Promotion Watch ’23: The Baker Tilly Partner Bench Is Now 44 People Deeper
Tomorrow, 44 people will ascend to partner status at Baker Tilly, a slight decrease from last year’s record partner class of 46. There is, naturally, a press release and a quote from Jeff Ferro who stepped into the chairman shoes in March when Alan Whitman abruptly left his post. “Our incoming partners inspire our team […]
Armanino Adds Marketing to the List of Services on Offer
Article image is a still from Armanino’s 2019 recruiting video ‘The Perfect Taco’. Armanino is getting into the marketing business. In recent years, there’s been a push for CPA firms to serve as one-stop shops for more than just tax expertise and audits. And why not? Deloitte Digital has been doing it (and exceptionally well […]
Tiny Rhode Island Town Settles Its Billing Beef With Marcum Over Out of Scope Services
The little 7,997 person town of Charlestown, RI has settled its issues with Marcum after “furious” town officials received an unitemized $55,992 bill for out of scope services on the town’s 2022 audit. Reports The Sun, council members received the out of scope services bills dated January 18 and February 15, on top of the […]
Rumor Has It Something’s Going Down at Marcum (UPDATE)
In November Financial Times wrote a quick little story about accounting firms eyeing private equity deals, a topic that first gained visibility when TowerBrook Capital Partners purchased an ownership stake in EisnerAmper way back in 2021. The FT story listed BDO, Grant Thornton, and Marcum as firms that have explored these deals, though none of […]
One of Minnesota’s Largest Accounting Firms Can Totally Get Behind the Alternative Pathway to CPA Licensure
In a LinkedIn post published March 3, CLA CEO Jen Leary — who graduated wayyyy back when only 120 units were required — threw her support behind Minnesota Society of CPAs’ initiative to add a second pathway that would allow CPA licensure at 120 units and two years of experience. It may not seem like […]
Baker Tilly Will Be Making Moves
A couple months ago I guessed that Baker Tilly was working on a big merger — to which a merger expert I pester from time to time asked incredulously “with who?” (paraphrased) — and then suddenly CEO Alan Whitman up and left making me think maybe I was wrong. Whitman’s sudden departure was a little […]
Layoff Watch ’23: McKinsey Joins the 2023 Consulting Culling
McKinsey & Co. is joining KPMG, BDO USA, and Accenture in culling the consulting herd. Like Accenture, McKinsey doesn’t get much lip service on this website but it is worth talking about here because cuts from non-Big 4 consulting firms reflect the overall health of the consulting market which therefore affects the firms we do […]
Layoff Watch ’23: Accenture is ‘Streamlining Operations’ But Don’t Worry, It’s Mostly Back Office Staff
It’s a rare day we write about Accenture but because the firms we do write about have begun tightening their belts and even cutting advisory people (KPMG, BDO), we thought it prudent to inform you of what appeared in the 10-Q the company filed yesterday. This is from Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of […]
Whitley Penn Finds Out New Yorkers Do Not F*** Around
On March 20, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a motion to compel (aka “gonna need the court to make someone do something thx”) Whitley Penn to hand over documents and communications relating to her civil fraud case against their client Donald Trump, three of his adult children, and the Trump Organization. Whitley Penn […]
Alan Whitman Is Suddenly No Longer Baker Tilly CEO As of Today
Mere hours ago, Baker Tilly announced via news release that Alan Whitman has resigned from his role as CEO and chairman of the board effective immediately. This is a surprise to say the least, Baker Tilly has been making a lot of big moves in the past year or so, honestly we expected an explosive […]
Baker Tilly Banks on Celebrity Endorsements to Bring in Young Talent
In case you didn’t notice because who cares, Baker Tilly has engaged the help of filmmaker and adventurer Jimmy Chin and teenage tennis star Coco Gauff to brighten up the Baker Tilly name and recruit the youfs to this exciting accounting firm. Said Coco Gauff at gunpoint in a press release about the partnership: “I […]
Layoff Watch ’23: BDO USA Cuts 85 People in Advisory, Wishes Them the Very Best on the Way Out the Door
Fresh off the rumor mill: BDO USA has cut 85 people from advisory, announced via internal email from brand new advisory head Eskander Yavar to all of his service line this afternoon. We were provided part of the email which reads: Today was a difficult day for our practice — we reduced our workforce by […]
CBIZ and MHM Get a Makeover
CBIZ and MHM have finally ditched the ‘1999 amateur golf team’ logos and transported themselves into current day with a fresh new look to celebrate stellar performance and dynamic client service. Of course there are a pair of press releases to mark the occasion, here is MHM’s: Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. (“MHM”) has updated its […]
Mazars Is Growing YUGE
Mazars released its global financial results this week and as is tradition, there is a press release celebrating it. Mazars, the international audit, tax and advisory firm, today releases its global financial results for the 2021/2022 financial year, highlighting double-digit year-on-year growth of 16.4%, reaching €2.45bn in fee income. The increase in revenue comprises strong […]
Getting Tough on Mid-Tier Firms Will Only Cement the Big 4 Oligopoly, Says Audit Partner Whose Firm Needs to Git Gud
Much like here in the U.S. with the PCAOB, the Financial Reporting Council across the pond has been busy at work inspecting audit firms with a fine-toothed comb and handing out fines like beads at Mardi Gras (Financial Times calls it “swift with the stick”). At first these efforts were largely focused on Big 4 […]
Accounting Firms Are Being Uncharacteristically Modern About This Whole Remote Work Thing
Are we ready for another survey? OH BOY. Thomson Reuters has written up the 2022 ConvergenceCoaching, LLC® Anytime, Anywhere Work™ (ATAWW) Survey — you can request survey results here — and we learn that almost all responding firms say they are being flexible about where and when their people put in their time. Of the […]
BDO Will Audit EY Consulting, or Whatever That Business is Gonna Be Called
The Wall Street Journal has written a pretty detailed account of comments EY Global Chairman and CEO Carmine Di Sibio made to WSJ’s CFO Network Summit earlier this week, scroll down to skip past a bunch of words and watch the clip. Of note, the split vote is now expected to happen in April. “I […]
The Largest Accounting Firms in Portland, Ranked by Number of CPAs Working There
Been a while since we’ve ranked anything, thankfully Portland Business Journal came in clutch today and gave the world a good old fashioned ranking of Portland accounting firms. The full list of 30 firms costs $30 and we don’t have money like that so we’re looking at the five we can see for free. There’s […]
Let’s Talk About Why ‘Musculoskeletal Issues’ Are on the Rise at This Accounting Firm
Although I am not a loyal reader of Human Resource Executive I did come across an article they just did on CLA — also known by their confirmation name CliftonLarsonAllen — and the benefits HRE outlined in said article sound awesome. Flexible PTO, a wellness stipend, access to cognitive behavioral therapy for the employee as […]
Berdon Got a Lot of Dates But Ultimately Chose to Hook Up With Citrin Cooperman
Thanks to the commenter who brought this to our attention. Accounting firm merger madness continues, this time the union of Citrin Cooperman and Berdon announced on the 1st. We should have seen it coming as Citrin Cooperman has been busy the last 15 months, growing revenue by $200 million and completing several mergers since private […]
Turns Out Cohen & Company Auditors Are Human After All
Breaking news: Cohen & Company made a mistake on one of its audits inspected by the PCAOB. Big deal, you’re probably thinking, audit firms screw up all the time—some more than others. (We’re looking at you, BDO USA.) But Cohen & Company had perfect auditing report cards from the PCAOB for 2018, 2019, and 2020. […]
CliftonLarsonAllen Just Gained 200 People
Image via CliftonLarsonAllen CLA has merged with New Jersey’s SobelCo (a firm we’ve heard only good things about) and produced the obligatory press release about the union. Shout out to Allan Koltin, the prenuptial counselor of accounting firm marriages, who helped with the deal. News release: Today, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP), the eighth largest accounting firm […]
Promotion Watch ’23: It’s New Partner Season at CohnReznick
Feb. 1 will be a big day at the 15th richest public accounting firm in the U.S. as 19 people will be admitted into the partnership at CohnReznick. “As CohnReznick continues to expand its capabilities and market presence, recognizing the talents and achievements of outstanding professionals is critical to our growth strategy,” said CohnReznick CEO […]
RSM Does Not Aspire to Be KPMG
RSM International CEO Jean Stephens spoke to Financial Times recently and let everyone know that her firm is totally open to a little wheeling and dealing that would bump them up from their current spot as the sixth largest firm (#5 on the IPA 500). Coincidentally, RSM just released their revenue numbers and they are […]
The Largest Accounting Firm in Kentucky Thinks a Tower Will Win the Talent War
You ever been in a position where you’re juggling a few different offers from roughly equivalent firms? Of course you have. What factors do you consider when making this important decision? Salary, obviously. Culture, perhaps. Was the guy who interviewed you a dick? That definitely rates. What about commercial real estate? Anyone? MCM CPAs & […]
Promotion Watch ’23: 36 People at Moss Adams Earned Their Stripes
Moss Adams admitted 36 lucky boys and girls into the partnership last week, topping last year’s new partner class of 34 and more than double the class of 2021. “Our newest group of admitted partners exemplifies our focus on providing holistic services that help our clients succeed,” said Eric Miles, CEO and chairman for Moss Adams. […]
Guidehouse Laid Off a Bunch of Old Grant Thornton Partners After the Public Advisory Practice Merger (UPDATE)
Ed. note: a previous version of this article included “Rumor” in the headline. As it is considered confirmed, we’ve removed it. Update at the bottom. Back in August when it was announced that Guidehouse would be buying Grant Thornton’s public sector advisory practice, we wondered out loud if layoffs might be expected as they so […]
Guess How Much the End-of-Year Staff Bonus Was at CliftonLarsonAllen For 2022?
If you said $2,022, you’d be correct! A tipster from CliftonLarsonAllen told us on Monday, “$2,022 is how much the gift was to all employees. Very pleased with it. It was a complete surprise and appreciated by a lot of my colleagues. Especially with some other firms not giving out anything with a potential recession […]
Mazars and Armanino Just Abruptly Stopped Working For Crypto Clients
Two things to share today. First, Mazars has “paused” crypto work effective immediately. Reports WSJ: Cryptocurrency-trading giant Binance said the accounting firm it uses to reassure customers that their money is safe has paused all of its work for crypto clients, and said the outflows from its platform had swelled to $6 billion. Mazars, a […]
By the Numbers: The Accounting Firms That Received $635 Million in PPP Loans
Remember PPP loans? The Small Business Administration defines PPP as “an SBA-backed loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis.” Remember all the layoffs and pay cuts at accounting firms we were meticulously tracking in early 2020? Transparency group OpenTheBooks.com crunched the numbers using Small Business Administration data and found $635 […]
BDO UK Spreads the Load
FT had an interesting story yesterday about a situation across the pond: average BDO UK partner pay fell 15 percent to £647,000 (USD$794k) because a hiring spree took a bite out of profits. Last year, BDO UK partners walked away with more than even EY and KPMG partners. They aren’t worried about it though, the […]
The Elliott Davis/Whitley Penn Merger Fell Apart in the Eleventh Hour, RIP Elliott Penn (UPDATE)
This past summer, the second biggest news around the virtual watercooler of professional services (after the EY split) was that Elliott Davis and Whitley Penn would be combining forces to become — *dramatic flourish here* — Elliott Penn. “By proactively bringing these two firms together, Elliott Penn leverages the strengths of both firms and establishes […]
Which Firm Had the Most IPO Audit Clients In Q3 2022?
The initial public offering slump of 2022 continued in the third quarter, as the 39 IPOs that raised a combined $3.1 billion is significant lower than the 199 IPOs in U.S. markets in Q3 2021, which raised a total of $49.7 billion, according to a new analysis from Audit Analytics. The amount raised in Q3 […]
Someone Looked Up Audit Senior Salary Ranges at the Top 25 Firms to Catch Them Breaking the New NYC Pay Transparency Law
A week ago, u/DoritosDewItRight visited the websites of the top 25 public accounting firms to find out if they’d listed reasonable salary ranges for open positions, as required by a new law effective November 1 that requires employers in New York City — or employers of employees who will perform their work in New York […]
Some High Level Folks Have Abruptly Left BDO and No One Seems to Know Why (UPDATE)
People who know know there’s something happening at BDO USA. We are working on getting to the bottom of a few things that we can’t quite share with you until we have more information but in the meantime, we need to talk about how leadership is apparently getting axed — or leaving? — and no […]
The Dallas Cowboys Are Getting Some Extra Accountants With This CohnReznick Merger
CohnReznick announced a merger with Dallas firm BKM Sowan Horan and the Dallas Morning News took the opportunity to trumpet the happy nuptials of the official accounting firm of the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas Morning News: CohnReznick, the 15th largest accounting firm in the U.S. and the official accounting firm of the Dallas Cowboys, says it […]
Moss Adams is Going on a Hiring Spree in India
The Hindu Businessline is reporting that Moss Adams plans to hire a few hundred people in India over the next couple years because India “offers the best talent pool.” Talent shortage? Aggressive growth? Cheaper labor? Who can say. But Moss Adams’ COO Dave Follett gave all the details to Businessline. Read: American accounting and consultancy […]
SEC Fines Friedman For Piss-Poor Auditing So They Remember to Exercise Professional Skepticism Next Time
Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Friedman LLP with with improper professional conduct for failing to comply with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board while conducting audits of two public companies from 2017 through 2020. Friedman has agreed to settle the charges and will pay approximately $1.5 million in total […]
Someone at Eide Bailly Has a Thing For Feet
Remember back in the early 2010s when firms were giving away iPads? Apparently this is what you get when you go to recruiting events nowadays: Anyone gotten anything good at events lately? Or are we still doing fat highlighters and Post-it flags?
Promotion Watch ’22: Here Are the 37 Newest Marcum Partners
If the 2022 new partner class at Marcum looks unusually large, it is. Why? Because of all the Friedmans. The class of new partners includes professionals who joined the firm as part of Friedman LLP’s merger into Marcum less than a week ago, on September 1. Up until now, last year’s class of 29 new […]
CliftonLarsonAllen is Still the Constructioniest of All Accounting Firms
You may or may not be aware that there is such a thing as Construction Executive magazine, and you may or may not be aware that Construction Executive magazine has ranked accounting firms with construction practices for the past four years. You may or may not be aware that there is an accounting firm called […]
Promotion Watch ’22: Baker Tilly Churned Out a Record 46 New Partners
The new partner class of 2022 is one for the record books at Baker Tilly, as 46 BTers got their club memberships recently from CEO Alan Whitman. Baker Tilly says in a press release that it’s the largest new partner class at the firm to date, which we have every reason to believe given that […]
Thank God Accounting Firms Are Still Bragging About Ping-Pong Tables at the Office
The pandemic changed a lot of things, thank goodness it hasn’t impacted the profession’s inexplicable need to brag about their ping-pong tables at every opportunity. From Dallas Morning News: A fast-growing Dallas-based accounting firm is moving its offices in Deep Ellum to a bigger location that’s closer to Fair Park. “To accommodate the growing head […]
Moss Adams Got Sued Because They Kinda Forgot to Tell the Client About an Important COVID Relief Deadline (Allegedly)
Thanks to the tipster who sent this over. The California comedy club that helped launch the careers of such comedy greats as Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, and David Letterman to name a few is suing Moss Adams because they say they missed out on $8.5 million in COVID relief funds thanks to Moss Adams not […]
Some Guy Quit His Job at Baker Tilly and Left the City of Palo Alto, CA Without a City Auditor
Here’s one for you. The city of Palo Alto, CA is looking for a new city auditor after its last one, Kyle O’Rourke, resigned from his role at Baker Tilly on August 15. MP Vicki Hellenbrand informed the city about the resignation two days later. O’Rourke, a principal at the firm, has been serving the […]
Guidehouse is Buying Grant Thornton’s Public Sector Advisory Practice (UPDATE)
Ed. note: Internal email regarding the acquisition sent to Grant Thornton staff included below. This is a developing story. A tipster reached out to us this morning to let us know the rumor mill is churning over Guidehouse potentially picking up GTPS. “This took some people by surprise when they read about it on Fishbowl,” […]
Promotion Watch ’22: Forvis Admits First Class of New Partners and Principals; All Have Forward Vision
Forvis, the oddly named love child of BKD and DHG that was born on June 1, announced its inaugural class of new partners and principals, as well as new managing directors, last month. As far as we know, the 21 partners, two principals, and 38 managing directors in this year’s class all have eyes in […]
Promotion Watch ’22: Plante Moran Adds 29 New Partners
Fortune magazine’s favorite accounting firm promoted 29 new partners across eight service lines and 15 offices at the beginning of August. The new partner class of 2022 at Plante Moran is the firm’s largest in the last several years, surpassing the 24 in 2021, 25 in 2020, 16 in 2019, and 15 in 2018. Here […]
Listicle of the Day: INSIDE Public Accounting’s Top 500 Firms For 2022
If there’s anything we love here at Going Concern it is an accounting firm dick-measuring contest. Or a “pissing match” should you prefer a milder phrase. Whatever you call it, we love when firms are pitted against one another based on impartial metrics like revenue. INSIDE Public Accounting has blessed us with a fresh Top […]
Don’t Be Surprised to See Accounting Firms Aggressively Merging in the Next Year or Two
Have you heard? There’s an accountant shortage! This is probably coming as a shock to you but it’s true. Firms are trying all sorts of tricks to find and retain talent but the problem may be deeper than not having the right set of perks but rather an actual shortage of qualified talent. This issue […]
Which Firm Had the Most IPO Audit Clients In Q2 2022?
After a slow first quarter of 2022, initial public offerings didn’t take off in the second quarter either. In fact, the 46 IPOs in Q2 was the fewest since the first quarter of 2020 (38), and the $5.3 billion raised by those 46 companies that went public was the smallest amount since the first quarter […]
This Firm Will Let You Leave Early on Friday (If You Have No Work)
IDK are we being overly cynical here or is this dumb? This feels a little like the “unlimited” vacation trap. If you think relaxed summer schedules were last year’s trend as big companies took gentle measures to steer employees back to the workplace, think again. Schneider Downs & Co. is embracing a policy that closes […]
Rumor: Is Some Culture Drama Going Down at Grant Thornton?
We received a tip about a situation over at Grant Thornton that may or may not have any basis in reality but since the only time Grant Thornton ever gets mentioned here is to get made fun of over being so bad at auditing (it’s getting better OK!) we thought hey, let’s have a discussion […]
The Talent Crunch is So Bad Firms You’ve Never Heard of Are Offering $7000 Referral Bonuses
LaPorte who? Well now you’ve heard of them. From New Orleans City Business: “Just like every other company and industry, we have felt the effects of the ‘Great Resignation,’” said Patty Paz, chief operating officer at LaPorte CPAs & Business Advisors. “We have worked hard over the last two years to put in place several […]
Weaver Has Snazzy New Digs in Houston
The Houston Chronicle has published some shots of Weaver’s new office in Houston, 66,000 square feet at 4400 Post Oak Parkway. Honestly? It’s not terrible. CEO and Managing Partner John Mackel told the Chronicle it was good timing that their lease came up in the middle of the pandemic. “We had a little bit more […]
Which Firm Had the Most IPO Audit Clients In Q1 2022?
The hardworking human beings at Audit Analytics have released their analysis of initial public offering trends and IPO auditor market share for the first quarter of this year, a period in which the number of companies going public was minuscule compared to Q1 of 2021. All told there were 84 IPOs on the New York […]
Network Security Experts Found a Way Into Moss Adams’ Cloud Network
We’ve learned this week that benevolent hackers found a vulnerability over at Moss Adams a few months ago and detailed their findings in a blog post on Tuesday. Via VPNOverview: VPNOverview’s security team in April discovered an improperly stored virtual machine (VM) image that belongs to Moss Adams, one of the largest public accounting firms […]
Davis and Whitley Get Shafted in Latest Accounting Firm Merger
There’s a new megafirm on the block and it’s called Elliott Penn LLP. Not quite as ✨dynamic✨ as Forvis but we can’t all have forward vision now can we? Since people are already getting dissed by this arrangement, here is the Whitley Penn press release and here is the same exact thing from Elliott Davis, […]
SEC Slaps CohnReznick and Three Partners with Improper Professional Conduct
This press release from the SEC is wayyyy too boring to be rewritten in an interesting way on a sunny Friday afternoon so have some copy paste instead: The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged audit firm CohnReznick LLP with improper professional conduct on engagements for two clients in 2017. The two clients, Sequential Brands […]
Happy Forvis Day!
It’s official: Today’s the day BKD and DHG become Forvis. Today is a historic day as we begin serving clients as a top 10 professional services firm. Learn more from @FORVIS CEO Tom Watson and Chair Matt Snow: https://t.co/t5IW0BU97b pic.twitter.com/JcFMcz5xLD — FORVIS (@FORVIS) June 1, 2022 We hope everyone at Forvis has a great day […]
Marcum Gives Employees the ‘Gift’ of Summer Hours on Fridays
During a town hall meeting on Tuesday in which the marriage between Marcum and Friedman was confirmed internally before the official press release was slapped on Marcum’s website in the afternoon, Marcum Chairman and CEO Jeff Weiner announced that it’s almost time for all those busy season morale-boosting pizza parties to be replaced by new […]
Rumor Mill: Two Top 35 Accounting Firms (One In the Top 15) Are In Merger Talks (UPDATE: Friedman and Marcum Merger Official)
[UPDATE on May 3] The news we broke last week (scroll down) came to fruition today, as the merger between Friedman and Marcum is now official. Here is the press release from Marcum: Leading national accounting and advisory firms Marcum LLP (“Marcum”) and Friedman LLP (“Friedman”) today announced that they are in advanced discussions related to a […]
The Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For: Crowe #67 (2022)
We’ve finally reached the end of our coverage of the 2022 Fortune BCTWF with Crowe at No. 67. After making the BCTWF for the very first time in 2018 and staying on the list for 2019 and 2020, Crowe fell out of the top 100 in 2021. We speculated at the time it might have […]
Let’s Mesh Other Business Buzzwords to Form the Next Big Accounting Firm Name
First off, I want to thank those of you who reached out to us on Wednesday about Forvis being the new name of the combined BKD/DHG firm. I’ve been sick with COVID since early Wednesday morning and haven’t cracked open my laptop until now. I still feel like crap but OK enough to do this […]
Marcum Leads Public Accounting In Posting Awkward Busy Season Pizza Party Photos on Social Media
Marcum employees are living that public accounting busy season stereotype one slice of pizza at a time. We're in the final stretch of the #taxseason. Our Fort Lauderdale office took a much needed break and gathered for happy hour while enjoying pizza and beer. #marcumeverywhere #funatwork pic.twitter.com/QJx0VBxD2R — Marcum LLP (@MarcumLLP) April 5, 2022 It […]
The Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For: Plante Moran #30 (2022)
Here’s one takeaway from covering the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For rankings the last 12 years: A BCTWF list without Plante Moran on it just doesn’t feel right. But that has been a rare occurrence since the magazine started the ranking. In fact, Plante Moran is one of four companies (EY too) that […]
Updated List of Accounting Firm Average Partner Profits In the UK For 2021
Hey Grant Thornton UK partners, how y’all livin’? Probably not too bad these days, now that the average profit for those of you in the club went up 34% to £611,000 in 2021. With GT releasing its 2021 average partner pay yesterday, as well as firm profits and net revenue, we’ve updated our list of […]
How Did Crowe, Moss Adams, and Marcum Do In Their Respective 2020 PCAOB Inspection Reports?
If these inspection reports were like tests taken in a classroom, Crowe and Moss Adams would have received passing grades, while Marcum would have failed big time. Let’s take a look: Crowe The latest audit inspection results for Crowe show the 11th-ranked public accounting firm by revenue bombed 27% of the audits reviewed in the […]
For Now, Mazars Seems to Be Staying Put In Russia
You can add Mazars to the list of global accounting firms with offices in both Ukraine and Russia that have denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pledged to support their colleagues in Ukraine—financially and via other means. But unlike PwC, KPMG, EY, Deloitte, Grant Thornton, and BDO, Mazars doesn’t seem to be planning a move […]
If Y’all Keep Quitting Your Jobs Like This You’re Going to Break the Economy
Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this article on Bloomberg Tax, I just want to call out the photo they used for the header. “Paraphernalia” got a chuckle out of me. OK so everyone and your mother knows by now that public accounting firms are struggling with a talent shortage. Regardless of […]
Rumor: BKD Is Going to Merge With Either DHG, Moss Adams, or Plante Moran Today (CONFIRMED: BKD and DHG)
[Updated below with information about BKD and DHG merger.] This came through the tipline a little bit ago: To be announced later today, two top 20 firms will merge and create a new top 10 firm. Our tipster proceeded to give us a hint that narrowed the field down a bit: It’s two praxity alliance […]
Does Any Blame Lie With Mazars USA In Trump Organization Financial Statement Mess?
The big news that sent shockwaves through the accounting profession on Monday afternoon was Mazars USA breaking up with longtime client Donald Trump and his company on Valentine’s Day, saying in a letter to the Trump Organization, which was included in a court filing, that “the Statements of Financial Condition for Donald J. Trump for […]
Some BKD Campus Recruiters Are Making the Great Escape
By now we are well-aware of the growing dissatisfaction among client-facing grunts at public accounting firms, many of whom are doing the jobs of two or more people this busy season as already understaffed teams become more depleted by the day due to people leaving their firms for greener pastures. But we haven’t heard much […]
Compensation Watch ’22: Mazars Opted to Give Employees a Mid-Year Raise Instead of Another Pizza Party
While our friends over at EY can’t get a sniff of a mid-year salary adjustment, another accounting firm decided to thank its employees with mo’ money instead of free pizza. We got confirmation over the weekend that Mazars USA leadership recently announced mid-year pay bumps for employees. Our source was a little skimpy on the […]
Promotion Watch ’22: Armanino Lets 24 Overachievers Into the Partnership
This year’s new partner class at Armanino isn’t light on the ladies. In fact, 13 of the firm’s 24 newest rainmakers are women. Sharon Bhalaru, Consulting, Austin Surbhi Bordia, Tax, San Jose Tom Brunton, Consulting, Dallas Noah Buxton, Blockchain, San Francisco Catherine Catherine, Business Management, Los Angeles Emily Conley, Audit, St. Louis Crystal Do, Business Management, Los Angeles Kathy Ferguson, Audit, Dallas Ryan […]
CBIZ CEO Slaps Everyone On the Back For a Job Well Done On Acquisition of Marks Paneth
A fairly big public accounting firm acquisition was announced earlier today, as top 11 firm CBIZ went shopping and picked up a Marks Paneth, ranked No. 43 in INSIDE Public Accounting’s top 100 firms list for 2021, reportedly for $81 million. With the acquisition, CBIZ is expected to gain an additional $138 million of revenue […]
Oh Look, CliftonLarsonAllen Is Ranked No. 1 In a Couple Other Things Too
As we mentioned last August, CliftonLarsonAllen—the love child of Clifton Gunderson and LarsonAllen—has been the most dominant public accounting firm that no one really cares about the past three years when it comes to serving clients in the construction industry. But apparently construction isn’t the only client base that C to the L to the […]
Compensation Watch ’21: Cherry Bekaert Gave Out Some Mid-Year Morale Boosters
During this time of year when there’s hardly anything going on because most of you have started your holiday break and are (theoretically) not doing any work and spending time with your family and friends, this news from a manager at top 27 firm Cherry Bekaert dropped in our lap last week: People have started […]
Compensation Watch ’21: BKD Is Handing Out Mid-Year Raises But It’s Anyone’s Guess As to How Much (NEW UPDATE)
[Updated on Dec. 22] Quick update on the folks at BKD. Apparently mid-year compensation adjustments were doled out on Dec. 17, and some BKDers posted their raises in the comments section. Based on what was posted, raises ranged from 2.3% to 4.2%. So, how did the rest of you fare? Let us know in the […]
Compensation Watch ’21: Crowe Is Full of Christmas Cheer
Three years ago this week, Crowe made the news for being fined $1.5 million by the SEC for its audits of Corporate Resource Services Inc., which can best be described in three words that are as follows, and I quote: “Stink, stank, stunk.” But this week, nothing but good news coming out of the Crowe […]
Compensation Watch ’21: Marcum Is Jumping On the Mid-Year Raises Bus
Marcum Chairman, CEO, and Going Concern fanboy Jeffrey Weiner must be feeling extra charitable during this season of giving, as he’ll be putting a little something extra in Marcum employees’ stockings on Jan. 1, 2022. A tipster provided us with this email that Weiner sent to Marcum employees today, with “Mid-Year Salary Increases” in the […]
Which Firm Was the Biggest Loser In the Third Auditor Shuffle of 2021?
Are y’all ready for the results of the third auditor round-and-round of 2021? OK. Here we go. It was another big quarter for BF Borgers, which added the most new SEC clients with nine while losing one for a net of eight, according to Audit Analytics’ third quarter audit gains and losses analysis. BF Borgers […]
Compensation Watch ’21: Is Plante Moran Rolling Out Salary Adjustments For the Masses? (UPDATE)
[Updated with additional comp information at the bottom of article originally posted on Nov. 22.] The answer is YES according to a tip we received last week: A few weeks ago Plante Moran announced to its employees that everyone is getting a January 1 market increase (separate from the normal market and merit increases that […]
Compensation Watch ’21: There Are Some Happy Folks At CohnReznick
I was scrolling through Fishbowl yesterday afternoon while I was watching that horrible Bears vs. Ravens game when this post caught my eye: At least those pay bumps are at or above current inflation levels, so that’s a plus. The thread continued … We hadn’t heard from anyone in the rank and file at CohnReznick […]
Promotion Watch ’21: Crowe Adds 45 New Partners and Principals
Crowe recently announced a slimmed-down class of 45 new partners and principals who will get their special light-up pens on April 1, 2022—compared to the 102 partners and principals who were promoted on April 1 of this year. Here are the 34 men and 11 women who will be constantly pestered by Crowe CEO Mark […]
Poaching News Roundup: 10.13.21
A recap of recent non-Big 4-on-Big 4 poaching news throughout the accounting profession. BDO Stefan Beyers joined BDO UK’s financial services team as an audit partner. He has a boatload of experience in audit and advisory engagements for banking and capital markets clients. He previously worked at PwC for 19 years, most recently as a […]
Which Firm Had the Most IPO Audit Clients In Q2 2021?
On this the last day of the third quarter, let’s take a look back at initial public offering activity in the second quarter of the year, which featured the biggest IPO since 2000 in terms of proceeds, according to Audit Analytics. There were 13 IPOs with proceeds greater than or equal to $1 billion last […]
There Will Be a New Boss at Moss Adams Next Year
A day after Grant Thornton announced its next occupant of the corner office, Moss Adams sent out a release on Sept. 16 saying who its next corner office dweller will be. The new boss of Moss starting next April is Eric Miles, a partner who currently leads the firm’s consulting practice and has spent his […]
Promotion Watch ’21: Marcum Adds 29 New Chairs to the Big Kids Table
Big news from the Marcum camp today, as 17 men and 12 women will now be able to hitch a ride on the special partners-only bus. According to a media release, this year’s new partner class is the largest and most diverse class in Marcum’s history. The firm admitted 20 to the partnership in 2020. […]
Number of the Day: 73%
Deloitte US made national headlines last Tuesday when CEO Joe Ucuzoglu told employees in an email that the firm “will require PPMDs and professionals to be vaccinated [against COVID-19] to access US Deloitte facilities,” effective Oct. 11, which led Adrienne to speculate that the other Big 4 firms will eventually fall in line behind Deloitte […]
Which Firm Was the Biggest Loser In the Second Auditor Shuffle of 2021?
The auditor round-and-round continued in the second quarter of 2021, with everyone’s favorite public accounting firm with a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant sounding name, BF Borgers, netting nine new SEC clients, the most of any audit firm, according to the Q2 auditor changes roundup from Audit Analytics. And as Accounting Today noted in its post […]
CliftonLarsonAllen Is Ranked No. 1 In Something
And that something has to do with … construction. For the third consecutive year, CLA has been named the top construction accounting firm by Construction Executive. It’s an honor to be recognized, & it speaks to our ability to help owners & managers address industry challenges & plan for financial success https://t.co/rE1m1zVntL pic.twitter.com/D1RhjZzyPX — CLA […]
Promotion Watch ’21: Plante Moran Admits 24 New Partners
Thirteen men and 11 women have earned their seats at the big kids table at Plante Moran. This class of newly minted partners is one less than last year’s 25, which may or may not have been a record amount. The new partners for 2021 are: Jaime Eckels, Auburn Hills, MI Dori Eggett, Denver Valerie […]
Number of the Day: $860,668
Things that are recession-proof during a global pandemic: Amazon Costco Netflix Alcohol Public accounting firms According to INSIDE Public Accounting, top-line growth for the top 100 public accounting firms this past year was 8.3%, which seemed like a pipe dream in March and April 2020 as the Rona was starting to rage in the U.S. […]
Listicle of the Day: INSIDE Public Accounting’s Top 400 Firms For 2021 (UPDATE)
[Updated original post from July 26 to reflect BDO USA taking over sixth place in revenue from Grant Thornton.] INSIDE Public Accounting just came out with its ranking of the top 400 firms in the U.S. based on revenue, and there’s two big changes in the top 10. The most notable change is BDO USA […]
Grant Thornton and BKD Have Better CEOs Than the Ones At Big 4 Firms, According to Glassdoor
Here’s a quick recap of where public accounting firm CEOs were ranked in Glassdoor’s 100 top CEOs in 2021, based on anonymous employee reviews and feedback: 47. Brad Preber, Grant Thornton, 94% approval rating 61. Ted Dickman, BKD, 93% approval rating 67. Tim Ryan, PwC, 93% approval rating 99. Paul Knopp, KPMG, 90% approval rating […]
Promotion Watch ’21: Wipfli Adds 19 New Partners and Principals
The other night I was watching the WGN Evening News when Wipfli partner Geoff Harlow came on to talk about the Extended Child Tax Credit. You can see his guest appearance below if you’re so inclined: But Harlow’s appearance helped me remember something else: I had the names of the newest class of do-gooders who […]
Promotion Watch ’21: Eide Bailly Gave 22 Lucky Boys and Girls Their New Partner Stickers
The new partner train keeps chuggin’ along. It stopped at Eide Bailly on May 1, when 14 men and eight women were given their keys to the partnership. This year’s class is a bit smaller than last year’s deification of 26 individuals to partner. The members of the class of 2021 at Eide Bailly are: […]
The Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For: Plante Moran #91 (2021)
[Updated on June 11 with information about employee raises.] Plante Moran is the darling of the F100BCTWF, having made the list for the 23rd time; however, PM is dangerously close to dropping out of the top 100, falling from No. 21 last year to No. 91 this year. Despite the huge drop in the rankings, […]
Promotion Watch ’21: Baker Tilly Admits 24 New Partners
The Chicago-based public accounting firm with a guitar pick for a logo handed out 24 new memberships to the partner club on June 1, one more than last year. The 15 men and nine women in the Baker Tilly new partner class of 2021 are: Paul Bishop, CPA, Tax – Manufacturing and Distribution, Madison, WI […]