Balancing work and health

As the Porte Brown certified public accounting firm sponsors the Daily Herald's Cook of the Week Challenge for the third year, one might wonder what accounting and food have in common.

"The majority of my clients are in the food service and grocery industry, which is part of why I'm involved in the Cook of the Week Challenge as a sponsor and judge," says Mario Portanova, director of the firm's well-known food service and grocery industry niche market.

"Good food, cooking and family have always been a big part of my life," Portanova said. "I like high quality food. My wife loves to cook, and she cooks almost every night. I like to try new foods and keep up with the latest food trends.

"I also like to taste food from different countries. With our client relationships, we frequent restaurants of various ethnic groups such as European, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Asian."

So partnering with the Daily Herald's Cook of the Week Challenge makes sense for the accounting firm.

"We're happy to be a sponsor, and we like to get our clients involved every year by having them put on a food demonstration," Portanova said.

Most of the judges are chefs, so participants get a different perspective from Portanova, a judge who isn't a chef, but a foodie. Judges consider creativity, use of ingredients, ease of preparation, appearance and taste. For Portanova, it's a unique, out-of-the-box relationship.

He keeps track of the weekly competitions and loves looking at the different dishes and recipes that people come up with and enjoys the creative aspect of them putting different ingredients together for an award-winning dish. His wife also enjoys making some of the dishes herself.

Part of the event is that every year the judges also create a dish, which Portanova says is a lot of fun. This year his dish is Opaa Steak - which is steak marinated in Zesty Greek Yogurt Dip, served with crusted grilled eggplant.

"Involvement keeps us in touch with our clients and the food industry," Portanova said. "It makes sense that we're involved because of our specialty in the food and grocery businesses."

With the approaching holiday season, Porte Brown clients have more opportunities to come up with exciting holiday foods as the accounting firm helps them with end-of-year planning and year-end giving.

Porte Brown has been serving Chicago area clients for more than 65 years. It is a full service accounting and consulting firm well known for its food service and grocery industry consulting practice.

Its other niche markets include construction, health care, manufacturing and distribution, mortgage banking, not-for-profit, professional services, transportation and logistics and of course individuals and families.

The firm knows that restaurants, grocery and food servicing companies face many challenges in a crowded and competitive market. With its accounting and consulting services, Porte Brown plays an important role in keeping its clients businesses growing and becoming more profitable.

When Portanova started his practice in 1982, the majority of his business was in the restaurant industry, and that's what launched him into the food services field with lots of restaurants, grocery stores, and food service suppliers as clients.

He grew his practice around that foundation and through his hard work and consulting with these clients, he received a great deal of referrals within the industry, and he became involved in the arena.

"We provide valuable accounting services and financial and tax forecasting services for all our clients in the industry," Portanova said.

Porte Brown assists clients in making smart financial and business decisions leading to growth and profits now and in the future. The firm offers much more than tax services. It might implement accounting systems for a business, consult on tax planning or internal controls. It provides monthly and quarterly accounting services, financial forecasting and projections and consulting and strategic planning. It is a full-service organization with experts in each of its niche markets.

As the economy gradually turns the corner, there is a greater need for retailers and distributors to operate more efficiently, with further emphasis placed on cost reduction, expense management and customer retention.

As a standard practice, a team of accountants and consultants work onsite with clients. In the grocery and food industry it is especially important to meet face to face with clients and to be accessible when needed. This industry is extremely fast paced and can be very stressful at times.

With Porte Brown's hands-on approach, team members understand and appreciate all aspect of the business and do whatever it takes to help operations run as smoothly as possible.

"To hold ourselves out as an industry expert, we need to be where our clients are," Portanova said. "It's not good enough to read about food industry statistics or just to drop in on our clients once or twice a year. Grocery, food industry suppliers, and restaurant businesses are made up of a hard- working group of people. We need to be right there with our clients and learn as much about their customers as they do."

When clients' financial affairs are in order and well taken care of, they're in a better position to negotiate a deal whether it's better payment terms with a supplier, a better interest rate on new equipment or even an opportunity to expand into a new territory.

Porte Brown also provides its clients with a weekly newsletter that includes the latest need-to-know information such as upcoming events and industry happenings, important reminders of upcoming filing deadlines, updates from the latest available industry research reports and updates on emerging technologies and how they will affect the industry.

The company's professionals are proud of their contribution to the success of their clients and of helping them achieve their goals. They not only get to know their businesses, but also get to know them as friends.

Porte Brown is a member of the Illinois Food Retailers Association.

Porte Brown

Certified Public Accountants

845 Oakton St.

Elk Grove Village, IL

www.portebrown.com

(847) 956-1040