Innes & Lotito, P.C. is a certified public accounting firm located in Macomb Township, Michigan. Jerry Innes & Mike Lotito started the firm in October 1992. We had worked together for six years at one of the oldest local CPA firms prior to going out on our own and started our own firm for the most basic of all business reasons. The firm where we had worked was sold, and we didn’t get a warm, fuzzy feeling about our future with the new owners. So we were faced with the choice of learning how to dance to somebody else’s tune or going into business for ourselves. We elected what appeared to be the easier option. We went into business.
The experience of starting a business from scratch has given us a perspective that many other accountants don’t have: a deeper understanding and appreciation for the sacrifices that other business operators face every day. As strange as it may sound, many larger accounting firms have no living founding members. The accountants working for these firms have followed a career path that doesn’t afford them any entrepreneurial insight or perspective of their own. We think our experiences in growing our firm gives us a better insight into the needs of the clients we serve. Sometimes in the early years of a new business venture there are doubts. Certainly we had those doubts, too, especially when missing a family picnic or showing up late to one of our kid’s birthday parties because of business commitments. It can make you question the reason for going into business. Are your efforts really producing a better life for your family, or is it some weird ego trip at the expense of your family? But, fortunately, during those years, we were too busy to notice something as insignificant as our own personal lives. So over the years the firm has grown, and it’s no longer just two balding, nerdy accountants. We now have several other nerdy accountants working with us. Of course, all of them have better hair than Mike and Jer.
So where are we now? We are getting further down the path in our business lives. We continue to have fun growing our practice. We are always looking for good client prospects. In the past few years, we have successfully merged in the practices of several retiring CPAs. We have worked hard to maintain our commitment to providing quality service and to recruit and train talented accountants to work within our firm. We are happy about quality of people that find value in working with us as clients and co-workers.
