Spring Events on Campus
March 29, 2011
It’s the time of year when we start climbing out of our cubicles and visiting campuses in Washington! There are several Beta Alpha Psi dinners and banquets on the horizon, as well as Spring Career Fairs. You can keep track of our campus visits on our College Recruiting page on our website. We always try to bring some of our staff to the events, so you can talk to our employees and find out what it’s really like to work at Peterson Sullivan.
In April we’ll be at University of Washington, Gonzaga, and Seattle University. We look forward to meeting you!
Public Accounting Dress Code?
December 22, 2010
Earlier this month, the Swiss Bank UBS released a 43 page dress code guide for its employees. The manual also provides detailed tips on hygiene and personal grooming, ranging from appropriate hair dyes and accessories to underwear and socks! Interested in showy accessories, trendy eyeglasses, and black nail polish? Not if you work at USB.
Here at Peterson Sullivan, our everyday dress code is “Business Casual.” You won’t see a lot of ties and suits unless we are meeting with clients.
Last holiday season, our staff created a Casual With a Cause Campaign. On selected Fridays in November and December, everyone pays $5 to wear jeans to work. The money we raise gets donated to a local charity. This year we picked our client Kindering Center to benefit from our campaign.
Here you can see that Doug, Bob, David and Keaton took the dress code to a new level when they all showed up in argyle sweaters on the same day.
Best Careers 2011 – Accounting Comes Out on Top!
December 7, 2010
Once again, Accounting tops the list of jobs with growth and potential over the next decade. U.S. News and World Report profiles the accounting profession and prospects for growth and advancement. Along with the obvious advice (you must love numbers) the article also points to the need for strong leadership and communication skills.
Speaking of which, we’re hiring! If you know of an experienced Audit Associate or Senior, have them apply for our open position.
We’re Growing!
October 28, 2010
Our firm announced this week we will combine with the Seattle office of Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co. PS, an accounting and business advisory firm based in Montana. Our two Seattle firms will operate as Peterson Sullivan LLP effective Nov. 1.
This marks the first significant expansion of Peterson Sullivan, whose services and client mix are closely aligned with Anderson ZurMuehlen’s Seattle office practice.
“This joining of practices is an exciting step for our firm, and we found an ideal fit in Anderson ZurMuehlen,” said Chris Russell, Partner at Peterson Sullivan. “Both firms operate under high standards of client communication and service, and the Seattle partners and staff of Anderson ZurMuehlen will add to our extensive experience across many industries. Combined, we have the right resources to help position our firm for continued growth.” The combined strengths of the new organization will deliver increased value and expanded tax, audit and accounting services to individuals and businesses of all entity types facing a wide range of industry-specific issues. Together, the firms will provide enhanced client services including income and estate tax planning, international tax consulting and compliance, real estate investment services and accounting controls and system design.
“We’re looking forward to beginning this new chapter as Peterson Sullivan,” said Joe Wilcynski, vice president of Anderson ZurMuehlen’s Seattle office. “We know that joining our firms under a shared vision not only offers advantages to our clients, but is also valuable to our professionals’ continued growth.” Anderson ZurMuehlen partners Joe Wilcynski and Rob Keasal will become partners at Peterson Sullivan, and are two of the 10 former Anderson ZurMuehlen staff making the transition to Peterson Sullivan.
Anderson ZurMuehlen will consolidate its operations at Peterson Sullivan’s downtown Seattle office where it will become a team of 100 employees led by 13 firm partners. Peterson Sullivan was founded in Seattle in 1952 and has steadily grown over the past six decades. The firm views the addition of Anderson ZurMuehlen Seattle as part of an overall strategy to increase services to clients throughout the Northwest region.
“Combining the Seattle office of Anderson ZurMuehlen with Peterson Sullivan was a logical next step,” said Dale Freidig, owner of the Seattle management consulting firm The Freidig Group, who introduced the two firms. “Both firms work hard to get to know their clients while providing a great environment for their staff. Together, they’ll create an even stronger organization capable of helping more clients while offering their professional staff added opportunities. It’s a great fit.”
Peterson Sullivan Makes INSIDE Public Accounting Top 200 Accounting Firms
September 17, 2010
Peterson Sullivan LLP is pleased to make the inaugural ‘Beyond The IPA Top 100’ – the first ever ranking of the nation’s Top 200 accounting firms. This designation is awarded by the Platt Group, the publishers of INSIDE Public Accounting (IPA).
For more than 20 years, IPA has sustained a tradition of groundbreaking excellence by compiling the annual IPA Top 100 accounting firms, the IPA Best of the Best and IPA All-Stars. As the profession continues to grow and evolve, IPA has evolved with it. The August 2010 issue identified the IPA Top 100 – the 100 largest firms in the U.S., beginning with Deloitte at No. 1 ($10.9 billion) and ending with No. 100, CCR LLP ($29.7 million).
In Beyond the IPA Top 100, they identify firms ranking from No. 101 to No. 200. Minimum net revenue is just shy of $13 million to make the list, which IPA plans to publish annually.
Check out the list here.
Building a Flexible Workplace
July 16, 2010
Peterson Sullivan was recently honored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation with a Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility Award. As I worked on the application process, it became clear that many people contributed to our firm’s success in creating a flexible workplace that honors our employees work-life balance needs. I’d like to take a moment to thank our partners for making a substantial impact in our office:
- Kibble and Prentice, our insurance brokers. They handle all of the heavy lifting to provide us with competitive rates on our insurance plans, educate us on all of the latest changes in the health care marketplace, and do a fabulous job educating our employees on the intricacies of our plans, and the value of our 100% employer paid medical, dental, vision, life insurance, STD & LTD programs.
- Boulevard Benefits Group educates our employees on their personal financial preparedness. What a benefit during troubled economic times!
- Wellspring Family Services handles our Employee Assistance program, giving our staff the benefit of one-on-one confidential counseling to deal with their work-life balance challenges. They also provide internal training for our Managers on how to best handle their employees issues when balancing work against family needs.
- Susan Goldstein and Washington Employers Association gives our first time supervisors the tools and the confidence to effectively manage their projects and their staff.
- Dr. Margie Ikeda, ND inspires and educates our staff with practical, natural ways to increase their wellness.
- And last, but certainly not least, Pike Place Produce delivers delicious, fresh, locally grown fruit to our office each week during busy season.
Thanks to everyone for your contributions to our workplace. We value our relationships with you!
Peterson Sullivan Wins Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility
July 6, 2010
On Wednesday, June 30, Ray Holmdahl, Brian Kennett, Chris Russell, John Smolke, Becky Borek and I attended the Alfred P. Sloan Awards Banquet. Peterson Sullivan was an award winner for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility. The nice thing about the Sloan Awards is that they poll the employees to find out whether or not the employees are actually using and benefiting from flexible workplace policies. While any company can have a “work/life balance” program, the important thing to know is how many employees are actually taking advantage of the program! Peterson Sullivan scored high in the following areas:
- Compensatory time program (getting pay or time off for additional hours worked)
- 100% employer paid medical, dental, vision and Rx insurance premiums
- 100% employer paid CPA review course and exam fees
- Community service program
- Financial education – providing free, on-site financial workshops for employees during financially difficult times
- Memorial Day to Labor Day perks – letting people flex their hours
- Tuition reimbursement program – reimbursement for the Golden Gate University Masters in Tax program
- Management and leadership training – provided to staff who are first time supervisors
- Training provided to managers on how to counsel employees on their work-family needs
- Significant efforts to recruit and develop younger employees
- Ability to work from home during emergencies – like snow or waiting on a repair person
- Ability to return to work gradually after childbirth
- Paid short term disability for women after childbirth
- Nursing mothers room in the office
One interesting trend that came to light during the ceremony was that several employers are allowing new parents to bring their infants to work, up to six months of age. I have a hard time imagining how I could be productive in my office with an infant (but then maybe I just had an exceptionally difficult child!) Would you be interested in working in an office that allowed infants?
We were recently interviewed for an article in the Puget Sound Business Journal around the topic of social responsibility and hiring. It’s a topic that is important to us, and important to our candidates.
A number of students ask us about our social responsibility programs. That’s why we like to talk about our community service efforts on our blog. Any company can have a policy, what’s nice is to see how employees actually use the policy. With over 250 non-profit clients, our employees are actively engaged in assisting multiple non-profits in the community. We hold quarterly employee events with community service activities, and we support employees who need to use work time to fulfill volunteer obligations.
Community service and social responsibility is part of the culture at Peterson Sullivan. Come talk to us and learn more!
Read the full article here: http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2010/05/17/focus11.html
Recently I wrote a post about why I thought more college students should be using LinkedIn while they are in school. LinkedIn recently contacted me to let me know they have a new Career Services page. LinkedIn On Campus is full of good advice and tips for students on how to leverage LinkedIn. It is targeted to the Career Services departments at the school, but the information is valuable for any college student, or any parent who wants to help their child get a job before they graduate!
Visit LinkedIn Career Services and get started now.
According to a new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), overall average salary offers to 2010 Bachelor’s degree candidates is 1.7 percent lower than the average offer made to Class of 2009 Bachelor’s degree candidates.
Now for the good news. Although the overall average salary offer is down, some disciplines did see increases, and accounting is one of them!
Both finance and accounting majors saw their average salary offers rise. The average offer to accounting majors inched up by 0.4 percent. So, despite the down economy, accounting is still a great major to pursue and obtain a job when you graduate.
Who got hit the hardest? Liberal Arts graduates are feeling the effects of the recession: Currently, their average salary offers remain well below last year’s levels—8.9 percent lower.
