William Timlen, CPA, has more than three decades of experience in tax, accounting, and management. He focuses on partnership taxation and passive activity loss rules, with a strong understanding of profit-and-loss allocations and distributions. He advises borrowers on the tax implications of debt restructurings and distressed real estate transactions, including foreclosures, deeds-in-lieu, and bankruptcy. He also works closely with real estate owners and developers on strategic tax planning. He supports high-net-worth individuals and families, including assistance during complex federal and state tax examinations.
He joined a New York-based firm in 2016 as a Tax Partner in the Real Estate Group. The firm is recognized as a top 15 international tax advisory organization. Over the past 10 years, William has generated more than $2 million in new business, including $1 million in 2018. His work has involved some of the largest participants in the New York City real estate market. He also enhanced the NYC Real Estate Group's capacity and technical strength by recruiting experienced professionals across both tax and audit practices.
As part of the Real Estate Group Leadership Committee, he helps guide the Real Estate Practice's direction. His responsibilities include contributing to thought leadership, supporting business development, assisting with education initiatives, and shaping branding efforts.
He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Timlen began his career in 1993 as a Staff Accountant at Lear & Pannepacker, CPAs, in Princeton, New Jersey. During his four years there, he prepared tax workpapers and completed federal and state partnership, individual, corporate, and trust tax returns. He also prepared, compiled, and reviewed financial statement reports, researched various tax matters, and assisted managers with client-related tax correspondence.
In 1998, he joined KPMG, LLP as a Supervising Senior. In that role, he prepared detailed audit workpapers for international Fortune 100 companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. This work helped him build a solid understanding of audit procedures and financial reporting for large organizations.
He later founded his accounting firm, Timlen & Company, based in Princeton, New Jersey. His firm focused on tax consulting for high-net-worth individuals, real estate partnerships, and corporations. Within the first three years, William generated more than $600K in annual revenue. He developed strong client relationships, created structured tax planning strategies, implemented management advisory recommendations, and provided detailed tax research to support client tax planning.
After 10 years of running his own firm, he accepted a position as Tax Manager at Wiener, Frushtick & Straub in New York. In this role, he provided primary and top-side review of complex partnership, corporate, trust, and individual tax returns. He recommended like-kind exchange transactions for clients in the real estate industry, helping them defer millions of dollars in taxes. He also conducted tax research to support compliance and planning and represented clients during tax examinations before the IRS and state taxing authorities.
He then moved to Friedman, LLP, as Tax Principal in the Real Estate Group, where he worked for seven years before joining his current organization. In this role, William Timlen delivered tax and consulting services to a broad client base, including large multinational real estate and development companies, professional service firms, and high-net-worth individuals.
He served as the lead tax contact for one of the firm’s largest and most profitable accounts. He was responsible for maintaining and developing the client relationship, leading the tax engagement, billing for and collecting on tax-related services, and managing a team of tax managers and senior staff. He also focused on business development by identifying cross-selling opportunities within the firm’s existing client base and developing new business through relationship-building and professional networking.
He was also part of a management group responsible for identifying opportunities and providing practical recommendations to improve the NYC Tax Department's efficiency, effectiveness, profitability, and morale.
Timlen attended Providence College in Rhode Island, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. During his time there, he pitched in the Division 1 Baseball program for four years.
He attended Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, where he was an All-State Baseball Player for two years.
He was born and raised in New Jersey and now lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his family. William is married to Heather and has two sons who are in college. His son Tyler is a senior at the University of Connecticut, and Jack is a junior at the University of Miami. He follows UConn basketball and the University of Miami football closely.
He is also an avid golfer and a member of the Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich. He enjoys traveling across the United States and abroad.
He will be celebrating his 55th birthday this May. William Timlen continues to maintain a steady balance between his professional responsibilities and his personal life.
