Reprinted with permission from Accounting Today

For many mid-market accounting firms, the status and activities of the Big Four (B4) are of passing interest, but not much more. But EOS Accountants LLP has charted an innovative and successful growth strategy by linking with the Big Four and other firms.

According to founder and managing partner Michio Ishii, collaborating with B4 and other Japanese-based accounting firms helped his firm grow with Japanese companies doing business in the U.S. He graciously shared his experience and perspectives.

Strategic steps

Ishii spent several formative years with Tohmatsu Awoki, the predecessor firm of Deloitte Tohmatsu. An original member of the firm’s U.S. operation, he eventually left to start his own firm. The practice he built in the New York City area included a number of Japanese-headquartered clients who used Ernst & Whinney (the predecessor to E&Y) in Japan and relied on Ishii for their U.S. subsidiaries.

Ishii was growing so fast that he decided to merge his practice with Ernst & Whinney in the U.S., accessing more staff to meet the demand. His mission was to develop their Japanese practice, and he remained there for 11 years before founding EOS in 1996.

A primary motivation to launch his own venture was Ishii’s growing recognition that U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese firms needed different solutions, often not part of the B4’s evolving strategy.

Ishii observed that while a B4 was a good choice for the large established U.S. operations of a large Japanese parent company, the smaller U.S. subsidiaries increasingly were dissatisfied. As smaller entities they often needed more hands-on, intimate service including business, management, and technology consulting.

The B4 had difficulty servicing these smaller subs, whose needs didn’t easily fit in their business model. As a result, services were more expensive and often did not meet the need. These were, however, the specialty of mid-market CPA firms.

We can help

Ishii and his partners identified their market hole (a need without an existing solution) and energetically went about filling it. The rest, as they say is history. He and his partners amicably left the B4 to start EOS.

The B4 firm acknowledged Ishii’s premise – that certain U.S. subs of their corporate clients were unhappy and could use EOS to fulfill needs that the B4 couldn’t. And ensuring good service for them was a priority.

Ishii and his partners were tightly focused and attracted U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese parent companies. Their prospects were companies that lacked adequate accounting professionals and infrastructure. This was a timely development as Japanese businesses were actively in pursuit of U.S. acquisitions.

Powered by relationships

The approach worked and over time EOS was sought out by other B4 players to serve their U.S. clients as well. The strategy became even more valuable when Sarbanes-Oxley established regulations that precluded audit firms from providing many of the services these clients needed.

Ishii and his partners nurtured close ties with other large Japanese accounting firms, and became known in Japan as the go-to firm for U.S. subs of Japanese parents. EOS grew as a result of close and trusting associations with individual partners in these large Japanese firms.

Expert navigation

Today EOS Accountants LLP has become a solid mid-market international provider. The firm has expanded well beyond its Teaneck headquarters with offices in San Jose, Los Angeles, Honolulu, San Mateo, Detroit and Chicago. More than half the staff is bilingual in Japanese and English.

Successfully navigating the relationships with B4 and other accounting firms remains the key to the firm’s success. As the large global players became less interested in serving smaller U.S. subsidiaries, and as they were regulated out of a number of service lines, Michio Ishii and EOS was prepared to meet the need.

Ishii says his firm continues to grow its formal and informal links with practitioners in Japan. As younger partners are developed, the next generation continues to focus on the relationships that have been central to the firm’s success.

As we concluded the interview, I was struck by the elegance and sophistication of the EOS strategy: finding a market hole, developing a unique distribution channel, having a focused niche discipline and navigating the complexities in relationships with other firms.

It beautifully illustrates the application of key growth concepts implemented in a creative way. As a result EOS has achieved an enviable position – going where the competition is not and staking its rightful claim in the international world!

About Gale Crosley

Gale Crosley, CPA, has been awarded The Advisory Board Hall of Fame. She was selected one of the Most Recommended Consultants in the Inside Public Accounting BEST OF THE BEST Annual Survey of Firms for fifteen years, and one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by AccountingToday for fourteen years. She is an honors accounting graduate from the University of Akron, Ohio, winner of the Simonetti Distinguished Business Alumni Award, and an Editorial Advisor for the Journal of Accountancy. Gale is founder and principal of Crosley+Company, providing revenue growth consulting and coaching to CPA firms. She brings more than 30 years of experience, featuring a unique combination as a practicing CPA in two national accounting firms, along with significant experience in business development in the cutting edge technology environment with such firms as IBM and MCI.

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