Calibre CPA Group, PLLC

Accounting for associations, unions and benefit plans

Calibre CPA Group is a certified public accounting firm that arranges its work around organizations most general practices treat as a side line: trade and professional associations, other not-for-profits, labor unions, employee benefit plans and ordinary business enterprises. It works nationwide through bases around Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Washington, DC, and says it has more than 200 specialists on staff.

The firm describes its service as full-service accounting and advisory work with the capabilities of a much larger practice. Its pitch is that tax-exempt organizations face a particular load of compliance and reporting rules, and that it takes on that load so clients can concentrate on their mission.

Audit, accounting and financial services

The base of the practice is audit and accounting. For not-for-profits, that means handling the financial compliance and regulatory questions that come with tax-exempt status. The firm also prepares the annual information returns such organizations must file, and describes audit and tax return work as one combined engagement for some clients. It says its partners give advice on strengthening financial controls and on running operations more efficiently, not only on producing the numbers.

Labor unions and regulatory reporting

Calibre describes itself as the nation's leading provider of accounting and advisory solutions for labor unions. Unions carry special reporting duties, among them the annual financial reports they file with the Department of Labor, and the firm presents its knowledge of those rules as the reason unions choose it. Its news section follows changes to those filings along with other tax-reporting developments such as new 1099 requirements and updated electronic filing procedures for exempt-organization forms.

Employee benefit plans, forensic work and consulting

For employee benefit plans, the firm helps plan sponsors prepare for rule changes, meet regulatory requirements and make their plans run more efficiently. A separate forensic and risk advisory practice handles investigations and risk reviews. On the consulting side it positions itself as a financial problem solver offering practical advice to businesses that want to be more efficient and stay current in their industries.

How the firm works

Calibre says every client, large or small, gets responsive and personalized service from its partners and wider team, together with recommendations drawn from years of experience. It also publishes year-end tax releases and runs a podcast called Counting on Calibre, and it reports that Forbes magazine named it one of America's best tax and accounting firms.