Chicago Accounting Firm Porte Brown Acquires Two Tax and Accounting Firms

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill., Aug. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Porte Brown LLC (http://www.portebrown.com), a Chicago CPA firm providing accounting, audit, tax service, technology and wealth management services, announced today they acquired two tax and accounting firms in the past quarter.

Porte Brown acquired:

• Fleming & Co, P.C., located in McHenry, an accounting and tax company. The office was maintained, giving Porte Brown three locations to better serve clients. The other offices are located in Elk Grove Village and in downtown Chicago.

• G. Ross & Associates, Ltd., of Chicago, an accounting and tax firm.

"We are aggressively looking to acquire other accounting and tax firms of all sizes as well as wealth management firms," said Bruce G. Jones, CPA, who is only the third managing partner in Porte Brown's long, 65-year history, a sign of stability.

Employees of the acquired companies are invited to apply to work for Porte Brown, which was named one of the "Best Places to Work." The award is based on criteria developed by Best Companies Group of Harrisburg, PA following a thorough review of employee surveys and interviews. In 2008, Porte Brown was named one of two accounting firms chosen in the top 20 in the state of Illinois.

"You have to have the best talent," Jones said.

The company, which employs 70 people, has more than doubled its size, as measured by billings and personnel, over the past five years, by acquiring seven firms through friendly acquisitions, and by providing outstanding, value-added services to its clients in the fields of manufacturing and distribution, construction, not for profit, professional services, individuals and grocery and food services.

"We've grown tremendously for a number of reasons," he said. "We see other firms as potential partners and allies, not as competition."

Small firms are interested in being acquired for a number of reasons.

"Small accounting firms find it hard to keep up with all the new regulations. Some firms are run by people who wanted to retire and thought selling to an established company would provide them with assurances that the buyout would be successful and they would be compensated for their years of hard work," he said.

One core belief that runs through Porte Brown is to add value to everything they do for their clients.

"Our mentality has never been to bill by the hour. We need to find out what it takes to give good value. That forces you to look at your processes and procedures to be as efficient as possible," Jones said.

Another reason for Porte Brown's explosive growth is because the firm is known for creating processes for all aspects of their business, which can be copied by other CPA firms.

"We are frequently called in to consult with other accounting firms to teach them about our business processes that will make their firms more efficient and more profitable," he said. "Other firms are starting to recognize us as the process leader. We are getting hired by those firms to do an efficiency process for their firm. That's been a lot of fun."

One of the keys to success is to have business systems.

"We have written procedures for training, accounting, computers and other disciplines. We all need to be operating in the same way; otherwise you spend more time putting out fires. This also removes the politics or personalities from situations," he said.

"You become great by doing what you do over and over again, and continuing to improve upon them."

About Porte Brown

For more than 65 years, Porte Brown LLC has provided accounting services to individuals and business throughout the suburbs of Chicago including Cook, DuPage and McHenry counties. Porte Brown specializes in tax planning and preparation services, audit, business valuations, retirement plan administration and consulting. The CPA firm also focuses on technology solutions, providing computer consulting for clients, either by establishing a new network for their operational and accounting needs or working with an existing network with the help of Porte Brown Technology Solutions.

For more information or to meet with one of our partners or accounting/tax experts, please contact Chris Zdunich at 1-847-956-1040 or visit http://www.portebrown.com  

Securities offered through 1st Global Capital Corp., Member FINRA & SIPC

Investment advisory services offered through 1st Global Advisors, Inc.

Contact: Chris Zdunich, [email protected], 847-956-1040

SOURCE Porte Brown LLC