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by Stephen Parezo

Sam Smith

November 6, 2006—Before the advent of email, small businesses had to reluctantly sever ties with their business advisors when they relocated across country or overseas because it just wasn’t practical. Now an increasing number of companies are instant messaging each other so both parties are on the same page whether they’re in Boise or Budapest.

Back in 2003, Fiducial franchisee Sam Smith of Middletown, MD, started advising a local company, LabConnect, LLC, with international aspirations. As the company grew, it relocated first to Atlanta, GA, then to Seattle, WA, where they have taken their business to the next level. Smith says helping LabConnect with its accounting needs has not been hindered in any way since their move to the Pacific Northwest.

“The main reason LabConnect continues to use us is our national presence,” said Smith. “They knew we were capable of doing national-type work at a local price. They didn’t have to go out and hire a national firm because Fiducial is diverse enough to handle the intricacies of multiple states and multiple locales because of the size of our network.”

LabConnect’s meteoric rise comes as no surprise to Smith who has been aligned with the company since its inception. Recently recognized as being the eighth fastest growing business in their region of the country, LabConnect’s projected revenue is expected to reach the $30 million mark by 2010.

“I kind of felt they would take it to this level based on what they are doing in that arena,” he said.

According to its website, LabConnect provides global centralized bioanalytical, safety, genotyping and biostorage laboratory services for the pharmaceutical industry. That is, they specialize in administering tests for clinical trials.

“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was pointing at the industry and saying ‘you need to get your act together,’ ” Smith said. “They [LabConnect] serve a real need there.”

Despite Smith and his client being separated by three hours from coast to coast, that hasn’t been a problem for either side. More businesses it seems are retaining their professional advisors because they’re only a few keystrokes away.

Eric Hayashi

Taking the worry away

“With the technology that we have today we didn’t feel it was necessary to move that function,” said Eric Hayashi, president and CEO of LabConnect. “How Fiducial has benefited us, is just taking the worry away and allowing us to focus our energies on our core competencies.”

Over the last decade Hayashi noted that from a high-level perspective, the landscape has changed dramatically in terms of the openness companies have, not only working with vendors and others in remote locations, but internally with their own employees.

But Hayashi decided his firm needed some outside expertise for revenue recognition when revenue is recognized on a contract and how to account for certain transactions. That’s why Smith’s team handles all of their tax items and reviews their balance sheets.

“Sam has helped us think through that,” Hayashi said. “Year-end returns are a big project that Sam handles. He sends all the [Federal Tax Form] K-1s out to the investors and with 40-plus members, we want to make sure it’s done right.”

Smith helps alleviate the company’s accounting burdens which have become increasingly more complicated.

“We have clients around the world and that, of course, is a headache,” Hayashi said. “Sam and his team help us make sure that’s right and this gives us a level of confidence.”

How has Smith helped LabConnect most?

“One thing I like about Sam is he’s able to put things into fairly simple terms,” Hayashi added. “He’s very clear and confident in his decisions and that gives us a level of comfort that the work that he’s doing for us is on track.”

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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