team-star-background
Hayes HokansonBook a Meeting

Hayes Hokanson

TITLE

Principal

HOMETOWN

Encinitas, CA

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

26

EDUCATION

ucsbdiego
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.

— Helen Keller

Hayes shares a similar path with other Dark Horse CPAs. Like her colleague Niki Potter, she was a Gaucho who got her accounting degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and moved to North County, San Diego. Like Suzi Drennen, she is a long-time resident of Cardiff (20 years!) who can be spotted at the beach on the reg. Like many DH CPAs, she started her career at one of the Big Four (Ernst & Young). And, like all Dark Horses, her desire to advance her career and life and to do something wildly different from "accounting as usual" lead her here. She loves problem-solving and learning new things in a collaborative fashion, so the move to Dark Horse...well, it just made sense.

Hayes grew up in Dallas, Texas but found a better lifestyle fit in Southern California after coming out for her undergrad studies. She decided to deepen her roots in the region by starting her career at E&Y in San Diego and, shortly after that, earning her MBA at San Diego State University. After working for 12 years in the corporate accounting and finance world, she decided to go out on her own, providing a host of accounting services to small businesses and startups. Along the way, she gained deep knowledge and experience in forensic accounting.

When not cleaning up and perfecting financial statements, you can find Hayes on a walk (with her yellow lab, Hank), a jog, hiking, camping, surfing, hanging out at the beach or watching her kids play sports. In other words, you probably won't find her inside. Hayes met her husband, Jeff, in college at UCSB and has been married to him for 20 years. They started their family in Cardiff, which includes the aforementioned 4-legged friend, Beau (15), Lyla (12) and Farrah (9). They are (surprise, surprise) quite active and always on the go, like their mom

About

Hayes shares a similar path with other Dark Horse CPAs. Like her colleague Niki Potter, she was a Gaucho who got her accounting degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and moved to North County, San Diego. Like Suzi Drennen, she is a long-time resident of Cardiff (20 years!) who can be spotted at the beach on the reg. Like many DH CPAs, she started her career at one of the Big Four (Ernst & Young). And, like all Dark Horses, her desire to advance her career and life and to do something wildly different from "accounting as usual" lead her here. She loves problem-solving and learning new things in a collaborative fashion, so the move to Dark Horse...well, it just made sense.

Hayes grew up in Dallas, Texas but found a better lifestyle fit in Southern California after coming out for her undergrad studies. She decided to deepen her roots in the region by starting her career at E&Y in San Diego and, shortly after that, earning her MBA at San Diego State University. After working for 12 years in the corporate accounting and finance world, she decided to go out on her own, providing a host of accounting services to small businesses and startups. Along the way, she gained deep knowledge and experience in forensic accounting.

When not cleaning up and perfecting financial statements, you can find Hayes on a walk (with her yellow lab, Hank), a jog, hiking, camping, surfing, hanging out at the beach or watching her kids play sports. In other words, you probably won't find her inside. Hayes met her husband, Jeff, in college at UCSB and has been married to him for 20 years. They started their family in Cardiff, which includes the aforementioned 4-legged friend, Beau (15), Lyla (12) and Farrah (9). They are (surprise, surprise) quite active and always on the go, like their mom

Nancy R.

I have used James Larsen as my CPA for many years and am confident in his work ethic and tax knowledge.

Get a personable & experienced CPA who will partner with you to achieve unparalleled results.

Get Started
horse-imagetext-image

Join the Team

Fill out the following form so that we can determine where you might be a fit at Dark Horse. We'll reach out shortly thereafter to get in touch.

soc2
SOC 2® Compliant.

Dark Horse has achieved the AICPA's highest standard for the safeguarding of sensitive data through passing a SOC 2 audit.
Learn more here.