Bob Batz, Senior Managing Director, CBIZ – Tampa
With its 2024 acquisition of Marcum, CBIZ became the seventh largest CPA firm in the country. “Many times, when companies work with what they would call their accountant, they outgrow them, but now they’re not going to outgrow us,” Bob Batz, senior managing director of CBIZ’s Tampa office, told Invest:.
What have been some recent milestones for CBIZ, particularly in the Tampa Bay market?
It was a big year for us. We’re now this large company after our acquisition of Marcum in 2024. Specific to Tampa, we’ve had a couple of partners retire. We have also promoted some new partners. When you have that transition, it has a cultural impact, and that has been positive for us. I would say we have a lot of motivated young leaders, which leads to good results. The general Tampa Bay market is very good and has been for several years.
New client development is one key metric that I’m very proud of. When you look at 2024, we saw double-digit growth. That is a great result. I am happy with that specifically for last year.
When we look at what the Marcum deal means for us, we were one of the largest firms here in Tampa, and we were No. 11 nationally. Now, we’re going to be No. 7 overall.
We see some expansion in what we do with the Marcum acquisition. Specifically in Tampa, we didn’t have a government practice. We weren’t working with government clients. Just in the two and a half months that we’ve been working with Marcum, we’ve seen an expansion in that area. Marcum also had a large SEC practice compared to what we traditionally had. We’re seeing growth in that space as well. They also had a very large construction practice here in the Southeast. We have one, too, but combined, it’s going to be a lot more significant.
What strategies has CBIZ implemented to overcome workforce challenges?
We try to be an employer of choice. Of course, that sounds nice, but what does that mean? First, it means providing best-in-class training. When we bring people on board, they’re getting the best training that they can get. We have a laser focus on long-term advancement. I’ve been with this organization for 26 years. I started maybe a year and a half out of school. When I came here, I had a very frank conversation and said, I know you’re going to work me to death, but the tradeoff is you’re going to train me to take your job. If we can agree to that, I’ll come here. And that’s exactly what happened. I started as a staff and made partner 10 years to the day. I was constantly learning, from being an expert in accounting and serving clients to then operating a business and bringing in new clients.
That laser focus on career advancement is key to us getting the best and brightest people in the marketplace right now. The old days of working 80 hours a week in public accounting doesn’t work anymore. That’s not what the younger generations are looking for and it’s not who we are. We have a focus on work-life balance and incorporating that into our scheduling and how we communicate and work with clients.
We also have a focus on the community. Being involved in the community has a huge impact. It’s not just that it looks good on our website, it’s about getting our folks connected. We’re a professional services firm. We’re out there serving clients, getting to know people in the community, and being a part of the community is very important.
We also want to make it fun to come to work. We make it a welcoming and fun environment.
Which areas have the most potential for the firm now?
I’ll give you a great example. Marcum had a focus on construction, and that’s an area in which we’ve been making investments over the last couple of years to continue to grow. That’s one area in which we see lots of growth. The Tampa Bay market doesn’t have one overpowering industry. Our client list is pretty much in everything. The Tampa Bay market also has a lot of family-run or closely held businesses that have grown. This is another opportunity area.
Over the last several years, maybe five years, we’ve also seen a huge inflow of private equity, and while that’s not an industry per se, we treat it as such. From a national perspective to a local perspective, we make significant investments in the private equity space and can serve those clients and give them the advice that they need. Typically, when they come in, those companies grow very fast and there’s always an exit strategy.
What shifts in demand have you observed among your clients?
In the past three years, it’s all about equity. What do I mean by that? They need deal advice, whether it’s buying or selling. Audits are always necessary in those cases. And then there’s a lot of strategic tax planning that goes around all of that. Finally, there is also a lot of risk advisory consulting, where we’re trying to improve the internal controls or we’re trying to get ready to grow something even bigger.
What differentiates your firm from other players?
We’re not a traditional CPA firm. We’re a financial services provider. We sell insurance. We have technology products. We have an outsourced HR platform. There are things that we have that others don’t. At CBIZ, we have a lot of things that we can provide a client. I hate to say we are a one-stop shop because I don’t like the way that sounds, but we really are one for middle-market and closely held growth-oriented companies.
We are the best choice because we can continue to offer all these other services as they are needed. Many times, when companies work with what they would call their accountant, they outgrow them, but now they’re not going to outgrow us.
What are your top priorities for CBIZ in Tampa?
First and foremost, we need to get to know our Marcum brothers and sisters in the Tampa office and in our region a whole lot better. We’re moving quickly to become one cohesive team. Fully understanding our capabilities, I think, is going to be key to our growth. There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit that we’ll be able to take advantage of just because of the expertise we have and the resources that have come together.
