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OUR

FIRM

The focus at hk CPA is to provide clients with trusted advice and exemplary client service.  

OUR TEAM

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​​Alister Hunston, CPA, CA
Partner
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Alister began practicing in 2010, qualified as a CA in 2013, and completed CPA Canada’s In-Depth Tax Course in 2017. 

Alister advises and assists a diverse group of private-sector clients; from one-man operations to large corporate groups. His areas of practice include corporate compliance, tax planning, financial accounting, audit and assurance, business review and analysis, filings, and other advisory services carried out to minimize risk and enhance operations.

He takes great pride in providing reliable professional judgement, and combines exceptional organizational skills with a passion for adding value, solving difficult problems, and building relationships.

Alister believes a community is only as strong as it’s members, and focuses his volunteering efforts through the Rotary Club of Sydney, where he serves as Club Treasurer.

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​​Kiki Kachafanas, CPA, CA, ICD.D, TEP
Partner
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Upon graduating from Acadia University, Kiki accepted employment with Deloitte & Touche in Sydney, Nova Scotia receiving her CA designation, followed by her TEP designation. Together with a partner, she purchased the assets and accounts of the Deloitte & Touche office in Sydney, where she continues to practice in the areas of assurance and taxation. 

 

Kiki’s Board experience includes: Sydney Tar Ponds Clean-Up Inc., Nova Scotia Securities Commission, Woman’s World Finance, Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation, Cape Breton Family YMCA, and Junior Achievement of Cape Breton.

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Bernard Curry, CPA, MBA
Partner
 

Bernie joined hk CPA in 2018, upon its inception, after qualifying as a CPA with another local firm in Sydney in 2017.  He has developed his practice with a focus on providing superior client service while maintaining a high level of precision and expertise.  He has advised and assisted clients with a variety of accounting and taxation issues such as new business incorporation and set up, asset rollovers upon incorporation, corporate re-organizations, the winding down of a corporation and other tax planning strategies throughout the life cycle of a business. 

Bernie completed CPA Canada’s In-Depth Tax Program in 2020.  Taxation of owner-managed organizations is a particular area of expertise and knowledge.

Born and raised in Howie Center, Bernie has his sights set on building a practice of corporate clients that want to grow the community and become leaders in the Cape Breton business landscape.  Bernie serves as Vice-President of the CBU Alumni Association Board of Directors as well as the Treasurer of the Three Brothers Project Society Board of Directors, an organization with a community-minded focus on men’s mental health and fitness.

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Sandy MacNeill, CPA, CA 
Assoicate Partner

 

After graduating from Dalhousie University Sandy commenced his accounting career with Deloitte & Touche Sydney office. Upon receiving his CA designation Sandy practiced in the special services department of Deloitte providing a variety of services to financial entities, government agencies and owner managed enterprises.


Sandy commenced his own practice in 1994 and enjoyed twenty-nine years of providing personal services to a wide variety of clients. Sandy’s primary areas of practice is financial consulting to owner managed business, including expansion, acquisitions, dispositions and
succession planning.

 

He has clients operating in many business sectors including petroleum, transportation, hospitality, construction and fishing.

 

Sandy has served as a volunteer director of many community and recreational associations and
enjoys providing professional advice towards the advancement of these operations.

Shauna MacAulay
Manager
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Shauna brings to the table 26 years experience in the accounting industry.  Her focus has always been servicing individuals and businesses with tax and accounting needs. Her knowledge and skills in the not-for profit sector complements her tax and accounting background. 

Shauna focuses on building business relationships by making herself available to clients and taking great care at resolving individual, corporate, partnership, non-profit, and trust tax issues.

Karen Filek 
Manager

 

Karen received a Diploma in Business with an Accounting concentration from the University College of Cape Breton and has focused her career on providing accounting and administrative
services.

 

She has been employed by another accounting practice and an industrial service business prior to being employed by A.N. Sandy Macneill, CPA, CA.


She has focused her duties to accounting and tax services to small and medium sized owner managed businesses. During her twenty-seven years of employment in public accounting she has participated in a variety of accounting, auditing, tax and special engagements.

 

Karen has developed her skills in utilizing the new technologies that have assisted small business and
provided timely and meaningful information to owner managers and their accounting staff.


She will continue to enhance her accounting and tax services skills while employed at HK CPA.

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Matt MacDonald, CPA, CA
Senior Manager​

Matt qualified as a CA and then held the position of senior field auditor for Coopers & Lybrand for over ten years before joining Unsworth Kachafanas in 1998, where he served as an assurance manager until joining hk CPA in 2018. 

Matt has extensive experience in dealing with owner-managed businesses and not-for-profits.  Matt take great pride in his work, and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the hk CPA team.
Anne Marie MacIsaac
Staff Accountant

Anne Marie brings years of experience in bookkeeping, payroll and financial
statement preparation to hk CPA, having worked for 25 years in the private sector before joining Unsworth Kachafanas in 2001.
 
She resides in Upper Leitches Creek with her husband Mike.  They have a son, daughter and a granddaughter.  She enjoys spending time in Margaree - her birth place.  She also enjoys gardening, baking and reading.
Birajkumar Nayi, ACCA

Financial Analyst

 

Biraj graduated from Ahmedabad University, India in 2014. After graduation, he started his accounting career preparing year-end accounts for UK clients. Biraj completed his ACCA qualification (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) in 2020. His work experience includes bookkeeping, financial reporting, internal audit and financial audit. In addition to working at the firm, Biraj is pursuing his Post Baccalaureate in Business Analytics from the Cape Breton University as an international student.
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CA. Pooja Bhatt, ACA, CS, LL. B, B. COM

Staff Accountant

 

Pooja is a qualified Chartered Accountant, and an active member of ICAI. She also has another professional qualification called Company Secretary from the ICSI. She is a double bachelor's degree holder, Bachelor of Laws, and Bachelor of Commerce from Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, India. She carries seven years of post-qualification experience from India in different industries and companies in the field of Project Finance, Accounts Finalization and Audit, Tax, Cost, and Budgeting.

Pooja is an international student at Cape Breton University pursuing the program Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Business Management, graduating in Spring 2023. While studying at CBU, she worked part-time at The Elizabeth Fry Society of Cape Breton as an Account Technician. She is also anticipating pursuing a CPA designation in Canada from the AICPA.
Glady Mae Lerios 
Staff Accountant


Gladys was an international student who recently graduated from Cape Breton University under the program Post Baccalaureate in Business Management. She was a Dean’s lister with distinction in 2020 and was given the CBU Award of Excellence during the 2021 spring convocation. Between studies and her part-time job, she became a volunteer at the CVITP tax clinic held in CBU in 2020. Before coming to Canada, she was a Certified Public Accountant in the Philippines for ten years, and worked in various industries including one of the largest pharmaceutical multinational companies.

She likes the outdoors, watching sunsets, and hiking. She also loves to travel to different places and experience the beauty and richness found in other cultures.
Kaylee Higgins 
Staff Accountant

 

Kaylee is a graduate from Nova Scotia Community College where she took Business Administration – Accounting. She started with us on a work placement, which is when we decided to make her a part of our team.

 

Kaylee plans to continue her education at Cape Breton University to complete her Bachelor of Business Administration. She is excited to continue to learn and grow with our company.

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Kameron Clarke, BBA 
Staff Accountant

 

Kameron comes to us as a graduate with a 4-year Degree in Bachelor of Business Administration, with a concentration in Accounting from Cape Breton University. From a very young age, his love of numbers and formulas has always led him to career as an Accountant.

 

He brings years of experience in customer service, combined with an energetic personality and a general love of problem solving.

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Kameron is goal oriented and driven for success. He is extremely motivated and thrives on finding solutions to problems. His main goal is to provide his knowledge and dedication to the workforce, and to obtain his CPA certification.

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Kameron enjoys quality time with his family and friends, as well as going to the gym and gaming in his spare time.

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Nessa Sulit 
Staff Accountant

 

Nessa graduated with a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Business Management at Cape Breton University as an international student. She finished a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree Major in Consular and Diplomatic Affairs back in the Philippines and worked for an international organization under the Embassy of Korea for 5 years. With her adventurous nature, she decided to explore the accounting field here in Canada inspired by her mother who is a Certified Public Accountant in the Philippines.


She looks forward to working with everyone and learning more of the accounting discipline through her employment at HK CPA.

Interested in working with us?
Contact us today!

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