Moss Adams was founded in 1913 by John G. McIntosh.
Back in the days of Henry Ford, things were simple. All the cars looked alike, and “accounting” meant “IN” on one side of the ledger and “OUT” on the other. Now, the world is vastly complex. An accounting firm cannot just be an accounting firm. It needs a depth of knowledge spanning a wide range of industries and business needs to serve as a trusted advisor for a variety of clients, as they grow, diversify and move forward toward achieving their desired prosperity. “Now,” says Michael Ricioli, North Bay managing partner at Moss Adams LLP, “it’s all customized. Everything is customized for our clients.”
Moss Adams—a multiple award-winning firm with local offices in Healdsburg, Santa Rosa and Napa—is once again recognized by NorthBay biz readers for its overall excellence in the field of accounting. With over 4,400 professionals with clients in all 50 states as well as clients doing business in over 100 countries and territories across the world, the firm stands tall in the world of accounting with a deep grounding in history.
The company was founded in Seattle by John G. McIntosh in 1913, just in time to see the federal income tax law arrive on the American scene. Based in the Pacific Northwest, they started out serving the forestry industry. Successful, the firm expanded, moving southward into Northern California, adding partners, serving clients in many industries and becoming specialists in those other areas. Now, operating as a full service accounting and consulting firm, Moss Adams serves industries from aerospace to wine. Its expertise ranges from tax and technical audit matters to specialized wealth management. Its partners pride themselves on being up to date on issues pertinent to individual organizations. This is no small challenge. “Things are changing so quickly now,” says Ricioli, “that between regulations and tax laws and how people work, where they work––we’re constantly having to try to figure out what’s the right recipe. And the recipe today… is that what works today won’t work tomorrow. So, we just continue to evolve and as long as we take care of our clients and take care of our people and continue to grow, they seem to do all right.
All that requires excellence, and excellence means good people, good teams. “We have a good diverse group of people in our organization,” he says. To him, this means bringing new thought to the table. “To me, if you have all the same type of thinking, that’s when you go stagnant. Having different perspectives, having different walks of life. You don’t want everybody agreeing with you. You want to have people challenging. And doing it in a respectful way. My whole mantra is: We just want good people. So be respectful, be good. We’re all on the same team together. Having a cohesive team is going to be critical to our success. And building a culture and an environment that attracts and retains the most talented and best people is really what we’re focused on.” Expertise in numbers is one thing, but expertise in people is how all the other expertise works, and so it seems to work at Moss Adams––for the professionals on the team and also the clients.
Born and raised in Windsor, Ricioli can’t hide his pleasure in working with the people in Moss Adams, serving this beautiful community where he grew up. Having Moss Adams recognized by NorthBay biz readers is nice, too. “It means a lot to us.”
