SBF Partner Rich Franz: “We have a culture of change momentum”

Some families pass down a love of football, a commitment to teaching or medicine, or a passion for cooking. For the families of the three Spoor Bunch Franz partners, what’s been passed on is something else. “All three partners at SBF have fathers who are also CPAs,” said Rich Franz, Spoor Bunch Franz Managing Partner. “So it’s in our blood.”  Also passed down from their families is the core value of treating others with respect, which has led to SBF’s “People Matter Most” mantra.

Accounting is the tradition in all three families, but creating a successful, growing firm was not as easy as hanging out the shingle. The partners are proud of the firm they have built together.

In 2016, Spoor Bunch Franz was founded with the merger of Spence Marston Bunch Morris a firm based in Clearwater, and Spoor & Associates, based in St. Petersburg. Both firms were founded in the 1970s.

All this change was a challenge to manage, but Rich Franz saw it as an opportunity.

The mergers provided an opportunity to create a brand-new culture, Franz said. “Both firms were firmly rooted in their history and process,” he said. “Change can oftentimes be overwhelming to employees. Our goal was to have our people think of change as small steps of progress every day for several years, rather than trying to change overnight.”

Leading employees through the changes that came with the mergers was challenging, but it has bred a culture the whole firm is proud of. “We witnessed amazing examples of transformations in our employees, which transcended into their personal lives,” Franz said. “We now have a culture of change momentum, always moving forward, getting better every day.”

Franz has spent his entire career in public accounting. He graduated from the University of Florida and worked at PwC for five years before joining SBF as a partner alongside Steve Bunch and W.G. Spoor.

“As a leader in the firm, I try to find ways every day to set a positive example for our employees both professionally and personally,” he said. At SBF, he particularly enjoys finding ways to make the work experience better and assisting clients as an advisor, not just an accountant.

For his small business clients, 2020 has been a particularly challenging year as they deal with an economic downturn, shutdowns, and shifts in demand for their products or services. SBF staff and partners have been there every step of the way, guiding their business clients through this difficult time.

“As businesses struggled through the coronavirus pandemic, our firm provided continual support to our clients by keeping them up to date on government relief packages,” Franz said. “We were also able to help many of our clients find capital to keep their businesses running and their employees on payroll.”

Moving forward, the firm will continue guiding its clients through the challenges the pandemic throws their way, and it will continue growing the culture that makes the business successful.

“My favorite thing about SBF is that we are not your typical CPA firm,” Franz said. “We like to do things differently.  We try to make it a fun place to work. We genuinely like each other, which creates a family feel.  It starts at the top with the relationships forged by the partners.”

The result is a group of people who are happy to be together (even virtually!), enjoy being at work, and in turn work hard on behalf of their clients.

When he considers SBF’s future, Franz is looking forward to growing the firm but at a pace that allows it to maintain its culture, which he sees as the key to the firm’s success. “Our culture is built on the personal connections within the firm,” he said. “We will not allow growth to inhibit what makes us great.”