RBZ, LLP is ranked as the #7 best accounting firm to work for amongst all medium-size public accounting firms in the entire country. This is our second consecutive top 10 ranking. RBZ is the only Southern California-based firm to be included in the top 20!

Accounting Today is one of the largest circulated accounting industry publications in the U.S. Working together with Best Companies Group, this nationwide survey and award program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in the accounting industry. The “Best Accounting Firms to Work For” list is made up of a total of 100 firms nationwide.

Selection Criteria

The 100 companies that are included on the Best Accounting Firms to Work for list is split into three groups: 50 small-sized companies (15-49 employees), 45 medium-sized companies (50-249 employees) and 5 large-sized companies (more than 250 employees). To be considered for participation, companies had to fulfill the following eligibility requirements:

• Be a for-profit or not-for-profit business;
• Be a publicly or privately held business;
• Have a facility in the United States;
• Have at least 15 employees working in the United States;
• Must be in business a minimum of 1 year;
• Be an accounting firm.

Accounting firms from across the country entered the two-part survey process to determine the Best Accounting Firms to Work for. The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated firm’s workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience. The combined scores determined the top firms and the final ranking. Best Companies Group managed the overall registration, survey and analysis process and determined the final rankings.

The ranking of the 4^th annual Best Accounting Firms to Work for will be unveiled at an awards ceremony sponsored by ADP during Accounting Today’s 2^nd Annual Growth & Profitability Summit on October 25^th – October 27^th at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.  The list-making firms will also be published in the December issue of Accounting Today. 

For more information on the Best Accounting Firms to Work for program, visit www.BestAccountingFirmstoWorkfor.com.

Lynell Chun recognized as Five Star Wealth Manager ^SM for second year in a row.

For the second year in a row, Lynell will be featured in the February 2012 edition of Los Angeles magazine as a Five Star Professional Wealth Manager ^SM.

Over 650 candidates were nominated for the 2012 Five Star Professional award, only 159 were chosen for this prestigious designation. This represents less than 1% of all Wealth Managers, CPA’s, and Attorney’s in the Los Angeles area.

Selection Process

Los Angeles magazine teamed up with Five Star Professional to conduct a very extensive research study looking to find Wealth Managers, CPA’s, and Estate planning attorneys that have proven to provide their clients with exceptional service.

Together, they contacted over 3,323 service industry professionals and 850 firms in the Los Angeles area and asked them to nominate a professional they felt provides exceptional service to clients.

As a final step, Five Star Professional surveyed 50,980 high-net-worth consumers (defined as having $350,000 in assets) to uncover positive and negative experiences with their wealth manager, CPA, or attorney.

Selection Criteria

• Winners must be credentialed as an IAR, FINRA rep, CPA, or a licensed attorney
• Must have a minimum of 5 years in the financial service industry
• Has a favorable regulatory and complaint history
• Have fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards
• Must be accepting new clients and have a five-year client retention rate

Other criteria that were considered include the amount of assets administered, number of clients households served, education, and professional designations.

Summary

Those counties are in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico. Certain deadlines falling on or after August 25, and on or before October 31, have been postponed to October 31, 2011, which includes corporations and other businesses that previously obtained an extension until September 15 to file their 2010 returns, and individuals and businesses that received a similar extension until October 17.

The extension also applies to the estimated tax payment for the third quarter, normally due September 15. In addition, the IRS is waiving the failure-to-deposit penalties for employment and excise tax deposits due on or after August 25, and on or before Sept. 9, as long as the deposits are made by September 9, 2011.

For a detailed summary of these extensions, visit the IRS website.

This annual report is a comprehensive survey of approximately 200 Southern California law firms. The survey includes detailed compensation data by size of firm, location and practice area on over 70 positions within law firms, along with data on billing rates, billable hours, employee benefits, leverage, costs per lawyer, net income per partner and more.

Survey participants will receive a copy of this report at a significant discount. For more information about participating in the survey process or purchasing a copy of the RBZ Law Firm Report, contact:

Catherine Aldrich

Phone (310) 478-4148 | Email: caldrich@rbz.com

Tom Leaper featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal.

In the June 20 – 26, 2011 issue, Tom was featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal in a special supplement entitled, “The Business of Accounting.” This special edition features him in a “Q & A session” that includes prominent partners from other large Los Angeles area public accounting firms.

They share insightful answers to questions about the economy, managing cash flow, going green, along with some personal stories about how they have helped their clients prosper in this challenging economy and provides a unique glimpse into the business of accounting.

“Best Places to Work” in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Business Journal

RBZ climbed to the #3 spot on this list, improving on our #7 ranking in 2009 and continues to be the highest ranked accounting firm in the mid-sized firm category. Hundreds of companies from every industry throughout Los Angeles County participated in this survey, only 50 made the list of finalists.

“Best Accounting Firms To Work For” in the U.S., Accounting Today

RBZ made an outstanding debut at #4 in the mid-sized firm category on this prestigious list. This annual survey is designed to identify, recognize and honor the best accounting firms for their human resource policies and programs. The list is comprised of 100 firms, split into three groups: 45 small-sized firms (15-49 employees), 45 medium-sized firms (50-249 employees) and 10 large-sized firms (more than 250 employees). Accounting firms throughout the U.S. participated in this survey.

“Best of the Best” managed accounting firms in the U.S., Inside Public Accounting

Annually, Inside Public Accounting honors 25 firms, regardless of size, for their exceptional management and operational performance based on over 50 benchmarked criteria. RBZ is one of only two Southern California-based firms to earn this prestigious designation for 2010.

2011 will prove to be challenging, but will also provide many opportunities for us to once again prove that we are the “best of the best” for our people and our clients.