marital divorce — always seems to be
hanging around. There’s an uptick in the
corporate divorce arena, with sharehold-
ers parting ways and valuations related to
buy-sell agreements.”
The greater need for transaction work
in today’s mergers and acquisitions-heavy
climate was also a contributor to the gains
in attest services, according to Beth Kieffer
Leonard, managing partner at Minneapo-
lis firm Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Co.: “Over-
all business growth also helped. People are
going back to the bank looking for those
services again,” she explained.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Midsized businesses were the largest-growing client category again this year,
retaining the top spot by growing nearly 11
percentage points to an overall 77 percent
of firms reporting.
Manufacturing, tracking progress at
73 percent of firms, leapfrogged last year’s
No. 2 category, nonprofits, with the help of
a 10-percentage point increase.
Rounding out the top three was real
estate, making an even bigger climb of four
spots with the help of 65 percent of firms
reporting growth. Meanwhile, the three-percentage-point dip in the nonprofit client category dropped it two spots.
In the positive column, technology’s
eight-point increase from 2011’s survey
vaulted it up three spots. Other categories
recording significant gains included large
businesses and hotels and restaurants.
Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Co.’s Midwest
shelter from the more severe economic
Top client categories
Percentage of firms increasing their business with these types of clients
(of 82 firms responding)
Midsized businesses
Manufacturing
Real estate
Nonprofit organizations
Professional services
Technology
Health care facilities
Pension plans
Individuals
Construction
Large businesses
Hotels and restaurants
Retail trade
Entertainment
Government contractors
Colleges and universities
Small businesses
Investment cos. & mutual funds
Publishing/broadcasting/media
Securities/commod. brokers/dealers
Insurance carriers/companies
Finance cos./mortgage banks
Auto dealerships
Gaming
School districts
Franchising
0
downturn on the coasts also protected its
midsized clients, according to Leonard. “A
lot of the work we’ve done in the downturn
was to position ourselves in a positive way
to attract new opportunities,” she said.
“Companies that survived and have done
well — some have had one of the best years
they’ve ever had in 2011. If they survived
through the downturn, they had a really
robust year.”
Richard Kopelman, partner at Geor-
gia’s Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, partially cred-
its the firm’s regional presence for its boost
in manufacturing clients. “The Southeast
is seeing a lot of growth, with a lot of auto
manufacturers moving into the Southeast
in the last 10 years, which has brought a lot
of suppliers in the area,” he said.
For his firm, this has translated into
the signing of nine companies with rev-
enues averaging over $75 million in the last
three months and the feeling that, “The
tipping point has been hit.”
Location also played a vital role for the
widening pool of real estate clients at New
York-headquartered Friedman. “We are
very fortunate to be in New York,” said Jay
Goldstein, the firm’s head partner of real
estate. “New York is somewhat insulated
from the real estate problems throughout
the country. The rest of the country is
suffering a slowdown, especially in the
commercial area. But we handle national
companies — pension funds who invest in
real estate, among other things — through-
out the country.” This has helped the firm’s
practice revenue grow 10 to 15 percent in
the last year, he said.
Geographical advantage was also apparent in the rise of technology clients for
Silicon Valley-based Mohler, Nixon & Williams, though managing and audit partner
Steve Vidlock also attributed this to wider
economic recovery: “[Technology] companies that deferred having audit services
performed in the last couple of years are
coming back into the market a bit. Pricing
pressure is still a challenge, but as things
improve in the marketplace, that gets better as well.” AT
