Dawn Möeder leads both the firm's assurance services practice as well as the manufacturing and distribution (M&D) practice. A chartered accountant from the United Kingdom, Dawn brings an international perspective to her approach with clients. Dawn is a trusted advisor to C-suite executives, providing consulting, due diligence, internal control evaluation, forecasting, and budgeting services.
When she is not helping manufacturing companies with their expenses, she is helping out in her community and raising a family. She took the time to answer our questions about her time at Lane Gorman Trubitt.
I relocated to Dallas with my husband. At the time, LGT was a network firm with an international association in which my UK firm participated. I moved to LGT to make my parents feel better about me having a job when I arrived in the United States. It was a fluke but the best decision I could ever have "not made," as I have been incredibly happy at the firm for more than 20 years.
I head up the manufacturing and distribution niche. I learned to audit in a very industrial city in the UK, and the accounting in this area makes sense to me. I love to see the product going down the manufacturing line and finding ways to create efficiencies or improve the accounting behind the inventory cost per item.
I enjoy getting into client situations that are messy and helping them clean up their accounting; this could be a failed software installation, not having a good understanding of their costs, controlling G&A costs to improve profitability, or improving their internal control system. Helping management or their bankers have more confidence in the numbers produced by the accounting system makes me feel like I have made a difference.
I work closely with the team members of the assurance services department and am exceptionally proud of them and the work they do. Our employees are our most important asset, so I feel it is essential to ensure that they feel connected and supported by the firm, especially in the COVID work environment. We are all busy with client work, but it is crucial to take the time to reach out and have a video conference with someone to check in on them or bring them up to speed on firm or department updates.
I am the treasurer and board member for the Texas Council on Economic Educators. We provide lesson plans and education for teachers throughout Texas to help them educate K–12 students. I also served as a board member for the Dallas Arboretum for eight years. I am involved in both the Young Men's Service League and the National Charity League with my children. It is wonderful to see them volunteering and realizing the importance of giving back to the community in which we are blessed to live.
I look forward to working with our clients to ensure they continue to grow and be successful. Alongside our clients, I want to build up our employees, who will be the next generation of partners, to ensure the firm is set up to be successful after I retire, a long time from now.