About The Firm

Arcara & Borczynski LLP (A&B) was formed in 1994 by Joseph Arcara and Chester Borczynski and maintains its office in downtown Buffalo. Both Joe and Chet were partners in a predecessor firm for over 20 years, and each has been in public accounting for over 40 years. David Arcara and Diane Fronckowiak were admitted as partners January 1, 2008, and they both have over 15 years of experience servicing labor organizations and their related employee benefit funds. A&B started with seven employees and has since grown to a staff of 17, including eight CPAs, six staff/senior accountants, and three full-time administrative personnel. Three of our six staff persons have passed the CPA exam and will earn the formal designation of CPA in the near future. We take pride in creating a family atmosphere within the firm and have been successful in our efforts as evidenced by the low turnover and longevity of our staff. This consistency in our staff helps to ensure that there will be minimal changes within the A&B personnel who work with the Plan staff. This eliminates inefficiencies in our client service, as there is no need for our clients to help "train new auditors" on an annual basis. Our firm is small enough to provide consistent, personal service where each member of our team, from the partner down to each staff person, is available to meet our clients' needs, but large enough to have the resources at our disposal to ensure we are efficient and up to date with current accounting pronouncements and trends.

Joseph T. Arcara, CPA has been servicing labor organizations and Taft-Hartley trust funds for most of his years in public accounting and has extensive experience working with various labor organization and trust fund professionals. Dave Arcara and Diane Fronckowiak have been working with our labor clients and their related benefit funds for their entire careers. Each partner has also dealt with Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor (Employee Benefits Security Administration) representatives on compliance matters, including audits by such agencies. The professional staff at A&B is comprised of CPAs who also have significant experience in servicing labor organizations and their related benefit funds.

Our practice consists primarily of providing services to a variety of medium-size clients, including many different trade unions and other labor organizations, multiemployer pension, health and welfare, annuity, training, and other labor related trust funds. A list of our multiemployer clients is listed on page 5 of this proposal. Our professional objective is to provide the finest quality service on a timely basis and at a reasonable cost.

We strive to build a close relationship with our clients throughout the year, rather than an association limited to year-end services. We encourage our clients to contact us as frequently as needed, as it is our goal to assist them and their personnel throughout the year with any matters or questions that may arise.

Commitment to Quality

A&B is committed to providing quality service to all of our clients. Our firm is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' (AICPA) Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center (Quality Center). Membership in the Quality Center enables us to continue our quality initiatives within our employee benefit plan audit practice and demonstrates our continued commitment to deliver the highest quality employee benefit plan audit services possible. As part of our Quality Center membership requirements, David A. Arcara has been named the firm's designated partner in charge of ensuring the quality of our employee benefit plan services, a designation previously held by Joseph T. Arcara for many years.

Our firm is also a member of the Private Companies Practice Section of the AICPA Division of Firms and, as such, is committed to the Peer Review Program. Our most recent peer review report was issued in December 2010 in which we received a rating of "pass," which is the most favorable report possible. A copy of the peer review report is attached as part of this proposal.

Our accounting staff attends continuing professional education courses that meet or exceed the requirements of the New York State Education Department, the AICPA and AICPA's Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center. Our firm is represented annually at an AICPA employee benefits conference as well as an International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) conference, which provides our staff with updates on current accounting pronouncements and regulatory changes in the employee benefit plan area.