Davis, Lynn and Moots' business adds up

The certified public accounting firm of Davis, Lynn and Moots, located at 3828 South Avenue, was founded in 1983 by two of its principals, Larry Davis and Anthony Lynn.

Davis and Lynn met at Southwest Missouri State University and then worked together at the CPA firm Garrett & Company to gain the requisite two years of experience to sit for the state exam and become certified in the field.

According to Lynn, the name the firm now uses was chosen in 1988, when Lynn and Davis were joined by a third partner, Randall Moots.

The firm's other two partners are Larry Brown, who also worked at Garrett & Company, and Angie Ghan, who was named one of the Springfield Business Journal's 40 Under 40 honorees in 2001. All five partners in Davis, Lynn & Moots are graduates of SMSU, Lynn noted.

The firm moved to its present location in 1994.

Client base

About 50 percent of the firm's business is comprised of government auditing and counseling, which includes public schools, Lynn said.

"We are unique as a small company in that we do a lot of government auditing," Lynn said.

He estimated that the firm audits more than 10 percent of the school districts in Missouri.

"To my knowledge it is the largest amount any firm is doing," he said.

With schools, Lynn said the accountants begin preliminary work by mid-May in preparation for the end of the fiscal year in June. Work in the field is completed by October, then brought back to the office to finish the final reports.

The work, which requires a lot of travel, is divided among the CPAs, Lynn said. According to SBJ's 2001 Book of Lists, Davis, Lynn & Moots has seven CPAs, including the five partners.

Among the government entities on the firm's client list are Ozarks Technical Community College, State Fair Com-munity College and Greene County.

Besides schools, first-class counties and larger cities must have annual audits. The federal government requires a compliance audit each year to make sure the principalities are using federal money in accordance with the rules.

The other half of the firm's clientele consists of small businesses in construction, retail, restaurants and health care facilities, Lynn said.

Two of the partners, Davis and Ghan, specialize in taxes and investment counseling, Lynn added.

Professional

committees

All of the partners are heavily involved in state and national committee work.

"It is our way to give back to our profession," Lynn said. "Everyone is on at least one state or national committee."

The firm is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, The Missouri Society of CPAs, and the General Accounting Office.

There are 34,000 CPA firms in the United States that must undergo peer re-views every three years. Moots and Lynn have sat on the state committee for peer review and Lynn now chairs the peer review committee for AICPA.

He also sits on several other committees at the state and federal levels. Like education audits, committee work re-quires travel, but Lynn said, "What we give in time we get back in the experience to broaden our horizons and see what is going on outside of Springfield."

Facts and figures

The firm has a staff of 16, comprised of the accountants and the support staff.

Davis, Lynn & Moots is a family-friendly firm and it is flexible with staff members who need time off work to attend special school events for their children, Lynn said.

The partners have dreamed up stress relievers to offset the hectic schedule required to meet constant deadlines. At one point they hired a masseuse to give neck and shoulder treatments at the office. They've even set up a bowling alley in the hallway for some friendly competition.

Lynn said the firm has experienced about a 20 percent growth rate per year in clientele.

"We didn't set out to be a big firm, but we want to serve a good size client base, and do a good job," he said.