Easing a TAXING Transition.

• Author: CAMPBELL, MELISSA
• Position: Brief Article

Before closing its local office, Deloitte and Touche finds new home for its employees, clients.

Diane Fejes is used to stress at work. She'd gone through the anxieties and uncertainties of two mergers in two decades of working for accounting firms. Tax laws and regulations change often, and when dealing with the Internal Revenue Service, you've got to keep up or your clients are in trouble.

Last summer, Fejes faced what could have been a life-altering decision. Her employer, the international accounting firm of Deloitte and Touche, decided to close its Anchorage office to focus more energy on larger, publicly traded clients. And there aren't many of those in Alaska.

In just more than a month, Fejes and about 45 of her coworkers had some tough decisions to make. They could relocate to another Deloitte office, leaving their homes, friends and families. Or they could delve into the dreaded task of job hunting. Luckily, something better came along. Before they closed shop, Deloitte made some unusual efforts to find its employees and their clients a place to go.

Deloitte officials approached another large international accounting firm, KPMG, about taking on its clients and those employees who chose to stay in Alaska.

Deloitte made the decision to close in late March. A formal announcement was made April 18 that closing day was May 31. The next day, KPMG's client portfolio greatly expanded and its office of 60 employees had increased by nearly half, said KPMG managing partner Kathy Porterfield.

"It was a positive thing for Deloitte to have done," she said. "It was a little stressful...