Industries

Closely Held Companies

Being an entrepreneur is risky, we understand. Gunnip & Company has been helping small and mid-size privately held and family businesses grow and become profitable for more than 60 years. You may need a business plan to secure capital for a start-up. As you grow, we can help prepare you to respond to the difficult and pressing financial decisions that you are faced with every day. Once you've matured, you may want to exit the business, requiring succession planning. Every step of the way, our team can evaluate tax strategies to ensure your business is compliant, introduce you to our vast network of experts in various industries, and strive to maximize your profitability.

Along with your business concerns, you also have personal finances to manage. Gunnip & Company advisors partner with our clients to look at the whole picture, not just the individual pieces. We review your personal and business financial picture, in order to provide you with personalized recommendations based on your specific goals.

Our clients come to us from many different industries and for help with different challenges, some are sole proprietors, partnerships, and S-corporations. One thing remains consistent—our experience with privately-held companies, from start-up operations to international companies allows us to partner with you in boosting your company's bottom line and increasing your personal wealth.

To learn more about our experience in some specific industries, you are encouraged to review our testimonials section.

For general information regarding our experience with closely-held companies and how we can help you, contact:

Employee Benefit Plans

Each year the rules and regulations governing benefit plan compliance grow increasingly complex. That's why we have a dedicated team of 401(k) and 403(b) plan auditors that possess the specialized knowledge and experience to help ensure compliance with the appropriate standards and changes in regulations that may affect your organization's employee benefit plan audit.

We strive to provide your business with a comprehensive understanding of the operations, fiduciary responsibilities, audit requirements and tax issues involved with various kinds of retirement, flexible spending, incentive and deferred compensation plans. We offer your plan administrator and human resources personnel confidence in their plan reporting and management, while executing our audits in a way that maximizes audit efficiency and quality.

As a member of the American Institute of CPAs Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center, we are committed to adhering to the highest quality standards by voluntarily agreeing to the Center membership requirements, which include designating a partner responsible for our employee benefit plan audit practice, establishing quality control programs, performing annual internal inspection procedures, and making our peer review report findings publicly available.

Our employee benefit plan audit services include:

Pension, health and welfare, and 401(k) plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) under the regulatory authority of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
Consulting services related to employee benefit plans
Preparing IRS Form 5500 and summary annual reports

Gunnip & Company has created a progressive culture within our group that encourages continuing education for all our professionals. Our team of employee benefit plan auditors not only stay current in this highly technical practice area. They are dedicated to monitoring the proposed regulations that may happen in the future and will assist you in remaining compliant now and in the future. This dedication ensures you always work with professionals who have thorough knowledge of current issues.

For more information about our employee benefit plan audit services, contact:

Kathi Silicato

Hospitality & Leisure

With pressure on disposable income, dependence on seasonality, high employee turnover and rising food and energy costs, hospitality businesses operate in a highly challenging marketplace. Accurate financial information is required to ensure profitability, allowing management to focus on delivery of service, product and customer satisfaction.

Gunnip works with each client to develop a clear financial picture of their business. All of our specialized hospitality accounting services are tailored to fit individual situations. Our customized accounting and tax services for the hospitality industry have enabled us to help, caterers, entertainers, franchise or independent restaurant operators, hotel/motel owners and recreational business clients.

We offer a broad range of services including:

Inventory control consultation
Cash and product shortage prevention
Profitability/occupancy analysis
Tip report assistance and preparation
FICA tip credit calculation assistance
Point-of-sale accounting
Cost segregations studies
Cash flow analysis
Operating expense analysis
Tax consultations, strategic planning and preparation
Year-end audit, review or compilation of financial statements
Accounting operations, systems, procedures and internal control review
Outsources controllership and outsourced accounting

For more information and to find our how our hospitality team can assist you, contact:

Education

No matter how large or small, private and independent schools, colleges and universities are facing increasingly complex financial decisions. Most schools recognize the need to minimize dependency on fundraising to support operations and should be set up to operate as efficiently as possible. Gunnip & Company is also aware, and we work with the school's administration to increase accountability. Our team of professionals are prepared to assist with implementing accounting standards, negotiating financial arrangements and supporting budgeting and forecasting initiatives.

We are recognized throughout the Delaware Valley for our knowledge and experience with educational institutions; beyond traditional audit services, we can provide a broad range of financial and operational services including financial management advice, business planning and strategic consulting.

Accounting and auditing
Attestation services
Compliance testing
Internal control policies
Analyze budgets and programs
Review operational issues
990 preparation
403(b) audits

For more information on our services for independent schools and higher education institutions, contact:

Construction

If you live and breathe by cost estimates and percentage completed, deal with stress of the bidding process, and whims of the weather-- you must be in the contracting business. Whether your business is general contracting, subcontracting, commercial construction, new home building, residential improvements, electrical, HVAC, masonry or building highways and bridges, you have some unique needs when it comes to financial information and reporting.

Gunnip & Company understands operational and financial issues inherent in this industry – from project estimating and scheduling to cash flow management. Gunnip's construction team understands the guidelines and can assist you in the proper presentation of your information.

In addition to traditional accounting, auditing and tax services we offer industry-specific business consulting services, designed to increase operational efficiency and profitability. We have a proven-track record of hands-on involvement that takes us everywhere from the job site to financial institutions, even forensic accounting support in the event a legal matter arises.

Our broad range of services to the construction includes, but is not limited to:

Cash flow analysis
Contract claim assistance
Bonding and financing assistance
Cost allocation/segregation analysis
Benchmarking reports
Succession/transition planning
Overhead analysis and budgeting
Audited, reviewed and compiled financial statements
Bookkeeping and payroll services
Controllership services
Strategic federal and state income tax planning and preparation
Sale and use tax consulting
Multi-state tax consulting

For more information regarding our services to the construction industry, contact:

Not-For-Profit Organization

Many not-for-profit organizations are struggling with the challenges of increasing government regulation, and steadily declining contributions. Yet these organizations are critical to the success of our community. Without them, many dreams and goals would go unfulfilled. Our firm is committed to helping these organizations succeed.

The struggle to maintain the correct balance between fundraising expenses and total operating costs and complying with the requirements of government grants and other funding can be overwhelming. Our team is trained to understand and recognize the unique challenges many non-profits face. Our experience with 501(c)(3) organizations reaches across all classifications. We have worked with cultural, social welfare, religious, healthcare, educational, private foundations, trade associations and many more.

In a small effort to support the not-for-profit community, Gunnip & Company's engagements with non-profit organizations are structured in such a way to be cost effective, thereby giving our clients the best quality of service available while keeping costs as modest as possible.

Our not-for-profit services include:

Application for, and maintenance of, tax-exempt status
Audit, compilation or review services
Periodic financial reports
Internal accounting control systems evaluation
New accounting standards recommendation and implementation
Establishment of financial controls and reporting systems
Perform feasibility studies and due diligence
OMB A-133 audits and reporting requirements
System development to track earnings and restricted net assets
Management advisory services
Tax compliance
Functional expense allocations
Fraud investigations
Special projects

For more information on our non-for-profit services, contact:

Transportation

The transportation and distribution industry is in a defining era. Between the constant regulatory changes and demand for greener options, the tough competitive climate transportation businesses faced has become even more fierce. As we move toward a more global economy, companies in all aspects of transportation are expanding their traditional geographic reach. Whether you run a trucking company, a tugboat fleet, locomotive engineer or aviation company, you need a partner who understands the specific challenges you face and can help you increase operational efficiencies and improve profitability.

Some of the services we offer:

C.O.P.S. – Control of operation procedures and systems
LIFO inventory calculations
Fuel transportation taxes
Cost segregations studies
Cash flow analysis
Operating expense analysis
Family succession planning
Business valuation
Tax consultations, strategic planning and preparation
Year-end audit, review or compilation of financial statements
Accounting operations, systems, procedures and internal control review
Outsources controllership and outsourced accounting

For more information on our services to the transportation industry, contact:

Funeral Homes & Cemeteries

Because of population trends, the nation's mortality rate is on the rise and the need for companies who serve grieving families has also risen. While there are a handful of national service providers, the majority of memorial providers are privately owned, family-run business. In our experience, they are compassionate people working with families during highly emotional times. Their dedication to attending to their clients needs can sometimes detract from their focus on the bottom line. Gunnip works with our clients throughout the year to develop a clear financial picture of their business. We often act as a part-time CFO assisting with daily operational concerns as well as high-level strategic planning.