Public Accounting Report

Public Accounting Report The Independent Newsletter of the Accounting Profession Since 1978 September 2016 | Volume XL, no. 9 in this issue Moss A...
Author: Solomon Lester
1 downloads 1 Views 249KB Size
Public Accounting Report The Independent Newsletter of the Accounting Profession Since 1978

September 2016 | Volume XL, no. 9

in this issue

Moss Adams Is Happy in Its Own Backyard

1 Moss Adams Is Happy in Its Own Backyard

Seattle-based firm finds vast opportunities in Western U.S.

4 Executive Forum: Firms Deploy Young Professionals as Recruiting Powerhouses

Let’s start with the basics: Moss Adams (FY15 revenue: $477 million; 273 partners, 1,672 nonpartner professionals, 2,507 total staff as of July 31, 2016) is the largest non-Big Four firm based in the Western U.S. Headquartered in Seattle, it serves clients from 29 offices. These include multiple locations in the states of Washington, Oregon and California, and additional offices in Phoenix; Albuquerque, N.M.; Dallas and Austin, Texas; and Kansas City, Kan. By revenue, it is the 14th-largest U.S. public accounting firm, according to PAR’s 2016 Top 10 U.S. Accounting Firms Survey. This description says a great deal about what Moss Adams is but is equally informative as to what Moss Adams is not: It is not a national firm. It does have a national practice strategy, with clients across the U.S., and serves clients’ international needs, particularly those related to Asia. But, as Moss Adams Chairman and CEO Chris Schmidt told PAR in an interview, it currently does not have ambitions to become a national firm. Instead, it is steadfast, and quite at home, thank you, in its commitment to the Western U.S., with a noteworthy focus on California. Schmidt, 57, assumed his current roles with Moss Adams in 2013 and was recently re-elected to continue in those posts until June 30, 2022. In explaining the firm’s strategy, he recalled that five or six years ago, the firm’s leadership observed that competitors were evaluating their national branding and the need to establish a major market presence in such cities as Chicago, New York or Washington, D.C. “We stepped back and thought, ‘What do we need to be? We’re not a national firm. We want to practice in industry groups that will take us across the country where appropriate, but we feel we have this gigantic opportunity in the West,’” Schmidt explained. “Basically, what we said is, ‘Let’s get really good in our current market, the middle market, and make sure that we’re taking advantage of the opportunities that we have in our backyard. If we’re smart with private equity and venture capital, and we do a better job at branding and connecting our clients to

6 Guest Column: Don’t Doom Your Firm with Inflexible Growth Strategies 7 People, Firms and Promotions

November 30, 2016

2

public accounting report

them and creating those relationships, we won’t need to be in New York or Chicago.’” Per a 2014 ranking in the Puget Sound Business Journal, Moss Adams is the largest firm (by number of CPAs) in the Puget Sound region of Washington, which includes the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia. Schmidt noted, however, that the firm recognized long ago that California “is one of our most important markets, if not the most important market, with 38 million people and multiple industries.” “We set out to make sure that we positioned ourselves as a great middle-market firm in California, and we stayed focused on it.” Moss Adams has been a niche-based firm for more than 30 years and goes to market through

Public Accounting Report

Retrospective: Moss Adams LLP 7/31/16

FY15

FY14

FY13

FY12

FY11

Annual Net Revenue ($M)



477

429

403

344

323

% Change



11.2

6.5

17.2

6.5

6.5

Staffing Partners Nonpartner Professionals Administrative Staff Total Staff

273

268

264

263

243

238

1,672

1,564

1,381

1,328

1,132

1,091

562

522

513

473

386

394

2,507

2,354

2,158

2,064

1,761

1,723

29

24

23

23

22

21

Offices

Revenue Mix ($M) A&A



214.65

197.34

181.35

178.88

165.00

Tax



176.49

158.73

153.14

113.52

113.00

Consulting



85.86

72.93

68.51

51.60

45.00

Editor’s Note: Moss Adams’s fiscal year ends on Dec. 31. Source: Firm data, PAR analysis

Public Accounting Report

Moss Adams LLP: 2016 Acquisitions Revenue and Staffing Firm

Contineo

Location Effective date of acquisition

Morse Wittwer Sampson

CF Accountants & Consultants

Spokane, Wash.

Fresno, Calif.

Dallas

Jan. 1, 2016

June 30, 2016

June 30, 2016

Totals

2015 Revenue ($M)

2

3

11

16

Partners

1

4

7

12

Nonpartner professionals

9

10

38

57

Administrative staff Total staff Offices

3

3

10

16

13

17

55

85

1

1

1

3

Editor’s Note: Revenue figures indicate actual 2015 revenue for respective firms. Source: Moss Adams LLP, PAR research

PUBLIC ACCOUNTING REPORT The Independent Newsletter of the Accounting Profession Since 1978 Editor Julie Lindy [email protected] Senior Contributing Editor Bryan Powell [email protected]

Journals and Newsletters

Email Alert for the Current Issue Sign Up Here...

CCHGroup.com/Email/Journals

Contributing Editors Carrie Kostelec [email protected] Sandra Lim [email protected] Editorial Assistant Raghavendra Kaup Production Editor Craig Arritola

Volume XL, No. 9

PUBLIC ACCOUNTING REPORT (ISSN 0161-309X) is published monthly by Wolters Kluwer, 2700 Lake Cook Road, Riverwoods, Illinois 60015. Subscription inquiries should be directed to 2700 Lake Cook Road, Riverwoods, IL 60015. Phone: 800.449.8114 | Fax: 773.866.3895 | Email: [email protected] Permissions requests: Requests for permission to reproduce content should be directed to Wolters Kluwer, permissions@cch. com. Photocopying or reproducing in any form in whole or in part is a violation of federal copyright law and is strictly forbidden without the publisher’s consent. No claim is made to original governmental works; however, within this product or publication, the following are subject to Wolters Kluwer’s copyright: (1) the gathering, compilation, and arrangement of such government materials; (2) the magnetic translation and digital conversion of data, if applicable; (3) the historical, statutory, and other notes and references; and (4) the commentary and other materials. © 2016 CCH Incorporated and its affiliates. All rights reserved.

September 2016 | Volume XL, no. 9

its industry groups, Schmidt said. The firm’s leading industry groups, in terms of growth and development of staff, include technology; construction and real estate; manufacturing and distribution; natural resources/agribusiness; and healthcare. Regarding technology, Schmidt said that Seattle is the “cloud-based capital of the country,” and noted the hotbeds of tech growth and innovation in California, including the Silicon Valley, San Francisco and the southern part of the state. “In the West, I think [there is a] mindset of continuous improvement and innovation,” Schmidt said. “That creativity, innovation … your clients expect you to bring it to them when you solve their problems and issues, and that is something that we embraced. When you look at all of the people moving to San Francisco, and all of things that [companies] have done in the tech spaces, it just sets an expectation.” The agribusiness, real estate and M&D groups are likely to benefit from the acquisition of Fresno, Calif.-based Morse Wittwer Sampson, which was effective June 30. The firm generated $3 million in 2015 revenue, and the deal added four partners, 10 nonpartner professionals and 17 total staff. (See table, Moss Adams LLP: 2016 Acquisitions, page 2.) Also effective June 30, Moss Adams acquired Dallasbased CF Accountants & Consultants. The firm posted 2015 revenue of $11 million; the deal added seven partners, 38 nonpartner professionals and 55 total staff to Moss Adams’ Dallas practice. The deal will bolster Moss Adams’s resources in serving the financial services industry, especially broker-dealers and hedge funds, as well as real estate clients and high net worth individuals. Moss Adams initially entered the Lone Star state on Jan. 1, 2015, with the acquisition of the regulatory compliance and financial consulting portion of CHR Solutions Inc., a telecommunications company, which included six professionals in Dallas. The firm subsequently added 27 local hires and transfers from within the firm, including “a handful of partners,” Schmidt explained. In keeping with the firm’s West-centricity, Schmidt revealed that the firm’s expansion into Texas was not part of

its strategic plan but was instead a response to prodding from clients who had relocated there. “Our clients pulled us to Texas. They went there and wanted us to go there with them,” Schmidt explained. “We’ve had many clients leave California, particularly Southern California, and relocate to Texas, primarily to Dallas. Over the past few years, we were getting pressed by those clients for our plans: ‘When are going to open up an office in Dallas? When are you going to be on the ground taking care of us?’” These 2016 acquisitions are in addition to the Jan. 1 combination with Contineo, a Spokane, Wash.-based consulting firm ($2 million revenue in 2015; one partner, nine nonpartner professionals, 13 total staff) that provided information technology security, regulatory compliance and internal audit services to financial services organizations. Moss Adams did not acquire Contineo’s outsourced IT services practice. Looking forward, Schmidt said that the firm is in the midst of a long-term plan targeting $800 million in revenue by 2020, which would roughly double its $403 million in revenue for the FYE December 2013. The plan also includes staffing objectives. “We wanted to be clear to our partners and our team members that it wasn’t just a revenue goal. We were also looking to significantly increase the number of partners and team members,” he said. The firm, which reported 2,064 total staff in FY13, is targeting an increase to approximately 4,000 in 2020, with growth across all levels of staffing. “What we’ve tried to do is to connect the two [objectives]. A growing firm is a successful firm, and when we grow as a successful firm, we create career opportunities for [staff members], and that’s the connection point,” he said. In addition to maintaining its focus on the Western U.S., Moss Adams is working to expand its capacity to serve its clients’ needs in the Asia Pacific region. “We just got approval from the executive committee to start up a location in Shanghai or Hong Kong, and that plan is in the works as we speak. A lot of inbound and outbound work [goes through] Seattle and San Francisco, the Bay Area, and we feel like we need to move more quickly on it,” Schmidt said. 

3

4

public accounting report

executive forum

Firms Deploy Young Professionals as Recruiting Powerhouses Research shows that young professionals are a powerful resource in campus recruiting. This month, firm executives discuss the roles their young team members play in attracting newly minted talent, how they’re selected for recruiting duties and how they’re rewarded for efforts to attract new talent. Bill Gorman, COO, RSM U.S. LLP/ Chicago (FY16 net revenue: $1.8 billion (as of Apr. 30, 2016); 785 partners; 9,100 total staff, 86 offices): Our goal as an enterprise is to treat all potential hires at the college campuses that we focus on Bill Gorman for audit, tax and consulting candidates as clients and potential clients. Our professionals are aligned with schools based on their interests, alumni status and other relevant criteria, while also ensuring that they exemplify RSM’s core values of respect, integrity, teamwork, excellence and stewardship. Our goal in cultivating the talent and client experience is to enroll everyone as RSM promoters. Our professionals are involved in employer-of-theday recognitions, career fairs, Beta Alpha Psi presentations, resume reviews, classroom presentations and on-campus interviews. We want to teach our young professionals the art of networking, and having them involved in campus events helps facilitate their learning. Through these events, our young professionals build networks of professors, candidates and other peers of the firm who might be in other lines of business, and they also learn how to share the RSM story with active candidates. These individuals are also involved in our external programs, internships and with our new hire associates. In addition, our young professionals have the opportunity to teach and be a part of line-ofbusiness panels and advisory boards. This empowers them to build delegation chains internally. We understand that we have to develop our people on an ongoing basis so they can consistently add value to our clients. Incentives for our

young staff include participation in the hiring process, so they help hire people they want to work with. In addition, participation in outside activities such as campus recruiting is assessed during year-end performance evaluations and used as one criterion for determining overall performance. Frequently, our young staff members approach our recruiting team to become involved with campus recruiting, and our recruiting proactively asks people as well. Recruiting is fun and engaging, and it allows our young professionals to use skills outside of their typical, technical skills sets, providing them with valuable people skills to enhance their peer and client interactions. Marc D. Fleischman, CEO, BeachFleischman/Tucson, Ariz. (FY15 net revenue: $23.65 million; 24 partners; 150 total staff, two offices): Our young professionals play key roles in BeachFleischman’s Marc D. Fleischman campus recruiting efforts. Whether it’s representing the firm at “Meet the Firms” events, career panels or presentations to student groups, our young professionals are skilled at offering career advice and providing insights into working at BeachFleischman. We’re very proactive with regards to recruiting on campus, where staff attend “Meet the Firms” career fairs at four different colleges in the state and region. We have also developed good relationships with the colleges’ accounting departments and offer job shadowing opportunities for their students. Our young professionals are incentivized to participate in recruiting by having influence and a say in who we hire, which helps shape the future of our firm. Additionally, they are rewarded with gift cards for their recruiting involvement. As far as our selection process naming young professionals to our recruiting team, we look for career-minded, motivated, passionate people who can effectively represent our firm and engage with our top candidates.

September 2016 | Volume XL, no. 9

Bill Carr, managing partner, Carr, Riggs & Ingram/Enterprise, Ala. (FY15 net revenue: $195 million; 151 partners; 1,320 total staff, 24 offices): For campus recruiting, our young professionals are the “faces of the firm.” They are very acBill Carr tive at career fairs, Beta Alpha Psi “Meet the Firms” events, office visits and other activities. We’ve found that alumni are excited to go back to their universities and tell current students about their CRI experience. Therefore, when choosing campus recruiting participants for a particular school, we first look to their alumni. We then choose alumni who are top performers, knowledgeable about CRI’s value proposition, passionate about the firm and professional in their presence and demeanor. Our young professionals are very excited to participate in campus recruitment. We have numerous examples of these professionals being willing to do whatever it takes to contribute to the firm’s success in recruiting—even immediately following a hectic busy season.

Andy Armanino

Andy Armanino, managing partner, Armanino LLP/San Ramon, Calif. (FY15 net revenue: $164.25 million; 80 partners; 710 total staff; nine offices): Our young professionals are often firm ambassadors in building relationships with faculty

and potential recruits. University faculty are key to building brand awareness on campus and driving interest from students who will be tomorrow’s professionals. Firm staff involvement in campus recruiting efforts is recognized in firmwide communications and rewarded individually during the review process. At Armanino, we’ve made an effort to provide “recruitment education” for all staff who want to get involved. This training outlines involvement expectations and objectives and encourages surfacing firm values like empowerment, wickedly smart, positive energy and a firm-first attitude. We’re also recruiting with a diverse representation of our firm in all aspects, including career level. It’s important that tomorrow’s professionals not only learn what to expect as they enter the profession but that they see what can be achieved in their careers over the long term. Diane Medley, managing partner, MCM CPAs and Advisors/ Louisville, Ky. (FY15 net revenue: $43.2 million; 37 partners; 265 total staff, four offices): We actively engage our young professionals in our recruiting process, as we believe they are most Diane Medley in touch with what the students want from an employer and a career. Our team participates in campus visits, interview sessions and class presentations. Those team members who have shown a propensity to engage others and routinely show MCM pride will be asked to participate in our recruitment process. Our employees are our strongest stewards of MCM and our brand. 

Correction An error appeared in some editions of the August issue of PAR in the Rankings by Region tables on p. 7 associated with PAR’s 25th Annual Professors Survey-2016. Undergraduate rankings Nos. 20 through 25 for the Midwest region are: 20. St. Cloud State University; 21. University of Akron; 22. University of Illinois-Chicago; 23. University of St. Thomas; 24. University of Missouri-St. Louis; and 25. Kansas State University. Master’s rankings Nos. 21 through 25 for the Midwest region are: 21. Kansas State University; 22. Eastern Michigan University; 23. Iowa State University; 24. Illinois State University; and 25. St. Cloud State University. The Midwest region is comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. 

5

6

public accounting report

Guest Column

Don’t Doom Your Firm with Inflexible Growth Strategies Profitability may mean taking an unexpected turn. By Dom Esposito, CEO EspositoCEO2CEO Westport, Conn. Imagine that you—a CEO or managing partner at one of the 14,000 multi-partner CPA firms— are sitting in a conference room with your partners going over key Dom Esposito performance metrics. It is becoming increasingly obvious that your accounting firm—which performed quite well pre-financial crisis circa 2007 and 2008 with a strategy of getting bigger (with quality growth), stronger (with quality talent) and more profitable—is having a very difficult time competing in the mid-market owner/operator client space. The business environment is anemic. Organic growth is hard to come by. Margins are razor thin. Talent, particularly tax talent, is scarce. The challenge is exacerbated when you look around the conference room and see an insufficient number of young superstars and rainmakers, and your senior partners—mostly baby boomers—don’t have an awful lot of “golf course” left to play. Add these factors up, and you and your partners are coming to the realization that quality organic growth at a decent rate (about 6% to 8%) is not going to happen in 2016 and in the foreseeable future. Inevitably, your discussion turns to the topic: If we are struggling in achieving our “Plan A—Go it alone” strategy, is it time to start looking at a “Plan B” strategy? We refer to this process as “the lifecycle to yes for an upward merger”. Feel and sound familiar? Only 100 CPA firms in the U.S. are generating at least $33 million in revenues. Regardless, if you are generating more or less than $33 million, it is more likely than not that you are enjoying your independence, culture and ability to control your own destiny. So, the first consideration for a

“Plan B” strategy is usually not to explore an upward merger. Instead, the chosen path is to find either smaller firms to tuck in, or to acquire one- or two-partner firms that are looking to monetize their assets (that is, their client list and their people). It’s a very understandable path to take. You are the larger, stronger firm. You can maintain your independence, culture and ability to control your own destiny. If you can add some critical mass and pay a reasonable price for it, you might get back on the track to achieving some nice growth and additional profits for your partners. Sometimes this result follows, but often, it doesn’t. Small, one- or two-partner tuck-ins or acquisitions are risky business fraught with problems and obstacles. Oftentimes, quality of the work product and the people do not meet your firm’s standards. Clients from the tuck-in or acquisition begin to hear rumblings about unhappiness, and inevitably, it spills over to client satisfaction. At the end of the day, these acquired clients can be easily lost as partners either retire or leave your firm. You couldn’t sustain the growth you were hoping to achieve, and you and your partners were distracted from the real goal of perpetuating the firm for the long term. My experience is that small firm tuck-ins and/or acquisitions of one- or two-partner firms usually don’t build any long-term brand value and accretive profits to the partners. So a couple of years later, you are back in your conference room with your partners, and you are evaluating both your “Plan A” and your “Plan B” strategies. And you reach the conclusion that neither is working to your expectations. Now it’s time to make some tough decisions. And while an upward merger was initially not a desirable “Plan B“ strategy, you realize that it just might be a much more attractive alternative path—especially when you realize that in January 2016 alone, there were more than 22 mergers, including at least 13 at the Top 100 firms. So, it is obvious

September 2016 | Volume XL, no. 9

that growing a CPA firm in this environment inevitably brings CEOs, managing partners and other senior partners to the crossroads of a merger combination. A word of caution, however: Don’t do a merger combination if 1+1 doesn’t at least = 3. When you decide that an upward M&A strategy is the right path for you, like everything else, you need a plan. Let’s presume you decide to pursue a transaction in your existing geographic market. The first step is to make contact through a reach-out program consisting of: (1) picking up the phone and introducing yourself, explaining why you are calling and requesting to meet to discuss the merits of exploring a transaction; (2) attending state society managing partner meetings; and (3) attending trade and AICPA meetings, such as the semi-annual Major Firms meetings in Florida and California (for firms with $20 million in revenues or more). Over time, this process usually results in the identification of several potential target candidates. Before you decide whether to proceed to due diligence or not with any of the candidates, make sure the target opportunity feels right. How do you do that? You do it by you and several of your key partners meeting and getting to know the key partners at the target firm. You talk about respective histories, cultures, “sacred cows” or “must-haves” in a possible transaction and the potential upside and synergies that might be realized. This collaboration has to be the magic sauce that will make a possible transaction very exciting. The courtship or romance period usually takes several meetings over a few months, with very active participation from both sides and working groups getting comfortable with each other. The next step is to create broader buy-in. A meet-andgreet with all the partners of both firms is very advisable.

Valuable input can be obtained when you establish several committees that plan for integration in all areas of the business, including: (1) human resources and continuing education, (2) information technology, (3) marketing and sales, (4) finance and accounting, and (5) partner matters. Now due diligence starts from three perspectives: Culture fit, Commitment to technical excellence and quality client service, and Kicking the financial tires. At this point, you should have the framework of a transaction. Any potential deal-breakers should have been addressed and successfully dealt with already. With the assistance of attorneys, it is time to draft a letter of intent, followed by a detailed combination agreement. The moral of the story is that “the lifecycle to yes for an upward merger” takes a very long time—much longer than it needs to take because many firms refuse to come to the realization that a dual strategy should always be pursued. “Plan A” is the “go it alone” strategy, and “Plan B” is the “upward merger” strategy. Run both tracks simultaneously. Don’t get distracted by tactics that history has shown us generate little, if any, long-term value to you and your partners. Dom Esposito is CEO of EspositoCEO2CEO, LLC, an advisory firm that consults with CPA firm CEOs, managing partners and senior partners. He recently authored a book, “8 Steps to Great” which is a primer that provides tips on how to “run with the big dogs.” Contact him at www.espositoceo2ceo. com or at email [email protected]. 

People, Firms and Promotions Chicago-based Baker Tilly admitted 15 new partners. They are: Matthew Baker (tax-small business/Cherry Hill, N.J.); Michael Bowen-Ashwin (tax-small business/ Cherry Hill); Nicholus Cavaliere

(assurance-public sector/Oak Brook, Ill.,); John Dauwalter (assurancemanufacturing and distribution/ Minneapolis); Andrew Dilling (construction and real estate/ Appleton, Wis.); Paul Finegold (tax/

Southfield, Mich.); Joel Laubenstein (consulting-energy and utilities/ Austin, Texas); Stephen Lawson (taxreal estate/Washington); Rebekah Martin (assurance-higher education and not-for-profit/Minneapolis);

7

8

public accounting report

Jessica Mastropietro (professional services/Washington); Deanna Merryfield (assurance-commercial/ Milwaukee); Carrie Small (taxfinancial services/Milwaukee); Kevin Stonesifer (assurance-real estate/ Washington); Matt Tredinnick (assurance-construction and real estate/Minneapolis); and Nate Voss (consulting-transactions/Madison, Wis.). New York-based Berdon LLP welcomed Matthew Jahrsdoerfer as an audit principal. He is based in the firm’s Jericho, N.Y., office. He specializes in auditing of financial statements and has extensive experience providing due diligence and advisory services on M&A transactions and recapitalizations of public and private companies. Brown Edwards, based in Roanoke, Va., admitted Laura Sprouse and Tim George to partnership. Sprouse is the firm’s administrator and specializes in the selection and implementation of accounting information systems for clients and the firm. George works in assurance services and specializes in accounting, taxation and consulting services for privately held construction, engineering and design companies. CPAmerica International welcomed Thomas Howell Ferguson, based in Tallahassee, Fla., to membership. The firm has more than 85 team members. CPAConnect welcomed five new members: Scalco Johnson Leahy & Dudek, based in Austin, Texas; Kevin J. Deedy, based in Foxboro, Mass.; The Wealth Building CPA, based in

Beltsville, Md.; DC Anderson & Co., based in Irvine, Calif.; and Marshall Vander Linden, based in West Des Moines, Iowa. Kirk Blair, a partner with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, was named Deloitte Advisory Corporate Restructuring Group leader. He is based in New York and succeeded William Snyder, who left Deloitte in July to pursue other ventures. Michael Epstein, a Boston-based principal with Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP, was named Deloitte’s global managing director for restructuring services. He succeeded Andrew Grimstone, a Deloitte U.K. partner, who will remain head of Deloitte’s special situations advisory teams globally. Hall & Co., based in Irvine, Calif., named Don Dahl as its senior tax partner. Prior to joining Hall & Co., he was a tax partner at Arthur Andersen; leader of the Southern California tax practice of Grant Thornton; and most recently, the tax practice leader at a Southern California-based accounting firm. Horne CPAs and Business Advisors, based in Ridgeland, Miss., elected Katherine G. Watts as chairman of the board. She is partner-in-charge of healthcare services and leads the firm’s diversity and inclusion initiative. Kreston International welcomed three new member firms: Díaz & Zeledón, based in San José, Costa Rica; KPMT Orien, based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan; and PT Pratama Indomitra Konsultan, based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Marcum LLP, based in New York, named Mark Chaves and Douglas Nakajima as co-leaders of the firm’s International Tax Services department. Chaves is a Tax & Business Services partner in Marcum’s Miami office. Nakajima is a tax director in Marcum´s Philadelphia office. PrimeGlobal welcomed Blackburn, Childers & Steagall, based in Johnson City, Tenn., to membership. The firm also has offices in the Tennessee cities of Kingsport and Greeneville and employs more than 100 team members. RKL, based in Lancaster, Pa., admitted Jill E. Gilbert and Douglas L. Smith as partners. Gilbert is a partner in the firm’s Audit Services Group and specializes in providing auditing services to local governments, employee benefit plans and not-for-profit organizations. Smith is a partner in the firm’s Tax Services Group and specializes in serving the consulting and tax needs of clients in the healthcare, professional services, construction and manufacturing sectors, particularly with regard to estate planning, business valuation and mergers and acquisitions. Michael Vaccarella joined Milwaukee-based Wipfli LLP as the managing director of the firm’s Transaction Services group. Prior to joining Wipfli, Vaccarella was the Chicago market leader for the Transaction Services team for a Top 15 CPA firm. He also pioneered the private equity services and financial due diligence practice for Chicagobased Wolf & Co. 