March 4, 2025 • 31 mins
As co-CEO at Schneider Downs, Chris McElroy oversees one of the largest regional accounting firms in the U.S., with more than 550 professionals and offices in Pittsburgh, Columbus and Metro Washington DC. He brings 35 years of experience in international and domestic tax, serving clients across various industries and sizes, from Fortune 100 to start-ups.
Chris joined Schneider Downs in 2017 after leading the Columbus Tax Market and International Tax Groups at Ernst & Young and Dixon Hughes Goodman, respectively. He also founded and managed his own accounting and advisory firm, McElroy+Liscinsky Group, and served as the CFO of a technology-based media monitoring company, Mediaguide, Inc. His diverse business background enables him to provide strategic and innovative solutions to complex tax and financial challenges, while fostering a culture of collaboration, excellence, and growth at Schneider Downs.
Chris joined Schneider Downs in 2017 after leading the Columbus Tax Market and International Tax Groups at Ernst & Young and Dixon Hughes Goodman, respectively. He also founded and managed his own accounting and advisory firm, McElroy+Liscinsky Group, and served as the CFO of a technology-based media monitoring company, Mediaguide, Inc. His diverse business background enables him to provide strategic and innovative solutions to complex tax and financial challenges, while fostering a culture of collaboration, excellence, and growth at Schneider Downs.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Columbus in Central Ohio have a rich history of companies
being headquartered here, everything from technology, manufacturing, retail, insurance, and more.
But what about the leaders behind these companies? What makes
them tick? How do they get their start? This is
where you get to meet the captain of the ship.
Welcome to CEOs You Should Know and iHeartMedia Columbus Podcast.
Welcome back to another episode of CEOs You Should Know
(00:24):
and iHeart Media Columbus Podcast. I am your host Boxer.
In all of our years of doing these podcasts, I
have yet to sit down with someone from the accounted world.
So I want to welcome Chris of McElroy, who's with
us from Schneider Downs.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Chris, welcome, sir boxer.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Thank you for having me. It isat to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
It is a pleasure, and we're going to hear all
about your journey, how you got to where you're at,
more about Schneider Downs as well. I know you're also
a baseball band, so maybe we could throw that in.
But first and foremost, for those that are listening to
the podcast right now, Chris tell us first and foremost
about Schneider Downs.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
What is Schneider Downs?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah? So interesting, Schneider Downs, particularly hearing Columbus, and it's
something I'm really focused on. Has a history of being
an accounting and tax advisory firm to industries like automotive
and construction and real estate, but really so much more
than that, and it's something I've been focused on telling
the story for quite some time. You know, when you
(01:23):
look at our firm, we're a top sixty accounting and
consulting firm in the entire country. Wow, and so like, Yes,
while we're great at accounting and tax in certain industries,
you know, we are actually one of the top wealth
management firms among accounting firms in the country. And we
have other services like it risk and risk advisory and
(01:44):
cybersecurity and transaction advisory. So you know, we are a
lot of things, and a local firm that's you know,
been in this community for a long time, but a
real substantial regional firm with tremendous capabilities across a number
of industries and services.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, Chris, I was going to say, doing my research
before you came in, and when I heard we were
able to get you and talk to you a little
bit more, I was blown away at the other services
that you provide and one you touched on was cybersecurity.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I had no idea the County firm did that.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Yeah, yeah, no, And it's something we've been and we've
helped our clients in a number of ways that have
had cyber instances and we've jumped in and really because
of a position of trust. You know, our clients trust
us when they have these situations. You know, they look
to Schneider down to help them work through that. So
we have a robust team that will do things like
you know, cyber readiness and do penetration testing to make
(02:43):
sure that organizations prepared for for a cyber attack for
lack of a better term. And then we're there in
terms of incidence response to really help our clients respond
if in the unfortunate situation that they have have a
cyber event.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
So if a company is working with you, you on
cybersecurity and they do get hacked, they do they reach
out to you again like, hey we've been hacked.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Chris, Yeah, we've had those situations. Wow, And you know
we're there to you know, to jump to and help
our clients and and respond even in a situation like
a cyber event.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
I never knew that, Chris, McElroy is with us. Who
is the co CEO of Schneider Downs co CEO? How
many CEOs are there?
Speaker 3 (03:24):
There's only two? Only two? Yeah, only two. We stopped
it too.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Can I ask, if you don't mind, Chris, just a
guy who is always fascinated with business.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
How does that work?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Is there?
Speaker 1 (03:37):
I'm guessing we know the talents that you have with
your co CEO. Do you guys kind of formulate like, Okay,
I'll take X, y Z because I'm I'm pretty good
at that, and then the co CEO takes something else?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
How does that work?
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yeah, that's a great question. I think first of all,
you have to have a good relationship and trust with
your co CEO. So so Steve Thompson, who's the other
co CEO. He's finishing his eleventh year in the role,
just about to start his twelfth year. And yeah, and
that's one of the longer tenures we've had over the firm,
sixty five plus or minus year history. And so he's
(04:13):
been in the role and he has a real good
perspective on you know, the history and the culture and
the legacy in navigating through uh through change. I'm kind
of the new guy around the table. I joined the
firm eight years ago from from here in Columbus. I
was tax partner with one of the big four firms.
Got to Columbus and two years into my role as
(04:35):
a shareholder, one of the other co CEOs at that time,
Tim Hammer, decided to retire and step off in the firm.
Went through a process to elect the next CO And
I think I brought a different perspective. I had worked
in different markets I have, you know, just different perspectives,
and so Steve and I balanced each other and so
(04:56):
very well, I believe, And so a lot of times
I focus on a lot of the strategy and vision
and what's next kind of parts of the thing, working closely
with Steve, and then he really does a great job
of helping navigate some of this change through the organization.
And then externally we really and when I say externally,
outside the two of us, we really do a good job.
(05:18):
I think of being in harmony. So it's not like
Chris thinks this or does this and Steve does that.
We have to work closely together, and I think we
do a good job of and Steve's a great guy
and easy to work with.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, I would imagine communication, well with anything is key,
but with a co CEO.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Have you have you ever disagreed on something all the time?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah, but again, but we do it in from a
place of in not tremendously to be honest with you,
we tend to see things. At the end of the day.
I think we both know where we want and need
to go as a firm, and we're focused on that.
It's just how we get there and at what pace
we get there. And so I think we're pretty aligned there.
(05:58):
Steve's good at navigating some of the history and the
legacy and the culture. And you know, I'm the one
that that really I think is trying to push hard
on some things. But together we you know, I think
we're you know, we're both focused on the right things
and really trying to move forward, and you know, have
that unified front when we're talking to the rest of
the shareholder group and our five hundred you know, plus
(06:19):
or minus employees.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Chris, real quick, because this just popped in my head.
With your clients are they Are they anyone? From individuals
to big corporations? How does that work?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, all the way, all the all across that, I mean,
back to our industries like most I would say, the
sweet spart of our firm and where we've had tremendous
success and what's allowed us to be this top sixty
firm in the country is that that closely held middle market,
what we'll say or upper end of the middle market,
which are these family owned, generational businesses. Think in the
(06:51):
auto industry, you know in some of the brands here
in Columbus that we've served many of them for many,
many years. And that's really what got us started here.
You know it started is we'll do your audit and
then we'll do your tax work. But you're inquisitive and
you need to help with m and a advisory work. Well,
then Schneider Downs is here to help you. You accumulate
a lot of wealth along the way, and Schneider Downs
is here to help you with our you know, our
(07:13):
wealth management practice, things like cybersecurity, which we are already
talked about. Like as you become a bigger organization, you
need those types of services. So really that middle market
closely held which includes you know, both the the entity
and the individual side of of of you know, the
client needs. We serve all of that, but we also
(07:34):
work with a lot of the bigger brands here in
Columbus and in Pittsburgh and in in our DC office
as well that really need like risk advisory, Like we
work for the you know, the biggest of the big
organizations in terms of augmenting some of the things that
they do internally. They'll look to Schneider Downs to say, hey,
can you help me with this? We're going to outsource
a part of what we do to use Schneider Downs.
(07:55):
And so we we work, you know, really with with
the organizations and individuals of all sizes.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
You know, Chris Schneiderdowns is such an established firm. Are
you at a point or are you ever at a
point where people just come to you? Or do you
go after other people too and pitch yourself both?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
I mean, you never stop going after other people and
pitching yourself. But we do feel like we have a
very you know, solid brand here in Columbus in working
with our team here continue to do the things like
today having this conversation with you is continue to tell
our story in who we are in Columbus and also
in our Pittsburgh office. You know, we have a very
very strong, strong brand. We also have an incredibly strong
(08:37):
brand across the areas where we're experts, again construction being
one of them. Like, we can go outside of our
traditional footprint in the construction industry where we're a top
twenty five construction accounting firm in the country, and we
can tell our story and we can work with clients
in communities where we don't have a physical presence. We
(08:58):
do that construction, we do that a lot real estate,
and we do that again in automotive. We're able to
go down into South Florida and when you know, large
dealership groups because we're experts in this and people don't
always care where you sit, so we're trying to play
to that as well. Right, people that come to us,
they know the brand, they want to work with Schneider Downs.
We have a reputation for serving clients very well. But
(09:20):
then we can take that and we can we can
go outside again of our inside and outside of our footprint,
knowing the people that we want to work with. Right,
if you're great and automotive, you know who the big
other automotive groups that we don't work with, Let's go
tell our story to them. Yeah, and that's something we're
very focused on.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Chris, you have to forgive me, I maybe took two
years of accounting and that's it. So I know there's
basic fundamentals when it comes to a county. But you
are in so many you cover so many different industries.
Are all numbers created equal for these different industries? Are
they all different with how you go about doing their accounting?
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Oh? One hundred percent. I mean there's fundamental things like
accounting and tax that are you know, foundational, right, There's
there's basic foundational rules towards you know, how you account
for certain things. There are a lot of industry nuances
that that you really need expertise, and a lot of
times that expertise is developed over years and years of
(10:22):
working in an industry. Like back to auto, I mean,
there's very unique things related to you know, inventory and
you know, dealing with you know, the automobile is all
about the you know the the you know the inventory,
and there's unique accounting and tax treatment of things that
allow you to you know, to best position to client
(10:45):
for success. Similar in construction. You know, we are really
experts in construction again in real estate, and they're just
nuances related to those industries that you really need to
be an expert in. To to really differentiate yourself. And
those are the things that we do well and we're
really focused and we're focused on So those are some
examples in our industries and then in our services. Again,
(11:06):
it's not like you're taking a tax person and saying
you're a new cybersecurity leader. You know, you're getting people
that really have a lifetime in these industries. So we're
all not just CPA is coming up passing a CPA
exam and now we're you know, all come from different
backgrounds and experiences. We're developing people to be experts in
industries or services and then bringing that all together to
(11:30):
best serve those clients I described earlier. Yeah, those those
middle market family owned businesses and really making sure we're
serving them really like well by bringing the best of
the best.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Yeah, Chris, I have to say, if I'm a business,
that's pretty comforting to know that not all numbers are
equal and not every industry is the same.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Chris McElroy's with us. Who's the co CEO of Schneider Down. Hey,
if you don't mind, let's talk a little bit about
you and your journey, where you from, where you grew up,
your family, life.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
I don't know if we have how much time do
we have here in that boxer.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Because it's El, El says we have time.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
So yeah, no, it's a it's a great question, and
it's the circuitest journey. I grew up in a little
town in West Virginia. I'll try to like hopscotch some
of the stuff. I mean. Ultimately graduated from UH West
Virginia University, and then I headed west. I started my
career in Hawaii. I was working for one of the.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
It's pretty extremely well from West Virginia.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Nineteen eighty nine. You would you would today you'd google
and talk yourself out of such a move, But back
then you just kind of, you know, I you just
kind of watch, you know, Magnum p I and thought
that would be a good place to good place to go,
and so so I did that, you know, and then
it started a journey. I worked for one of the
large firms there, and you know, mats moves along the way. Ultimately,
(12:50):
UH worked my way to New York. I was in
New York for a bunch of years, yea of the
big firms, and along the lines, married a Pittsburgh girl,
met a Pittsburgh girl. And then I took her a
couple of places, including spending you know, five great years
here in Columbus and loved it. And you know, we
were living in Dublin, and you know, our kids were little,
and you know, really enjoyed our time here and ultimately
(13:12):
had an opportunity to get back to Pittsburgh where family was,
and we did that. And and I think that journey,
both professionally working for bigger firms, some smaller firms along
the way, also seeing different communities and markets, I think
served me well. So at the time there wasn't a
rhyme or reason to some of the moves. But then
when you get and you know, to Schneider Downs, after
(13:34):
thirty years plus or minus of this, it all comes
together and you're able to leverage different experiences perspectives that
I think served me well now in this in this
in this role.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Did you learn how to surf when I tried?
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Yes, I was very I tried. I wasn't very good
at starr. I was pretty good body surfing, but I
wasn't a good surfer. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Hey, by the way, that that's a sign of a
good man right there with your wife is from Pittsburgh. Yes,
and happy life is a happy life. And here you
you end up back in Pittsburgh. She's got to be happy.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Clearly, she's happy, you know, getting here. I'm here several
times a month. I love coming to Columbus, you know,
I know the city. Well, it's been fun to see
it continue to evolve and and change in terms of
some of the investment downtown and you know up in
Dublin where we lived before. So it's a it's a
it's a great community. We're blessed to be part of
(14:25):
it personally, but as a firm as well. And so yeah, yeah,
that's my that's my background in my story.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
I liked that when when did you realize?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Because I have a friend that's in corporate accounting in
New York City, and I think I've asked her the
same thing, When did you know that you wanted to
go into accounting? And and I know for her, her
answer was, well, I knew that it was it was
a stable job.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
It was a stable industry.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Realm up for you. Well, that's a funny, that's a
good question. So I was raised, you know, by a
single mother, and my mom was pretty much right about everything.
You know, like why we would three sisters, we would
you know, always kind of question mom. At the end
of the day, she always had proven that she was right.
And so she worked at a small college in West
Virginia in the business department, and she always, i think,
(15:13):
looked up to the accounting professors and said, you know,
I think that this would be a good profession for you.
And so I listened to mom and and you know,
and then once I did it, it came pretty easily,
came pretty easy to me, and it served me well.
You know, I've been in and out of public accounting
throughout my career, but always seemed to come back to
it because it's something I think I'm pretty good at. Yeah,
(15:34):
and it's also it's really served me well. And so
there it is accounting.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Chris, I'm guessing. And you can never go wrong.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
By the way, this is something even my parents told me,
you can never go wrong with learning accounting. It's it's
something maybe everyone should know a little bit about.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
But for you, are.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
You a guy that was just always maybe passionate about
numbers two or boy.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
I don't know if my early math teachers would say
that I was passionate about numbers. You know, I think probably,
I mean, at the end of the day, I think
I have a more of a quantitative mind, sure than
than you know, the alternatives. Yeah, so probably, Yeah, I
think I'm comfortable with numbers and the relationship between among
numbers and how all that works, and probably at the
(16:18):
end of the day that that is where you know,
a lot of my my foundational comfort zone is is
is with numbers and and the and the certainty of
numbers in a lot of ways. Right at the end
of the day, you know, you can be right or
wrong with a lot of stuff. And because a lot
of things in accounting, it it's either right or it's wrong,
and it's it's very objective, it's not always subjective. And
(16:39):
I think probably that probably plays into my personality a
little bit as well.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Well, and could I also say, you know, accountants get
such a bad rapoh accountants, they don't have personalities. I'm
sitting across from someone that is full of personality, I think.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Anyway, all right, thanks boxer, I appreciate that you as well. Well,
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Chris McElroy is with us, who's the co CEO of
Schneider towns. When was it, Chris, when you realized, you.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Know, this accounting thing is great.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
I'm loving what I'm doing, but I'd really like to
jump in and climb up in management.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah. I mean, it's really a fascinating story. And I
would say it's more of a testament to the firm
into my partners again. I had joined the firm. I
was here in Columbus. I was a tax partner and
international tax partner, mostly working with a lot of larger
companies here in town and in kind of throughout the Midwest.
(17:36):
Wanted to get back to Pittsburgh because my wife and
where we were in terms of family and getting further
into school. And I joined this firm, wonderful firm that
I got to know the people and say, yes, I'm
going to make this move. And I came in to
be a tax shareholder and I was comfortable with that.
And two years into this is when the firm went
through a process and said, hey, we need We're going
(17:58):
to go through a search for the next co CEO.
I threw my hat in the ring, and I think
I had supported some people and just went through a
process and and and the firm said, you know, Chris
is the right person at the right time to kind
of take this role. So I didn't make the move
to Schneider Downs thinking I was going to be the
co CEO at all. It almost seemed like an impossible
(18:20):
thing to even think of that sure, but again a
testament to my my colleagues and my partners to say, hey, this,
this person's been here a couple of years, but we
really think he could he could do a good job
in this role. And uh and I was selected as
is co CEO. So again, not so much about Chris.
It's really about the you know, the Schneider Downs, our culture,
(18:42):
our people to say, you know, welcome around the table,
and you know, help us, you know, go to the
next go to the next level, or help us figure
out what's next. And so it's really about them and
less about me Chris.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
A little bit diving into more of the businesses of
Schneider Downs. I think when your average person, even like myself,
here's the word audit, it's like.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Done, done, done, especially when it comes from the irs.
But can I ask what is the process of an audit?
Speaker 1 (19:11):
And and maybe that's a little bit of an unfair
question because there's probably a big difference between a big
company versus an individual. Right, But but how what's the
bulk of your business is? Is auditing probably a big
bulk of.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
That or Yeah, so when you look at our when
you look at our firm, this year, we'll finish somewhere
around one hundred and forty million dollars and that that'll
in revenue, and so that puts us in the top sixty.
And that top sixty fluctuates and moves around from all
you know, from time to time. But we're one of
the larger firms in the country. When you when you
look at our practices, it's really broken into you know,
four main categories. We have audit like traditional test work.
(19:45):
That's where you know, a company needs our financial statements,
you know, audited by a firm and and we'll you know,
we certainly do that. That's part of our you know,
our core services that in a lot of ways has
been that initial relationship over the years where someone says,
I need this service, you know, who can I work with?
And Schnyder Downs has been a firm in the in
(20:05):
the Pittsburgh and Columbus That's that's really that services open
the doors when you make that move. Then the tax
you know, tax services come with that, and that that
that kind of spans a whole bunch of different areas. Right,
it's the it's the entity, you know, kind of work
that we do on doing your corporate if you will,
tax work, and a lot of times that translates then
to the individual you know, tax work that comes with that.
(20:28):
A lot of these companies are what we call pass
through entities where you know, the tax is paid at
the individual level, so we'll serve both the entity and
the individual, and then we have all these niche services
that come with it. You know, how many states are
you operating in. There's complexity if you're operating in multiple states,
and how do you structure that and other niche related
(20:48):
services in the tax side. So I would say of
our one hundred and forty million dollars, we're somewhere around
eighty eighty million of that is in that core audit
tax work. And you're in you're right, boxer. You know
sometimes that you'll get random audits, but I think it
starts with if you serve those clients well on the upfront.
(21:09):
You know, it's just like you know, defending things in
audit if they come as you know, something that we're
very comfortable with and have a long successful track record
dealing with that, and we help our clients through that stuff. Yeah,
and then outside of that is where all the consulting
services that we're talking about come into play. And that's
probably a you know, a big you know, twenty twenty
five million of who we are in terms of top
(21:30):
line revenues is that you know that that cybersecurity business
advisory services that we do forensic accounting work is including
that m and A advisory work, will also do things
like it risk and risk advisory. So that's where that
whole suite of other services just comes into play. And
then along along those lines is you know, our wealth
(21:53):
management firms comes in as well, and that's a big,
you know, big part of our success. And so when
you look at all of those together and you think
of it, you know, Boxer, if you had a business
in your coming in, you want to work with someone
you can do all of this with schnider Down, someone
that's going to take care of your corporate work. Your
individual stuff. Helps you think about a state and gift
(22:14):
and trust planning for the next generation. If you have
a liquidity event. You know, we can help you manage that,
we can help you sell your business with our SD
capital team as well. So once it's really been the
big driver of allowing us to start sixty five years
ago as a small firm in Pittsburgh and build it
up to be a top sixty firm the country. It's
really about those clients that need all of those things
(22:37):
and at the end of the day, who do you
trust better than that accounting firm that you first started
working with, you know, twenty thirty years ago. And that's
a big part of our success in Columbus as well.
We've been working with a lot of clients or some
of our oldest clients of the firm that we started
working with in nineteen eighty nine. That's why I have
an office here. So these are organizations that have grown up,
(23:00):
They've had they transitioned ownership to family members. We helped
them with that. We've helped them with all of these
things over thirty five thirty six years in Columbus and
you know, sixty five sixty six years you know, overall,
so's that's kind of how we serve our clients and
how we've been able to grow that's incredible.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Hey, if you don't mind.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
You said something about international earlier, and then you brought
up different states. And I've always wondered this with a
firm like yours, do you have clients overseas or internationally?
Speaker 3 (23:31):
We do, Like, we have clients that are you know,
like based outside the United States, but they have operations
in the United States, Right, So you kind of have
a non US company that has a manufacturing facility in
the US, and so there's unique reporting and planning opportunities
there for those types of country companies. And we also
(23:53):
have the opposite US companies that make product and sell
that outside the United States or make product outside the
United States, and so we can handle all of that,
and so it's it's a it's a it's definitely a
part of our business.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
So, Chris, one thing that fascinates me that I've always
wanted to know, how do you keep up with all
the tax laws overseas in different countries and here in
the United States.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Yeah, Well, we have a tremendous team. Again, you know,
our tax practice is fifty you know, fifty million of
one hundred and forty million, and we have an amazing
team of partners and managers and staff that that really
you know, dedicate their professional lives to really understanding all
of that and what makes it interesting. It changes all
(24:38):
the time, Like there will be some changes probably coming
later in the year, and our team will be on
it and really on it and prepare to help these
clients make sure they are you know, they're compliant and
they're taking advantages of opportunities. So it's really all about
the team and the focus and you know, that dedication
to making sure we're staying on top of all the
(24:58):
changes that happened the tax Now when it comes to
international you know, other jurisdictions, you know, it's not like
we know every you know, every law in every country.
It's about network and having partners outside of the United
States and other things like that that allows the best
serve companies that have global operations. But we you know,
so we're part of a global network that if we
(25:20):
have something happening in Germany, we have teams there that
we know we can tap into to make sure we're
bringing the best of you know, best of both firms
if you will, to that client.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Chris, have you ever had a I'm not asking you
to name names, but a client situation where the IRS
got involved and then they needed you to get involved.
Do you work side by side with them? And do
you have more personality than the IRS?
Speaker 3 (25:44):
I certainly do, no great question now, I for sure,
for sure, you know, and of all sizes, you know,
like you know, you have some large companies that are
constantly under audit. You know, they elect to be under
audit just so is there they have issues that the
IRS is kind of right there reviewing things, so it
gets through and you're not coming back to me ten
(26:05):
years later. So I've been part of that ongoing audit
kind of program the IRS has with some of the
largest companies, both here in Columbus and around the around
the country. So you'll do that, and then you also
be around like a small closely held business that gets
selected for audit and you're just sitting down and you're
walking through kind of the facts in responding to questions
(26:28):
that an auditor may have. But again, if you're doing
your job and you're good at what you do, that's
that's really a pretty easy thing, pretty easy thing to do,
and I think we're pretty good at it.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Chris McElroy's with us, the co CEO of Schnyder Downs. Chris,
I know we have to start wrapping it up here
and wind down.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Just out of curiosity.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
You've listed a whole suite of offerings that you have
at Schneider Downs. Do you see the tech offerings as
the biggest sector for you and your company of growth
or interesting?
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Yet? One of the things like, so when I came
into this role, boy, I'm just completing my fifth year,
there were certain things that we really wanted to focus on.
One was Columbus. Columbus was a big part of it. Again,
we we've been here for a long time. How do
we tell our story? We raised our kids here, We've
been part of this community. You know, we're very active
in the community. I wanted to tell that story, and
(27:17):
I think we've done a good job doing that. Also
wanted to look at our technology practice and how do
we repositioned it to be a growth engine for the firm?
So great question. So we rebranded our technology practice probably
a year ago from to be what we call SD Digital,
and we really narrowed what we do for our clients,
(27:39):
and you know, that's been a big growth a big
growth engine for the firm. Over this past year, I
think growing certainly more than the firm itself, and we
see a lot of growth coming from from that space
in the future. So SD Digital again helping clients with
you know, digital transformation and looking at a different ways
(27:59):
to to assist clients there is something that we've really done.
We have a great team and we're driving there. But
also things like against cybersecurity, we think there are opportunities
there and our it risks sides as well. So all
things technology we see as big opportunities for growth into
the future. And so yeah, that's a big big focus
of ours and.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Chris Schneider Downs is actually very well connected with the
community here.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
You're very heavily involved.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Yes, absolutely, Boxer, you know, just starting with our firm mission.
Our firm mission is is to be great for our clients,
people and our communities. And we take this very seriously
and believe that we live this mission every day. Our
team is active and engaged in organizations like Second and
seven a Kid again, you know, feed the Kids Columbus,
(28:49):
and we also serve as clients and support several important
organizations in this community, including the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption,
Buckeye Ranch and the Middle High Food Collective. So you know,
we live and feel like we we live that mission
every day. We're also involved in some other some other
fun things like you know, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and
(29:10):
you know, if you if you tend a Blue Jackets game,
you'll see us, you know, in the arena, and you'll
see us digitally with some of the fun things that
we do with the community Columbus Blue Jackets. So we're
very active, we're very involved, not just sharing our dollars,
but sharing our time in the community. It's something that
we've done again for for nearly forty years, and we're
going to continue to do well into the future.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, Blue Jackets Clippers, are you the one that came
up with the bad jokes?
Speaker 3 (29:35):
Yeah, yes, I came up. No, I didn't come up
with that, but but but you know, we have some
really great and smart people that we work with internally
and externally, and they came up with it and it's
been great and it's been fun and helps us tell
our story and so it's been a it's been a
great partnership and we look forward to continuing that well
into the future.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Chris, as we start to wrap up here, any anything
that those that are listening to the podcast, anything else
you'd want them to know about you, Schneider Downs.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Yeah, I mean I'll end with with Schneider Downs. I
think it's important to me. It's one of the reasons
I'm thrilled to be here with you today and telling
our story. Telling our story again. You know, for many years,
I think people would see Schneider Downs is that that
accounting and tax firm in Columbus, that that's serving the
auto world and construction and real estate firms. And again,
(30:27):
we're so much more than that, and it's important I
want people to know that and know that we're this
top sixty firm in the country with all these capabilities.
But more importantly, I want them to know that we've
been here for nearly forty years. We've been part of
this community. We raised our families here, We're deeply involved
and engaged in this community. And I want people to
(30:51):
know that it's not like we're a fly by night
firm that just decided we're going to show up in
Columbus because it's this high growth market in the Midwest.
We you know, we've been dedicated to Columbus, will continue
to be dedicated to Columbus and that's probably the most
important thing that I want the Columbus in Central Ohio
business community to know about Schneider Downs.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
All right, Chris McIlroy, co CEO of Schneider Downs, thank
you for being a guest this week on CEOs you
Should Know.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
Thank you appreciate it. Boxer.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
CEOs You Should Know is hosted and produced by Brandon Boxer,
a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Columbus
Columbus in Central Ohio have a rich history of companies
being headquartered here, everything from technology, manufacturing, retail, insurance, and more.
But what about the leaders behind these companies? What makes
them tick? How do they get their start? This is
where you get to meet the captain of the ship.
Welcome to CEOs You Should Know and iHeartMedia Columbus Podcast.
Welcome back to another episode of CEOs You Should Know
(00:24):
and iHeart Media Columbus Podcast. I am your host Boxer.
In all of our years of doing these podcasts, I
have yet to sit down with someone from the accounted world.
So I want to welcome Chris of McElroy, who's with
us from Schneider Downs.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Chris, welcome, sir boxer.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Thank you for having me. It isat to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
It is a pleasure, and we're going to hear all
about your journey, how you got to where you're at,
more about Schneider Downs as well. I know you're also
a baseball band, so maybe we could throw that in.
But first and foremost, for those that are listening to
the podcast right now, Chris tell us first and foremost
about Schneider Downs.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
What is Schneider Downs?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah? So interesting, Schneider Downs, particularly hearing Columbus, and it's
something I'm really focused on. Has a history of being
an accounting and tax advisory firm to industries like automotive
and construction and real estate, but really so much more
than that, and it's something I've been focused on telling
the story for quite some time. You know, when you
(01:23):
look at our firm, we're a top sixty accounting and
consulting firm in the entire country. Wow, and so like, Yes,
while we're great at accounting and tax in certain industries,
you know, we are actually one of the top wealth
management firms among accounting firms in the country. And we
have other services like it risk and risk advisory and
(01:44):
cybersecurity and transaction advisory. So you know, we are a
lot of things, and a local firm that's you know,
been in this community for a long time, but a
real substantial regional firm with tremendous capabilities across a number
of industries and services.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, Chris, I was going to say, doing my research
before you came in, and when I heard we were
able to get you and talk to you a little
bit more, I was blown away at the other services
that you provide and one you touched on was cybersecurity.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I had no idea the County firm did that.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Yeah, yeah, no, And it's something we've been and we've
helped our clients in a number of ways that have
had cyber instances and we've jumped in and really because
of a position of trust. You know, our clients trust
us when they have these situations. You know, they look
to Schneider down to help them work through that. So
we have a robust team that will do things like
you know, cyber readiness and do penetration testing to make
(02:43):
sure that organizations prepared for for a cyber attack for
lack of a better term. And then we're there in
terms of incidence response to really help our clients respond
if in the unfortunate situation that they have have a
cyber event.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
So if a company is working with you, you on
cybersecurity and they do get hacked, they do they reach
out to you again like, hey we've been hacked.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Chris, Yeah, we've had those situations. Wow, And you know
we're there to you know, to jump to and help
our clients and and respond even in a situation like
a cyber event.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
I never knew that, Chris, McElroy is with us. Who
is the co CEO of Schneider Downs co CEO? How
many CEOs are there?
Speaker 3 (03:24):
There's only two? Only two? Yeah, only two. We stopped
it too.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Can I ask, if you don't mind, Chris, just a
guy who is always fascinated with business.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
How does that work?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Is there?
Speaker 1 (03:37):
I'm guessing we know the talents that you have with
your co CEO. Do you guys kind of formulate like, Okay,
I'll take X, y Z because I'm I'm pretty good
at that, and then the co CEO takes something else?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
How does that work?
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yeah, that's a great question. I think first of all,
you have to have a good relationship and trust with
your co CEO. So so Steve Thompson, who's the other
co CEO. He's finishing his eleventh year in the role,
just about to start his twelfth year. And yeah, and
that's one of the longer tenures we've had over the firm,
sixty five plus or minus year history. And so he's
(04:13):
been in the role and he has a real good
perspective on you know, the history and the culture and
the legacy in navigating through uh through change. I'm kind
of the new guy around the table. I joined the
firm eight years ago from from here in Columbus. I
was tax partner with one of the big four firms.
Got to Columbus and two years into my role as
(04:35):
a shareholder, one of the other co CEOs at that time,
Tim Hammer, decided to retire and step off in the firm.
Went through a process to elect the next CO And
I think I brought a different perspective. I had worked
in different markets I have, you know, just different perspectives,
and so Steve and I balanced each other and so
(04:56):
very well, I believe, And so a lot of times
I focus on a lot of the strategy and vision
and what's next kind of parts of the thing, working closely
with Steve, and then he really does a great job
of helping navigate some of this change through the organization.
And then externally we really and when I say externally,
outside the two of us, we really do a good job.
(05:18):
I think of being in harmony. So it's not like
Chris thinks this or does this and Steve does that.
We have to work closely together, and I think we
do a good job of and Steve's a great guy
and easy to work with.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, I would imagine communication, well with anything is key,
but with a co CEO.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Have you have you ever disagreed on something all the time?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah, but again, but we do it in from a
place of in not tremendously to be honest with you,
we tend to see things. At the end of the day.
I think we both know where we want and need
to go as a firm, and we're focused on that.
It's just how we get there and at what pace
we get there. And so I think we're pretty aligned there.
(05:58):
Steve's good at navigating some of the history and the
legacy and the culture. And you know, I'm the one
that that really I think is trying to push hard
on some things. But together we you know, I think
we're you know, we're both focused on the right things
and really trying to move forward, and you know, have
that unified front when we're talking to the rest of
the shareholder group and our five hundred you know, plus
(06:19):
or minus employees.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Chris, real quick, because this just popped in my head.
With your clients are they Are they anyone? From individuals
to big corporations? How does that work?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, all the way, all the all across that, I mean,
back to our industries like most I would say, the
sweet spart of our firm and where we've had tremendous
success and what's allowed us to be this top sixty
firm in the country is that that closely held middle market,
what we'll say or upper end of the middle market,
which are these family owned, generational businesses. Think in the
(06:51):
auto industry, you know in some of the brands here
in Columbus that we've served many of them for many,
many years. And that's really what got us started here.
You know it started is we'll do your audit and
then we'll do your tax work. But you're inquisitive and
you need to help with m and a advisory work. Well,
then Schneider Downs is here to help you. You accumulate
a lot of wealth along the way, and Schneider Downs
is here to help you with our you know, our
(07:13):
wealth management practice, things like cybersecurity, which we are already
talked about. Like as you become a bigger organization, you
need those types of services. So really that middle market
closely held which includes you know, both the the entity
and the individual side of of of you know, the
client needs. We serve all of that, but we also
(07:34):
work with a lot of the bigger brands here in
Columbus and in Pittsburgh and in in our DC office
as well that really need like risk advisory, Like we
work for the you know, the biggest of the big
organizations in terms of augmenting some of the things that
they do internally. They'll look to Schneider Downs to say, hey,
can you help me with this? We're going to outsource
a part of what we do to use Schneider Downs.
(07:55):
And so we we work, you know, really with with
the organizations and individuals of all sizes.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
You know, Chris Schneiderdowns is such an established firm. Are
you at a point or are you ever at a
point where people just come to you? Or do you
go after other people too and pitch yourself both?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
I mean, you never stop going after other people and
pitching yourself. But we do feel like we have a
very you know, solid brand here in Columbus in working
with our team here continue to do the things like
today having this conversation with you is continue to tell
our story in who we are in Columbus and also
in our Pittsburgh office. You know, we have a very
very strong, strong brand. We also have an incredibly strong
(08:37):
brand across the areas where we're experts, again construction being
one of them. Like, we can go outside of our
traditional footprint in the construction industry where we're a top
twenty five construction accounting firm in the country, and we
can tell our story and we can work with clients
in communities where we don't have a physical presence. We
(08:58):
do that construction, we do that a lot real estate,
and we do that again in automotive. We're able to
go down into South Florida and when you know, large
dealership groups because we're experts in this and people don't
always care where you sit, so we're trying to play
to that as well. Right, people that come to us,
they know the brand, they want to work with Schneider Downs.
We have a reputation for serving clients very well. But
(09:20):
then we can take that and we can we can
go outside again of our inside and outside of our footprint,
knowing the people that we want to work with. Right,
if you're great and automotive, you know who the big
other automotive groups that we don't work with, Let's go
tell our story to them. Yeah, and that's something we're
very focused on.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Chris, you have to forgive me, I maybe took two
years of accounting and that's it. So I know there's
basic fundamentals when it comes to a county. But you
are in so many you cover so many different industries.
Are all numbers created equal for these different industries? Are
they all different with how you go about doing their accounting?
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Oh? One hundred percent. I mean there's fundamental things like
accounting and tax that are you know, foundational, right, There's
there's basic foundational rules towards you know, how you account
for certain things. There are a lot of industry nuances
that that you really need expertise, and a lot of
times that expertise is developed over years and years of
(10:22):
working in an industry. Like back to auto, I mean,
there's very unique things related to you know, inventory and
you know, dealing with you know, the automobile is all
about the you know the the you know the inventory,
and there's unique accounting and tax treatment of things that
allow you to you know, to best position to client
(10:45):
for success. Similar in construction. You know, we are really
experts in construction again in real estate, and they're just
nuances related to those industries that you really need to
be an expert in. To to really differentiate yourself. And
those are the things that we do well and we're
really focused and we're focused on So those are some
examples in our industries and then in our services. Again,
(11:06):
it's not like you're taking a tax person and saying
you're a new cybersecurity leader. You know, you're getting people
that really have a lifetime in these industries. So we're
all not just CPA is coming up passing a CPA
exam and now we're you know, all come from different
backgrounds and experiences. We're developing people to be experts in
industries or services and then bringing that all together to
(11:30):
best serve those clients I described earlier. Yeah, those those
middle market family owned businesses and really making sure we're
serving them really like well by bringing the best of
the best.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Yeah, Chris, I have to say, if I'm a business,
that's pretty comforting to know that not all numbers are
equal and not every industry is the same.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Chris McElroy's with us. Who's the co CEO of Schneider Down. Hey,
if you don't mind, let's talk a little bit about
you and your journey, where you from, where you grew up,
your family, life.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
I don't know if we have how much time do
we have here in that boxer.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Because it's El, El says we have time.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
So yeah, no, it's a it's a great question, and
it's the circuitest journey. I grew up in a little
town in West Virginia. I'll try to like hopscotch some
of the stuff. I mean. Ultimately graduated from UH West
Virginia University, and then I headed west. I started my
career in Hawaii. I was working for one of the.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
It's pretty extremely well from West Virginia.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Nineteen eighty nine. You would you would today you'd google
and talk yourself out of such a move, But back
then you just kind of, you know, I you just
kind of watch, you know, Magnum p I and thought
that would be a good place to good place to go,
and so so I did that, you know, and then
it started a journey. I worked for one of the
large firms there, and you know, mats moves along the way. Ultimately,
(12:50):
UH worked my way to New York. I was in
New York for a bunch of years, yea of the
big firms, and along the lines, married a Pittsburgh girl,
met a Pittsburgh girl. And then I took her a
couple of places, including spending you know, five great years
here in Columbus and loved it. And you know, we
were living in Dublin, and you know, our kids were little,
and you know, really enjoyed our time here and ultimately
(13:12):
had an opportunity to get back to Pittsburgh where family was,
and we did that. And and I think that journey,
both professionally working for bigger firms, some smaller firms along
the way, also seeing different communities and markets, I think
served me well. So at the time there wasn't a
rhyme or reason to some of the moves. But then
when you get and you know, to Schneider Downs, after
(13:34):
thirty years plus or minus of this, it all comes
together and you're able to leverage different experiences perspectives that
I think served me well now in this in this
in this role.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Did you learn how to surf when I tried?
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Yes, I was very I tried. I wasn't very good
at starr. I was pretty good body surfing, but I
wasn't a good surfer. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Hey, by the way, that that's a sign of a
good man right there with your wife is from Pittsburgh. Yes,
and happy life is a happy life. And here you
you end up back in Pittsburgh. She's got to be happy.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Clearly, she's happy, you know, getting here. I'm here several
times a month. I love coming to Columbus, you know,
I know the city. Well, it's been fun to see
it continue to evolve and and change in terms of
some of the investment downtown and you know up in
Dublin where we lived before. So it's a it's a
it's a great community. We're blessed to be part of
(14:25):
it personally, but as a firm as well. And so yeah, yeah,
that's my that's my background in my story.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
I liked that when when did you realize?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Because I have a friend that's in corporate accounting in
New York City, and I think I've asked her the
same thing, When did you know that you wanted to
go into accounting? And and I know for her, her
answer was, well, I knew that it was it was
a stable job.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
It was a stable industry.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Realm up for you. Well, that's a funny, that's a
good question. So I was raised, you know, by a
single mother, and my mom was pretty much right about everything.
You know, like why we would three sisters, we would
you know, always kind of question mom. At the end
of the day, she always had proven that she was right.
And so she worked at a small college in West
Virginia in the business department, and she always, i think,
(15:13):
looked up to the accounting professors and said, you know,
I think that this would be a good profession for you.
And so I listened to mom and and you know,
and then once I did it, it came pretty easily,
came pretty easy to me, and it served me well.
You know, I've been in and out of public accounting
throughout my career, but always seemed to come back to
it because it's something I think I'm pretty good at. Yeah,
(15:34):
and it's also it's really served me well. And so
there it is accounting.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Chris, I'm guessing. And you can never go wrong.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
By the way, this is something even my parents told me,
you can never go wrong with learning accounting. It's it's
something maybe everyone should know a little bit about.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
But for you, are.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
You a guy that was just always maybe passionate about
numbers two or boy.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
I don't know if my early math teachers would say
that I was passionate about numbers. You know, I think probably,
I mean, at the end of the day, I think
I have a more of a quantitative mind, sure than
than you know, the alternatives. Yeah, so probably, Yeah, I
think I'm comfortable with numbers and the relationship between among
numbers and how all that works, and probably at the
(16:18):
end of the day that that is where you know,
a lot of my my foundational comfort zone is is
is with numbers and and the and the certainty of
numbers in a lot of ways. Right at the end
of the day, you know, you can be right or
wrong with a lot of stuff. And because a lot
of things in accounting, it it's either right or it's wrong,
and it's it's very objective, it's not always subjective. And
(16:39):
I think probably that probably plays into my personality a
little bit as well.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Well, and could I also say, you know, accountants get
such a bad rapoh accountants, they don't have personalities. I'm
sitting across from someone that is full of personality, I think.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Anyway, all right, thanks boxer, I appreciate that you as well. Well,
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Chris McElroy is with us, who's the co CEO of
Schneider towns. When was it, Chris, when you realized, you.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Know, this accounting thing is great.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
I'm loving what I'm doing, but I'd really like to
jump in and climb up in management.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah. I mean, it's really a fascinating story. And I
would say it's more of a testament to the firm
into my partners again. I had joined the firm. I
was here in Columbus. I was a tax partner and
international tax partner, mostly working with a lot of larger
companies here in town and in kind of throughout the Midwest.
(17:36):
Wanted to get back to Pittsburgh because my wife and
where we were in terms of family and getting further
into school. And I joined this firm, wonderful firm that
I got to know the people and say, yes, I'm
going to make this move. And I came in to
be a tax shareholder and I was comfortable with that.
And two years into this is when the firm went
through a process and said, hey, we need We're going
(17:58):
to go through a search for the next co CEO.
I threw my hat in the ring, and I think
I had supported some people and just went through a
process and and and the firm said, you know, Chris
is the right person at the right time to kind
of take this role. So I didn't make the move
to Schneider Downs thinking I was going to be the
co CEO at all. It almost seemed like an impossible
(18:20):
thing to even think of that sure, but again a
testament to my my colleagues and my partners to say, hey, this,
this person's been here a couple of years, but we
really think he could he could do a good job
in this role. And uh and I was selected as
is co CEO. So again, not so much about Chris.
It's really about the you know, the Schneider Downs, our culture,
(18:42):
our people to say, you know, welcome around the table,
and you know, help us, you know, go to the
next go to the next level, or help us figure
out what's next. And so it's really about them and
less about me Chris.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
A little bit diving into more of the businesses of
Schneider Downs. I think when your average person, even like myself,
here's the word audit, it's like.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Done, done, done, especially when it comes from the irs.
But can I ask what is the process of an audit?
Speaker 1 (19:11):
And and maybe that's a little bit of an unfair
question because there's probably a big difference between a big
company versus an individual. Right, But but how what's the
bulk of your business is? Is auditing probably a big
bulk of.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
That or Yeah, so when you look at our when
you look at our firm, this year, we'll finish somewhere
around one hundred and forty million dollars and that that'll
in revenue, and so that puts us in the top sixty.
And that top sixty fluctuates and moves around from all
you know, from time to time. But we're one of
the larger firms in the country. When you when you
look at our practices, it's really broken into you know,
four main categories. We have audit like traditional test work.
(19:45):
That's where you know, a company needs our financial statements,
you know, audited by a firm and and we'll you know,
we certainly do that. That's part of our you know,
our core services that in a lot of ways has
been that initial relationship over the years where someone says,
I need this service, you know, who can I work with?
And Schnyder Downs has been a firm in the in
(20:05):
the Pittsburgh and Columbus That's that's really that services open
the doors when you make that move. Then the tax
you know, tax services come with that, and that that
that kind of spans a whole bunch of different areas. Right,
it's the it's the entity, you know, kind of work
that we do on doing your corporate if you will,
tax work, and a lot of times that translates then
to the individual you know, tax work that comes with that.
(20:28):
A lot of these companies are what we call pass
through entities where you know, the tax is paid at
the individual level, so we'll serve both the entity and
the individual, and then we have all these niche services
that come with it. You know, how many states are
you operating in. There's complexity if you're operating in multiple states,
and how do you structure that and other niche related
(20:48):
services in the tax side. So I would say of
our one hundred and forty million dollars, we're somewhere around
eighty eighty million of that is in that core audit
tax work. And you're in you're right, boxer. You know
sometimes that you'll get random audits, but I think it
starts with if you serve those clients well on the upfront.
(21:09):
You know, it's just like you know, defending things in
audit if they come as you know, something that we're
very comfortable with and have a long successful track record
dealing with that, and we help our clients through that stuff. Yeah,
and then outside of that is where all the consulting
services that we're talking about come into play. And that's
probably a you know, a big you know, twenty twenty
five million of who we are in terms of top
(21:30):
line revenues is that you know that that cybersecurity business
advisory services that we do forensic accounting work is including
that m and A advisory work, will also do things
like it risk and risk advisory. So that's where that
whole suite of other services just comes into play. And
then along along those lines is you know, our wealth
(21:53):
management firms comes in as well, and that's a big,
you know, big part of our success. And so when
you look at all of those together and you think
of it, you know, Boxer, if you had a business
in your coming in, you want to work with someone
you can do all of this with schnider Down, someone
that's going to take care of your corporate work. Your
individual stuff. Helps you think about a state and gift
(22:14):
and trust planning for the next generation. If you have
a liquidity event. You know, we can help you manage that,
we can help you sell your business with our SD
capital team as well. So once it's really been the
big driver of allowing us to start sixty five years
ago as a small firm in Pittsburgh and build it
up to be a top sixty firm the country. It's
really about those clients that need all of those things
(22:37):
and at the end of the day, who do you
trust better than that accounting firm that you first started
working with, you know, twenty thirty years ago. And that's
a big part of our success in Columbus as well.
We've been working with a lot of clients or some
of our oldest clients of the firm that we started
working with in nineteen eighty nine. That's why I have
an office here. So these are organizations that have grown up,
(23:00):
They've had they transitioned ownership to family members. We helped
them with that. We've helped them with all of these
things over thirty five thirty six years in Columbus and
you know, sixty five sixty six years you know, overall,
so's that's kind of how we serve our clients and
how we've been able to grow that's incredible.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Hey, if you don't mind.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
You said something about international earlier, and then you brought
up different states. And I've always wondered this with a
firm like yours, do you have clients overseas or internationally?
Speaker 3 (23:31):
We do, Like, we have clients that are you know,
like based outside the United States, but they have operations
in the United States, Right, So you kind of have
a non US company that has a manufacturing facility in
the US, and so there's unique reporting and planning opportunities
there for those types of country companies. And we also
(23:53):
have the opposite US companies that make product and sell
that outside the United States or make product outside the
United States, and so we can handle all of that,
and so it's it's a it's a it's definitely a
part of our business.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
So, Chris, one thing that fascinates me that I've always
wanted to know, how do you keep up with all
the tax laws overseas in different countries and here in
the United States.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Yeah, Well, we have a tremendous team. Again, you know,
our tax practice is fifty you know, fifty million of
one hundred and forty million, and we have an amazing
team of partners and managers and staff that that really
you know, dedicate their professional lives to really understanding all
of that and what makes it interesting. It changes all
(24:38):
the time, Like there will be some changes probably coming
later in the year, and our team will be on
it and really on it and prepare to help these
clients make sure they are you know, they're compliant and
they're taking advantages of opportunities. So it's really all about
the team and the focus and you know, that dedication
to making sure we're staying on top of all the
(24:58):
changes that happened the tax Now when it comes to
international you know, other jurisdictions, you know, it's not like
we know every you know, every law in every country.
It's about network and having partners outside of the United
States and other things like that that allows the best
serve companies that have global operations. But we you know,
so we're part of a global network that if we
(25:20):
have something happening in Germany, we have teams there that
we know we can tap into to make sure we're
bringing the best of you know, best of both firms
if you will, to that client.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Chris, have you ever had a I'm not asking you
to name names, but a client situation where the IRS
got involved and then they needed you to get involved.
Do you work side by side with them? And do
you have more personality than the IRS?
Speaker 3 (25:44):
I certainly do, no great question now, I for sure,
for sure, you know, and of all sizes, you know,
like you know, you have some large companies that are
constantly under audit. You know, they elect to be under
audit just so is there they have issues that the
IRS is kind of right there reviewing things, so it
gets through and you're not coming back to me ten
(26:05):
years later. So I've been part of that ongoing audit
kind of program the IRS has with some of the
largest companies, both here in Columbus and around the around
the country. So you'll do that, and then you also
be around like a small closely held business that gets
selected for audit and you're just sitting down and you're
walking through kind of the facts in responding to questions
(26:28):
that an auditor may have. But again, if you're doing
your job and you're good at what you do, that's
that's really a pretty easy thing, pretty easy thing to do,
and I think we're pretty good at it.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Chris McElroy's with us, the co CEO of Schnyder Downs. Chris,
I know we have to start wrapping it up here
and wind down.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Just out of curiosity.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
You've listed a whole suite of offerings that you have
at Schneider Downs. Do you see the tech offerings as
the biggest sector for you and your company of growth
or interesting?
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Yet? One of the things like, so when I came
into this role, boy, I'm just completing my fifth year,
there were certain things that we really wanted to focus on.
One was Columbus. Columbus was a big part of it. Again,
we we've been here for a long time. How do
we tell our story? We raised our kids here, We've
been part of this community. You know, we're very active
in the community. I wanted to tell that story, and
(27:17):
I think we've done a good job doing that. Also
wanted to look at our technology practice and how do
we repositioned it to be a growth engine for the firm?
So great question. So we rebranded our technology practice probably
a year ago from to be what we call SD Digital,
and we really narrowed what we do for our clients,
(27:39):
and you know, that's been a big growth a big
growth engine for the firm. Over this past year, I
think growing certainly more than the firm itself, and we
see a lot of growth coming from from that space
in the future. So SD Digital again helping clients with
you know, digital transformation and looking at a different ways
(27:59):
to to assist clients there is something that we've really done.
We have a great team and we're driving there. But
also things like against cybersecurity, we think there are opportunities
there and our it risks sides as well. So all
things technology we see as big opportunities for growth into
the future. And so yeah, that's a big big focus
of ours and.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Chris Schneider Downs is actually very well connected with the
community here.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
You're very heavily involved.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Yes, absolutely, Boxer, you know, just starting with our firm mission.
Our firm mission is is to be great for our clients,
people and our communities. And we take this very seriously
and believe that we live this mission every day. Our
team is active and engaged in organizations like Second and
seven a Kid again, you know, feed the Kids Columbus,
(28:49):
and we also serve as clients and support several important
organizations in this community, including the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption,
Buckeye Ranch and the Middle High Food Collective. So you know,
we live and feel like we we live that mission
every day. We're also involved in some other some other
fun things like you know, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and
(29:10):
you know, if you if you tend a Blue Jackets game,
you'll see us, you know, in the arena, and you'll
see us digitally with some of the fun things that
we do with the community Columbus Blue Jackets. So we're
very active, we're very involved, not just sharing our dollars,
but sharing our time in the community. It's something that
we've done again for for nearly forty years, and we're
going to continue to do well into the future.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, Blue Jackets Clippers, are you the one that came
up with the bad jokes?
Speaker 3 (29:35):
Yeah, yes, I came up. No, I didn't come up
with that, but but but you know, we have some
really great and smart people that we work with internally
and externally, and they came up with it and it's
been great and it's been fun and helps us tell
our story and so it's been a it's been a
great partnership and we look forward to continuing that well
into the future.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Chris, as we start to wrap up here, any anything
that those that are listening to the podcast, anything else
you'd want them to know about you, Schneider Downs.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Yeah, I mean I'll end with with Schneider Downs. I
think it's important to me. It's one of the reasons
I'm thrilled to be here with you today and telling
our story. Telling our story again. You know, for many years,
I think people would see Schneider Downs is that that
accounting and tax firm in Columbus, that that's serving the
auto world and construction and real estate firms. And again,
(30:27):
we're so much more than that, and it's important I
want people to know that and know that we're this
top sixty firm in the country with all these capabilities.
But more importantly, I want them to know that we've
been here for nearly forty years. We've been part of
this community. We raised our families here, We're deeply involved
and engaged in this community. And I want people to
(30:51):
know that it's not like we're a fly by night
firm that just decided we're going to show up in
Columbus because it's this high growth market in the Midwest.
We you know, we've been dedicated to Columbus, will continue
to be dedicated to Columbus and that's probably the most
important thing that I want the Columbus in Central Ohio
business community to know about Schneider Downs.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
All right, Chris McIlroy, co CEO of Schneider Downs, thank
you for being a guest this week on CEOs you
Should Know.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
Thank you appreciate it. Boxer.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
CEOs You Should Know is hosted and produced by Brandon Boxer,
a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Columbus
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