A foundation of learning in the Midwest
BY ROGER RUSSELL
Jerry Topp, managing partner and chief executive officer of Midwest regional firm Eide Bailly, attributes the firm’s uccess in large part to its centralized
management and the unique culture generated by its training programs.
“We spend twice as much as most firms
on professional development, including
continuing education, internal training and
developing people skills,” he explained. “Our
leadership training program is unique. We
spend five to six sessions over a three-year period on this. All partners and senior managers
are required to attend. We find it helps us get
information to them to function at that level
directly from the firm and not filtered from
the partner-in-charge or the local partners.”
It was Topp’s early career interest in education that inspired his commitment to professional development at the firm: “My first
degree was in education. I was a high school
educator and taught at the University of North
Dakota before I got into public accounting.”
The training covers two days in the spring
and two days in the fall over the three-year
period, and imbues the participants with a
sense of the firm and its history.
“They learn the evolution of the firm, the
dynamics of centralized management and
strategies and issues inside offices,” Topp
said. “Periodically, we have managing part-
ners from other firms talk about the issues
in their firms. It’s always interesting to hear
about issues from other firms’ point of view.
They’re very open to share.”
In addition, visiting professors and aca-
demics participate in strategy sessions.
The training includes individual profiling,
which helps the trainees get to know them-
selves better. “They get a better handle of
who they are,” Topp explained. “We also talk
about the existing structure of the firm, how
it makes money, and what it means to be in a
leadership position.”
“We do a lot of acquisitions, so it’s impor-
tant that everyone is headed in the same di-
rection,” he said. “Our partners buy into the
mission of the firm because they know what
the firm is trying to accomplish.”
GROWTH INSIDE AND OUT
Headquartered in Fargo, N.D., Eide Bailly was
founded in 1917 and has evolved through a
series of mergers and acquisitions over the
years, as well as through a sustained internal
growth rate, which, over the past five to seven
years, has been about 10 percent.
During fiscal 2009, Eide Bailly acquired
four firms in Oklahoma, Idaho and Colorado.
“In addition to these, the firm experienced an
internal growth rate of 11 percent, which at
the start of the downturn of the economy was
a pleasant surprise for us,” said Topp.
The firm, which now has 19 offices in nine
states, ranked No. 23 on Accounting Today’s
2010 Top 100 Firms list with revenues of
$142.3 million.
“Our growth is important to us for several reasons,” Topp observed. “As we bring
additional staff into the firm, our industry
knowledge expands and we are able to help
our clients with more of their industry-spe-cific needs. Growth also helps us compete
with larger firms for talent across the country.
Our larger pool of resources creates a more
stable environment for everyone. And, as our
Baby Boomers begin to retire, we are also in a
better position to seamlessly transition their
work to others.”
The majority of its clients are midsized or
large closely held businesses. Eide Bailly uti-
lizes a “one-firm” approach to client service,
in which clients receive personal attention
from their industry and service team mem-
bers and, at the same time, have access to
other professionals across the firm, according
to Topp. While its core services are account-
ing, assurance and tax, its service specialties
include consulting,
Eide Bailly also
has significant prac-
tice niches in health
care and banking.
“For the year ahead, we continue to believe
the health care arena will be a significant
growth area, as well as the regulated industries, such as banking and insurance,” said
Topp. “From a firm perspective, the need for
consulting in health care legislation will be
a positive. Whenever there is more regulation, it is good for the profession. The same is
true of the insurance and banking industries,
since people need help with anything that’s
regulated.”
“As we expand our operations, our goal is
to strengthen existing industries and servic-
es and look for new ways to help our clients
— while still providing personal and attentive
service,” said Topp. “Maintaining this balance
allows us to deliver the type of service our
clients have grown to expect.”
Fortunately, the downturn has not affected
the firm to the extent that it might have, ac-
cording to Topp. “To date, we are satisfied
that the impact hasn’t hit us harder,” he said.
“We expect our fiscal 2010 will show growth of
only about 3 percent. The Midwest weathered
the downturn a little bit better early on, but
the downturn has lasted longer than expected
and is now hitting the Midwest as well.”
Nevertheless, the firm is poised to continue
its success. “It is not easy to experience con-
sistent growth in a fluctuating economy, but
our firm understands what it takes to be suc-
cessful, which involves identifying challenges
and proactively managing them to work for
us,” he said. AT
A tree grows in Denver
BY BILL CARLINO
Likening the varying facets that com- prise the corporate culture at Den- ver-based Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner & Hottman to the makeup of a tree transcends mere arboreal allusion.
It actually has its genesis in two parts. One
began in 1978, when founding partner Doug
Ehrhardt was given a plant on the firm’s first
day, which remains alive today, albeit on a
far more massive scale. The second chapter
came nearly 20 years later, when current man-
aging partner Robert Hottman assumed his
role and, together with the partners, created
a growth vision for the firm that emerged pic-
torially, as a tree, rather than numerically.
