Bobbi Jo Lazarus, Real Estate Specialty Group Leader, Shareholder, Elliott Davis

In an interview with Invest:, Bobbi Jo Lazarus, real estate specialty group leader and shareholder at Elliott Davis, talked about the accounting firm’s focus on developing strong relationships with its customers and on providing its talent with the skills that allow them to sustain those relationships. She also talked about how regulatory changes concerning ESG reporting and new tax laws could impact the firm’s clients. 

What have been the most important highlights for Elliott Davis in Greater Charlotte in the past year?

Elliott Davis has maintained steady and consistent growth in the market, with 2023 being no different. The emphasis we place on our value proposition and the positive impact we aim to bring to every interaction is the key driver to that growth. Our three core pillars are centered around making a positive impact in the lives of our people, our customers, and our communities with a commitment to continuously elevating all experiences in those areas. 

Our strength stems from our approach to relationships. That starts with ensuring that we hire the right people and then equip them with the necessary abilities to engage effectively. The business environment has seen drastic changes over the last several years. Each customer now defines the value of their relationship with us differently.  It is our job to have a clear understanding of that definition and build teams that exceed expectations.

How does Elliott Davis support businesses in a changing economic and fiscal landscape?

The benefit of working with us is the forward-thinking approach that we take to customer relationships and our ability to navigate an ever-changing environment. There have been a lot of regulatory changes over the last several years with lease accounting and the impacts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. We are now seeing additional reporting under FinCen taking place this year and the new ESG reporting requirements coming as well. Layer in that the increased need for cyber security and the impacts that AI and proper system integrations can have if implemented correctly, a lot is pulling at business owners.  Our value-add is to help customers navigate each of these areas with a proactive strategy that sets them up for success and allows them to focus on their business. That means we must be able to adapt quickly and pivot as things change. 

How is Elliott Davis innovating to create value for its clients and deliver a better customer experience?

Innovation starts with building the right teams that have the curiosity and drive to challenge the status quo and deeply care about the impact of their work. Creating an enriching environment that breeds this type of culture has a compounding effect. That can be as simple as spending time with a new hire to connect the work they are performing to the cranes in the sky. It also means our teams are immersed in the industries they serve to fully understand what keeps our customers up at night and how we can bring forward a solution.  It really comes down to developing trusting relationships that allow us to ask the hard and thought-provoking questions that lead to the root of opportunity and then having highly effective teams that can deploy collaboratively around solutions.  

How are the real estate clients of Elliott Davis reacting to the economic environment?

The real estate market overall is in a state of pause right now with traditional deal flow drastically slowed. The compounding impact of higher costs across the board and the lack of access to competitive funding makes it hard for deals to pencil out. We are also in an election year with budget proposals that could have a material impact on the industry. The deals we are seeing are coming with unique structures or within alternative asset classes.  

This is however creating an opportunity for customers to focus internally to ensure they are ready when the deal flow opens back up.  We are having several conversations around system integrations and whether automation or KPI dashboards can be implemented. The real estate industry has seen several years of strong growth.  This pause allows everyone to take a quick breath and get things in order to be ready when the market opens back up. 

What is Elliott Davis’ strategy to understand the needs of its clients to better support them?

Specialization and the ability to fully immerse in our customers’ industries have really allowed us to bring a highly focused approach to our relationships and put us in positions to advocate alongside our customers around topics important to the industry. The leadership roles our team holds within NAIOP, CREW, and Urban Land Institute (ULI) has positioned us to have a voice in Washington and Raleigh as regulatory decisions are discussed.  Being on the forefront of these discussions allows us the ability to equip our customers with meaningful updates and pivot our own approach to service in this ever-changing environment we are in.  

What are some regulatory changes that you are closely monitoring due to their potential impact on Elliott Davis’ clients and operations?

We are going to see several tax law changes over the next few years with the sunset of the provisions in The Tax Cut and Jobs Act. There were a lot of details buried in the bill that impacted the real estate industry. As those laws approach their sunset, what happens in the next election cycle will be impactful. There are several budget proposals being discussed that would have an unfavorable impact on the real estate industry. Along with the other members of the NAIOP National Tax Policy Committee, I can assure you we are working hard to educate our lawmakers on the impact of these changes. Until the elections are decided it will be hard to predict which direction these laws will go.  

Aside from the tax law changes ESG reporting is going to be another big area. Today, we have companies reporting their environmental impact in different ways making it hard for investors to make educated decisions. The SEC’s new ESG requirements aim to standardize the reporting, but will also create an administrative burden to companies who will now be required to comply. Additionally, we are also seeing laws from states like California that would impact real estate companies in Charlotte with tenants operating in California. Elliott Davis has set up an ESG and Sustainability team in response to the complexities and impact of these changes.  

What are some of your projections for the future of the real estate sector in Charlotte?

I am extremely bullish on our city and know Charlotte will continue to boom. Our weather is gorgeous, our city is clean and safe, and we have great restaurants and good shopping. People can live at any speed that they want. We are no longer the best-kept secret we once were as the secret is out. With great growth comes great responsibility to ensure we grow right and make the investments needed in our infrastructure and talent pipeline. As our private and public leaders rally around these topics, I’m confident in the success we will see and feel blessed to take part in it.