Hello... From the CEO
Governance & Guidance
Focusing on Quality
As part of our commitment to excellence as a Premium Provider of accounting services, our quality practices have always encompassed the highest ethical standards. They are instrumental to our Assurance Practice and other areas of the firm, including overall governance, ethics and more. As a result, our quality practices and procedures continue to be designed to align with applicable standards and oversight expectations of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), including its new quality management standards effective at the end of 2025. In response to the new standards, we updated policies and procedures, communicated them firmwide and will continue providing ongoing training to assurance team members.
As part of the enhancements, we incorporated new language and specific policies required by the new standard and communicated the revised policy firmwide. We will continue providing additional training and information to our assurance team members on the latest industry practices and procedures.
Ensuring Compliance & Governance
In 2025, we worked with numerous state and federal regulators to support ongoing compliance and reinforce our commitment to integrity, transparency and accountability. As we continue to expand, our 2025 efforts included submitting 80-plus entity registration filings to a growing number of states, and monitoring compliance with licensure and certification requirements for our 800-plus professionals.
Accelerating Development
Our firm achieved National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) Self-Study accreditation, enabling us to provide self-study CPE-eligible programs in addition to live and internet-based educational presentations for our professionals. This provides our team multiple avenues through which to maintain their licenses and enhance their skillsets.
From a risk perspective, we ensure all professional education programs offered adhere to NASBA’s rigorous standards. This oversight is essential for preserving our firm’s credibility, reinforcing client confidence and trust, and ensuring compliance across all jurisdictions.
Our responsibilities include addressing and/or monitoring:
- Internal Audits: Biannually, NASBA performs internal audits of our operations to confirm we are adhering to regulatory requirements and professional standards.
- Reviewer Qualifications: For tax, auditing and accounting courses, reviewers must hold CPA credentials, ensuring technical accuracy and compliance.
- Attendance & Engagement Tracking: Group internet programs must accurately document participant attendance. Live courses are required to have at least one engagement element per credit hour.
- Program Documentation: Each educational training course must include appropriate documentation and learning objectives.
By ensuring we adhere to all the requirements of a NASBA Self-Study accredited firm, we help safeguard the integrity of our professional learning programs, ensuring they not only meet NASBA standards but also support the professional development of our growing team.
Enhancing Emergency Response
Our comprehensive initiative to revamp office-specific Emergency Response Plans (ERPs) and implement a more consistent approach across our 15 office locations included collaborating with Risk Management, Operations and local office leadership to ensure plans meet local and national regulatory requirements and reflect best practices. Key elements of our effort included:
- Compliance: Reviewing federal, state and local emergency preparedness laws to ensure compliance across all jurisdictions.
- Customized Plans: Sending each office a tailored ERP addressing location-specific risks, evacuation routes and other protocols.
- Cross-Functional Coordination: Joining with People & Culture and Operations to integrate response procedures into onboarding and annual training programs.
- Vendor & Contract Review: Reviewing agreements with emergency service providers and building management to ensure clear direction for crisis response.
Community Commitment
Empowering & Amplifying Employee Giving
In 2025, we emphasized support and encouragement of employees’ charitable generosity through a new grant application cycle and a new Employee Match Program, as well as our standing charitable contributions process. Our giving programs are almost entirely employee-driven, from the individuals who submit requests to the committees and boards that approve the awards/donations.
Through our initiatives, the Cohen & Co Community Foundation supported hundreds of internal requests to help our communities — resulting in more than $500,000 in total donated to organizations across the U.S.
Grant Applications
Our 12-member, peer-led Grants Committee is responsible for reviewing not-for-profit grant applications and recommending funding allocations to Foundation Trustees. In the first year of this initiative, we received requests from every office, service line and level of the firm. The process led to the Foundation committing $100,000 to 28 organizations across the U.S.
“100% of the funds from Cohen & Co will go to the farm to set up an irrigation system. This will provide consistent application of water to support strong plant growth, which means more produce and an even bigger impact on addressing food insecurity!”
Douglas Fawcett Founder/Chairman, Cleveland Roots — Cohen & Co 2025 grant recipient
“The grant funds we received from Cohen & Co will help Hope For The Day educate well over 100 individuals on critical mental health and suicide prevention actions, led by our Things We Don’t Say program, and will deliver thousands more resource cards, which give people the tools to get help near them.”
Ben Kohn Executive Director, Hope For The Day — Cohen & Co 2025 grant recipient
Employee Match Program
Launched in 2025, our Employee Match Program encourages employees to make charitable contributions year-round to not-for-profit organizations they are most passionate about. The firm then matches donations, up to $250 per year, to amplify our employees’ generosity. It’s our way of thanking our team members for giving back and making a difference in their communities.
In 2025, employee donations combined with the firm match resulted in giving over $70,000 through this Program, benefiting more than 160 employee-directed organizations.
Honoring Our Founder
In July 2025, we honored our founder and friend, Ron Cohen, with a donation commitment of $100,000 to Cleveland Guardians Charities, via the Cohen & Co Community Foundation. Working closely with Ron's family to select the charity, we chose an organization that would celebrate his passions — doing good for others and supporting the Guardians.
Caring for Our Communities
In addition to financial support, we strongly believe in making an impact via action. Through our local office Cohen Cares Committees, our employees come together to support causes hands-on. Whether organizing food drives, volunteering at food pantries, writing letters to nursing home patients, joining environmental cleanups, taking the Polar Plunge or participating in the NYC Summit for FDNY, we’re proud to roll up our sleeves and contribute to stronger communities.
Below are a few of the important causes for which our employees volunteered nationwide in 2025:
Community by the Numbers
Inclusion & Equity
Connecting with Intention
The Director of Inclusion & Equity role remains central to our governance structure, collaborating directly with the CEO and executive leadership throughout the year. Leading with purpose was a key focus area in 2025, targeting how we can intentionally encourage inclusive behavior throughout the firm. Regular, structured meetings between our Director of Inclusion & Equity and firm leadership revolved around remaining compliant with the evolving legislative landscape and accountable through the reporting of firm metrics and ongoing projects. Staying informed and open via discussions with our executive and management teams was also a central theme, providing them with the information they need to have team conversations regarding the firm’s efforts around inclusivity.
Achieving More, Together
Our Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Action (IDEA) Team held its first in-person workshop for members of the group. Discussions focused on concepts such as intersectionality and building connections to provide a foundation for moving the initiative forward, together. Importantly, IDEA leaders set specific goals, including increasing visibility of the team within the firm to all employees.
Supporting & Propelling our Employees Forward
Our Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) hosted/organized nine events for our workforce this past year, including networking events at our Assurance and Tax annual trainings, and growth webinars focused on finances and self-advocacy. Additionally, the firm sponsored and sent 14 team members to the 2025 AICPA & CIMA Women’s Global Leadership Summit in Nashville, Tennessee — reinforcing our commitment to providing more opportunities for employees to grow professionally, expand their networks and develop critical leadership skills.
Enhancing Our College Recruiting Impact
In addition to our strong campus and experienced hiring programs, we focused on expanding our entry-level recruiting efforts in new ways. In 2025 we began participating in CareerSpring, an organization that helps guide first-generation college students and provides opportunities for professionals to mentor and advise young college-bound students. We also initiated dialogue with organizations such as the Association of Latin Professionals for America (ALPFA) to further strengthen our talent pipeline.
Quality & Training
Creating a Custom Learning Experience
Encouraging lifelong learning in our industry is critical to creating and maintaining the highest caliber service teams for clients. Our professional development efforts are aligned with evolving standards, firm priorities and identified learning needs across the organization. As such, in 2025 we focused on tailoring our educational and development programs to our professionals in a variety of ways. In addition to achieving our new NASBA Self-Study accreditation, we:
- Conducted a comprehensive analysis of our professional development needs for experienced managers and above to determine learning opportunities across the organization, helping us create tailored and impactful learning programs. As part of the process, we interviewed 150 stakeholders, team managers and prior attendees/nonattendees of professional development programs to identify skill gaps and learner needs and priorities for career advancement and growth opportunities.
- Launched audit and tax level-based learning for Staff and Seniors in partnership with GAAP Dynamics and Becker Professional Education. These level-based structured development experiences ensure a tailored depth of learning and help our professionals strengthen their technical foundation, prepare for new challenges and build skills aligned with their career path.
- Developed and launched three, multi-day blended learning journeys to help onboard all assurance new hires, giving them the technical skills required as they begin auditing. The blended learning is powered by Amplifire, an AI-enabled, neuroscience-backed adaptive learning tool. It includes self-study courses and virtual workshops led by subject matter experts. Adding this assurance-focused developmental opportunity allows us to leverage asynchronous learning in a virtual environment without losing personal connections.
Training by the Numbers
Efficiencies & Technology
Governing for the Future of Technology
As part of our ongoing and evolving Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy focused on helping our firm more efficiently and effectively deliver services to clients, in 2025 we created Cohen & Co’s AI Governance Committee to help drive our efforts.
Chaired by our Chief Information Officer, the Committee is a cross-functional team responsible for providing oversight of the firm’s AI-related policies, projects and solutions. The team is comprised of nine professionals from areas across the firm, including Information Technology, Risk, Marketing, People & Culture, Assurance, Tax and Advisory. Key areas of the Committee’s oversight include the following:
- Setting overall direction for AI use within the firm, supporting an appropriate balance between managing risk and pursuing opportunity.
- Reviewing, approving or rejecting proposals for new AI uses and projects.
- Implementing a recurring program to drive firmwide AI literacy and adoption, with a focus on responsible and ethical use to create more effective business practices and improve overall quality.
- Monitoring ongoing AI use for alignment with firm policies and expectations, and to take appropriate corrective action when needed.
Taking Steps Forward
Focused on strategy, risk and rewards, and in conjunction with the AI Governance Committee and executive leadership, below are a few of our AI enhancements and achievements this past year:
- Revised our firm’s AI Acceptable Use Policy to ensure our policies and practices keep up with technology and the firm’s needs. The policy outlines guidelines, expectations for use and data quality, and consequences for failure to comply.
- Licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot across the entire firm, after a multistep pilot program involving 350-plus team members.
- Launched an AI Resource Center, serving as a hub for all internal AI-related information. This central destination provides tools, training and guidance on using AI across our organization — from learning how to streamline everyday tasks, explore new capabilities or learn best practices to help employees work smarter, faster and with confidence.
- Implemented a series of AI-enabled tools to drive efficiency and quality within our business processes, such as AI-powered research and analytical tools.
Mapping a Course For Success
As we continue to chart new paths forward for success, for both employees and the firm, we are proud of the employee feedback and camaraderie we experienced over this past year:
Our Cohen Celebrates program offers a peer-to-peer recognition system to reward and acknowledge each other on a job well done, lend encouragement or express gratitude. This year’s top recognition categories included Thanks and Appreciation, Birthday Wishes and Congratulations.
In 2025:
11,000+ employee ecards were sent
147,000+ points were given from colleagues to colleagues (redeemable for gift cards and charitable donations)
94% of the firm logged in to participate
Employees derive a strong sense of purpose from their roles, recognizing their efforts directly influence the firm’s success.*
Employees perceive the firm as a place where they can grow, stretch and take on meaningful challenges that build their careers.*
*Feedback from our 2025 employee engagement survey.