Photo of Lonnie Maxwell Cook

I occasionally ride my sport quad with friends up north and have been daring enough to ride/skip my quad across ponds and other water bodies.
Lonnie Maxwell-Cook
Partner, CPA, CCIFP

Experience

I enjoy helping my clients to optimize their financial and tax decisions to successfully grow their businesses — regardless of which industry they’re in. My specialty is closely held businesses for contractors, manufacturers, and A&E firms. I also lead our national heavy civil construction practice and the Taft-Hartley Employee Benefit Plan group, which gives me a unique understanding of the innerworkings of fringe benefits and governmental reporting requirements.

As the real estate and construction regional leader for Greater Michigan, my role is to drive success in our growth goals through staff who have chosen the real estate and construction industry as their focus. Through collaboration with other regional leaders, we strive to provide a consistent experience for our staff through monthly financial reporting, connection to the group as a whole, and servant leadership — which translates to a consistent client experience as well.

For more than 20 years, I’ve protected my clients’ assets and provided strategic advice that has enhanced their net worth. My specialized experience in the construction industry — I was once a painting contractor — gives me the unique ability to understand business operations. I have extensive experience with various methods of accounting, including percentage of completion, completed contract, cash method, ASC 606, and optimizing the tax accounting rules to enhance my clients’ cash flow. I have experience also with corporate succession planning, strategic corporate planning, retaining talent retention in the construction industry, and personal balance sheet planning.

I often speak at CFMA national and local events and at other industry conferences, such as the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) national conference on benefit trends and regulations. I belong to the AICPA, the MICPA, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, the Lansing chapter of the Construction Financial Management Association (board member), and the Downtown Flint Rotary Club. I have a B.B.A. in accounting from Northwood University.

Outside of work, my favorite ways to spend time are hanging out with my family and golfing with friends.