DOWAGIAC — A local accounting firm in Dowagiac is joining forces with an accounting firm in Kalamazoo.

On Wednesday, Accounting Consultants, PC, of Dowagiac, officially merged with Jansen Valk Thompson Reahm PC, of Kalamazoo.

Becky Moore, a Certified Public Accountant, started Accounting Consultants, PC 27 years ago. Moore had been looking into her retirement planning and wanted to continue to give her clients the best possible service, she said, which led her to start speaking with Jim Valk, a managing partner with Jansen Valk Thompson Reahm PC, a few months ago.

Valk said the pair learned they had similar backgrounds and teams with similar cultures.

“We also found that Becky and I had a really good relationship right from the get-go,” Valk said.  “We thought about things in a similar manner. We had similar philosophies. We both got very comfortable with the fact that we thought a merger of our two firms would be very successful.”

As the merger is officially complete, Moore plans to start slowing down, but still wanted to offer continued, reputable service to her clients.

“When you invest 27 years into something, it was important to me that clients were able to carry on and the team here was able to carry on,” Moore said. “I just didn’t want to walk out and put a key in the door. It just wasn’t fair to anybody, and that was the most important thing to me.”

Through conversations, Valk said the pair realized both firms also had services that complemented one another.

Valk said Jansen Valk Thompson Reahm PC is what he calls, a traditional Certified Public Accountant firm, meaning they handle tax work, tax consulting, audits, reviews, compilations, trust work and business evaluations.

Valk said Moore’s firm does many of the same things, but primarily focuses on accounting services, including bookkeeping, full-service accounting, payroll and bank reconciliations.

“We started looking at the combination of the two firms, and we saw where we were able to start having access to those services for our clients,” Valk said. “For the office here in Dowagiac, it opened up some additional services for the clients in this area, like business evaluations and audits. [In Kalamazoo], we have a certified fraud examiner on staff with us.”

Valk said he and Moore worked everything out in a short period of time, but Moore will continue to be around. Every employee in Dowagiac is going to also continue to be in the same location, just under a new name — Jansen Valk Thompson Reahm PC.

Valk said with the use of technology, the two offices will be able to work together in a way that was not possible 15 years ago. Moore added that both the Dowagiac and Kalamazoo offices had already had a joint Zoom meeting earlier in the morning to introduce each other.

Moore said the transition is going to take some time as she invested her life into her business.

“Most of our clients, they are like family to me,” Moore said. “You are not just selling a product, it’s the relationships.”

Moore said she services some of the same clients today that have been with Accounting Consultants, PC since the very beginning. Some clients she has worked with for more than 25 years. Moore’s firm serves surrounding communities as well as national and international clients. She said Jansen Valk Thompson Reahm PC has that same track record.

“It’s the caring about clients that keeps those clients and extends those relationships,” Moore said. “That’s what was very important to me, not just having someone come in that was not going to have that same attitude.”

Valk agreed those relationships are what attracted Jansen Valk Thompson Reahm PC to Moore’s firm.

“The relationship that she had with her clients is what’s appealing to us because that’s how we build our relationships with our clients,” Valk said. “We know that we have big shoes to fill here in Dowagiac, but we are excited and ready to do that. What we are really excited about is that Becky is not going away.”

Job number one, Valk said, is to get clients comfortable. Valk and Moore plan to visit, call and talk with clients and answer any questions they might have. Beyond that, Valk wants to help grow both locations and offer a wider variety of services at each office.

“We think we have a very bright future ahead of us, and we think our employees are going to have a lot of opportunity going forward,” Valk said, as Moore nodded her head in agreement.

“Just the few clients I’ve talked to, I think once they have the opportunity to meet my counterparts, they are going to see they are warm people,” Moore said. “Just like we are here in this office.”