With offices nationwide, Crowe Horwath is one of the largest public accounting and consulting firms in the U.S. The organization provides audit services for public and private entities—among them cooperatives—while also helping clients reach their goals with tax, advisory, risk and performance services.
Crowe Horwath has served cooperative clients for the past 25 years. Partner Greg A. Stump, who has personally provided tax and business consulting services to co-ops, says co-ops offer “tremendous benefits” to their members.
“They provide purchasing and marketing activities to members in a more economical manner,” he said, adding that co-ops also have an edge when it comes to competing with for-profit corporations offering similar services.
“They have a unique advantage by more closely tying the interests of their members to the success of the cooperative,” Stump said.
As Crowe Horwath grows its co-op client base, the accounting firm will continue to recommend two best practices cooperatives should embrace: 1.) Monetizing patronage savings through patronage distributions, and 2.) Adding value to members by employing co-op business processes.
One crucial process is strategic sourcing, a topic Crowe Horwath will cover in an October 22 webinar hosted by NCBA CLUSA: “Emerging Best Practices in Strategic Sourcing.”
Crowe Horwath will unpack a proven strategic sourcing solution that has helped a wide spectrum of businesses successfully save money by securing the best cost, while also addressing critical concerns such as safety, quality, delivery and customer service.
“When managed correctly, strategic sourcing provides a competitive cost advantage and is critical for risk mitigation. To optimize performance, your sourcing organization must have strategies for managing processes and engaging people that are outside of their immediate control,” said Wil Knibloe, a manager for Crowe Horwath’s Advisory Services group.
“This is especially critical in a co-op services environment, where sourcing requires an integrated and proactive approach to be truly strategic,” he said.
—Click here to register for this webinar