Universal Advisor 2008 Issue No. 2

Found in one out of every three American homes, Scrabble® has been sold in 121 countries and 29 different languages. The premise is simple: form words from individual lettered tiles by placing them on a grid. The challenge is one of connectivity: all new words must build off of an existing one. Anyone who’s been stuck with an undesirable letter tray full of Js, Qs, Xs, and that sometimes-vowel Y knows that successfully completing this game can be quite challenging indeed.

For example, let’s say that you want to build off of the letter “s” and have the following letters on your tray: q,i,v,i,u,t. An expert player would likely recognize that “qiviut” is actually a word (it’s a type of wool), and form the word “qiviuts.” Challenging, yes, but expert players are up to that challenge.

Helping our clients connect with the solutions that best benefit their businesses is similarly challenging. Like the aforementioned Scrabble® players, we’re up to that challenge.

Although Plante & Moran is among the largest accounting and business advisory firms in the nation, we continue to encounter organizations that equate us with audit and tax. They don’t necessarily connect us to global services, technology, operations improvement, corporate finance, litigation, valuation, and investigative services…the list goes on and on. As you’ll see, we do all of that and more.

In this issue of Universal Advisor, you’ll learn (1) why transparency is key to better health care decisions, (2) how to use financial ratios to uncover fraud, (3) how to help your expatriate staff members succeed in their international roles, (4) how to capitalize on the soft real estate market by recasting your current lease, and (5) why adhering to a long-term financial plan is the best course of action amidst current economic uncertainty. You’ll read all about Plante Moran Financial Advisors and learn what you can do to make the R&D tax credit permanent. Finally, you’ll read about ROUSH in our client profile. Headquartered in Livonia, Mich., ROUSH has been connecting the transportation industry with engineering, manufacturing, and product development services since 1976.

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