Company Name: Packer Thomas

Phone: (330) 533.9777

Email: SKacerski@packerthomas.com

Website: packerthomas.com

Social Media: Facebook

We'd like to welcome Packer Thomas (PT) as GMS sponsor. PT is a accounting and business consulting firm headquartered in Canfield, OH. The below interview is with Steven Kacerski, CPA; a Manager in the Oil and Gas practice division.

GMS: Your website says Packer Thomas was started in 1923. Tell us about the beginnings of Packer Thomas and it’s history.

PT: Packer Thomas is a regional, certified public accounting and business consulting firm founded in 1923.  With a staff of over 50 people, we are one of the largest regional firms in Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. Packer Thomas has a broad based clientele, including privately owned businesses, agribusinesses, oil & gas and not for profit entities. Our personal client involvement has allowed us to help generations of families achieve financial and business success.  It has been our mission to exceed the expectations of our clients by holding our firm to a standard of integrity and achievement that exceeds the usual and aspires to excellence which has led to our success and longevity. 

GMS: How are you best able to serve landowners involved in the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays?

PT: We are best able to serve landowners in a variety of ways.  Besides providing traditional income tax and accounting services to landowners, we have expertise providing estate, gift and trust services as well as mineral management services for landowners.  Members of our team are landowners who are actively involved in the shale leasing process, which gives them a better understanding of how the shale boom will affect landowners both from a tax and a financial perspective. 

For landowners who have an actively managed farm, we have agriculture expertise as well.  Personally, I grew up on a farm and continue to farm this day with a 550 acre grain farm.  Being actively involved in farming myself not only gives me the added expertise of understanding the business requirements affecting farmers, but also helps when tailoring tax and estate planning opportunities for their specific operation.

GMS: When you say “mineral management services” what does that include?  Can you elaborate?

PT: At Packer Thomas, we have an oil and gas team in place that has the expertise and is ready to help you navigate through the complex areas of oil and gas. Besides helping landowners manage the tax implications of lease bonus and royalty payments, we are excited to offer royalty verification assistance to landowners as well.  We feel this is an area of need for many landowners in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. There have been numerous reports and lawsuits the past couple of years surrounding improper royalty payments to royalty owners. 

A landowner’s royalty statement can be very confusing with all the information presented on it.  Our experts will review the statement and give the royalty owner confidence they are being paid according to their lease and not being taken advantage of by the oil and gas producer. In instances where we feel there have been incorrect payments made, we can assist the royalty owner in determining what the payments should have been under their lease provisions so a case could be made against the oil and gas producer.

GMS: What do you think sets you apart from other accounting firms and business consultants? 

PT: As a landowner, you want to work with someone you can rely on to have your back and be there for you throughout the years.  The fact that Packer Thomas has been around since 1923 serving our clients is a testament to our commitment of exceeding their expectations because without our clients, there would be no Packer Thomas.  We offer a wide range of services that can specifically be tailored to each individual landowner’s needs.  Everyone’s tax situation is different so we don’t believe in a “one size fits all” approach to planning.  Whether a landowner requires royalty verification assistance, income tax planning or other related services, our team will be there along side of them through the years being proactive and producing results for them.

    Steven Kacerski, CPA        Anna Rogers, CPA CMM

              Manager                                   Manager

SKacerski@packerthomas.com      ARogers@packerthomas.com