Plante & Moran
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Plante & Moran, PLLC | |
 |
|
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1924 |
| Headquarters | Southfield, MI, U.S. |
| Key people | Bill Hermann, Firm Managing Partner |
| Industry | Financial Services |
| Products | Accounting Services |
| Employees | 1,400 |
| Slogan | Thrive. |
| Website | www.plantemoran.com |
Plante & Moran is the 10th largest U.S. Certified Public Accounting and Management Consulting firm according to the Public Accounting Report. It has a staff of 1,400 with over 500 CPA's. Offices are located in in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Shanghai, China. [1] [2]
Plante & Moran is the nation’s 11th largest certified public accounting and business advisory firm, providing clients with financial, human capital, operations, strategy, technology, and family wealth management services. Plante & Moran has a staff of more than 1,400 professionals in 18 offices throughout Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Nashville, Tennessee, and Shanghai, China. Plante & Moran has been recognized by a number of organizations, including Fortune magazine, as one of the country’s best places to work.
[edit] Brief History
The origins of Plante & Moran date to 1924, when Elorion Plante founded a small accounting firm in Detroit, Michigan. In 1941 he hired Frank Moran to assist him, after having become acquainted with the young man when he tutored his daughter. Moran, who had earned a degree in philosophy but had not studied accounting, worked briefly for Plante, and then for General Motors, before spending three years as a U.S. Navy supply officer during World War II.
After his return from the service, Moran came back to Detroit and began working for Plante once again, also taking night classes in accounting. After completing his studies he became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and in 1950 Plante elevated him to the level of partner, renaming the firm Plante & Moran. At this time their clients were typically small and medium-sized private firms, for which they performed accounting, auditing, and tax preparation.
Moran's background in philosophy led him to approach the job of accounting differently from many in the business, and he began to advise his clients on more than just financial matters. Bill Hermann, a later managing partner of the firm, told Crain's Detroit Business that Moran would look at his client's business "like a hand. Its strengths were the fingers, and the spaces between were gaps. He'd figure out how to help fill in the gaps to help the client."
To help clients improve their hiring practices, for example, in the early 1950s Moran began working with a psychologist to develop pre-employment tests to give to prospective hires. The tests were used to screen out people who were not likely to mesh with a firm's corporate culture or who were not suited for the work they would be asked to perform.
Moran also believed that his firm should adhere to the highest ethical standards, and he was confident that such a policy would yield long-lasting success. He had a circular view of the value of ethics, believing that hiring good people would result in them doing their work well, which would attract better clients, who in turn would pay good fees, which would enable the firm to pay its staff well, which would enable Plante & Moran to hire the best workers.
