Firm Profile   Founded in 1947, Abacus serves over 1,000 clients today.  We have two locations, one in Berkeley, CA and the other in Alamo, CA.  Most clients live or work in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a majority in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties.  A large portion of our practice is dedicated to U.S. citizens living abroad and expatriates who have unique tax and investment needs.  We also offer investment consulting services to high net-worth clients and retirement plan sponsors through Abacus Financial Group.   Our Professionals:   Sharon Hinchman EA, FNTPI           Sharon is Managing Partner at our Alamo Office and brings over thirty years of experience to the practice.  She started off as a Tax Manager for Chevron Corporation, preparing returns for expatriate executives and conducting high level audits and from there she moved on to KPMG, managing a team of tax professionals.  In 1985, she branched out on her own and acquired Alamo Tax.  Sharon specializes in audit representation and is a Fellow of the National Tax Planning Institute, the industry's highest designation for audit work.  In addition, she is an excellent musician.   Henry Amado, EA, CIMC                         Henry is an Enrolled Agent and Certified Investment Management Consultant and Managing Partner at our Berkeley Office.  He and his wife, Christine both graduated from Cal in 1991 and their daughter, Elena Amado, just celebrated her second birthday in November of 2005.  Henry started out as a registered representative in the insurance industry, and then moved on to Price Waterhouse and Citibank.  Henry has served as firm Principal of a nationally ranked Registered Investment Advisor in the East Bay managing over $160M for over 10 years.  Henry recently decided to branch out on his own, and offer a combination of tax preparation and fee-only financial planning services under the new Abacus umbrella.  Henry specializes in business and estate taxes, fee-based financial planning and estate planning, and investment management services.   Will Starr, EA                                     Will is another Cal grad and has been preparing taxes for over 30 years and has been Abacus' firm Principal for ten of those years.  He has worked in the industry as a Corporate Controller and specializes in business, individual and real estate tax returns, as well as more specialized services such as litigation support and estate tax returns.  Will and his wife, Nancy, have decided to spend more time together so Will is reducing his responsibilities at Abacus but will remain with the firm for the foreseeable future.  Will is planning on devoting more time to tennis, his singing career and his eight-year old grandson, Arlen.   Mary Padilla                                      Mary is a new tax preparer for several years.  Mary is also a Notary and a Certified Loan Signing Agent and has been a Project Manager for a computer software firm in her prior life.