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A number of CPA firms in the New York/New Jersey area are joining together in alliances that allow them to access expertise they might not ordinarily have. These non-profit associations illustrate a new tactic in facing today's shortage of accountants. What's driving the movement? New York and New Jersey are home to numerous businesses with an international presence, points out Ren Cicalese, managing partner for Alloy Silverstein Shapiro Adams Mulford Cicalese Wilson & Company in Cherry Hill, N.J. They require transnational audit and other types of accounting expertise that might not necessarily sit within a firm.
Not only does tapping into a network help when a firm encounters issues they don't have the talent to address, the affiliation can open new opportunities. Cicalese's firm recently joined INPACT Americas, a nonprofit association of accounting and consulting firms with members in North America and affiliates on other continents. Members have access to management and marketing programs and resources, and can tap into their network of international and legal affiliates to provide clients with business solutions rooted in local laws and customs.
"It truly gives us the resources to better serve the clients," says Cicalese. "We now have people in 160 countries, so we can reach out across the world to service our clients better."
So, what do such alliances mean for CPAs working day-to-day? "We don't have to turn away work that we may have had to turn away before, simply because of one issue or aspect," Cicalese notes. In the process, the expertise gets passed on and staffers develop global business and accounting relationships through the affiliations.
INPACT Americas is one network of CPA firms within the Forum of Firms, formally established in 2002 as an association of international networks of accounting firms providing transnational audits. (The International Federation of Accountants oversees the Forum.) As transnational accounting grows, the Forum is providing accountants with the groundwork for international accounting standards and quality.
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