ARTICLES
The accounting firm of J.S. Richter occupies an unusual and
very specific niche in the profession, and as Jack Richter
will admit, he found that niche because of a bit of good luck.
"In 1977, when I was a partner with a large local firm,
I received a call from the Commerzbank in Chicago asking me
if I would be interested in providing accounting services
to German-owned subsidiaries in the U.S. They told me later
that the German American Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois
Society of CPAs searched for a German-speaking accountant
for the bank by randomly calling CPAs with German-sounding
names from the Society's membership list."
In 1979, at the urging of bankers and friends, Richter, who
was born in Austria and came to the United States for his
professional education, stepped out on his own. He founded
J.S. Richter, Ltd., focusing his clientele on working with
the U.S. offices of German, Swiss and Austrian industrial
and commercial companies.
"Clients, can feel comfortable discussing business matters
in their native language," Richter explains. "Plus,
we can negotiate their German-language documents without undue
difficulty."
Richter worked as sole owner with several associates for
two decades. Then, in 1998, his practice took on a whole new
dimension when his son Michael joined him as a partner. Michael,
a CPA, also had extensive international experience as an engineer
in the machine industry prior to joining the firm. Today,
they lead a firm that includes three associates as well, supported
by and administrative staff of two. In addition, Richter Sr.
is a director of the German American Chamber of Commerce of
the Midwest.
The firm performs audits and other accounting services, including
corporate taxes and special assignments. They have expertise
in European Union accounting rules, dealings with the international
division of the Internal Revenue Service, currency exchange,
transfer pricing issues, and multi-state tax rules. Their
clients come from various industries, such as machine tools,
medical instruments, robotics, software and special-purpose
machinery.
— 225 Newsletter Volume 10, Issue 2 - Fall/Winter
2003-2004
Published by USAA Realty Company for the tenants at 225 West Washington
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