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The Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For: Plante Moran #21 (2020)

Posted on by Jason Bramwell

In the early days of Going Concern, when Caleb and Adrienne were expected to post like eight to 10 articles a day, Caleb used to cover the public accounting firms that made the yearly Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For rankings. Back then, it was the Big 4 and Plante & Moran, and that was it. Fast-forward nine or 10 years, and nothing really has changed, except that Adrienne and I are lucky if we post eight to 10 articles a week and Plante Moran is now ampersand-less.

Caleb eventually got bored writing about the F100BCTWF and stopped. But because we’re still celebrating 10 years of GC and because what’s old is new again and cool and retro and all that, we decided to cover this year’s F100BCTWF as we had done in the past.

And we’re kicking things off with Plante Moran, which must have incriminating photos of Fortune’s editors because the firm has made this ranking nearly every one of the 23 years Fortune has been doing this:

Previous ranking: #21. Here’s why PM made this year’s ranking, according to Fortune:

Retailers have Christmas. Plante Moran has tax season. So throughout the most frenetic time of year for CPAs, the accounting and consulting firm offers free on-site childcare on Saturdays at most offices, complete with a music, science, and drama-related curriculum. In calmer times, flexible working hours and a friendly, tight-knit culture create a strong sense of community. “We recently had an office welcome celebration, and every single partner in the office took a turn in a dunk tank to raise money for charity,” one employee recalls.

Soaking partners in a dunk tank is like a public accountant’s wet dream.

Stats of note:

  • Employees: 3,277
  • Number of job openings: 201 (as of February 2020)
  • Percentage of job growth: 33%
  • Number of new graduates hired: 273
  • Percentage of women: 47.8%
  • Percentage of minorities: 11%
  • Most common salaried job: N/A
  • PTO limit (days): 28
  • Number of sick days: Unlimited

We’ll profile the other five firms that made the 2020 F100BCTWF in the coming days. But congrats to Plante Moran for once again beating out the Big 4. And if anyone at PM knows of there being any unflattering photos of Fortune editors, get in touch.

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One Man’s Holiday Wish List Includes Tim Geithner and Charlie Rangel Sharing a Prison Cell with Wesley Snipes

Actually, if Wes Benedict, Executive Director of the Libertarian Party, had his way, Wes wouldn’t be doing time at all.

“The three-year federal prison sentence for Snipes’s failure to file tax returns is absurd. Snipes is not a threat to anyone, and the judge who sentenced him clearly just wanted to scare others who might think about resisting federal taxes.

“Maybe it’s worth reminding people that Wesley Snipes was acquitted of tax fraud and conspiracy charges in 2008. He was only found guilty on misdemeanor charges of ‘willful failure to file an income tax return.’


Right, so the ‘willful failure’ part is where we kind of have a problem. If you willfully fail to control your urge to get cop-slugging drunk and then actually slug a cop, you have committed a crime. Mr Benedict doesn’t buy it though:

“Why is a failure to file a tax return a criminal non-act? Should people ever be sent to prison for not doing something? If the IRS wants to come after Snipes and take his money, they have power to do that. Who does it help to send the man to prison?

“The tax code is incredibly vague and open to interpretation [Ed note: UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY]. In fact, the ‘law’ is largely written by IRS bureaucrats. If they decide the law says one thing, you’re OK; if they decide it’s something else, then you’re headed for prison.

“The federal tax code also allows for ‘selective enforcement,’ to put it mildly. Why is it that Wesley Snipes gets a prison sentence, but known tax cheat Tim Geithner gets promoted to Secretary of the Treasury? Maybe Tim should be Wesley’s cellmate. Throw tax cheat politician Charlie Rangel in the slammer too for good measure.

Tim Geithner’s poor choice in self-prep tax software and an actor giving the 16th Amendment the middle finger for 10+ years aren’t quite the same thing. Maybe it’s just us.

[h/t Tracy Coenen]