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Grant Thornton Poaches Someone From PwC and Issues a Press Release, Part II

Posted on by Jason Bramwell

With Mark Andrus retiring later this summer, Grant Thornton needed to find someone to succeed him as leader of the firm’s R&D Tax Credit Services practice. GT did, and he has Big 4 chops:

Keith Nickels has joined Grant Thornton LLP as a Tax partner and national leader of the firm’s Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit Services practice.

In this role, Nickels will use a data-forward strategy to transform the firm’s R&D Tax Credit service delivery model for the digital age. Nickels succeeds Mark Andrus in this role, who is retiring on July 31, 2021. Andrus concludes a 21-year career as Grant Thornton’s R&D Tax Credit Services practice leader.

Nickels has nearly 25 years of public accounting experience with a focus on the R&D tax credit and accounting methods technical areas. He has worked across a large variety of industries, including technology, life sciences, media and entertainment, and aerospace and defense. He specializes in IRS exam controversy and has worked with Fortune 500 and middle-market companies.

Prior to joining Grant Thornton, Nickels was a partner in the Specialized Tax Services group and leader of the Life Sciences R&D Tax Credit practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he led and managed the pursuit and delivery of tax services related to the R&D tax credit and Section 174 expenditures. Before that, he spent more than 20 years with Ernst & Young LLP’s (EY) Tax practice. While at EY, Nickels spent eight years in the national Tax department focused on the R&D tax credit and led the firm’s New York R&D Tax Credit practice.

Keith Nickels

Nickels didn’t spend a lot of time at PwC; only a year and a half as leader of the Life Sciences R&D Tax Credit practice, according to his LinkedIn profile. As the release says, EY was where Nickels cut his Big 4 teeth.

All in all, seems like Nickels was a good hire for the Purple Rose of Chicago.

[Grant Thornton]

Related article:

Grant Thornton Poaches Someone From PwC and Issues a Press Release, Part I

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Unfounded Rumor of the Day: Grant Thornton About to Announce a ‘Big West Coast Deal’

Remember those GT/Moss Adams rumors from back in January? At the time, our post sent both firms calling for plumbers but we still mangaged to get a copy of an email from Moss Adams CEO Rick Anderson that denied the rumor in an email to the firm’s partners. Everything has been quiet since then mostly because…well, it’s busy season. Granted, firm leaders like Stephen Chipman and Rick Anderson aren’t thigh-deep in spreadsheets like most of you so the fact it’s entirely plausible that while you’re all distracted, TPTB have been courting each other.

We received this brief note from a tipster yesterday:

Rumor is [Grant Thornton] [is] about to announce big west coast deal.


Our source originally speculated that a tax/valuation/consulting boutique was the target because of an old Andersen connection but then told us that the latest word from the west coast is that Moss Adams is back in the picture. In our original post, we went over the reasons for and against the GranMoss merger and frankly it still could go either way (we’re leaning “no” at this point). That said, Grant Thornton has been on a buying spree, most recently picking up some attest services from the LECG Corp. fire sale, so a merger of some kind wouldn’t be a surprise but WHO?? We’re listening to any and all well-founded or crackpot theories.

Moss Adams has declined to comment on the rumor thus far and Grant Thornton did not return an email requesting comment.

UPDATE: This just in from a Grant Thornton tipster:

While I have no actual basis for substantiating this, we have a Moss Adams wireless signal in our office in the central region. There is no Moss Adams office in our building, or even out state, its been there since about January when the rumors first popped up. I just thought it was interesting. I have no insight into any of this, I’m just a lowly peon staff…

Perhaps there’s an explanation for this but I’m no expert on the wireless signals and whatnot so I’ll leave it to you to reason this out.