Accountant: right place, right time.

Accountant: Right place, right time

Jack Suzar, 12-year partner with BDO Seidman, says mergers among Big Eight accounting firms may shake loose clients he can pick up. In fact, the 49-year-old is aggressively pursuing them.

Jack Suzar thoroughly approves of what's going on in the accounting industry these days. The way he sees it, it can only mean good things for him.

"We're delighted with what the Big Eight firms are doing," says Suzar, area managing partner for the Southern California region of BDO Seidman, which ranks right behind the Big Eight -- or the Big Six or whatever will be left once merger mania passes.

The accounting profession is undergoing drastic changes. Big Eight firms Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young officially become Ernst & Young Oct. 1, a firm with combined world revenues of $4.3 billion. Arthur Andersen & Co. and Price Waterhouse announced their merger in July. If approved, the merger would create a $5 billion (world revenues) firm. Deloitte Haskins & Sells and Touche Ross & Co. partners approved their merger just last week, forming a $3.8 billion (world revenues) firm. The mergers are tied to competitive pressures within the industry to woo, and win, large international clients.

Seidman, with $758 million in world revenues last year, plans to capitalize on the inevitable uncertainty that accompanies any merger by going after the Southland clients of the new mega-firms.

Suzar predicts the Big Eight firms will experience the same kind of transition problems that occur whenever two Goliaths get together: Staff cuts as the new firm tries to eliminate duplication, the uncertainty that naturally flows from that and its effect on morale.

"That will definitely trigger a fallout of clients we have been actively pursuing," Suzar says. "We've already been approached by clients of some of the firms involved in mergers who are concerned."

Local clients are worried their needs will fall by the wayside as the emphasis at the mega-firms is directed to the larger, international clients.

"Someone is going to have to suffer," he says. "Without much effort on our behalf, something is being handed to us."

Actually, Suzar has spent the last year getting Seidman's three Southern California offices -- in Beverly Hills, Torrance and the city of Orange -- in shape to take advantage of the expected opportunities.

Seidman recently stepped up its aggressiveness in going after clients and increasing its visibility in the marketplace when Suzar brought on a new director of marketing, the first in the office's history. Martin McLaughlin, who is in charge of the new marketing efforts, was lured away from Big Eight accounting firm Deloitte Haskins & Sells.

Suzar also beefed up the firm's business valuation practice, bringing in Michael Haghighat from another Big Eight accounting firm, Coopers & Lybrand, to oversee the department, which specializes in valuations for acquisitions, mergers and divestitures.

Taking the initiative -- and chances -- is the only way to be successful, according to Suzar.

"This business tends to be very conservative," he says. "But if you don't take chances, you can't grow."

He tries to get the message across to his staff that it's OK to try something new, even if it doesn't work out.

"As long as they learn to clean up their mess, they'll be stronger," he says.

A dedicated storyteller, he comes alive when spinning a yarn about the lessons a father can learn from his son, or the unexpected accomplishments of a partner at his firm.

But ask him about himself, and he clams up. Whether it is modesty or shrewdness is hard to tell. What comes across when talking with Suzar, however, is his dedication and commitment to the company he's worked for since 1967 -- his only employer since his graduation from California State University, Northridge with a bachelor's degree in accounting.

The man who recruited Suzar into the firm from college is the same man who was instrumental in bringing him to Beverly Hills as managing partner of the Southern California region.

"When this opportunity came up, it didn't take long for me to think that he would be the right guy for the job," says Al Finci, who is regional managing partner, overseeing Seidman's operations from Texas to California.

A Los Angeles native, Suzar has worked in all phases of the firm: audit, tax and management consulting. Named a partner in 1977, he became involved in long-range planning, eventually writing a report on the future of the firm. Tucked away in the last pages of that report was a recommendation to create a human resources department. In 1982, he was named Seidman's first director of human resources.

"I think I got picked for that job because my name was on the report," he says with a laugh.

But it was an experience he thoroughly enjoyed because it re-emphasized the importance of teamwork to success.

"It's not just one effort or one person," says the former college athlete and semi-pro baseball player. "I can't take responsibility for our success myself. But I do have to take responsibility if we fail," he adds.

The "people issue" is Suzar's most important priority, says Finci.

"Jack really cares for the people who works with and he cares for his clients," he says.

Many of Suzar's clients have asked him to be the executor of their estates, and he's spent many a night at the bedside of an ailing client, Finci says.

That kind of activity fits in well with Seidman's way of doing business. It seeks out clients who need a lot of hand-holding -- usually people who own small- to mid-sized businesses. The 3,500 clients in the three offices Suzar oversees run the gamut from real estate developers to communications companies to manufacturing companies.

"We like to nurture a client along from inception through entrepreneurship to successful operations," Suzar says. "It's fun to work with clients and help them succeed."

But work is not Suzar's life. In fact, the most important thing in his life is his family -- wife Lucy and his two sons, Aaron and Noah. He spends a lot of time with his sons, going to karate or baseball, or taking them on weekend fishing trips.

Skiing is the family passion. They ski every chance they get, not only in this country, but in Europe as well. Suzar started his youngest son on skis before he was 3, tying a rope around his waist and letting him ski in front of his dad.

"Jack works hard, but he spends a lot of time with his kids," Finci says. "You've got to mix those things. Spending time with the family helps recharge your batteries."

The balance in his life wears well on Suzar, who looks much younger than his 49 years.

"I think that's because I don't feel worn out by what I've done," he says. "I feel exhilarated."