting from Rutgers University in 1986. He is also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Ciro is a licensed CPA in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, and Virginia.

His e-mail address is cadams@santoracpagroup.com.

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Stephen M. Conyers, CPA

Stephen is a Principal with over 11 years of experience in public accounting. He graduated from the University of North Texas with both a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and a Master’s Degree in Accounting.

Stephen joined Santora CPA Group in August 2001. He became a Principal in July 2010. He oversees audit and attest services for a wide range of clients including contractors, real estate managers and developers, manufacturers, governments, and not-for-profits. Stephen also heads up the firm’s internal quality control and technical training programs.

He is a member of the American Institute and the Delaware Society of Certified Public Accountants, where he currently serves as Chair of the A&A Emerging Issues Group.

His e-mail address is sconyers@santoracpagroup.com.

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