Founded in 1969, Armanino is one of the top 20 public accounting and business consulting firms in the US, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area and has served the Austin and greater Texas markets for years. The firm has robust and expansive traditional tax and audit capabilities, whether it’s corporate tax returns, international tax, sales and use, R&D tax credits or financial statement audits. But, what sets Armanino apart is its strategic focus on innovation and transformation with significant investment in key areas such as consulting, risk assurance and advisory, business management/family office, cybersecurity, data and analytics, artificial intelligence and blockchain. CEO Matt Armanino advocates that the accounting profession takes an entrepreneurial approach to business, emphasizing agility and empowering staff to foster new ideas about how to better serve clients.
Jeff Russell, Austin partner, Armanino
Given Armanino’s proximity to Silicon Valley, it’s no surprise that the firm’s largest industry group is its technology practice. Armanino’s other industries of emphasis are manufacturing and distribution, healthcare, retail, nonprofit, professional services, private education, real estate, life sciences, cannabis, cryptocurrency, entertainment, SEC and financial services.
The firm takes a holistic approach to serve clients. Armanino partners don’t just consider the engagement in front of them but are concerned with their clients’ long-term strategy and preparedness for VUCA which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.
Matt Armanino, CEO
Thanks to its flat organizational structure, Armanino partners and staff are encouraged to create new solutions to common client challenges. “If we don’t have a ready-made solution today, we build it,” said Jeff Russell, Austin-based partner at Armanino.
That mentality has led to an entire library of proprietary IP such as Armanino’s Financial Risk Assessment that detects anomalies, Benchmarking for Nonprofits, Workspace Scheduler and full industry- of function- centric suites for major ERP such as its Life Science Industries for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Nonprofit Sage Intacct Integration to Salesforce.
The innovation goes beyond integration and toolkits though. Armanino recognizes that digital transformation is at everyone’s front door, but too many companies don’t know how to take the first step. The firm’s DataVue approach helps companies build roadmaps to serve as their “North Star,” enabling digital transformation processes that change how companies interact with their customers, ensuring products and services are industry-leading and meet changing consumer expectations. Often this means Armanino is called upon to deploy core AI technologies including predictive analytics, robotic process automation (RPA) and virtual assistants.
Armanino also created the first real-world application of real-time attestation with its TrustExplorer. Utilizing blockchain technology, TrustExplorer provides an instant downloadable report at the push of a button, backed by the firm’s attest opinion. This capability is a paradigm shift because it allows widely available and instant trust and transparency, all under the most stringent attest examination standards. It was the first step in the firm’s initiative to deploy real-time auditing, backed by immutable trust, in any engagement.
And although Armanino puts a heavy emphasis on powerful technology, it understands its greatest contributions come from its people. Armanino’s partners and staff stay at the firm because they believe in its core purpose: “to be the most innovative and entrepreneurial firm that makes a difference in the lives of our clients, our people and our communities.” Most engagements are led by a partner from the local community, who understands the nuances of the regional market. But, that local feel doesn’t mean provincial thinking. Armanino partners work with colleagues from offices across the country to tap into the most relevant expertise, regardless of location. And, as a member of Moore Global – it has access to accounting professionals all over the world for work that crosses international borders
