We believe in the value of relationships. We view every client relationship like a partnership, and truly believe that our success is a result of your success.

We are committed to providing close, personal attention to our clients. We take pride in giving you the assurance that the personal assistance you receive comes from years of advanced training, technical experience and financial acumen. Our continual investment of time and resources in professional continuing education, state-of-the-art computer technology and extensive business relationships is indicative of our commitment to excellence.

Gould & Swanson was founded in 1968 by Robert K. Gould, CPA, former partner, and Roger C. Swanson, CPA, former manager, of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (KPMG). Prior to that time, each had held similar positions in a predecessor firm, Graef, Cutting & Coit.

In 1982 Roger C. Swanson succeeded Robert K. Gould as managing partner & president and William J. Swierat, CPA, a member of the firm since 1972, was admitted as an owner. In 1997 William J. Swierat succeeded Roger C. Swanson, as managing partner & president and Daniel E. Connell, CPA, a former partner of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (KPMG), was admitted as an owner & vice-president, specializing in tax. In 2002, Joseph M. Becht, CPA, who joined the firm in 1992, was admitted as an owner.

The firm presently employs 6 professional staff members and 2 administrative personnel.

As a member of the AICPA - PCPS, the AICPA Alliance for CPA Firms, and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, we maintain the highest level of quality control. Each of our professional staff members must complete a minimum of 40 continuing education hours per year. In addition, the firm is subject to a peer review every three years. We successfully passed our first peer review in 1984, and every three year period thereafter.

Our primary objective is to provide quality service to our clients and maintain the highest performance and reporting standards of our profession. Over the years, the firm has established a solid reputation in the community which has enabled us to maintain a steady and sustained growth in new clients and services.

The following is a discussion of our Firm's Client Service Concepts. We have found that explanations of these concepts to our clients helps avoid misunderstandings and enhances our ability to work more closely with you. Moreover, although these concepts may involve services you do not currently require, this discussion may help to clarify future engagements.

We not only aim to perform our work in keeping with the highest professional standards, but we also expect our work to be conducted efficiently and completed on time. We plan our engagements to make sure we do this. Nevertheless, because of circumstances beyond our control, and often beyond yours as well, this is not always possible. When circumstances arise where our plan cannot be carried out, we ask our people to inform you promptly of additional work we must do or of delays in completing our work. We believe you should be made aware of any matter that may impact our service or fees and to help resolve any problems which might arise.

Within the framework of our professional standards, we use our skills as accountants and auditors on your behalf. However, as the management entity, you are necessarily more familiar with its day-to-day operations and with the reality underlying its books and records. Accordingly, your management (and board of directors) will remain primarily responsible for the data and information contained in the financial statements, as well as for the maintenance of adequate accounting records and internal controls for safeguarding the company's assets. As we near completion of our audit work, we ask you to carefully review the financial statements and confirm to us in writing the important representations they contain which we rely upon. Therefore, if there is anything in those statements that is not completely clear to you, you should question us until you are satisfied.

When we report upon your financial statements or other financial data, our exercise of professional due care includes important processes wherein we review our own work. When our work has been completed, our findings will be presented to you in a formal report. Accordingly, although we may sometimes make a draft copy of our report available to you as a courtesy, those findings are not to be relied upon or disseminated until our completed formal report is issued.

The inclusion of our reports in documents containing information in addition to the financial statements and our reports thereon (e.g., annual reports to shareholders, regulatory filings, offering circulars, etc.) may require us to perform additional procedures to fulfill our professional or legal responsibilities. Accordingly, our reports should not be used for any such purposes without our consent. In addition, to avoid unnecessary delay or misunderstanding, it is important that you give us timely notice of your intention to issue any such document.

Our tax professionals will assist you in determining the lowest tax the law requires. We urge you to engage us to help plan your affairs to take maximum advantage of those provisions of the tax code and regulations that might work to your benefit. However, as you know, we rely on your timely submission to us of the information we need to prepare proper returns for you. In turn, we will undertake to furnish you with tax filings sufficiently in advance of their due dates to give you time to review them. Your signature on a tax return evidences a serious responsibility and we want you to understand the document before you sign. We believe you are better served by an extension of the filing date, if necessary, than by an oversight caused by a hasty filing.

In addition, we know you understand that not all provisions of the tax code are absolutely clear and that some tax positions we may discuss with you are not free from doubt or may be changed by subsequent interpretations. When there is doubt concerning the tax alternatives, we will discuss this with you so that you will be able to decide on the position you wish to take.

Our management consultants are ready to help you deal with many of your business opportunities, problems and decisions. Because of their great variety of skills and experience, we hope you will soon get to know the consultants we have assigned to your service team. Any engagements they perform for you should always be subject to a clear understanding as to the scope of their work, the results to be achieved, the time the project will take, and the fees for our services.

We will seek, whenever possible, to involve your people in the implementation of our suggestions, as we are convinced that only then will you get the maximum benefit from our work. Also, in our consulting, as in all our other services, we do not permit our personnel to make management decisions or otherwise to usurp management's functions. Instead, our efforts are directed to business and financial advice, the analysis of problems, the recommendation of solutions, and to monitoring the implementation of such solutions.

As professional accountants, auditors and management consultants, we provide our clients with accounting, tax, financial and business services and advice - not investment advice. We do not recommend the purchase or sale of stocks, bonds or any other investment(s). For example, when clients request that we "find" them a "tax shelter," our policy is to furnish them with the materials for several such investments which appear to meet their requirements, and advise them solely with respect to the tax aspects. We do not recommend, vouch for the bona fides of, or act as "offeree representative" with respect to these - or any other investments.

We would be pleased to provide you with accounting and tax advice or consulting assistance in connection with proposed business acquisitions or dispositions, including assistance with locating potential buyers or sellers. In any event, the accounting and tax ramifications are such that it is essential you notify us as soon as possible of your intention to enter into any such transaction - and certainly in advance of entering into any contract which refers to us or to our report (s).

In the accounting and auditing area, when you make an acquisition, we find it is invariably to your advantage to have the financial statements of the company to be acquired audited by the seller's accountants and for us to review their work. This is usually the most cost-effective means of proceeding and minimizes delay in the issuance of the seller's financial statements. Conversely, if you are the seller, we would expect the purchaser's accountants to review our work prior to the issuance of our final report. Among other matters, this protects you against the buyer later claiming misunderstanding (or disagreement) with respect to your accounting policies and methods.

One last point: to provide you with proper, unbiased and objective service, our professionals should be independent of your organization. This not only means that our people should not have any investment or other business dealings with your organization or personnel, but also, that they cannot accept gifts or other personal payments from you in appreciation for their services. Naturally, they are not to accept any commissions or other payments from any suppliers or other parties with whom you do business for having referred them to you. These rules are very important and we monitor this policy very closely.