Meet Our Team

Sonya Coates began her career with HLB Gross Collins, P.C. after receiving her Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from the University of Georgia. She is a Senior Audit Manager in the firm's Audit and Advisory Services department.

Specialized Services

Sonya provides auditing, consulting, advisory, and attestation services for privately-held businesses and non-profit organizations. She serves a broad range of clients and has experience in a variety of industries Including the wholesale and retail distribution, manufacturing, construction, education, and service industries. Sonya provides services to clients doing business both domestically and abroad, and she has specialized expertise in International Financial Reporting Standards.

Sonya has experience in assisting clients with IRS audit defense, business sales and acquisitions, business valuations, due diligence, and budgeting and forecasting. She has experience in fraud risk assessment, forensic accounting, and assisting plaintiffs and defense litigators in civil litigation and allegations of white- collar crime. Sonya also has experience in assisting corporate leaders, boards, and audit committees with internal fraud investigations, including providing needed guidance and suggesting important financial controls to prevent potential problems in the future.

Sonya is adept at helping clients to realize their financial success by continually offering improvement strategies, suggestions for strengthening internal controls, and methods of cost reduction. Sonya seeks to establish trusted business relationships with her clients by providing attentive and timely professional services to enhance client operations.

Within the firm, Sonya functions as a quality control reviewer for the auditing and accounting department, maintains the firm's standard auditing and accounting correspondence and reporting templates, oversees audit engagement finalizations, and participates in the firm's peer review processes.