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Meet This Firm: Safe Harbor LLP

Posted on by Accountingfly
Safe Harbor LLP

Meet This Firm is a series of video interviews featuring the best accounting employers across the United States for high performing accounting professionals and CPAs. Please enjoy this sponsored post courtesy of Safe Harbor LLP, an Accountingfly Firm Partner. Contact Judy Schryver to learn more about firm partnerships.

Chun Wong started his San Francisco-based CPA firm, Safe Harbor LLP, over five years ago. His objectives were simple. He wanted to found a firm that:

  • Provides high level advisory services as well as the commodity services like tax returns that flow from them
  • Gives staff the opportunity to chart their own path through a nurturing environment, top-notch education and best-of-breed technology

“I believe you can only find that combination at a small boutique firm like ours,” Wong said, “otherwise you lose the personal touch.”

He is justifiably proud that staff is fluent in a number of languages, including Cantonese, Mandarin, French and Japanese because it makes them more valuable to their global clients.

It’s deeds, not words, that show staff as well as clients how committed the firm is to their success. At Safe Harbor, the goal is creating an atmosphere where the work is challenging but “doesn’t feel like work because it is work we love and we are doing it with people we trust and enjoy being with.”

Small firms like Safe Harbor are only small in size, not ideas or opportunity. If you are looking for a position at a San Francisco firm where you can learn and grow, click here to start a conversation. And to learn more about Safe Harbor, watch our Meet This Firm video with Chun Wong below.

 

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Trying to figure out your next career move? Getting anxious about busy season and need some new survival tips? Did you recently receive an email that you really want to share with other but it may or may not be appropriate? WAIT! Email us at [email protected] and we’ll steer you in the right direction.

Back to our greener grass hunter du jour:

Caleb,

The recent improvements in the fortunes of the Big 4 have yielded some opportunities for certain of us in the mid-tier firms. In the past two weeks I have been contacted by Deloitte, KPMG and E&Y regarding open positions they are trying to fill.

I am an experienced manager at a mid-tier firm that has not quite recovered from the recession. The firm is struggling to bring in new clients and has had almost no success in this area. The Big 4 have aggressively cut fees and have a generally better reputation to rely upon. While I like the opportunities as they are advertised, what kind of situation am I stepping into at these firms? Should any of these firms be avoided? I could stay until promotion to senior manager, but the firms is currently very top heavy. I see limited benefit to staying as my share of the work increases and my pay has not kept pace. Any thoughts?

It’s pretty difficult to pick one firm over the other without details about your city (memo to advice-seekers: GIVE US LOTS OF DETAILS ABOUT YOUR PROBLEM) but we’ll take a stab here.

Choosing one firm over another is purely a matter of your own preference. If you’re a fan of yellow, this is an easy decision. Prefer blue? Your decision is a little harder, unless you’re a Phil Mickelson fan, in which case there’s no debate here.

But seriously – if you specialize in a specific industry, you’ll probably meet a partner that you’ll work for when you interview with the firm. Hell, if it’s a small enough office you might meet all the partners in your group. That should give you a pretty good feel for what you’re getting into. Like we wrote last to Jersey Girl, a partner’s behavior during the interviewing process can be a good sign of who to choose.

If you’re antsy about your current firm, then you’re probably not alone. Regarding your concern about your current firm being “top heavy” the parking lot at senior manager is pretty full anywhere you go, so can’t really help you there.

Bottom line – go on some interviews and feel the firms out. Throwing darts won’t get you anywhere. Get a feel for the people you’ll be working with and your decision should be easy.