Since 1977, Sensiba San Filippo has been helping its clients find peace of mind while meeting their financial goals. The firm's certified public accountants and business advisors specialize in tax, audit, and consulting services in a variety of areas, including agribusiness, estates and trusts, manufacturing and distribution, real estate and construction, technology, and venture capital.

One intriguing area of the firm's expertise can be found in its action sports industry practice group. This practice group is passionate about "the pursuit of adrenaline rushes from surfing, skating, biking, boarding, riding, slackline, and more," according to the firm's website. This practice group helped one multinational motocross and apparel client streamline its product delivery logistics; reduce customs, duty, and VAT costs; and make other changes expected to save the client millions of dollars in corporate income taxes.

In a different case, the firm recently helped a client sell a business by working with the client's legal team and the acquirer's legal team on a structure that allowed both sides to be satisfied with the after-tax results. "They were at an impasse, and our structuring advice made the difference," says Managing Partner John Sensiba. "The ability to make the sale work for our client was incredibly impactful."

Accounting is not usually considered a helping profession but as Sensiba notes, his firm directly impacts its clients' lives for the better. "I think people are surprised that CPAs are about much more than numbers and finance," says Sensiba. "Our profession can be viewed as kind of boring. But we help people. We just help them with the skill sets that we have. We use the skills we have to help people be better: better parents, better spouses, better friends, better members in their communities. By relieving our clients of the worries associated with their business and tax matters, we free up their minds to focus on their families and communities."

The firm's values make it a noteworthy force in Pleasanton, which the firm and its employees support in a variety of ways. "Our firm's priorities are family, community, firm," says Sensiba. "This is important to us as it supports our mission to create improvement in the communities we serve."

Sensiba San Filippo focuses on its more than 165 employees as well. In 2017, for the seventh year in a row, two local publications named Sensiba San Filippo as one of the Greater Bay Area's Healthiest Employers. The firm has developed a comprehensive wellness program that includes offering employees education and benefits focused on supporting healthy living both at work and outside of the office.

The firm opened its first office in San Jose and over time expanded to five other areas in Northern California. It moved its headquarters to Pleasanton in 2009 and, after outgrowing its facility, to Hacienda in 2016. Its new building, where 54 employees work, allowed for a much larger space with a better design, says Sensiba.

On January 18, 2018 Sensiba San Filippo is holding an Executive Breakfast Briefing: Accounting & Tax Updates for 2018 from 7:30 to 10:00 am. It invites readers to attend to learn about current events in the accounting and tax world that will affect them and their businesses in 2018.

For more information about this breakfast briefing, including a live webcast, visit ssfllp.com/event/executive-breakfast-briefing-accounting-tax-updates.

For more information about Sensiba San Filippo LLP, visit ssfllp.com.