Firm News: March 21, 2014

CALIFORNIA

PwC US announced that its San Francisco office will donate $160,000 to three Bay Area-based non-profit organizations, funded through grants from the PwC Charitable Foundation, Inc. The grants also complement the professional services firm's Earn Your Future campaign dedicated to addressing youth education with a combination of donations and skills-based volunteer programs across the United States. … CAMICO has been named the exclusively endorsed provider of professional liability and employment practices liability insurance for The Kansas Society of Certified Public Accountants.

ILLINOIS

Crowe Horwath LLP was on the InformationWeek500 list for the second year in a row. The list, compiled by InformationWeek magazine, recognizes the nation’s top 500 innovative business teams that take unconventional approaches in the use of new technology and models to capture business opportunities and solve complex business problems. The firm’s marketing campaign for the financial services group of Performance services received the Best Nurturing Campaign Award at the Killer Content Awards, presented by the e-publication Demand Gen Report.

INDIA

AGN International welcomes a new member firm in India, GMJ & Co, Chartered Accountants. GMJ & Co was established 27 years ago and has 11 partners. The whole team has grown from a size of 3 to more than 125 in 2013.

INDIANA

Ball State University will kick off its Chuck Allen/Crowe Horwath LLP Leadership Lecture Series with a presentation on March 26 by the author of a critically acclaimed book on the issue. Harry M. Jansen Kraemer Jr. will discuss issues raised in his 2011 book, From Values to Action: The Four Principles of Value-Based Leadership. The event is from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in Pruis Hall. It is free and open to the public. Following the presentation, there will be a discussion, networking session and book signing. … Katz, Sapper & Miller of Indianapolis is the newest member firm to join PrimeGlobal.

MICHIGAN

Plante Moran will start its annual spring webinar series on April 2. The 16 webinars cover a wide range of topics including tax, technology, employee benefits consulting, franchises, government, health care, higher education, K-12 education, not-for-profit, manufacturing, real estate and construction and business services. There is no charge to participate in the webinars. To register for the Plante Moran webinars and/or to view the entire spring webinar series, please visit www.webinars.plantemoran.com.

NEW JERSEY

BookKeeping Express, the first U.S. franchise focused solely on bookkeeping services, has recently opened its first local office, serving businesses throughout Easton, Penn. and the Flemington, N.J. area. … Klatzkin & Company LLP staff participated in the Children’s Home Society of New Jersey’s annual Red Rose Day. Red Rose Day is an event that was created over 30 years ago by the Auxiliary CHS OF NJ to support their private Infant Foster Care Program. … WithumSmith+Brown PC is celebrating the firm’s 40th anniversary this month. Incorporated in 1974, WS+B originally started with six employees in a small Milltown, NJ, office.  With now over 500 staff members in 13 offices across six states, there is certainly much to celebrate. 

NEW YORK

Marcum LLP’s 3rd Annual Marcum MicroCap Conference will take place May 29 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.  The event is presented by Marcum’s SEC Services Practice GroupEY is looking for women entrepreneurs with the vision and passion to accelerate the growth of their companies for its 2014 North American Entrepreneurial Winning Women Program. Currently in its seventh year, this annual competition and executive leadership program identifies a select group of high-potential women entrepreneurs whose businesses show real potential to scale — and then helps them do it. Entrepreneurial Winning Women have access to education on crucial subjects and are welcomed into a vast network of successful entrepreneurs and potential financial investors associated with EY's Entrepreneur Of The Year program. The call for applications and nominations is now open to both American and Canadian entrepreneurs and runs through May 30, 2014.  ... Deloitte announced the rebranding and expansion of its venerable CDO Suite software under the name Solvas, with several new modules, solutions and interfaces now available. ... PwC released its 2014 M&A Integration Survey report which found that only 50 percent of respondents reported being committed to integration completion over the long term. According the survey, integration issues continue to challenge deal success and a recent shift in deal-type from absorption[2] deals to transformational deals has further increased the complexity of integration. When polled on their level of experience with each acquisition type, 50 percent of respondents reported having a core competence in absorption deals compared to only 24 percent in transformational deals, indicating a significant gap between the increasing number of transformational deals being initiated and the much-needed track record and experience level in integrating these deals. … PwC also released its annual Risk in Review report that outlines how these changes are exposing companies to critical gaps in risk management and what “risk leaders” are doing to stay ahead of the curve. According to the report, 75 percent of executives reported increased risks to their business and expect dramatic impacts to their companies led by technological change/IT risks (58 percent) and increasing regulatory complexity (56 percent) while global economic shifts and uncertainty as a major driver of change fell from its top spot last year. These external shifts are leading to internal business changes and 75 percent reported that they are in some stage of transformation.

UNITED KINGDOM

Leading mid-tier accountancy firm French Duncan has joined HLB International, a leading worldwide network of independent professional accounting firms and business advisers, as its exclusive Scottish representative. … The Managing Partners' Forum, has named Grant Thornton 'Best managed international firm.' Judged by an independent panel of subject matter experts, the award recognizes the strength of Grant Thornton’s global strategy and leadership, which has enabled Grant Thornton to lead the major global accounting networks in revenue growth the last two years.

WASHINGTON

The Organization for International Investment and PwC US released their 2014 Insourcing Survey, which provides keen insights from 101 U.S. Chief Financial Officers of insourcing companies, foreign firms that operate in the United States. This year, the Insourcing Survey results are being released at events in Seattle, WA and Detroit, MI to draw attention to the critical role foreign direct investment plays in states across the country and to highlight the work of Governors Inslee and Snyder in attracting more global investment to their states. In Washington, at least one in three jobs is related to international trade, and earlier this year, the Evergreen State set a new record for exports – producing $81.9 billion in products and services for international customers. Nearly one third of the 96,000 insourcing jobs in Washington is in the manufacturing sector. Foreign companies employ 177,500 Michigan workers, accounting for more than five percent of the Great Lakes State’s private sector workforce. More than 60 percent of these jobs are in manufacturing. In fact, Michigan added twice as many insourcing jobs in 2011 compared to any other state, some 32,000 new jobs.

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Audit Financial reporting
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