Karen Snodgrass oversees Cray Kaiser’s tax division, with niche expertise in closely held and family-owned businesses. In her tax planning work, she minimizes liability at the entity and individual level by helping clients think through the tax implications of their decisions throughout the year.

The leaders of family-owned businesses, whose personal lives mingle with their business lives, share more with Karen than their 1099s. They share their financial heart and soul. For Karen, that’s an honor. So she aims to do more than meet tax goals. Before asking clients to sign a single dotted line, she picks up the phone to inform and educate them.

That’s the common thread that runs through her diverse specialties: a commitment to sharing knowledge. Having successfully navigated evolving tax codes for 20-plus years—more than 15 of which she spent at Cray Kaiser—Karen leads seminars on tax law updates at the firm. Based on her ongoing analysis of the effects of new laws, the firm’s reputation for excellence in tax services is unmatched.

With Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame, Karen also gives presentations on tax and business finance topics to groups like the Entrepreneur and Family Business Council at DePaul University.

Community: Memberships: AICPA, Illinois CPA Society, Notre Dame Clubs, Exclusive Professional Women’s Networking Group, Trusted Advisors Council.