Get to know Eli Bernholtz from the Montreal Assurance and Accounting team

People tend to think accountants only focus on compliance work. Although assurance is one of the core services Eli provides to clients, he focuses on delivering more than just a financial statement. Learn more about him in this Q&A.

What is your approach to networking?

My networking starts with my community and that's where a lot of my clients come from.  I'm not originally from Montreal. I was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. When I was 13, I moved to Israel finished high school there and continued studying there. When I was 23, I moved to Montreal. Having been exposed to different cultures in different languages has taught me how to adapt very quickly to new environments.  

During my time living in Montreal, I’ve integrated very easily into the Jewish community. Even though the community is large, it is still tight knit. I know and meet a lot of people, and I see many of them on a regular basis. People in the community like to talk about their business and their day to day challenges. The more people you meet, the more chances you will have to potentially help someone. 

And when you get to know people, you start to trust them. That makes it easy for me to network.

Is there a specific niche you like to focus on? Why?

I have always liked the real estate and construction space. That's where I spend about 50 to 60 percent of my time throughout the year.

I focus on it partially because of my community. A lot of people I know are in the industry, so I have access to the real estate and construction ecosystem, and I'm exposed to industry dynamics. 

I find real estate and construction immensely interesting and challenging, and that’s why I’ve spent so much time working with these clients. The transactions are constant, and they always create some interesting ramifications, whether it involves tax, valuations, succession planning; you name it.

It's never a simple trade, where someone buys something overseas and sells it and moves on. There's more to it and much more that MNP can help with.

How do you add value for your clients?

I'll tell you a story. In the summer of 2020, a connection told me about a manufacturing plant that was doing very well, but they had some accounting issues that needed sorting out. The owners are a family living in my community. I didn't know the owners personally, but I knew of them.

Going into the meeting, I thought we'd discuss accounting and how we could help them with those specific needs. We talked about their business for nearly two hours and they never once mentioned accounting. Maybe once at the end, but what we really discussed were other areas of improvement for the plant such as HR management, operations, processes, etc. 

I took a very open-minded approach to this conversation: this business needed help with accounting, but first let’s focus on where their real issues lie. And that’s the difference.

I add value by listening. If someone tells me they need compliance with audit or financial statements or tax, I'm happy to do it. But the added value comes from actively listening and recognizing underlying issues or opportunities for growth. I can show them how important the opportunity is and how they can leverage our services to fix an issue or improve upon a strength.

To learn how Eli can add value to your team, contact him at 514.228.7900 or [email protected]