The last few years have provided the M&A market and the economy in general with many challenges. More certainty around U.S. fiscal and tax policy and movement on the European debt crisis should further solidify consumer confidence and improve global economic prospects. Despite the fact that economic challenges remain, dealmakers are cautiously optimistic and the vast majority of them said that they will be pursuing acquisitions this year.

The discussion was moderated by Cromwell Schubarth, who posed select questions to the individual guests around M&A, industry trends and critical best practices/lessons learned from both the buyer and the seller side.

This morning’s conversation will be transcribed and the highlights published in The Silicon Valley Business Journal on May 31, 2013, with the full transcript being hosted on Sensiba San Filippo’s website, www.ssfllp.com.

THE ROUNDTABLE INCLUDED:

Cromwell Schubarth (Moderator)
Senior Reporter, Silicon Valley Business Journal

John Sensiba (Host & Panelist)
Managing Partner, Sensiba San Filippo LLP

Kevin Strain (Panelist)
Audit Partner and M&A Practice Leader, Sensiba San Filippo LLP

Kevin Spain (Panelist)
General Partner, Emergence Capital Partners

Jamie Leigh (Panelist)
Partner and M&A Practice Leader, Cooley LLP

Jon Soberg (Panelist)
Managing Partner, Blumberg Capital

Brett Rochkind (Panelist)
Managing Partner, General Atlantic

Kevin Strain, Audit Partner
Sensiba San Filippo LLP

Sensiba San Filippo names a merger and acquisition practice leader

Sensiba San Filippo LLP (SSF), a leading Northern California-based CPA and business consulting firm, is proud to announce the appointment of Audit Partner Kevin Strain as the Merger and Acquisition Practice Leader to the firms expanding merger and acquisition practice.

Strain brings nearly fifteen years of professional accounting experience and is well versed in the accounting issues relevant to both sides of a merger or acquisition transaction. He specializes in acquisition and purchase accounting, accounting for complex equity transactions, software revenue recognition, and accounting for private debt and equity offerings.

“The current climate for acquisition activity is heating up,” said Strain. “Acquisition activity has been ramping up since 2010, and is only expected to increase. Low interest rates and resurgent equity markets have left corporations flush with cash, and looking for opportunities.”

“It has been my pleasure to watch Kevin grow this practice over these past few years,” said John Sensiba, managing partner of Sensiba San Filippo LLP. “I look forward to Kevin’s leadership and vision in his new role as the M&A practice leader and the expanded growth of this practice to serve the growing market demand and needs of our clients.”

Strain received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of San Francisco in 1999. He is a licensed CPA in the state of California and a part of the CalCPA Silicon Valley San Jose Chapter Green Committee. He is also a recognized industry expert and is often leveraged by leading media sources such as Smart Business Magazine to speak on accounting matters such as preparing for a merger or acquisition event.

About Sensiba San Filippo
Sensiba San Filippo LLP is a multi-service regional public accounting, tax and consulting firm that brings actionable business solutions to its clients through its unique brand of service, industry-specific knowledge, technical expertise and its SSF Market Insights publications. Sensiba San Filippo’s offices are located in San Mateo, San Jose, Pleasanton, and Morgan Hill.

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John Sensiba, Managing Partner
Sensiba San Filippo LLP

When John Sensiba became the managing partner of Sensiba San Filippo LLP (SSF), the firm was facing a recession and the steepest competition in its history. Now in his fifth year as the firm’s leader, Sensiba’s vision and unique management style have allowed him to shape a culture of growth by setting the tone from the top. This leadership has directly contributed to SSF being recognized as one of the region’s top CPA and business consulting firms. We sat down with Sensiba to discuss how focusing on people and culture have shaped the success of SSF.

When Sensiba took the helm at SSF, many other firms were reacting to a struggling economy with deep staff reductions. SSF bucked the trend, as Sensiba and his business partners increased their investment in attracting and retaining their professional talent. “We treated people the way we would want to be treated and made decisions I was proud of,” says Sensiba.

The foundation for Sensiba’s success is simple: He finds power in the Golden Rule. By treating employees as he would want to be treated, John has earned the trust and respect of his employees.

For SSF, the commitment to their people paid off. As competitors saw sharp drops in revenue, SSF moved forward, with employee morale high, and a client retention rate among the highest in the industry. Sensiba believes strongly that investment in culture is the key to the firm’s achievement. At SSF, Sensiba and top management actively promote priorities in the following order of importance:

FAMILY. COMMUNITY. FIRM.

Under Sensiba’s leadership, SSF has made meaningful community involvement a core value. One example of this is SSF’s annual “All Hands Day.” The firm shuts down for the day, and leverages their large employee base to volunteer with a local nonprofit.

Within the firm, Sensiba has worked to empower employees and allow them to shape key business strategies. “Helping people move up to leadership roles is important to us,” says Sensiba. “You need to have good role models at all levels. Within our firm, we want our employees to feel that they can have a family, be involved in their community, and be successful.”

SSF has worked to ensure that employee contributions are highly valued at all levels. This is evident in SSF’s recent Go-To-Market competition in which staff members compete for points earned by active participation in industry and market events. In addition to spurring growth, the program helped foster a culture of “top-to-bottom” accountability, participation, and ownership of SSF’s future. Sensiba encourages each of SSF’s 100+ employees to think of themselves not as workers, but as leaders in the business.

Sensiba makes sure employees know they are the firm’s most valuable asset. SSF is committed to doing its part to contribute to its employees’ physical and spiritual health. Some of the services SSF provides include fitness activities during the workday, wellness coaching, firm-wide team sports, and other programs. With over 70 percent employee participation in SSF’s wellness programs, SSF earned the title of AccountingWEB’s “Fittest Accounting Firm” and “Healthiest Employer in the Bay Area” by the San Jose Business Journal in 2012.

Sensiba has no plans to decrease his focus on the firm’s people and its culture going forward. “We believe our commitment to our people has paid dividends,” says Sensiba. “Our ability to serve our clients depends on having the most talented, motivated professionals we can find. I expect our investment in our people and culture to be the cornerstone of future success.”

Click here to download a PDF of this article.

John Sensiba, Managing Partner
Sensiba San Filippo LLP

In the extremely competitive Bay Area market, attracting and retaining top professional talent is always challenging. With four generations of employees in today’s workforce, it is critical to consider how as a middle market firm your corporate culture practices can help attract and retain the very best from a diverse employee population.

John Sensiba, managing partner at Sensiba San Filippo LLP (SSF), an accountancy and business advisory firm headquartered in Pleasanton, identifies eight best practices for hiring and retaining top talent.

Understand your business goals. It is critical to understand where you are and where you are going. Sensiba recommends having a vision and a plan for your firm’s market growth. Anticipating areas of growth, such as industries and services, will help you prepare to grow your team along with your revenue.

Have a plan. Once you have an understanding of where you are currently and where you want to go (your ideal “future state”), develop a market strategy plan that will support this growth. This plan needs to incorporate your growth and hiring goals, with actionable items outlined. Having a strategy plan in place that clearly aligns your firm’s growth goals with your hiring goals, is a critical best practice.

Anticipate growth requirements. “With a market growth plan in place and an understanding of where your business is heading, you’ll be able to anticipate future staff needs and develop a hiring plan,” says Sensiba. Depending on your growth goals, will you need more of the skills you have now? Are there specific skills missing in your organization that you’ll need to grow your business? Assessing what you have and what you’ll need will allow you to hire the right people at the right time.

“Out of the box” compensation philosophy. “Many organizations make the mistake of believing that paying people well is the only key to retaining employees,” says Sensiba. “While pay is important, it is often not the most important motivator.” Today’s employees want it all – good pay, benefits, career advancement, and the opportunity to do new and exciting work.

Sensiba recommends developing a compensation strategy that makes you competitive and unique within your market. If your overall compensation plan lags behind your competitors, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle.

Find the right fit. The cost of hiring the wrong people is far more than the cost of ensuring you hire the “right fit”. Before you can find the right fit, you’ll need to define the right fit in terms of both culture and ability. What kind of company do you want to build and what are the characteristics of the type of employee that will be successful in this culture?

Successful corporate cultures don’t happen by chance. They happen as a result of a vision and by leadership setting a “tone from the top”.

Develop good job descriptions. “Really understand the core competencies of all positions, and measure against these as you evaluate candidates and current employees,” says Sensiba. If you don’t know exactly what you want, you are unlikely to find the best fit for your needs. SSF has used core competencies to measure and set expectations for all levels of staff to improve and advance their careers within the firm.

Create a strong interview and evaluation process. Remember that the interview process is not just a time for the candidate to impress you. It’s also the first impression you’ll make on a potential employee. SSF has created a process for evaluating candidates that is timely and consistent.

Keep them motivated! The process doesn’t stop once you get talented employees in the door. Now you have to keep them.

Develop a rewards strategy to attract, motivate and retain your employees. “You need to include compensation, benefits, work-life balance, performance recognition, and professional development opportunities,” says Sensiba.

Click here to download a PDF of this article.

Karen Burns, Audit Partner, Sensiba San Filippo

Sensiba San Filippo LLP (SSF), a leading Northern California-based CPA and business-consulting firm, is honored to announce that assurance partner Karen Burns has been recognized as one of the Most Influential Women of the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times.

The “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business” feature highlights a group of distinguished women professionals that demonstrate exceptional leadership, achievement, and influence within their industry and across their communities. Recipients were featured in the April 19th edition of the San Francisco Business Times followed by an elegant gathering of the highest-ranking corporate women on June 6th, where they will share their wisdom on leadership, community service, mentorship, and the power women have to change the world.

“Karen is a tremendous contributor to the Bay Area community—both in business and in support of volunteer organizations,” said John Sensiba, Managing Partner of Sensiba San Filippo LLP. “Karen’s passion for the work she does, and her ability to understand the needs of her clients makes her an invaluable asset.”

Since 2007, Karen has applied her deep experience in manufacturing and distribution to Sensiba San Filippo, bringing a “fresh approach” to her client service model, including a passion for innovation and the delivery of superior client service. In addition to her client service role, Karen co-founded the East Bay Manufacturing Group and the East Bay Professional Women’s Alliance. These professional groups provide a platform for networking, sharing best practices, and to building strategic alliances and affiliations.

About Sensiba San Filippo
Sensiba San Filippo LLP is a multi-service regional public accounting, tax and consulting firm that seeks to bring actionable business solutions to its clients through its unique brand of service, industry-specific knowledge, technical expertise and its SSF Market Insights publications. Sensiba San Filippo’s offices are located in San Mateo, San Jose, Pleasanton, and Morgan Hill. Visit Sensiba San Filippo’s website at www.ssfllp.com.

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Networking goes hand in hand with running a successful business. However, many of us dread walking into a room and introducing ourselves to a bunch of strangers. A few simple tools can turn the most awkward networker into a polished and eloquent "nature" pro with a little bit of practice.

1. Be Prepared. Savvy Networkers always have their networking tools with them at all times. Have an ample supply of business cards, your elevator pitch, and any relevant collateral material (flyers, brochures, etc). Also, keep a pen handy to make notes on the back of cards you receive. This way when you follow up, you can remember who you spoke with about what.

2. Have a Plan. Always have an idea of what your goals are for each event. Before going in, strategize what outcome you want for yourself and what people you want to meet at the event. Do you want to meet three people and focus on getting to know them really well? Are you looking for an introduction to a certain type of client? Are you looking for information on a type of service? When you have a plan, it is easier to stay focused as you meet with people and achieve your plan.

3. Be fashionably early. It’s almost counter-intuitive, but showing up early at a networking event is a much better strategy than getting there late. As a first attendee, you’ll notice that it’s calmer, quieter and less intimidating – and people won’t have settled into groups yet.

4. Ditch the sales pitch. Remember, networking is all about relationship building. You don’t need to do the hard sell within minutes of meeting a person. Networking is about building relationships with people who will be happy to tell others about who you are and what you do. Word of mouth advertising is the most cost effective and powerful method of building your business. The idea is to get the conversation started. People are more apt to do business with – or partner with – people whose company they enjoy.

If a potential customer does ask you about your product or service, be ready with an easy description of your company and a "so what" factor. The “so what” factor being why you or your company is different. Before the event, create a mental list of recent accomplishments, such as a new client you’ve landed or project you’ve completed. That way, you can easily pull an item off that list and into the conversation. Successful networkers practice in advance the answer to, "what do you do" so that it rolls off the tongue effortlessly. Keep it brief, a brief explanation enables others to seamlessly introduce owners into their circle.

5. Get the card! When you’re speaking with someone, get their business card right away. Then hold it in your hand as you talk. That way if you forget the persons name or company, you can glance down without being obvious. Since you will have their name "handy," you can introduce that person to someone new that might join the conversation. If you act like a host at every event and use this generous gesture, you can grow your social capital in the room.

6. Be genuine and listen. Everyone knows when someone is "schmoozing" on or at them. And, no one likes being "primed" for the pump. Be genuine in your interactions. It comes back to building trust and to building "brand YOU". There is a huge difference between being INTERESTED and in trying to be INTERESTING. When you are interested in learning about someone and their business entirely for the sake of learning about the other person, you will leave a lasting impression as someone who genuinely cares.

Remember to actively listen. When someone is speaking with you, give that person your entire focus. Really hear what the person is saying. Keep your eyes and ears focused and your self talk and thoughts focused too. The greatest gift that you can give to another person is to truly hear what that person is saying. They will take notice and you will gain instant respect.

7. Get in the conversation, but don’t hijack it. Don’t wait around the edges of the room for someone to approach you. Get the conversation started by simply walk up to a person or a group, and say, "May I join you" or "What brings you to this event?" A simple, but often overlooked rule of engagement is to smile. By smiling, you’ll put your nervous self at ease, and you’ll also come across as warm and inviting to others.

Some people who dislike networking may overcompensate by commandeering the discussion. Don’t forget: The most successful networkers (think of those you’ve met) are good at making other people feel special. Look people in the eye, repeat their name, listen to what they have to say, and suggest topics that are easy to discuss. Be a conversationalist, not a talker.

8. It’s all about the follow up. It’s often said that networking is where the conversation begins, not ends. Get in touch within 48 hours of meeting someone to show you’re interested and available. Reference something you discussed, (check your notes on the back of the business card) so your contact remembers you and sees you really listened. If you have a white paper or thought leadership piece you can share, even better.

Depending on where you look, marketing statistics state that it takes 7 to 12 impressions for a consumer to make a buying decision. It also take somewhere between 5 to 12 impressions to become "top of mind". Meeting face to face is the 1st impression. An email, a phone call, another card or LinkedIn connection, a lunch date … don’t stop after 1 or 2 impressions. Keep going. Savvy networkers know that to build strong relationships they must dig deeper and make the continued effort to build ongoing relationships!

Click here to download a PDF of this article.

Sensiba San Filippo LLP (SSF), a leading Northern California-based CPA and business consulting firm, is proud to announce that assurance partner Karen Burns was selected to speak by the Commercial Finance Association’s Northern California Chapter. The presentation was held at the Omni Hotel in San Francisco on April 11, 2013 and covered the looming changes to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and the effects on both business and financial services institutions.

The Commercial Finance Association’s Northern California Chapter is the trade group for commercial finance companies, factors, banks and other financing agencies engaged in the asset-based financial services industry of Northern California. Burns’ presentation illuminated the impact GAAP changes will have for both private and public companies. In addition, Burns pointed out how these changes will effect the financial services institutions themselves and shared several best practices for financial advisors to effectively monitor their client covenants.

“So many lending institutions have not been educated yet on the upcoming GAAP changes,” said Karen Burns, assurance partner at Sensiba San Filippo LLP. “For example, companies will soon be required to recognize leases on balance sheets. This change will significantly impact loan covenants and ratios.”

Burns has recently done similar presentations on this topic through SSF’s CPA Food for Thought program. “It is imperative to have open communication between the users of the financial statements and the CPA’s who are often involved in the preparation, audit, review, or compilation of those statements,” says Burns. CPA Food for Thought was designed as a learning series to give financial statement users beneficial information to better serve their clients. This program is intended to gather together financial statement users and representatives from SSF in a casual “lunch and learn” setting to discuss important topics. To find out more about this program, please visit our website at www.ssfllp.com/events.

About Sensiba San Filippo
Sensiba San Filippo LLP is a multi-service regional public accounting, tax and consulting firm that seeks to bring actionable business solutions to its clients through its unique brand of service, industry-specific knowledge, technical expertise and its SSF Market Insights publications. Sensiba San Filippo’s offices are located in San Mateo, San Jose, Pleasanton and Morgan Hill.

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