Firm History
GRAY, GRAY & GRAY, LLP: VISION. DIRECTION. SUCCESS
In 2005, Gray, Gray & Gray, LLP celebrated its 60th anniversary, marking six decades as one of New England’s leading independent accounting firms.
The firm was founded by the late Robert Gray in 1945. Robert’s brothers, Milton and Mervin, soon joined him in the firm’s downtown Boston office. In 1947, the Grays became the first brothers ever simultaneously elected to membership in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
All three Gray brothers were born in Fort Kent, Maine, where their father was a peddler who used a horse and buggy to travel to surrounding villages. When a fire destroyed their home in 1923, the family moved to Boston, living in Dorchester and Roxbury. Robert, Milton and Mervin attended Boston English High School. Robert and Milton later graduated from the Bentley School of Accounting (now Bentley College), while Mervin graduated from Boston University and earned his MBA from Harvard.
From the beginning, Gray, Gray & Gray was determined to be different from other accounting firms. Mervin Gray recalls that, “We didn’t want to be a firm that just did auditing and taxes and had contact with clients maybe once or twice a year. We wanted to deal more closely with clients and deal with their problems.” That philosophy remains a cornerstone of the firm.
The firm has had many long-term client relationships that have not only survived, but also thrived over the decades. A client since 1945 and among the earliest clients of Gray, Gray & Gray is Firestone & Parson, the world-renowned jewelers located on the prestigious Newbury Street in Boston. Edwin Firestone and his son, David, remain special clients.
Another longtime client, with the firm since 1946, has been Coan Oil, a family-owned oilheat company in Natick, MA. Gray, Gray & Gray's and Coan Oil's relationship remains in place today. .
Gray, Gray & Gray’s work with Coan Oil was the start of a deep and abiding commitment to the oilheat industry. The firm added more and more oilheat companies to its client roster, and soon became known as “the oilman’s accountant.” Today, Gray, Gray & Gray’s reputation in the oilheat industry has spread nationwide, and the firm has developed several innovative programs designed to provide oilheat dealers with additional information about their businesses, including FuelTrack, a delivery cost calculator, and a “break even” margin calculator.
For the past fifteen years, Gray, Gray & Gray has conducted an annual survey of the oilheat industry, finding the “pulse of the industry” in the responses generated. In response to a growing demand for merger and acquisition assistance within the energy industry, the firm established FuelExchange, LLC, an independent clearinghouse that brings together buyers and sellers of petroleum and oilheat companies.
Gray, Gray & Gray has also developed specialized services for other industry niches over the years, including real estate, construction and professionals such as architects and engineers. Dedicated practice groups have also been established to serve clients in the Life Sciences industry, and those requiring Employee Benefit Plan Audits.
In 2000, Gray, Gray & Gray acquired Kenneth Elgart & Company, a well-established accounting firm that specialized in serving franchisees, in particular owner/operators of McDonald’s franchises. The focus on McDonald’s has quickly grown and been enhanced to become an important part of the firm’s overall strategy.
The firm launched Gray Equity Management, LLC, an independent personal financial advisory firm, to help clients and others with wealth management and asset protection. Gray, Gray & Gray was among the first accounting firms in Massachusetts to take this step.
Innovative thinking is not new for Gray, Gray & Gray. The firm has always been a trendsetter, hiring a computer consultant as early as the late 1940s, and becoming the first local accounting firm to use word processing for the preparation of financial statements. In addition, as part of a test program with the IRS, Gray, Gray & Gray was one of the first CPA firms in the country allowed to file computer-generated tax returns.
Over the years, Gray, Gray & Gray has resisted the temptation to be absorbed by other, larger accounting firms. “We have made a conscious decision and commitment to remain independent,” says Neil Krug, who has served as the Managing Partner of the firm since 1986. “We owe it to our clients to keep our focus on them, and to continue to give them the high level of service we have always delivered.”
“I am most proud of our reputation for honesty and integrity,” Mervin Gray told the Boston Business Journal in an interview. “Our name is very well thought of. Through the years, we have treated our clients well and fairly.”