What makes MGI special? Sharon Gregor from Selden Fox explains
MGI member Sharon J Gregor from Selden Fox Ltd, USA, on how MGI membership adds value.
‘Entrepreneurial spirit’
Sharon J Gregor from MGI North American member Selden Fox Ltd talked to us about what her firm gets out of being part of a global accounting network.
“We really wanted to make an investment in MGI. It took us many years to find the right organisation to join - we looked at a lot before finding MGI,” she said.
Sharon joined Selden Fox from one of the Big Four - a firm that she says enjoyed technical expertise all over the world but lacked the “entrepreneurial spirit" that makes MGI stand out.
“The type of service we gave our clients was not the same. We were commodities because the multinational firms we audited had expertise in-house.”
For Sharon, it’s a very different experience with MGI at Selden Fox.
Quote: “It took us a lot of years to find the right organisation to join.”
How does membership of an international organisation help client business?
At a basic level, it’s about being able to share knowledge and offer a joined up global service.
“At Selden Fox, we have such strong technical expertise in our area, but our clients need it worldwide and statewide,” explains Sharon.
For example, even within the US there are multiple tax systems in place at local and State level in addition to Federal taxes, creating additional layers of knowledge and skills required by clients.
“We have a lot of family owned businesses, a lot of non-profits, and we need the depth of technical expertise all over the US, North America and the world,” says Sharon.
Watch the full member testimonial video:
A global network in action: case study
Selden Fox has manufacturing client based in Chicago that had overseas operations both in the UK, China and Mexico.
“At the time they had firms in each of the locations and [when] we became the auditor of the parent in Chicago we had to review the work papers of all the other entities in those foreign countries. But when we got to the China workpapers, we couldn’t make heads or tails of them.
So Selden Fox drew upon one of the association’s China members and “worked hand in hand” on the client audit work. “Even though our client did not hire the MGI affiliate, we did,” notes Sharon.
Quote: “Even though our client did not hire the MGI affiliate, we did.”
What makes MGI special
“What we have is a network of firms like us,” says Sharon, “that have true entrepreneurial spirit and true personal service.”
Selden Fox is very active in attending meetings in North America and always attends the global AGM, which means building business and personal ties is easier. And this translates into being able to better serve client needs when it comes to calling on another member for help.
“We meet everybody, so they’re our friends. When we’re referring somebody to our client we know them already, it’s not just a name on a page.”
What makes MGI great? Sharon’s view is that there are five key qualities:
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Entrepreneurial spirit
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Personal service
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Friendship
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Quality assurance
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Passion
“That’s the whole basis of our membership - we want the high quality, the personal service and the real passion to serve our clients.”