We are easy to find

We are located at 9520 Berger Rd, Ste. 310, Columbia, MD 21046. Our telephone number is 410-884-0317 and our fax, 410-730-3337. Our general email address is info@jkassociatestax.com.

Our office hours are generally 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on weekdays except on Wednesdays when we are often closed. However, we will always try to accommodate your schedule. And, of course, during tax season we are almost always open it seems!

Our History

JK Associates, LLC, is a relatively new company yet it has deep roots. In the early 1990s, Jon W. Ford, CPA, began his practice in Ellicott City. From the very beginning he shared an office with a financial advisor, James Klima. Both realized the benefit of having the other in-house to answer client questions about taxes and investments.

Sadly, Jon passed away in 2010, and Karen Brelsford, a financial advisor in Jim Klima’s office and an Enrolled Agent, kept Jon’s practice going so that his clients would be served. Three of Jon’s key employees — Kathleen Hahn, CPA, office manager Cheryl Shea, and tax preparer/staff accountant Lori Eidsness — are still with us.

In the fall of 2017, JK Associates, LLC, merged with Dorsey Accounting Services, Inc, a well-established company in Ellicott City. Keith Dorsey, CPA, MST, MBA, the owner of Dorsey Accounting, brings a wealth of expertise to help JK Associates continue to grow and serve our clients.

Jon Ford was passionate about serving his clients and JK Associates, LLC, strives to serve our clients in a way that would please him.

 

JK Associates, LLC staff

We would like to introduce you to our staff so you can picture who you are talking to and emailing. All returns are completed by Kathleen Hahn, CPA, Keith Dorsey, CPA, MST, MBA, Nancy Jo Lame, Ph.D, EA, CPA or Karen Brelsford, AIF, CFP®, EA, CDFA, CRPS, but other staff members may help in the preparation of your return. Let’s introduce our staff:

Karen Brelsford is the owner of JK Associates, LLC as well as a financial advisor at an independent firm. She’s an Accredited Investment Fiduciary, a Certified Financial Planner practitioner, an Enrolled Agent, and a Chartered Retirement Plan Specialist. Karen focuses on individual returns and can help small business owners set up retirement plans, including SEPs and 401(k) plans. Karen dotes on four grandchildren and has tried unsuccessfully to learn to play a banjo.

Our staff of 10 is led by Kathleen Hahn, CPA, Nancy Jo Lame, EA, CPA and Keith Dorsey, CPA, MST, MBA

Kathy Hahn began working with the late Jon Ford, CPA, in 1997. (JK Associates LLC is a successor to Jon Ford, CPA.)  Her other job is director of finance at a local non-profit. Kathy, who specializes in small business return and estate and trust returns, earned her accounting degree from the University of Maryland and began her career at Stoy Malone in Bethesda. She spent a decade at T. Rowe Price as an account manager for the retirement planning division. Kathy is our QuickBooks expert.

Nancy Jo Lame joined us just in time for the 2013 tax season. She brings a lot of tax experience to JK Associates. She earned her Enrolled Agent license in 2011 and her CPA in 2020 and has been in the tax business since 2006.  In addition to preparing taxes, she will help you deal with IRS letters you might get. If you are audited, Nancy Jo will represent you before the IRS.

When you’ve tired of talking taxes with Nancy Jo, ask her about the stars. She has a Ph. D. in astronomy from The Ohio State University. Nancy Jo is also involved in international folk dancing and is out of the office on Wednesdays so she can prepare new dances for her local folk dancing club.

And just what is an Enrolled Agent? How does it differ from a CPA?

A CPA – Certified Public Accountant – can wear many hats. A CPA can just do accounting, or perhaps specialize in taxes. Many CPAs do both, as Kathy and Keith do. Attorneys and CPAs are licensed on a state-by-state basis, and are also empowered by the Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before the IRS.

An Enrolled Agent is a tax specialist and a federally authorized tax practitioner empowered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before the IRS. The EA credential is recognized across all 50 states.

Both CPAs and Enrolled Agents must complete many hours of continuing education to keep current with changing tax laws. CPAs must complete 80 hours every two years. The IRS requires Enrolled Agents to earn 72 hours — all in taxation — over three years but our Enrolled Agents belong to the National Association of Enrolled Agents which requires 30 hours of education each year. Our staff is well-schooled!

Keith Dorsey joined us with the merger of JK Associates and Dorsey Accounting Services, Inc., in the fall of 2017. He has worked in public accounting, mainly concentrating on tax services, for more than 25 years. He has very loyal and happy clients who voted him the top accountant many times in the Best of Howard County contest sponsored by Howard Magazine.

Keith worked in downtown Baltimore for a medium-size accounting firm for some years and then purchased his father’s thriving practice in Ellicott City in 2001. He is a 1991 University of Maryland graduate, and also has earned a Masters in Taxation from the University of Baltimore and a Masters of Business Administration from Loyola University. Keith is a big sports fan, both as a participant and as fan.

Cheryl Shea is the first – and last – person most of you will have contact with each tax season. Cheryl runs the show – meeting and greeting clients, whether on the phone or in the office, keeping our computers running, sending draft copies of tax returns to clients, answering questions about QuickBooks and making sure your tax returns are e-filed. Cheryl began working with Jon Ford, CPA, in 2001. Cheryl is a master gardener and a jewelry designer.

Denita Patterson joined JK Associates, LLC, in 2011. She’s a retired government contract specialist. She puts in long hours during tax season but sometimes deserts us in early April: She plays in a huge women’s soccer tournament in Las Vegas every year. Her soccer game has even taken her to Europe.Denita, who grew up in Ohio, has a degree in construction management from the University of Cincinnati.

Linda Uzzle has been a financial analyst for more than 30 years.  She’s a retired auditor for the federal government and is currently working for a private company that deals with healthcare.  Evenings and weekends, she also does accounting for us.  Linda, who joined us in 2010, has a degree in accounting from Purdue University – she’s a Hoosier by birth — and a Masters in Healthcare Administration from Florida Institute of Technology.

Dorothy Braunsar, CPA, another retired federal employee, is with us during tax season. She loves numbers. Most returns go through her hands so she can make sure the numbers add up. She’s amazing at crunching numbers and is our quality-control person. Dorothy, a fitness buff, has an undergraduate degree in business administration from LaSalle University and an MBA in Health Administration from St. Joseph’s University.

 

Lori Eidsness, who joined Jon Ford in 2007, is our bookkeeper/staff accountant. Lori, who also wears a tax-preparer’s hat, has a degree in finance from the University of Maryland and is a fanatic about UM’s women’s basketball team. Lori now works remotely for us after following her daughter to North Carolina.

We also have seasonal tax preparers who have joined us for the 2021 tax season. Tanner Cohen and Scott Hutter joined our staff in 2022.  Diana Bria-Wharton, CPA, also worked for us in 2020 until we closed our office for the pandemic.

Reach our staff by calling 410-884-0317 or emailing info@jkassociatestax.com.