Robert E. Burns founded the firm in Canfield, Ohio as a sole proprietorship in 1968 and moved into Youngstown, Ohio in 1969. The firm then moved to Boardman, Ohio in 1977 and became a service corporation in 1978 upon the admittance of George F. O'Hare and operated under the name of Burns, O'Hare & Co., Inc.. Then, in 1989, the firm admitted A. Dennis Bella and the firm of Burns, O'Hare & Bella, Inc. emerged. On January 1, 2000 the company moved to Canfield, Ohio.

Burns, O'Hare, and Bella is a licensed member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA),the Youngstown/Warren area Chamber of Commerce, and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).