In an era where seamless connectivity defines success, businesses must be agile, adaptable, and ever-ready to tackle emerging challenges with professional relationships at their core. Dufour Treuhand serves as a compelling testament to this ethos. Their journey as a BOKS International member demonstrates a shining example of harnessing the power of collaboration within our alliance.
Over the past five years, Dufour Treuhand has discovered that the true value of alliance membership extends beyond inbound mandates to expanding service portfolios, forging lasting domestic and international relationships and gaining access to the full range of professional services necessary to navigate an increasingly interconnected business landscape.
Thomas Laeuchli answers our questions and details Dufour Treuhand’s journey.
Please tell us who you are and some details about your firm.
My name is Thomas Laeuchli. I am the Managing Director of Dufour Treuhand, an accountancy practice based in Basel, Switzerland. We have been members of BOKS International for five years.
Please tell us about Dufour Treuhand’s journey since joining BOKS International in 2018 as the exclusive accounting member in Switzerland.
Membership in BOKS meant improving our company’s appeal and services and the management of international mandates. As former heads of finance functions in multinational corporations, we naturally looked forward to becoming part of the BOKS family. The annual conferences also gave this radiance many interesting faces.
How did you view the presence of other members within Switzerland when you first joined the alliance?
As a boutique firm in our field, we naturally operate with a correspondingly small staff. We had to train our staff on the importance of membership. Responding to enquiries within 24 hours in an international context was familiar, but part of our strategy was being implemented. However, we were still working on the process and had to make quite an effort.
What were the initial challenges and opportunities you faced when joining the alliance?
We agreed to an exclusivity radius of 150 kilometres with BOKS, roughly equivalent to the whole of German-speaking Switzerland. Naturally, we were hoping for more consulting volume. We hoped the exclusivity would allow us to handle most of the work.
Now, in 2023, with Alteris, an accounting firm in Lausanne, and Stach Rechtsanwälte, a law firm in Zurich, as members, please elaborate on how this change has impacted your perception of membership value?
The first thing to mention is that I have gained some very valued Swiss colleagues through BOKS. I no longer consider the exclusivity radius measured in kilometres as relevant as it was initially. The implication that “now the inbound mandates are shared between three parties” is not our perception.
How has your membership helped you to assist your current domestic clients and/or attract international-focused prospective clients?
The company’s own sales growth cannot be linked to the expectation that an alliance will deliver the orders. Instead, we operate in an enormously international market, particularly in research and export-orientated Switzerland. This is precisely where the added value lies, namely that we are able to support our locally acquired and quality-conscious customers beyond Switzerland’s borders. As soon as an international issue arises, I can recommend a BOKS alliance colleague with a clear conscience. I know in advance that, like us, the foreign BOKS colleague had to undergo a quality check before becoming a member. This quality check is repeated continuously in our daily collaboration with our international colleagues.
Has your membership assisted you in retaining your client portfolio?
Perfectly.
Looking ahead to 2024, what goals and objectives do you have for collaborating with BOKS International?
We aim also to show our young Dufour colleagues the benefits of international cooperation and networking. Looking across borders will always put us in a more favourable position compared to law firms that only work locally. At the same time, membership should also support the personal development of each of our colleagues.
How do you plan to approach the appointment of a new audit and tax/law firm in Zurich?
Absolutely in the same way as the other Swiss members – a pure benefit if the right firm will be chosen.
Can you provide insights into how Dufour Treuhand plans to leverage its expanded network within BOKS International to enhance its services and grow its presence in the domestic and international markets?
Let me start with the international market. Here, we are an inbound carrier into BOKS and are somewhat dependent on customer issues with an international dimension. Our presence in Switzerland also attracts many new international customers because the corporate income tax rate of 13% is very low. We have consistently realised growth of 8-15% p.a. in the past. The majority of this growth was focused on quality, marketing and sales. This has expanded internationally and locally to include the dimension that we could find it more challenging to realise growth in the future because there is simply a lack of qualified employees in the market.
