Don’t Pretend That the Presence of Three Grant Thornton CEOs Had Nothing to Do With a Cubs Victory
The first Cubs World Series win at Wrigley Field in 71 years wasn't just going to happen. The three CEO's of Grant Thornton since 2001 at the World Series tonight! Go Cubs! pic.twitter.com/jhf2lVgDba — J. Michael McGuire (@mikemcguireCLT) October 31, 2016
Stephen Chipman Calling it a Career at Grant Thornton
Stephen Chipman, erstwhile CEO of Grant Thornton, blogger, romantic, inexperienced Chicagoan, incredibly unprepared Chicagoan, note writer, dynamic perpetual optimist etc. etc. is hanging it up after 34 years at the Purple Rose of Chicago: Grant Thornton LLP announced that Stephen Chipman, senior vice chairman of Grant Thornton LLP, has elected to retire early from […]
Ex-Employee Chronicles Grant Thornton’s Gutting of CCR After Acquisition
A few Accounting News Roundups ago, Colin linked to a story about Grant Thornton's new tax hub in Bangalore. In that article, GT CEO Stephen Chipman enthusiastically declared his own tax return is prepared by Indians in Bangalore, which is fine for him. What Colin didn't highlight was this quote, in which Chipman declares hiring […]
Grant Thornton Names Mike McGuire CEO-elect
Today: J. Michael McGuire named CEO-elect of Grant Thornton U.S. http://t.co/LEviUIJtDh pic.twitter.com/qfKWTBpp4f — Grant Thornton LLP (@GrantThorntonUS) June 2, 2014 Looks like Grant Thornton opted for something other than a Costanza lookalike for their next CEO. According to a Grant Thornton press release, JMM assumes the role of CEO-elect immediately and will take over for Stephen […]
GT’s Chipman Will Stick Around Until the End of 2014 To Find a New Yet Equally Dynamic CEO
We need to clarify this situation before people start claiming everyone at GT is going to be fired and replaced with humanoids and/or shapeshifting lizards. As far as we know, that is not happening so just relax. What is happening is Stephen Chipman is aiming to hit the door at the end of 2014. Here […]
Grant Thornton Feeling Good About Grant Thornton’s Effort
The Purple Rose of Chicago turned in a scorecard of $1.274 billion in revenue, up 5 percent, for fiscal 2013. And Stephen Chipman, for one, thinks that's a solid effort: "Attaining record revenues in a still tepid economic environment is a testament to our long-term strategy of focusing on dynamic, mid-sized clients that are poised for […]
Here’s a List of Grant Thornton’s Newest Partners
Stephen Chipman has bestowed 30 purple roses, saying, "Our partners and principals have demonstrated great value to our dynamic clients and to our firm through their technical expertise and passionate leadership." There's also 20 new managing director,s however they merely, "[help] our partners execute the firm's strategy." Sounds like a slap in the face. I […]
Grant Thornton Is Going Places
Everyone's favorite tattoo parlor, Grant Thornton, has announced its revenues for the fiscal year ended, July 31, 2012 and things went pret-tay, pret-tay, pret-tay good. The $1.212 billion was so good, in fact, that it was a record for the firm and CEO Stephen Chipman says everything is going to plan: Grant Thornton’s strategy is […]
Is There a Hidden Message in This Interview with Grant Thornton’s Stephen Chipman?
As we've mentioned on several occasions here, when the media profiles Big 4 bigwigs, the revelations are far less interesting than, say, a movie star-governor. If touchy subjects are addressed, they are glossed over fairly quickly to move on to charity work, perseverance, or family life. It's like a heart-warming after-school special. Grant Thornton CEO […]
Stephen Chipman’s Gut Tells Him That the SEC Will Get on Board with IFRS
The Grant Thornton CEO tells Accounting Today he doesn't have any "inside information"; you're just going to have to trust him. “My sense is that the SEC is getting closer to a position,” he said during an interview with the Accounting Today staff on Tuesday. “I don’t have any inside information. This isn’t based on […]
Grant Thornton CEO: Makeovers Don’t Win
As we all know, Grant Thornton has upped its game in the past few months. It rolled out a new fancy schmancy ad campaign that explains how not to be a loser and was the surprise top dog in this year’s Vault rankings.
Yesterday, the Purple Rose of Chicago announced that more good times are coming via its new “Growth Platform” that will give all those dynamo clients a spurt. Hey! there’s even a website for the whole thing.
So in case things aren’t clear, growth is winning. And it’s not just for the lucky clients who count GT as their professional services provider. The firm itself is a weed of dynamism, says Stephen Chipman:
Grant Thornton has growth plans of its own. “We want to grow ourselves,” said Chipman. “We’re dynamic and we’re on the move. We want to, over time, raise the bar on the growth agenda and be committed to it for the long haul.” The firm plans to continue with its global expansion plans, especially in emerging markets. “We’ve been very vocal about how the global organization has an ambitious five-year strategy to double our market share, and that’s consistent with our plans here in the United States,” said Chipman. “There will be organic growth, it will be strategic growth. We will invest in new talent and expertise, and it will be M&A growth through mergers and acquisitions.”
Right! Connecticut! What’s more exciting than the Constitution State? Wait, don’t answer that. You’re probably wondering if all this excitement means that GT will go for a sexy new makeover. You know, something less Northwestern and maybe something more…Ohio State, perhaps? Well, as of now, that won’t be necessary:
The new brand positioning will not extend as far as changing the firm’s logo or slogan, at least not yet. “We are not changing our logo,” said Chipman. “You will see the same Grant Thornton logo, but you will see a lot of branded material focused on supporting the growth agenda.” However, Grant Thornton may eventually evolve its strategy to incorporate new taglines or slogans. “As we move forward with this over the next several months, we will certainly be looking for different ways to innovate to present our messaging,” said Chipman.
So it sounds like the team colors will stay the same but could a message focused on “growth” actually involve something that tangibly “grows” like say, “roses”? And by extension, could this mean tangos will make a comeback? God, please make it so.
Grant Thornton Welcomes LECG Employees to the Brotherhood
After yesterday’s news that LECG that was more or less pulling the plug, Grant Thornton finally put out a press release that they were acquiring a “significant portion” of the company’s business.
GT is taking on 270 employees in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Portland across all its service groups. Naturally, Stephen Chipman is thrilled to share this dynamic news, “We are pleased to welcome these outstanding individuals to Grant Thornton LLP,” SC said, “I am confident that they will fit in perfectly with our people — intellectually curious, talented individuals who want to make a difference with their clients, in their workplace and in their communities.”
Which was a perfect segue into this:
“As I have stated before, our goal is to be the leading audit, tax and advisory firm serving dynamic organizations in our chosen markets,” continued Chipman. “Dynamic companies are companies that are ambitious and growing, expanding internationally. They are dealing with critical events or transactions and are in need of our value-added, integrated service solutions. We will continue to explore additional strategic mergers and acquisitions as our balance sheet is healthy [Ed. note: care to share?] and we are in a position to attract similar talent.”
In other words, GT is still on the prowl for more people to join their party. Any interested parties need to come with dynamism in boatloads.
Unfounded Rumor of the Day: Grant Thornton About to Announce a ‘Big West Coast Deal’
Remember those GT/Moss Adams rumors from back in January? At the time, our post sent both firms calling for plumbers but we still mangaged to get a copy of an email from Moss Adams CEO Rick Anderson that denied the rumor in an email to the firm’s partners. Everything has been quiet since then mostly because…well, it’s busy season. Granted, firm leaders like Stephen Chipman and Rick Anderson aren’t thigh-deep in spreadsheets like most of you so the fact it’s entirely plausible that while you’re all distracted, TPTB have been courting each other.
We received this brief note from a tipster yesterday:
Rumor is [Grant Thornton] [is] about to announce big west coast deal.
Our source originally speculated that a tax/valuation/consulting boutique was the target because of an old Andersen connection but then told us that the latest word from the west coast is that Moss Adams is back in the picture. In our original post, we went over the reasons for and against the GranMoss merger and frankly it still could go either way (we’re leaning “no” at this point). That said, Grant Thornton has been on a buying spree, most recently picking up some attest services from the LECG Corp. fire sale, so a merger of some kind wouldn’t be a surprise but WHO?? We’re listening to any and all well-founded or crackpot theories.
Moss Adams has declined to comment on the rumor thus far and Grant Thornton did not return an email requesting comment.
UPDATE: This just in from a Grant Thornton tipster:
While I have no actual basis for substantiating this, we have a Moss Adams wireless signal in our office in the central region. There is no Moss Adams office in our building, or even out state, its been there since about January when the rumors first popped up. I just thought it was interesting. I have no insight into any of this, I’m just a lowly peon staff…
Perhaps there’s an explanation for this but I’m no expert on the wireless signals and whatnot so I’ll leave it to you to reason this out.
Unfounded Rumor of the Day: Grant Thornton and Moss Adams in Merger Talks
This week we learned that Dixon Hughes and Goodman & Co. would be wedded in CPA firm bliss on March 1st. We’ve also seen a couple of smaller mergers announced this week in the tri-state area: Rosen Seymour Shapss Martin & Company LLP and Kahn, Hoffman & Hochman, LLP formed Kahn Hoffman & Hochman and Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, LLC and ERE, LLP.
But e heard a rumor that trumps all of these:
The new rumor is that Grant Thornton and Moss Adams are merging. I have it on good authority (an industry consultant and the MP of a California firm).
Okay, so not exactly rock solid but intriguing enough for us to ask around. So far, Grant Thornton spokeswoman Kristi Grgeta has not returned our emails or voicemails and Moss Adams has declined to comment at this time. We’re poking around with other sources but still waiting to hear back.
So for now, let’s just go with the hypothetical. If GT and Moss were to combine, it would make them the 5th largest firm in the U.S., narrowly edging out McGladrey, with about $1.5 billion in revenues, going by Accounting Today’s most recent figures. Currently they are 6th (GT) and 11th (MA) on the AT100 list and 6th (MA) and 23rd (GT) on Vault’s flagship ranking. Their combined forces would have nearly 800 partners and over 7,100 total employees, if you assume no layoffs.
While all that might serve Stephen Chipman’s desire more dynamic clients (and perhaps more blogging fodder?), it would certainly require a few more hand-written notes. Not only that but GT already has a presence in every major market that Moss Adams does unless they’re looking to mine the Eugene, Oregon market for LOSERS and have reconsidered their divestment in Albuquerque. Also culturally, this seems like a strange fit as GT strikes us as pretty buttoned-down while Moss Adams is more laid back but maybe we’ve got that wrong. You tell us.
Regardless, Grant Thornton has voiced interest in merger possibilities and picked up Huron Consulting’s Disputes & Investigations practice last year, so who knows!? Both firms just closed the books on 2010 and maybe they’re laying some groundwork?
So, what do the GT and MA people make of this? Hell, anyone can chime in, we’re just finding this particular rumor pret-tay interesting. Some things make sense and some don’t, so we’ll leave it to you to hash out. And of course, if any of this sounds familiar because, you know, you heard something in a meeting about this very topic, email us. We’ll update you with anything we hear.
Grant Thornton CFO Survey Reminds Everyone That the Job Market Still Sucks
But don’t just take the CFOs word for it, Stephen Chipman is hearing the same thing from the dynamic companies that GT is rubbing elbows with these days:
In a national survey of U.S. Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and senior comptrollers conducted by Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd, only 29% plan to increase hiring in the next six months, while 21% plan to decrease hiring.
A vast majority (79%) believe that the U.S. economy will not recover until the second half of 2011 or later, and more than half (59%) are concerned with a double-dip recession.
“These findings are consistent with what we have been hearing from our dynamic-organization clients,” said Grant Thornton LLP CEO Stephen Chipman. “Indecision stemming from a weak economy and the unknown impact of governmental tax policy and new regulation on business and individuals is causing paralysis, particularly as it relates to major business decisions, including expansion, expenditures and hiring.”
In related economic shitshow news, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are probably going to need more bailout cash. As you were.
Grant Thornton CEO Admits That He Wasn’t Prepared for the Chicago Winters
Stephen Chipman also says that he misunderestimated the demand for his time. Who could have known?
• The over/under is $2 billion by 2015. Who has action on this?
• Is everyone clear on the “the dynamic organization space”?
• What do we think of Stephen sans spectacles?
• Merger and acquisition strategy? Who is GT going after? SC keeps it vague, per standard operating procedure. Accordingly, we welcome your rampant speculation.
Stephen Chipman Wants You To Share Grant Thornton’s New Strategy with Your Loved Ones
On Friday we gave you the review of the recent video conference that featured Stephen Chipman discussing Grant Thornton’s new strategy “Unleashing Our Potential” in an accent that may or may not be fake.
Over the weekend we were fortunate enough to have another source at GT send us the following hand-written note that was sent to all employees prior/in coordination with the video:
This more personal form of communication shouldn’t come as a total surprise. Back in the spring, Chip-to-my-Lou sent a message to Grant Thornton partners encouraging to scribble down some warm thoughts for all those nights and weekends in busy season. An email is so cold and sterile and since SC knows what’s good for the goose is good for a British Gentleman, here you have his own very words and thoughts to serve as a reminder that his blog is no substitute for his elegant penmanship.
After being mesmerized by the prose, the next thing that caught us off guard was Steve-o’s call for you to be unleashing your potential hours before you even plop down in the cube farm. This means you should be unleashing your potential while you lie in bed, in the shower and during your god-awful commute. Likewise, you are still unleashing that potential on the god-awful commute back home after your 12-15 hour day or at the local pub (but don’t unleash and drive).
What’s also strange about this note is the plea that you share “Unleashing Your Potential” with your friends and family. Maybe there are a lot of people out there that like discussing innate corporate strategy (and what it really means) with their loved ones but our source was not impressed, “why would my family and friends care about GT’s strategy?”
Forget our source’s sour attitude for a moment. We want to hear from those of you that immediately sat down your significant other to share this news with them. How did they take it? We’re they completely enamored with this new path in GT’s quest to bring back the “Big 5”? Or did they interrupt you saying, “Honey, I want you to listen to what Stephen wrote to me. To us,” to tell you that this letter was the last straw and that your relationship was over?
What about your buddies at the upcoming Fantasy Football draft? Will you be telling them about the new strategy, possibly risking your expulsion from the league? Or at your next girls night? Will this English gentleman (fake accent or not) get you all swooning over purple hues and roses?
Let us know how it goes.
UPDATE: Naturally, a reader noted a misspelled word in Stephen’s letter that we overlooked. As you might suspect we don’t get too hung up on things but the Chief of Staff really should have caught this.
Bonus and Compensation Watch ’10: Grant Thornton Delivers the Goods
Grant Thornton has been on strict radio silence lately which makes us wonder if Stephen Chipman had given up on blogging or if they had simply given everyone the summer off.
The blog remains a mystery but we do have some news on GT bonuses (the jury was out for awhile) and merit increases and it seems to be good news but extremely short on details and extremely long on Chipman prose:
Leadership announcement
Additional guidance on bonuses and compensationOn our last all-employee call, I told you that I was optimistic that the firm would award bonuses this year. I am pleased to share with you that we are now in a position to say with certainty that we will be paying bonuses for 2010.
As you know, the overall level of bonuses is dependent on our financial results at year end. We are currently working on this modeling based on our economic forecasts and will have the final numbers next month. However, I can let you know that we plan to pay the bonuses in the mid-September timeframe.
Similar to our merit increases, our bonus payments are based on our pay-for-performance philosophy, where we strive to recognize and reward individuals commensurate with performance. We’ve held this philosophy for a number of years, but could have done better executing on it. You reminded us of this in our Voice Your Experience pulse survey, and we are striving to do better. This year — and even more so going forward — we will be giving larger merit increases and bonuses to our top-rated performers to ensure greater differentiation.
Merit increases should be finalized in the next couple of weeks and your local office will begin communicating with you in early July. New compensation is effective on August 1. The increases are based on extensive market information for each of our practices and your individual contributions.
As we work to differentiate our firm through providing consistently distinctive client service, we will continue to move towards a model that rewards each of our people relative to their contributions to the success of the firm.
I’m excited about our direction as a world-class firm that truly makes a difference, and hope you are too. Thank you for all that you have done, and continue to do, for Grant Thornton.
Stephen
So whether or not this puts your anxiety to rest is another matter. Discuss and keep us updated in the coming weeks.
Details We’d Like to See in Stephen Chipman’s Blog: Partners with Self-assigned Nicknames
We enjoy Stephen Chipman’s blog as much as any casual reader inside of Grant Thornton but he often leaves us wanting more. He talks about New York, Chicago, Atlanta, London, China (God, he loves talking about China) but sometimes we’d like to know what some of the smaller offices have going for themselves.
We know what’s going on in Honolulu, Greensboro, and Madison but what about Grant Thornton Salt Lake City? Or Oklahoma City? What’s going there, Steve-o?
Fortunately, we stumbled upon a little blog that tells us about not one, but 25 things about GT’s Phoenix office. As you might expect, the office gets a place on a “Best Places” list and most of the information shared is about the volunteering the firm does in the local community or raising awareness about [insert major problem, e.g. Americans are fat and don’t exercise] which is really nice.
As much as we like – nay – love nice, we know that similar efforts are made in other offices so we’re craving something local, something unique, something that makes you say, that sums up Grant Thornton Phoenix.
Luckily, they did just that by way of an 80s slapstick comedy that some of you young GTers have probably never seen (and frankly, we don’t really remember either):
Grant Thornton tapped three friends and partners, who called themselves the “3 Amigos,” to start the Phoenix office. Ed O’Brien, Brad Preber and Ken Garrett were serving clients out of different Grant Thornton offices. Each had a unique specialized expertise – O’Brien in audit, Preber in consulting and Garrett in tax.
Mr Preber is also a tournament champion fly fisherman so we picture him as a hunky Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It type but the rest of the amigos are a blank.
25 Things You Didn’t Know About…Grant Thornton LLP [HMA Time]
Compensation Watch ’10: GT Reassures Merit Increases, Jury Out on Bonuses
On Friday, Grant Thornton had a firm wide call to discuss several things including layoffs, compensation, and grab-bag questions.
Headcount Reductions – Steve-o believes that the worst is over and that “restructuring efforts are substantially behind us.” If there happens to be additional “headcount transitions” it will be to refine operations or part of the no He went on to say that the people that are GTers now will, “in very large part,” remain GTers. So can we assume the action in Cleveland and Chicago was the last of it?
Compensation: GT seems is making big push towards a “pay for performance” model for its employees which means compensation adjustments will focus on top performers (“5s” in GT world) and market based adjustments (i.e. keeping up the Joneses) won’t be happening. SC cited a downward trend of salaries in the accounting profession based on a survey that GT does with Mercer (sounds convenient) for the phasing out of market adjustments. He said there might be some exceptions to this.
The size of the merit adjustments have not yet been determined because it all depends on how well 1) GT performs through the end of the year and 2) individual performance. Chip said that enough people were belly aching about the old adjustment system that a change was warranted. This will be implemented slightly for this fiscal year (can’t get all Darwin about it 3/4 of the way through the fiscal year) and will be the main methods for next year and going forward.
Bonuses: SC cleared this whole issue up saying that it has not been determined if bonuses will be paid this year. It all depends no the firm’s performance in the final quarter of the fiscal year. He did say that he’s pre-tay, pre-tay, pre-tay optimistic about the firm “being in a position to pay bonuses” but they’re still crunching the numbers so there’s no telling if it will be a mini-windfall, pocket change, or a set of steak knives.
Not to worry though, as the top performers will certainly get something if everything goes well at the firm overall.
This “new” focus on pay for performance seems kind of familiar since all the firms assign rankings to employees (with their own bizarro methodologies) and are paid accordingly. It makes you wonder if those that fall in the meaty part of the GT curve will get such a small adjustment that it will be another twist on the forced ranking trend amongst accounting firms.
Steve-o then shared his general optimism about the direction of the economy and what it means for the firm, a few recent client wins, yada yada yada. He also updated everyone with some very vague details on the firm’s new strategy “Unleashing Our Potential” that will be rolling out in the next fiscal year. Basically all non-partners will have the chance to drop their $0.02 on this strategeroy very soon but other than that we couldn’t tell if the new strategy involved a lunar landing or full-scale assault on financial reporting fraud.
Last but perhaps most importantly, Steve-o admitted to enjoying the Masters very much, however he was quite clear that he was less than thrilled to see KPMG on Phil’s lid. We’re sure it’s nothing personal against Phil but those may be fightin’ words directed straight at Johnny V.
Grant Thornton Employees Can Expect Handwritten Thank You Notes Any Day Now
It’s been awhile since we shared some of Stephen Chipman’s blog musings (mostly because we were too busy watching dust accumulate) but he was probably saving the more interesting stuff for post-April 15th.
“Interesting” obviously being a relative term but in his latest epic, he was not short on praise for those of you that remain with the firm:
Having just passed April 15, the first words I want you to read are “Thank you!” As we move through our busiest season, I continue to be impressed by the long hours, personal sacrifices and collaboration I read about in my e-mail, on our home page and by special letters and words of praise and thanks from our clients. As I’ve met with clients recently, one after another client executive raves about our people. It’s customary in the firm to say that clients rave about “our service,” but what they’re referring to is “you.” They are raving about each of you. The individuals for whom you work and with whom you have formed strong relationships based on excellence and trust are taking the time to tell me how valuable you have been to their respective businesses. Every time you show up, speak up and stay up late, you are demonstrating our global values: collaboration, leadership, excellence, agility, respect and responsibility. You are making a difference.
In case you missed it, your mere ability to drag yourself out of bed every morning, get to work at a decent hour, manage to utter a coherent sentence, and sacrificing your own health by depriving yourself of sleep you are making a difference. Your clients have noticed this by way of your wrinkled clothes, scuffed shoes, that expanding paunch, and your the all around zombie-esque qualities you exhibited every day during busy season (never mind this was all done for very little money).
And because of all those raving clients, Steve-o sent a little nudge to GT partners to make sure that they know, that you know, that they appreciate it because as it stands, they’re not doing that bang-up of a job:
Thank you.
These two simple words make a profound difference.
Feedback from the Voice Your Experience survey indicated that we need to continue to improve how we recognize our people. Interestingly, research shows recognition is not only about money and that a personal acknowledgement is especially powerful in motivating people to achieve exceptional results.
Please use the enclosed stationary to write your people notes of appreciation. By modeling this behavior, you play a key role in perpetuating a spirit of acknowledgement that benefits both our people and our business.
As always, thank you for all you do to make a difference every day.
/s/ Stephen
Okay people, illegible thank you notes (on extra-special stationary!) should be coming your way. Gratitude by way of money is cold and impersonal anyway.
Stephen Chipman Begrudgingly Wore Green on St. Patrick’s Day
Stephen Chipman’s blog post from last week got lost in the shuffle but you’ll be happy to know that you didn’t miss anything. Our lack of enthusiasm is not shared however, as the daily grind for a globe-trotting CEO seems to be enough to entertain some of the GT faithful. How do we know?
He shared one reader/fan’s thoughts this week, that’s how, “So, you really don’t just drink coffee and check e-mail!” While SC neither confirmed nor denied this particular allegation, one could assume that this is a big part of his day.
Moving on…Of the near 1,000 words in this week’s masterpiece, the only thing really worth mentioning is that the GT CEO spent his first St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago last week. And guess what Chi-town? You didn’t let him down; Steve-o was impressed.
This is my first time living in Chicago to experience St. Patrick’s Day; it was very interesting to see the Chicago community’s commitment to this holiday. Dutifully I wore my green tie, in respect of St. Patrick, which was very challenging to do for an Englishman. Nevertheless, I thought it appropriate…even though the Irish did beat the English at rugby a couple of weeks ago in the Six Nations Championships…which was a crushing disappointment…but I digress.
Digression! He’s really getting the hang of this. Maybe Chip’s blog readership is increasing?
The real question is what did SC see on St. Pat’s that piqued his interest? The green river? The turnout at the parade? The vast number of people vomiting in the streets? More details Stevey!
On the biz-nass front, SC did have a conference call with all the GT global leaders and he had to get up bright and early to get on the call at 8 am Chicago time. He did admit that this is NBD because when Steve-o was in China, he had to do the call in the god-awful morning hours to accommodate the BSDs in the U.S. and London.
Speaking of China (and digression), does anyone think Steve knows where mini-Madoff of Hong Kong Gabriel Azedo is? Dude has been missing for awhile.
Is Stephen Chipman Preparing to Embrace Twitter?
We hope! Our speculation is fueled by a line from SC’s most recent post:
“Because I’ve heard it said that brevity is not my strong suit, I will try to explain it in 50 words.”
Whether Steve-o realizes it or not, at 50 words, he still needs to improve his brevity. But it’s a start and we’re hoping that he’ll get eventually embrace Twitter. We’re envisioning pithy Tweets followed by clever hashtags like #GTrocks or #Big4sucks or #isecretlyheartsuesachdeva.
The fact the whole brevity topic came up makes us curious. We only made mention of it once, ages ago, so we’re certain that he isn’t referring to our commentary (which we’re sure he reads religiously).
Anyhoo, Even-Stephen was referring to the difference between the Grant Thornton Senior Leadership Team and the Partnership Board. Disappointing everyone, he ended up using 51 words and 258 characters:
The SLT is the equivalent of executive management, and the Partnership Board is the governing body of the firm. The SLT is appointed by the CEO and approved by the PB. The CEO is appointed by the PB. The SLT reports to the CEO, and the CEO reports to the PB.
That’s followed up by Stephen getting back to his windy ways, describing what every member of the SLT does (you can get the gist from their titles).
So while we’re encouraged by Chip’s effort at getting to the point, he still has some work to do. Just sign up and go for it man. Plus we’d be interested to know who Steve-o would follow. Going Concern is a given but does he go intellectual and follow Taleb and Roubini? Or slum it with the rubes and follow Kim Kardashian, Courtney Love and Kanye?
Stephen, just get on Twitter.
Stephen Chipman Managed to Not Stop By Going Concern HQ While He Was in New York
This week in Stephen Chipman blog dissection, we learned that SC had another week full of travel, although he managed to resist the temptation to head back to Atlanta for the third straight week. It was typical back-slapping, glad-handing wily CEO shenanigans in Chi-town including a little chat with Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell. “Dr. Campbell recounted a wonderful story of his very first diplomatic event with Secretary Clinton at Blair House — entertaining a senior Chinese delegation.”
Yeah. He leaves you hanging. Our guess is that Hil was telling Bill jokes and/or doing armpit fart noises but it’s all a mystery because Stephen changes the subject entirely. C’mon man! You can’t do that!
Anyway it and then on to DC for a speech IFRS and why it’s on the road to nowhere in the US of A:
I had been invited to be the after-dinner speaker for the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Board of Directors meeting. Although I feared the impossible expectation of being a “rousing, after-dinner” speaker on the topic of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), interest was high on the eve of the SEC’s highly anticipated announcement of plans to move forward with their Roadmap for IFRS adoption in the United States.
We’re continually impressed with Steve’s ability to throw in the dry humor, although we suggest dropping the unnecessary quotation marks. Definitely would read more deadpan. If you’re not familiar with the phenomenon of unnecessary quotation marks, you’re probably an abuser.
Moving on…
Chiparoo then trekked up to the City where he talked more about IFRS with the Center of Audit Quality, “The lively conversation focused on the SEC’s announcement regarding further clarification on their Roadmap.” And by that he means everyone there is pissed that the SEC is perfectly happy to drag this thing out.
Post-IFRS chat, SC met up with Ed Nusbaum and they did some MSM hopping, “I met up with Ed Nusbaum and Grant Thornton’s Director of Corporate Communications John Vita for a media tour. Ed is a veteran with the press, but press junkets are relatively new for me. We spoke to reporters at Bloomberg, Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and Thomson Reuters.”
Okay, we’re a little hurt by this. Sure we work remotely but would it have killed you to stop by Steve and leave a note? GCHQ might not have the fancy confines of the WSJ or the ‘Berg but we’d make you guys comfortable as possible. Plus there’s always stimulating conversation. Or just simple call saying “Sorry we couldn’t make it. Next time!” just to get our hopes up.
While we’re still getting over this little slight, we’ll just mention that Steve’s blog, to our knowledge, doesn’t have a name. We’ll take the weekend to mull over this but in the meantime, if you’ve got suggestions, feel free to share.
Reminder: Extended Haiti Donation Deadline for 2009 Tax Returns Is This Sunday
Despite many arguments that the extension was bad legislation, it cruised through Congress and was quickly signed by the POTUS and now the window is closing fast.
For those of you that are able to itemize deductions and you’re looking for a little extra deduction for ’09, the countdown is at t-minus two days.
If you are considering a last minute donation, A) what the hell have you been waiting for? B) you’re in a bit of luck because the deadline has a little bit of wiggle room, as Kay Bell tell us, “If you charge your donations to a credit card before the end of February, that counts even if you don’t get or pay the your credit card bill until next month or later.”
For those of you that don’t trust machines and are cutting a check, you best drop it soon if you want it to hit your ’09 return, “don’t send a check dated Feb. 28 on March 15 and claim it…if a tax examiner looks at your statement and sees the check didn’t clear until the last half of March, your deduction will probably be disallowed.”
Oh and it’s cash only. Your clothes that were originally meant for your garage sale this Spring are generous but not eligible for the extension.
On a related note, part of Stephen Chipman’s blog post from this week announced that Grant Thornton had raised approximately $140,000 that will be split between the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Thumbs up GT.
2009 Haiti donation deadline Feb. 28 [DMWT]
Stephen Chipman Blog Watch: Back to Hotlanta
Today in Stephen Chipman blog analysis we’re thinking that the rager that he attended in Atlanta got him jonesing for another trip down south because he made another short excursion down to GA but this time it was for some strategory:
Attending a hard-working Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meeting in this wonderful city, I took a break to check e-mail. I thought perhaps I’d had too much BOLD coffee, when I skimmed this alert to our Atlanta personnel:
Please be advised that the downtown [Atlanta] connector is currently backed up due to a zebra escaping from the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Zebra has since been captured; however, traffic is expected to remain backed up
Right then, Zebra has been captured.
Two things: 1) is Chip a caffeine junkie? and 2) that last sentence strikes us as deadpan. Do we detect some style here?
Putting wild animals and addiction aside, SC goes on to tell us about a little rendezvous he had in London for some Grant Thornton International back-slapping that he got to do with his predecessor and current GTI CEO, Ed Nusbaum. Nothing really to report other than Steve-o claims that word round the camp fire is that Ed has started sneaking out the back door again but secretly doesn’t give a damn because he’s got the big chair now and he can do whatever he wants. He’s talking like he’ll start walking out the front door, in front of everyone, because he leaves when he wants.
That’s how we read into it anyway.
It seems that while Steve has taking this blogging thing by the horns there hasn’t been much commentary on more fun topics (maybe it’s just us). For example, we’d really like to know if he joined the “Sexy Accountant” group on Facebook or what his biggest audit room pet peeves are.
We’re just saying, don’t be afraid to put it all out there.
Grant Thornton’s Valentine to Employees Did Not Consist of Heart Candy
It’s the middle of February and many of you are somewhere between completely exhausted and death warmed up. This is not lost on blogger extraordinaire Steve Chipman. SC’s weekly info session has been crucial to your survival (even though it’s not meant for all of you). Knowing that his soothing words will only get you so far, he’s taken a different approach this week.
Since it was St. Val’s on Sunday, Chip figured he would mark the day for lovers by boosting your spirits by using the words of GTers less CEO-y than himself.
Today I’d like to offer some inspiration to help us push through busy season. The last year and a half have required so much more from everyone that it’s hard to imagine we can work even harder, but it’s evident that we are everywhere I look.
So what keeps us going? That’s what I was looking for when I reviewed the “I am Grant Thornton” interviews we conducted last fall. We asked a variety of people in different roles, in different offices and at different levels if they felt they made a difference, and, if so, how.
It is hard to imagine that you can work harder, isn’t it? Your spreadsheets are bleeding through your monitors, you’ve ingested far more MSG than is recommended, and your cube farm neighbor (who ordinarily smells funny) is looking hot .
And we weren’t aware of this “I am G to the T” exercise but it sounds stupendous. Who knew your personal experiences would be used at this most crucial time of year? Bet you would have really put some thought into if if you had known your words could possibly have been immortalized on Steve-o’s blog.
Here are some carefully selected examples from SC’s list and our thoughts on each:
“When a client calls me and says, “Can I pick your brain?” it’s so great because (1) they recognize I have a brain” – We agree that it’s nice when your client recognizes that you are of the same species.
“I had a client tell me recently, and I’m quoting, ‘We hire Grant Thornton because you get [stuff] done.’” – That’s Stephen’s edit. This is a family blog, people.
“I make a difference every day because I work here.” – And because my mother said so.
“Every day is a great achievement.” – We agree. Crawling out of bed is tough.
“How do I make a difference? . . . You know, I’m happy.” – God, you’re one of those happy people.
“I’ve worked at the big firms. We are not bigger by any means, but it’s a question of caliber. I knew it from my first day on the job here. We’re just a different caliber of firm.” – We’re not size queens at GT.
Steve-o’s send-off has us begging for more and also causes us to wonder A) who is this homecoming queen? and B) is Chip a Bass or a Tenor?
I’m also proud to say that among our great people are a former homecoming queen and a professional make-up artist. Of equal wonder, one of you found the most surprising thing about coming to Grant Thornton was “that all the partners have great singing voices.”
There’s more where that came from, but this is the firm’s Valentine to you.
Thanks for you!
Stephen
You could do back-to-back busy season now, couldn’t you?
Stephen Chipman Is Slightly Annoyed by the Non-Grant Thornton People Reading His Blog
We didn’t get the third installment of Stephen Chipman’s blog until late last week and apparently while the Grant Thornton CEO seems to be keeping up his promise to come at you once a week, he’s going to be a bit more reserved going forward.
Last week SC shared a few insights from his readers, however we warned that he wouldn’t be sharing the most intimate details (e.g. ragers in Atlanta):
“Because large portions of my blog are finding their way to external Web sites, I will answer some sensitive or strategic questions via internal e-mail and send my responses directly to the person who posed them.”
Well, shucks. We’re not sure what “external websites” SC is referring to but as far as our humble posts are concerned, we merely provide snapshots that certainly don’t qualify as “large portions”. If you guys are aware of someone reposting the posts in full, get in touch with us and we’ll let them know at GTHQ.
We’re also curious as to what will qualify as “sensitive or strategic questions”. Is SC getting prodded with nosy questions about Sue Sachdeva? If so, he could at least give us a diagnosis on her supposed shopaholic tendencies. That doesn’t seem too sensitive. It’s most certainly not strategic.
We’d also like to hear his thoughts on Grant Thornton being vindicated in the Overstock.com circus. Patrick Bryne said some pretty nasty things about Steve’s beloved firm. This is the perfect opportunity for Steve-o to throw it in Patsy’s face via an all-out blog-off. Does he take it? So far, no. Sensitive? Absolutely not. This is justice. Strategic? Not really. Chip must get enough satisfaction knowing that the firm clear of the whole thing and doesn’t see the need for gloating. We’ve got two words for that: MISSED. OPPORTUNITY.
Because of this new cautious approach, we don’t have any parties or white whales to share this week but SC did mention that he got a little face time with SEC Chief Accountant James Kroeker. And don’t think that just anyone was invited to this little sit-down, “I was honored to be included in this very small group, which also included the CEOs of two large competitors.”
Well! We’re assuming Chip is referring to two B-I-G-F-O-U-R competitors and only since only two of them were there, this is pretty H-U-G-E opportunity for Steve. SC won’t turn down a little glad-handing with the Chief Accountant, no sir. Unfortch, he didn’t really get into what was said at the meeting but we’re sure it was a stimulating convo: Olympic fever. St. Val’s gifts for the wives. Maybe some talk about the nonexistent SEC roadmap on IFRS? Here’s to hoping that he’ll open up more this week.
Stephen Chipman’s Latest Blog Post: Atlanta Knows How to Party; The End of Suffering
Last week, we were a little disappointed in Stephen Chipman’s debut blog entry; A) it’s not public for the whole world to read and B) it reminded us of a journal except all the good stuff like morning bathroom routine, the wife’s headache, compensating for said headache, etc. was left out.
This week is a little better (no Lost recap and 1,200+ words are big negative points), as he shared with the GT troops about his little excursion down to Atlanta to do some glad-handing at the open house for the new office space there. Chip was impressed not only by the new LEED facility but by the willingness of a fair amount of people in Atlanta that had nothing better to do on a Wednesday night:
What struck me was that these were not people who came through obligation; they clearly wanted to be there. I met many clients, and they all had warm and wonderful things to say about our Atlanta office partners and people. Where some business receptions can be deadly if the mix and tone aren’t just right, people were really enjoying themselves — they stayed, they mingled, they had fun, many enjoying themselves well past 9 o’clock at night. (It kicked off at 5).
Okay, so where are these deadly receptions occurring? We’ve been to some wild get-togethers where some people might not get along but there was no risk of anyone ending up dead. Perhaps he just means “shockingly awkward.” That’s way more believable than a party where a homicide may or may not occur.
And why would he be surprised if people could booze for free for over four hours? If there’s free beer and wine to be had in the middle of the week, that probably is the best thing you could do on a Wednesday.
The only other tidbit worth mentioning is that Steve-o got a little redemption that was over two decades in the making. Back in the 80s when Chip was a manager living in Dallas, chasing SMU tail and starting to network, he was courting a prospect that ultimately went with a “large competitor.” Since that point in time, he has not taken it well:
For years — and this was more than two decades ago — I’ve watched this company from afar, and it’s become quite successful. I felt a pang every time I saw their signs (which were everywhere), and also their advertising at NHL games and sports arenas. With every sign sighting, I got increasingly frustrated that they were not a Grant Thornton client.
Many times SC could be caught looking off into the distance, dreaming about the one that got away. A tear. A lone tear…
Well you can rejoice now bitches! Turns out a current GT client recently purchase this prospect that broke our hero’s heart and is now a client of GT. “After almost 22 years of misery, my suffering has ended,” SC utters. This was his White Whale.
And to wrap it up, SC threw in a nice little pep talk for all of you GTers out there feeling down and out, “We don’t need to be the biggest to be the best.” He’s still thinking about you; even if you’re not in Atlanta.
Still no Lost recap.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Stephen Chipman’s Blog is Live
As promised, Stephen Chipman has started his blog with the first post going up today.
I am excited to provide this interactive Blog designed to foster thoughtful dialogue and information sharing between you and me. My Blog enables me to share with each of you my personal thoughts about our business and other important matters. I hope you find this Blog informative as well as useful. Please check back every Wednesday for a new post.
Unfortunately for you non-GTers out there, the blog is not public like Jeremy Newman’s so not just anyone can help him with his grammar (which we’re sure is impeccable) or spelling.
Despite being the blog being for GT eyes only, he’s still excited about spreading the good word through this new medium:
I’m delighted to be writing my first blog. One of the aspects of our modern culture is the ease of informal communication. As I noted in the announcement, I have no pre-planned features or stories, I’m just going to blog the way others do — in the moment.
It’s disappointing that Chip didn’t start the blog a little earlier, say, when he got the news about Sue Sachdeva’s shopping sprees. Catching him in the moment of that particular bit of news would have made for a good post, no? Plus, since he’s so close to Milwaukee, he might have run up their to see some of this loot himself in order to tell us what he thought of Suze’s taste in clothes, jewels, etc.
Our one beef with Steve-o’s first post is that it has too much of a journal feeling to it. Personally, we’d prefer he got on his soapbox about how the Big 4 isn’t all that, or why he thinks Davos is overrated. We realize that he’s new at this so we’ll give him a little time to get it together. In the meantime, be sure to inform us about his words of wisdom going forward.
Quote of the Day | 01.19.10
“Audits are of limited usefulness – the scope of work is so small and is done in such a compressed time, usually at the end of the year. And the work that auditors do is predictable.”
~ Tracy Coenen, of Fraud Files Blog, in regards to the how Sue Sachdeva allegedly pulled off a $31 million embezzlement at Koss under the nose of Grant Thornton (Steve Chipman may need a pair of these to drown out the attorneys). [Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin Business News]
Grant Thornton Names a New COO*
Grant Thornton named Lou Grabowsky as its new Chief Operating Officer today. Grabs starts his new gig the same day as Stephen Chipman and Ed Nusbaum start in theirs so we’re guessing that will be quite the rager to kick off the decade.
LG takes over the day-to-day responsibilities at GT which no doubt includes overseeing the press release elves:
“Lou’s credentials are impeccable, and he will serve the firm with his characteristic commitment to excellence as Chief Operating Officer for Grant Thornton LLP,” says Stephen Chipman, Grant Thornton LLP CEO-elect. “His personal and professional strengths complement my own, and we have already been working on transition issues and other matters of high priority for the U.S. firm.”
Whoa, Steve-o, feeling ignored? We won’t forget that you’ve got strengths buddy. You didn’t get the big chair for nothing.
Back to the real reason for this little post, Grabs is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University and an Arthur Andersen survivor. He was even the partner in charge of assurance services for the Dallas office from ’91-’97 so he may have known David Duncan. SCANDAL!
Just joshin’ you Lou. Enjoy the new gig.
Lou Grabowsky named Chief Operating Officer of Grant Thornton LLP [Press Release]
*Managed to only mention ‘Global Six Accounting Firm’ once
Grant Thornton’s Stephen Chipman Is Excited About the Metra
Last time we checked in with the Grant Thornton bigwigs and their interview with Accounting Today, we noted how Stephen Chipman, the next U.S. CEO, was a bit of snoozer as an interviewee.
This time around is no different but Steve-o did happen to mention how great it was to be back in Chicago and able to take the train to work. A boyish grin spreads across his face as he describes how great the Chicago commuter line is. Somebody had a train set growing up!
Video for part four of the interview is after the jump that includes Ed Nusbaum admitting that he gave up his abacus awhile ago and that GT has managed to not become dinosaurs. If you’ve a different opinion on that, discuss here or over at our technology open thread.