The power of family drives Malco’s success

Winter 2013

breaking downGambling tax implications

get to knowFloyd Trouten

focus onLease accounting

Buildingon aLegacy

2 ss&g solutions winter 2013

going for gold

AKRON301 Springside Drive

Akron, OH 44333

CHICAGO225 West Illinois St., Suite 300

Chicago, IL 60654

CINCINNATI11500 Northlake Drive, Suite 210

Cincinnati, OH 45249

CLEVELAND32125 Solon Road

Cleveland, OH 44139

COLUMBUS300 Spruce St., Suite 250

Columbus, OH 43215

DES PLAINES1665 Elk Blvd.

Des Plaines, IL 60016

ERLANGER3940 Olympic Blvd., Suite 340

Erlanger, KY 41018

RALEIGH3737 Glenwood Ave., Suite 100

Raleigh, NC 27612

SKOKIE8707 Skokie Blvd., Suite 400

Skokie, IL 60077

SS&G HEALTHCARE SERVICES275 Springside Drive

Akron, OH 44333800-288-2818

SS&G PARKLAND32125 Solon Road

Cleveland, OH 44139800-869-1834

SS&G WEALTH MANAGEMENT275 Springside Drive

Akron, OH 44333800-871-0985

PAYTIME INTEGRATED PAYROLL SOLUTIONS

31105 Bainbridge RoadCleveland, OH 44139

800-579-9529

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of LEA Global, an international

professional association of independently

owned accounting and consulting firms.

www.SSandG.com

800-869-1834

info@SSandG.com

Trends in Leadership DevelopmentIn cities across the country, young corporate and

civic professionals have greater opportunities to

develop and strengthen their leadership abilities

through local organizations.

Organizations such as Leadership Akron, The

Cleveland Leadership Center, Leadership Greater

Chicago, Columbus Young Professionals Club, and

Harnessing Young Professional Energy (HYPE) in

Cincinnati are fulfilling a need in our business

society to nurture and develop essential skills for

our future leaders, ensuring their place as the next

generation of our companies and communities.

Leadership skills have rarely been taught in

the workplace. In the past, individuals had limited

opportunities to hone those abilities. Now, employees with the resolve and ambition

to become champions of their organizations can work to develop a vision and

establish a foundation that enables them to become our future decision makers.

When I was growing up in public accounting and increasing my leadership roles,

I — like many others of my generation — was left to my own devices. I was expected

to basically figure things out for myself. The leaders of today and tomorrow have

guidance, support, and a networking base of like-minded individuals practically at

their fingertips.

It’s an amazing thing to witness this paradigm shift as heads of businesses

and civic organizations increasingly recognize the importance of educating and

mentoring employees. More and more businesses are relying on young professional

organizations but also starting to develop in-house programs. This will ensure that

those eager to take the helm will be ready to bring their companies into the future.

We all are trying to grow our businesses, but to grow, we must understand the

value of a good leader. This is something especially important in an uncertain

economic environment such as the one we are currently in. Not every business

leader is a good teacher, but he or she can look to outside organizations for quality

educational programs that could lead to positive outcomes within the business.

Much like the mission of The E.W. Scripps Co. that states, “Give light and the

people will find their own way,” leadership organizations have been established as

a forum for people to work together, collaborate to strengthen the leadership base,

establish solutions, and serve the communities in which they work and live.

When our young professionals have the proper education, success is inevitable.

Mark Goldfarb, CPA

Managing Director

IRS Treasury Regulations require us to inform you that any tax advice contained in the body of this communication was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by the recipient for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code or applicable state or local tax law provisions.

3winter 2013 ss&g solutions

first person

Floyd TroutenTitle: Director, Tax

Education: Bachelor of Arts in economics and business administration from Baldwin-Wallace College

Hometown: Bridgeport, Ohio

Year I joined SS&G: 2007

My first job: I walked through my hilly neighborhood and delivered newspapers for The Wheeling News-Register when I was 8 years old.

The word that best describes me: Consistent

I am a member of: Baldwin Wallace University, trustee and executive committee member; Holy Name High School, board member; Myeloma Foundation, board member; Nehring Family Foundation, board member; OMCO Holdings and Subsidiaries, board member; State Trooper of Ohio, board member; Martindale Electric Co., board member; Old Meadow Farm Company Inc., board member

The best part about my job: is the vast diversity of businesses and people I get to meet and work with.

The best piece of advice I’ve received: Don’t worry about your failures. My mentor, Fletcher Gleason, told me this when I was first starting out in public accounting.

The biggest challenge I’ve overcome: I had a speech impediment. I had a tough time saying words, and I stuttered. I went to a voice specialist to work on it, and now I frequently speak at seminars and give presentations.

If I could change anything in my career: I wouldn’t change anything. You can’t change what’s in place. You learn from everything you go through. Trial by fire is what matters and builds character.

If I could give one piece of advice to executives: it’s to learn from your failures and go forward.

A great leader is: someone who helps make everyone else more confident and allows them to garner the accolades. You’re just the guiding hand in the background.

The business/business leader I admire most is: Winston Churchill. He was always forever vigilant.

My business philosophy: Do the right thing.

The greatest innovation of the last 10 years: Wireless communication. It’s unbelievable how it allows you to get things done. While I was on a family vacation in Siena, Italy, I was able to walk around the town while working on a business deal.

If I weren’t doing this, I would: be a football coach.

I’m most proud of: my family.

I hope I never: lose my sense of identity and purpose.

A little-known fact about me: I enjoy attending Broadway shows, the orchestra, museums, and reading classic literature. And on the night of tax day last year, I went to a Springsteen concert with my family.

My next goal to be met: short term, getting healthier; long term, planning for what retirement will be like.

My favorite place in the world is: Cleveland. It’s my adopted home, and it’s great here.

When I get discouraged, I: pout and mope for a couple hours, then I go to the gym to work myself out of it.

My attitude toward change is: it’s the only constant thing in life, so you might as well enjoy it.

I’m inspired by: watching others succeed.

Success is: based on how you define it for your time in life. Right now, for me, it’s about raising my four kids, having a fine family and looking toward the future. There’s a motto at Baldwin Wallace: The future belongs to those who prepare for it. j

4 ss&g solutions winter 2013

I f you’ve ever bought a lottery ticket, placed a bet

on a horse race, or spent an evening at a casino,

you’ve engaged in the popular American pastime of

gambling. But if you’re a casual gambler, like most, you

probably spend far more time researching blackjack

strategies than you do the tax code as it relates to

the game.

Frank Taylor, director of tax, says it’s surprising how

many people who hit the jackpot on slots or who clean up

at the craps table don’t understand the tax consequences

of winning.

“Nobody really worries about it until they get that

first Form 1099 or W-2G for a taxable gambling winning,”

Taylor says. “And then they want to know, ‘How much can

I deduct from it? What are the implications?’”

Hidden tax The key to avoiding tax penalties from gambling — and

an IRS audit — is to educate yourself about tax issues and

reporting laws for gambling income and losses.

“People don’t realize that anytime you win, whether

it’s part of a game of bingo or $20 on a scratch-off lottery

ticket, any gambling winning is taxable,” says Jeff

Tubaugh, associate director of tax.

Certain types of gambling activities carry special

tax issues, as well. For example, with online gambling,

a common tax trap is “constructive receipt” of income,

which states that any money earned through online

gambling activities is taxable as gambling earnings,

whether you actually touch the money or not.

“People have argued that you have to pull that money

out of an account or take physical receipt of it, but that is

industry

Playing the oddsThe tax implications of gambling and how to report your winnings and losses

not true,” Taylor says. “The fact that it is credited to your

account online is enough to create income in the view of

the IRS.”

Records are your responsibility Even casual gamblers need to treat gambling as a

business, tracking revenue and expenses, says Tubaugh.

The type of gambling activity that you engage in will

determine which tax reporting forms you receive. Under

the law, casinos and other payers of gambling winnings

are required to provide individuals with a Form W-2G if, in

a single year, they earn:

j $1,200 or more in gambling winnings from bingo or slot

machines

j $1,500 or more in proceeds — winnings minus amount

of the wager — from keno

j More than $5,000 in winnings — winnings minus the

wager or buy-in — from a poker tournament

j $600 or more in gambling winnings — except

winnings from bingo, keno, slot machines, and poker

tournaments — and the payout is at least 300 times the

amount of the wager

Yet, regardless of whether a W-2G or other tax

reporting document form is issued, the IRS says it is up

to the taxpayer to track activity. This leads to another tax

pitfall for many gamblers: reporting losses.

“Those who don’t know the tax code may think that

if their losses exceed their income, then there’s nothing

to report,” Tubaugh says. “But most people I’ve worked

with from a tax perspective have more losses than wins,

which is how this industry makes its money. However,

even with more losses than wins, individuals can still

end up paying tax.”

If gains and losses net out to zero at the federal level,

“Nobody really worries about it until they get that first Form 1099 or W-2G for a taxable gambling winning.”

— Frank Taylor Director of tax

you may still owe state taxes on your gambling winnings

if you live in a state that doesn’t permit a deduction for

gambling losses such as Ohio. IRS reporting requirements

also indicate that individuals must report all winnings

and losses — in state and out of state — separately on

their federal income tax returns, with earnings on the

individual 1040 recorded as “other income” and losses

recorded on the itemized deduction page.

Laws vary state to state

As more states venture into casino gambling to take

advantage of the associated tax revenue — Ohio opened

casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo in 2012

— more casual gamblers must familiarize themselves

with state-specific laws for reporting taxable gambling

winnings and losses.

Each state has its own rules and regulations governing

the taxation of gambling winnings and losses. For

example, residents in one of the seven states with no

personal income tax — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South

Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming — will pay

federal taxes on gambling activities but no state or

local tax. However, nonresidents who gamble in those

states will owe state taxes on those winnings in their

resident state if it is one of the 41 states that tax gambling

winnings. Incurring income or losses from gambling

activities out of state is common, which is why many

states — including Ohio — offer a nonresident tax credit

for individuals who pay gambling taxes to another state.

For example, “If you go to Atlantic City, N.J., and you

have a filing requirement in New Jersey, you would pay

tax in New Jersey but then there’s a place on the Ohio

tax return where you calculate how much of a credit you

receive against the tax on your Ohio return,” Tubaugh says.

Different states also have different tax rates, so if you

gamble in a state with a lower gambling tax rate than that

of your resident state, you could owe the difference in

taxes in your home state.

Ohio also has numerous municipal taxing authorities

that tax gambling and lottery winnings at the local level.

If you win big in an Ohio city, you could have a local filing

requirement ranging from 0.5 to 2.85 percent, Tubaugh

says. j

Follow any changes or updates to gambling taxation

at www.SSandG.com.

Each state has its own rules and regulations governing the taxation of gambling winnings and losses.

Keep a record of gambling activityIt’s critical to keep accurate records of gambling earnings and losses to comply with state and federal reporting laws but also to minimize any taxes you may have to pay, says Robert Jackson, associate director of tax. Individuals who itemize are allowed to use losses from one type of wager — such as poker — to offset winnings from another type — such as the lottery — on their federal tax returns. However, this is not allowed without proper documentation.

In addition to requesting your records from casinos and other gambling institutions, follow these tips to help you document your gambling activity.

Use a player’s card. Casinos are responsible for issuing a W-2G form for amounts exceeding certain thresholds, which is why most casinos have a rewards club that players can sign up for with a driver’s license. Each time you play, the casino uses your card to keep a digital record of your earnings and losses. At the end of the year, it will send you links to your online statement, which includes details of how often you played, your income, and your losses.

Record key information. If you use cash to wager, you must keep manual records of receipts and disbursements to determine gains and losses, says Jackson. The same goes for gambling in establishments that don’t maintain records of play. In such cases, he suggests recording the following information, at a minimum:j The date and type of each specific wagering activityj Name and address of the gambling establishmentj Anyone present with you as a witnessj The amount won or lost

Keep track of tickets. The lottery only tracks those who win over a certain amount, so the responsibility falls on the player to determine his or her net winnings. Don’t discard losing lottery and instant tickets, which will tell you how much you wagered each year.

Go digital. Any record — including ATM slips, witnesses, and even photos — that can verify the amount of money you wagered will help document losses or reduce taxable gains. With today’s technology, it’s simple to keep track of these items digitally. Scan receipts and record photos and documents with your smartphone or tablet for easy access.

winter 2013 j ss&g solutions 5

6 ss&g solutions j winter 2013

Seth Glauberman enjoys the holiday season as much as anyone but it’s

the time after the holiday party at Malco Products Inc. that he really

looks forward to. It’s when he and his father, Stuart, retreat to an office

and read through past end-of-year speeches that have been delivered to

employees at the annual party.

“It’s fun because we’ll come back here and sit in his office and chat about

how the year was, and what the successes were and what the challenges were,”

says Seth. “I’ll pick three or four speeches — they could be my dad’s, they could

be my grandfather’s — and you see just how far we’ve come as a company.”

Malco — a Barberton, Ohio-based specialty chemical company that

employs nearly 300 people and does business around the world — was

launched in 1953 by Stuart’s father, Murray. Its key focus is on professional

automotive appearance products and contract manufacturing of consumer

cleaning products. Stuart took over as president when his father died in 1987

and he and his brother, Jay, provided the leadership; Seth came on board

about seven years ago and is vice president of sales, responsible for the Presta

and Malco professional automotive divisions.

Seth appreciates the role his father and grandfather have played in helping

the company get to where it is today and is eager to put his own stamp on the

business that is such an integral part of the Glauberman family.

“I’ve been given an opportunity where I get to build something, and at some

point, I can take a step back and see that all the effort and where we’re moving

the organization is paying off,” says Seth.

Glauberman says the results of his son’s hard work and dedication to the

business, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, are already quite evident.

“He’s in the process of strengthening our Presta product line in the collision

repair industry and building it,” Glauberman says. “Ten or 15 years from now,

he’ll be able to look back and say, ‘I know it’s a family business, but I built this.’”

case study

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Building

The power of family drives

Malco’s success

on a

case study

Legacy

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winter 2013 j ss&g solutions 7

from left:Sheri Glauberman, Lauren Osina, Stuart Glauberman, Seth Glauberman

8 ss&g solutions winter 2013

Building the business

In the early days of Malco, the company produced

automotive after-market chemicals.

“In the 1950s, gasoline, oil additives and appearance

products were typically sold by wagon jobbers,” Stuart

Glauberman says. “They would sell out of a small truck

or stepvan. As those companies in the 1950s transitioned

to discount stores, mass merchandisers and auto parts

stores, it really gave us an opportunity to build an

exclusive automotive line that was sold to gas stations,

service stations and car dealerships.”

Glauberman earned a chemical engineering degree

from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, but his

primary area of interest when he came to work at Malco

in 1973 was manufacturing. He spent most of his efforts

in manufacturing, starting as a production supervisor,

and eventually was responsible for engineering and

maintenance of the facility.

He played a pivotal role in the launch of Malco’s

consumer contract business that is still a significant part

of the company today.

Like his son has done in recent years, Glauberman

sought to put his stamp on the business in those days.

But also like his son, he very much admired his own

father and the way he built Malco.

“My dad was the type of person who could put

a business on his shoulders and carry it himself,”

Glauberman says. “Whether it was buying materials,

formulating products, understanding the financial

aspects of the business or developing relationships with

customers, he could do it.”

Glauberman’s father was very committed to the

business, but he was also deeply aware of what his

employees brought to the company and always made

time when they needed to speak to him.

“It didn’t matter what was going on in his life,”

Glauberman says. “Somebody could always walk into his

office and have a conversation, and they knew they had

his undivided attention.”

When it came to his sons and their career paths, Murray

did not take the “find-your-own-path” approach that

Stuart would take decades later with his own children.

“My script was always written by my dad,”

Glauberman says. “Go to school, get a degree in

engineering, come back to the family business, be

involved in the community and raise your family in

Northeast Ohio. I followed that script.”  

Working with familyWhen Seth needs his father’s time to talk about the

business, Glauberman makes the same effort to give him

his undivided attention. But sometimes, in order to do

that, he has to ask his son to wait a bit.

“When he pops in and wants to talk about a business

situation, it’s hard for me to disengage from what I’m

doing,” Glauberman says. “So we always schedule a time.

For example, he came in this morning and said, ‘Dad,

I really need a few minutes together.’ I said, ‘How long

do you need?’ It was about 45 minutes and I asked if it

needed to be done today. He said that tomorrow was fine.

So I said, ‘Let’s do it tomorrow afternoon.’ We’ll set aside

a time to really engage on whatever he needs.”

The environment is different when it’s a family

business. Seth says it’s easy to slip into a conversation

about work outside of the office.

“When I first started, there were times I’d call him

at 10 o’clock at night to ask him a question,” Seth says.

“He shared with me that he doesn’t know anybody else

at Malco calling him at 10 o’clock at night to ask him a

question that can wait until the next day. He’s worked

hard to set boundaries. If it’s an emergency, let’s talk

about it. Otherwise, let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

Seth’s sister, Lauren Osina, has been around Malco

all her life, but only came to work at the company last

summer. She’ll eventually head up the company’s

consumer division, responsible for products such as

Zud Cleanser, Twinkle Silver Polish and other consumer

household products.

She likes the fact that her father let her set her own

career path. But she was also very fond of the exposure

“My dad realized early on that if you want to have relationships with your family when you have work obligations, sometimes you have to bring them together.”

— Lauren Osina Malco Products Inc.

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9winter 2013 ss&g solutions

she got to Malco as a child.

“My dad realized early on that if you want to have

relationships with your family when you have work

obligations, sometimes you have to bring them together,”

Osina says. “Seth and I had the opportunity to meet with

clients at night and hear about Malco. At a young age,

it gave me some incredible social skills to interact with

adults. The fact that we were in the family business and

my dad would bring customers home at times really

taught me how to socialize with adults and develop the

social skills that I have today. That really molded my

personality and my character.”

Stuart says the idea that his children were aware of

the importance of Malco to the family and they gained a

fondness for the business very early.

“I have two preschool booklets, one from my daughter

and one from my son,” Glauberman says. “On the front, it

says, ‘Introducing my Dad.’ My son has a picture he drew

of me sitting behind a desk with a tie on. My daughter

said, ‘Malco is the best place to go because they have

wonderful snacks.’ The truth is, at the end of the day,

they both had that exposure.”

Another key person in Glauberman’s life is his wife,

Sheri. She was the one who encouraged her husband to

entertain customers in their home.

“I think our international customers enjoyed the time

spent with my family,” Glauberman says. “Lauren would

always read about their home country so that she could

be knowledgeable in her discussions, like knowing that

cricket was the favorite sport in Pakistan. And Sheri was

always my confidant and was where I would go if I just

wanted someone to listen.”

And as in any family business, there needs to be

someone from outside the family who understands the

intricacies and changeable factors that affect both a

family and a business.

“My administrative assistant, Nancy Lyons, has

worked with me for 25 years,” Glauberman says.

“Few people know or understand more about my life

challenges both at work and home than Nancy. Both

women know my idiosyncrasies.”

Sharing the rewardsThe end-of-the-year holiday party is when Malco shares

its accomplishments from the past year. But Glauberman

says it’s critical that employees are recognized throughout

the year for all that they contribute to a business.

“We have a continuous improvement program that

we call Results Forum,” Glauberman says. “We meet

three to four times a year and employees from all walks

of the business give presentations on some continuous

improvement project. We started it in 1996. We also do

Results Sharing. We take 20 percent of pretax profits and

share it among all the full-time employees. “Everybody is

invested in the success of the company.”

Glauberman says he and his brother, who helped lead

the business until his death in 2004, thought they were

doing a good job of staying in touch with their employees.

But they realized they needed to go a little further.

“One day we realized that casual conversation isn’t

providing employees direction and communication,”

Glauberman says. “You have to do it in a formal

environment and you have to be consistent. I do it in

groups of 30 or 40 employees. That is a better environment

than all of the employees together. The first thing I do is

take them out of their work environment. They know that

hour that we spend together is important.”

And even though you may see them every day and

may assume they know how you feel, you’ve got to make

the effort to share feedback with family members in a

family business.

“That’s probably a weakness of mine,” Glauberman

says. “I know a lot of times, I don’t give Seth the positive

feedback that any employee needs. It’s almost like I

wouldn’t expect anything different. So I am careful now

to make sure Seth hears from me when he’s done a really

good job or when maybe he could have looked at it from

a different point of view.”

Seth says the relationship that he and his father have is

part of what makes Malco such a great place to work. Both

children said they appreciate their father’s gentle approach

when it came to their career paths and the influence, both

spoken and unspoken, that he’s had on their lives.

“When people ask how I would describe my dad as

a role model, I tell them that he’s honest, he gives fair

feedback, and he gives straight answers,” Seth says. “I

think people truly look at him as someone who is the

bedrock of the organization. They have confidence in the

organization because they have confidence in him.”

His sister says that she and Seth feel the responsibility

to keep a great thing going in Malco.

“In a family business, you’re provided an opportunity,”

Osina says. “My father shared his vision with us and

we’re going to want to provide our children with the

same opportunity.” j

How to reach: Malco Products Inc., 330-753-0361 or

www.malcopro.com

www.malcopro.com

focus on

T he final proposed changes in leasing standards

are scheduled to be released in the first quarter

of 2013. And the modifications, originally

described in an exposure draft issued in August 2010

by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the

International Accounting Standards Board, could have a

substantial impact on business and financial concerns.

The comment period resulted in a large number of

questions and comments, delaying the project while the

boards went into a redeliberation process.

The new standards are expected to take effect no earlier

than Jan. 1, 2016, allowing businesses and other affected

entities time to establish a strategic plan, says Marc

Newman, associate director with SS&G’s real estate group.

If your business leases office or other space,

equipment, or vehicles, the proposed standards could

have a significant impact on your financial statements.

The new standards exclude leases that have a maximum

possible lease term of 12 months or fewer, including any

options to renew.

“By far, the biggest change is that all leases will

become part of the balance sheet,” says Dustin Minton,

assurance director. “No longer will they have an option

of being off balance sheet. It will certainly gross up the

balance sheet and change the presentation of the income

statement.”

The proposed standard will effectively eliminate all

operating leases and require the lessee to recognize

an asset and liability on a company’s balance sheet,

Newman says.

Newman says the “right-of-use” approach would

require the lessee to record an asset for the right to use

the underlying asset and a liability, which would reflect

the payments due over the term of the lease. The liability

initially would be measured at the present value of lease

payments, discounted using the lessee incremental

borrowing rate or the rate charged by the lessor.

“The right-of-use asset would be measured initially

at the amount of the liability plus any direct costs, less

any lease incentive received,” he says. “This initial

measurement and recognition should be made as of the

lease commencement date, the date when the lessor

makes the underlying asset available to the lessee.”

But after that, when you start effectively paying off

the debt, there are a few ways to present it in the income

statement. No longer will it be rent expense. A piece of

that payment will be interest expense, and a piece will be

amortization expense, Minton says.

The presentation on the income statement would

depend on whether the lessee acquires and consumes

more than an insignificant portion of the underlying asset

over the lease term, Newman says.

“If the lessee consumes more than an insignificant

portion of the leased asset, the lessee would recognize

amortization expense for the right of use of the

underlying asset on the straight-line basis and interest

expense calculated using the effective interest method,”

Newman says. “This also is referred to as the interest and

amortization approach.”

If the lessee determines it will not acquire or consume

a significant portion of the underlying asset, the single

lease expense, or SLE, approach should be applied.

“Under the SLE approach, rent expense would be

calculated based on a straight-line basis and appear

on the income statement as a single line item. Further,

amortization of the right-of-use asset would be calculated

as the difference between the total straight-line rent

expense and the current period interest expense incurred

from the liability,” says Newman.

“Companies can prepare themselves by developing a

strategic plan that incorporates the new standards, which

will impact various financial ratios, loan covenants, and

potentially the company’s borrowing capacity. There also

will be additional costs such as educating accounting staff

to purchasing or upgrading existing lease software.” j

Lease accounting

10 ss&g solutions j winter 2013

Proposed standards add leases to the balance sheet

11winter 2013 ss&g solutions

the last wordwith Gary Shamis

How things have changed. When I joined SS&G in

1981, it was a very small CPA firm. I could count

everyone on two hands and have room left over.

In those days, the general rule was that CPAs

who practiced in the small- and middle-company

markets were generalists. The CPA skillset was a lot

of accounting and tax and a little bit of assurance

services.

Clients usually hired you based on a referral and the

human chemistry that prevailed, and the number of

requests for proposal and formal proposals was one or

so every few years.

And doing business was a lot easier than it is today.

The business basics are the same but the number of

laws, rules and regulations has changed everything.

The flattening of the world and the ability to do

business everywhere has also complicated the art of

doing business.

The result is that clients seldom hire based upon

referrals and chemistry anymore. The complexities of

the world have moved the business in favor of special-

ization and specialists.

The reason clients hire us today is their perception

of what we know about their business and how they

conduct business. The way SS&G conducts our business

and develops our model is now based upon special-

ization in technical and industry areas.

Specialization

“The reason clients hire us today is their perception of what we know about their business and how they conduct business.”

We have professionals who spend 100 percent of their

time focusing on a specific area or industry, such as state

and local taxes (SALT) or restaurants, to name just a few.

This is how we — and you — do business today.

This new model leaves a lot behind. The old

chemistry, the longstanding client-service person, the

legacy relationships with long-time clients and the

value of experience have all been minimized. However,

wise clients try to find a balance among specialization,

relationship and experience. j

SS&G doubles size in ChicagolandFirm surpasses 500 professionals

SS&G has merged with Silver, Lerner, Schwartz & Fertel (SLSF), a professional accounting and business-planning firm serving the Chicago metropolitan area.

The merger adds 45 professionals to SS&G’s roster of 475, doubling the number of its professionals in the Chicagoland market. Michael L. Perlman, SLSF’s managing partner, will serve as managing director of SS&G’s newest office in Skokie and oversee the firm’s Chicago-area presence.

SS&G’s roster now surpasses 500 professionals for the first time in its history. The addition marks the third merger in the Chicagoland marketplace since 2010.

“SLSF is a great firm with terrific clients, and we’re excited to begin a new year with such a stellar group,” says Gary Shamis, managing director of SS&G. “When we entered the market in October 2010, we naturally planned for growth. But the rate at which we’ve experienced it has surpassed all expectations.”

The merger will enhance SS&G’s restaurant, health care, real estate, and nonprofit practices and provide SLSF clients additional value.“SS&G and SLSF have similar service-oriented, client-focused, employee-centric cultures,” Perlman says. “Those factors, combined

with the fact that we’re both entrepreneurial, independent firms, make it a natural fit.”

32125 Solon Rd.

Cleveland, OH 44139

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Did you realize that SS&G can provide you

with an electronic copy of your tax return or

financial statement? SS&G offers clients the

complimentary service of a secure client portal,

which gives businesses and individual clients:

• convenient access to important documents

• the ability to upload and download large files

• quick, paperless transfer of information

• secure financial information

For details on our password-protected portal,

or to participate in this value-added program,

please contact your SS&G professional or go to

www.SSandG.com/clients to get started.