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Expect the unexpected SPONSORED BY: here is a difference between be- than risk sharing misleading figures. ing revealing and being surpris- Next year, we should be able to resume Ting. While usually the former, publishing that data. this year, our Top 100 Firms/Regional In the meantime, here are a few Leaders report is also the latter. notes on how to read this year’s report: The headline surprise is the slow- The previous year’s rankings in- ing growth demonstrated across the cluded in the Top 100 Firms list are leading firms in the profession; while NOT the same as those published in last their revenues continue to swell, and year’s report. They are a re-ranking of individual firms bucked the trend in the current year’s cohort of T100 Firms a big way, the average firm grew more based on the latest information, and in- slowly in 2017 than in the clude firms that were not four or five years before CONTENTS part of the list last year. that — a significant, and They are only for com- Top 100 Overview 4 unpleasant, surprise. parison purposes, and do The other surprise Firms to Watch 6 not replace the rankings in this year’s report is an published last year. Top 100 Databank 8 absence: Where we usu- Unless otherwise ally report the percent Firm Strategies 10 noted, revenue is net revenue. Also, unless noted, change from year to year Top Tax Firms 12 of individual firms’ num- revenues, offices and staff ber of partners, we are Top 100 Rankings 16 are for the U.S. only. going without those par- Niche Services 22 “Total Employees” ticular figures this year. is comprised of partners, Client Categories 24 professionals and all oth- One State St. Plaza, 27th Fl., New York, NY 10004 For several years, E-mail: [email protected] we’ve been fielding ques- Regional Leaders 25 er personnel, including http://www.accountingtoday.com owners. Editor-in-Chief Daniel Hood tions from participating Firm Highlights 35 Managing Editor Danielle Lee firms about whether our Where two firms Senior Editors Roger Russell, Sean McCabe Technology Editor Ranica Arrowsmith partner figures included reported equal revenue, Art Director Neesha Haughton non-equity partners, so this year we the firm with the higher percentage of ADVERTISING AND BUSINESS SERVICES revenue increase received the higher Senior Vice President specified in our survey form that the and Group Publisher Rob Whitaker number we were looking for included ranking. Publisher Jack Lynch (212) 803-8803 Advertising Director Alexandria Alati both equity and non-equity partners. “MAS” stands for “management Ad Sales Coordinator Susan Korcynski When we came to calculating the advisory services” — or consulting, as Material in Accounting Today may not be repro- duced without express written permission. For more percent change, however, it quickly everyone calls it now. information about reprints and licensing content, As always, this report would not please visit www.SourceMediaReprints.com or con- became clear that while firms had re- tact PARS International Corp. (212) 221-9595. ported the requested figures for 2017, a be possible without the dedication of Publishers Copy Protection Clause: Advertisers and significant number hadn’t revised their our editorial staff — without their hard agencies assume liability for all content (including text, representation and illustrations) of advertis- 2016 figures. (To be fair, our instruc- work, we wouldn’t be able to present ments and responsibility for claims arising there from you with this, the 2018 Class of the Top made against the publisher. tions could have been clearer, and will Copyright © 2018 Accounting Today and Source- be next year.) So this year we’re going 100 Firms and Regional Leaders. Enjoy! Media, Inc. All rights reserved. — Dan Hood, Editor-in-Chief SOURCEMEDIA INC. without the percentage change, rather

3 overview Growth rates defy prediction

BY DANIEL HOOD

e got it wrong. than 20 percent, for instance, versus only buting to bottom-line growth. In this space last year, our five in 2016, and only two firms reporting One major path to growth is doub- Weditors predicted ongoing rev- flat or declining revenues, against five last ling down on a specialization; the Top enue growth around 9 percent for the Top year — but the overall direction was to a 100 reported growth across a wide range 100 Firms, based on trends that had held lower level, with only 25 reporting growth of specialty services and individual client true for the previous six years. above 10 percent, versus 37 last year. And niches. (See Niches and Clients, starting on Instead, in 2017 the T100 reported an no firms made any significant jumps up page 22.) Many of the traditional niches average growth rate of 6.33 percent — off the list, though two new ones did join it and service areas continue to serve a large two-and-a-half percentage points from the this year: Florida’s Schellman & Co., at No. number of firms well, but a growing num- 8.8 percent in last year’s report. While ber are seeing rewards in a range of perfectly respectable in itself, 6.33 per- technology services, most commonly cent is the lowest growth rate the T100 Dropping off involving cybersecurity. have seen in a non-recession in the Revenue growth of the Top 100 Firms, in percent* It’s important to remember that past 20 years. even slower-than-previous growth is The Top 7 firms (those with over still growth: The threshold for the Top a billion dollars in revenue, including 30 100 rose $2.6 million, from $37.7 milli- the Big Four) have an undue influ- on last year to $40.30 million this year. 25 ence here, given the vast size of their Similarly, we had a strong crop of Firms

books of business, and the drop in their 20 to Watch (see page 6), with a number of growth rate, from 8.6 percent in last firms poised to join the Top 100 next year’s report to 5.94 percent in this 15 year — if they can find a spot. One of the few open spots this year was crea- year’s, certainly explains a lot of the 10 relatively smaller number — but not ted by the merger of Colorado’s Hein all. The 37 firms with revenues bet- 5 & Associates into West Coast regional ween $100 millon and $1 billion also leader Moss Adams. More combinati- 0 reported a two-percentage-point drop 94 96 98 00 02 04 06 08 12 14 16 17 ons like that may be needed to change 10 in growth rate (to 8.32 percent), while -5 the ranks; that would only require that the 56 Top 100 Firms with revenues un- the T100 continue their current high * Compiled from individual firm results as reported der $100 million were off by over half a at year’s end; includes some estimates rate of M&A, with the group reporting percentage point, at 7.21 percent. (See 120 individual combinations over the Databank, page 8.) past year. Revenues weren’t the only things 89, and Virginia’s PBMares, at No. 100. grow ing at a reduced rate: Staff figures It goes without saying that growth is AROUND THE COUNTRY for all three tiers of the Top 100 expanded never far from the minds of those who run Slower growth rates affected the firms in more slowly. Among the Top 7, the num- the Top 100, but it would also be safe to say our Regional Leaders list, too. Seven out ber of total employees grew at less than that this year it was more top of mind than of the 10 regions reported average firm half the rate reported last year, and it was usual, with a central position on their list growth rates that were lower than last year off by between two and three percentage of priorities that had been taken by staffing (though generally with larger total reve- points in the other two tranches. (For tech- challenges in the previous five or so years. nues). (See Regional Leaders, page 25.) nical reasons, we did not calculate growth (See Strategies, page 10.) Recruiting and On a more positive note, average firm rates for partner figures this year; see page retention remain a preoccupation, natu- growth rates in seven of the regions were 3 for an explanation.) rally, and adaptation to, and the best use above the average for the Top 100, and se- There were certainly individual firms of, technology are also important parts veral of the lists gained new members this that bucked the trend — eight firms repor- of their strategies for 2018, but all with a year, proving that growth remains possible ted growing their 2017 revenues by more much sharper focus on how they’re contri- — you just have to look for it. AT

4 overview

BEYOND THE TOP 100: FIRMS TO WATCH Once again, a record crop of firms made this year’s “Firms to Watch” list, with almost 20 firms within striking distance of next year’s list. (Note that the roster includes only firms with positive growth rates; firms in the revenue range with negative growth rates are excluded.)

Rev % Firm Headquarters Managing partner Year-end ($ mn.) chg. Offices Partners Employees RGL Forensics* Denver Angela McPhee Dec 39.40 4.51 18 32 175 Clark Nuber Bellevue, Wash. Robert Wheeler Dec 38.60 6.63 1 22 201 Gursey | Schneider Los Angeles Stephan Wasserman Dec 38.11 4.53 6 16 182 Sax Clifton, N.J. Joseph Damiano Dec 37.70 25.67 4 25 160 Brown, Edwards & Co. Roanoke, Va. Jason Hartman May 37.50 13.05 9 38 317 Brady, Martz & Associates Grand Forks, N.D. Todd Van Dusen Sept 37.29 0.13 5 41 236 Wiss & Co. Livingston, N.J. Paul Peterson Dec 37.00 NC 3 26 197 Briggs & Veselka Co. Houston John Flatowicz Sept 35.55 13.07 3 24 198 Lutz Omaha, Neb. Mark Duren April 35.05 7.38 2 26 175 Kreischer Miller Horsham, Pa. Christopher Meshginpoosh Dec 34.20 4.43 2 18 211 Arnett Carbis Toothman Charleston, W. Va. Steven Robey Dec 34.06 1.92 8 31 225 Somerset CPAs Indianapolis Pat Early Dec 33.77 6.30 3 32 173 Yeo & Yeo Saginaw, Mich. Thomas Hollerback Dec 33.55 9.39 8 11 217 Krost CPAs* Pasadena, Calif. Gregory Kniss Dec 33.47 31.41 7 8 141 Herbein & Co. Reading, Pa. Michael Rowley Sept 33.01 19.95 9 25 202 Peterson Sullivan Seattle Chris Russell Dec 31.81 4.98 1 21 199 Anders St. Louis Robert Minkler Dec 31.80 6.00 1 21 185 AAFCPAs Westborough, Mass. C. McCall / D. McManus Dec 30.10 12.73 3 25 190 ORBA Chicago Mark Thomson May 30.00 13.64 1 26 133 Janover Garden City, N.Y. Mark Goodman Dec 30.00 3.45 2 21 155 Perkins & Co. Portland, Ore. Jared Holum June 29.96 1.87 2 23 168 Johnson Lambert Vienna, Va. John Prescott Dec 29.55 12.57 8 19 184 REDW* Albuquerque, N.M. Steven Cogan Dec 29.54 6.87 2 30 207 Lurie Minneapolis Beth Kieffer Leonard April 29.25 1.39 1 17 152 Green Hasson Janks Los Angeles Tom Barry Dec 29.10 8.99 1 14 152 Jackson Thornton & Co. Montgomery, Ala. Ned Sheffield Dec 28.96 1.29 6 33 188 Mize Houser & Co. Topeka, Kan. NA Dec 28.80 9.09 3 19 222 Dean Dorton Allen Ford Lexington, Ky. David Bundy June 28.71 12.10 3 24 210 Cain Watters & Associates Plano, Texas Dan Wicker Dec 28.69 8.96 1 11 141 Boulay Minneapolis Steven Behrns May 28.68 4.67 2 28 160 Hutchinson and Bloodgood Glendale, Calif. Richard Preciado Sept 28.65 4.95 4 33 121 Untracht Early Florham Park, N.J. T. Early / D. Untracht Dec 28.11 7.83 3 9 144 LaPorte Metairie, La. William “Ted” Mason Nov 27.22 2.76 5 15 174 Hertzbach & Co. Owings Mills, Md. Joel Chazen Dec 27.00 12.50 3 22 190 Keiter Glen Allen, Va. L. Michael Gracik Dec 27.00 4.25 1 20 166 Windes Inc.A Long Beach, Calif. John Di Carlo June 26.91 4.99 3 18 146 BeachFleischman Tucson, Ariz. Marc Fleischman Dec 26.82 4.85 2 22 163 Sensiba San Filippo Pleasanton, Calif. John Sensiba April 26.70 14.59 6 22 173 Smith & Howard Atlanta John Lucht Dec 26.64 2.26 1 11 111 Maxwell Locke & Ritter Austin, Texas Steven Knebel Dec 26.60 9.69 2 20 111 Porte Brown Elk Grove Village, Ill. Bruce Jones Dec 26.47 15.39 5 18 119 DiCicco, Gulman & Co. Woburn, Mass. Laurie Austin Dec 26.30 11.91 2 18 138 Calibre CPA Group Bethesda, Md. James Kokolas Dec 26.00 7.44 3 17 163 PKF Texas Houston Kenneth Guidry Dec 26.00 1.96 1 16 130 Whittlesey Hartford, Conn. Drew Andrews Dec 25.90 4.44 3 20 165 Windham Brannon Atlanta Heidi LaMarca Sept 25.84 1.81 1 13 161 * Firm estimate A Accounting Today estimate NC No change NA Not applicable/available

6 Leaders Achieving Change

Congratulations to our CPAmerica member firms that were named to Accounting Today’s Top 100 Firms and Regional Leaders. We are proud of our members who continue to improve through sharing.

2018 marks the 40th anniversary of CPAmerica International, an accounting association made up of independent certified public accounting firms that is built on four key goals: to continuously improve; to make more money; to strengthen relationships among member firms; and to bring prestige to firms both domestically and internationally. As a member of Crowe Horwath International, the eighth largest global accounting network, CPAmerica expands to more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in more than 130 countries, and has a combined firm revenue of $3.7 billion. www.cpamerica.org nichedatabank services

2018 TOP 100 FIRMS DATABANK Overview Top 7 % Firms over % Firms under % Total Top % firms chg. $100 mn chg. $100 mn chg. 100 Firms chg. Revenue (in $mn) $61,270.77 5.94% $10,601.29 8.32% $3,519.29 7.21% $75,391.35 6.33% Partners 13,817 NA 6,096 NA 2,132 NA 22,045 NA Professionals 146,841 5.79% 37,039 5.24% 13,673 4.38% 197,553 5.59% Total employees 245,920 4.21% 52,643 7.70% 18,873 4.57% 317,436 4.79%

Rev. share % Rev. share % Rev. share % Rev. share % Fee split (in $mn) of rev. (in $mn) of rev. (in $mn) of rev. (in $mn) of rev. Audit & Attest $21,040.58 34.34% $4,216.24 39.77% $1,231.17 34.98% $26,487.99 35.13% Tax $14,984.50 24.46% $3,582.22 33.79% $1,213.45 34.48% $19,780.17 26.24% MAS (consulting) $23,258.35 37.96% $2,229.71 21.03% $557.90 15.85% $26,045.96 34.55% Notes: Some figures may not correspond exactly due to rounding.

Leaders in A&A Leaders in Tax Leaders in MAS Ranked by revenue Ranked by revenue Ranked by revenue Rev. share Fee Rev. share Fee Rev. share Fee Top 7 firms ($ mn) split Top 7 firms ($ mn) split Top 7 firms ($ mn) split PwC 6,560.40 42 PwC 3,905.00 25 Deloitte 9,089.99 49 Deloitte 5,379.79 29 Ernst & Young 3,770.00 29 PwC 5,154.60 33 Ernst & Young 4,160.00 32 Deloitte 3,153.67 17 Ernst & Young 4,030.00 31 KPMG 2,863.53 32 KPMG 2,493.63 28 KPMG 3,600.95 40 RSM US 750.15 38 RSM US 718.25 36 Grant Thornton 665.34 38 BDO USA 690.90 49 BDO USA 479.40 34 RSM US 495.39 25 Grant Thornton 630.32 36 Grant Thornton 455.23 26 BDO USA 239.70 17

Firms over $100 mn Firms over $100 mn Firms over $100 mn CohnReznick 325.00 52 CliftonLarsonAllen 285.45 33 Crowe Horwath 381.29 45 CliftonLarsonAllen 311.40 36 Moss Adams 213.49 37 CBIZ & MHM 280.24 39 BKD 276.56 49 Crowe Horwath 211.83 25 Plante Moran 187.51 36 Crowe Horwath 254.19 30 CBIZ & MHM 194.01 27 Baker Tilly Virchow Krause 147.58 27 CBIZ & MHM 244.31 34 CohnReznick 181.25 29 Dixon Hughes Goodman 141.40 35

Firms under $100 mn Firms under $100 mn Firms under $100 mn BlumShapiro 46.85 59 Frank, Rimerman + Co. 54.18 60 FGMK 43.12 44 Schellman & Co.* 46.76 100 Aprio 47.67 56 SC&H Group Inc. 35.49 64 Whitley Penn 44.33 46 BPM 43.15 50 Horne 35.44 43 RubinBrown 40.05 44 RubinBrown 38.23 42 Blue & Co. 33.08 42 Clark, Schaefer, Hackett & Co. 35.27 52 Seiler 38.15 70 PYA 31.17 69

Revenue % Frazier & Deeter 83.62 12.98 Overall Top 100 Firms ($mn) chg. Pacesetters in growth Raich Ende Malter & Co. 56.30 12.38 Squar Milner 101.10 39.45 Ranked by % chg. LBMC 96.87 11.87 Prager Metis 82.50 35.76 Revenue % Aprio 85.13 11.54 Armanino 248.00 27.18 Firms over $100 mn. ($mn) chg. Berkowitz Pollack Brant 66.80 11.33 MGO 53.60 26.77 Squar Milner 101.10 39.45 MCM CPAs 53.91 10.70 Schellman & Co.* 46.76 22.96 Armanino 248.00 27.18 EisnerAmper 352.60 10.60 Wipfli 282.30 22.05 Cohen & Co. 73.38 22.10 SVA 56.85 10.58 Carr, Riggs & Ingram 286.14 21.35 Wipfli 282.30 22.05 Weaver 115.20 10.45 Kearney & Co. 152.60 20.44 Carr, Riggs & Ingram 286.14 21.35 Kearney & Co. 152.60 20.44 Novogradac & Co. 136.54 10.15 Revenue % SingerLewak 53.52 19.57 Katz, Sapper & Miller 79.34 9.65 Firms under $100 mn. ($mn) chg. Hill, Barth & King 80.00 19.40 Moss Adams 577.00 9.49 Prager Metis 82.50 35.76 Withum 175.42 18.70 BDO USA 1,410.00 9.30 MGO 53.60 26.77 SC&H Group Inc. 55.45 16.39 Schellman & Co.* 46.76 22.96 Whitley Penn 96.37 15.94 Notes: * Firm estimate or projection. All Big Cohen & Co. 73.38 22.10 Bennett Thrasher 50.41 15.41 Four revenue figures are gross, not net. For SingerLewak 53.52 19.57 CliftonLarsonAllen 865.00 14.57 more details, see pages 16-19.

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BY DANIEL HOOD

n the halcyon period in the early years of expanded our reach into new sectors that vice offerings with a focus on specializati- this century, accounting firms were able align with our mission.” on and value-added advisory,” explained Ito pursue a growth strategy that amoun- Still other firms are committed to Alan Whitman, CEO of Baker Tilly Virchow ted to little more, in the words of one indu- M&A, which has led to some of the strong- Krause. “Clients’ needs are becoming stry expert, than, “Answering the phone.” est growth rates in the Top 100. “Wipfli more sophisticated ... firms that are unable Those days disappeared a decade ago, will continue to grow through mergers to pivot will not remain relevant.” in recession and retrenchment, and over and acquisitions in 2018, looking for op- While technology is part of the prob- the past several years, firms have found portunities in new geographies, and ex- em here, it can also be part of the solution, themselves working harder and harder pansion of existing and new industry and according to Grassi & Co. CEO and MP for growth, particularly the organic kind, solution expertise,” said managing partner Louis Grassi: “As a result of technological and despite the continued strength of the Rick Dreher, whose firm recorded a 22 efficiencies and related automation, we are M&A market in the profession, the average percent bump in revenue in 2017, along capturing additional hours that will allow growth rate of the Top 100 was down more with five mergers (and two so far in 2018). us to focus even more on our clients’ needs than two percentage points in 2017. He did note, however, that his firm also in a consulting capacity. ... Technology That has put a new emphasis on frees up the time so even more accoun- growth for many of the firms on the list, tants can serve as consultants.” who have been looking at their strategic ‘How do we “Clients are no longer satisfied with priorities and ensuring that they all clearly mere compliance,” he added. “They de- support their bottom lines. stay motivated mand and deserve trusted business advisors to provide the assistance that will REACHING OUT and hungry?’ drive their business success.” To start, many are diving into the old-fash- ioned work of business development — had strategies for organic growth: “These SERVING THEIR BASE though they’re often bringing new tools will focus on helping our clients navigate Offering value-added services isn’t the and programs to the process. the changing industry landscapes prima- only way the Top 100 are pursuing growth; At Kemper CPA Group in Indiana, for rily through our value-added consulting for many, a renewed and deepened focus instance, “We will focus on organic growth solutions and capturing the value of more on the client experience and client engage- and have implemented a number of efficient delivery of our core services.” ment is front and center. growth initiatives,” said partner-in-charge The value-added services he is refer- “We added a client experience leader of administration and HR Jill Koester. ring to are another critical part of the Top last year that focuses on our existing rela- “These initiatives include various em- 100’s pursuit of growth. tionships and how to expand and better ployee incentive programs, niche deve- serve those,” reported John Litchfield, the lopment, firm-wide CRM implementation, BEYOND COMPLIANCE COO of Tennessee-based LMBC. “We are participation in programs offered by The One important thing to understand about seeing great results from this.” Rainmaker Companies, and the hiring of the difficulties with growth is that they Deepening relationships with clients an internal director of growth.” are tied increasingly to the profession’s — and developing stronger cross-selling Thomas Raffa, CEO of the Washing- core offerings of audit, accounting and tax, skills — is a major strategic priority for a ton, D.C.-based Raffa Companies, reported which are subject to intense fee pressure number of firms in the Top 100, but even a similar intentional approach to bringing because clients often perceive them as ser- more common was simply doubling down on new clients: “During the past year, we vices they are required to buy, as opposed on very specific client bases: Industry spe- have also made a significant investment to services they want to buy. What’s more, cialization, often in conjunction with new, in business development, reorganizing many of these services are being commo- value-added services narrowly aimed at our development team, proposal process, ditized by technology. those clients’ needs, will keep many firms and investing in new CRM software and “Diminishing attest and compliance busy in the coming year. training. Utilizing these new tools, we’ve margins will require an evolution of ser- See STRATEGIES on 12

10 nitochp etax services firms

THE TOP TAX FIRMS Rev. % from tax from Total % Total Firm Headquarters Chief executive ($mn) tax revenue chg. Offices staff PwC§ New York City Tim Ryan 3,905.00 25 15,620.00 6.69 92 58,133 Ernst & Young§ New York City Stephen Howe 3,770.00 29 13,000.00 6.38 82 43,500 Deloitte§ New York City Cathy Engelbert 3,153.67 17 18,551.00 5.90 115 84,890 H&R BlockP1 Kansas City, Mo. Jeff Jones 3,005.95 99 3,036.31 -0.06 10,036 87,500 KPMG§2 New York City Lynne Doughtie 2,493.63 28 8,960.00 3.82 110 3,5037 RSM US2 Chicago Joe 5 Adams36 1,978.88 718.27.22 90 9,560 BDO USA Chicago Wayne Berson 479.40 34 1,410.00 9.30 67 6,461 Grant Thornton Chicago J. Michael McGuire 4 55.23 26 1,750.89 3.45 59 8,339 Ryan Dallas G. Brint Ryan 4 50.81 100 4 50.81 4.21 54 2,216 Liberty Tax Services Liberty Beach, Va. Edward Brunot 408.00 100 408.00 -7.06 3,823 NA CliftonLarsonAllen NA Denny Schleper 285.45 33 865.00 14.57 39 5,476 Andersen Tax San Francisco Mark Vorsatz 247.00 100 247.00 12.13 19 999 Moss Adams Seattle Chris Schmidt 213.49 37 577.00 9.49 27 2,883 Crowe Horwath Chicago James Powers 211.83 2 5 847.30 7.44 3 5 4,053 CBIZ & MHM3 Cleveland C. Spurio / A. Burczyk 194.01 27 718.57 8.71 7 5 3,826 CohnReznick New York City Frank Longobardi 181.25 29 625.00 1.13 27 2,647 Marcum New York City Jeffrey Weiner 178.42 38 469.53 4.57 22 1,403 BKD Springfield, Mo. Theodore Dickman5 64.40 169.324.99 30 36 2,631 Baker Tilly Virchow Krause Chicago Alan Whitman 163.98 30 546.60 4.65 27 2,846 EisnerAmper New York City Charles Weinstein 144.57 41 3 52.60 10.60 13 1,378 Plante Moran Southfield, Mich. James Proppe 135.42 26 520.86 8.12 21 2,393 Dixon Hughes Goodman Charlotte, N.C. Matt Snow 129.28 32 404.00 2.54 29 1,950 Carr, Riggs & Ingram Enterprise, Ala. William Carr 114.46 40 286.14 21.35 30 1,811 Eide Bailly Fargo, N.D. Dave Stende 113.15 42 269.40 3.86 28 1,841 Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt* W. Los Angeles, Calif. Philip Holthouse 105.64 76 139.00 8.32 11 546

Notes: § Gross revenue P Figures compiled from public company reports. NA Not available/applicable * Firm estimate 1 Staff figures include seasonal workers. 2 Reported fee split as dollar amount (given here) and percentage. 3 Office figures are for CBIZ; MHM has 30 offices. For other notes, see pages 16-19.

health care, financial services, manufac- grappling with for several years now: the STRATEGIES turing & distribution, risk, internal audit ongoing difficulty in recruiting and re- from page 10 and cybersecurity and construction & real taining the necessary talent to staff en- estate. While verticals are common in pro- gagements (to say nothing of developing “We have a continued focus on buil- fessional services, the distinction for us is potential successors). ding out our industry groups, including our approach to industry ecosystems. For In fact, it was by far the most common more specialized services for each indivi- example, we deliver more comprehensive issue faced by the Top 100, with almost half dual segment,” explained Anthony Caleca, solutions for health care providers and citing it as a problem. While the profession MP of Brown Smith Wallace in St. Louis. payers by connecting with our specialists has been devising a standard toolkit for “Through thoughtful talent acquisition, we in financial services and real estate and making itself more attractive to candidates are expanding our industry group and ser- human capital services. This approach — emphasizing work/life balance, impro- vice area practices.” enables us to be nimble in the way we res- ving firm culture, working to empower At Baker Tilly, “We are continuing pond to client needs and market changes.” staff earlier, and so on — some have gone our strategy development and execution further, with innovative new approaches. of select practices that represent growth THE WAR FOR TALENT “Our Employee Advancement and and are undergoing substantial evolution,” One of the most important obstacles to Retention Network Initiative at Freed according to Whitman. “These include growth is an issue the Top 100 have been See STRATEGIES on 14

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zation brought on by new software is less Crowe Horwath CEO Jim Powers of an issue than how best to quickly make echoed that sentiment: “We have to stay STRATEGIES the most of the opportunities all these new on the cutting edge of technology and not from page 12 tools offer. be afraid to adopt new uses and imple- Maxick is a formal way to achieve retention At Big Four firm KPMG, for instance, mentations of current and emerging tools, goals, along with promoting and providing chairman and CEO Lynne Doughtie ex- methods and applications.” The firm is firm-wide advancement and recognition plained, “Our investment platform is fund- investing heavily in innovation and new opportunities,” explained Henry Koziol, ing innovation where change and oppor- product development, as well as differen- managing director of the New York State tunity are most pronounced. Across our tial service delivery platforms. firm. “Through EARN, our employees find businesses, we’re collaborating with clients And while larger firms like Crowe and mentorship, guidance, knowledge, sup- and alliance partners on new technologies, KPMG may be out in front in innovating port, training and a customized approach solutions and tools in intelligent automati- and creating new tools, that doesn’t relieve to their individual success. ... And with on, which includes cognitive, AI and RPA, smaller firms on the list of the need to pay the hiring of a new recruitment specialist as well as blockchain. In addition, we are attention. “Firms our size will not be deve- and career coach, we feel this will assist heavily focused on cybersecurity — a ma- loping the radical new technologies, but us in further combating the recruiting and jor concern for business leaders, govern- will need to stay in close step with techno- retention issues that face firms of our size.” ments and consumers. Through these logy partners to stay on the leading edge Thomas Raffa noted that his firm efforts, we’re helping companies unlock of adopting these game-changing techno- has “significantly low” turnover rates, but value from nontraditional assets, such as logies,” explained Frank, Rimerman & Co. warned, “This takes constant vigilance, data, to drive better decisions and greater MP Brian Kreischer. “Projecting the direc- and so we continue to develop programs efficiencies, ultimately transforming into tion of these changes is critical to shifting ... . We have hired individuals that act as what we call a ‘21st Century Enterprise.’” the development paths for our employees ‘purpose advisors’ to our staff from the day At a more granular level, many firms and partners.” they start to the time they become mana- cited an interest in cybersecurity, which Some of the Top 100 are already on gers. These advisors report to no one in the was the service offering most likely to have board with the sort of adoption Kreischer company and are responsible only to the been launched by a T100 Firm in 2017, was talking about. At Texas’ Whitley Penn, staff and their needs.” and an even larger number of firms will be “We will expand the use of data analytics At RSM US, “Our talent development exploring the area this year. and automation to allow our teams to fo- culture is focused on year-round, real-time It’s not the only tech-related service cus on the risk areas and let our systems fast feedback to help people perform their out there, though, as Dixon Hughes Good- provide the data entry and manipulation, best,” said national public relations direc- man CEO Matt Snow made clear: “We are giving us capacity to grow faster,” said MP tor Terri Andrews. “We will also continue continuing to develop new and relevant Larry Autrey. to provide unique training programs and service offerings as the industries we serve leadership development opportunities to continue to evolve in the new digital mar- STAYING FOCUSED enable our professionals to achieve their ketplace, namely in areas such as tax trans- This strong focus on growth, and the career objectives, and we will be honing formation, cybersecurity, IT advisory ser- lower-than-average growth rates of this our new coaching program as well.” vices, and data analytics services.” year’s Top 100 Firms, shouldn’t obscure She also noted that it’s not just about While the members of the Top 100 the fact that the Top 100 are, almost by attracting and retaining accountants any may be excited about the opportunities, definition, very successful businesses. Bet- more: “Firms of our size are also aug- and less concerned about the commodi- ter talent, more valuable services, deeper menting our recruiting processes to attract tization, they are alive to one other major client relationships, and an aggressive fo- new groups of talent — from cybersecu- risk from the rapid march of technology: cus on technology will all help firms boost rity experts to data scientists to computer the risk of falling behind. their bottom lines — but only if they re- programmers, our future workforce will “The technology revolution won’t be alize the need to take those extra steps, encompass new skill sets in addition to our slowing down any time soon; it’s going to and look up from the flood of client work traditional CPA hires.” speed up,” warned Armanino managing to look down the road a bit. “We are suc- partner Andy Armanino. “With automa- cessful,” pointed out Carl Schultz, CEO of THREAT AND OPPORTUNITY IN TECH tion, AI and blockchain, firms that aren’t SVA CPAs, in Wisconsin. “How do we stay For most of the Top 100, the commoditi- future-ready will not be competitive.” motivated and hungry?” AT

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TUNE IN www.accountingtoday.com/podcasts THE 2018 TOP 100 FIRMS RANK REVENUE PERSONNEL FEE SPLIT Year $ % Profes- % Total % (in percent) 18 17 Firm Headquarters Chief executive end mn. chg. Offices Partners sionals chg. emps. chg. A&A Tax MAS Other 1 1 Deloitte§ New York City Cathy Engelbert June 18,551.00 5.90 115 3,135 68,077 8.53 84,890 7.94 29 17 49 5 2 2 Pw§1C New York City Tim Ryan June 15,620.00 6.69 92 3,327 NA NA 58,133 0.62 42 25 33 0 3 3 Ernst & Young § New York City Stephen Howe June 13,000.00 6.38 82 3,200 34,500 4.86 43,500 3.33 32 29 31 8 4 4 KPMG§2 New York City Lynne Doughtie Sept 8,960.00 3.82 110 2,178 25,928 1.59 35,037 2.77 32 28 40 0 5 5 RSM 3 US Chicago Joe Adams April 1,978.88 7.22 90 799 7,079 8.71 9,560 8.28 38 36 25 1 6 6 Grant Thornton4 Chicago J. Michael McGuire Dec 1,750.89 3.45 59 615 6,415 -1.94 8,339 -1.84 36 26 38 0 7 7 BDO USA Chicago Wayne Berson June 1,410.00 9.30 67 563 4,842 5.28 6,461 6.67 49 34 17 0 8 9 CliftonLarsonAllen5 NA Denny Schleper Dec 865.00 14.57 39 735 4,081 1.92 5,476 14.66 36 33 5 26 9 8 Crowe Horwath Chicago James Powers Dec 847.30 7.44 35 314 3,041 9.51 4,053 11.38 30 25 45 0 10 10 CBIZ & MHM6 Cleveland Chris Spurio and Andy Burczyk Dec 718.57 8.71 75 423 2,412 23.19 3,826 23.90 34 27 39 0 11 11 CohnReznick New York City Frank Longobardi Jan 625.00 1.13 27 271 1,892 -1.56 2,647 -2.83 52 29 9 10 12 13 Moss Adams Seattle Chris Schmidt Dec 577.00 9.49 27 327 1,915 12.12 2,883 11.36 42 37 21 0 13 12 BKD Springfield, Mo. Theodore Dickman May 564.40 4.99 36 272 1,843 3.77 2,631 4.03 49 30 21 0 14 14 Baker Tilly Virchow Krause Chicago Alan Whitman May 546.60 4.65 27 292 2,044 -5.72 2,846 5.10 39 30 27 4 15 15 Plante Moran Southfield, Mich. James Proppe June 520.86 8.12 21 268 1,705 8.32 2,393 6.40 38 26 36 0 16 16 Marcum New York City Jeffrey Weiner Dec 469.53 4.57 22 210 937 0.86 1,403 -2.09 44 38 8 10 17 17 Dixon Hughes Goodman Charlotte, N.C. Matt Snow May 404.00 2.54 29 239 1,327 1.76 1,950 1.67 33 32 35 0 18 18 EisnerAmper New York City Charles Weinstein Jan 352.60 10.60 13 176 951 -16.87 1,378 -5.62 50 41 9 0 19 20 Carr, Riggs & Ingram Enterprise, Ala. William Carr Sept 286.14 21.35 30 262 1,265 36.46 1,811 36.27 51 40 9 0 20 21 Wipfli Milwaukee Rick Dreher May 282.30 22.05 43 217 1,182 5.35 1,689 7.99 29 32 32 7 21 19 Eide Bailly Fargo, N.D. Dave Stende April 269.40 3.86 28 240 1,229 8.47 1,841 5.68 42 42 8 8 22 23 Armanino San Ramon, Calif. Andy Armanino Dec 248.00 27.18 10 103 709 20.17 958 25.39 22 36 37 5 23 22 Citrin Cooperman & Co. New York City Joel Cooperman Dec 242.00 5.22 10 208 587 2.09 930 3.33 45 40 6 9 24 24 Mazars USA New York City Victor Wahba Aug 189.00 1.07 9 117 571 2.88 838 3.71 40 38 22 0 25 26 Withum Princeton, N.J. William Hagaman June 175.42 18.70 12 117 530 2.71 809 3.59 42 43 7 8

Key and notes: Last year’s rankings have been revised based on 2016 revenue provided by firms. Some firms’ rankings will therefore differ from those reported last year. * Firm estimate § Gross revenue NC No change NA Not available or not applicable NR Not ranked 1 Revenue figures are Accounting Today estimates based on firm reports; all other figures are firm-supplied. 2 Firm reports business offices, not every physical location. It also reported its fee split as both a rounded percentage (given here), and exact dollar amounts (given in the Databank on page 8). 3 For its fee split, RSM US reported both rounded percentages (given here) and exact dollar amounts (given in the Databank on page 8). 4 Total personnel includes professionals in Grant Thornton’s Shared Services Center in Bangalore, India. 5 CLA does not have a headquarters location — there is no single place from which the firm is controlled or directed. Individual teams/offices are empowered to make decisions as much as possible. 6 Office figures are for CBIZ; MHM has 30 offices. RANK REVENUE PERSONNEL FEE SPLIT Year $ % Profes- % Total % (in percent) 18 17 Firm Headquarters Chief executive end mn. chg. Offices Partners sionals chg. emps. chg. A&A Tax MAS Other

26 25 Cherry Bekaert Richmond, Va. Howard Kies April 173.80 5.85 12 60 681 3.18 947 5.11 40 41 17 2

27 31 Kearney & Co. Alexandria, Va. Ed Kearney Dec 152.60 20.44 3 27 595 6.63 659 8.75 78 0 22 0

28 27 Sikich Naperville, Ill. Christopher Geier Dec 151.90 3.76 19 52 622 -0.16 754 -4.68 25 14 58 3

29 28 PKF O’Connor Davies New York City Kevin Keane Dec 150.00 8.30 9 100 590 5.36 812 3.05 53 30 14 3

30 29 Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt* W. Los Angeles, Calif. Philip Holthouse Dec 139.00 8.32 11 51 407 9.41 546 8.76 18 76 0 6

31 35 Novogradac & Co. San Francisco Michael Novogradac Dec 136.54 10.15 27 55 439 5.53 576 6.08 57 30 3 10

32 32 UHY Advisors7 Chicago Anthony Frabotta Dec 135.50 7.11 17 74 455 -0.87 660 1.69 31 47 22 0

33 34 Warren Averett Birmingham, Ala. Mary Elliott Dec 133.10 6.99 14 145 506 -7.66 883 -4.75 40 36 4 20

34 30 Marks Paneth New York City Harry Moehringer Dec 131.00 2.34 9 87 479 5.74 686 4.10 38 50 4 8 35 38 Berdon* New York City Mark Bosswick and Stu Kotler Dec 121.05 8.27 2 43 327 0.93 442 2.79 30 42 28 0

36 37 MBAF CPAs Miami Antonio Argiz June 120.00 6.86 10 75 425 5.46 585 5.60 35 45 14 6

37 33 Elliott Davis8 Greenville, S.C. Richard Davis June 120.00 -4.00 9 80 480 -8.05 699 -8.39 44 42 14 0

38 36 Rehmann Troy, Mich. Randy Rupp Dec 116.00 0.87 17 60 579 3.39 844 1.81 34 37 10 19

39 39 Weaver Fort Worth, Texas John Mackel May 115.20 10.45 9 83 410 11.72 599 11.13 36 41 16 7

40 42 The Bonadio Group* Pittsford, N.Y. Thomas Bonadio April 108.48 8.97 12 82 500 11.61 680 10.21 44 27 12 17

41 41 EKS&H Denver Robert Hottman Sept 105.90 6.33 3 64 439 4.77 613 3.72 39 40 21 0

42 40 Anchin New York City Frank Schettino Dec 104.00 0.97 1 56 245 1.24 374 0.81 44 43 13 0 43 43 Friedman New York City Harriet Greenberg and Fred Berk Dec 103.00 5.10 8 70 311 0.97 464 0.87 45 45 10 0

44 58 Squar Milner Newport Beach, Calif. Stephen Milner Dec 101.10 39.45 9 41 328 21.48 458 27.22 34 54 12 0

45 44 FGMK Chicago Mario Donato Dec 98.00 2.08 2 67 362 9.04 452 7.11 21 35 44 0

46 45 LBMC Brentwood, Tenn. Jeff Drummonds Dec 96.87 11.87 3 44 405 6.30 514 5.11 29 32 17 22

47 47 Whitley Penn Fort Worth, Texas Larry Autrey Dec 96.37 15.94 5 55 359 3.46 479 10.37 46 38 0 16

48 46 RubinBrown St. Louis John Herber May 91.02 5.75 7 115 479 4.81 679 9.52 44 42 14 0

49 48 Frank, Rimerman + Co. Palo Alto, Calif. Brian Kreischer Dec 90.30 8.93 4 28 385 8.76 421 8.23 31 60 9 0

50 49 BPM San Francisco Jim Wallace Oct 86.30 4.61 7 41 308 11.19 433 9.34 38 50 12 0

51 54 Aprio Atlanta Richard Kopelman Dec 85.13 11.54 4 29 310 3.33 401 6.08 26 56 13 5

52 56 Frazier & Deeter Atlanta Seth McDaniel Dec 83.62 12.98 6 42 214 -0.47 296 10.04 35 36 0 29

53 67 Prager Metis New York City David Neste and

Glenn Friedman Jan 82.50 35.76 10 61 267 50.85 407 38.44 28 39 33 0

54 50 Horne Ridgeland, Miss. Joey Havens Dec 82.41 1.75 14 39 414 -1.90 561 -1.06 32 11 43 14

55 51 Schenck Appleton, Wis. Daniel Young Sept 80.30 -0.26 10 62 375 1.35 565 2.54 37 37 19 7

56 62 Hill, Barth & King Canfield, Ohio Chris Allegretti Aug 80.00 19.40 14 49 303 22.67 442 19.46 19 40 10 31

57 53 BlumShapiro West Hartford, Conn. Joseph Kask Dec 79.40 3.79 6 32 303 -5.61 423 -2.31 59 31 2 8

58 59 Katz, Sapper & Miller Indianapolis David Resnick Dec 79.34 9.65 3 39 318 17.78 420 15.07 24 43 15 18

59 52 Blue & Co. Carmel, Ind. Brad Shaw Dec 78.77 1.63 11 51 339 14.92 460 10.58 28 26 42 4 60 60 Schneider Downs Pittsburgh Timothy Hammer and Steven Thompson Dec 76.30 7.77 2 43 372 10.39 448 7.43 45 33 22 0

61 68 Cohen & Co. Cleveland Randall Myeroff Sept 73.38 22.10 9 31 336 17.07 428 15.05 47 38 2 13

62 61 Honkamp Krueger & Co. Dubuque, Iowa Greg Burbach Dec 70.90 4.11 6 45 219 -6.01 450 -1.75 16 21 7 56

63 57 Doeren Mayhew Troy, Mich. Chad Anschuetz Sept 69.51 -4.20 5 62 200 -2.91 324 -1.52 40 31 14 15

64 65 RKL Lancaster, Pa. Edward Monborne Dec 67.93 9.21 14 42 283 -0.35 364 0.55 33 28 9 30

65 64 Clark, Schaefer, Hackett & Co. Cincinnati Carl Coburn June 67.82 4.92 6 28 289 -0.69 388 -0.51 52 36 6 6

66 63 Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno9 Los Angeles Mickey Segal Dec 66.95 3.00 5 28 234 -5.65 301 -2.90 16 10 0 74

67 69 Berkowitz Pollack Brant Miami Joseph Saka Dec 66.80 11.33 5 15 191 28.19 250 16.82 16 43 5 36

68 55 Kaufman Rossin Group Miami Blain Heckaman May 64.70 -13.73 5 44 234 -14.91 346 -14.14 39 37 15 9

69 66 K-Coe Isom Loveland, Colo. Jeff Wald March 64.55 5.56 19 56 211 -0.94 379 6.16 23 44 33 0

70 72 Grassi & Co.* New York City Louis Grassi Dec 61.90 7.65 4 33 200 NC 290 0.69 46 38 8 8

71 70 Postlethwaite & Netterville Baton Rouge, La. William Balhoff April 58.31 1.23 8 27 313 4.68 380 3.54 42 19 30 9

72 76 SVA Madison, Wis. Carl Schultz May 56.85 10.58 5 42 147 2.80 279 NC 16 21 13 50

73 78 Raich Ende Malter & Co. New York City Ellis Ende and

Charles Raich Dec 56.30 12.38 3 43 133 -2.92 213 -4.48 40 60 0 0

74 71 BerryDunn Portland, Maine John Chandler June 55.71 -3.23 6 16 232 5.45 286 4.76 44 14 41 1

75 82 SC&H Group Inc. Sparks, Md. Ronald Causey Dec 55.45 16.39 3 22 186 -5.10 243 -2.02 20 16 64 0

76 77 Seiler Redwood City, Calif. George Marinos Dec 54.50 6.65 3 18 159 -3.05 215 NC 6 70 0 24

77 73 Montgomery Coscia Greilich Plano, Texas Gary Boyd Dec 54.03 1.18 3 27 227 -5.42 284 -5.33 27 39 28 6

78 79 MCM CPAs Louisville, Ky. Diane Medley Dec 53.91 10.70 7 46 254 18.69 356 14.84 39 41 5 15

79 74 Aronson Rockville, Md. Larry Davis Dec 53.76 1.38 1 34 176 2.92 253 3.27 38 36 22 4

80 75 Skoda Minotti Cleveland Gregory Skoda Dec 53.66 3.43 4 38 192 2.13 291 0.34 31 25 7 37

81 92 MGO Los Angeles Kevin O’Connell Dec 53.60 26.77 11 32 221 16.93 288 12.06 50 11 7 32

82 86 SingerLewak Los Angeles Jim Pitrat Oct 53.52 19.57 10 44 199 48.51 278 10.76 40 41 5 14

83 80 BerganKDV St. Cloud, Minn. Loren Viere June 52.09 8.23 7 46 218 3.32 308 9.61 19 42 3 36

84 88 Bennett Thrasher Atlanta Jeff Eischeid June 50.41 15.41 1 36 194 8.99 268 8.06 30 58 2 10

85 81 Raffa Washington, D.C. Thomas Raffa Dec 50.00 4.17 2 19 242 -2.02 300 -1.32 15 9 0 76

86 84 Aldrich Salem, Ore. Martin Moll Dec 49.20 4.79 7 34 206 -12.71 291 -2.35 26 35 14 25

87 83 Freed Maxick CPAs* Buffalo, N.Y. Henry Koziol April 48.00 1.05 4 31 212 -7.83 289 -5.25 35 35 30 0

88 87 KLR Providence, R.I. Alan Litwin Dec 46.90 5.87 4 14 191 5.52 233 3.10 26 42 32 0

89 NR Schellman & Co.* Tampa, Fla. Chris Schellman Dec 46.76 22.96 1 14 126 14.55 162 15.71 100 0 0 0

90 90 Brown Smith Wallace St. Louis Anthony Caleca Dec 45.94 6.84 3 29 249 4.62 297 2.77 35 33 20 12

91 93 PYA Knoxville, Tenn. Edward Pershing Dec 45.17 8.53 5 19 162 7.28 245 4.26 11 20 69 0

92 91 Baker Newman & Noyes Portland, Maine Carl Chatto Dec 44.40 4.23 4 39 176 NC 257 -0.39 39 50 11 0

93 85 Mauldin & Jenkins Atlanta Donald Luker May 44.40 -0.89 6 44 181 0.56 283 4.81 64 29 2 5

94 89 Kemper CPA Group Evansville, Ind. John Rubenacker April 43.69 1.32 27 64 225 -7.41 330 -5.17 43 39 18 0

95 95 Miller Kaplan Arase North Hollywood, Calif. Douglas Waite Feb 43.50 5.45 6 26 148 7.25 205 5.13 56 20 21 3

96 94 Wolf & Co. Boston Mark O’Connell Sept 43.20 4.10 4 20 166 5.73 220 6.28 42 23 0 35

97 98 Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co. Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Kevin Pulliam Dec 42.50 8.14 9 41 183 2.23 255 5.81 71 21 8 0

98 96 Margolin, Winer & Evens Garden City, N.Y. Craig Savell Dec 41.30 0.49 2 25 150 -7.41 190 -6.40 60 30 10 0

99 97 Rea & Associates New Philadelphia, Ohio Don McIntosh Oct 40.86 0.64 11 22 173 3.59 240 3.90 42 34 11 13

100 NR PBMares Newport News, Va. Alan Witt Dec 40.30 7.52 9 39 122 -7.58 213 -2.74 27 42 10 21

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ADP, the ADP logo, the ADP Research Institute and ADP A More Human Resource are registered trademarks of ADP, LLC. Copyright © 2018 ADP, LLC. The Marcus Buckingham Company is a service mark of The Marcus Buckingham Company. Payroll | Talent | Perfect Fit niches and clients Niches and clients hang steady

BY DANIELLE LEE

iche services were a steady area Among them: forensics/fraud, litigation only compounded by clients unsure of of growth for the 2018 Top 100 support, SOX compliance/risk manage- when to charge sales tax — especially the NFirms, with this year’s in-demand ment, succession planning/family office, many technology companies that Bennett services remaining consistent with prior and cost segregation. Thrasher serves that have Software-as-a- years, though a few specialties shifted in One of the top niches for 2018 — state Service models that don’t align with out- popularity. and local tax — was driven by regulatory dated legislation. The niche services where the most uncertainty, according to Stephen Brad- “Clients are reaching out to us, be- Top 100 Firms reported growth generally shaw, senior manager in the SALT practice cause they get a notice from the state,” saw a very slight uptick over 2017, while at Atlanta’s Bennett Thrasher. Bradshaw said. “They want to get their many in the top 10 stayed even with last This relates to the Supreme Court’s books cleaned up, and they want to po- year’s numbers. 1992 decision in Quill Corp. v. North tentially sell the company, and don’t want Attest was once again the No. 1 niche, Dakota, which established the physical a big sales tax liability hanging over their and the 83 percent of firms experiencing presence test for sales and use tax nex- head.” In the process of aiding this trans- growth was up 2 percentage points over us. In 2017, Bradshaw explained, many actional due diligence, Bradshaw has wit- last year. Right behind it in the second slot, states cast aside that ruling in favor of nessed sales tax issues in the seven figures. 24 state and local tax took a dip of a couple their own legislation. This confusion is See NICHES on of percentage points over 2017 but still climbed one spot in the rankings at 76 percent, overtaking business valuations, Top niche services which fell six spots, and a whopping 13 Percentage of firms increasing their business in these service areas percentage points, to 65 percent this year. (of 78 firms responding) The third most in-demand niche, indus- Attest try specializations, climbed 6 percentage SALT points and four spots in 2017, with 74 per- Industry specializations cent of firms reporting growth. Technology Tech consulting International tax consulting had even greater gains, vaulting M&A into the fourth spot at 73 percent, a 10 per- Estate/trust/gift tax planning Business valuations centage point increase over last year. Nonprofits The rest of the top 10 niches stayed Retirement plans relatively steady, with international tax Forensics/fraud Bus. mgmt. for wealthy individuals and M&A still in the fifth and sixth spots, CAS/BPO respectively, with 72 and 71 percent of Litigation support the T100 reporting growing demand. Es- SOX compliance/risk mgmt. Succession planning/family office tate/trust/gift tax planning dropped a few Employee benefits rankings but was an area of growth for the Cost segregation PFP same proportion of firms as last year, at Strategic planning/biz plans 71 percent. Behind business valuations, Investment advice/services nonprofits remained steady in position CFO/project staffing services Business intelligence and percentage, occupying the ninth spot Bus. mgmt. for small businesses as a source of growth for 65 percent of Cash flow forecasting/management IFRS consulting firms. Closing out the top 10 was retire- 1031 like-kind exchanges ment plans, up a few spots at 60 percent. Bankruptcy /insolvency Farther down the list were some larg- Business management services Financing arrangements er movements, with at least five niches 0 20406080100 dropping double-digit percentage points.

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NICHES Top client categories from page 22 Percentage of firms increasing their business with these types of clients (of 78 firms responding) Springfield, Mo.-headquartered BKD

attributed its SALT growth to three factors, Manufacturing according to Robert Wagner, managing Midsized businesses Construction partner of national tax services. “First, the Real estate firm has a strategic focus to recruit and re- Technology tain experienced state and local tax talent Individuals Professional services … Second, the types of clients BKD serves Health care facilities continues to evolve. With the growth in Nonproﬁts Wholesale distributors technology, energy and foreign-owned Pension plans companies, a greater need for special- Large businesses ized tax knowledge exists for clients to State and local government Hotels & restaurants be compliant with the various state and Small businesses local taxes imposed. Lastly, our clients Retail trade Entertainment are requesting more assistance to address Banking & thrift cos. new tax laws and regulations. States are Colleges and universities Auto dealerships becoming more creative in adopting laws Brokers/dealers to tax changing business models, and due Finance cos./mortgage banks to the complexity of these changes, we are Investment cos. & mutual funds Agriculture/farming/forestry/ﬁshing seeing a greater need for state and local Government contractors tax consulting services.” Insurance carriers/companies Publishing/broadcasting/media Another hot niche this year was nich- School districts es itself — industry specializations took Franchising the third spot. Insurance agents & brokers 0 20406080100 “Since its inception, our firm has always focused on niche services,” said Mi- could implement that was project-based, U.S. expatriates who are living and work- chael Kaplan, partner at L.A. CPA firm discrete projects-based, more times than ing abroad, either on a short-term basis or Miller Kaplan Arase. “I believe we contin- not,” explained chief operating officer longer term.” ue to see stand-out growth in these prac- Matt Armanino. “[Now] the normal con- tice areas due to the fact that we’ve built versation we’re having is, ‘Help me think SAME AS LAST YEAR? our reputation on putting the client first through how to really have a technolo- This year’s most in-demand client catego- and offer a team of nationally recognized gy strategy, a cloud strategy, architecture, ries were very consistent with 2017’s rank- partners in each industry specialization.” [advise on the] investments being made, ings, though many of the top 10 fell a few Behind industry specializations, tech- and to accomplish business objectives for points in terms of distribution throughout nology consulting was, perhaps unsurpris- the future.’” the Top 100. ingly, a popular niche this year. International tax also experienced Manufacturing was once again No. In 2017, San Ramon, Calif.-based Ar- consistent growth this year. For New Eng- 1, with 83 percent of firms experiencing manino continued to grow its technology land’s KLR, the demand was attributable to growth in that type of client, down three practice, which, at $70 million, composes how their clients conduct business today. percentage points over last year. Midsized the largest portion of the firm’s consult- “Our clients are living and working in a businesses were also slightly down, at 76 ing business. “The change I’m seeing in truly global economy,” explained Paul Ol- percent, but retained the second spot. the marketplace is that, many years ago, iveira, the firm’s shareholder and director Construction (74 percent), real estate (73 companies were coming to us with an of tax services. “As a result, our growth in percent), technology (72 percent) and in- immediate demand — a new ERP sys- the international tax area has come from a dividuals (71 percent) occupied the next tem or a discrete need for a solution to mix of advisory work with U.S. companies four spots, as they did last year, with the X and were finding something that they expanding into new foreign markets and See NICHES on 34

24 regional overview Slower growth for the regions

uch like the Top 100, our Re- of new Leaders this year, including Schell- that our editors decided to treat it as a na- gional Leaders grew at a more man & Co. in the Gulf Coast (which is also tional firm going forward. Msedate pace than in 2016, with a new member of the Top 100), Boston’s Despite the subtraction of UHY, the seven out of 10 regions reporting average Edelstein & Co., the Southwest’s Miller Great Lakes was one of only three regions firm growth rates that were lower than in Grossbard Advisors, and California’s Krost to report an average growth rate that was last year’s report. CPAs, among others. higher than in last year’s report; it was With that said, the revenue totals The one area of the country that post- joined by the Southwest and the West in posted in almost all the regions were larger ed a smaller revenue total than last year that, and all three were helped by strong than last year, and the combined Regional was the Great Lakes Region, and at least merger & acquisition activity. AT Leaders netted $14.19 billion, up more part of that is due to the fact that we pro- than a billion dollars from the $13 billion moted UHY Advisors out of the Regional If your firm belongs on our Regional Lead- in last year’s report. Boosting those reve- Leaders list. The Chicago-based firm has ers list, e-mail [email protected] nue figures was the addition of a number such a broad presence across the country to be included in next year’s survey.

THE 2018 REGIONAL LEADERS Top Firms: Gulf Coast Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi Total revenue: $1,061.26 million. Average firm growth: 8.46% The region maintained healthy growth in 2017, though it was not quite as scorching as its double-digit expansion in 2016. It also welcomed one of the few new Top 100 Firms this year — Tampa’s Schellman.

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ———— Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other Carr, Riggs & Ingram Enterprise, Ala. 286.14 21.35 30 262 1,265 1,811 51 40 9 0 Warren Averett Birmingham, Ala. 133.10 6.99 14 145 506 883 40 36 4 20 MBAF CPAs Miami 120.00 6.86 10 75 425 585 35 45 14 6 Horne Ridgeland, Miss. 82.41 1.75 14 39 414 561 32 11 43 14 Berkowitz Pollack Brant Miami 66.80 11.33 5 15 191 250 16 43 5 36 Kaufman Rossin Group Miami 64.70 -13.73 5 44 234 346 39 37 15 9 Postlethwaite & Netterville Baton Rouge, La. 58.31 1.23 8 27 313 380 42 19 30 9 Schellman & Co.* Tampa, Fla. 46.76 22.96 1 14 126 162 100 0 0 0 Jackson Thornton & Co. Montgomery, Ala. 28.96 1.29 6 33 112 188 33 29 12 26 LaPorte Metairie, La. 27.22 2.76 5 15 126 174 54 38 8 0 Daszkal Bolton Boca Raton, Fla. 21.65 7.18 3 11 99 142 29 64 5 2 Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith Birmingham, Ala. 20.64 12.73 5 23 105 156 39 35 5 21 Heard, McElroy & Vestal Shreveport, La. 20.20 4.66 2 16 74 116 39 44 13 4 Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund Pensacola, Fla. 18.54 12.36 5 19 110 148 34 26 10 30 Gerson Preston Klein Lips Eisenberg & Gelber Miami 17.00 -7.10 2 12 39 68 NA NA NA NA Watkins, Ward & Stafford West Point, Miss. 13.99 8.37 16 25 106 157 54 38 8 0 Kabat, Schertzer, De La Torre, Taraboulos Miami 13.00 19.82 3 10 78 100 31 55 8 6 Kushner LaGraize Metairie, La. 11.84 -8.07 1 9 38 58 17 63 6 14 Vestal & Wiler Orlando, Fla. 10.00 NC 1 8 39 53 54 46 0 0

Notes: * Firm estimate NA Not available/applicable NC No change

25 retkgionaltktkt leaders

Top Firms: Mid-Atlantic New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania Total revenue: $3,592.97 million. Average firm growth: 6.37% With its growth rate off two full percentage points from the previous year, the region ranked in the lower half by growth, but still topped the ranks by sheer revenue, and had one of the fastest growing firms in the country in Prager Metis.

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ———— Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other CohnReznick New York City 625.00 1.13 27 271 1,892 2,647 52 29 9 10 Marcum New York City 469.53 4.57 22 210 937 1,403 44 38 8 10 EisnerAmper New York City 352.60 10.6 13 176 951 1,378 50 41 9 0 Citrin Cooperman & Co. New York City 242.00 5.22 10 208 587 930 45 40 6 9 Mazars USA New York City 189.00 1.07 9 117 571 838 40 38 22 0 Withum Princeton, N.J. 175.42 18.70 12 117 530 809 42 43 7 8 PKF O’Connor Davies New York City 150.00 8.30 9 100 590 812 53 30 14 3 Marks Paneth New York City 131.00 2.34 9 87 479 686 38 50 4 8 Berdon* New York City 121.05 8.27 2 43 327 442 30 42 28 0 The Bonadio Group* Pittsford, N.Y. 108.48 8.97 12 82 500 680 44 27 12 17 Anchin New York City 104.00 0.97 1 56 245 374 44 43 13 0 Friedman New York City 103.00 5.10 8 70 311 464 45 45 10 0 Prager Metis New York City 82.50 35.76 10 61 267 407 28 39 33 0 Schneider Downs Pittsburgh 76.30 7.77 2 43 372 448 45 33 22 0 RKL Lancaster, Pa. 67.93 9.21 14 42 283 364 33 28 9 30 Grassi & Co.* New York City 61.90 7.65 4 33 200 290 46 38 8 8 Raich Ende Malter & Co. New York City 56.30 12.38 3 43 133 213 40 60 0 0 Freed Maxick CPAs* Buffalo, N.Y. 48.00 1.05 4 31 212 289 35 35 30 0 Margolin, Winer & Evens Garden City, N.Y. 41.30 0.49 2 25 150 190 60 30 10 0 Sax Clifton, N.J. 37.70 25.67 4 25 93 160 41 45 3 11 Wiss & Co. Livingston, N.J. 37.00 NC 3 26 137 197 52 30 18 0 Kreischer Miller Horsham, Pa. 34.20 4.43 2 18 172 211 41 38 16 5 Herbein & Co. Reading, Pa. 33.01 19.95 9 25 149 202 36 42 18 4 Janover Garden City, N.Y. 30.00 3.45 2 21 99 155 30 57 10 3 Untracht Early Florham Park, N.J. 28.11 7.83 3 9 116 144 23 65 4 8 Perelson Weiner New York City 25.35 4.06 1 16 38 70 20 80 0 0 Gettry Marcus CPA Woodbury, N.Y. 22.90 5.05 2 21 53 98 46 43 0 11 Spielman Koenigsberg & Parker New York City 22.27 6.56 1 6 45 63 23 43 34 0 Buchbinder Tunick & Co. New York City 20.50 1.99 3 21 85 118 80 14 6 0 Wilkin & Guttenplan* East Brunswick, N.J. 18.00 5.20 3 15 67 98 44 48 3 5 Lumsden & McCormick Buffalo, N.Y. 17.20 2.99 1 14 67 94 53 32 12 3 Bowman & Co. Voorhees, N.J. 16.04 4.84 2 18 64 98 91 9 0 0 BST & Co. CPAs Albany, N.Y. 15.95 8.50 2 19 52 90 33 30 14 23 Boyer & Ritter Camp Hill, Pa. 15.89 14.98 4 12 68 100 54 37 3 6 RBT CPAs Newburgh, N.Y. 13.54 20.68 4 11 80 102 58 31 11 0

Notes: * Firm estimate NA Not available/applicable NC No change

26 regional leaders

Top Firms: Capital Region Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia Total revenue: $736.16 million. Average firm growth: 8.48% The region turned in a strong growth rate, a little lower than in the previous year but buoyed by some standout performances, including one of the fastest growing firms in the Top 100, Kearney & Co., and one of the fastest growing Regional Leaders, Smith Elliott Kearns & Co. Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ———— Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other Kearney & Co. Alexandria, Va. 152.60 20.44 3 27 595 659 78 0 22 0 SC&H Group Inc. Sparks, Md. 55.45 16.39 3 22 186 243 20 16 64 0 Aronson Rockville, Md. 53.76 1.38 1 34 176 253 38 36 22 4 Raffa Washington, D.C. 50.00 4.17 2 19 242 300 15 9 0 76 PBMares Newport News, Va. 40.30 7.52 9 39 122 213 27 42 10 21 Brown, Edwards & Co. Roanoke, Va. 37.50 13.05 9 38 238 317 60 39 1 0 Arnett Carbis Toothman Charleston, W. Va. 34.06 1.92 8 31 159 225 38 30 32 0 Johnson Lambert Vienna, Va. 29.55 12.57 8 19 145 184 76 14 3 7 Cotton & Co. Alexandria, Va. 27.40 -16.97 1 11 169 195 28 0 33 39 Hertzbach & Co. Owings Mills, Md. 27.00 12.50 3 22 142 190 40 50 10 0 Keiter Glen Allen, Va. 27.00 4.25 1 20 112 166 41 52 3 4 Calibre CPA Group Bethesda, Md. 26.00 7.44 3 17 129 163 76 11 0 13 Tate & Tryon Washington, D.C. 25.12 11.30 2 13 117 138 65 6 1 28 YHB CPAs Winchester, Va. 24.47 7.23 7 24 90 138 44 42 12 2 Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman Bethesda, Md. 24.23 5.35 1 16 69 110 68 30 2 0 Ellin & Tucker1 Baltimore 20.66 1.77 2 15 65 106 43 39 18 0 Gross Mendelsohn & Associates Baltimore 20.41 -0.10 2 17 80 115 40 30 30 0 Smith Elliott Kearns & Co. Hagerstown, Md. 19.00 22.10 6 21 125 166 42 38 12 8 KatzAbosch Timonium, Md. 17.52 4.47 3 22 49 94 32 52 16 0 KWC CPAs Alexandria, Va. 12.82 18.37 2 15 52 77 23 67 10 0 RS&F Owings Mills, Md. 11.31 2.82 3 6 52 63 17 45 24 14

Notes: * Firm estimate NA Not available/applicable 1 Revenue and personnel figures do not include M&A figures from a related entity.

4.69% 6.56% 5.17%

6.37% 11.68% 10.11%

8,48%

8.01% 4.4

Where the growth is Average individual firm growth rate, in percent by region

27 regional leaders

Top Firms: New England Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont Total revenue: $508.37 million. Average firm growth: 4.69% Average firm growth was down for the second year in a row in the region, though they generated more revenue than in 2016, helped in part by a new addition to the regional list, Boston’s Edelstein & Co.

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ———— Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other BlumShapiro West Hartford, Conn. 79.40 3.79 6 32 303 423 59 31 2 8 BerryDunn Portland, Maine 55.71 -3.23 6 16 232 286 44 14 41 1 KLR Providence, R.I. 46.90 5.87 4 14 191 233 26 42 32 0 Baker Newman & Noyes Portland, Maine 44.40 4.23 4 39 176 257 39 50 11 0 Wolf & Co. Boston 43.20 4.10 4 20 166 220 42 23 0 35 AAFCPAs Westborough, Mass. 30.10 12.73 3 25 132 190 60 22 18 0 DiCicco, Gulman & Co. Woburn, Mass. 26.30 11.91 2 18 95 138 30 52 18 0 Whittlesey Hartford, Conn. 25.90 4.44 3 20 130 165 40 30 30 0 Gray, Gray & Gray Canton, Mass. 23.00 13.30 2 8 100 126 45 35 20 0 Edelstein & Co. Boston 18.66 4.66 1 10 64 87 18 46 0 36 O’Connor & Drew Braintree, Mass. 16.80 11.26 2 16 72 102 70 13 0 17 Walter & Shuffain Boston 14.70 1.73 2 8 45 60 39 57 4 0 Macpage South Portland, Maine 13.30 2.31 3 18 68 96 35 33 21 11 Melanson Heath & Co.1 Nashua, N.H. 12.28 5.05 5 11 66 93 76 21 2 1 DiSanto Priest & Co. Warwick, R.I. 11.30 3.67 1 11 40 62 28 54 18 0 Gallagher, Flynn & Co. South Burlington, Vt. 11.10 3.74 2 10 53 73 NA NA NA NA Meyers Brothers Kalicka Holyoke, Mass. 9.80 -2.00 1 5 36 52 56 40 4 0 Nathan Wechsler & Co. Concord, N.H. 8.72 8.19 3 6 31 45 32 58 8 2 MahoneySabol Glastonbury, Conn. 8.40 6.33 3 5 42 51 50 40 10 0 ALL CPAs Chestnut Hill, Mass. 8.40 2.44 1 9 30 49 32 63 5 0

Notes: NA Not available/applicable 1 Figures do not reflect July 2017 mergers with Lapointe, Torrisi, Stanley & Co. and JC Driscoll & Co.

Where the growth is, Pt. 2 Average individual firm growth rate, in percent by region 12

0 The Great Capital Gulf The Mountain Mid- The New The West Lakes Region Coast Southwest Atlantic Midwest England Southeast

28 regional leaders

Top Firms: Mountain Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming Total revenue: $580.92 million. Average firm growth: 6.56% High growth at Richey May & Co., Haynie & Co., and Tanner flattered the average for the region, which remained above the Top 100 average — though lower than in 2016, in part due to the removal of mainstay Hein by M&A.

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ———— Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other EKS&H Denver 105.90 6.33 3 64 439 613 39 40 21 0 K-Coe Isom Loveland, Colo. 64.55 5.56 19 56 211 379 23 44 33 0 RGL Forensics* Denver 39.40 4.51 18 32 106 175 0 0 0 100 Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co. Helena, Mont. 25.80 -1.15 7 28 134 199 41 42 6 11 Anton Collins Mitchell Denver 24.10 9.30 4 18 124 166 37 53 10 0 Tanner Salt Lake City 23.47 19.62 1 13 84 110 58 23 12 7 Richey May & Co. Englewood, Colo. 21.38 26.43 2 14 117 146 43 47 10 0 Squire & Co. Orem, Utah 18.77 13.90 1 16 72 105 31 28 34 7 Haynie & Co. Salt Lake City 16.00 33.33 6 10 98 123 41 48 2 9 WSRP Salt Lake City 13.95 -1.55 3 13 75 98 54 34 8 4 JCCS Great Falls, Mont. 13.02 0.46 6 18 68 114 38 47 3 12 Dalby, Wendland & Co. Grand Junction, Colo. 13.02 -3.77 4 11 48 80 18 13 61 8 MHP Cheyenne, Wyo. 11.49 1.77 2 10 52 74 40 40 4 16 HintonBurdick CPAs St. George, Utah 11.09 5.22 6 12 56 84 63 25 0 12 Stockman Kast Ryan & Co. Colorado Springs, Colo. 9.00 1.47 1 9 49 68 28 60 4 8

Top Firms: The Southwest Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas Total revenue: $588.97 million. Average firm growth: 8.01% Only the second of the three regions to outperform the previous year, the Southwest boasted an average growth rate more than two percentage points higher than in 2016, and particularly strong showings from Regional Leaders Miller Grossbard Advisors and McConnell & Jones, both in Houston.

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ———— Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other Weaver Fort Worth, Texas 115.20 10.45 9 83 410 599 36 41 16 7 Whitley Penn Fort Worth, Texas 96.37 15.94 5 55 359 479 46 38 0 16 Montgomery Coscia Greilich Plano, Texas 54.03 1.18 3 27 227 284 27 39 28 6 Briggs & Veselka Co. Houston 35.55 13.07 3 24 151 198 37 50 7 6 REDW* Albuquerque, N.M. 29.54 6.87 2 30 136 207 45 25 15 15 Cain Watters & Associates Plano, Texas 28.69 8.96 1 11 97 141 10 18 0 72 BeachFleischman Tucson, Ariz. 26.82 4.85 2 22 108 163 29 50 3 18 Maxwell Locke & Ritter Austin, Texas 26.60 9.69 2 20 73 111 34 42 0 24 PKF Texas Houston 26.00 1.96 1 16 105 130 50 50 0 0 Hagen, Streiff, Newton & Oshiro Dallas 25.22 6.68 11 16 62 90 0 0 70 30 Henry & Horne Tempe, Ariz. 24.90 8.73 3 18 108 154 30 60 9 1 Lane Gorman Trubitt Dallas 24.00 NC 1 18 75 106 44 38 9 9 Johnson, Miller & Co. CPAs Odessa, Texas 19.99 -7.58 3 13 86 113 30 54 5 11 McConnell & Jones Houston 12.69 26.39 4 7 62 83 72 18 10 0 Huselton, Morgan & Maultsby Dallas 11.82 5.07 3 7 64 83 29 71 0 0 MiddletonRaines+Zapata Houston 11.18 -0.53 3 8 57 78 20 70 10 0 MaloneBailey Houston 10.20 -7.94 1 6 38 50 100 0 0 0 Miller Grossbard Advisors Houston 10.17 28.09 1 3 32 40 26 60 6 8 Notes: * Firm estimate NA Not available/applicable NC No change

29 regional leaders

Top Firms: The Great Lakes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin Total revenue: $2,289.24 million. Average firm growth: 10.11% The region with the second-highest average growth, the Great Lakes was also one of only three that outperformed the previous year — helped no doubt by strong showings from Wipfli, CDH and Kutchins, Robbins & Diamond.

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ———— Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other Plante Moran Southfield, Mich. 520.86 8.12 21 268 1,705 2,393 38 26 36 0 Wipfli Milwaukee 282.30 22.05 43 217 1,182 1,689 29 32 32 7 Sikich Naperville, Ill. 151.90 3.76 19 52 622 754 25 14 58 3 Rehmann Troy, Mich. 116.00 0.87 17 60 579 844 34 37 10 19 FGMK Chicago 98.00 2.08 2 67 362 452 21 35 44 0 Schenck Appleton, Wis. 80.30 -0.26 10 62 375 565 37 37 19 7 Hill, Barth & King Canfield, Ohio 80.00 19.4 14 49 303 442 19 40 10 31 Katz, Sapper & Miller Indianapolis 79.34 9.65 3 39 318 420 24 43 15 18 Blue & Co. Carmel, Ind. 78.77 1.63 11 51 339 460 28 26 42 4 Cohen & Co. Cleveland 73.38 22.1 9 31 336 428 47 38 2 13 Doeren Mayhew Troy, Mich. 69.51 -4.20 5 62 200 324 40 31 14 15 Clark, Schaefer, Hackett & Co. Cincinnati 67.82 4.92 6 28 289 388 52 36 6 6 SVA Madison, Wis. 56.85 10.58 5 42 147 279 16 21 13 50 Skoda Minotti Cleveland 53.66 3.43 4 38 192 291 31 25 7 37 Kemper CPA Group Evansville, Ind. 43.69 1.32 27 64 225 330 43 39 18 0 Rea & Associates New Philadelphia, Ohio 40.86 0.64 11 22 173 240 42 34 11 13 Somerset CPAs Indianapolis 33.77 6.30 3 32 99 173 36 31 33 0 Yeo & Yeo Saginaw, Mich. 33.55 9.39 8 11 164 217 38 23 5 34 ORBA Chicago 30.00 13.64 1 26 85 133 34 56 10 0 Porte Brown Elk Grove Village, Ill. 26.47 15.43 5 18 77 119 49 39 12 0 Brady Ware & Co.* Miamisburg, Ohio 19.90 13.71 4 28 106 146 33 53 14 0 Barnes, Dennig & Co. Cincinnati 19.78 4.38 3 26 75 120 53 38 7 2 Maner Costerisan* Lansing, Mich. 19.72 4.56 1 20 72 106 44 20 12 24 Wegner Madison, Wis. 16.82 12.36 6 13 100 127 57 34 6 3 Warady & Davis Deerfield, Ill. 16.50 0.92 1 23 65 97 45 51 1 3 Hawkins Ash CPAs La Crosse, Wis. 16.01 4.71 8 16 103 129 44 39 1 16 Apple Growth Partners Akron, Ohio 13.06 13.17 4 8 99 122 38 46 0 16 CDH Itasca, Ill. 12.80 25.61 3 5 70 90 26 39 28 7 Kutchins, Robbins & Diamond* Schaumburg, Ill. 12.75 23.79 2 14 47 70 46 43 11 0 Clayton & McKervey Southfield, Mich. 12.55 4.85 1 9 46 66 50 50 0 0 Notes: * Firm estimate NA Not available/applicable NC No change No. of Illinois firms in the Top 100 and 12 Regional Leaders No. of Ohio firms 8 30 regional leaders

Top Firms: The Midwest Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota Total revenue: $1,455.65 million. Average firm growth: 5.17% After reporting fairly strong growth for 2016, the region took it more slowly in 2017 — with only two firms registering double-digit growth: MarksNelson, and Mueller Prost, both in Missouri.

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ———— Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other BKD Springfield, Mo. 564.40 4.99 36 272 1,843 2,631 49 30 21 0 Eide Bailly Fargo, N.D. 269.40 3.86 28 240 1,229 1,841 42 42 8 8 RubinBrown St. Louis 91.02 5.75 7 115 479 679 44 42 14 0 Honkamp Krueger & Co. Dubuque, Iowa 70.90 4.11 6 45 219 450 16 21 7 56 BerganKDV St. Cloud, Minn. 52.09 8.23 7 46 218 308 19 42 3 36 Brown Smith Wallace St. Louis 45.94 6.84 3 29 249 297 35 33 20 12 Brady, Martz & Associates Grand Forks, N.D. 37.29 0.13 5 41 148 236 43 46 11 0 Lutz Omaha, Neb. 35.05 7.38 2 26 123 175 29 31 10 30 Anders St. Louis 31.80 6.00 1 21 130 185 19 47 4 30 Lurie Minneapolis 29.25 1.39 1 17 104 152 39 49 8 4 Mize Houser & Co. Topeka, Kan. 28.80 9.09 3 19 138 222 70 23 7 0 Boulay Minneapolis 28.68 4.67 2 28 102 160 33 31 18 18 MarksNelson Kansas City, Mo. 23.50 12.98 1 20 95 146 44 31 25 0 Abdo, Eick & Meyers Edina, Minn. 23.00 6.48 2 23 120 169 45 50 5 0 Redpath & Co. St. Paul, Minn. 22.20 9.90 2 16 110 157 46 42 12 0 Mueller Prost St. Louis 20.01 14.54 3 18 105 144 32 43 25 0 Allen, Gibbs & Houlik Wichita, Kan. 18.45 2.16 1 13 80 116 37 29 31 3 Seim Johnson Omaha, Neb. 17.86 7.40 1 20 51 83 42 30 27 1 Olsen Thielen & Co. Roseville, Minn. 15.76 2.20 2 11 71 100 41 33 26 0 KPM CPAs Springfield, Mo. 15.70 3.29 2 21 52 93 42 32 26 0 Williams-Keepers Columbia, Mo. 14.55 4.83 2 13 55 88 51 43 6 0

Notes: NA Not available/applicable NC No change

Where the money is Combined 2017 revenues, in millions of dollars by region

4000

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0 Mid- Great The The The Gulf Capital The Mountain New Atlantic Lakes West Midwest Southeast Coast Region Southwest England

31 regional leaders

Top Firms: The Southeast Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee Total revenue: $1,423.35 million. Average firm growth: 4.48% The region reported the lowest average growth rate, though Savannah-based Regional Leader Hancock Askew posted standout growth above 23 percent.

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ———— Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other Dixon Hughes Goodman Charlotte, N.C. 404.00 2.54 29 239 1,327 1,950 33 32 35 0 Cherry Bekaert1 Richmond, Va. 173.80 5.85 12 60 681 947 40 41 17 2 Elliott Davis2 Greenville, S.C. 120.00 -4.00 9 80 480 699 44 42 14 0 LBMC Brentwood, Tenn. 96.87 11.87 3 44 405 514 29 32 17 22 Aprio Atlanta 85.13 11.54 4 29 310 401 26 56 13 5 Frazier & Deeter Atlanta 83.62 12.98 6 42 214 296 35 36 0 29 MCM CPAs Louisville, Ky. 53.91 10.70 7 46 254 356 39 41 5 15 Bennett Thrasher Atlanta 50.41 15.41 1 36 194 268 30 58 2 10 PYA Knoxville, Tenn. 45.17 8.53 5 19 162 245 11 20 69 0 Mauldin & Jenkins Atlanta 44.40 -0.89 6 44 181 283 64 29 2 5 Dean Dorton Allen Ford Lexington, Ky. 28.71 12.10 3 24 158 210 31 46 21 2 Smith & Howard Atlanta 26.64 2.26 1 11 69 111 45 53 2 0 Windham Brannon Atlanta 25.84 1.81 1 13 120 161 30 52 18 0 GreerWalker Charlotte, N.C. 23.17 6.04 2 13 73 106 29 49 0 22 Moore Colson Marietta, Ga. 22.11 1.80 1 19 69 102 40 33 27 0 Alexander Thompson Arnold Union City, Tenn. 21.61 6.51 17 21 130 168 58 35 4 3 VonLehman & Co. Ft. Wright, Ky. 19.99 6.05 3 18 68 113 42 41 17 0 WebsterRogers* Florence, S.C. 18.00 0.56 9 20 89 129 16 50 5 29 Bernard Robinson & Co. Greensboro, N.C. 15.76 -0.51 3 15 99 134 43 51 6 0 Hancock Askew & Co. Savannah, Ga. 14.47 23.68 3 11 63 89 55 35 9 1 TJS Deemer Dana Dublin, Ga. 13.60 10.30 3 17 26 81 61 28 0 11 Porter Keadle Moore Atlanta 13.20 -0.83 1 12 51 75 47 18 35 0 Blackburn, Childers & Steagall Johnson City, Tenn. 12.28 4.07 3 11 71 94 46 47 7 0 Beall Barclay* Fort Smith, Ark. 10.66 -1.30 3 12 51 77 55 40 5 0 Notes: NA Not available/applicable NC No change * Firm estimate 1 Cherry Bekaert is headquartered in Virginia, but has operations throughout the Southeast 2 Changed name from Elliott Davis Decosimo

Where the money is, Pt. 2 Combined 2017 firm revenues

T100 under Regional T100 over $100 mn Leaders $100 mn ($3.52 bn) Top 7 Firms ($14.19 bn) ($10.60 bn) ($61.27 bn)

32 regional leaders

Top Firms: The West California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington Total revenue: $2,234.14 million. Average firm growth: 11.68% The last of the three regions to grow faster than in the previous year, the West also turned in the strongest performance, with the only double-digit average growth rate among the Regional Leaders. It’s also home to three of the five fastest-growing firms in the Top 100 — Squar Milner, Armanino, and MGO — as well as two of the fastest growing Regional Leaders Krost CPAs, which is new to the list, and Sweeney Conrad. It was also the beneficiary of one of the year’s biggest deals, when Moss Adams merged in the Mountain Region’s Hein & Associates.

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ———— Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other Moss Adams Seattle 577.00 9.49 27 327 1,915 2,883 42 37 21 0 Armanino San Ramon, Calif. 248.00 27.18 10 103 709 958 22 36 37 5 Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt* W. Los Angeles, Calif. 139.00 8.32 11 51 407 546 18 76 0 6 Novogradac & Co. San Francisco 136.54 10.15 27 55 439 576 57 30 3 10 Squar Milner Newport Beach, Calif. 101.10 39.45 9 41 328 458 34 54 12 0 Frank, Rimerman + Co. Palo Alto, Calif. 90.30 8.93 4 28 385 421 31 60 9 0 BPM San Francisco 86.30 4.61 7 41 308 433 38 50 12 0 Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno1 Los Angeles 66.95 3.00 5 28 234 301 16 10 0 74 Seiler Redwood City, Calif. 54.50 6.65 3 18 159 215 6 70 0 24 MGO Los Angeles 53.60 26.77 11 32 221 288 50 11 7 32 SingerLewak Los Angeles 53.52 19.57 10 44 199 278 40 41 5 14 Aldrich Salem, Ore. 49.20 4.79 7 34 206 291 26 35 14 25 Miller Kaplan Arase North Hollywood, Calif. 43.50 5.45 6 26 148 205 56 20 21 3 Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co. Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. 42.50 8.14 9 41 183 255 71 21 8 0 Clark Nuber Bellevue, Wash. 38.60 6.63 1 22 147 201 49 42 0 9 Gursey | Schneider Los Angeles 38.11 4.53 6 16 131 182 4 32 0 64 Krost CPAs* Pasadena, Calif. 33.47 31.41 7 8 86 141 12 12 0 76 Peterson Sullivan Seattle 31.81 4.98 1 21 154 199 39 58 3 0 Perkins & Co. Portland, Ore. 29.96 1.87 2 23 127 168 25 49 21 5 Green Hasson Janks Los Angeles 29.10 8.99 1 14 119 152 35 35 13 17 Hutchinson and Bloodgood Glendale, Calif. 28.65 4.95 4 33 64 121 38 50 12 0 Windes Inc.A Long Beach, Calif. 26.91 4.99 3 18 NA 146 NA NA NA NA Sensiba San Filippo Pleasanton, Calif. 26.70 14.59 6 22 118 173 37 54 9 0 Geffen Mesher & Co. Portland, Ore. 21.57 1.84 1 18 73 111 28 70 2 0 Gumbiner Savett Santa Monica, Calif. 20.00 NC 1 10 80 104 40 50 8 2 Genske Mulder & Co.* Costa Mesa, Calif. 19.67 15.98 4 24 62 98 42 54 4 0 Abbott, Stringham & Lynch San Jose, Calif. 19.00 4.40 1 14 70 97 32 59 4 5 OUM & Co. San Francisco 18.90 7.39 2 11 65 84 45 48 7 0 Delap* Lake Oswego, Ore. 18.50 2.83 2 14 74 104 32 60 8 0 RINA Accountancy Corp. Walnut Creek, Calif. 16.79 2.57 4 10 53 79 25 64 2 9 Hood & Strong San Francisco 16.67 6.38 3 15 77 102 55 45 0 0 Lindquist San Ramon, Calif. 16.32 7.09 5 11 77 113 98 1 0 1 Bader Martin Seattle 15.07 1.28 1 10 59 94 30 70 0 0 Sweeney Conrad Bellevue, Wash. 14.08 25.04 1 11 62 84 26 70 4 0 Jones & Roth CPAs Eugene, Ore. 12.25 5.60 4 9 59 85 51 40 3 6

Notes: * Firm estimate NA Not available/applicable NC No change A Accounting Today estimate

1 Revenue figures are AT estimates; all other figures are firm-supplied.

33 niches and clients

tractors with succession and exit planning, the firm’s growing roster of technology NICHES which is common for many family-owned clients to two distinct things: “The tech- from page 24 businesses.” nology industry has been a massive area of For Miami firm Kaufman Rossin, its focus and growth for Armanino for many percentage of distribution trending only South Florida location has been beneficial years now. It’s by far our largest industry slightly downward. to growing not only its construction client niche, at almost 40 percent of the firm’s Tied with individuals at 71 percent, base, but its real estate clientele. “As the revenue. We have a deep specialization professional services overtook nonprofit real estate market continues to evolve, and expertise with technology companies. organizations in popularity. Nonprofit or- deals are becoming more complicated Last year, the market for technology com- ganizations fell five percentage points to and often require a more specialized ap- panies was a strong market. There was a be even with the upward-trending health proach,” explained Marc Feigelson, prin- shift from companies that have been may- care facilities, tied at 65 percent. Also mov- cipal of assurance and advisory services. be doing M&A transactions now back into ing up were wholesale distributors, oc- “Companies in this industry face many a true, healthy IPO cycle. There were a lot cupying the tenth spot on the list, up 6 challenges, from increasing competition of new opportunities to support existing percentage points to 60 percent. that is driving up prices and labor to rising technology clients, and get new opportu- Karin Gale, shareholder and manufacturing and distribution team leader at Appleton, Wis.-based Schenck, believes ‘The consulting team and manufacturers’ adaptability is responsible for their top spot. “We’re seeing man- the CPA team work hand ufacturers focusing significant resources around cutting-edge technology as a way in hand to serve our clients to reduce risk and enhance their long-term sustainability,” said Gale. “At Schenck, we’ve done the same. We offer clients in- using data to help novative tools to help their manufacturing organizations meet the scope of their busi- support our ... findings.’ ness challenges, including access to specialists in human resources, operations, compliance costs, and so being flexible nities for companies.” risk and technology. In addition, our ex- and creative in deal structuring is often Aldrich CPAs + Advisors in the North- pertise in addressing their international, key. We’ve helped numerous clients in this west provides a similar mix of accounting tax and financial reporting needs provides arena … . In recent years, we’ve expanded and advisory services to one of its fast- valuable insight to aid their decision-mak- our real estate and construction practice est-growing client bases: health care facili- ing and ultimately help them grow.” area by continuing to build our specialized ties. “Our health care services team has ex- Meanwhile, Ridgeland, Miss.-head- service offerings such as cost segregation, panded our offerings to include consulting quartered Horne credits its commitment real estate private equity advisory, interna- to provide the total practice solution,” said to the construction industry as helping tional and domestic transaction advisory.” Kate Othus, partner and health care ser- the firm grow that client base. “Our con- New York City-based CohnReznick’s vices director. “The consulting team and struction team members work exclusively success in real estate is similarly mar- the CPA team work hand in hand to serve on construction clients,” said Joel Bobo, ket-driven. “Our national commercial real our clients using data to help support our partner-in-charge of Horne’s construction estate practice continues to experience recommendations and findings. While the services. “This focus allows us to provide strong year-over-year growth due to ex- CPA team effectively handles their compli- relevant advisory services, collaborate ceptional market conditions in that indus- ance and accounting needs, the consulting with clients on anticipatory insights, and try, as well as our expanded service offer- team provides a deep-dive look into the provide services which help improve their ings for all property sectors and markets business side of medicine by conducting profitability and growth. Our construction throughout the capital stack,” said chief practice assessments, and also helps our team members also collaborate with other growth officer Thomas Fassett. clients evaluate their growth initiatives and focus areas in our firm to assist many con- Armanino’s Matt Armanino attributes needs by facilitating strategic planning.” AT

34 firm highlights

Info@Risk. Committed to growing special- 2018 Top 100 highlights ty services in risk advisory, corporate tax and transactional advisory services. Aldrich: In October 2017, acquired a Bennett Thrasher: In May 2017, moved Brown Smith Wallace: Launched a Pasadena, Calif.-based construction ac- to brand-new office space. Added risk ad- three-year strategic plan. Updated the counting practice. Added a chief financial visory service and tax controversy services. firm’s mission, vision and values. Launched officer and a chief operating officer. Near to completing a 10-year transition to new service offerings, including business Anchin: In February 2017, held its third the next generation of leadership. Saw rev- performance consulting; refocused effort annual Anchin Construction & Develop- enue growth of over 15 percent. Named an on industry segments. ment Forum. Accounting Today Best Firm to Work For. Carr, Riggs & Ingram: In February 2017, Aprio: In January 2017, rebranded from Berdon: In July 2017, merged in New merged in Nashville, Tenn.-based Rayburn Habif, Arogeti & Wynne. In March, merged York City-based Koch Group & Co. En- Fitzgerald, and Florida-based Proctor, in Birmingham, Ala.-based Yeager & Boyd. hanced strategic planning process to in- Crook, Crowder & Fogal. In July, merged in In January 2018, merged in Atlanta-based clude all levels of professionals and vari- Atlanta-based AGH. In November, merged RRB Business Services. Added a process ous administrative functions. in New Mexico-based RPC CPAs. improvement service offering. BerganKDV: In July 2017, merged in CBIZ & MHM: In June 2017, acquired Armanino: In February 2017, formed Farmington, Minn.-based Beltz, Kes, Dar- private equity consulting firm CMF Asso- a charitable giving arm, the Armanino ling & Associates. Chose new chief exec- ciates. In December, acquired Newport Foundation. In March, merged in Cali- utive officer, to take office in July 2018. Beach, Calif.-based McKay & Carnahan. fornia-based Bernstein Business Manage- Moved Iowa city and Coralville staff to a In February 2018, acquired Denver-based ment Group. In May, joined the BlackLine new office. M&A due diligence services provider Lau- rus Transaction Advisors. partner program. In June, merged in El Berkowitz Pollack Brant: Added two Segundo and San Jose, Calif.-based Team new offices, in West Palm Beach, Fla., and Cherry Bekaert: In October 2017, elect- Jenn Corp., and the Brenner Group, in New York City. ed a new managing partner (its first female Menlo Park, Calif. Promoted its largest MP), to be installed in May 2018. In No- BerryDunn: In July, merged in Portland, internal partner class ever. vember, acquired Nashville, Tenn.-based Maine-based Compass Health Analytics. Aronson: Expanded learning and de- Frasier, Dean & Howard, and Washington, BKD: In May 2017, merged in Den- velopment platform, adding a director. D.C.-area Berlin Ramos & Co.; established ver-based Paragon Audit & Consulting. In Implemented new performance manage- new tech solutions arm with acquisition of January 2018, acquired financial institu- ment process and technology. Made in- consultancy The Computer Solution Co. of tion practice of Houston-based Harper & vestments and saw growth in a number Virginia. In January, acquired Alpharetta, Pearson Co. of advisory services, including technology Ga.-based Windward Tax. Blue & Co.: In January 2017, merged risk, enterprise risk management, and ac- Citrin Cooperman: In October 2017, in third-party benefit plan administrator counting advisory services. merged in New York-based Kera & Co. In Indiana Benefits Inc. Now offering IT risk Baker Newman & Noyes: Saw “great January 2018, merged in Bethesda, Md.- management solutions. growth” in advisory services, particularly based Schneider & Associates. Added a the health care and biotech industries. BlumShapiro: Launched an innova- number of lateral partners in specialty Baker Tilly Virchow Krause: Launched tions office to focus on capitalizing on new services. technologies. Formalized technology, life Center for the Return of Manufacturing. Clark, Schaeffer, Hackett & Co.: In July science, clean energy, and food and bever- Created online Healthcare and Tax Reform 2017, merged in Toledo, Ohio-based Lub- age industry groups. Resource Centers, and Disaster Recovery linSussman Group. New service revenues Online Resource. Launched Revenue Cy- The Bonadio Group: In October 2017, in leadership and development, as well as cle Innovation Center. merged in the nursing home practice of HR consulting. BDO USA: In April 2017, merged in Jack- Rochester, N.Y.-based EFPR Group. In No- CliftonLarsonAllen: In January 2017, sonville, Fla.-based LBA Wealth Advisors, vember, merged in Buffalo, N.Y.-based Vin- merged with Reno, Nev.-based The Bosma and Virginia-based Hilton Consulting. In- cent J. Muffoletto CPA. Group, Las Vegas-based Main Amundson vesting “significant resources” in cybersec- BPM: In July 2017, combined with Eu- and Associates, and Oregon’s Mack, Rob- urity, and technology and risk advisory. gene, Ore.-based information security firm erts & Co. In June, merged in Glendora,

35 firm highlights

Calif.-based Vicenti, Lloyd & Stutzman. financial services, M&A, and profit en- In January 2018, merged in Los Ange- No. of hancement consulting service lines. les-based NSBN. Frank, Rimerman & Co.: Saw revenue Cohen & Co.: In October, merged in mergers growth of almost 9 percent. Baltimore-based Arthur Bell. Made “a sig- Frazier & Deeter: Saw revenue growth nificant number” of lateral hires; increased of almost 13 percent. total staff by over 15 percent. reported by Freed Maxick: Installed a new man- CohnReznick: Launched its first subsid- aging director. Updated firm governance iary in Europe; launched Cloud Solutions the T100: documents. Developed a business intelli- Group. gence and data analytics practice. Added Crowe Horwath: In April 2017, merged a career coach and recruiting specialist, in cybersecurity risk management firm and a training and development specialist. SDGblue. In October, merged in San Fran- Marking its 60th anniversary in 2018. cisco-based Rowbotham International. In Friedman: Installed new co-manag- January 2018, merged in Atlanta-based risk ing partners. Launched a digital curren- consulting firm TRU8 Solutions. Opened 120firm Decipher Forensics. Announced plans cy practice and a cybersecurity practice. offices in San Jose, Calif., and downtown to merge in Gooding, Idaho-based France, Named an Accounting Today Best Firm to Los Angeles. Marked its 70th anniversary. Basterrechea, Wagner & Bunn in May. Work For. Deloitte: In January 2017, opened block- EisnerAmper: In January 2017, merged Grant Thornton: Saw double-digit chain lab in New York City. In March, in Princeton, N.J.-based Field & Higgins, growth in advisory services, and in five acquired McLean, Va.-based cloud con- and New York City-based Goldberg CPA. industry groups. Made major investments sulting firm Day 1 Solutions. In August, In December, merged in New York-based in brand-building with PGA and golf spon- acquired Swedish creative agency Acne. Cohen & Schaeffer. Created the Eisner- sorships. Added a chief economist. In November, launched Auvenir audit- Amper Center for Family Business Excel- Grassi & Co.: In January 2017, merged in ing technology for small firms. In January lence, and partnered with a tech company Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based James Bohl CPA 2018, partnered with Tableau to launch to start a health care advisory company. PC, and Scarsdale, N.Y.-based Bernstein & data analytics and visualization tool for tax EKS&H: Established an investment Seidman. Entered the New Jersey market departments. banking operation. with an office in Bergen County. Enhanced Dixon Hughes Goodman: In February Elliott Davis: In October, shortened consulting services. 2017, merged in Nashville, Tenn.-based name from Elliott Davis Decosimo. Tran- Hill, Barth & King: In September 2017, health care consulting firm HDR Con- sitioned from an office-centric focus to a merged in Pittsburgh-based appraisal firm sulting. Developed and expanded people “One Firm” focus. “Clarified and consoli- Brabender Mascetta Pattison. In October, strategy. Developed new offerings, mostly dated” several industry service lines. Cre- acquired Fort Myers, Fla.-based Sally Friz- in advisory services. ated a shared service platform to centrally zell Coleman CPA; HBKS Wealth Advi- Doeren Mayhew: In January 2017, provide general/administrative services. sors merged in Philadelphia-based Locust merged in Swiss tax firm Emerson & Part- Ernst & Young: In February 2017, ac- Capital Management. ner U.S. Tax. In October, installed new quired the technology platform assets of managing shareholder. TaxChat. In July, merged in family enter- Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt: Marked 25th anniversary in 2017. Appointed a Eide Bailly: In January 2017, merged prise business services firm Headwaters new COO. Saw growth and momentum in in Spokane, Wash.-based Langerhorst & SC. In December, announced a new chair M&A, private equity, and trust and estate Self-Merritt CPAs. In June, merged in Des and manager partner-elect (its first female services practices. Moines, Iowa-based Roth & Co. In Octo- MP), who will take office in July 2018. In ber, merged in Orem, Utah-based Haw- January 2018, merged in San Diego-based Honkamp Krueger & Co.: In January kins Advisors. In December, merged in RPR Partners and Portland, Ore.-based 2018, acquired Iowa-based Gabelmann & Texas-based Davis Kinard & Co. In Janu- digital design firm Citizen; opened learn- Associates. Continued expansion of deci- ary 2018, merged in Denver-based Heider, ing hub in Hoboken, N.J. sion-support services. Tanner & Dirks, and American Fork, Utah- FGMK: Expanded offerings in its spe- Horne: Developed new tech solutions based digital forensics and data recovery cialty tax practice, family office, real estate, for government services team and fran-

36 firm highlights

chise outsourcing team. Expanding cyber- growth in traditional service lines. location in San Francisco. services footprint. Opened project offic- Marcum: In April 2017, named a chief Montgomery Coscia Greilich: Fastest es in South Carolina, North Carolina and human capital officer. In May, merged in growing specialty service — M&A; fastest West Virginia. New Haven, Conn.-based Meyers, Harri- growing client category — private equity. Katz, Sapper & Miller: Grew overall staff son & Pia. In June, merged in the Califor- Moss Adams: In August 2017, announced by more than 15 percent. nia-based construction accounting prac- plans to merge with Denver-based Top 100 Kaufman Rossin Group: Organic tice of Warren Hennagin; MP was named Firm Hein & Associates. In September, growth a “key driver.” Seeing growth in chairman and CEO. merged in Seattle-based Rona Consulting South Florida, particularly in outsourced Margolin, Winer & Evens: Announced Group. accounting for small businesses and fam- succession plan in February 2017; installed Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno: ily offices; bank consulting services; and new managing partner in January 2018. Revenue figures are Accounting Today esti- real estate services. Marks Paneth: In February 2017, mates; all other data is firm-supplied. K-Coe Isom: In July 2017, merged in merged in New York City-based Shedler Novogradac & Co.: Grew revenue by Missouri-based Baer & Co. In Decem- & Cohen. In November, expanded to Con- over 10 percent; increased number of em- ber, merged in Des Moines, Iowa-based necticut by merging in Stamford-based ployees by over 6 percent. agricultural training and consulting firm Dylewsky, Goldberg & Brenner. In Janu- PBMares: New to the list. Fastest grow- Praedium Ventures. New market focus on ary 2018, merged in New York City-based ing specialty service — cyber-related ser- specialty transportation and beverage dis- Buck, Sturmer & Co. Opened an office in vices; fastest growing client category — tribution. Named a new chair. Boca Raton, Fla.; expanded office space in government contractors. Parsippany, N.J. Kearney & Co.: Grew net revenue by PKF O’Connor Davies: In January 2017, more than 20 percent. Named an Account- Mauldin & Jenkins: In October 2017, merged in Suffern, N.Y.-based Scialo, Rei- ing Today Best Firm to Work For. merged in Columbia, S.C.-based Derrick, mann & Varley CPA. Stubbs & Stith. Elected a new managing Kemper CPA Group: Marking its 60th Plante Moran: In July 2017, installed partner to take office in August 2018. anniversary in 2018. Fastest growing spe- new MP. Mazars USA: In November, merged in cialty service — CAS/BPO; fastest growing Postlethwaite & Netterville: In May, New York City-based Elliot Horowitz & Co. client category — nonprofits. elected new CEO and managing director, Invested in cybersecurity and related con- KLR: In December 2017, merged Kir- to take office in May 2018. Saw an increase sulting. Launched new training curricula, adjieff & Goode Inc. into KLR Executive in “non-CPA personnel, special projects and leadership and soft-skill programs. Search Group. and project management-related services.” MBAF CPAs: Expanded cybersecuri- KPMG: In May 2017, broke ground on 55- Prager Metis: In January 2017, merged in ty services. Added a number of manag- acre learning facility in Orlando, Fla. In Au- Morganville, N.J.-based Bernknopf Group, ing principals to oversee specific offices gust, announced expansion of its data and and Los Angeles-based Stuart A. Ditsky and markets. Hired a team to coordinate analytics program to nine more colleges CPA. In August, merged in Miami-based learning and development across the firm. and universities. In October, launched Ig- Vizcaino Zomerfeld. In October, merged Named an Accounting Today Best Firm to nite, a portfolio of AI tools. Over the course in Cameo Wealth & Creative Management Work For. of 2017, created alliances with ADP, Auto- Inc. and the Asteri Group. In January 2018, mation Anywhere, BlackLine, Blue Prism, MCM CPAs: In August 2017, merged in merged in New York City-based Geibelson, Case Commons, Dell Boomi, JDA Software Indianapolis-based K.B. Parrish & Co. Saw Young & Co., and U.K.-based Smallfield Group, Nasdaq’s BWise, and Ping Identity. rapid growth in several niches, including Cody. Created new technology entity. In January 2018, announced plans to ac- auto dealerships, construction, hospitality PwC: In January 2017, announced $11 quire the identity and access management and insurance. million investment in Carnegie Mellon’s business of Silicon Valley-based Cyberinc. MGO: Launched a cannabis practice. new Risk and Regulatory Services Inno- LBMC: In April 2017, merged an Atlan- Opened its first international office in vation Center; announced acquisition of ta-based Intacct practice into its technol- Delhi, India. Doubled its entertainment, GE’s tax unit, with 600 professionals and its ogy group. In August, merged in Tennes- sports and media practice. tax technologies. In May, acquired corpo- see-based business outsourcing compa- Miller Kaplan Arase: Invested heavily in rate asset recovery company The Locator ny W Squared. Returned to double-digit training and development. Moved to a new Service Group. In September, announced

37 firm highlights

launch of independent law firm, ILC Legal. ogy advisory and CFO advisory services, UHY Advisors: In February 2017, ac- In February 2018, announced sale of its and “large growth” in investment banking quired Byrne International. In January U.S. public sector business. services. Named an Accounting Today Best 2018, acquired Raleigh, N.C.-based soft- PYA: Grew revenue by over 8 percent. Firm to Work For. ware implementation firm Bright Point Fastest growing specialty service — valua- Schellman & Co.: New to the list. Saw Consulting. “Greatly enhanced” cyberse- tion services; fastest growing client catego- revenue growth of almost 23 percent. curity services. ry — health care facilities. Schenck: Transitioning to a new man- Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co.: Added a Raffa: In March 2017, acquired em- aging partner, and a new COO. Joined the cybersecurity division. ployee engagement tool developer Aspire; Leading Edge Alliance. Warren Averett: In April 2017, merged launched global e-mentoring partnership. Schneider Downs: Expanded capabil- Kinsight into Warren Averett Asset Man- More than 60 percent of owners and 60 ities and service offerings in the high- agement. Installed new CEO. Opened an percent of staff are women. Launched Raf- net-worth family office space; expanded office in Chennai, India. fa Social Capital Advisors to support social cybersecurity practice. Weaver: Opened an office in New York. impact investors seeking investment. Seiler: Added an office. Grew investment fund practice; invested Raich Ende Malter & Co: Added foren- Sikich: In January 2017, installed new in health care services; rebuilt forensic and sic/fraud accounting services. Saw reve- managing partner. In March, acquired em- litigation practice. In February 2018, ac- nue growth of over 12 percent. ployee benefit services business, Milwau- quired the tax practice of Houston-based Rea & Associates: In November 2017, kee-based Evolution Retirement Services. Condon & Co. merged in Cleveland-based Walthall CPAs. SingerLewak: In January 2017, merged Whitley Penn: In January 2017, merged Continued to further learning and devel- in South San Francisco, Calif.-based Good in Texas-based Wagner, Eubank & Nichols, opment efforts, and to implement strategic & Fowler. In December, merged in Tor- and Texas-based Hanner & Associates. In plan. rance, Calif.-based Kakimoto & Nagashi- March, merged in specialty litigation ser- Rehmann: In January 2018, merged in ma. vices firm OverMont Consulting. Saw “sig- Bonita Springs, Fla.-based Wiebel, Hen- Skoda Minotti: Named an Accounting nificant organic growth in each market.” Today Best Firm to Work For. nells & Carufe; Naples, Fla.-based CPA Wipfli: In January 2017, merged in Chi- Jana Knudson; and Lansing, Mich.-based Squar Milner: In November 2017, cago-based BIK & Co. In February, merged Godfrey Wise Berg CPAs. merged in Campbell, Calif.-based Loom- in Chicago-based Horwich Coleman RKL: In October 2017, merged in Me- is & Co., and San Francisco-based DZH Levin, and Minneapolis-based Barefoot chanicsburg, Pa.-based Padden, Guerrini Phillips. Technologies. In September, launched & Associates. In January 2018, merged tech SVA: Saw revenue growth of over 10 per- website development service. In October, consulting firm Arxis Technology into its cent. Expects “rapid growth” in technology merged in Great Falls, Mont.-based Re- RKL eSolutions unit. Expanded focus of its consulting. gional Leader Joseph Eve. In December, financial services industry group. merged in Milwaukee-based Sattell, John- RSM US: Marked its 91st anniversary. In son, Appel & Co. In January 2018, merged March 2017, acquired assets of consulting No. of in Chicago-based Kessler Orlean Silver & firm Athens Partners and launched First- Co. In February, merged in Denver-based Choice Advisor Center. In December 2017, new CEOs Bauerle & Co. launched RSM Canada. In January 2018, Withum: In April 2017, united with part- acquired Cleveland-based security and elected or ner PWM Advisory Group to form Withum privacy consulting firm SecureState. Wealth Management. In May, merged in RubinBrown: In June 2017, merged installed: IT consulting firm Portal Solutions. In Sep- in Las Vegas-based Archibald & Barney. tember, merged in Bethesda, Md.-based In December, expanded to Chicago by Regional Leader Bond Beebe. merging in FLS Group. In January 2018, Wolf & Co.: Named an Accounting Today merged in St. Louis-based Goltermann & Best Firm to Work For. Integrated separate Associates. audit and tax groups. Reorganized to focus SC&H Group: Saw growth in technol- 12 on niches.

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