Firm voted No. 1 for accounting, tax preparation
Brian Smith always tells people the services Smith & Radtke provides are not the cheapest or the most expensive.
“They’re the best, and we’re open year around,” he said.
In the 2016 Best of Waupaca Area Contest, Smith & Radtke was voted the best accounting firm and the best tax preparer.
“It really is an honor to be voted for. We work very hard to be a good business in the community,” Smith said. “I think our clients must agree with us, that we give them a very good service.”
This time of the year, they are busy handling the tax preparation of their numerous clients.
That work takes up much of the first four months of every year.
Smith & Radtke does tax preparation for individuals, small businesses, small corporations, farms and partnerships.
They also offer payroll services.
“That is something that takes a lot of a business’ time,” Smith said. “We do everything for them. They just have to hand the check to their employees (or in many cases have it directly deposited into an account for them).”
He said payroll is an example of a job employers do not want to do themselves.
They would rather spend their time doing what it is they do as a business.
Smith said that because they do payroll for multiple businesses, they have perfected the process and are able to provide the service at a reasonable price.
“Also, doing payroll for all these businesses means the people who receive the paychecks know who is doing it,” he said.
That often leads to Smith & Radtke getting additional clients.
In addition, they do business accounting, which involves completing various required reports for businesses.
Smith said they do so many of those reports that again, they have been able to perfect the service and offer it at a reasonable cost to businesses.
These other services they provide are great supplements for their business income, he said, as tax preparation mostly involves the first several months of each year.
Smith started the accounting business in 1989.
Prior to that, he was a business teacher, first in Racine and then back home in Waupaca.
“Being in the same location since 1989, we have good name recognition,” Smith said. “We have great involvement in Chamber events, school events. We have a great staff. When people come in, they enjoy talking to our staff.”
Karen Murphy began working there in 1996.
Smith’s daughter, Lindsay Guyette, has been involved in the business since she was in high school and also while she went through college, he said.
Radtke came on board in 2003 as an employee.
In 2006, Smith and Radtke became partners in the business.
That same year, they also opened an office in Manawa, which continues to be open.
“I think the Manawa office also helped. We were able to give them another option,” Smith said. “We took an old storefront, remodeled it and make it into our office.”
He said they supplement their staff with some seasonal employees.
“We seem to end up with one new person every year,” Smith said.
He believes their clients appreciate the continuity at Smith & Radtke.
“People know when they come to our office that Jason and I are going to be here,” Smith said.