Milestones: Forward for FORVIS

In 2022, just a year shy of its 100th anniversary, Springfield-based BKD LLP completed the largest merger in its history, leading the company to become one of the largest public accounting firms in the United States. A year beyond the transaction that led BKD and Charlotte, North Carolina-based Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP, dba DHG, to become FORVIS LLP, company leaders say the merger exceeded expectations.

“It was a very heavy lift to bring two top 20 firms together into a top 10 firm,” said Gary Schafer, managing partner of the Springfield office of FORVIS. “There are a lot of different ways you can look at how some mergers are going. From an operations standpoint, we haven’t missed a beat.”

At the time of the merger’s closure just over a year ago, the companies had $1.4 billion in combined revenue, ranking FORVIS at No. 8 on Inside Public Accounting’s list of the top U.S. firms. FORVIS CEO Tom Watson said the fiscal 2023 revenue won’t be ready to report for another couple of weeks but noted the firm is on pace to reach $2 billion in revenue in the short term.

“Through this year of transition, we have managed to grow, not just by coming together but also by continuing to make relationships with new clients,” Schafer said. “We’ve also been successful at the most important thing, which is taking great care of those clients.”

Watson said he’s been most pleased with how the teams have worked together to collaborate on getting the best answer for every merger topic that comes up.

“Every policy you have, you have to say, ‘Do I want A, B or create C?’ That’s everywhere from how we do our audits, what type of laptop can we buy to how do we structure the look of our new offices going forward,” he said. “You can imagine how many decisions that creates.”

Combined, FORVIS has roughly 6,000 employees, including over 600 local workers, spanning 72 markets in 28 states, as well as the United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands.

Merger activity
The merger with DHG is the second major transaction the formerly named BKD had this century. It follows the company’s 2001 merger with Indianapolis-based Olive LLP, which doubled its employee count at the time to 1,000 people, including 130 partners and principals, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

The firm’s revenue today has grown by leaps and bounds from its first year in business, back when three CPAs, William Baird, Wade Kurtz and Claire Dobson, founded the company 100 years ago in Kansas City and Joplin. According to officials, the company started with $1,700 in the bank and first-year revenue was $17,010.

Hearld Ambler, who joined the firm in 1948 and eventually became managing partner in 1972 after overseeing the Springfield office, told SBJ in a 2001 story that the first company merger was in 1969. Officials say the company has been involved in nearly 15 mergers and acquisitions since then.

“The firm needed to get more substance. We needed to concentrate our efforts on how we ... broaden our sphere and provide opportunity,” said Ambler, who retired from the firm in 1986 and now lives in Indiana, according to company officials.

That’s not to say that BKD only grew via mergers, as most of its history has involved organic growth, Watson said. The 31-year company employee estimated while 20% of its growth was due to M&A, that percentage is even lower today.

“That has probably waned a little bit over the last five years,” he said, characterizing 90% of the company’s growth today as organic. “As we become larger and more coast to coast, we are able now to relocate folks.”

For Schafer, the best merger is one from which the company can walk away, as not every opportunity is worth pursuing.

“You can get a lot of growth, but if it undermines your culture or it changes the secret sauce of who you are, then that’s horrible,” he said. “We’re very, very selective about how we proceed with that.”

Officials say company revenue is split almost evenly at 33% each for tax, auditing and consulting services.

The three major service lines of the company serve numerous industries, including construction, education, health care, insurance, nonprofit and technology.

“We are very committed to that multidisciplinary model,” Watson said.

“That’s really part of our secret sauce,” Schafer said, adding that model is how the company has grown the past 100 years. “It’s not just stamping ‘audited’ on their financial statements or signing their tax returns, but really helping them address the business needs that they’ve got.”

Client care
Firm officials say that kind of service has been a key to keeping clients over the years. One of those, Silver Dollar City, which opened in 1960, has been a client for roughly 50 years. It’s one of several companies that is under the umbrella of Herschend Family Entertainment Corp., which also includes the Harlem Globetrotters and the Dollywood theme park.

Stephanie Hyder, vice president of finance for the Branson-based corporation, said FORVIS handles its annual audits and employee benefit plans.

“They also provide assistance with tax and just general consulting,” she said. Hyder said the firm annually works in February and March on audits for the company.

“During those times at least for six weeks, they’ll be on-site a few days a week,” she said.

Schafer said the way FORVIS serves clients is quite different than when he started in 1996.

“We did everything on paper. There were no computers,” he said. “We had ledger books that we did things in. We carried around big trunks and bags of audit files. Now, it’s completely different.”

A 25-year employee with Herschend Family Entertainment, Hyder laughed when recalling seeing the firm’s employees lugging around the ledger books and trunks when conducting on-site audits.

She said the culture at FORVIS is a lot like Herschend Family Entertainment.

“They’re about servant leadership and helping one another and working together to provide the best service,” she said. “I mean, their service is top notch.”

Building to the future
Collaborative culture at FORVIS is a major factor that has kept Krystal Creach at the company for nearly 16 years.

She started after graduating from Drury University and was named a partner in June.

“I would say we are incredibly collaborative. We never go it alone,” she said. “There are tons of resources to reach out to, and I always feel comfortable being able to say maybe I don’t know something, but I know somebody here who does.”

With the merger, she said there are even more resources, which comes in handy as the company is in new markets, some of which have different tax laws.

“I’ve had great mentors throughout that have kind of helped lead me on the path and what we need to do,” she said, crediting fellow employees Brian Todd and Derek Smith. “Part of our culture is really about being builders, and so builders of people, builders of revenue, as well. Being able to now help build others up is going to be one of the most exciting things about becoming partner.”

While the firm has hit a significant age in its history, Watson said most of the company’s focus is on the next 100 years.

“Clearly, we want to continue to expand our domestic footprint,” he said, adding that might not mean being in every state. “We’re a top 10 firm in the U.S., and we want to be a top 10 firm in every market where we have a presence.”

Watson said reaching $2 billion in revenue is “clearly feasible.”

“We’re going to have to start thinking of it as $2.5 or $3 billion,” he said of long-term revenue goals. “We haven’t formally designated that, but if you look over the next 10 years, clearly we’re going to be bigger than $2 billion.”

Next up in the July 31 edition: Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc. marks 50 years.