"When all you get are lemons, make lemonade."

We lost Bert Erling on Sunday, May 2, 2010. We miss him every day.

Bert was the president of Accountants One, and a partner in The Waters Organization. Every day he strove to live out the ideals of honesty, integrity, and long term relationship building. He was a long-time member of IMA and a proud supporter of Junior Achievement. The Search for the Funniest Accountant in the South gave him great joy as we raised money for a great cause, and helped to share one of his core beliefs that Accountants are so much more than humorless number crunchers.

Bert Erling had been the President of Accountants One since 1984. He purchased the firm 26 years ago, owning and managing it independently until 1998 when his son, Dan Erling, joined the firm. Dan's energetic involvement allowed Bert to gradually turn over the daily management of the firm to him. Dan's influence has produced reliable growth for the firm with increased annual sales.

Bert thought it was very important to include other top employees in the ownership of the firm as a way of passing management from one generation to an increasingly able new generation. Before Bert's death he was able to set the stage for such ownership to take place, ensuring that Holly Monaghan, Melanie Davis, and Michelle Erling were official partners in The Waters Organization. Immediately before we lost Bert, Waters was able to secure a multi-million dollar, multi-year staffing project -- he was very proud of his team.

In 2008 Bert became very involved in opening an office in North Carolina. His original intent was to test the Raleigh and Charlotte markets starting with attending an IMA meeting in Raleigh. Bert's interview with Mr. Brad Barbour and his experience with the Raleigh IMA resulted in choosing Raleigh as Accountants One's new office site.

In spite of the worst economy since the Great Depression, Brad lived up to Bert's initial impression and has done a wonderful job in establishing our presence in Raleigh. Growth has been slow and steady. Bert observed that the Raleigh market is very similar to the Atlanta market of fifteen years ago. Bert was a big fan of Brad's knowledge and work ethic, and he looked forward to the eventual development of a Raleigh Accountants One equal in every way to our Atlanta office.

Bert felt fortunate to have great employees who shared his same high standards and goals. He felt that his employees were like a family -- working together for the good of the firm. He often noted that his current team was the best group Accountants One and The Waters Organization had ever experienced. As a result, he forecasted continued growth and success for our business.

Before buying Accountants One, Bert was a regional controller for a $500 million dollar corporation. Bert died of a massive heart attack. He would have been 67 years old on May 10. He lived a wonderful and full life, but we feel that he was too young to leave us.

He loved being a business man. Perhaps best described as an optimistic pragmatist, Bert had a strong faith in people?s ability to do great things. He would have been very proud to know that his companies are living out his ideals and seeing such great success.