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.

Max Maas, EA, MBA, joined the team at Small Business Alternatives Inc. in July of 2017. Prior to joining SBA, Max worked at BKD, LLP as an audit associate where he worked for a wide variety of clients including manufacturing & distribution, insurance, health care, not-for-profit, and employee benefit plan audits.

Max held various internships while completing his college education where he worked on corporate and individual tax preparation, bookkeeping, financial planning, budgeting & forecasting, and business plans.

Max is also a member of the National Society of Tax Professionals (NSTP) and serves on the Board of Directors of the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park (LEAF) as the Treasurer and on the Board of Directors of the Advance North East Foundation.

He is a 2012 graduate of the University of Dayton with degrees in Accounting and Finance and a 2013 graduate of the University of Dayton with a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) degree with a focus in Accounting.

Laura Hellman is an accountant with over 20 years of experience at Small Business Alternatives. Before joining Small Business Alternatives family, she received her Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Penn State University in 2001. At Small Business Alternatives, she specializes in customer bookkeeping, sales tax preparation, the formation of new business entities, all correspondence to taxing agencies regarding payroll taxes, and payroll tax reporting, including W-2 and 1099 preparation.

Erika Markowitz is the payroll administrator at Small Business Alternatives. Erika graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, and also has her bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education/Elementary Education from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Erika previously worked as a Retail Sales Consultant at Banglz, and was also the Retail Sales Manager at Cellular One, where she managed 5 different branch locations.

Laura, also known as "M" around the office, joined the SBA team in November of 2015. Laura is a 2010 Penn State graduate with a degree in communications. Prior to starting at SBA, Laura spent just over four years in the manufacturing field as an Inside Sales Associate. At Small Business Alternatives, Laura assists in payrolls, bookkeeping and payroll tax preparation among other important tasks.

Jamie is SBA’s newest team member after joining in October of 2019. Jamie attended Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She has been working in the accounting field since 2004. Before joining SBA she worked as a Student Loan Consolidation Specialist, then moved to the small business sector as a bookkeeper in the auto industry. In addition to her accounting background, Jamie also worked in the restaurant industry. Jamie primarily works on customer bookkeeping, payroll, and special assignments, and is always willing to help where needed.