“We don’t just have one career path for people. We try to be really flexible.” —Chris Paris
Why did Moss Adams win Best Accounting Firm in the North Bay once again? Is it the fact that it’s had a North Bay presence for more than 30 years? Or that it offers full-service audits and accounting, tax, advisory and private client services? For Moss Adams, it all comes down to people. The firm cares about client service, certainly, but at Moss Adams, the commitment goes deeper, believing in its people by investing time, money and effort into staff.
“We spend a lot of time training our people at all levels,” explains Chris Paris, partner in charge of the North Bay. “The training is different at different levels. Right out of college, we invest a ton in technical training. As you progress in your career, oftentimes, you need different types of training, whether it be professional coaching, soft skills or how to grow your network. What that translates into is great client service.”
For Moss Adams employees, this also translates into significant job satisfaction, as employees can specialize and work on what interests them most while being provided with the necessary coaching and training.
“We don’t just have one career path for people,” says Paris. “Some people want to have a family and need more flexibility. Others want to work on FCC clients and really dedicate their life to their career. Some may start off in a certain practice group and decide they want to be in a different one. We try to be really flexible.”
The firm even has a name for this dedication to people: “The Moss Adams Advantage for our People and our Clients.” As employees are allowed to specialize in what interests them most, clients benefit by the level of expertise this specialization produces.
“We believe clients demand industry specialization. That’s fairly unique for us—being industry focused. For clients, the Moss Adams advantage is really us being industry-focused, responsive, being their trusted adviser and not just completing tax returns and financial statements. When you’re industry-focused, you tend to see multiple businesses within the same industry, so you can pick up on best practices and actually make recommendations that are more general business recommendations than just tax, audit or consulting recommendations.”
Clearly, this commitment has paid off, with business significantly picking up post recession, especially in 2014. Over the past few years, the focus has changed from having more people than required to trying to hire ahead of client demand.
The increase in business stems from new clients as well as the breadth of services requested by existing clients—a testament to the fact that the economy is improving. In its international tax division alone, the firm has added five Bay Area staff members in the past six months to accommodate client needs.“There’s also a lot of other consulting-related services [that are growing],” says Paris. “During the economic downturn, our clients weren’t real interested in estate planning, for example. They were more focused on making it through the recession. So a lot of those things are coming back now. Clients have made it through the economic downturn and are now starting to think about estate planning, succession planning and what they’re going to do with their business. All those types of things that have been on the back burner are coming to the forefront.”
With its full-service offerings, including accounting, tax and consulting services, as well as specialty services such as consulting and advice related to mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, business valuations, succession planning, litigation and forensic accounting and management services, Moss Adams is certainly well equipped to meet clients’ changing and growing needs. As Paris likes to tell his clients, “There are very few things we can’t do for you!”
