Company:
McCormick Company
Amarillo, TX

Business:
Full Service Advertising

Staff:
75 in four offices

System:
Windows NT

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s they fast approach eight decades in the business, McCormick Company knows that an integrated approach to marketing communications is a must. This full-service agency boasts an impressive roster of services, from strategic marketing planning, market research and general advertising to public relations, investor relations and crisis management.

What they don't do, oddly enough, is financial accounting. "We're communications people, not accountants," explains Kathy Cornett, McCormick's chairman. In fact, there isn't a single accounting person anywhere in their organization.

Unix Woes

Before using Clients & Profits, McCormick had one in-house bookkeeper keeping up with day-to-day accounting chores using an old UNIX-based system called AMS. "We limped along with the old system as best as we could," says Kathy. To help fill in where the process left off, McCormick outsourced traditional CPA services, like tax and financial consulting, to their CPA firm, Hudgins Humphrey Moore LLC, in Amarillo.

In late 1999, McCormick realized that they needed to replace their AMS system, which wasn't Y2K compatible and was being discontinued by its developer, Marketing Resources Plus, at the end of that year. "We were heartbroken when AMS said they wouldn't support the software anymore," Kathy said. ("We were kicking and screaming," she says.) But the change was unavoidable. As they began to evaluate agency management systems they turned to the American Association of Advertising Agencies, which compiles a comprehensive list of agency management software.

Kathy queried other AAAA members about their experiences, and some told her "you can't go wrong with Clients & Profits." Ready with a list of potential systems, they asked Hudgins Humphrey Moore to conduct a formal review and make a recommendation.

The team narrowed the choices down to MRP's Adman and Clients & Profits, then turned the final decision back over to McCormick. After a final review, they purchased Clients & Profits in March, 2000.

Defining a new relationship

As a forward-thinking firm, Hudgins Humphrey Moore shies away the stigma often pinned on traditional CPA firms. "We don't want to be referred to as just tax accountants and auditors," says Rick Zimmer, CPA and lead accountant for McCormick. "Our concept -- and our goal -- is to walk side-by-side with our clients as their partner."

During McCormick's software review, Jack Hudgins, a CPA and a partner in Hudgins Humphrey Moore, sat down with the agency's principals and brainstormed an innovative new relationship: Hudgins Humphrey Moore would handle all of the financial accounting using Clients & Profits in their office, while McCormick's four offices would connect to Clients & Profits database remotely to manage the creative, production, traffic, and media side of the business. McCormick, in essence, would outsource their entire back office.

At Hudgins Humphrey Moore, a staff of four were dedicated to handling McCormick's day-to-day accounting, including monthly and quarterly analyses, annual financial statements, and tax services. Turning all financial responsibility over to an outside company added an unexpected new professionalism to McCormick Company.

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