Posted by admin , on August 31, 2014
Your friends don't become your clients, but your clients become your friends is the mantra that Stephen T. LoVullo, CPA has worked and lived by during his 40 year career at Lumsden McCormick. Steve considers personal attention to be of the utmost importance when it comes to client relationships: "I like to get to know who I am working with; I spend the time to get to know the business but more importantly, I get to know the individual behind the operations. It makes all the difference; I can do a better job for the client when I know what keeps them up at night and when a milestone is reached. Going to client events, both professionally and personally - especially the happy times such as weddings and grand openings, is what's most meaningful to me."
This business style has certainly worked for Steve, who joined the Firm as an intern while studying at Canisius College in December of 1973. He fondly remembers his time in "the pit" – a large table in the kitchen of the Firm's former Niagara Falls office where he spent his time working. He remembers using pencil and paper and toting a Monroe electromechanical calculator to clients' offices, which weighed in at about 14 pounds. After completing his winter internship and graduating in 1974, Steve continued to work as a master plumber, being called into the office by the Firm's founder Charles L. Lumsden on Saturdays to assist with personal tax returns. He officially joined the Firm as a staff accountant in September of the same year, becoming a senior accountant two years later in 1976.
After a brief time spent at Lathan, Lumsden, McCormick and Co.'s Rochester office, Steve settled into the Firm's Buffalo office at 120 Delaware Ave in 1981. He joined the partnership of the Firm in 1988 and remains a very active member of the Firm serving family–owned businesses, commercial companies, and individuals. Looking back over the past four decades Steve recalls momentous events for both him and the Firm; his mother, an accountant, bought him his first calculator in 1973 for $80, which equates to over $400 today. Steve remembers the Firm's move from 120 Delaware to the Brisbane Building in 1990, then the move to the Firm's current offices in 2012 to the Cyclorama Building. "I was the last one to move out each time," Steve recalls. "So much has changed in the profession," Steve explained, "including the way we conduct an audit." Steve remembers the pronouncement of FASB1 in 1973, SAS1, GASB and the release of the original AICPA SOPs – milestones in modern accounting.
Active in the community, Steve serves on many boards including Cradle Beach Camp, Board Treasurer; Buffalo/Niagara World Trade Center, Board Treasurer; Insyte Consulting, Board Treasurer; Kavinoky Theatre, Board Member; Mid-Day Club, Treasurer; Canisius College, Council on Accountancy and Board of Regents, Member. Steve was the recipient of the Canisius College Accountant of the Year award in 2011 and was inducted into St. Joe's Collegiate Institute Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 for his membership on the 1968 and 1969 Marauder's baseball team.
Steve is well-known around the accounting community as well; he is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA); Private Companies Practice Section and Technical Issues Committee (formerly) of the AICPA, New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, Healthcare Financial Management Association, The Construction Exchange, Niagara Frontier Electrical Contractors Association, and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.
