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KROESE & KROESE ENJOYS GROWTH, BUT MAINTAINS TRADITIONAL VALUES OF CLIENT CARE AND RESPONSIVENESS
By Bob Fitch
Responsiveness, trust and a commitment to helping clients attain their financial goals have combined to position Kroese & Kroese, P.C., as one of the fastestgrowing certified public accounting firms in northwestern Iowa.
“If people come to you with their accounting and their taxes, that demonstrates a lot of trust,” said Karri Faber, CPA, a partner at Kroese & Kroese. “We have a lot of personal relationships with our clients, to the point that we’re almost family.”
According to Rich Rikkers, CPA, a partner in the firm for over 33 years, “We try to put ourselves in our clients’ shoes and make sure everything’s getting done right. We strive to be responsive.” He said the firm knows each financial situation is unique. Consequently, team members avoid cookiecutter financial services and instead craft well-rounded, comprehensive tax and accounting strategies.
The firm’s roots stretch back into the 1960s when Stan Kroese operated a bookkeeping company in Sioux Center and Le Mars. In 1986, his sons, Rob and Randy Kroese, bought out their father and started the CPA firm of Kroese & Kroese, P.C. The brothers began adding partners in 1988 and have since retired. Today there are nine partners between the two locations and nearly 50 total employees.
The Kroese & Kroese client base includes agri-businesses, manufacturers, construction contractors, grain dealers, transportation and freight firms, professional services, independent and franchised retail businesses, and other sectors. Rikkers said the firm is proud of its ability to serve farmers. “In the accounting or tax world, farmers are a little bit unique. We’re proud that our accountants and staff here understand those unique aspects.”
HELPING CLIENTS DURING START-UP, EXPANSION, MERGERS AND MORE
The expertise at Kroese & Kroese extends beyond general accounting, tax law and payroll. The firm also does estate and trust work, audits, compilations and reviews. Team members at Kroese & Kroese are frequently involved in developing pro formas for business start-ups and expansions; plus helping clients prepare for mergers and liquidations.
“When you live in an area like ours, there are always a lot of new businesses starting,” Rikkers said. “In addition, many of our existing clients are often in an expansion mode. It keeps us busy.”
According to Faber, the businesses and farmers in this area are willing to take risks. “They're very proactive people. The ethic of hard work trickles into every business type in the area.” Rikkers added, “I also think every industry seems to feed on each other. The strong farm community lends itself to a strong manufacturing sector and meat processing plants. All of that business development leads to additional home construction which feeds companies such as Pella Windows. The communities around here are aggressive and encouraging to new and existing businesses.”
Local Collaboration Builds Economy And Quality Of Life
The company’s clients often look to invest beyond their own business, including farmers who like to invest in ag-related manufacturing. Likewise, collaboration among cities, public and parochial school districts, colleges and counties lends itself to efficient, progressive growth of the local
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Kroese & Kroese and its clients also benefit from the quality of local educational institutions, specifically Dordt University, Northwestern College and Northwest Iowa Community College. Accounting interns for the company come almost exclusively from Dordt and Northwestern and a number of their graduates are employees. Faber said, “There seems to be a lot of students from different areas of the world. They come here for college and they like what they see – it’s a good place to raise a family or maybe start a business.”
Whether a team member is fresh out of college or a seasoned veteran, Faber said employees at Kroese & Kroese work hard, but do so in a family-friendly work environment, which includes flexibility, especially outside of tax season. Rikkers said, “The number one reason for our success is our employees. They are a dedicated group who are committed to helping our clients attain their financial goals.
STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE, PROACTIVE STRATEGIES
Rikkers and Faber said the company always has cutting edge knowledge of the changes in tax law and the methods to ensure clients can obtain the greatest benefit from those changes. The firm is also committed to maintaining the most advanced technology and continuing education for its staff.
Rikkers said the Kroese & Kroese team likes to take time in the summers to meet with clients and allied experts such as attorneys and financial advisers to review risks and opportunities. Currently, the financial value of many businesses, farms, estates and properties has significantly increased because of the strength of the local economy and the recent inflationary period. Combining that reality and a possible lowering of exemptions on estate taxes means it’s vital to review succession planning for farms and businesses, he said.
“You can reduce your tax exposure, but you have to do it ahead of time – you can't just do it the last minute. If you get over this magic number, you’re taxed at 45 percent. We want to help our clients avoid that tax bill,” he said. Plans to minimize estate taxes include leveraging bypass trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, or qualified personal residence trusts.
Growth And Values
Rikkers and Faber expect the accounting firm to continue to grow. “More important than growth, though, is to ensure we can continue to effectively care for our current clients,” Faber said. “We’re focused on keeping the long-time Kroese & Kroese values in place. Always putting our clients first is a tradition we’re passing on to our younger employees and partners.”
