Today marks the 15th anniversary of mine, Peter Weitsen’s and Frank Boutillette’s merger with WithumSmith+Brown, PC. In the last fifteen years the business world has changed, the way business is done has changed, clients’ needs for services have changed and the accounting profession has changed to meet this new reality.
Fifteen years ago the iPhone and iPad did not exist and mobile technology was a dream of a few computer geeks. Today a great amount of business is being done on these mobile devices. My electrician last week prepared his estimate and then the bill on his iPad and emailed it to me while he was discussing additional work he could do for me. ApplePay and other mobile payment methods and digital wallet services are becoming standard. At the same time cyber thieves last year stole more money than every bank robber combined has ever done throughout history. Fifteen years ago clients had to wait until their accountants gave them their monthly numbers and today any client can generate it with two clicks on their iPhone or iPad. Fifteen years ago we still used cameras and developed our grandchildren’s photos while today the photos are posted on Facebook instantly after been taken on our mobile devices.
The point is that a revolution of changes has taken place since we joined with Withum, and consultants and advisors are needed more than ever to ease clients into this new reality. Coincidentally with these massive paradigm changes my partners at Withum recognized the opportunities for advising clients in the many new areas they would need assistance in on a primarily outsourced basis. Developing an evolving real-time infrastructure is costly and the pool of people that are adept in the many disciplines is limited. This is not cookie-cutter advisory services or checklist consulting. This is an arena that is changing exponentially. Withum has assembled a group of top global experts that can stay on the cusp of and ahead of the needs of our clients. An example is our cybersecurity group that I wrote about two weeks ago. We have similar groups servicing many other areas and specific industries.
My good fortune is that I get to see it in action and get to know many of the heads of these groups. They are all brilliant as well as very nice people who want to help clients become safer and stronger. Our website lists over 35 consulting services and over 40 types of organizations and industries (www.withum.com) in addition to the traditional tax, audit and accounting services. Our firm is now organized in practice areas with the appropriate leaders and staff that could handle any of the issues our clients have.
Before Peter, Frank and I merged in, we were able to handle most of our clients’ affairs with occasionally calling in an expert. Today I do not believe we would have been able to meet the needs of our larger clients had we not joined with Withum. The marketplace has been recreated and clients need much less of what we did and much more of what Withum does now that I do not think we could have created in our small practice. Things changed and so did we by becoming part of Withum’s 1200 person practice and its ability to be a true collaborator, partner, advisor, and asset to our clients.
A large bonus for me, Peter and Frank were also combining with an amazing group of true professionals that really know their stuff and really care about their clients. Its been a great fifteen years and we are looking forward to many more years.
Happy anniversary to us! And Happy New Year to all of our friends and clients! If you have any financial, business or cybersecurity or digital concerns, do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] and I will introduce you to the right one of our 1200 people.
Do not hesitate to contact me with any business or financial questions at [email protected] or fill out the form below.
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