Earlier this year, McGladrey announced that they would be dropping the "McGladrey" from their name and adding "RSM." The new initials goes official on Monday across the globe so I imagine many partners will fling soon-to-be-obsolete letterhead in their hearths this weekend, watching with a mixture of pain and longing as the paper turns to ash.
Or not. If you've been reading Going Concern for awhile you know that we've enjoyed covering the firm's personality disorder over the years. Back in 2012, we really thought the move to "McGladrey" would be in the end of it. At the time, CEO Joe Adams said, "This change represents the last stage in our transition process to a single partner-owned CPA firm." I guess you can interpret that a number of different ways, but I think most people would think, "Okay, good. That's over."
Obviously I'm not a partner at McGladrey, but if I was, I'm not sure how I'd feel about all this branding chaos. It would probably fall somewhere on the range of "Uneasy" and "Nonplussed." Clients spook easily, so every time they hear about a branding change or whatever, they ask about it and then you either A) relay the talking points which are, of course, nonsense; or B) shrug and say, "It is what it is," because I imagine lots of McGladrey partner articulate themselves that way.
All I'm saying is, for the sake of all the dutiful McGladrey/RSM partner and employees out there, hopefully this marks the end of your firm's quest to find an identity. Seems like it'd be a distraction to go through this every 2-3 years, especially if someone insists on serving a mystery drink.
McGladrey, we hardly knew thee:
McGladrey Latest Accounting Firm to Say, "Screw It, Let's Just Go By Our Initials"
Thank God, This McGladrey Rebranding Thing Might Really Be Over Now
