2015 Economic Impact Awards 6-15 Years in Operation Winner: Abacus CPAs LLC

With growth tracking at 20 to 40 percent a year, Abacus CPAs LLC is the fifth-largest accounting, tax and consulting firm in the area, according to Springfield Business Journal list research.

“We’ve been a fairly fast-growing firm, so we’ve created a lot of jobs,” says Bill Dunton, managing member.

Since Abacus’ founding in 1998, it has swelled from a five-member firm to one that employs more than 60 people in Springfield, Branson, Bolivar, Lee’s Summit and on-site at Prime Inc.

In an industry not known for innovation, Abacus wants to get involved with clients beyond what’s recorded on a yearly tax-organizer form, Dunton says.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to provide our services to our clients in different methods,” he says. “Whatever it is, we’re willing to get involved and think outside the box.”

Part of that process includes Abacus’ ALIGN analysis applied to each client, which stands for available, listen, innovate, guide and next.

“We aren’t satisfied talking once a year, because once a year will never give our clients their best outcome. Our innovative ALIGN process is designed to give our clients better guidance so they can make smarter decisions,” says Adrienne McCoy, who is in charge of the firm’s projects.

Abacus’ services include business valuation, human resource assistance, internal control evaluations, computer software, fraud investigations and succession planning.

“We really want to make sure that we’re not just talking numbers on a piece of paper,” Dunton says. “We want to be that business adviser and partner along the way.”

Abacus seeks employees who are, at heart, business entrepreneurs with an accounting specialty, because the business of public accounting goes beyond the numbers, Dunton says. The employment process is rigorous, and if there’s more than one candidate, he or she is evaluated on the Kolbe A Index that measures a person’s instinctive method of operation, which stays stable over time. All Abacus employees know their number in each of the four categories – fact finder, follow through, quick start and implementer – which are displayed on their desks to facilitate better communication. The firm has used Kolbe for about 10 years, Dunton says, and it’s one of the topics Abacus shares with clients.

“We invest a lot in our people,” he says. “We’re trying to make ourselves the best in the industry. ... Anything we do that works for us we turn around and share with our clients whenever we can.”

Just as Abacus’ clients support the firm with their business, Abacus encourages its staff to support the community in their personal time, which is factored into employee bonuses.

“As a staff, we choose the top six organizations or causes most important to the entire group and then provide both manpower and financial aid to those organizations each year,” McCoy says. “We believe that a staff that volunteers together can grow stronger together.”