Accounting Staff and Certified Accountants in Erie, PA

Lisa Maas, President and Founder of Small Business Alternatives, has 30 years of experience in the industry. In addition to managing a staff of 5 individuals, she also prepares over 1,000 income tax returns each year and assists over 200 businesses on an ongoing basis with their bookkeeping, payroll services, payroll tax preparation, financial reporting.

After earning her B.A. in Accounting from Edinboro University in 1982, Lisa went right into the field by becoming a Tax Preparer for a large national organization where she learned the real-world aspects of preparing individual and small business tax returns. Rising in her career, Lisa took a job for the next five years as Chief Accountant & Internal Auditor for a small commercial bank in Northwestern PA (National Bank of North East). Lisa's day to day activities here involved working with the Board of Directors and an External Audit Firm on financial and audit reporting for the bank. 

From there, Lisa had her sights set on helping small businesses succeed from inception, and she transitioned to the Gannon University Small Business Development Center in Erie, PA. Working as a Business Consultant and Assistant Director, she met with individuals and business owners and assisted with them on their business start up, business planning, loan assistance and work with existing businesses to assist with specific financial, management and marketing assistance. During her 5 years at the SBDC, Lisa met with over 1,000 individuals and  businesses each year. One of Lisa's favorite activities while working there involved the development and presentation of workshops for individuals who were planning to start their own businesses.

All while balancing a busy family life, Lisa also became an Adjunct Professor at Gannon University, where she taught undergraduate business classes (Principals of Accounting & Entrepreneurship) for Freshman and Sophomores until 1995, when Small Business Alternatives entered its third year of operations. Since that time, Lisa has volunteered on countless boards and committees and continues to serve the Northwestern Pennsylvania region that she loves dearly. Outside of work, Lisa enjoys just about everything our wonderful world has to offer. She is almost never seen without a smile and she always has a positive outlook on life.