About — The Firm

Our Story

HJK Advisors is a tax, accounting, and advisory firm dedicated to delivering sophisticated, personalized services to businesses, entrepreneurs, high-net-worth individuals, trusts, estates, nonprofit organizations, and family offices. We combine deep technical expertise with a disciplined, client-centered approach to help clients navigate complex financial, accounting, and tax matters with clarity and confidence.

Our services extend well beyond traditional tax compliance — proactive tax planning, outsourced accounting, payroll support, private client services, business advisory, trust and estate tax services, and financial statement and attest services. Offering this range of complementary services allows us to take an integrated view of each client's financial picture, considering both immediate needs and long-term objectives rather than treating each engagement in isolation.

Effective advice begins with understanding the client. Every business, family, and organization has its own structure, priorities, and challenges. We take the time to understand how our clients operate, where complexities exist, and what they are working to achieve — providing practical, thoughtful advice tailored to each client's specific circumstances rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

While our foundation is rooted in large-firm experience, HJK Advisors is intentionally structured to operate differently. In contrast to the growing trend toward high-volume, transactional service models, we remain grounded in the traditional principles of the accounting profession: technical excellence, professional integrity, responsiveness, accountability, and enduring client relationships.

Our clients benefit from direct access to experienced professionals who understand their history and remain actively involved in their matters. Rather than treating tax, accounting, and advisory work as separate annual projects, we stay engaged with clients throughout the year, addressing issues and opportunities as they arise rather than only at deadlines.

At HJK Advisors, clients are more than engagements — they are long-term relationships built on trust, expertise, responsiveness, and accountability.

What Sets Us Apart

An Integrated View

A full range of complementary services — tax, outsourced accounting, payroll, private client, advisory, trust and estate, and attest — lets us consider each client's complete financial picture rather than treating engagements in isolation.

Large-Firm Experience

Our team brings backgrounds at nationally recognized accounting firms — institutional-quality experience with complex structures, significant transactions, multi-state matters, and sophisticated reporting needs.

Year-Round Partnership

Rather than treating tax, accounting, and advisory work as separate annual projects, we stay engaged throughout the year — addressing issues and opportunities as they arise, not only at deadlines.

Relationship-Driven

We remain grounded in the traditional principles of the profession: technical excellence, professional integrity, responsiveness, accountability, and enduring client relationships.

Principles

Our Mission & Values

Every decision at HJK Advisors flows from a clear set of principles that have guided our firm since day one.

Integrity

We give clients the unvarnished truth — even when it is not what they want to hear. Our advice is never shaped by what is easiest; it is shaped by what is right.

Excellence

Mediocre work has no place here. Every return, every report, and every memo is reviewed to the standard we would want applied to our own finances.

Innovation

Tax law changes. Markets shift. Technology evolves. We invest continuously in staying ahead so our clients benefit from the most current strategies and tools available.

Client-First

Our success is measured by our clients' outcomes, not billable hours. We structure our practice to align with long-term relationships, not transactional engagements.

The Partners

Meet Our Team

New YorkCPA

Aaron Lerner, CPA

Managing Partner

Aaron Lerner is the Managing Partner of HJK Advisors, with over 20 years of experience in public accounting and tax advisory services. A Certified Public Accountant licensed in New York, Aaron has built his career advising businesses and individuals on complex tax matters with a practical, solutions-oriented approach.

Prior to co-founding HJK Advisors, Aaron worked at Big Four and large international CPA firms, where he developed broad experience serving a diverse client base — including closely held businesses, real estate investors, and high-net-worth individuals across a wide range of tax planning and compliance matters.

Aaron's primary focus is tax advisory, with deep expertise in the real estate industry. He has extensive experience structuring transactions, designing tax-efficient ownership arrangements, and advising on acquisitions, dispositions, and ongoing operations. His work frequently involves complex partnership structures and multi-entity organizations.

Beyond planning and structuring, Aaron regularly represents clients before federal and state tax authorities, guiding them through examinations and other tax matters. He is known for managing complexity while keeping communication clear and practical.

As Managing Partner, Aaron is focused on delivering high-quality service, building long-term client relationships, and providing thoughtful, responsive guidance tailored to each client's situation.

New YorkCPA

John Mustaro, CPA

Partner | Audit & Outsourced Accounting

John Mustaro is a Partner at HJK Advisors, leading the firm's audit and outsourced accounting practice. With a background spanning audit, accounting, and tax, John brings a well-rounded perspective to financial reporting, operational processes, and client service.

John has extensive experience working with privately held businesses across a range of industries, providing audit and attest services and overseeing outsourced accounting engagements. He is known for his hands-on approach — working closely with clients to ensure accurate financial reporting, efficient processes, and practical solutions to day-to-day accounting challenges.

His foundation in tax allows John to consider broader financial implications when advising clients, helping bridge compliance and strategic decision-making in a way that a purely audit-focused background might not.

Clients appreciate John's direct communication style and candid perspective. He is highly engaged and detail-oriented, with a focus on addressing issues as they arise and ensuring nothing important goes unnoticed.

As a leader within the firm, John is focused on delivering reliable service, maintaining strong client relationships, and supporting the continued growth of HJK Advisors' audit and accounting practice.