Citrin Cooperman Co-Founder, Niles Citrin, Announces Retirement

Citrin Cooperman announced today that co-founder Niles Citrin will consummate his planned retirement from the firm on June 30th of this year. The partners and employees of the firm want to congratulate Niles on this wonderful milestone. While everyone at the firm wishes him all the best as he enters his next chapter, Niles has been at the core of the firm from the start and his presence, insight, and guidance will be significantly missed.

For over 40 years, Niles has worked side-by-side with co-founder and CEO, Joel Cooperman to build what has become one of the nation’s top 25 largest accounting, tax, and business advisory firms. “I could not have found a better person to be in business with,” said Joel. “Niles often brought a perspective that while different than mine, was always well thought out and because of our mutual respect for each other, we always were able to agree on how to advance our business.”

Their journey began in 1979 when a pair of legendary rock bands provided the seed money needed to found the firm and set up shop in a small New York City apartment. Through their joint vision and mission to enhance the business and personal lives of their clients, Niles and Joel grew Citrin Cooperman into what it is today, a $340m firm with 16 locations and over 1300 partners and employees sharing a passion to provide integrated and innovative solutions to help over 40,000 clients.

The road to becoming a leader in the industry began for Niles as a teenager helping his parents in their local retail business by doing the bookkeeping. After the business was sold, he continued to work with the accountant for the buyer and found himself doing client-facing work. At 22, soon after graduating from college, Niles went on to work at Arthur Andersen where he dove into managing the relationship of a major client. That experience taught him about building relationships and adapting to a variety of situations. That set the foundation for the leadership path for which he was on track.  

At Citrin Cooperman, Niles used his tax expertise to build and drive the firm’s tax service line. In addition, he has been a tireless advocate of the firm and its professionals, always ready to help, assist, and mentor the partners and staff. Niles has always held strong views about leadership specifically that “young leaders must be able to put themselves in the mindset of those they are working with to understand who those people are and what they want to do. Good leaders don't have to have all the answers; instead, they should speak about what they know, be honest, and seek answers when they don't know.” These core principles of his management style are evident in the firm’s overall values and can be seen carried throughout the firm as it has continued to grow and evolve over the years. 

Concerning his impending retirement, Niles said, “This is a bittersweet moment for me. While I will miss my clients, partners and colleagues, there comes a time to pass the baton to others. At age 71, I am ready to do that. I am looking forward to spending more time with my family and having the opportunity to pursue many things that I so often intended to do but couldn’t due to the time demands of my role at the firm. When I look back, I don’t think I ever could have imagined, in 1979, what the firm would become. It’s been an amazing journey, and I look forward to seeing the continued evolution of Citrin Cooperman. As the road ahead moves forward, I know there will be exciting times ahead.”

About Citrin Cooperman: Citrin Cooperman is among the largest, full-service assurance, tax, and business advisory firms in the United States, having steadily built its business serving a diverse and loyal clientele since 1979. Our daily mission is to help our clients “focus on what counts.” Rooted in our core values, we provide a comprehensive, integrated business approach to traditional services, which includes proactive insights throughout the lifecycle of our clients wherever they do business, across the globe. Citrin Cooperman is an independent firm associated with Moore Global Network Limited. citrincooperman.com