GGFL is delighted to welcome our new Associate Partner, Zach Bronstein.
Zach comes to GGFL as part of our Tax and Advisory Services team after spending the earlier years of his career at larger national firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers and Baker Tilly.
For the past four years he was with the Domestic Enterprise Tax Practice at KPMG were he focused primarily on helping entrepreneurs manage their tax obligations.
“GGFL is a fantastic fit for me,” said Zach. “I’ve spent more than 10 years learning and becoming a specialist in tax and I was looking for the best opportunity—a firm that punches above its weight where I could bring this knowledge and experience and make a meaningful contribution.
‘’GGFL already has an established tax team and that was also a huge attraction for me,” he said. “I didn’t want to join a practice that didn’t offer me the opportunity to collaborate with other tax specialists.
“I’ve experienced first-hand the benefits of collaboration and the ideas it can generate—and ultimately the value it brings to clients. Quite often, a tax practitioner working alone might come up with a tax plan – a good plan perhaps. But through working with other professionals, and brain storming with them, you can turn a B+ plan into an A+ plan.”
The search for a senior member of the tax team has been a long one, said GGFL’s Head of Tax and Advisory Services, Chad Saikaley.
“As a firm, our focus is increasingly on helping clients with tax planning and tax-related advice,” he said. “Our business has grown in that area and we needed another leader who would add breadth to our team.”
The ideal candidate had to have the necessary technical skills and ability, he said, but crucially had to ‘fit’ with the GGFL culture.
“It’s about someone’s mindset fitting with the firm’s core values and beliefs,” added Chad. “It’s about how we manage our people and how we deal with our clients. It’s why I was so thrilled when I met with Zach. After a long search we had found the right person.”
For Zach, GGFL’s primary client base of small and medium sized business owners, is a plus.
“During the past 12 years or so, I have been working at perfecting the craft of advising high net worth clients and corporate groups,” he said. “I’ve also worked extensively in mergers and acquisitions. That involves working with business principals and founders, company management and shareholder groups and helping them facilitate the sale of their business and manage and optimize their tax obligations.”
“It’s important to get to know your clients,” he added. “In order to give them the most impactful tax and business advice, you have to understand their overall business objectives as well as personal, familial, financial, estate and succession objectives.”
Zach is passionate about helping business owners optimize their tax result, especially when it comes to offering tax and business advice to clients selling their business.
“When a business owner decides to sell, you have to understand and appreciate how much they have sacrificed—how much blood, sweat and tears they’ve poured into building their business to make it successful.”
From Montreal to Guelph
Zach was born and raised in Montreal. He left at 19 to study business and accounting at the University of Toronto where he met his wife Zabeen. They live in Guelph with their two daughters Nora, 7, and two-year-old Alyssa.
He is a member of Canadian Professional Accountants Ontario, the Canadian Tax Foundation, and the Waterloo Wellington Estate Planning Council.
Although he’s based in Guelph, Zach will be making regular trips to Ottawa to meet with his colleagues and clients.
GGFL has two managers who work and live outside of Ottawa. Zach, as an Associate Partner, is the most senior member of the GGFL staff to live outside the capital region.
“Before the pandemic,” said Chad, “we thought it was essential that everyone in a senior position should be an Ottawa resident. That mindset has changed for many businesses. Yes, having an Associate Partner living and working in another city is new for us, but I’m excited to see where it takes us and the opportunities it brings.”
