As the list below is by no means all-inclusive, please feel free to inquire about a service if you do not see it listed. If it is not a service we provide, we would be more than happy to refer you to a qualified professional.

Our staff is trained to examine not only the facts and figures of transactions, but also the implications for your company. We look for trends that you might have overlooked. We attempt to isolate opportunities and bring them to your attention.

We work hard to gain knowledge of your business, and we are available year round for management consultation. Further, our firm is structured to assure partner involvement with your work. You benefit directly, as our most talented, experienced professionals combine their skills with knowledge of your business to assist you with management decisions.

We strive to make your financial statements meaningful and informative, because we know that vital business decisions may be made on the basis of these statements.

Not all users of financial statements need the same degree of assurance. We therefore offer three distinct services involving financial statements: audit, compilation, and review. These services are keyed to meet different needs.

AUDIT

During an audit, we examine a company's financial statements in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. We then express our opinion as to whether the statements are fairly presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Third parties, such as bankers, other credit grantors, and bonding companies often require an audit.

An audit offers the highest degree of assurance regarding financial statements. Thus, an audit requires significant testing of the underlying financial transactions and a study of internal controls. It includes confirmation with outside parties, physical inspection and observation, tracing transactions to supporting documents, and a number of other tests.

As a result, an audit often is preferred not only by third parties but also by members of management seeking an in-depth examination of the company's financial reporting.

REVIEW

In many instances, a review or compilation is sufficient for a client company and its creditors. In the former, we review a company's financial statements and issue a report giving a limited degree of assurance.

To perform a review, we are required to have a working knowledge of your industry and key aspects of your business. We make inquiries relating to the financial statements and then apply analytical procedures designed to identify unusual items or trends that may need explanation. A review is designed to see whether the financial statements make sense, without applying audit-type tests.

COMPILATION

A compilation involves taking financial information provided by a company and compiling it in a financial statement format. A compilation carries no degree of assurance; yet, it is adequate for certain purposes.

We first familiarize ourselves with accounting practices common to your industry and acquire a general understanding of your company's transactions and how they are recorded. We then compile the financial statements and give them a professional second look, without applying audit-type procedures.

Throughout, our staff works closely with management representatives, providing timely service, personal attention, and sound advice.

Our staff assists hundreds of businesses and individuals in meeting their tax filing requirements each year. We also serve a large number of other entities including estates, trusts, partnerships, nonprofit organizations, and benefit plans. Clients that engage us know that we search for all allowable deductions and exemptions.

Returns are computerized for both speed and accuracy, and our internal system of processing returns assures timeliness and efficiency.

CONSULTING

We resolve tax issues before they become tax problems. Our clients turn to us for such concerns as:

• Analyzing the tax benefits of investment opportunities in real estate, oil and gas, and other risk capital ventures.
• Advising on the tax effects of transfers of business ownership among family members.
• Designing compensation, fringe benefit, and retirement plans for a company.
• Planning for a change in a corporation's accounting methods.
• Providing income and estate tax counseling with respect to the financial settlements involved in divorce and separation agreements.
• Obtaining advance rulings from the IRS on the tax consequences of proposed transactions.

PERSONAL TAX PLANNING AND ASSISTANCE

Whatever your personal financial goals, taxes will play a significant role. Our firm can assist you in developing personal planning strategies with beneficial tax implications.

Our tax planning services include:

• Improving current tax positions
• Building and preserving assets
• Minimizing estate and inheritance taxes
• Interpreting changing and complex tax rules and regulations
• Handling liquidations and reorganizations

BUSINESS TAX PLANNING AND ASSISTANCE

Almost every business decision carries tax implications. No major decision, especially regarding business organization or structure, should be made without first consulting a CPA. We have advised businesses on organizational planning, as well as on the tax pros and cons of purchasing, selling, or merging their concerns. We have also helped them establish, report, and monitor their pension and profit-sharing plans.

SOUND ADVICE

Our firm, with experienced professionals specifically trained to offer sound advice, can help you and your company minimize taxes and achieve your financial goals.

REPRESENTATION BEFORE REGULATORY BODIES

Should the tax implications of your affairs come under the scrutiny of regulatory bodies, we are available to represent you or to accompany you to meetings with those organizations.

We have played a vital role in helping countless businesses increase productivity and efficiency, as well as get the most out of their resources.

As your CPA, we get to know your organization, operations, and finances; your personnel and tax situations; and your data processing and management information systems needs. Using this as a base, we help you put your business on the steady track to success.

ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS

We can help you design, implement or improve current accounting systems. Our clients, small and large businesses alike, come to us for:

• Cost accounting systems
• Budgets, projections, and forecasts
• Production planning and scheduling
• Inventory/purchase controls
• Data processing and management information systems
• Pricing strategies and controls
• Systems flowcharting
• Determining financing needs
• Profit margins
• Personnel evaluation and/or selection

FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

Should your business expand its new line? Should you close your old plant and build a new one? Begin producing a part you normally purchase from a vendor? Consider acquiring a similar business in the next county?

We can help you find the answers to these and countless other important questions. Our financial analyses consider cash flow, forecasts and projections, economic situations, and long and short-term goals to help you devise strategies that work for you and your business. Our knowledge of your industry, and our broad range of business skills, ensure that we will best meet the needs of your organization.

SYSTEMS PLANNING, INSTALLATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION

Computerizing your production and accounting systems is no easy task. By tapping into our knowledge of data processing technology, business planning processes, and management and accounting information systems, we can help you turn a complex and intimidating project into a productive and profitable one. Our services help you:

• Analyze systems needs and requirements
• Evaluate vendor bids and proposals
• Implement systems
• Monitor and evaluate ongoing systems

BOTTOM LINE

As you learned early on, those in business who succeed do not always know all the answers, they just know where to go to get them.

With our experience and expertise, we can provide you with some of these answers. The bottom line of our management advisory services is that they help increase yours.

Members of our firm have had extensive training and experience working with law firms. They know the needs of lawyers, they know business, and they know how to bring the two together, especially in ways that enhance litigation strategies.

HOW WE CAN HELP

We assist by advising attorneys on all matters relevant to the financial aspects of a case. Though each case is different, our experienced professionals can:

• Establish and identify financial issues and facts.
• Obtain important and necessary financial information.
• Determine financial consequences of claims, losses and settlements.
• Assist in examining or cross-examining witnesses on financial matters.
• Participate in settlement negotiations.
• Serve as expert witnesses.

MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

As our society grows increasingly litigious, cases grow increasingly more complex. And this complexity often is centered around financial and accounting matters.

Our broad range of experience in financial matters - in tax, accounting, financing, estate and personal financial planning, valuations, costs, business planning, and information systems - is merely the base of our services. We have built on that base by creating a structure of experienced professionals who focus on the issues, needs, and challenges facing attorneys, and who can find ways to meet them.

As knowledgeable and independent CPAs, we can provide you with the kind of litigation support that meets your needs. And wins cases.

For some clients, we often assume the role of controller. In addition, we provide a number of other services, depending upon the client's situation and needs. Among these services are:

• Handling the company's system of accounts.
• Preparing financial statements and reports to management.
• Handling expenditures and collections.
• Preparing and filing tax returns and reports to governmental agencies.
• Preparing payroll checks and records.
• Preparing budgets and assisting with budget enforcement

Other clients handle in house the routine, daily tasks of financial management, turning to us for preparation of monthly financial statements, preparation of meaningful management reports, and tax planning and preparation.

Whatever the nature of the recurring financial management needs, our clients turn to us because they know we will provide quality service in a timely manner. They also know that we learn about our clients' businesses, enabling us to better advise them. We help our clients manage their businesses better.

We have developed forms, practices, and procedures that allow us to gather necessary data with minimum input from you or your staff.

You need good, timely information to better manage your business. We give you meaningful reports - and on time.

These questions, of course, comprise the backbone of your business plan. But devising a plan is one thing. Financing it is another. We can help you do both. We have assisted many companies like yours develop and implement their business and financial plans. We help commit the plan to paper as a part of putting together your financing package.

THE PLAN

Working with you to formulate a business plan, our trained and experienced professionals concentrate on:

• RESEARCH

  We take the time to study your business, your current operating position and your financial strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges.

• CORPORATE GOALS

  We help you identify your goals for growth, revenues, expenses, profits, market share, new products and locations, new markets, capital investments, etc. We assist you in clearly defining your objectives and then pinpointing the opportunities and impediments that may arise.

• BUDGETS AND TIMETABLES

  We help develop realistic budgets and workable timetables to ensure that your goals are met.

FINANCING YOUR PLAN

Should you finance growth internally or externally? Internal financing may mean restructuring the ownership of the business. External financing may mean a debt obligation the company has never before faced.

With our individualized and personalized services, we point out the options, opportunities, potentials, and dangers of each approach, then help you devise a strategy that works for your business. We utilize our familiarity with the financing community to identify prospective financing sources for you.

IMPLEMENTING YOUR PLAN

Whether implementation of your business plan requires sophisticated tax knowledge, consultation with industry specialists, or negotiations with lenders for more appropriate loan packages, our knowledge, skill and objectivity can be decisive factors.

Backed by years of experience, education, training, and expertise, our skilled and talented CPAs are prepared to provide you with the financial and advisory services you need to take your business where you want it to be.

Members of our firm have had extensive training and experience preparing business valuations to satisfy a variety of client needs, including being certified as a "Certified Valuations Analyst". Business valuations are utilized to satisfy a number of requirements or needs in the following areas:

• Purchase, sale or acquisition of a company or business segment
• Personal financial statements of stockholders
• Stockholder agreements
• Financing or borrowing arrangements
• Divorce proceedings and property settlements
• Filing requirements for employee stock ownership plans
• Going public
• Estate planning
• Merger negotiations
• Estate tax returns
• Stock option plans
• Buy-sell agreements with stockholders
• Making gifts
• Preparing wills

All of these areas are important concerns for a closely-held business and necessitate the need for an accurate business valuation. Our membership in the Institute of Business Appraisers and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts allows us to stay current with the many valuation techniques and trends, and serves as a tremendous resource for obtaining net worth information on many types of businesses.

Our expertise and experience provides a firm foundation to support those important decisions being made by business owners and provide confidence that the valuation will stand up to the scrutiny of outside third-parties.

When we help you develop projected financial statements, we capture the financial position of a company given one or more hypothetical assumptions. The projected statements answer the question, "What would happen if...?"

On the other hand, forecasted financial statements present the most probable financial position of a company for a future period. "Most probable" means the forecast is based on assumptions that management believes represent the most likely set of conditions and its most likely course of action. Thus, forecasted financial statements are generally more precise than are projections.

Members of the financial community determine whether a forecast or a projection is necessary. We meet with you and your credit grantor to help make this determination.

Because we know our clients' businesses, we can offer significant assistance with projections and forecasts.

With the help of a skilled CPA, a budget can support long range or strategic planning; lead to development of reliable projections and forecasts; predict periods of cash surplus or shortfall; and guide management in the most appropriate utilization of manpower, material and other resources.

We assist client companies to develop capital budgets for expenditures that may require special financing and operating budgets for planning and controlling routine operations. In addition, we prepare cash budgets that guide cash receipts and disbursements.

Because of our depth of experience and our alertness to tax and other financial implications, we are particularly suited to assist with the budget preparation and with monitoring, with you, the budget throughout the year.

As a part of budget monitoring, we will help you anticipate and prepare for cash shortfalls, recognize expenses that are out of line and the reason, properly utilize profits, and advise on the financial implications of other developments during the year.

Many of our clients now are opting to prepare budgets for two years in advance. This practice promotes even sounder planning and control. We will be pleased to assist you with preparing a budget for any period of time.