By Keith Barfield, Founding Shareholder, CPA, CITP
When your largest client tells you that joining BDO Seidman Alliance was the best thing you’ve ever done, that says it all.
We joined BDO, the world’s fifth largest accountancy network, 13 years ago and were one of the first accounting firms in the country to be a part of the BDO Seidman Alliance.
In the case of my largest client, he needed a tax opinion and direct contact with the IRS in Washington D.C. Without our BDO partnership, we probably would not have been able to provide that, but with BDO we were since they have an office there. It’s basically a cross-staffing arrangement.
We want to be a one-stop shop for our clients. If they have any accounting issue, we want to be able to handle that. Since they specialize in areas where we may not. BDO has over 40 offices throughout the United States and more than 400 independent Alliance firm locations.
As a young firm with about 35 people, we knew there were areas of specialization we didn’t have covered yet. So in the early days, BDO covered some spots we have since developed.
For example, we have specialization now in credit unions, so we can share our information and resources with other firms who specialize in that area as well. If a company BDO works with in Alabama needs staff for a project, we provide those services. When we need something out of state or a really particular specialty, we can call the BDO offices and get that knowledge for our clients.
Sometimes companies require a national firm opinion because of their connections to financing on Wall Street, so we can get a BDO opinion on our clients and still use our staff to perform a lot of the field work.
It’s the best of both worlds. We provide the local, competitive service and rates but you get a nationally recognized opinion for your financial statements.
Our hope is that this relationship means that there’s nothing we can’t provide to our clients.
Call technology accounting specialist and CITP, Keith Barfield of Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith at 205-982-5511 or email him at technology@bmss.com if you need accounting help for your technology business. He has experience helping Alabama technology companies and emerging industries, including software development, internet design and controls and online training with their exact accounting needs through our Technology Division.
