Advisory Services

As financial management, regulatory compliance, and working with the federal government become increasingly complex for businesses, not-for-profit entities, and local and tribal governments, Walker & Armstrong’s client advisory services take on growing value.

Advisory Services Leadership

We use the term “client advisory services” to describe a broad and holistic range of client-focused, outsourced services – for private companies, not-for-profit entities, tribal governments and state and local government entities – that frequently include:

  • financial oversight and complex accounting
  • data compilation, analytics and reporting
  •  budgeting and expense management
  • profitability and financial metric analysis
  • business process improvements and internal controls
  • grant financial management
  • federal funding support
  • GASB 34 financial statements
  • pre-audit services
  • financial planning and analysis
  • financial staff training
  • CFO and controller recruiting assistance and mentoring
  • turnaround management

In contrast to “compliance” services (i.e., tax returns and audited financial statements), which are typically performed in response to a third-party requirement, advisory services are more pro-active in nature. They reflect a “whole client” understanding of your needs and, at their most valuable levels, stem from our knowledge of your major objectives and opportunities, many of which require a quick response from you and your advisory services team.

While advisory services have been prominent among Walker & Armstrong’s areas of assistance for decades, we found that many of our clients became more accustomed to sharing financial data remotely during COVID-19. That is consistent with the results of a 2020 survey by CPA.com, which revealed that 29% of respondents identified “advisory and consulting” as their greatest unmet need. 

Following are very recent examples of how Walker & Armstrong clients have benefited from an advisory services package that was tailored to their specific and changing needs:

  • For a start-up client, provided full-cycle services, beginning with bookkeeping, continuing with audit preparation, and compiling their first-ever issued financial statements.
  • To rescue a client whose previous consultants had made some poor choices in their accounting system conversion, coordinated the clean-up of a number of messes on their books and achieved a clean audit in the second year of our relationship.
  • Provided guidance for a tribal government’s Gaming Revenue Allocation Plan to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
  • Helped a client that was just getting back on its feet by designing a chart of accounts that would grow with their needs.
  • Drafted content for a client to adopt a financial code, policies, and procedures, and develop its first general fund budget appropriation.
  • After a tribal client received a substantial allocation from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, helped them structure their assistance programs to conform with the General Welfare Doctrine; assisted with drafting subrecipient monitoring tools and the subrecipient agreement; helped them set up their accounting structure to facilitate reporting to the Tribal Council and the U.S. Department of the Treasury; drafted guidance for the tribe and its subrecipients; and provided technical training to a group of subrecipients.

To discuss how Walker & Armstrong can assist your entity, please contact Advisory Services director Ken Mason.

The "Walker & Armstrong Difference"

We do not simply help you comply. We help you succeed.

Walker & Armstrong was established in 1971 on a simple premise: To help our clients enhance their success and achieve their goals. The importance of delivering uncompromising client service – as you define it – and exceeding your expectations is instilled at all levels of our firm, and it is fundamental to our core values of:

  • integrity
  • accountability
  • positive attitude
  • respect.

The “Walker & Armstrong Difference” is evident to the hundreds of clients with whom we have served as partners in planning and progress.

We Are Easy to Work With

You will appreciate our experience with entities like yours, our consistency in staffing from year to year, and our emphasis on careful planning, hands-on partner involvement and effective communication. Our ability to anticipate the course of your engagement protects you from unwanted surprises and unnecessary disruptions to your routine.

We Honor Our Commitments ... and Help You Honor Yours

We understand the frustration and risk stemming from missed deadlines and broken promises. That is why, at every step in the process, from staffing your engagement and calendaring our target dates to delivering the finished product, our focus is on meeting your expectations for timeliness, accuracy and thoroughness.

We Add Value to Your Company or Organization

Every dollar you spend on administrative requirements is a dollar diverted from profitability or fulfilling your mission. Maximizing the return on your professional fees is an absolute necessity.

Our four-decade tradition of austerity in managing our firm has consistently yielded savings that benefit our not-for-profit and commercial clients. Our fee structure is competitive with firms of comparable quality; we are faithful to our quoted fees; and we are vigilant in seeking opportunities to add value to our services and to your business.

We Look Out for Your Interests

In addition to offering techni­cal expertise, research tools and other resources that rival the qualities of a national firm, we are alert to emerging regulatory requirements and opportunities for administrative and operational improvements.

We Help You Fulfill Your Mission

Your relationship with Walker & Armstrong means far more than mere compliance with requirements placed on you by lenders, investors and the government. We carefully tailor our services to your mission, objectives, and service needs, and everything we do for you is shaped by our “big picture” understanding of what you are striving to achieve.

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