Accounting
Numbers serve people.
Not the other way around.
Not the other way around.
I'm a DePaul accounting student on track for a 3.95 GPA, CPA eligibility in 2028, and a career built around helping closely held businesses and the families behind them understand their financial picture with clarity and confidence.
3.95
GPA
2028
CPA eligible
Strobel
Honors program
Background
Raised in an architecture firm.
I grew up watching my family run an entrepreneurial architecture practice out of our home. Project plans on the kitchen table. Client relationships built over years, not transactions. Budgets that determined whether a vision became a building.
That environment taught me something before I ever took an accounting class: the numbers behind a business aren't abstract — they're someone's livelihood, their family's future, their life's work. I've carried that understanding into every project I've taken on since.
That environment taught me something before I ever took an accounting class: the numbers behind a business aren't abstract — they're someone's livelihood, their family's future, their life's work. I've carried that understanding into every project I've taken on since.
Why it matters
Relationships first. Always.
Most accounting problems aren't really accounting problems. They're communication problems, trust problems, clarity problems. A client who understands their numbers makes better decisions. A firm that takes time to understand its clients builds something that lasts.
I'm drawn to privately held businesses and the individuals behind them — the kind of clients where the work is personal and the relationship is the product.
I'm drawn to privately held businesses and the individuals behind them — the kind of clients where the work is personal and the relationship is the product.
"I value environments where relationships, trust, and long-term growth matter."
What I bring to the table
A combination of technical foundation, analytical training, and real-world workflow experience.
01
Excel & data analysis
XLOOKUP, pivot tables, multi-dataset reconciliation, and executive-ready visualizations — applied in real analytical projects.
02
Documentation & workflow
Rigorous, repeatable process documentation from live production environments where errors have immediate consequences.
03
Tax & audit fundamentals
Academic foundation in tax principles with a developing focus on pass-through entities and closely held business structures.
04
Architectural & cost literacy
Early exposure to construction documents and project-based cost thinking — directly applicable to cost segregation and real estate advisory work.
The path forward
Building toward CPA.
I'm not just checking boxes toward licensure. I'm building a specific kind of practice: one grounded in advisory relationships with entrepreneurs, families, and closely held companies who need a trusted partner, not a transaction.
Tax advisory and cost segregation are the areas I'm most drawn to — places where technical depth and human relationships intersect in ways that genuinely move the needle for clients.
Tax advisory and cost segregation are the areas I'm most drawn to — places where technical depth and human relationships intersect in ways that genuinely move the needle for clients.
2024 – Now
Audio intern, Chicago Sound and Backline
Live event logistics, inventory management, and client communication across venues including the Langham and Adler Planetarium. Accountability for $50,000+ in equipment assets.
2025
Sound Designer, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre
Managed production workflows under strict budget and deadline constraints — documentation, stakeholder coordination, and repeatable outcomes across sold-out runs.
2024 – 2028
B.S. Accounting — DePaul Strobel Honors
3.95 GPA. Dean's List every quarter. Illinois CPA Society member. Presidential Scholar and Strobel Endowed Scholarship recipient. CPA eligible June 2028.
2028 +
CPA — tax advisory focus
Planning to pursue Enrolled Agent credential as a near-term differentiator, with long-term focus on pass-through entity taxation, real estate cost segregation, and advisory relationships with privately held businesses.
01
Understand before advising
I don't show up with a standard playbook. I ask questions first. The best financial guidance is specific — to the business, the family, the goal, the season they're in.
02
Clarity over complexity
Financial information should reduce anxiety, not create it. I translate technical findings into language that actually informs decisions — not jargon that obscures them.
03
Built for the long run
Good accounting relationships compound over time. I'm not interested in one-off engagements. I want to be the person a client calls first — for years, not quarters.
Contact
hhunt5@depaul.edu
(847) 730-7100