The 2019 Fastest Growing Firms: Element 78 Partners

Consulting: What were the main factors that contributed to your firm's exceptional growth?

Signa: Our growth is largely attributed to our people and our clients. Our employees bring decades of experience in accounting and finance across multiple industries.

Consulting: How is this year shaping up for your firm?

Signa: While 2018 was an exceptional year for us, 2019 is shaping up to be even better, as our firm is on pace to more than double its revenue. Our team has grown from 16 to 22 FTEs and we're working with several new general partners/clients.

Consulting: How would you describe your firm's outlook for 2020? 

Signa: We see tremendous opportunities within private equity. Our firm is committed to serving the PE community and has tailored its service offerings to meet the accounting and financial operation needs of private equity funds and, the portfolio companies they invest in. Outsourcing non-core business processes, such as fund administration or accounting is a trend that will certainly continue given the value proposition. Advancements in technology, especially cloud-based enterprise solutions, provide businesses with tremendous optionality today. One option, is to outsource business processes, such as accounting, to firms like ours that have invested in enterprise accounting software and accounting professionals that can not only process your transactions but provide you with invaluable insights on your business operations, in a much more cost effective and timely fashion. Our firm is well-positioned to capture market share, as businesses are being transitioned to the next generation, who is far more technologically advanced than their predecessors and in favor of this paradigm shift.

Consulting: What would you say are your biggest challenges in 2020?

Signa: The U.S. economy is the strongest in the world right now and labor markets are extremely tight. Being able to keep up with client demand is highly dependent on our ability to recruit new talent. As one of the youngest firms on this list, one of our biggest challenges is brand recognition/awareness. While we target senior-level public accounting professionals from the top 20 firms and industry professionals, we know we're not for everyone. If you're looking to build a resume, we're not for you. We're young and scrappy entrepreneurs building a "different" kind of consulting business. Finding like-minded, entrepreneurial professionals is a challenge and is key to our continued success.

Consulting: What does being named one of Consulting's Fastest Growing Firms mean to your firm, your employees and your clients?

Signa: We could never achieve this growth or recognition without our dedicated employees or clients. Our team's ability to focus first on understanding our clients' pain points and desired outcomes in order to provide solutions that create value has been the key to our success. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunities to serve our clients and accept this recognition in their honor.