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Grant Thornton Was the Most Dynamite Accounting Firm in 2012, Says Grant Thornton

Posted on by Caleb Newquist

Eddie Nusbaum & Co. put up a good number, $4.2 billion to be precise. That's 10.4% (USD) greater than last time around. That's pretty good. So good, the firm reports in its press release that "Grant Thornton led the six largest global accounting organizations in reported revenue growth rate for 2012."

And that appears to be true. A quick buzz through the other firms' announcements shows that none of them broke double-digit growth:

PwC — "At constant exchange rates, PwC's total global revenues rose by 8%."

Deloitte — 8.6% (USD)

Ernst & Young — 6.7% (USD)

KPMG — 1.4% (USD)

BDO — 8% (doesn't specify)

Sure, GT may have kicked everyone's asses up and down the block, but you know what? This isn't about money.  

“While we are proud of this accomplishment, I know our people will say the true measure of our success is how well we served our clients,” said Ed Nusbaum, CEO, Grant Thornton International Ltd. “By this measure, I am confident in saying it was a very good year and something we will build upon. Our continued ambition going into 2013 is to be recognised as the leading provider of high quality, professional services to dynamic organisations, helping them unlock their potential for growth.”

We'd love to hear how well you served your clients, GT readers. Consider it your gift to the rest of the GC community. 

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Grant Thornton Is Nearly Done ‘Transitioning’ Offices

Earlier this week, Grant Thornton CEO Stephen Chipman sent an email out to the troops, letting everyone know what’s been going at GT has been over the last 6 months or so. Turns out, quite a bit has been going on! Never mind the blogging for a second, we’re talking about the offices that have been closed or sold around the country. Namely Albuquerque, Honolulu, Madison and Greensboro.

SC gets to all those and he does mention the sale of the “Manufacturing Transaction Services practice, based in Detroit” which, we’re pretty sure, is the Supply Chain Advisory practice they sold to KPMG. The email doesn’t really tell you anything that we haven’t already but it is in some nice Chipman prose, if that’s your fancy.

But for good measure, we also learn that the firm has “transitioned out of our regional community hospital practice in Wichita,” which is news to us.


BKD picked up GT’s community hospital practice and everything should be finito by August 31st. But that’s the last of ’em! The only other news is that August, apparently, is going to be an exciting month for Grant Thornton because that’s when SC & Co. are going to communicate the “full details of [the firm’s] new strategy.” We have no idea what means but it’s sure to make August considerably more exciting than normal.

As many of you know, Grant Thornton’s Senior Leadership Team has been deeply engaged in the process of refining the strategic direction of our firm. Our strategy unleashes our potential as a global provider of distinctive client service and includes focusing on our “chosen” markets—those markets that offer the greatest opportunities for the growth of our business and the development of our people.

During experienceAugust, when we come together as one firm, I will be communicating to you the full details of this new strategy. Today, I want to personally share with you the news that, as part of implementing the strategy and better positioning us for growth in our chosen markets, the firm’s senior leaders have made the difficult decision to transition from a few locations and practices.

The firm will be closing and transitioning offices located in Albuquerque, Greensboro, Honolulu and Madison. Additionally, we have transitioned out of our regional community hospital practice in Wichita and our Manufacturing Transaction Services practice, based in Detroit. We expect all six of these transitions to be completed by August 31, 2010.

Beyond these, I want to assure you that the firm has no additional planned office or practice transitions. Below, I share with you details about each of these changes. Additionally, I will be providing you with more information during the August 10 all-employee video conference.

Transition plans for affected offices
In Albuquerque, Grant Thornton has signed a letter of intent for Moss Adams LLP to acquire our practice. Moss Adams LLP is the eleventh-largest accounting and consulting firm in the U.S., and its Albuquerque office is the largest accounting practice in the state of New Mexico.

Our Greensboro office will consolidate into our firm’s Raleigh and Charlotte offices, where we will continue to serve our Carolinas-based clients.

In Honolulu, two former Grant Thornton partners—Patrick Oki and Lawrence Chew—have purchased the office. Patrick and Lawrence will be the partners in their newly-formed firm, PKF Pacific Hawaii LLP. PKF Pacific Hawaii will assume Grant Thornton’s office space, transition existing employees in Honolulu and continue to provide audit, tax, and advisory services in Hawaii.

Our Madison office will merge with our Milwaukee office, where—in conjunction with our Appleton office—we will continue to serve the greater Wisconsin marketplace.

Transition plans for affected practices
In Detroit, we completed a transaction for KPMG to acquire our Manufacturing Transaction Services practice, a provider of a highly specialized niche service offering to the automotive sector. We continue to have a growing and successful Detroit office and we remain fully committed to providing audit, tax, and advisory services to the automotive industry.

In Wichita, we completed a transaction for BKD to acquire our regional community hospital practice.. We are fully committed to our practice in Wichita and are excited about the opportunities for growth under our new managing partner, Lori Davis.

Honoring our colleagues
The decision to transition these locations and practices was not an easy one. We determined our course only after lengthy deliberation, and with the greatest consideration for the best interests of our business, clients and our people. To those of you who sit in the affected offices, and who are leaving the firm as a result of these transitions, it has been a privilege and honor to work with you. On behalf of the entire firm, I want to express to you my heartfelt gratitude for your service and wish you the greatest success going forward. Your contributions to Grant Thornton have been enormous, and your offices and practices will stand as proud parts of the firm’s history.

Investing for growth
As we look ahead to executing on our strategy, this realignment of our resources and geographies will better position us for growth and will help us to build greater market share in our chosen markets. It enhances our ability to focus on the development of our people and providing our clients with an exceptional and distinctive client experience. I look forward to sharing more details—and my excitement— about the new growth strategy next month, when unleashing our potential will launch in tandem with our new fiscal year.

In closing, I want to thank you for all that you do to make a difference at Grant Thornton. I am confident that August is the start of one of the most exciting times at our firm to date, and I look forward to beginning this new chapter together.

Stephen

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Chili Cook-offs, Thank You Notes Probably Keep Grant Thornton IT Team From Sabotaging the Whole Firm

As we know, your information technology teams can be what holds things together at your firm in times of strife. If you’re good to these people, they’re good to you. And if you treat them poorly, well…good luck to you.

Grant Thornton has been recognized as one of Computerworld’s best places for IT professionals to work, the only accounting firm on the list. It’s a typical ranking with the general buzzword descriptions along with examples of why you should be hella-jealous that you don’t work there. For the IT gang at GT, not only do they get to show off their culinary talents at “annual chili cook-offs and dessert competitions” but when they go above and beyond the call of duty, there seems to be a Hallmark system in place.

To encourage employees to thank their co-workers and recognize a job well done, the IT department developed a way to voluntarily track the sending and receiving of thank-you notes. The names of both senders and recipients are submitted for drawings in which the winners receive a gift cards.

What’s not entirely clear is if these “thank-yous” are inspired by Stephen Chipman’s past communications or if was simply another way that the IT team was able to avoid human contact. Either way, it sounds like they enjoy a decent gig at the Purple Rose of Cairo and that will keep anything catastrophic from happening.