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Rick Scott has strong beliefs about how an accounting firm should be ran, and he isn't shy about expressing them.
For evidence, there's the popcorn machine in the lobby of Scott & Baldwin CPAs in Citrus Heights. You also can get a hot dog there or play a Ms. Pac-Man video game. It's intended to help clients relax, something that doesn't always come naturally with a visit to one's accountant.
Other departures from the norm are beneath the surface. For the past year Scott has. been changing his business model away from hourly billing to fixed prices for his services.
The 25-year-old firm ranked No. 50 in this year's Business Journal Fastest-Growing 100 list, with revenue growing from a bit more than $2 million in 2001 to $3.2 million in 2003.
But 2003 marked a parting of the ways. Scott had his concept of running an office, and the partners had theirs. Or as Scott puts it: "They didn't have the passion in the right direction."
Chris Mann, John Urrutia and Michelle Nelson, the former partners, went on to form Mann, Urrutia, Nelson CPAs & Associates LLP, with offices in Roseville and Sacramento. Mann, Urrutia, Nelson CPAs declined comment.
Scott kept the office (he's part-owner of the building), the company name and half of the old staff of 32 people.
Minding the books: A basic problem with many of the business service professions - attorneys, insurance agents, accountants and the rest - are that they sit and wait for the client to make contact, said Scott, who was convinced after reading a book co-authored by Ron Baker that touted the fixed-cost model.
''They are called advisers; they are supposed to be giving advice," he said. "But how many of them give you advice without being asked?"
By switching to a menu of fixed-price service, Scott is trying to make Scott & Baldwin more of a year-round adviser rather than the folks who handle taxes...