GT Firm News Articles
Dave Grandgenett: GONE GOLFIN’!
By: Hope Hols, Administrative Assistant | email
After 38 years of service with the firm, auditor Dave Grandgenett will be retiring at the end of 2011. We at Gardiner Thomsen are sad to see him go, but at the same time we like to remember the many years that Dave has faithfully served the firm.
Dave remembers that, after he was hired by Dan through a referral by a friend, one of his first duties was to babysit young Dennis and Mark Gardiner. He also learned some of the most basic post-college lessons from working at the firm, although his career wasn’t without challenges. One of the most memorable accounting challenges he remembers overcoming was in the late 1970’s, and he had to recreate what was bought and sold at a soybean plant prior to its unexpected explosion.
Even with all the challenges he overcame, Dave has found most rewarding aspect of working at Gardiner Thomsen to be working with and getting to know the firm’s clients in the small town setting. After retirement, Dave is looking forward to spending more time golfing, working outside, spending time with his grandchildren, and traveling with his wife, Lorrie. Gardiner Thomsen wishes all the best to Dave!
New Lincoln Office Address
By: Gardiner Thomsen CPAs | email
We are happy to announce that with the growth of our Lincoln, Nebraska office, we’ve had to move into a larger location. Don’t worry, we didn’t move far, but if you’d like to get directions or drop by to see the new location, just give us a call! Please make a note that our new address is:
Gardiner Thomsen CPAs
5901 S. 58th St. Suite F
Lincoln, NE 68516
P: (402) 475-3482
F: (402) 475-3484
Over 46 Years…and Counting!
By: Gardiner Thomsen CPAs | email
For the past 46 years, Dan Gardiner has managed his own firm, and we have all truly benefited from his leadership. But 46 years is quite a while, so Dan has decided to start keeping limited office hours. He recently announced that effective January 1, 2011, he is stepping down in his role as managing partner of Gardiner Thomsen.
“Due to recent health struggles, I have not been able to spend the time this position requires,” he said. Not to worry though, he’ll still be around to offer his seasoned expertise.
Dan has decided to name his son, Dennis, to the position of Managing Partner. “With the role Dennis has played in the day to day operation of the firm, I would expect this to be a smooth transition.’ Dan said.
Please join our firm in congratulating Dennis Gardiner!
Section 199 Amended Return Update
By: Gardiner Thomsen CPAs | email
We have recently received verbal notification from the IRS that all amended returns which have been filed to claim the increased section 199 deduction will be disallowed, and to look for formal written notification of this decision by the end of September. Our hope is that the IRS will be specific as to why these amended returns have been disallowed, so that we will be able to challenge the veracity of the IRS action. Once we have the opportunity to assess the formal IRS position, we will be able to suggest the appropriate strategy for our clients. Generally speaking, the next step would be to appeal the IRS disallowance on a coop by coop basis.
The appeals department of the IRS is separate and totally independent from the audit department. We will have the opportunity to present the evidence we have which we feel authorizes the filing of these amended returns and directly refutes the IRS reasons for their initial disallowance. We remain confident that our position will be upheld and that the amended return claims will be processed and paid. We are also confident that our section 199 strategy for current returns appears to be unaffected by this upcoming IRS action.
In the meantime, we will determine whether or not to continue filing amended returns. To briefly explain, a taxpayer generally has a 3 year window in which to file an amended return. After 3 years, that ability is lost. So, a calendar year cooperative with a December 31, 2006 tax year would have until September 15, 2010 to file an amended return. Our policy has been to file these amended returns generally as the statute comes due, to make sure we have the latest IRS information prior to filing, and still file prior to the statute expiring.
Until this issue is resolved, we want to evaluate each coop’s situation to determine if filing amended returns are in your best interest. We now know to expect IRS scrutiny of your amended return, so we will factor that into the decision to file a particular return as well.
We will continue to monitor this situation and work closely with you to take the most appropriate action for your cooperative.
New Faces at Gardiner Thomsen
By: Dennis Gardiner, Partner | email
As we visit your offices to perform your audits, you may notice a few new faces. Like any firm, we have had some turnover, but we have also increased the size of our staff this year and have enjoyed growth at a faster pace than in past years.
Now, we would like to introduce Tony Miller, CPA, as one of our newest staff members. Tony came to us after having passed the CPA exam (on his first try!) and we are very excited to have him on our team. He’s recently married, competes in Log cutting at the State Fair, and has relocated to work out of our Charles City, Iowa office. Tony will be focusing on cooperative and governmental auditing.
A bit about Tony:
• Born November 12, 1985 to Nicholas and Lori Miller
• Grew up in Des Moines, attended East High School
• Graduated Cum Laude in December 2008 from the University of Northern Iowa
• Took review courses for the CPA exam at University of Northern Iowa, Spring ’09
• Passed the CPA exam on his first try in May 2009
• Married his wife, Staci, on June 27, 2009
• Enjoys football, fishing, hunting, cooking and reading
New Faces at Gardiner Thomsen
By: Dennis Gardiner, Partner | email
As we visit your offices to perform audits, you may notice a few new faces. We have increased the size of our staff this year and have enjoyed growth at a faster pace than in the past. Much of this growth is associated with your growth. Your industry continues to consolidate and grow. We have always been proud to be associated with organizations who are survivors; successful companies whose goals are to build strong balance sheets to ensure their financial viability.
We have increased the size of our professional staff in our Lincoln, NE, Sioux Falls, SD and our Des Moines, IA offices. We continue to look for growth opportunities to further develop and challenge our staff and to ensure career opportunities. We find ourselves stretching the boundaries a little further to reach some of our prospective clients, but welcome the chance to show the Gardiner Thomsen difference.
Despite the small turnover we encounter, we are proud that our experience level continues to grow. We have enjoyed excellent retention of our senior staff, which equates to experienced, knowledgeable individuals performing your audits. This level of experience is important to companies like yours, especially with the economic times and high volatility of your businesses.
We are really proud and excited about our current staff and look forward to serving your companies and having these new faces become familiar to you and your organizations.
Gardiner Thomsen Celebrates 45 Years!
By: Gardiner Thomsen CPAs | email
It started with Dan Gardiner, who early in his college career at Drake University in Des Moines, decided to take a job as a bookkeeper at a local cooperative elevator. It was in this occupation that he learned of his passion for working at coops, as well as the accounting industry. As he recalls, the “Board of Directors and the management at the coop were very professional” and he enjoyed doing business with them.
In 1955, after temporarily leaving college for a two-year period in the United States Army as a warehouse engineer, Dan took full advantage of the GI Bill and returned to Drake University to finish his accounting degree. During those remaining college years, he held a total of five part-time jobs to keep himself busy. On top of continuing to keep the books at the local coop elevator, he assisted with the assembly and delivery of the Sunday Register, worked as a bookkeeper for a shoe store and a gas station, and even dug graves, where he earned not only $125 per month plus $25 per grave, but he also earned the nickname “Digger.”
After graduating from Drake in 1957, Dan joined a local accounting firm and became a full-time auditor, auditing grain elevators. During the nearly seven years he spent there, Dan married his wife, Mary.
In 1963, he left the accounting firm to continue auditing elsewhere. Eventually, he joined a large cooperative association auditing grain elevators. However, in 1964, the association discontinued their auditing sector. It was then that Dan decided to go into business for himself.
On October 19, 1964, Dan opened the firm under the name Dan Gardiner, CPA in Des Moines, Iowa. Since business was just starting up, his wife Mary would act as secretary and would type audit reports every night after the kids went to bed, sometimes staying up until 2 A.M. to be able to finish them on time.
He continued business by himself until 1974, when he hired some partners. Dan Gardiner, CPA then became Gardiner Nail Davis. Throughout the course of this transition, three offices were added: one in Nebraska, one in Eagle Grove, Iowa and the other in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
In 1981, Dan separated from the firm and started Gardiner and Company. The company was then incorporated in 1982. Dan, along with partner Dave Thomsen, has had a few other individuals as partners throughout the years.
In 2003, after continuing as Gardiner and Company for 21 years, two new partners were added: sons, Daniel Mark Gardiner and Dennis Gardiner, both of whom have worked at the firm since graduating from college. The firm’s name became Gardiner Thomsen, and continues as such today.
Having started as just an auditing-only firm, such services as corporate and personal tax return preparation and tax planning, mergers and consolidations and business consulting have been added over the years in order to more efficiently meet our clients’ needs. Also, between four partners and our staff, there are over 200 years of combined experience in the cooperative industry, and we operate from four different offices: Des Moines, Iowa; Lincoln, Nebraska; Charles City, Iowa and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
In speaking with Dan, he remembers why he stuck with the farmers’ cooperative industry throughout the years: it was because of that first bookkeeping job where he learned how much he enjoyed working for a coop. What he has enjoyed most throughout his years of being an accountant has been the ability to work with the clients and make sure that their business needs are met, “because without them, we have no business.”
Although there are challenging aspects to owning and maintaining an accounting firm, such as keeping up with accounting laws and regulations for several different industries, for Dan the most rewarding aspect of owning the firm all these years has been the fact that he has had the opportunity to train and pass on his knowledge and love for the cooperative industry to many young accountants who have worked at the firm.
Thank you to all our employees, past and present, and especially our loyal customers who have supported us for the last 45 years! We look forward to continuing to serve you!
No-Spam Newsletters
By: Gardiner Thomsen CPAs | email
Gardiner Thomsen strives to provide you with timely, valuable information so you can make more informed decisions. Two of the vehicles we use to do this are this printed newsletter and our E-newsletter. In an effort to better organize and track the popularity of certain topics and ensure your privacy and profile settings are current and correct, we will be sending out a printed mailing for you to fill out and return.
In accordance with No-Spamming policies, we are requesting that you confirm your contact information and choices for receiving, or not receiving, certain news and information from us. As we become more technologically savvy, we remain focused on your needs. Please be on the look-out for this letter! We hope that you enjoy the information you receive and, as always, we welcome your comments and suggestions!
New Hires at GT
By: Gardiner Thomsen CPAs | email
Gardiner Thomsen is expanding! We are very excited about our recent growth and would like to take this opportunity to introduce the newest members of our team. We know they’ll be valuable assets to the Gardiner Thomsen family and will do a superb job serving our clients.
Ben Wickum, CPA – MBA, University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, MN. BA, Hamline University, Saint Paul, MN. Ben is an Auditor at our Des Moines office.
Toby Jeffers – BA, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Toby is an Auditor at our Lincoln office.
Kelvin Kemp, CPA – MBA, BA, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Kelvin is an Auditor at our Lincoln office.
Justin Williams – BA, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls. Justin is an Auditor at our Des Moines office.
Patrick Gross – BA, University of South Dakota, Vermillion. Patrick is an Auditor at our Sioux Falls office.
Tony Miller – BA, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls. Tony is an Auditor at our Charles City office.
Changes in Accounting Method For Form 3115
By: Gardiner Thomsen CPAs | email
Last year, based on IRS guidance, we changed the way that Section 199 was computed. This year we are researching the Internal Revenue Code, specifically sections 1381, 1382 and 1383, which are related to Section 199, to investigate the possibility of writing down your tax basis member grain inventory (in dollars) to zero. This would have the affect of creating a tax deduction equal to your ending member grain inventory.
While we are still in the research stages, we are aware that one of the “big four” firms is moving forward with this write-down, and is in fact, contacting our clients. We believe this to be somewhat premature as the IRS is still in the process of ruling on contingent matters. However, this strategy is worthy of our continued investigation. It is based upon filing form 3115, which asks the IRS permission to compute inventory under the auspices of section 1383. Once the IRS grants this permission, your cooperative could record a tax deduction equal to your ending member grain inventory. In plain English –an extremely large tax deduction.
As always, we are on top of this cutting edge tax issue and are researching and planning strategy so that if in fact this is a viable option for you cooperative, we will implement this calculation.