History

In 1981, Bill Reed sold his share of equity in the largest accounting firm in Lafayette, and started his own firm. Bill had been in public accounting since 1964 and wanted to go a different direction than his partners. He began his new practice in West Lafayette with two other employees. He stressed service and was a leader in focusing on ways to help his clients become profitable, not only for the day, but into the future.

In 1985, Bill's son Tom joined the firm. Tom had been practicing with Mott & Crane in Indianapolis since his graduation from St. Joseph's in 1980. Upon the buy out of Mott & Crane in 1984, Tom returned to Lafayette to practice with his father. 

In 1987, Reed & Company, P.C. became one of the first firms in the area to begin urging their business clientele to automate their bookkeeping and accounting functions. Why would an accounting firm urge their clients to basically perform many of the duties that Reed & Company, P.C. performed for a fee? Our competitors thought we were insane. This was the cornerstone and beginning of a valuable new focus of the firm. Get our clients to perform the commodity type services that we used to handle and that will free up our time and resources to focus on planning and consulting to help our clients become more successful.

The firm started to grow faster than the staff could manage. In 1989, Tom convinced his old friend, Chuck Wolpert to join the firm. Chuck and Tom attended St. Joseph's together, and worked in Indianapolis at a "Big 6" firm together.  The firm continued to grow and in 2006, Jeff Brown joined the ranks of owners and brought more dimension to our client driven firm.  Jeff is a graduate of Indiana University and has an MBA from Western Michigan University.  He was a commercial lender for Bank One in Bloomington and Lafayette, and brings lots of development expertise.  At the end of 2006, Bob Smeltz became a partner and adds his real estate expertise to our client base.  In addition to being a licensed realtor, he is also an expert in 1031 exchanges.  Finally, Jeannie Dunten merged her practice with Reed & Company, P.C., and added her more than 20 years experience and capacity for auditing.

Our philosophy hasn't changed much since 1981. Give the customer prompt, timely, and cost-effective service and focus on ways to help our clients be successful in the future. Sometimes that requires us to ask the tough questions. Why are you doing it this way? Business owners are very territorial. That is sometimes a difficult question to ask. But our clients know that we always have their best interest in mind, and if we are asking tough questions, it is only because we care. Hopefully, this approach will carry us well into the 21st century, and we strive to continue to be on the cutting edge of new ways to serve you!