“If we don’t do a good job with our clients, we don’t have much.” —Ty Pforsich
Ty Pforsich, managing partner at Moss Adams, says personal relationships and service that keep the company’s clients coming back. Moss Adams has once again been voted the North Bay’s Best Accounting Firm.
The company is the 12th largest accounting firm in the United States and the largest headquartered in the West. Local staff in Santa Rosa and Napa now number more than 70, with other offices in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Palo Alto and Silicon Valley resulting in approximately 375 in the greater Bay Area. It specializes in audit, tax and consulting for businesses and their shareholders, for governmental entities, nonprofits and high net worth individuals. In 1986, when Pforsich first joined the firm, there were 13 on staff in Santa Rosa, he says. Since then, it’s concentrated on adding quality people and clients. “We get the best candidates out of school and invest in their training and development. We attract, develop and retain great people.” By this, he means, “We teach them to be not only good accountants, auditors and tax people but also trusted advisers to our clients.”
Being a larger firm means Moss Adams has more combined depth and breadth of experience than many others. It can offer specialties that others may not, such as expertise in international taxes, valuations, various tax strategies, internal audit, IT consulting, temporary CFO assistance, business and personal financial planning and family office services. It has tax attorneys on staff and also offers wealth planning and estate planning from a national and international perspective. The firm’s areas of specialization include wineries and vineyards, food processing, real estate, hospitality and construction, technology and life sciences, health care, financial services, nonprofits and manufacturing and distribution.
Pforsich says 2012 was a good year for Moss Adams. It merged with a Napa firm mid-year and a large Silicon Valley firm late in the year. It also added three new partners in the greater Bay Area (including one in Santa Rosa), out of a total of 11 in Napa and Santa Rosa and 262 nationwide.
The four cornerstones of Moss Adams, Pforsich says, are people, clients, safety and growth. By “people” he means Moss Adams’ staff, and the meaning of “clients” is obvious. “We provide an environment that our people enjoy, along with the opportunity and support they need. Other than our people, our clients are all that we have. If we don’t do a good job with our clients, we don’t have much. So we’re focused on these two components of our business.” The other cornerstones support the first two, making it a safe business environment for staff as well as making sure clients can rely on the counsel Moss Adams provides. “We have to be rock solid. Our firm’s growth lets our staff continue to expand in breadth and depth so we can continue to offer clients what they want and need.
“A lot of times people think of accountants in a certain way. ‘They do my taxes,’ or ‘They audit my business.’ We strive to meet the needs of businesses, their shareholders and owners from a corporate perspective,” he says. “On the personal side, we help the owners reach their personal and financial goals, whether these include building a management team for succession, retirement, family time, building a management team or protecting or transferring their assets. We work with both the business side and the personal side.”
