Closely-Held & Family Business
The firm for owner-operated businesses
Jacobs & Newmark was formed in 1988 to serve businesses where the owner is also the operator, and that is still the practice. Clients come from retail, wholesale, construction, manufacturing, professional services, real estate, and veterinary medicine. The common thread is not an industry but a structure: one or a few owners, personally exposed, making decisions that show up in both the company's return and their own.
Some of the firm's clients have been with it since 1988. Wayne I. Jacobs, CPA began practicing with his father, Irvin Jacobs, CPA, in 1981; Edward P. Newmark, CPA joined in 1988 to form the firm. Both are still here.
That continuity is worth naming plainly, because it is getting rare. Small and mid-sized accounting firms are being consolidated into larger groups at a pace the profession has not seen before, and a client's relationship often does not survive it. Jacobs & Newmark is independently owned and has been since it was formed.
What makes this different
The business return and the personal return are one decision
For an owner-operator, compensation, distributions, retirement contributions, and equipment timing are not separate questions on separate forms. Handled by one firm that sees both, they are a single position.
Nobody in-house to ask
Owner-managed companies usually have a bookkeeper and no controller, which means the accountant is the only person with a full view of the numbers. That is why availability year-round matters more here than at a larger company.
Succession that involves people, not just equity
The exit for a closely-held business is a child, a partner, a manager, or a buyer, and often someone the owner has known for decades. The structuring question and the relationship question arrive at the same time.
Banks that lend to the owner, not the entity
Credit for a closely-held business is generally personally guaranteed, so the lender reads the company's statements and the owner's together. Both have to be right and they have to agree.
What we handle for these clients
Common questions
Closely-Held & Family Business, answered.
- What size businesses does Jacobs & Newmark work with?
- Jacobs & Newmark, P.C. works with small, medium, and large independent businesses. The firm's focus is closely-held and owner-operated companies in the Chicago area across retail, wholesale, construction, manufacturing, professional services, real estate, and veterinary practices.
- Is Jacobs & Newmark part of a larger accounting group?
- No. Jacobs & Newmark, P.C. has been independently owned since it was formed in 1988 by Irvin Jacobs, Wayne Jacobs, and Edward Newmark. It is not part of a consolidated or private-equity-backed accounting group, and clients work with the same firm and the same people year over year.
- Will I work with the same accountant each year?
- Jacobs & Newmark assigns each client account to a named CPA who stays with it. The firm has seven people, two of whom founded it, and some clients have worked with the same accountant at the firm for more than thirty years.
- I'm starting a business in Illinois. Can Jacobs & Newmark help?
- Yes. Jacobs & Newmark handles new business formation, including entity selection, federal and state registration, initial accounting system setup, payroll setup, and the first year's filing calendar. The firm advises on entity choice before it is made. Call (847) 537-0100.
Other industries we specialize in
Tell us about the business.
A first conversation is about what you run, how the books are handled now, and what prompted you to look. If we are the right firm we will say so, and if we are not we will say that too.
- DuPage County
- Wheaton, IL
106 E Liberty Dr., Suite 201 - Lake County
- Buffalo Grove, IL
100 Lexington Dr., Suite 210 - Hours
- Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm