CPA Alliance Member Profile

Hartman Leito & Bolt, LLP - Fort Worth, TX

You might say, "right" is the key word at the Texas firm of Hartman Leito & Bolt, LLP (HLB). Their Web site says they strive to be recognized as "the right firm... committed to providing the right working environment and to delivering the right service" to their clients, "with genuine care and uncompromising integrity." You can't ask more of an employer, a trusted advisor, or a fellow BDO Alliance member than that. HLB has been a fixture on the Texas landscape since 1986, with offices in Fort Worth and Dallas. According to the Fort Worth Business Press, they are the sixth largest CPA firm in Tarrant County and the 15th largest in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, according to the Dallas Business Journal. In 2002, they added new muscle to their commitment to excellence by joining the BDO Alliance.

Brick Solid
Managing partner, Alan Hawrylak describes HLB as a group that is driven by its core values. That's more than just a nice sentiment. When there are decisions to be made, those decisions have to line up with the core values set by the firm's leadership, and they don't waiver based on expediency. Every person who joins the firm is given a brick with those core values etched into it. Team members keep their bricks at their work areas to remind them where the firm is headed and how they will get there.

For four years running, HLB has been named among the Best Companies to Work for in Texas ... an honor that is awarded based on survey responses from HLB employees. That's not surprising, since back in 2005, the HLB leadership began an all-out effort to retain their top talent by focusing on the firm's culture and employee satisfaction. To meet that goal, they formed a retention committee comprised of two members of management and a good cross-section of employees.

"Everyone has an exit price," says Hawrylak. That is, the price at which that person would leave the firm. The key purpose of the committee is to drive the exit price as high as possible.

"Above the employee's salary there is the element of 'psychic income' which involves such things as meaningful work, affiliation, growth and development, and non-financial rewards," he adds.

The committee addresses each of these areas and the partners not only listen, but so far they've adopted at least 90 percent of their recommendations. They focus on keeping the workplace interesting during busy season by holding events like ice cream socials where the partners do the serving, special dress days where the couture may include football jerseys or Hawaiian shirts, and competitions ranging from 10-key speed races to cookie decorating.

The committee also recommends policies that cover a range of 'psychic income' possibilities including enhancements to the paid time off (PTO) benefit. Employees now accrue the benefit quicker, have the ability to donate unused PTO to other employees, and have an optional compensatory time program. In the summer, employees can forego the usual workweek in favor of a 9/80 schedule which results in every other Friday off. When it comes to growth and development, the retention committee has been instrumental in a revised education assistance and CPA exam policy. Soon, a CPA exam recognition program will be launched. These policies and programs strongly support the employees' efforts in obtaining their CPA licenses.

As for client relationships, HLB sets the bar high. Their workforce is not there to just perform services. They partner with clients, learn their businesses, and work together to develop solutions.

Joining the BDO Seidman Alliance
On its own, HLB's team and their value to clients is impressive, including:

• A business valuation niche that thrives under the leadership of Hill Johnson;
• A high-wealth family office practice along with business and transactional advisory services led by founding partner, Tracy A. Bolt;
• and an exceptional state and local tax practice led by Donna Rutter, who is respected around the state of Texas and the country.

Even so, to make the firm the best it could be, HLB decided to expand their capabilities. By teaming up with BDO, they added a vast network of resources that would broaden their reach, grow the firm, and position them to meet the global challenges their clients face.

Since joining, HLB has enjoyed working with various BDO Alliance firms across Texas and elsewhere, but Hawrylak says the relationship with BDO's Dallas office is especially close. They share marketing efforts, and at times, refer clients to each other. Currently, they are planning a joint CPE event at a local country club.

"We look forward to presenting ourselves as a team," says Hawrylak. "When we work together, both firms are strengthened."

Of course, much of the benefit comes from aggressive participation. HLB sends partners to the annual Las Vegas conference as well as to the Southwest regional Alliance meetings. Hawrylak attends managing partner roundtables with other similar sized Alliance firms. The firm also maintains regular contact with fellow Texas Alliance members to brainstorm on important issues like employee retention and human resource topics.

"Because of BDO," Hawrylak says, "there is no size of client we cannot approach. We get all the benefits of the big firm, while we remain independent."

Here's an example of how the power of the BDO Alliance paid off handsomely for HLB as well as BDO and several Alliance members.

In 2006, HLB was contacted by a major automotive die cast company that had $800 million in revenue. The company had just relocated to Fort Worth and needed an audit in a hurry, plus help with IT and with valuation services. HLB's audit partner, Phil Holmes, called on their BDO Alliance liaison, Peter Meeks. Meeks made some calls and quickly lined up resources near the client's various facilities. The resources included:

• Scheffel & Company PC in Edwardsville, Illinois
• McLeod & Company in Roanoke, Virginia
• Tarpley & Underwood, PC in Atlanta, Georgia
• BRN member Datamatics for the IT work,
• and BDO Valuation Advisors, LLC (an affiliated company of BDO Seidman, LLP) to provide valuation services.

Charles Dewhurst from BDO Houston, along with Anette Estrada from BDO Grand Rapids, were tapped to handle the international aspects. Then, when Jay Duke - the assurance partner in Dallas - promised the necessary technical assistance, the team was complete; the proposal was submitted; and HLB won the job. According to Holmes, the result was audit revenue of $600,000, plus tax work that brought the total fee to roughly $1,000,000.

"Our ability to win an engagement like this is testimony to the power of the BDO Seidman Alliance," says Holmes. "We simply could not have even considered doing the work involved by ourselves. Everyone we contacted on this engagement was extremely cooperative. With their help, we were able to build a successful client relationship that led to the audit of the company's multiple defined contribution and defined benefit plans, fourteen plans in total."

For HLB - a firm that strives to be on the right side of service, quality and integrity - membership in the BDO Alliance has allowed them to maintain the touch of a local firm with the strength of a national firm. This is one case that proves the old adage, might makes right.

For more information about this company and the services it offers, contact:

Hartman Leito & Bolt, LLP

Fort Worth Office
6050 Southwest Blvd., Suite 300
Fort Worth, Texas 76109
817-738-2400

Dallas Office
1600 Viceroy Drive, Suite 720
Dallas, Texas 75235
214-689-5600