All Aboard Busy Season 2014

Mark Zuckerberg once said, “Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.” Marcum is not exactly breaking things, but we do move quickly to keep pace with our clients. Particularly at this time of year. As of March 1 we entered the peak period of our first “busy season” of th year.

More than just basic tax, accounting, auditing and advisory services, our real business is helping our clients succeed. In many cases, that means helping them grow. And as they grow in revenue, reach, or market position, we need to grow alongside them, to make sure we have the resources and expertise they need in their dealings with us. That has meant adding new people and services as well as expanding existing areas of expertise and broadening our geographic reach.

When I joined Marcum in 1981, we were a one-office firm with 20 people. Everyone did everything. There was no specialization. Whatever it took to service our clients, we did. And we still do.

While we can no longer all fit around a single board room table, we still run our business as if we could. Every client has a team. Every team has a quarterback who has access to the experts it needs to do the best job possible for our clients. This is as true today, with 1,300 people in 23 offices, as it was 24 years ago when I became Managing Partner.

I am reminded of how fundamental this is to our business now that we are once again in the throes of busy season, which begins bright and early on the morning of January 2 and doesn’t end until the sun sets on the evening of April 15 (or sometime thereafter). This is the time of year when we spend more time with the people we work with than with our own families. And for every Marcum team member going through this annual ritual I am eternally grateful.

For young professionals just starting their careers, it is a rite of passage. For seasoned partners, it is a call to duty. For all of us, it is an expression of our commitment to our clients and to providing the superior services they need in order to get their tax returns filed and financial statements issued. If we were retailers, this would be our holiday season.

Working hard is just part of the mission, however. Working smart is the other, more important part of the equation, but you can’t have one without the other and expect to succeed. Marcum’s clients work hard and work smart, and we are right there with them, every step of the way.

So, as we enter the home stretch of busy season 2014, I would like to thank our clients for your trust and your business, and for allowing us on board for the ride. And to the unparalleled Marcum team members, thank you for all that you do to help successfully deliver our clients to their destinations.