The accounting practice of John Costen was established in 1982 on the basis of providing clients with knowledgeable, experienced, and professional service. Together with individuals and business owners, plans are developed to minimize taxes and maximize profitability and operating efficiencies. John has a diverse client base which relies on his firm for timely accounting, tax, financial and managerial advice. As both a Certified General Accountant (CGA) and a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), John offers integrated financial and accounting expertise. To ensure his clients benefit from the latest technology and efficient record keeping, he is a "Certified Consultant" for Simply Accounting and trains, installs and supports the software. In addition he is a "Quickbooks Advisor" and can consult and support on Quickbooks software. Business year-ends are prepared on a specialized Accountant's software program. With this software John can import general ledger data from any of the brand-name accounting software programs and give the client the year-end adjusting journal entries for entry into their accounting records. This enables him to do year-ends from most client software programs. John develops and presents seminars on various taxation and financial planning topics for his clients and the public. He has previously presented taxation, financial planning and software application seminars to the Hamilton Chapter of the Certified General Accountants Association of Ontario. To ensure his clients receive the best possible service, where necessary, he will utilize the expertise of specialists from various other professions for consultations and second opinions. As a member of the Certified General Accountants Association of Ontario, John Costen: · is subject to mandatory practice review inspections by senior practitioners · must undertake mandatory continuing professional education · must maintain professional liability insurance · is governed by a national code of ethical principles and rules of conduct.