There would be no Bowman & Company if, in 1947, Herb Bowman hadn’t decided to “sit in on” classes that would lead to his becoming a certified public accountant in 1949, the year he founded this firm. “There were only five other CPAs in Stockton at the time,” he recalls.
Herb co-founded the firm with his pal Bob Tout, with whom he’d served in the ROTC, attended Harvard Business School and enlisted as officers in the U.S. Army during World War II. When concerns arose at the time that tax work might infringe upon the practice of law, he and Bob worked with Humphrey’s College to establish a law school. Herb was in the first graduating class and was recently inducted into Humphrey’s Law School Hall of Fame.
Herb Bowman was born and raised in Stockton. He attended Victory Elementary School and Stockton High School. He began college as a Latin major at UC Berkeley, then switched to Economics. His accounting specialties are estate planning and estate and trust taxation.