Fulfilling The Legacy
By: Jennifer Deroin
Pete Nichols, CEO & Founder
What does it take to make it 40 years in business? “A combination of perseverance, hard work, and vision, along with the blessing of good employees, loyal clients, a true desire to serve others, and the blessing of God” says Peter I. Nichols (Pete), Founder and CEO of The Nichols Accounting Group, P.C. He has enjoyed just that, and more. Along the way, he’s had a lot of help from partners Doug Lamm, Bob Kemble, and Trevor Gunstream, as well as a staff that has helped him craft and deliver accounting and consulting services for 40 years.
Forty years in business is a rare and important business milestone. I asked him to reflect back on the journey, and the following is an excerpt of conversations with Pete, Senior Partner Doug Lamm, and two of his charter clients, Roy & Jack Hasebe and Neal Russell.
JD: What helped you make the decision to go from employee to sole proprietor?
Pete: The decision to move to Ontario in 1973 was very personal for me. Without a doubt I knew the Lord was leading me to make the move to Ontario. However, the Ontario Firm I joined in January of 1973 made significant changes to their partnership structure in July of that year and it left me with a decision to make; stay in Ontario and trust God would provide a way for me to care for my family, or take the job that had been offered to me back in Boise at an international accounting firm that I had worked for out of college. Sandy and I discussed this and made the decision to stay in Ontario and open my own accounting practice.
JD: Tell me about those early days. Your employee, first clients, what were you excited about, what were you fearful of?
Pete Nichols, 1974
Pete: When the decision was made to stay in Ontario I looked at several spots to rent and settled on the basement of the Iseri Travel Agency. George Iseri was very good to me; accommodating and encouraging. We opened our office in January, 1974. Linda Barker, who was a recent graduate of the Links School of Business in Boise, came to work for me and was the first employee of the Firm. By the end of the year we had three others assisting us in completing a number of school district audits that we had contracted to do. Linda was “Miss Everything”. I prepared the tax returns and financial statements and Linda did everything else. No computers, all manual work; from the receptionist, to the processing to the bookkeeping for clients, Linda did it all.
Linda Barker, Pete Nichols’ First Employee
Our first client out of Ontario was Roy Hasebe and his brother Jack. Roy was an encouragement and an advocate of me and our work. He spread the word about us to everyone who would listen and it made a huge impact on our growth. In the Boise area, Neal Russell was our first client. Neal and I had met in 1972 while we were both working for a western region shopping center developer.
Neal Russell, President, Russell Corporation
Charter Client
JD: Roy and Jack, how did you meet Pete and why did you decide to start working with him?
Roy Hasebe: At that time, George Iseri was our bookkeeper and he wasn’t a CPA. He said to us, “you need to get a CPA that knows the tax laws”. George referred us to an accounting office in town and at that time Pete was an employee there. I remember meeting him in his white shirt and tie. Then the firm there changed. Pete told me that he had done my taxes the year before, and it made me comfortable. He was young – just out of college, energetic and ambitious. Remember Pete, I’m the one that told you to go see George, to see about space in his building.
Someone told us to make sure you have a good accountant and a good lawyer. They said,” You should have a good young accountant and a good lawyer so you can grow together in your business”. You’re not going to change them – they’re the two most important people you will surround yourself with.
JD: Roy, you’ve referred a lot of clients to Pete over the years, and he’s very grateful to you for that. He’s also appreciated working with you. Tell me more about that.
Roy Hasebe, Pete Nichols and Jack Hasebe
Charter Clients
Roy Hasebe: He knew quite a bit about tax laws, and over the years I noticed that he was always going to classes to stay current. He would ask us to come to his seminars, and he would keep us up-to-date. He was always updating his resume and his knowledge to help the clients. I would tell people, “Go see Pete. He’ll take good care of you and keep you up to date.”
Jack Hasebe: He has always stood up for us. He is always ready to take care of us, and goes to bat for us. It made us feel good. He would guide us through decisions to make sure things were done the right way.
JD: Pete, what’s been your greatest challenge?
Pete: Learning to manage, not practice accounting only. Making myself grow both in my professional ability as a CPA, but also growing in all aspects of being a business owner. When we stepped out into this arena, it was to support a family, not to grow a firm. But once you have employees, there is a new sense of responsibility to provide a good job and good working conditions, to train properly and provide for professional and personal growth. I was not trained for that role and it had to evolve over time.
JD: Pete, what’s your most meaningful accomplishment?
Pete: When dealing with people, whether it is clients, employees, family or friends, difficult situations can arise. Seeking the correct response can be extremely challenging. I do not take credit for this as an accomplishment of mine, however, the Firm has survived and we continue to grow and get better at the area of personnel management. Beginning with Doug Lamm and the addition of many others, the Firm has become a competent provider of accounting and consulting services. It is the employees like Doug and the many that have followed him and are with us today that have been the most significant accomplishment of the Firm. The credit for all this goes to God who has brought it about.
JD: Tell me about some significant moments that changed the course of the firm.
Pete: In 1981 I merged with another firm in the valley for a few years. In recruiting that year, I was given the opportunity to select from the new hires who I
Doug Lamm
would like to offer a job to. Someone that would be willing to move to the Ontario area. I offered that job to Doug Lamm, who accepted the offer and joined the Ontario office in the fall of 1981.
In the late 1980’s, we seemed to be at a cross roads of what type of Firm we were going to be. We had clients that were out-growing us. We had to get larger to have the capacity to handle the work and we had to become more proficient in our knowledge of accounting and tax issues. We needed to respond to the expanding needs of larger, more complex clients. Doug and I chose to grow with our clients.
That was followed by our incorporation in January, 1989, and we became The Nichols Accounting Group.
JD: Doug, tell me about the move from employee to ownership and the years after the incorporation.
Doug Lamm: The early years were ones of learning and faith that the Lord had led us to the right place in Ontario. For years, I had driven through Payette and Fruitland on my way to and from college and recall thinking, “I will never live in this area”. Yet, in 1981, Pete made me an offer that I needed to consider and it required a move from Nampa to Ontario. I saw the offer as a good opportunity but the day I had received it, Karen had just started a new job. I recall telling Pete we would have to pray about the offer because of her new job. When I got home that night, Karen was crying and told me “I hate my job”. To me, that was one of those signs that you have to stop and look seriously at. We talked it over, prayed about it, talked with our folks, took the job in Ontario, and we settled in Payette. Someone has an interesting sense of humor! We have been blessed to live in such a great agricultural area working for folks like I grew up with – real people. We have loved living in this area.
Pete and Doug, enjoying one of their favorite past times. “We’re business partners, and friends too.” Pete says.
As far as transitioning into ownership, I always had an ownership mentality. Pete’s openness to letting me have responsibility early really accelerated the opportunities I experienced. Pete was a blessing to me in so many ways and we had a common desire to follow Christ’s leadership in the growth of our business – to be something different than just another CPA firm. Those shared experiences and the early responsibility required that we grow professionally. We felt we needed to take more classes, create stronger relationships with other professionals, and increase our level of capability so that we could do more for our clients.
Becoming an owner was also scary because I had to borrow more money to put into the business, than I had paid to purchase my first home. I recall someone telling me something then that stuck with me for years – a house will never build a business but a business can eventually build a house. We had a tremendous friend and advocate for our company in Bob Kniefel, the bank manager for West One Bank in Payette. Bob believed in our firm and in me, but he still asked that my parents co-sign the loan. That really gave us motivation to get that loan paid off.
When we decided to become partners and call it “The Nichols Accounting Group”, the State of Oregon wouldn’t allow the word “group” used for a professional services company. We petitioned the State and they granted us the right, paving the way for future organizations that wanted to use that language.
In the next few years after we incorporated, we acquired three firms in town. Two of them during consecutive tax seasons! We worked really hard and often, and we were able to retain several of their employees and sometimes the original principals.
JD: What do you think makes the firm unique?
Pete Nichols receiving Excellence in Leadership Award at Nampa Chamber Gala, 2013
Doug: Pete has always been very forward thinking in everything; from his approach to bookkeeping to his investment in computers and software. All of that led to us doing more and more for people. We weren’t afraid to get into the middle of things that were out of the realm of what was “normal” for an accounting firm. We worked on creating great relationships with attorneys and bankers, and building teams everywhere we could. We realized we not only had to be able to see the big picture, but be able to take the big picture down to the detail and implement it.
Also I think Pete’s leadership and vision, positions us to be different. I am in awe of his dynamic and unquenchable thirst for improvement. At 68, Pete continues to be energized about what lies ahead for the Firm. He is always looking for new and better ways to do what we do. He’s actively involved in managing clients, while continuing to focus on driving us forward. He has an insatiable desire for learning, consuming books, attending conferences, and seeking mentorship from others. He’s a model for us all.
JD: Pete and Doug, for many years you operated as the only shareholders. What led to the decision to bring in Bob Kemble and Trevor Gunstream as partners?
Bob Kemble
Trevor Gunstream
Pete: A big part of good management and the long-term success of a business is to develop those that are going to replace you. That process started with Doug Lamm, who has developed into one of the leading tax consultants in the valley. Bob and Trevor are a continuation of that process. They are very talented CPA’s, the type of individuals that will work with Doug and me, to take this Firm into the future. They understand our Core Values and what has brought the Firm to this point in its development. They are committed to staying the course, providing innovative solutions to tax and accounting issues, and embracing sustained change while striving for excellence in everything.
JD: Pete, in 2011, you decided the firm needed to shift again, to meet the needs of the client. Tell me about that.
Pete: In July of 2011, I attended a conference in Denver and The Lord gave me a new vision of what the Firm should be. We embarked on the adventure of a new and revised strategic planning session. Six of us; Doug Lamm, Bob Kemble, Trevor Gunstream, Karyn Scott, Michael Flerchinger and I, met in October of 2011 and laid the ground work for the current direction of the Firm.
Doug: That’s what we’re most proud of. How our firm has set ourselves out to be different and continues to seek improvement. We’ve helped our clients in significant life moments. In that process, we’ve been able to employ a lot of people and provide good jobs.
JD: What’s that direction? What do you see for the future?
Pete: The Firm’s core values become the driving force for healthy growth. Growth for growth’s sake is not healthy. It needs to be managed so that the service being delivered to the client is of the highest quality we are capable of. It needs to be managed in a way that provides the right balance of growth for each member of the Firm, in both their professional and personal life. Our core values drive that growth when we manage it correctly. We go about conducting business with the highest principles of character and moral integrity. We are innovative and proactive, we foster a culture of life time learners who embrace sustained change and we strive for excellence in everything. When that is reality, everyone wins, God is glorified, employees have the opportunity to grow professionally and clients have an array of services available to them that meets their needs from a local Firm that cares about them on a personal level. So what do I see? I see us helping clients, and employees fulfill their legacy and continuing on for years to come. In that journey, the firm’s legacy will be fulfilled.
