3 min read September 2023 — Tansy Jefferies, a principal at accounting firm RSM, sat down with Invest: to discuss the current opportunities in the accounting sector in South Florida, navigating the current economic climate and how RSM is focusing on building strong client relationships.
What have been the contributions or impact of RSM in Greater Fort Lauderdale?
Our most recent milestone is that we’ve moved into our new office, the penthouse suite in The Main Las Olas. This move symbolizes the culmination of our successes over the last few years and dedication to our people and culture. While we’ve seen significant growth in the Florida market in South Florida, and specifically in Broward County, we made internal evaluations to focus on Fort Lauderdale as a hub for our activity in South Florida. We are maintaining offices across the state as well as in West Palm Beach and moving into a new space in the Miami metro in Coral Gables but we’ve made significant investment in our new Fort Lauderdale offices. Within this investment is a focus on our talent. While we are maintaining our firm’s flexibility for our people to work on the terms that best meet their needs, our client’s needs and their team’s needs, we wanted to also create an incredible space where our people want to be together and collaborate in person. That demonstrates the successes we’ve been having in the market in that we’re continuing to invest in that way when maybe others might be pulling back on their real estate investments or looking at those choices differently.
What opportunities exist for the accounting industry in Broward County today?
I feel RSM is well positioned to grow in Broward County primarily because our strategy is very much in alignment with the business growth we are seeing in the county. Not only is the county dedicated to bringing in middle market and global companies in alignment with our focus, they are also driving conversations in a variety of industries that align with our expertise such as technology, industrials, consumer products, real estate, private equity and family offices. Combined with our economic and industry insights, we are well-suited to help them navigate the challenges ahead in Broward County.
How is RSM navigating the current economic climate?
We have a team of economists who are constantly monitoring economic headwinds and bringing perspectives and guidance to our middle-market business clients. In addition, our industry analysis helps bring forward an industry-specific perspective. Each month we publish The Real Economy, an economic report covering the current trends in the economy and each quarter we partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to produce the Middle Market Business Index, a report reflective of business conditions in the U.S. middle market.
We’re constantly evolving in order to provide relevant economic insights and solutions. Right now, there is a lot of focus surrounding digital transformation, cybersecurity, labor and ESG (environmental, social, governance) and we are positioned well to help our clients understand and navigate the economics around these issues. Also because our focus is on the middle market we understand they are the drivers of not just the domestic but the global economy. So we are enhancing our global strategy and ensuring that we are positioned to support them with their global expansion and multinational business needs. Every year, more of our clients have global operations. We’re helping them navigate challenges related to their financing with interest rates rising and inflation. We put a lot of focus on solutions to these challenges so we can help our clients navigate the shifting landscape. Powered by our economic and industry insights and perspective we help instill them with the confidence to move forward.
What are some of the trends impacting the accounting industry?
Right now I think recruiting and technology are two of the big issues impacting the accounting industry today. Like many businesses, talent is a top priority but with accounting recruiting new talent into the industry pipeline – those coming out of college is posing a challenge. Fortunately, we have developed a very close relationship with the Florida Institute of CPAs and we work hard to do all we can to ease those barriers to entry and encourage people to pursue a career in accounting. That also leads to our focus on talent and everything that we do to ensure that we have this unrivaled talent experience so we can attract the best and brightest individuals to RSM. We’re seeing continued acceleration toward digital, which is critical for us and for the industry as a whole. It does create challenges also. Change is never linear but we are embracing the change and finding ways to create innovative solutions for both our clients and also for the way we do business internally.
With other trends that we are seeing, we’re thinking about different solutions for our clients continuing to evolve in terms of what they want from an accounting firm. We’ve come a long way from the days when it was audit and tax services. We have a whole suite of consulting and technology services. There’s really very little that we can’t offer to our clients now. We are focused on ensuring that we tailor our services to meet the changing demands of our clients. We’re also seeing more of our clients operate internationally. We are in 123 countries. That’s the space I work in. I lead our national transfer pricing practice. We are continuing to focus on how we collaborate as an international network to bring seamless global services to our clients. We’ve seen a significant focus on how we operate globally to serve that growing global client base as well.
What is the importance of building strong client relationships?
Our vision is to be the first-choice adviser for our clients and to be able to guide them through their business challenges and instill confidence in a world of change. We understand the complexities of today’s business climate and that each business is unique with their own challenges. So our goal is not to just sell them a service, it’s to truly understand the business objectives and challenges and help them navigate the solutions and tailor insights for them that will help their business grow and prosper.
Building relationships is core to the firm. Our people are caring, collaborative, courageous, critical thinkers and curious. We call these the 5 C’s – the five characteristics of being a first-choice advisor. These traits are core to our culture and what enables us to be great client servers, teammates and leaders. We empower our people to make an impact and bring their unique talents and perspectives together to strengthen our teams and enhance the unique insights we provide to our clients. And that’s the power of being understood and the benefit to our clients of working with us.
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