JUNE 2018 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 27
LOU GRASSI:
LI’S ACCOUNTING JUGGERNAUT
By WARREN STRUGATCH
One of Long Island’s most successful
accountants, Louis C. Grassi, is chief
executive officer, managing partner
and – as he’ll tell you – the driving
force behind Grassi & Co. After
working briefly for KPMG, Grassi
opened his own accounting firm in
Forest Hills in 1980. Two years later,
he moved to Garden City, later Lake
Success and now Jericho. He oversees
five offices, the work of 30 partners
and annual revenue of about $65
million. An edited version of our
conversation follows, which Grassi
conducted on his feet.
How’d you get started in
accounting? I started out as a music
major at Queens College. I found
most people majoring in music
couldn’t find jobs. The economic
outlook wasn’t encouraging. I
had taken a bookkeeping class in
high school, and worked part time
preparing income tax returns. My
guidance counselor said, “Wait
a minute, you’re in the music
program and you’re preparing
income tax returns? Do you like it?”
I said, “Yes.” He said, “God bless.” I
changed majors.
Our parents are usually our
first influencers. How did yours
influence you? My father, Salvatore,
was a salesman for a
chemical company. My mom, Lena,
worked in a sweatshop. They both
instilled the value of education in
me. My father would occasionally
take me on sales calls. I witnessed
what it was he did. When I was in
that position myself I didn’t have
a lot of experience but I had been
exposed to the sales process. A lot in
life is about exposure.
Did selling come easily to you?
I’m entrepreneurial by nature, so
probably the answer is yes. I didn’t
want to work for a big firm and
started out at a mid-sized one. KPMG
tried to get me on campus and a year
out of school they got me. I went
there and it didn’t match who I was
as a person. Didn’t want to be one of
the herd. I took a leave of absence.
My dad was dying of lung cancer,
and the family rallied around.
How long was your leave of
absence? Six months. During that
time I started getting clients. I had
more clients working part time, and
made more money, than when I
worked full time at KPMG.
So you put out your shingle and … I
didn’t put out my shingle. I studied the
market. I didn’t think of it as a money
thing. I thought: Maybe I can do this.
Maybe I can have my own firm.
Clearly you could. How’d you get
the word out? My timing was good.
A new law allowed accounting firms
to do advertising. A case in Florida
opened the floodgates. I thought,
if I’m going to go into business for
myself, why don’t I capitalize on that?
Did you? I bought a mailing list with
2,000 names. I stuffed envelopes
and licked stamps. It sounds
pretty archaic now. I got about
15 interviews from the mailing.
One was with Marcato Elevator
in Queens. They’re still with us as
clients, third generation now.
So the mailing worked. Six months
later we were doing $250,000
in revenue. Thirty-five years
ago, that was considered a huge
accomplishment.
Now your revenues are? About $65
million.
How does it feel to say that? Sorry
if I sound like Doctor Phil. I
couldn’t have imagined doing $65
million when I started out.
Is it enough? We still talk about
doing $2 million more at our
corporate retreat.
Warren Strugatch is a partner
at Inflection Point Associates,
a marketing, public relations
and management consulting
firm in Stony Brook. Online at
InflectionPointAssoc.com
C-SUITE
Louis C. Grassi has
built one of Long
Island’s biggest
accounting firms.
(Photo by Bob Giglione)