LarsonAllen Reviews

Pros

Very Industry specific driven. If you are fortunate to get in a good industry, you will enjoy your job (assuming it's what you enjoy doing). I am lucky enough to be in one of the good industries and offices. I have people that listen to my dreams and care enough to help me find them here within LarsonAllen.

Cons

Industries/groups are lead by individuals that lack compassion and understanding that a job isn't a "life" for every single person. It's only 1 piece of their lives that make the whole pie.

Advice to Senior Management

Take the time to ask and listen to employees of all levels. Every single employee has value in making LA as successful as it is.

Pros

The firm is pretty classy and tends to hire from the more prestigious business schools in the area. Most recognize the name of the firm, and it's nice to have on the resume.

Cons

As with all CPA firms, busy season is, well, busy. Most workgroups are affected by busy season between January and April, and it's not uncommon to see even principals working over 80 hours per week during this time.

Advice to Senior Management

The executives outlined progressive path that employees may follow, but not every business unit follows this path. it would be helpful if every workgroup was consistent in providing promotion opportunities for employees.

Pros

There are some very nice people, as well as some very competent and entrepreneurial partners. Firm leaders think they've got the best company on the planet and want everyone else to think so too. In fact, they are genuinely surprised to find that you don't just love the heck out of the place and take it super personally when people leave. Top and bottom line growth every year but mostly through an ambitious acquisition strategy and very, very tight pockets.

Cons

Cult-like, weird devotion to the CEO, Gordy Viere. No faith or investment in infrastructure and people. Very, very cheap. They want you to be an automaton and just do what they tell you rather than apply your talents to your work. Unsophisticated infratstucture and old-school good-ol-boy club environment.

Advice to Senior Management

Put a little faith in your people already. And quit demanding this crazy "emotional ownership" you talk about so relentlessly. You can't expect people to be "emotionally invested" when you don't invest in them first.

Pros

Nice people to work with in the office.

Cons

At times decisions are centralized.

Advice to Senior Management

Work towards empowering staff by leveraging more work.

Pros

The staff are very great people and very intelligent.

Cons

Local leadership is horrible. There is no sense of true LarsonAllen environment created in Arizona. There is too little potential for promotion in the local office.

Pros

Great people to work around.

Cons

Office is in a bad location.

Advice to Senior Management

N/A

Pros

Growth potential
Big firm in midwest and want to grow to bigger firm
Culture is consistent with other CPA firms

Cons

Culture doesn't come down to satelitte offices
No direction after you get to manager
Spend money in right areas
Lack of HR control in most offices
Tend to try and sell to much internal new culture

Advice to Senior Management

Ask questions of future leaders
Provide specific guidance on how to get to partner instead of making new roles
Force leaders in satelitte offices to be leaders and live the "dream"

Pros

If you absolutely have no other opportunities lined up.

Cons

Completely upside down leverage model (less associates than partners in some work groups)

Very cheap (plan to have to pay for a lot of expenses yourself out of pocket)

Would rather make employees stay over the weekend to save a few bucks than to fly home to see their families

Very bad coaching since everyone is slammed with work all of the time. Also broken leverage model prevents staff from growing through the mentor process and becoming mentors themselves.

Share staff at an unreasonable pace (not allowing staff to recover from busy seasons)

Have witnessed partners complaining about the inconvenience of female staff on maternity leave.

Employees have to take vacation time when they are out sick.

Honestly, this firm tries to talk the national firm talk but falls well short. The staff are unhappy, overworked and discouraged. The partners don't care.

Partners won't provide younger staff with client experience for fear they will say something wrong

I watched 10 people walk out the front door my first year with the firm. Very sad.

Advice to Senior Management

If you want to talk the talk like a big firm, be prepared to spend money like a big firm.

Don't cheap out on staff. Let them go home to see their families on the weekends instead of trying to save a few bucks making them stay out of town. (very lame)

Healthy leverage models are pyramids, not snow cones. It also kills the staff who are down at the bottom of that model with no one to mentor. You have paralyzed your staff pool with this upside down leverage model.

Share staff at a reasonable pace (don't stack busy seasons on already overworked staff). Think about the fact that people are overworked and let them have the much needed time with their families.

Don't complain about staff out on maternity leave. Hire some staff to fill in and get over it. This is especially dissappointing when it comes from the partner group.

Don't make employees take vacation time when they are sick. It certainly is no vacation to be sick.

Take staff out to see clients. Don't be afraid of what they will say. Clients are not stupid nor do they expect younger staff to act like seasoned staff. Think about growing your people and not just about looking good all of the time.

You talk the talk like you are a big cohesive national firm, but you are actually quite disjointed as you are a bunch of local firms all bundled together. Talk will get you nowhere. You have a long road to developing that "noticably different" culture. Start by investing in your people.

Pros

Some of the partners are good to work for. Generally hit or miss. Good place to cut your teeth in the world of accounting or auditing. Not very good for name recognition when moving on.

Cons

- Horrible benefits
- Yearly 'layoffs' cause a culture of fear
- Uncaring and inattentive management focused more on $ realization and less on value added. That can be put to the 'boomer' culture though.
- Do not put effort forth to promote from within.

Advice to Senior Management

As was written in another feedback, I doubt that 'leadership' reads these or would take any feedback to heart. It is the people who make the firm, not the leadership.

Pros

Flexible schedule and workspace; great company values; supportive of staff; opportunities to advance; dedicated to giving back to the community; solidly performing company

Cons

I've been very impressed with LarsonAllen. The only con I would say are that your vacation, sick and personal days are only rolled together and you never increase the number of days you earn no matter how long you are with the company.

Advice to Senior Management

I encourage the leadership to look beyond titles and "levels" and instead focus on capabilities and strengths. It would also strengthen the company if there was more internal education on what each industry sector is working on.