Benchmark Winner: People, Not Numbers Account for Beall Barclay & Company Success

Each year during the grueling January to April busy season, the Fort Smith-based public accounting firm plans a series of fun Tax Season Socials. Whether it’s sumo wrestling in the parking lot, Family Feud-inspired games, salon treatments or cake decorating contests, Beall Barclay & Company gives employees a much-needed mental break.

With an emphasis on extraordinary treatment of its staff and a firm commitment to quality work, Beall Barclay & Company is this year’s benchmark winner of the Arkansas Business Best Places to Work awards.

Carolyn Medeiros, CFO and firm administrator, has been with Beall Barclay & Company for 31 years. Medeiros turned her first job out of college into a lifelong career and helps run the human resources department, where she interacts with fellow employees on a regular basis.

“It’s not just a stiff shirt place to work,” Medeiros said. “It really is people being real. I’m in an HR capacity, so [employees] really are having babies, and trying to figure out how to go to work the next day after they didn’t sleep the night before. We’re working through and helping people with real issues, while doing public accounting.”

“Sonic ice” machine • Each employee has their own office • Free coke and cappuccino machine • “Dress for your day” dress code • Two weeks’ vacation plus overage time off • Company-wide book club

Flexibility
With real people and real issues in mind, Beall Barclay & Company has built a family-friendly atmosphere. Employees said company leaders don’t just talk about family, they actively implement policies that reflect those values and benefit employees.

“There is a real focus on family at Beall Barclay, and I love that,” said Rachael McGrew, business development director at Beall Barclay & Company who has been with the company since February 2017. “There’s a lot of flexibility in your work schedule. If I need to work different hours to accommodate my daughter’s activities, I know it’s OK to do that.”

Since the age of employees varies between brand-new college grads to accounting veterans who are close to retirement, Beall Barclay & Company understands the importance of modifying work schedules to meet the needs its employees. For example, if an older employee is looking to work less hours, Beall Barclay & Company works with that employee to come up with a better arrangement that benefits both parties.

“We try our best to create a work environment where people want to be their entire careers,” said Chris Brown, audit supervisor at Beall Barclay & Company. Brown has been with the company for eight years.

Individual Development Program
Beall Barclay & Company is heavily invested in its employees, and not just from a work perspective. The company recently switched from the normal yearly work evaluations to something called the Individual Development Program. This new program seeks to pinpoint the areas in which employees could improve, and together with their managers, an actual plan to improve is mapped out.

“We do our best to try to make people understand how valuable they are to the whole process,” Medeiros said. “The Individual Development Plan is for each person, not just to develop their job, but to develop them as a person and their career.”

Beall Barclay & Company is obviously doing something right. The glowing reviews from employees speak volumes to the company culture that fosters such happy and satisfied people. At the end of the day, a workplace is something like a second home. For the employees at Beall Barclay & Company, their company is a place they genuinely want to be.

“People say, ‘you’re a CPA, you work with numbers,’” Brown said. “No, I work with people. The people — clients and coworkers — who we build our business around is the reason for our success. As long as our focus is the people, I will be at Beall Barclay.”