About Us
We are Smith Schafer
We are mostly known for helping local businesses grow with accounting and consulting solutions. People often refer to us as a helpful business advisor. We provide proactive solutions, deep expertise, and personal relationships, allowing you more time to work on growing your business.
As an award-winning CPA firm, we have been featured on Forbes Top Tax Firm list, awarded Best of Accounting Client Satisfaction by ClearlyRated, and named a Top Workplace in Minnesota by the Star Tribune.
Our Client Survey Results
- Net Promoter Score 81.1%
Average NPS score in the accounting industry – 41%
- Understanding of Client Needs 84.5%
- Delivers High-quality, Error-free Work 91.5%
Quick Facts
Established
1971 in Rochester, Minn.
Office Locations
Rochester, Minneapolis & Red Wing, Minnesota
Staff
Today, with approximately 100 professionals, we have become one of the fastest-growing CPA firms in the United States.
Leadership
22 principals
Client Industries
Construction/Real Estate, Professional Service Firms, Retail, Manufacturing, Transportation, Government & Nonprofit.
Focus
Provide high-quality, timely and value-added services to our clients.
Our Team
The Smith Schafer team is highly qualified and possesses the appropriate experience and expertise to serve you effectively. We place a major emphasis on ensuring our team’s background and capabilities are compatible with our clients’ industries and specialties as well as with the client’s management team.
Our team lives these values every day. It’s who we are.
Quality Service
Integrity & Objectivity
Teamwork
Community Involvement
Flexibility
Continual Learning Environment
Mentor & Teach
Passion
Respect
We are looking for talented, friendly, and proactive professionals.
Come join the Smith Schafer team!
5 Things You May Not Know About Us:
We Give Back
Giving back to our communities is important to us. Every year, we organize multiple team volunteer events, such as bagging food at Channel One, raking leaves with Hammer Residents, and adopting a nearby park to help clean.
We're Paperless
Smith Schafer is striving to be a paperless firm, and we try our best to prepare everything electronically. We offer a secure online portal to clients to facilitate the exchange of financial information and documents.
We help educate
We believe in providing a continuous learning environment for all of our clients. We send high-level content to our clients and email list groups. We also host several free events and webinars throughout the year to help educate our clients on current business topics.
We have strong roots
Our roots go all the way back to 1971. Richard Smith co-founded the company in Rochester, MN. Within five years, Al Schafer joined the practice and renamed the firm Smith Schafer and Company, not knowing that this six-person accounting firm would become one of the largest public accounting firms in Minnesota, with three locations and approximately 120 employees.
We're connected
From our local roots to our global connection, our active involvement with peers ensures our clients receive a large firm's resources but have the relationship experience with a small firm. Smith Schafer is a member of PrimeGlobal, the third largest association of independent accounting firms in the world, giving us access to a wide range of specialists with accounting and tax experience.