William E. Hesch, JD, CPA, PFSCincinnati Business, Tax and Estate Planning Attorney and CPA
Bill Hesch’s Unique Education, Work and Volunteer Experience-Celebrating 40 years of being a CPA (1976-2016) and his 16th Consecutive Year of being a Leading Lawyer in the Trust & Estate area in Cincy Magazine.
William E. Hesch, Esq., CPA, PFS has over 40 years of CPA experience and over 25 years of trust, estate and Medicaid planning and other legal experience in Cincinnati. Having received his B.S. in accounting at Morehead State University in 1974, he graduated from Northern Kentucky University Chase Law School in 1980 and is licensed as an attorney and CPA in both Ohio and Kentucky.
Bill began his career as Audit/ Tax Manager for BKD, LLP (formerly Arnowitz, Chaiken, & Hardesty, CPAs in Cincinnati), while attending Chase Law School at night. For years Bill has assisted family business owners in all aspects of their business: accounting, banking, auditing, management consulting, budgeting and taxes. While he was in law school, he was an audit manager for a wide variety of businesses, including banks, distribution companies, and manufacturers. After graduating law school in 1980, he joined the tax department at Touche Ross (later Deloitte & Touche, now Deloitte). In 1986, he became a tax partner, an accomplishment achieved by only a fraction of all CPAs. As a tax partner, he assisted family-owned businesses in succession and business planning, banking relationships and issues, and tax and financial planning for business owners.
In 1988, Bill became one of the first 400 CPAs in the country to become a Personal Financial Specialist (PFS). The PFS specialization designation, administered by the American Institute of CPAs, recognizes CPAs who specialize in financial planning and requires re-certification every three years.
In 1991, Bill became the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Squeri Food Services, a food service distributor. He was able to utilize his diverse experience and education to assist the company in achieving significant growth, including its new freezer building expansion in 1993 and positioning the company to grow sales from $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 by 1996.
Bill founded his own CPA and law practices in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1993 and has been an Adjunct Professor at Chase Law School teaching Accounting for Lawyers and Business Basics for Lawyers since 1985. He manages William E. Hesch CPAs, LLC, which is supported by three professional staff who provide tax and business advisory services for privately-owned businesses. The CPA firm works with business owners to minimize their taxes and assist as a financial and business advisor in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati Area. He focuses his CPA practice in the areas of estate and income tax planning, pension planning, business valuations, succession planning, and buy/sell agreements for business owners. He is one of only approximately 5,100 CPAs in the country who is a Personal Financial Specialist (PFS). He is one of only a few practicing attorneys in Cincinnati who are also a CPA/PFS and one of only 80 CPA/PFSs in a 50 mile radius of Cincinnati.
Bill manages William E. Hesch Law Firm, LLC, which is supported by four professional staff. The law firm provides services in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati area. He focuses his law firm in the areas of estate planning, Cincinnati elder law planning and issues, probate and estate administration, the purchase and sale of businesses, and privately-owned businesses needing partnership or shareholder operating agreements, employment contracts, leases, and owner buy/sell agreements.
In 2005, Cincy Magazine, first recognized Bill as one of only 63 “Leading Lawyers” in the Northern Kentucky/ Cincinnati area, and, in 2020, he was one of only 296 attorneys named a “Leading Lawyer.” He was selected again this year for the 16th consecutive time as a “Leading Lawyer” in the Trust & Estate area.
As a lifelong Northern Kentucky resident and Cincinnati business, tax and estate planning attorney, Bill has diligently served the community to which he is gratefully indebted. He has served as an Overseer or Board Member Redwood Rehabilitation Center in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky since 1999. Bill has also served as a member and Chair of Redwood’s Planned Giving Committee from 1999 to 2008. Bill has served as Treasurer and Board Member for Gateway Community and Technical College Foundation Board since its inception in 2002 until 2015.
He served as an advisor to the Board of Directors for Dear Hero, Inc., a Cincinnati-based non-profit corporation dedicated to preserving children’s artwork and reflections on the New York City 9/11 attacks from 2001-2011. In addition, he has served as an advisor to the Foxfire Foundation, a Kenton County based non-profit dedicated to providing drug education and awareness to the Northern Kentucky community.
He has also been active in serving on the Alumni Board for Chase College of Law from 1985-2001, for which he was the President of the Alumni Board for 2000-2001, in 2006, Gov. Ernie Fletcher appointed him to the Financial Institutions Board for a four-year term. Bill has been serving on the finance Committee and Board of Directors for Morehead State University Foundation Board from 2010 to 2016. From 2013 – present, Bill has served on the board of Visitors for the Dean of Chase Law School.
Since 2017, Bill has served on the Board of directors for the Financial Services Professionals Cincinnati Chapter and Treasurer from June, 2019 to present.
A dedicated, hard-working professional and volunteer, his forward-thinking business and financial strategies continue to impact the Northern Kentucky / Greater Cincinnati community.
Contact William E. Hesch directly at bill.hesch@williamhesch.com or call him on his cell phone at (513) 509-7829.