Ceto and Associates Partners with Kennedy and Coe, LLC; Financial Consultants Form Strategic Alliance to Increase Client Offerings.

ATLANTA -- Ceto and Associates, a national consulting firm providing revenue enhancement solutions for the financial industry, has formed a strategic alliance with Kennedy and Coe, LLC, one of the nation's leading accounting and consulting firms. The partnership will help to position the firms to address business issues and opportunities focused on specific needs of financial institutions. The relationship began through the BDO Seidman Alliance, a nationwide association of independently owned local and regional accounting, consulting, business and technology firms.

"We were looking for a strategic partnership that would bring value to our clients and align with our company goals and objectives," said Chuck Marshall, a manager in Kennedy and Coe's financial institutions group. "Our clients appreciate Ceto's expertise, mainly due to its innovative solutions and consulting. Its unique business strategy guarantees benefits to the bottom-line."

Ceto partners with the executive management of financial institutions to find unutilized sources of revenue. Most of the time, the financial institution is already profitable, and working with Ceto gives them access to a credible, experienced third-party who, through examination of the institution, can identify areas that are not being viewed or targeted as a potential revenue source.

Ceto is currently working with eight Kennedy and Coe clients and has helped one financial institution save more than $1.1 million, which at today's fed funds rate equals $59,000 in additional pre-taxed annual revenues.

To improve financial institutions' revenue streams, Ceto utilizes a six-step, time-focused, collaborative project approach. It focuses on solutions designed to increase revenues, rather than decrease operational expenses. Ceto analyzes all revenue streams, including all loan, investment and deposit processes for funds efficiency, timeliness and income maximization.

"Together with our extensive knowledge of banking and finance and Kennedy and Coe's background of accounting and consulting, we can deliver a full range of valuable services to financial institutions," said Douglas Ceto, executive vice president of Ceto. "Clients therefore, will not be required to go through an exhaustive and time-consuming search each time they need consulting services. When we combine our expertise, we enable ourselves to better service our clients."

About Ceto and Associates

Founded in 1994 as a national consulting firm in the financial industry and headquartered in Atlanta, Ceto and Associates specializes in developing solutions to provide financial institutions the ability to increase profitability through the implementation of revenue enhancement programs. Ceto and Associates places their clients' needs in the forefront and designs solutions tailored to their culture, goals and objectives. Ceto and Associates has earned the trust and improved annual revenues of more than 1,000 financial institutions across 50 states. For more information about Ceto and Associates, please visit their Web site at www.cetoandassociates.com.