In a picture-paints-a-thousand-words moment, Anthony D. Ceci Jr., office managing partner for McGladrey in Connecticut, cited a client that owns 30 to 40 national and international companies.
Different states. Different countries. Different tax codes. Different laws. Account must be taken and attention must be paid.
“We have dozens of partners on that particular account,” Ceci said.
McGladrey”™s Stamford and New Haven offices employ 200, who are in turn part of 6,700 employees at 75 McGladrey offices nationally. Beyond that, McGladrey is the “M” in RSM International, the company”™s global arm.
Services on such a scale would seem to beg trouble. McGladrey”™s work for clients is guided and codified via “client service coordinators.”
“That”™s the beauty of McGladrey. With divisions all over the world, it”™s very easy to work with our brothers and sisters to get things accomplished.”
As for the lead-up to April 15, Ceci defused the notion of the frazzled, pencil-gnawing accountant. “We are busier this time of year, no doubt about it,” he said. But more than a frantic season, he explained, there is a peak for tax activity. Other projects and lines of business produce their own peaks ”“ all part of a cycle and of a company ethos that, Ceci said, respects employees and their time and nurtures local roots.
McGladrey supports myriad charities. A McGladrey-sponsored PGA Tour event at Sea Island, Ga., that began in 2010 has to date funneled more than $800,000 through McGladrey offices into local charities.
McGladrey clients might include midmarket companies (roughly $10 million to $1 billion in annual revenues), high-net-worth individuals, private equity groups and other companies. These entities, in turn, may own other companies or, in the case of a business, have divisions, perhaps based in other states, perhaps based overseas. The complexities of McGladrey”™s services ”“ tax, assurance and consulting ”“ are self-evident.
“All of our service offerings are very integrated,” said Ernest J. Nedder, tax leader for the Northeast for McGladrey.
Nedder, a CPA with 18 years at McGladrey, also addressed the perception of the pre-April 15 weeks in his industry as ones of sleeplessness and stress.
“For most firms, it”™s about heads down and compliance. For us there”™s a lot of forward thinking and work about the coming year.”
Ceci, who goes by Tony, is 62. Nedder, 43, is called E.J. They, along with 54-year-old Peter A.S. Pfeiffer, McGladrey regional business leader, sat recently in the company office on Canal Street in Stamford to field questions about tax season ”“ under control, by all accounts ”“ and company culture.
Ceci had recently attended a conference for McGladrey’s Delaware-to-Boston Northeast region that drew 1,500 employees. “The most important thing that came out of that meeting was that in the local market it is vital to mentor and educate and spend time with our people,” he said. “We really care about our people; they”™re our biggest asset.”
Ceci, Nedder and Pfeiffer in turn highlighted the fluidity and availability of McGladrey’s expertise.
“We”™re completely integrated globally, yet we’re heavily invested in the community, too,” Pfeiffer said. “Our employees are mentored locally, but we can pull resources in from Singapore.” He called the mix of local touch and global entity “a game-changer within the market.”
For all its obvious scale and scope, McGladrey is at its core a local company. Pfeiffer lives near the site of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and he spoke of McGladrey’s contributions toward the healing. All three men stressed local roots, none deeper than Ceci.
Ceci was a principal in regional tax-and-accounting firm Messina, Ceci, Archer & Co. The firm was already big ”“ 75 employees ”“ and sought-after by other outfits when it merged into McGladrey in 2001. Yet, said Ceci, “We considered ourselves McGladrey the first day we merged.” Negotiations leading to the merger lasted some two years.
“A lot of thought went into it,” Ceci said. “The end result, what mattered most, was how McGladrey cared about their people and how they served their midmarket clients. We did not lose one employee or client with the merge. It was a perfect fit.”
Nedder, whose tenure at McGladrey predates Ceci’s arrival, concurred, saying, “The merger has been tremendous for McGladrey.”
Both Nedder and Ceci have served on McGladrey’s national board of directors and served on national committees. Nedder remains on the company’s national Tax Leadership Team.
Pfeiffer said the company is heavily invested in technology: both assessing needs and working with vendors. “A lot of what we do and one of our fastest-growing areas is consulting,” he said. “Our technical services enable a company to get to the next level. That ability to grow, to leave a lasting legacy in the marketplace ”“ that’s what’s magical about McGladrey. We are trusted advisers.”