Dealerships

Dealerships

Succeed today — and tomorrow

Global supply chain disruption, digital transformation, and changing consumer purchasing preferences require you to evolve your strategy and business model. Whether you want help strategizing state and local tax planning to reduce your tax burden, evaluating new revenue streams, or assessing your technology to meet consumer demands and drive efficiencies, we’ll help your retail dealership prosper.

And if — or when — you’re ready, we can help with business transition, including transaction advisory, internal succession planning, and estate planning to preserve your personal legacy.

Our national practice serves more than 250 retail dealership clients, including automobile, commercial truck dealers, RV, motorcycle, power sports, heavy equipment dealers, and rental and fleet operators. Let us provide the future-focused strategy you need to succeed, today and tomorrow.

Discover strategies to manage trade & tariff impacts
As one of only a few audit, tax, and consulting firms with a dedicated dealership practice, we have the knowledge and resources to help you achieve your strategic objectives. We can help with:

Partners for the future

At Plante Moran, we’re not just focused on the issues of today. We’re always looking forward, working with our clients to put the future in focus and design strategies to make that future a reality. To do so, we make it a priority to learn each client’s individual goals and desires, versus taking a canned approach to their issues at hand.

We’re also in it for the long haul. With one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry, the same team will be by your side year after year, responding to your dealership’s distinct needs and tailoring future-focused strategies for continued success.

What’s it like to work with us?

In this short video, Kevin Flattery, industry leader and partner, touches on our “one-firm firm” model and how it leads to better client service: “We’re going to bring the right individual, with the right experience, at the right time, and the right discipline to find a solution for our client.” Learn what this means to our clients, how we serve them throughout their entire life cycle, and why we consistently earn their trust.

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Michael McDonald
President and CEO, McDonald Automotive

As a third-generation dealership owner-operator, I’ve spent my life immersed in the automotive industry. When I started the search for a new CPA firm almost 10 years ago, I was looking for a firm that not only understood our business but could also deliver creative ideas and help us grow. We found Plante Moran, and we’ve been with them ever since.

The difference was clear from the start. They didn’t just handle our tax returns and financial statements; they brought order and clarity to our accounting practices and GAAP reporting. They helped us see our business through a new lens and identified opportunities for expansion, cost segregation, data analytics, and estate and succession planning that we wouldn’t have uncovered on our own. In short, working with Plante Moran has been transformative for us. With multiple dealerships and complex filings, our tax situation isn’t simple, but Plante Moran makes it manageable — no more surprises on Tax Day.

They’re responsive, respectful of our time, and deeply knowledgeable — they even attend our board meetings. Our conversations go beyond numbers and figures; we talk about the future of our business and how we can be a healthier, more strategic company. And they know a lot about our industry, too. They may not be able to come in and fix a car, but they can fix any issues we encounter with tax optimization, cash flow planning, and internal control assessments.

I wholeheartedly recommend Plante Moran to any business, not just in the automotive industry. Their professionalism, expertise, and comprehensive capabilities have really elevated us to reach our full potential. We’ve doubled in size in the last five years, and I can confidently say that wouldn’t have happened without them.

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