For most accountants, the number “25” does not normally raise many eyebrows, unless it is front of several zeroes.

However, for the staff of Dowagiac’s Accounting Consultants, that figure represents a milestone worth commemorating.

The local accounting firm is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, as the business began in late summer of 1992, said Becky Moore, the business’ founder and president. Accounting Consultants will host a Business After Hours in conjunction with the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 13 to recognize the milestone, and will invite clients and others in the community to join the staff in celebration.

Located at 58151 Park Place, Accounting Consultants provides accounting and financial services to a wide range of businesses. Moore and her team of fellow accountants work with business owners and professionals from the greater Dowagiac area and beyond, offering everything from assistance with tax and payroll to financial planning consultation.

“Our focus isn’t competing with places like H&R Block,” Moore said. “We want to partner with businesses and help them reach their full potential.”

Moore, a native of Lowell, Indiana, moved to Cass County with her family while she was in high school. As a teenager, she landed her first job working in the front office of the Jessup Door Company. She later went to work for Lyons Industries, where, after helping with an audit of the company’s books, she discovered her passion for accounting.

“It is a constant learning experience,” Moore said. “Like I tell my staff, every day you work in this industry you will learn something new.”

At the advice of the Lyons family, Moore began studying at Southwestern Michigan College. She later transferred to Western Michigan University, and she received her bachelor’s degree in 1984.

Over the next several years, Moore worked as a CPA with a pair of accounting firms in the Kalamazoo area, while still living in the Dowagiac area. She later became the finance director with the Lewis Cass Intermediate School District.

In 1992, Moore returned to financial consulting, and landed SMC as her first client. Although she originally intended to only work two or three days a week from her home office, her clientele grew rapidly through word of mouth, and required Accounting Consultants to grow right alongside it.

Today, Moore works alongside her staff to provide service to clients throughout Michigan and Indiana. The team prides itself on providing the same level of service and professionalism as larger accounting firms but with the personal, small town touch, she said.

With the advances in internet and mobile technology, Accounting Consultants is looking to expand its services to an even greater number of businesses. The firm recently launched its Back Office Support System, which allows the firm’s staff to provide payroll, invoice, tax and other services to companies remotely through the power of cloud-based technologies.

“We are trying to become a next generation accounting firm,” Moore said. “We are not mired in the ways of the past. We think this will give us life for the next 25 years.”

Witnessing her business grow from a one-person operation to an invaluable part of the Dowagiac business community has been rewarding and exciting, Moore said.

“This has been my life, and I love it,” she said. “I want to see the business continue to grow and prosper.”