It wasn’t long after Laura LaPeer left public accounting to climb the corporate career ladder that she encountered her first delicate challenge as a controller. Just a year into her new role, her employer was acquired, and LaPeer was unexpectedly asked to explain complex working capital issues to the new owners. The head of finance for the acquired firm struggled to present the information clearly, while the new owners shifted uneasily in their seats. LaPeer instinctively stepped in, simplifying the explanation of complex details and demonstrating her ability to distill intricate financial data while effectively reading the room.
Read MoreThis experience—although occurring prior to her role at Plante Moran—laid the foundation for her approach to leadership. By the time she became recruited to join Plante as corporate controller, LaPeer had already honed her ability to navigate complex situations and build relationships. The Plante’s collaborative culture—not to mention the promise of a CFO role within a few years—aligned perfectly with her leadership ethos and goals. Moreover, her early experience had not only solidified her decision-making and communication abilities but also prepared her for the strategic demands required of the leader of Plante Moran’s finance function.
On transitioning from public accounting to industry:
“I wanted to feel connected to a business, as opposed to maybe going from every company to company that we were auditing. I wanted to have a team that I could help to develop and grow and to really be in a place where I felt like I was making a difference.” –Laura LaPeer
On partnership culture and collaboration:
“We partner really closely here—our finance department, our HR department, our technology department. It was important for me right off the bat to have recurring meetings set up with the leaders of these areas to make sure that we were all aligned on our priorities.” –Laura LaPeer
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This episode of CFO THOUGHT LEADER was recorded at Workday Rising
CFOTL: Tell us about Plante Moran … what sets this accounting firm apart from its competition?
LaPeer: This really comes down to our culture. I know that a lot of people say this, but we truly mean it. We live within the credo of every person coming to work every day giving their whole self to what we do.
On the face of it, we are a public accounting firm that does auditing, tax, and consulting—as well as provides wealth management services—but, in reality, we’re really a people company that’s kind of disguised as an accounting firm. We really value our people, and we believe in what’s known as the Wheel of Progress: If you have good people doing good work for clients, the clients are going to be delighted by this work and will pay good fees for the value-add that we can bring—which will then, in turn, help to fund the firm and allow us to invest in new technologies as well as our people. Our folks thus become even more experienced and hopefully even happier, enabled and more motivated to go back out to our clients to continue to delight them even more. This is our people-first mentality.
Read MoreI started at the firm 10 weeks before the pandemic hit. I was soon sitting in on a lot of leadership meetings, mostly every morning at [7:00] o’clock, when our leadership would say very clearly that if we took care of our staff first and our clients next, everything else would fall into place, wherever that might be. Mind you, please, that I had been there only 10 weeks and had left I place I loved. I had just been looking for the next great opportunity. No one had expected a global pandemic, but, as a 13-year veteran at that point, I understood that things like this were just part of the world in which those of us in finance live and breathe.
I think that this “can do” attitude really shines through to our clients. We are looking to do what helps them and not just what might be advantageous to us. We try to look at the four corners of every firm to see if maybe they might be about to make some big, transformative implementation. We have a consulting branch that might be able to help them with this or maybe with an acquisition. We can help with succession planning, too.
We really try to think of meeting the customer where they’re at. What do they need that we can offer? We’re not into hardcore sales—it’s more about the relationship. Our business is really driven by the business insights that we can provide and by identifying for our clients how we might be able to help. We want to be right there with them and to partner with them on their path to success.
jb
Plante Moran | www.plantemoran.com | Southfield, MI