Biographies

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

William A. Santora, CPA
Bill's career includes 33 years 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 and is the President of the University & Whist Club.

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@santoracpa.com

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John A. D'Agostino, CPA, MST
John is a Director of Santora CPA Group
with over 17 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 volunteers within the community as Chairman of the Delaware Helpline, a United Way agency.
  

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@santoracpa.com

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Robert Freed
Robert is a Principal of Santora CPA Group with over 25 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@santoracpa.com.

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ü Personnel matters
ü Benefits and payroll administration
ü Compensation plans
ü Customer service training
ü Strategic planning
ü Employee recruiting
ü Marketing training
ü 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@santoracpa.com

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Heath N. Kahrs, CPA

Heath is a Director of Santora CPA Group with over 10 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 of Reading Assist Institute. His e-mail address is hkahrs@santoracpa.com. Return to top of page