CohnReznick recently became a BRA Supporting Vendor Partner. Jeff, can you tell us a little bit about your background and CohnReznick?
I am a partner in CohnReznick’s Consumer Industry Practice and have worked at the firm for over 30 years. I provide accounting, audit, and business planning services to my clients, many of whom I am proud to have worked with since I was a first-year staffer. I advise privately-held family and entrepreneurial consumer businesses as well as private equity-backed companies in all stages of their business lifecycles to help them optimize performance, increase value, and execute financial transactions. I represent clients in the apparel, footwear, sporting goods, accessories, consumer packaged goods, and fitness, health, and wellness consumer categories.
As a young kid, I spent some time skateboarding and wound up falling down more times than I could count. As an adult, my family and I spent some time trying to learn to ski and snowboard, but let’s just say gravity is not my best friend.
CohnReznick is one of the leading advisory, accounting, and tax firms in the U.S. We have been supporting the consumer products industry for over 100 years and understand the operational and logistical challenges these businesses face in today’s competitive marketplace. We serve clients in all segments of the industry, including direct-to-consumer, e-commerce, wholesale, and retail.
What kinds of specialized services do you provide to your consumer clients?
Beyond the traditional services like accounting and tax return preparation, we can assist most clients in all facets of their business by providing strategic, financial, and advisory services that can help unlock growth. CohnReznick’s Consumer team can evaluate a business across channels – from product sourcing to point-of-sale delivery to customer service – and identify ways to enhance a brand, improve processes, and boost cash flow and profitability. Consumer businesses are constantly evolving, and so are our recommendations. We have fun watching our clients succeed and enjoy a team approach to make that happen.
What is one of the top challenges or opportunities you see BRA Specialty Retailers facing in 2022?
The obvious answers are the labor constraints and supply chain management issues affecting most consumer companies. These challenges will probably last for the foreseeable future. One of the other challenges that I see my clients experiencing is succession planning, as this might be one of the most critical decisions a business owner must face. There are, however, many opportunities in the M&A world to consolidate and obtain capital for expansion.
Why are you proud to be the newest Supporting Vendor Partner?
We joined BRA as a Supporting Vendor Partner to help specialty retailers succeed, both professionally and personally. I hope my experience and background will assist them along the way. In addition, I’m excited for the opportunity to meet some great people who can also help me to learn and develop my expertise in this sector of the industry.
Can you tell us more about your special offer available to BRA Specialty Retailers?
All BRA Specialty Retailers can benefit from a complimentary financial statement and tax return review to identify missed opportunities. They’ll also be able to discuss and review current retail and consumer topics and trends with our industry leaders. In addition, all BRA Specialty Retailers will receive 10% off our standard hourly billing rates.
The numbers tell a story; therefore, it’s always best to start with financial/tax information so I can better understand a business and its goals. The financials also allow me to focus a discussion on potential opportunities and to benchmark a company against its peers so I can offer suggestions for improvements.
For more information, please contact Jeff at Jeffrey.Plattman@CohnReznick.com or (973) 364-7821 or visit their website: CohnReznick.com/consumer.
As mentioned above, all BRA Regular or Distinguished Retail Members can benefit from a complimentary financial statement and tax return review to identify missed opportunities. You’ll also be able to discuss and review current retail and consumer topics and trends with CohnReznick industry leaders. In addition, all BRA Retail Members will receive 10% off CohnReznick standard hourly billing rates.
If you would like to be introduced directly to Jeff via email, please send an email request to me at doug@boardretailers.org – Doug Works, BRA Executive Director
If you are not already a BRA Retail Member, you can easily opt in to either Regular (no cost) or Distinguished ($100/yr.) Membership via this super simple join form