Moore Stephens 2017 Top Firms Accounting Today

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Allinial Global
CPAmerica International
CPA.com
NACVA
NetSuite
notes and methodology
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Glimpses of the future
T
o a certain extent, our annual included in the Top 100 Firms list are
Top 100 Firms and Regional NOT the same as those published in last
Leaders report is a historical year’s report. They are a re-ranking of
exercise — it ranks the leading the current year’s cohort of T100 Firms
practices based on their performance based on the latest information and in-
in the previous year (in this case, 2016). clude firms that were not part of the list
But it also points the way forward, last year. They are only for comparison
and not just in terms of giving firms a purposes, and do not replace the rank-
set of benchmarks to work against in ings published last year.
the year ahead. For us at Accounting Unless otherwise noted, revenue
Today, the way firms respond to the is net revenue.
survey offers valuable Also, unless noted,
clues to emerging trends. revenues, offices and staff
Twenty years ago, when
CONTENTS are for the U.S. only.
firms started to ask how Top 100 Overview 4 The Total Employ-
to account in their fee Firms to Watch 6 ees category is comprised
splits for their growing of partners, professionals
Top 100 Databank 8
revenue from manage- and all other personnel,
ment advisory services, Firm Strategies 10 including owners.
it was an early indicator Where two firms
Top Tax Firms 12
of the rise of consulting. reported equal revenue,
(And 10 years later, when Top 100 Rankings 16 the firm with the higher
respondents started to Niche Services 22
percentage of revenue in-
ask what MAS meant, we crease received the high-
knew that consulting was Client Categories 24 er ranking.
One State St. Plaza, 27th Fl., New York, NY 10004
E-mail: [email protected] truly well-established.) Regional Leaders 25 As noted above,
http://www.accountingtoday.com
Similarly, a rising “MAS” still stands for
Editor-in-Chief Daniel Hood Firm Highlights 35
Managing Editor Danielle Lee number of questions a “management advisory
Senior Editors Roger Russell, Sean McCabe
Technology Editor Ranica Arrowsmith decade ago about how to services” — or consult-
Art Director Neesha Haughton report full-time-equivalents heralded a ing, as everyone calls it now.
ADVERTISING AND BUSINESS SERVICES
change in how firms staff themselves. As always, this report would not be
Senior Vice President
and Group Publisher Rob Whitaker The current questions we’re get- possible without the work of our edi-
Publisher Jack Lynch (212) 803-8803
Advertising Directors Erin Scanlon, Alexandria Alati
ting are about how to report equity vs. torial staff — managing editor Danielle
Ad Sales Coordinator Susan Korcynski non-equity partners, indicating that Lee, online editor-in-chief Mike Cohn,
Material in Accounting Today may not be repro-
duced without express written permission. For more
more and more firms are introducing senior editors Roger Russell and Sean
information about reprints and licensing content, this kind of two-tiered partnership McCabe, and technology editor Ranica
please visit www.SourceMediaReprints.com or con-
tact PARS International Corp. (212) 221-9595. structure. Don’t be surprised to see a Arrowsmith. Without their hard work,
Publishers Copy Protection Clause: Advertisers and change in how we present those in the insights and threatening phone calls,
agencies assume liability for all content (including
text, representation and illustrations) of advertis- years to come. we wouldn’t be able to present you with
ments and responsibility for claims arising there from For now, though, here are a few this — the 2017 Class of the Top 100
made against the publisher.
Copyright © 2017 Accounting Today and Source- notes on how to read this year’s report: Firms and Regional Leaders. Enjoy!
Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
The previous year’s rankings — Dan Hood, Editor-in-Chief
SOURCEMEDIA INC.
3
overview
Growth, with moderation

BY DANIEL HOOD
L
ast year in this space, we predicted in fact, no firm jumped more than 10 spots, and, particularly, in specific client areas.
the possibility of the Top 100 Firms and only one — PYA — is new to the list, While the types of niches and clients that
operating at a slightly higher rate against the four that joined last year. were growing the most didn’t change
going forward — and it looks like much from last year’s report, the percent-
that might well be the case, though at a DON’T IGNORE THE GROWTH age of T100 Firms who were active in them
slightly moderated pace. None of this moderation should obscure did. (See Niches & Clients, on page 22-24.)
Overall growth for the T100 was 8.80 the fact that firms are continuing to grow, Looking beyond the statistics for in-
percent, off a little from last year, but still and to find solutions to issues that have dividual firms, it’s worth noting that more
above the previous rate of roughly 8 per- plagued them in previous years. strong practices are springing up all over
cent. Most of the other metrics in our the country (or at least they’re coming
Databank (see page 8) show a similar to our attention more often).
result — a moderation from last year, A new plateau? The threshold for membership in
but still elevated somewhat from the Revenue growth of the Top 100 Firms, in percent* the Top 100 jumped to $37.7 million,
four or so years before that. $1.5 million over last year’s figure, and
That sort of respectable-but-mo- yet our “Firms to Watch” list (see page
derate approach characterizes much of 30 6) hit new records for membership,
the list this year, though there was one with at least five firms well within stri-
25
segment of the T100 that broke that king distance of next year’s Top 100.
trend: The 34 firms with revenues bet- 20
ween $100 million and $1 billion, after AROUND THE COUNTRY
15
lagging a little last year, delivered above- That burgeoning of strong firms is par-
trend growth in a number of catego- 10 ticularly evident in the Regional Lea-
ries this year. Their revenues grew by ders lists, most of which expanded sig-
over 10 percent, and they added both 5 nificantly this year, with four, five and
professionals and total staff at higher even six new members, revealing deep
0
94 96 98 00 02 04 06 12 14 16
levels than last year — while the seven 08 benches of talent across the U.S. (See
10
firms with revenues above a billion, -5 “Regional Leaders” on page 25.)
and the 59 below $100 million, grew While there was plenty of M&A
* Compiled from individual firm results as reported
in all categories at rates that were just at year’s end; includes some estimates in the regions, there were, as noted
below those reported last year (though above, fewer of the headline-grabbing
still respectable). mega-mergers that inflate growth rates
That sort of moderation reigned in Take staffing and succession plan- and shake up the local landscape. That
a number of areas. For instance, while ning: While these are by far the most pres- helped moderate individual firm growth
37 firms reported revenue growth above sing issue for the chief executives of the rates, which fluctuated in a narrower band
10 percent this year, versus 40 firms last Top 100 and the Regional Leaders (see than last year.
year, only five reported revenue growth “Strategies,” on page 10), they seem to be The message of this year’s report,
above 20 percent, versus 10 last year. And getting a handle on it, with the number of then, is of growth with moderation — a
while firms reported 130 mergers this year, firms reporting flat or declining partner comfortable state, but one that requires
against 125 last year, there were fewer of counts down to 20, versus 32 last year. And constant effort to maintain. AT
the big-bang mergers that had made head- while total employee figures may not have
lines in the past. One of the few to change grown as much as in 2015, firms still found If you think your firm should be one of our
the Top 100 was the combination of Ca- enough warm bodies to increase staff by Top 100 Firms or Regional Leaders, send
lifornia’s Gallina with CliftonLarsonAllen over 9 percent. an e-mail to [email protected],
That dearth of major mergers meant Similarly, it can’t be denied that more and we will add you to our survey contact
there were fewer big jumps in the Top 100; firms are finding success in niche offerings database for 2018.
4
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overview
BEYOND THE TOP 100: FIRMS TO WATCH

A record number of firms made this year’s “Firms to Watch” list, with a dozen or more 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.)
Firm Headquarters Managing partner Year-end ($ mn.) % chg. Offices Partners Employees
PB Mares Newport News, Va. Alan Witt Dec 37.48 6.36 9 37 219
Brady, Martz & Associates Grand Forks, N.D. Todd Van Dusen Sept 37.24 21.82 5 41 239
Wiss & Co. Livingston, N.J. Paul Peterson Dec 37.00 8.82 3 26 190
Gursey | Schneider Los Angeles Stephan Wasserman Dec 36.46 15.75 6 14 173
Clark Nuber Bellevue, Wash. Robert Wheeler Dec 36.20 5.85 1 22 198
Arnett Carbis Toothman Charleston, W. Va. Steven Robey Dec 33.42 1.15 8 29 235
Brown, Edwards & Co. Roanoke, Va. Jason Hartman May 33.17 27.38 9 36 298
Cotton & Co.* Alexandria, Va. Matt Johnson Dec 33.00 13.79 1 11 200
Kreischer Miller Horsham, Pa. Stephen Christian Dec 32.75 5.65 2 16 205
Lutz Omaha, Neb. Mark Duren April 32.64 11.48 1 29 154
Somerset CPAs Indianapolis Pat Early Dec 31.77 5.34 2 30 163
Briggs & Veselka Co. Houston John Flatowicz Sept 31.44 5.79 2 20 173
Peterson Sullivan Seattle Chris Russell Dec 30.30 3.77 1 20 163
Anders St. Louis Robert Minkler Dec 30.00 6.01 1 20 177
Perkins & Co.* Portland, Ore. Gary Reynolds June 29.41 28.60 2 26 174
Janover Garden City, N.Y. Mark Goodman Dec 29.00 3.94 2 21 156
Lurie Minneapolis Beth Kieffer Leonard April 28.85 1.23 1 17 158
Jackson Thornton & Co. Montgomery, Ala. Ned Sheffield Dec 28.59 3.14 6 21 182
REDW Albuquerque, N.M. Steven Cogan Dec 27.64 2.41 2 14 181
Boulay Minneapolis Steven Behrns May 27.40 4.90 2 28 155
AAFCPAs Westborough, Mass. C. McCall / D. McManus Dec 26.70 9.88 3 24 176
Green Hasson Janks Los Angeles Leon Janks Dec 26.70 9.88 1 14 135
LaPorte Metairie, La. William Mason Nov 26.49 13.50 5 15 174
Mize Houser & Co. Topeka, Kansas NA Dec 26.40 7.19 3 19 230
ORBA Chicago Mark Thomson May 26.40 6.88 1 14 124
Cain Watters & Associates Plano, Texas Dan Wicker Dec 26.33 5.74 1 11 130
Johnson Lambert Vienna, Va. John Prescott Dec 26.25 3.39 8 18 169
Untracht Early Florham Park, N.J. T. Early / D. Untracht Dec 26.07 14.85 3 9 123
Smith & Howard Atlanta John Lucht Dec 26.05 4.62 1 10 101
Keiter Glen Allen, Va. L. Michael Gracik Dec 25.90 12.27 1 13 157
Windes Long Beach, Calif. John DiCarlo June 25.63 3.35 3 14 134
Dean Dorton Allen Ford Lexington, Ky. David Bundy June 25.61 19.62 2 24 165
BeachFleischman Tucson, Ariz. Marc Fleischman Dec 25.58 8.16 2 25 152
PKF Texas Houston Kenneth Guidry Dec 25.50 5.15 1 13 130
Krost* Pasadena, Calif. Gregory Kniss Dec 25.47 24.55 7 5 130
Windham Brannon Atlanta Heidi LaMarca Sept 25.38 11.95 1 13 166
Whittlesey & Hadley Hartford, Conn. Drew Andrews Dec 24.80 12.22 3 20 160
Perelson Weiner New York City Ronald Weiner Dec 24.36 1.08 1 15 68
Maxwell Locke & Ritter Austin, Texas Steven Knebel Dec 24.25 5.39 2 17 102
Calibre CPA Group Bethesda, Md. James Kokolas Dec 24.20 2.85 3 16 154
Hertzbach & Co. Owings Mills, Md. Joel Chazen Dec 24.00 14.29 3 26 172
Lane Gorman Trubitt Dallas Lee Ann Collins Dec 24.00 14.29 1 18 100
DiCicco, Gulman & Co. Woburn, Mass. Laurie Astin Dec 23.50 13.53 2 20 131
Sensiba San Filippo Pleasanton, Calif. John Sensiba April 23.30 12.56 6 16 141
Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman Bethesda, Md. Jackie Cardello Dec 23.00 4.55 1 11 101
* Firm estimate
6
databank
niche services
2017 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) $58,096.06 8.58 $9,520.00 10.52 $3,571.40 7.91 $71,187.46 8.80
Partners 13,408 6.57 4,799 5.75 1,957 5.67 20,164 6.29
Professionals 138,800 11.13 34,688 9.67 14,368 8.04 187,856 10.62
Total employees 235,987 9.54 47,537 9.39 19,628 7.19 303,152 9.36
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 $20,369.01 35.06 $3,867.49 40.62 $1,234.28 34.56 25,470.78 35.78
Tax $14,289.43 24.60 $3,234.57 33.98 $1,251.69 35.05 18,775.69 26.27
MAS (consulting) $21,570.48 37.13 $1,906.59 20.03 $604.22 16.92 24,081.29 33.83
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 6,413.88 43 PwC 3,729.00 25 Deloitte 8,408.64 48
Deloitte 5,080.22 29 Ernst & Young 3,538.00 29 PwC 4,773.12 32
Ernst & Young 4,026.00 33 Deloitte 3,153.24 18 Ernst & Young 3,660.00 30
KPMG 2,849.22 33 KPMG 2,331.18 27 KPMG 3,454.00 40
RSM US 711.56 39 RSM US 672.28 36 Grant Thornton 609.28 36
BDO USA 645.00 50 Grant Thornton 440.03 26 RSM US 446.14 24
Grant Thornton 643.13 38 BDO USA 425.70 33 BDO USA 219.30 17
Firms over $100 mn Firms over $100 mn Firms over $100 mn

CohnReznick 333.72 54 CliftonLarsonAllen 241.60 32 Crowe Horwath 362.76 46
CliftonLarsonAllen 271.80 36 CBIZ & MHM 231.35 35 Plante Moran 173.43 36
CBIZ & MHM 264.40 40 Crowe Horwath 197.15 25 CBIZ & MHM 165.25 25
BKD 258.05 48 Moss Adams 194.99 37 Dixon Hughes Goodman 137.90 35
Moss Adams 231.88 44 CohnReznick 179.22 29 Baker Tilly Virchow Krause 125.35 24
Firms under $100 mn Firms under $100 mn Firms under $100 mn

BlumShapiro 45.14 59 Frank, Rimerman + Co. 50.57 61 FGMK 47.04 49
Friedman 44.10 45 Friedman 44.10 45 Horne 34.93 44
EKS&H 40.84 41 BPM 41.00 50 Blue & Co. 34.88 45
RubinBrown 37.01 43 Whitley Penn 40.73 49 PYA 31.22 75
Whitley Penn 34.08 41 Squar Milner 40.60 56 SC&H Group 29.54 62
Pacesetters in growth Overall Top 100 Firms

Revenue
($mn)
%
chg.
Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt
Eide Bailly
128.32
259.40
15.97
15.49
Ranked by % chg. Withum 147.78 28.81
Rea & Associates 40.60 15.05
Sikich 146.40 26.53
Revenue % Whitley Penn 83.12 14.74
Firms over $100 mn. ($mn) chg. Cohen & Co. 60.10 26.15
Marks Paneth 128.00 14.29
Withum 147.78 28.81 BDO USA 1,290.00 22.86
Cherry Bekaert 164.20 14.19
Sikich 146.40 26.53 Carr, Riggs & Ingram 235.79 20.83
Bennett Thrasher 41.35 14.13
Carr, Riggs & Ingram 235.79 20.83 Prager Metis International 60.77 19.67
Hein & Associates 61.00 13.62
MBAF 112.30 19.47 MBAF 112.30 19.47
Armanino 195.00 18.72 RSM US 1,845.62 12.75
Armanino 195.00 18.72
Citrin Cooperman & Co. 230.00 17.95 Mountjoy Chilton Medley 48.70 12.50
Grassi & Co. 57.50 17.35 Dixon Hughes Goodman 394.00 12.25
Revenue %
Firms under $100 mn. ($mn) chg. Doeren Mayhew 72.56 17.20 EisnerAmper 318.80 12.06
Cohen & Co. 60.10 26.15 Squar Milner 72.50 16.94 KLR 44.30 11.87
Prager Metis International 60.77 19.67 Friedman 98.00 16.67 Baker Newman & Noyes 42.60 11.81
Grassi & Co. 57.50 17.35 Honkamp Krueger & Co. 68.10 16.61 Notes: * Firm estimate or projection. All Big
Doeren Mayhew 72.56 17.20 CliftonLarsonAllen 755.00 16.15 Four revenue figures are gross, not net. For
Squar Milner 72.50 16.94 Kearney & Co. 126.70 16.13 more details, see pages 16-19.
8
niche
firm strategies
services
Staffing for growth, growing for staff

BY DANIEL HOOD
I
t will come as no surprise that the big- liver our clients outstanding service, we liam Balhoff. “Other firms can leverage our
gest challenge facing the members of continue investing heavily in training and workforce in an outsourced, co-sourced,
this year’s class of the Top 100 Firms is development of our top talent.” or other arrangement.”
finding enough quality people, both to To that end, in 2016 the firm hosted
staff current engagements and to prepare its largest-ever internship and sophomore CHALLENGES TO GROWTH
for future successions. leadership programs, with the former Being able to grow their staff is one con-
For instance, at New York City’s Cohn– being ranked as the No. 1 internship in the cern — the other main concern of the T100
Reznick, CEO Frank Longobardi noted that country by career information Web site is being able to grow their business.
two of the firm’s strategic priorities for 2017 Vault. “We have also expanded our search “Since the Great Recession, the eco-
are “building on our existing commitment such that while our offices are located in nomy has experienced little to no growth,”
to being an employer of choice by iden- Northern California, our recruiting out- said Louis Grassi, CEO and managing part-
tifying and developing future leaders early reach stretches nationwide,” he said. “We ner of New York’s Grassi & Co. “As a result,
in their careers and continu[ing] to recruit focus heavily on developing our people growth for firms our size typically comes
top talent,” and “recruiting and developing into our future managers and partners.” by taking clients away from other firms.
top talent quickly enough to succeed reti- This has put downward pressure on fees
ring partners.” for attest, accounting and tax services. Un-
To a degree, these are perennial con- ‘Innovation is fortunately, this trend will continue in the
cerns. As BDO USA CEO Wayne Berson
noted, “In professional services, you are in many ways foreseeable future — resulting in more
firm consolidation to eliminate redundan-
only as good as your people; therefore,
people will always be the most critical is- tied to growth.’ cies and lower costs.”
That consolidation, in turn, may cause
sue in our industry.” problems: “Industry consolidation will
But the profession is definitely feel- That focus on building future talent continue to put pressure on CPA firms as
ing more heat in this area than usual, is part of the impetus behind Big Four their marketplaces are exposed to firms
with firms going to greater lengths to dis- firm KPMG’s recently announced plans that they have not been in the past,” said
tinguish themselves as employers. BDO to build a state-of-the-art learning, deve- Mark Stebbins, vice chair and tax practice
USA, for instance, is a regular on lists that lopment and innovation facility in Florida. leader at Buffalo, N.Y.’s Freed Maxick. “The
recognize great workplaces, as are many “This investment nourishes the intelligen- trend of industry consolidation continues
of the other members of the T100 — but ce and curiosity of all of our people, while to foster an environment of threats and
the firm is also trying new things. “More empowering them to think outside of the opportunities as national firms acquire
recently, we have begun to roll out our box and perform at their best,” said chair- market-dominant local firms. This creates
Exceptional Workplace concept in new man and CEO Lynne Doughtie. opportunity for the remaining local firms
offices,” Berson explained. “These open, Taking an interesting approach to the to take advantage of the fallout from chan-
flexible, collaborative designs maximize staffing issue is Louisiana’s Postlethwaite ges in fees, engagement management, etc.
the benefits of office time by connecting & Netterville, which has built up a diverse However, when regional firms acquire
teams and individuals to drive knowledge team of experts that it can make availa- smaller firms in a local market, it presents
sharing, learning and mentoring.” ble to other accounting firms. “We can a threat as the regional firms introduce
Brian Kreischer, managing partner at help firms that have gaps in capacity or services into a potentially underserved
California’s Frank, Rimerman + Co., high- expertise of staff to meet client deadlines, market that weren’t previously available.”
lighted the difficulties firms face: “The firms that may be interested in expanding The members of the T100 have a range
continual shortage of qualified candida- into new markets or services but don’t of strategies planned to help grow their
tes entering our industry combined with have the resources in-house, and firms practices, but before looking at them, it’s
the increasing complexity of our business that may want to take on a client or project worth examining another challenge, one
makes recruiting top talent an enduring, outside of their existing core competen- that several firms feel will be key to their
critical issue,” he said. “In order to de- cies,” explained managing director Wil- See STRATEGIES on 12
10
niche
top tax
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 3,729.00 25 14,916.00 6.28 82 57,773
Ernst & Young§ New York City Stephen Howe 3,538.00 29 12,200.00 9.03 82 42,100
Deloitte§ New York City Cathy Engelbert 3,153.24 18 17,518.00 8.49 113 78,642
H&R BlockP1 Kansas City, Mo. William Cobb 3,007.77 99 3,038.15 -1.32 12,000 94,800
KPMG§ New York City Lynne Doughtie 2,331.18 27 8,634.00 9.44 106 34,091
RSM US2 Chicago Joe Adams 672.28 36 1,845.62 12.75 86 8,829
Grant Thornton Chicago J. Michael McGuire 440.03 26 1,692.44 8.80 59 8,495
Liberty Tax Services Virginia Beach, Va. John Hewitt 439.00 100 439.00 0.92 4,225 NA
Ryan3 Dallas G. Brint Ryan 432.61 100 432.61 10.93 55 1,506
BDO USA Chicago Wayne Berson 425.70 33 1,290.00 22.86 67 6,057
CliftonLarsonAllen NA Denny Schleper 241.60 32 755.00 16.15 39 4,776
CBIZ & MHM Cleveland C. Spurio & A. Burczyk 231.35 35 661.00 8.36 110 3,088
Andersen Tax San Francisco Mark Vorsatz 220.28 100 220.28 11.82 19 887
Crowe Horwath Chicago Jim Powers 197.15 25 788.60 9.30 32 3,639
Moss Adams Seattle Chris Schmidt 194.99 37 527.00 10.48 25 2,589
CohnReznick New York City Frank Longobardi 179.22 29 618.00 2.32 30 2,724
BKD Springfield, Mo. Theodore Dickman 166.66 31 537.60 8.28 35 2,529
Marcum New York City Jeffrey Weiner 166.13 37 449.00 8.87 22 1,462
Baker Tilly Virchow Krause Chicago Alan Whitman 161.91 31 522.30 9.24 26 2,708
EisnerAmper New York City Charles Weinstein 130.71 41 318.80 12.06 9 1,460
Dixon Hughes Goodman Charlotte, N.C. Matt Snow 130.02 33 394.00 12.25 28 1,918
Notes: § Gross revenue P Figures compiled from public company reports. NA Not available/applicable
1 Staff figures include seasonal workers 2 Reported fee split as dollar amount (given here) and percentage. 3 Revenue includes acquisitions
of Shiv Om Consultants and Nickel & Co. in December 2016 and January 2017. For other notes, see pages 16-19.
from all levels of the firm. “Our object- instance, CEO and managing principal
STRATEGIES ives include the creation and fostering of Christopher Allegretti explained that even
from page 10 a firm-wide culture that encourages and as the firm’s strategy is to grow its service
rewards innovative thinking, and is view- regions through M&A, one of its primary
growth — if only they can master it. ed as a business function. We also want challenges is “adding value by anticipating
“A critical issue for any firm is inno- to increase firm revenue by identifying, the needs of our clients and prospective
vation. In fact, innovation is in many ways creating, testing and launching new pro- clients. This includes showing entrepre-
tied to growth,” explained Andy Armanino, ducts and/or services; improve versions of neurial insight by forecasting the industry
MP of California’s Armanino. “If a firm re- current products and spinoffs of existing and regulatory trends, which will directly
mains stagnant and isn’t looking for ways products. Our expectations for innovation impact the bottom line for our clients’
to innovate, it will quickly lose market at the firm is that it be strategic, systematic, businesses,” he said.
share. … Successful firms welcome this measurable and accountable.” Specificity of services — often in areas
challenge and continue to engineer a bet- that are not considered “traditional” to
ter mousetrap to sell to clients, which will GROWTH ENHANCERS accounting — is particularly important to
drive revenue for the firm and create value While many of the Top 100 plan to pursue many of the Top 100. “We’ve also spent a
for clients.” mergers and acquisitions as a source of lot of time building out existing and new
Freed Maxick’s Stebbins was also bul- growth, one of the most common strate- service areas,” said Diane Medley, MP of
lish on innovation: “It is the lifeblood of gies involved developing their own spe- Kentucky-based Mountjoy Chilton Med-
a CPA firm’s culture that is committed to cialties, with a special focus on value-ad- ley. “Steady growth in the demand of our
growth.” His firm has established an in- ded services. HR consulting, risk advisory, employee be-
ternal innovation committee to vet ideas At Ohio-based Hill, Barth & King, for See STRATEGIES on 14
12
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firm
nichestrategies
services
should move in new directions to offer incentive plans.”
STRATEGIES more value-added services to clients has

been bruited about for a couple of years
Beyond changing how they pursue
growth internally, some firms are changing
from page 12 or more, it still remains a challenge for the how they pursue it externally, by working
nefits, international tax and SALT service profession, as it involves “changing our with outside allies. “Forming strategic al-
areas has led to expansion and acquisition mindset that we are management consul- liances with the right external partners —
of more focused expertise in these key tants, and not just accountants,” according such as we’ve done with Microsoft, Intuit,
areas. We also continue to develop new to Carl Schultz, CEO of Wisconsin’s SVA. CoStar and Indiggo — enables BDO to
service offerings as we see the demand, leverage the latest technologies to bring in-
and in 2017 we’ll likely be focusing on CFO GROWTH PLANS creased efficiencies and standardized best
services, executive compensation and IT Perhaps as a reflection of the difficulties practices to client relationships,” said Ber-
advisory.” standing in the way of growth, many firms son. “By aligning with external providers,
Besides the services that Medley in the Top 100 were taking deliberate steps BDO combines the best of our experience
mentioned, other hot areas for the Top 100 to formalize their strategies, giving them and resources with those of our alliance
included cyber-security, SOC audits, client some rigor and a formal structure. relationships to provide more comprehen-
accounting services — and preparing cli- St. Louis’ Brown Smith Wallace was sive and differentiated solutions. More-
ents for the changes to come from the new only one of several firms to aim to create over, these alliances enhance our speed-
administration. a documented roadmap to success. “In to-market in bringing industry-leading
“With the potential for massive de- 2016 we launched our strategic planning technologies and services to our clients to
regulation and the most sweeping tax re- process for the firm, including gaining an help meet their changing needs.”
form since 1986 on the horizon, regulatory understanding from all levels of the orga-
and policy changes will be top of mind for nization as to what we individually view A STAPLE STRATEGY
our firm, our clients and the accounting as the firm’s strengths, weaknesses, op- Even with those external partnerships,
profession in 2017,” noted Terri Andrews, portunities and threats,” said MP Anthony however, Berson expects to maintain
national public relations director at RSM Caleca. “The consistent themes derived BDO’s strategy of serial M&A, as do many
US. “While the details are still forthcoming, from these four independently prepared other firms that have made a habit of snap-
we believe there will be a business uptick assessments will serve as the starting point ping up smaller practices over the past
resulting from deregulation early in the and ultimate driver of our strategic plan: several years.
year, followed by tax reform and infra- 2020 Vision. Our strategic plan will be At New York’s PKF O’Connor Davies,
structure spending. … Helping our clients focused on the continued professional for instance, “The firm’s ongoing expan-
understand and navigate these changes development investment for our Brown sion has included a series of recent mer-
will be a top priority for our firm in 2017.” Smith Wallace Family members, which gers and acquisitions in the Northeast and
A common theme to all this focus will continue to drive our firm revenue and Washington, D.C. area, and we’ll continue
on service areas is client need. “We con- growth targets.” to look for opportunities to expand our
tinue to make significant organic and in- In some cases, these growth plans talent base as well as our geographic foot-
organic investments that make a tangible will require changes to the ways firms print to stay ahead of the evolving needs of
difference for clients when it comes to — and, in particular, partners — operate. our clients,” according to MP Kevin Keane.
navigating uncertainty, anticipating needs, Atlanta’s Mauldin & Jenkins, for instan- As M&A mania continues, however,
and delivering solutions to their toughest ce, plans to “initiate a ‘farming’ initiative the Top 100 are also being careful about
business challenges,” explained KPMG’s over all niches, including reduced partner who they merge with. “We have been wor-
Doughtie. “We have been making signifi- chargeable hour goals and increased ac- king on fine-tuning our approach to mer-
cant investments across all business func- countability for growth results,” according gers and acquisitions,” said Chris Hon-
tions to deliver real value and enhance to MP Donald Luker, while at Illinois’ Si- komp, CEO of BerganKDV in Minnesota,
the relevance of our work in areas like kich, newly installed CEO and MP Chris which joined the ranks of the T100 last
cognitive technology, data and analytics, Geier said the firm is “re-invigorating our year through a formative merger. “Growing
and cybersecurity. Clients appreciate our organic growth culture by implementing rapidly comes with a challenge to also
ability to help them leverage change in Partner Practice Development Plans, by keep the culture of the organization intact.
unique and meaningful ways.” adding business development professio- Finding the right mix is something we con-
While the notion that accountants nals, and restructuring internal marketing stantly strive to achieve.” AT
14
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THE 2017 TOP 100 FIRMS
RANK REVENUE PERSONNEL FEE SPLIT
Year $ % Off- Part- % Profes- % Total % (in percent)
17 16 Firm Headquarters Chief executive end mn. chg. ices ners chg. sionals chg. emps. chg. A&A Tax MAS Other
1 1 Deloitte§ New York City Cathy Engelbert May 17,518.00 8.49 113 3,091 1.91 62,726 12.91 78,642 11.39 29 18 48 5
2 2 PwC§1 New York City Tim Ryan June 14,916.00 6.28 82 3,200 10.65 NA NA 57,773 7.97 43 25 32 0
3 3 Ernst & Young § New York City Stephen Howe June 12,200.00 9.03 82 3,200 6.67 32,900 7.52 42,100 6.85 33 29 30 8
4 4 KPMG §2 New York City Lynne Doughtie Sept 8,634.00 9.44 106 2,082 6.22 25,521 10.99 34,091 10.32 33 27 40 0
5 5 RSM US 3 Chicago Joe Adams April 1,845.62 12.75 86 749 9.34 6,512 15.83 8,829 14.20 39 36 24 1
6 6 Grant Thornton 4 Chicago J. Michael McGuire Dec 1,692.44 8.80 59 594 5.13 6,542 7.72 8,495 7.45 38 26 36 0
7 7 BDO USA Chicago Wayne Berson June 1,290.00 22.86 67 492 10.31 4,599 13.36 6,057 12.52 50 33 17 0
8 8 Crowe Horwath Chicago Jim Powers Dec 788.60 9.30 32 283 4.04 2,777 8.52 3,639 7.47 29 25 46 0
9 9 CliftonLarsonAllen 5 NA Denny Schleper Dec 755.00 16.15 39 354 12.03 4,004 14.63 4,776 15.25 36 32 6 26
10 10 CBIZ & Mayer Hoffman McCann 6 Cleveland Chris Spurio and Dec 661.00 8.36 110 421 2.93 1,958 7.17 3,088 6.12 40 35 25 0
Andy Burczyk
11 11 CohnReznick New York City Frank Longobardi Jan 618.00 2.32 30 279 -4.45 1,922 -0.05 2,724 -0.77 54 29 8 9
12 12 BKD Springfield, Mo. Theodore Dickman May 537.60 8.28 35 264 1.54 1,776 4.78 2,529 4.25 48 31 21 0
13 14 Moss Adams Seattle Chris Schmidt Dec 527.00 10.48 25 284 5.97 1,708 9.21 2,589 9.98 44 37 19 0
14 13 Baker Tilly Virchow Krause Chicago Alan Whitman May 522.30 9.24 26 154 0.65 2,309 9.43 2,708 9.19 41 31 24 4
15 15 Plante Moran Southfield, Mich. Gordon Krater June 481.76 3.41 21 266 0.38 1,574 3.42 2,249 3.64 39 25 36 0
16 16 Marcum New York City Jeffrey Weiner Dec 449.00 8.87 22 204 2.51 929 0.32 1,462 3.39 45 37 8 10
17 17 Dixon Hughes Goodman 7 Charlotte, N.C. Matt Snow May 394.00 12.25 28 155 -3.73 1,389 9.20 1,918 7.03 32 33 35 0
18 18 EisnerAmper New York City Charles Weinstein Jan 318.80 12.06 9 177 0.57 1,144 4.57 1,460 13.88 51 41 8 0
19 19 Eide Bailly Fargo, N.D. Dave Stende April 259.40 15.49 29 119 2.59 1,246 4.18 1,742 6.35 41 40 10 9
20 21 Carr, Riggs & Ingram Enterprise, Ala. William Carr Sept 235.79 20.83 26 165 15.38 927 24.10 1,329 26.81 48 40 11 0
21 22 Citrin Cooperman & Co. New York City Joel Cooperman Dec 230.00 17.95 10 180 15.38 575 27.78 900 27.12 NA NA NA NA
22 20 Wipfli Milwaukee Rick Dreher May 227.00 9.66 41 214 18.23 1,122 13.45 1,596 6.12 34 31 35 0
23 24 Armanino San Ramon, Calif. Andy Armanino Dec 195.00 18.72 8 80 17.65 590 13.90 764 14.20 21 33 39 7
24 23 Mazars USA8 New York City Victor Wahba Aug 187.00 9.36 8 113 5.61 555 11.00 808 9.49 40 38 22 0
25 25 Cherry Bekaert Richmond, Va. Howard Kies April 164.20 14.19 12 55 -1.79 660 6.62 901 7.78 41 46 10 3
Key and notes: Last year’s rankings have been revised based on 2015 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 and total staff for PwC are from firm reports for North America; partner figures are firm-supplied and are U.S.-only; other figures are AT estimates based on reported data. 2 Firm reports busi-
ness offices, not every physical location. 3 For its fee split, RSM US reported both rounded percentages (given here) and exact dollars 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 direct-
ed. Individual teams/offices are empowered to make decisions as much as possible. 6 Office figures are for CBIZ; MHM has 31 offices. 7 All figures based on fiscal 2016 and 2015; may differ from
calendar-year data from earlier Top 100 reports. 8 Changed name from WeiserMazars.
26 32 Withum Princeton, N.J. William Hagaman June 147.78 28.81 12 51 27.50 576 48.45 781 49.05 41 43 4 12
27 31 Sikich Naperville, Ill. Christopher Geier Dec 146.40 26.53 21 54 5.88 623 15.37 791 21.32 26 16 55 3
28 26 PKF O’Connor Davies New York City Kevin Keane Dec 138.50 9.92 9 110 1.85 560 31.46 788 24.88 58 28 12 2
29 35 Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt W. Los Angeles, Calif. Philip Holthouse Dec 128.32 15.97 11 48 26.32 372 16.98 502 17.29 18 75 0 7
30 34 Marks Paneth New York City Harry Moehringer Dec 128.00 14.29 6 91 21.33 453 17.97 659 18.95 39 49 3 9
31 36 Kearney & Co. Alexandria, Va. Ed Kearney Dec 126.70 16.13 2 17 30.77 558 12.50 606 10.99 75 0 25 0
32 33 UHY Advisors 9 Chicago Anthony Frabotta Dec 126.50 11.26 16 66 10.00 459 30.40 649 24.09 31 49 20 0
33 29 Elliott Davis Decosimo Greenville, S.C. Richard Davis June 125.00 6.84 9 93 NC 522 -4.40 763 -3.54 42 44 14 0
34 27 Warren Averett Birmingham, Ala. James Cunningham Dec 124.40 0.89 14 156 20.93 548 7.03 927 3.46 37 37 5 21
35 28 Novogradac & Co. San Francisco Michael Novogradac Dec 123.96 5.89 25 49 11.36 416 12.43 543 10.14 57 29 3 11
36 30 Rehmann Saginaw, Mich. Randy Rupp Dec 115.00 -0.86 18 62 3.33 560 1.08 829 1.72 33 36 13 18
37 42 MBAF Miami Antonio Argiz June 112.30 19.47 10 28 16.67 446 13.49 554 13.76 36 44 13 7
38 37 Berdon New York City Mark Bosswick Dec 111.80 7.50 2 37 -7.50 324 5.88 430 5.13 35 40 25 0
and Stu Kotler
39 39 The Bonadio Group* Pittsford, N.Y. Thomas Bonadio April 106.59 11.17 10 78 6.85 460 4.55 623 4.53 44 28 12 16
40 41 Weaver Fort Worth, Texas John Mackel May 104.30 9.67 9 38 NC 404 7.16 539 6.73 34 41 16 9
41 38 Anchin, Block & Anchin New York City Frank Schettino Dec 103.00 5.10 1 54 NC 242 8.52 371 1.92 44 43 13 0
42 40 EKS&H Denver Robert Hottman Sept 99.60 4.73 3 41 5.13 438 12.89 591 12.57 41 40 19 0
43 44 Friedman New York City Bruce Madnick Dec 98.00 16.67 8 73 2.82 308 8.07 460 8.75 45 45 10 0
44 43 FGMK Chicago Mario Donato Dec 96.00 5.49 2 67 3.08 332 6.41 422 6.03 17 34 49 0
45 45 LBMC Brentwood, Tenn. Jeff Drummonds Dec 86.59 5.19 3 45 -2.17 381 2.97 489 -7.39 23 26 23 28
46 47 RubinBrown St. Louis John Herber May 86.07 9.60 5 26 -3.70 531 27.64 620 22.05 43 42 15 0
47 54 Whitley Penn Fort Worth, Texas Larry Autrey Dec 83.12 14.74 5 45 4.65 347 48.29 434 39.55 41 49 0 10
48 50 Frank, Rimerman + Co. Palo Alto, Calif. Brian Kreischer Dec 82.90 10.68 4 27 12.50 354 13.46 389 14.41 29 61 10 0
49 48 BPM San Francisco Jim Wallace Dec 82.00 4.73 6 35 -16.67 317 7.82 431 2.13 37 50 12 1
50 49 Schenck Appleton, Wis. Greg Barber Sept 80.51 3.20 10 60 -1.64 370 3.93 551 3.77 36 37 20 7
* Firm estimate NC No change NA Not available or not applicable NR Not ranked
9 UHY Advisors and UHY LLP are affiliated through an alternative practice structure.
51 46 Horne Ridgeland, Miss. Joey Havens Dec 79.39 -1.08 14 20 -4.76 422 4.46 549 2.23 33 10 44 13
52 55 Blue & Co. Carmel, Ind. Brad Shaw Dec 77.51 9.54 11 50 19.05 252 2.86 400 1.78 28 25 45 2
53 53 BlumShapiro West Hartford, Conn. Joseph Kask Dec 76.50 5.23 6 33 3.13 321 3.88 433 5.61 59 29 4 8
54 52 Aprio10 Atlanta Richard Kopelman Dec 76.32 3.79 2 25 -3.85 300 4.17 378 5.00 33 49 13 5
55 51 Kaufman Rossin Group Miami James Kaufman May 75.00 1.49 5 46 4.55 275 0.36 403 -0.49 28 30 8 34
and Blain Heckaman
56 56 Frazier & Deeter Atlanta Seth McDaniel Dec 74.01 10.56 5 16 33.33 215 10.26 269 9.80 35 36 0 29
57 62 Doeren Mayhew Troy, Mich. Mark Crawford Sept 72.56 17.20 5 30 7.14 233 30.17 329 25.57 37 34 19 10
58 61 Squar Milner Newport Beach, Calif. Stephen Milner Dec 72.50 16.94 5 31 3.33 270 28.57 360 27.21 37 56 7 0
59 58 Katz, Sapper & Miller Indianapolis David Resnick Dec 72.36 9.74 3 37 15.63 270 5.47 365 6.73 24 37 23 16
60 57 Schneider Downs Pittsburgh Timothy Hammer and June 70.80 7.01 2 40 8.11 337 8.36 417 9.45 43 36 21 0
Steven Thompson
61 65 Honkamp Krueger & Co. Dubuque, Iowa Greg Burbach Dec 68.10 16.61 8 33 50.00 233 4.95 458 12.81 16 21 7 56
62 63 Hill, Barth & King Canfield, Ohio Chris Allegretti Aug 67.00 11.67 12 46 6.98 247 13.82 370 13.15 19 40 12 29
63 59 Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno Los Angeles Mickey Segal Dec 65.00 NC 5 27 17.39 248 -3.13 310 NC 16 10 0 74
64 60 Clark, Schaefer, Hackett & Co. Cincinnati Carl Coburn June 64.64 1.64 6 26 -3.70 291 5.05 390 5.98 51 36 10 3
65 67 RKL Lancaster, Pa. Edward Monborne Dec 62.20 9.12 14 41 7.89 284 -7.19 362 -1.09 27 31 11 31
66 66 K-Coe Isom Loveland, Colo. Jeff Wald March 61.15 6.16 18 56 1.82 213 5.97 357 -0.83 23 43 34 0
67 69 Hein & Associates Denver James Brendel Dec 61.00 13.62 4 38 5.56 242 18.63 298 4.56 48 36 10 5
68 72 Prager Metis International New York City David Neste and Dec 60.77 19.67 9 50 16.28 177 21.23 284 20.85 26 42 32 0
Glenn Friedman
69 77 Cohen & Co. Cleveland Randall Myeroff Sept 60.10 26.15 7 29 26.09 287 43.50 372 36.26 46 40 2 12
70 68 Berkowitz Pollack Brant Miami Joseph Saka Dec 60.00 8.30 3 17 6.25 149 5.67 214 7.00 16 43 5 36
71 70 Postlethwaite & Netterville Baton Rouge, La. William Balhoff April 57.60 8.35 8 27 -3.57 299 3.10 367 1.66 41 19 30 10
72 71 BerryDunn Portland, Maine John Chandler June 57.57 9.91 5 14 -17.65 220 11.68 273 7.48 43 13 39 5
73 76 Grassi & Co. New York City Louis Grassi Dec 57.50 17.35 4 31 NC 200 19.76 288 19.01 46 38 8 8
74 73 Montgomery Coscia Greilich Plano, Texas Gary Boyd Dec 53.40 5.37 3 29 16.00 240 -6.98 300 -1.32 26 41 27 6
75 74 Aronson Rockville, Md. Larry Davis Dec 53.03 5.22 1 32 6.67 171 4.27 245 3.81 37 35 23 5
10 Changed name from Habif, Arogeti & Wynne.
76 75 Skoda Minotti Cleveland Gregory Skoda Dec 51.88 3.47 4 23 NC 205 15.82 290 15.08 27 25 8 40
77 64 SVA Madison, Wis. Carl Schultz May 51.41 -12.42 5 27 12.50 164 -16.33 323 -19.05 16 24 14 46
78 78 Seiler Redwood City, Calif. George Marinos Dec 51.10 10.37 2 14 7.69 164 10.81 215 11.40 8 70 0 22
79 80 Raich Ende Malter & Co. New York City Ellis Ende Dec 50.10 8.91 3 42 5.00 137 0.74 223 6.70 40 60 0 0
and Charles Raich
80 87 Mountjoy Chilton Medley Louisville, Ky. Diane Medley Dec 48.70 12.50 5 43 10.26 214 12.04 310 8.77 37 42 8 13
81 82 BerganKDV St. Cloud, Minn. Chris Honkomp June 48.13 5.83 7 37 27.59 211 -3.65 281 1.08 20 40 3 37
82 85 Raffa Washington, D.C. Thomas Raffa Dec 47.91 6.89 2 19 11.76 247 13.30 304 10.95 54 10 36 0
83 86 SC&H Group Sparks, Md. Ronald Causey Dec 47.64 9.62 3 20 5.26 196 14.62 248 13.76 21 17 62 0
84 81 Freed Maxick* Buffalo, N.Y. Timothy McPoland April 47.50 3.26 4 35 -5.41 230 -12.88 305 -12.61 35 40 25 0
85 79 Aldrich11 Salem, Ore. Martin Moll Dec 46.95 1.58 7 15 NC 236 0.43 299 3.46 29 34 12 25
86 84 Mauldin & Jenkins Atlanta Donald Luker May 44.80 -0.33 6 37 -2.63 180 -3.74 270 NC 63 30 1 6
87 88 SingerLewak Los Angeles Jim Pitrat Oct 44.76 8.19 9 38 26.67 134 -7.59 251 16.20 42 39 6 13
88 92 KLR Providence, R.I. Alan Litwin Dec 44.30 11.87 4 14 -6.67 181 12.42 226 9.71 31 40 29 0
89 90 Kemper CPA Group Evansville, Ind. John Rubenacker April 43.12 7.10 27 63 10.53 243 8.00 348 9.43 41 40 19 0
90 91 Brown Smith Wallace St. Louis Anthony Caleca Dec 43.00 8.12 3 29 -3.33 238 4.85 289 3.21 35 32 20 13
91 96 Baker Newman & Noyes Portland, Maine Carl Chatto Dec 42.60 11.81 5 38 NC 176 2.33 258 1.57 40 50 10 0
92 97 Macias Gini & O’Connell Sacramento, Calif. Kevin O’Connell Dec 42.28 11.38 10 10 NC 189 5.59 257 4.05 60 12 7 21
93 93 PYA Knoxville, Tenn. Edward Pershing Dec 41.62 5.34 5 16 -11.11 151 12.69 235 9.81 10 15 75 0
94 98 Wolf & Co. Boston Mark O’Connell Sept 41.50 9.79 4 20 5.26 157 9.79 207 8.95 42 24 0 34
95 99 Bennett Thrasher Atlanta Jeff Eischeid June 41.35 14.13 1 34 6.25 178 14.10 248 11.21 31 58 2 9
96 94 Miller Kaplan Arase North Hollywood, Calif. Douglas Waite Feb 41.25 4.43 6 27 8.00 138 15.00 195 11.43 58 18 21 3
97 89 Margolin, Winer & Evens Garden City, N.Y. Teddy Selinger Dec 41.10 1.23 2 26 4.00 162 -1.82 203 -0.98 60 30 10 0
98 NR Rea & Associates New Philadelphia, Ohio Don McIntosh Oct 40.60 15.05 11 20 -9.09 167 9.15 231 7.44 40 33 15 12
99 100 Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co. Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Kevin Pulliam Dec 39.30 8.56 9 35 2.94 179 -3.24 241 -0.82 72 21 7 0
100 95 RGL Forensics* Denver Angie MacPhee Dec 37.70 -2.08 18 32 33.33 117 8.33 193 7.82 0 0 0 100
11 Rebranded from AKT CPAs at the beginning of 2017.
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niches and clients
Top service areas remain constant

BY DANIELLE LEE
N
iche services remained highly The growth of Chicago-based FGMK’s the firm’s ag consultant, Jeanne Bernick.
in-demand for the 2017 Top SALT services is likewise entwined with its “As of now, more than 90 million acres of
100 Firms, with the 10 fast- growing real estate practice, according to farmland will change hands between 2015
est-growing areas steady with Fuad Saba, tax partner and leader of the and 2019, according to the U.S. Depart-
last year’s list. While the top niche services firm’s specialty tax practice. Globalization ment of Agriculture. Of that, the majority
couldn’t exceed the huge percent of ac- is also a factor: “Supply chains have be- will transfer into trusts or to a relative, with
counting firms reporting growth last year, come longer and more complex, custom- about 21 million acres expected to sell to a
their predominance was solid, especially ers and manufacturing are located in many non-relative. With nearly a century of farm
for the top three growth areas: attest, busi- countries, intellectual property is being specialization, K-Coe Isom has the exper-
ness valuations and state and local taxes. developed all around the world, and inves- tise to address their highly nuanced estate
Attest services, while down a couple tors are seeking the ‘best’ places to invest plans and business transition.”
of percentage points from 2016, was still in assets, people and intellectual property.”
No. 1, with 81 percent of firms reporting K-Coe Isom, in Loveland, Colo., has EMBEDDED EXPERTISE
growth in that area. Close behind were seen greater demand for estate/trust/gift After a downturn last year, almost all client
business valuations, with 78 percent of planning services due to the “mammoth categories surged in growth for the 2017
responding firms tracking an uptick, and change” in the agricultural industry, said Top 100 Firms, with manufacturing and
SALT, at 77 percent. Estate/trust/gift tax
planning, international tax, and mergers
and acquisitions once again rounded out
the top 6, all at 71 percent.
Top niche services
Percentage of firms increasing their business in these areas
Industry specializations were a
(of 79 firms responding)
growth area for 68 percent of responding
Attest
firms, while forensics/fraud was the only Business valuations
Top 10 niche service to increase over last SALT
Estate/trust/gift tax planning
year, rising 2 percentage points and two
International tax
spots to 66 percent. Nonprofits were an M&A
in-demand area for 65 percent of firms and Industry specializations
Forensics/fraud
litigation services fell 5 percentage points Nonprofits
and two spots to 63 percent. Litigation support
Technology consulting
Many firms experiencing growth in SOX compliance/Risk mgmt.
the most sought-after niches attributed Retirement plans
Businss mgmt. for wealthy individuals
their success to specialized service.
Succession planning/family office
Denver-based Hein & Associates de- CAS/business process outsourcing
veloped its valuation services to be indus- Cost segregation
Employee benefits
try-focused, particularly in energy, accord- Business mgmt. for small businesses
ing to managing partner Jim Brendel. “Our CFO/project staffing services
Personal financial planning
established team ranges from experienced Strategic planning/business plans
petroleum engineers to financial experts, Investment advice/services
Cash flow forecasting/management
ensuring that we have the in-house knowl- Bankruptcy /insolvency
edge necessary for the transactions we are Payroll services/ consulting
1031 like-kind exchange
a part of. This familiarity with the industry
Business management services
allows us to be a part of complex valua- IFRS consulting
tions while delivering quality work product Financing arrangements
Lease vs. buy analysis
that passes the scrutiny of IRS examina-
0 20 40 60 80 100
tions and courts of law.”
22
niches and clients
NICHES Top client categories

from page 22 Percentage of firms increasing their business with these types of clients
(of 79 firms responding)
midsized businesses again claiming the Manufacturing
top two spots. Manufacturing was up a Midsized businesses
whopping 30 percentage points over last Construction
Real estate
year, with 86 percent of firms reporting Technology
growth in that client category, and mid- Individuals
Nonprofit organizations
sized businesses jumped 25 percentage Professional services
points to 78 percent of responding firms. Healthcare facilities
Pension plans
Construction and real estate were both
Large businesses
hot client groups for 75 percent of the Wholesale distributors
T100, marking a 26 and 23 point jump over State and local government
Hotels & restaurants
last year, respectively. Technology again Small businesses
rounded out the top 5 client categories Banking & thrift companies
Brokers/dealers
with 73 percent, up 24 percentage points.
Colleges and universities
Individual clients rose 27 percentage Retail trade
points and five rankings to the sixth spot, Entertainment
Auto dealerships
followed by nonprofit organizations, pro- Finance cos./mortgage banks
fessional services (lawyers, doctors, etc.), Government Contractors
Investment cos. & mutual funds
health care facilities and pension plans. School districts
The success of St. Cloud, Minn.-based Franchising
Agriculture/farming/forestry/fishing
BerganKDV’s manufacturing practice is re-
Publishing/broadcasting/media
gionally specific, according to CEO Chris Insurance carriers/companies
Honkomp: “The Upper Midwest region is Other
Insurance agents/brokers
often cited for its strong work ethic and
0 20 40 60 80 100
labor force. With this, we see many of our
markets flush with successful manufactur- The Bonadio Group, in Pittsford, N.Y., ily available for real estate investment,
ing organizations. Given that concentra- is strategic with its construction clients, consistently low (and stabilized) interest
tion, it makes sense for us to heavily invest said Michael Smith, partner and construc- rates, sustained, extremely favorable de-
in helping these organizations grow.” tion division leader. “Each year across New mographics, and near rock-solid property
Kentucky’s Mountjoy Chilton Medley York State we hold a series of Construction fundamentals across almost all sectors of
also owes its large manufacturing client Summits, where industry executives gather our industry and throughout the U.S.”
base to location, though its expansion is to learn new management techniques and Pittsburgh’s Schneider Downs report-
more intentional, according to managing share information. We also stay very close ed an increase in individual clients, related
partner Diane Medley: “We are really lead- with the construction associations, and we to “significant growth in our private family
ing in growth initiatives in those areas with conduct an annual [industry] survey.” office practice,” said co-CEO Tim Ham-
solutions and tax-saving strategies.” CohnReznick is just as entrenched mer. “We believe this speaks to the market
An improving economy, new technol- in commercial real estate, where the New demand among high-net-worth families
ogy and low interest rates have converged York firm reported the highest growth. for an integrated bundle of services from
for New York-based Berdon, creating the The firm conducts several CFO forums a trusted provider. Those services can in-
“right place, right time” for manufacturing, and is heavily involved in national and clude wealth management, estate and tax
said practice leader Matthew Jahrsdoerfer. local industry groups, said David Kessler, planning, concierge-level services … or
The swell in Miami-based Berkowitz partner and national director of the firm’s any other service on our roster. These are
Pollack Brant’s midsized business clients is commercial real estate industry practice. services that we have historically offered
due to location and “significant growth in Additional reasons for CohnReznick’s suc- for years, and the market is responding to
our representation of these types of entre- cess, according to Kessler, include “the our ability to provide them as a bundled
preneurial clients,” said CEO Joseph Saka. immense supply of global capital read- package from a single provider.” AT
24
regional overview
Expanding the Regional Leaders
T
he criteria for membership in regions of the country. With that in mind, year (somewhat arbitrarily) at $10 million,
the Top 100 Firms list is fairly in the early years of the list we aimed to which has allowed us to include more top
straightforward: If an account- name at least 15 firms in each of our 10 firms than ever — such as Florida’s Vestal
ing firm meets a certain thresh- geographical regions. Filling those slots is & Wiler, New York’s Teal, Becker & Chiara-
old of net revenue (this year it happens to no longer an issue — and in many regions monte, Illinois’ CDH, and many more.
be $37.7 million), then it makes the list. we’re able to go well beyond 15 list-worthy In a few parts of the country (the
With our Regional Leaders, however, firms (both the Mid-Atlantic Region and Mountain Region, for instance, and New
there are a few more variables to consider the West, for instance, include more than England), the landscape is such that a
— and that led to a significant expansion of 30 firms). slightly lower threshold is in order to make
the rosters this year. Nowadays, we pick the Regional Lead- sure we’re including the leading firms;
First off, the main point of the Region- ers based on two main criteria: We aim in those cases, we may dip below the $10
al Leaders is to highlight the large group to include at least 15 firms, all of which million level to include the region’s best.
of strong firms that exist beyond the Top achieve a level of revenue that sets them in With all that in mind, we’re happy
100, whose names may not be nationally the top tier of their region. In many areas to present this year’s expanded list of ac-
known but that are thriving in different (though not all), we’ve set that level this counting’s Regional Leaders! AT
THE 2017 REGIONAL LEADERS

Top Firms: Gulf Coast
Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi
Total revenue: $936.92 million. Average firm growth: 12.03%
The roster of leading firms around the Gulf Coast expanded significantly this year, adding four new firms,
even as two leaders from earlier years’ lists, Goldstein Schechter Koch and the LBA Group, were snapped
up in mergers.
Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ————
Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other
Carr, Riggs & Ingram Enterprise, Ala. 235.79 20.83 26 165 927 1,329 48 40 11 0
Warren Averett Birmingham, Ala. 124.40 0.89 14 156 548 927 37 37 5 21
MBAF Miami 112.30 19.47 10 28 446 554 36 44 13 7
Horne Ridgeland, Miss. 79.39 -1.08 14 20 422 549 33 10 44 13
Kaufman Rossin Group Miami 75.00 1.49 5 46 275 403 28 30 8 34
Berkowitz Pollack Brant Miami 60.00 8.30 3 17 149 214 16 43 5 36
Postlethwaite & Netterville Baton Rouge, La. 57.60 8.35 8 27 299 367 41 19 30 10
Jackson Thornton & Co. Montgomery, Ala. 28.59 3.14 6 21 135 182 43 31 3 23
LaPorte Metairie, La. 26.49 13.50 5 15 125 174 54 39 7 0
Daszkal Bolton Boca Raton, Fla. 20.20 4.39 3 11 98 137 26 68 3 3
Heard, McElroy & Vestal Shreveport, La. 19.30 12.21 2 17 72 115 40 42 14 4
Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith Birmingham, Ala. 18.31 15.52 5 23 103 153 37 35 8 20
Gerson Preston Klein Lips Eisenberg & Gelber Miami 18.30 28.06 2 6 50 71 NA NA NA NA
Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund Pensacola, Fla. 16.50 5.63 4 15 102 134 37 28 5 30
Kushner LaGraize Metairie, La. 12.88 25.29 1 9 41 61 12 57 5 26
Thomas Howell Ferguson Tallahassee, Fla. 11.02 13.49 2 8 47 75 54 40 6 0
Kabat, Schertzer, De La Torre, Taraboulos Miami 10.85 35.12 3 8 72 91 35 50 8 7
Vestal & Wiler Orlando, Fla. 10.00 2.04 1 8 38 52 51 49 0 0
Notes: NA Not available/applicable
25
regional
tktktkt leaders
Top Firms: Mid-Atlantic

New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania
Total revenue: $3,339.52 million. Average firm growth: 8.38%
While mergers remain a big driver in regions across the country, one of the more interesting changes in this region was
the demerger of last year’s SaxBST into its component parts, including Mid-Atlantic Regional Leader Sax.

CohnReznick New York City 618.00 2.32 30 279 1,922 2,724 54 29 8 9
Marcum New York City 449.00 8.87 22 204 929 1,462 45 37 8 10
EisnerAmper New York City 318.80 12.06 9 177 1,144 1,460 51 41 8 0
Citrin Cooperman & Co. New York City 230.00 17.95 10 180 575 900 NA NA NA NA
Mazars USA New York City 187.00 9.36 8 113 555 808 40 38 22 0
Withum Princeton, N.J. 147.78 28.81 12 51 576 781 41 43 4 12
PKF O’Connor Davies New York City 138.50 9.92 9 110 560 788 58 28 12 2
Marks Paneth New York City 128.00 14.29 6 91 453 659 39 49 3 9
Berdon New York City 111.80 7.50 2 37 324 430 35 40 25 0
The Bonadio Group* Pittsford, N.Y. 106.59 11.17 10 78 460 623 44 28 12 16
Anchin, Block & Anchin New York City 103.00 5.10 1 54 242 371 44 43 13 0
Friedman New York City 98.00 16.67 8 73 308 460 45 45 10 0
Schneider Downs Pittsburgh 70.80 7.01 2 40 337 417 43 36 21 0
RKL Lancaster, Pa. 62.20 9.12 14 41 284 362 27 31 11 31
Prager Metis International New York City 60.77 19.67 9 50 177 284 26 42 32 0
Grassi & Co. New York City 57.50 17.35 4 31 200 288 46 38 8 8
Raich Ende Malter & Co. New York City 50.10 8.91 3 42 137 223 40 60 0 0
Freed Maxick* Buffalo, N.Y. 47.50 3.26 4 35 230 305 35 40 25 0
Margolin, Winer & Evens Garden City, N.Y. 41.10 1.23 2 26 162 203 60 30 10 0
Wiss & Co. Livingston, N.J. 37.00 8.82 3 26 127 190 52 30 18 0
Kreischer Miller Horsham, Pa. 32.75 5.65 2 16 156 205 46 36 13 5
Sax Clifton, N.J. 30.00 -33.48 2 15 79 141 45 41 1 13
Janover Garden City, N.Y. 29.00 3.94 2 21 95 156 30 57 10 3
Untracht Early Florham Park, N.J. 26.07 14.85 3 9 96 123 23 65 4 8
Perelson Weiner New York City 24.36 1.08 1 15 37 68 22 78 0 0
Gettry Marcus Woodbury, N.Y. 21.80 21.11 3 20 60 97 46 41 0 13
Sobel & Co. Livingston, N.J. 20.18 9.61 1 17 93 128 38 32 10 20
Buchbinder Tunick & Co. New York City 20.10 14.14 3 23 80 117 80 14 6 0
Smolin Lupin Fairfield, N.J. 18.13 NA 4 18 49 86 39 55 0 6
Bowman & Co. Voorhees, N.J. 15.30 2.34 2 17 63 96 91 9 0 0
Boyer & Ritter Camp Hill, Pa. 13.82 -3.02 4 12 55 85 56 34 3 7
Teal, Becker & Chiaramonte Albany, N.Y. 13.35 4.30 1 11 67 91 40 41 6 13
RBT Newburgh, N.Y. 11.22 16.75 4 11 78 100 54 30 16 0
Notes: * Firm estimate or projection NA Not available/applicable
No. of firms from New

York City in the Top 100
26
19
regional leaders
Top Firms: Capital Region

Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia
Firms in the region around Washington, D.C., had a good year, with a higher average growth rate
than in 2015.

Kearney & Co. Alexandria, Va. 126.70 16.13 2 17 558 606 75 0 25 0
Aronson Rockville, Md. 53.03 5.22 1 32 171 245 37 35 23 5
Raffa Washington, D.C. 47.91 6.89 2 19 247 304 54 10 36 0
SC&H Group Sparks, Md. 47.64 9.62 3 20 196 248 21 17 62 0
PB Mares Newport News, Va. 37.48 6.36 9 37 132 219 31 44 15 10
Arnett Carbis Toothman Charleston, W. Va. 33.42 1.15 8 29 164 235 37 32 31 0
Brown, Edwards & Co. Roanoke, Va. 33.17 27.38 9 36 223 298 62 37 1 0
Cotton & Co.* Alexandria, Va. 33.00 13.79 1 11 172 200 40 0 17 43
Johnson Lambert Vienna, Va. 26.25 3.39 8 18 130 169 78 14 8 0
Keiter Glen Allen, Va. 25.90 12.27 1 13 114 157 31 58 7 4
Calibre CPA Group Bethesda, Md. 24.20 2.85 3 16 116 154 76 11 0 13
Hertzbach & Co. Owings Mills, Md. 24.00 14.29 3 26 124 172 38 51 11 0
Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman Bethesda, Md. 23.00 4.55 1 11 66 101 70 28 2 0
Yount, Hyde & Barbour Winchester, Va. 22.82 -0.83 8 19 91 132 42 45 11 2
Gross, Mendelsohn & Associates Baltimore 20.43 3.81 2 15 81 116 40 30 30 0
Smith Elliott Kearns & Co. Hagerstown, Md. 18.10 4.02 6 21 109 157 34 34 25 7
KatzAbosch Timonium, Md. 16.77 7.29 3 22 46 89 32 52 16 0
RS&F Owings Mills, Md. 11.00 37.50 3 6 44 62 25 41 22 12
Notes: * Firm estimate or projection
7.09%
10.04% 8.53%
8.38%
9.24% 7.86%
9.76%
5.61%
9.47%
12.04%
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
Average firm growth was down somewhat from last year, but the number of Regional Leaders in the Northeast in-
creased, as new firms joined the list. One major change: The absence of KAF, which merged into New York Regional
Leader Citrin Cooperman.

BlumShapiro West Hartford, Conn. 76.50 5.23 6 33 321 433 59 29 4 8
BerryDunn Portland, Maine 57.57 9.91 5 14 220 273 43 13 39 5
KLR Providence, R.I. 44.30 11.87 4 14 181 226 31 40 29 0
Baker Newman & Noyes Portland, Maine 42.60 11.81 5 38 176 258 40 50 10 0
Wolf & Co. Boston 41.50 9.79 4 20 157 207 42 24 0 34
AAFCPAs Westborough, Mass. 26.70 9.88 3 24 124 176 68 20 12 0
Whittlesey & Hadley Hartford, Conn. 24.80 12.22 3 20 125 160 50 30 20 0
DiCicco, Gulman & Co. Woburn, Mass. 23.50 13.53 2 20 90 131 36 46 18 0
Gray, Gray & Gray Canton, Mass. 20.30 7.41 3 8 90 116 49 31 20 0
O’Connor & Drew Braintree, Mass. 15.10 4.86 2 15 63 90 74 14 0 12
Walter & Shuffain Boston 14.45 11.33 2 8 42 56 38 57 5 0
Macpage South Portland, Maine 13.00 -1.89 3 18 70 99 37 32 19 12
Melanson Heath Nashua, N.H. 11.69 4.56 5 11 66 92 72 24 3 1
DiSanto Priest & Co. Warwick, R.I. 10.90 4.81 1 8 43 62 30 55 15 0
Gallagher Flynn & Co. South Burlington, Vt. 10.70 4.90 2 10 55 80 NA NA NA NA
Meyers Brothers Kalicka Holyoke, Mass. 10.00 4.17 1 6 38 56 55 41 4 0
Abrams Little-Gill Loberfeld Chestnut Hill, Mass. 8.20 0.61 1 9 32 49 32 63 5 0
Nathan Wechsler & Co. Concord, N.H. 8.06 9.36 3 5 28 41 38 54 6 2
Mahoney Sabol & Co. Glastonbury, Conn. 7.90 0.38 3 5 38 47 55 45 0 0
Where the growth is

Average individual firm growth rate,
in percent by region
15
12
0
Gulf Mountain Capital The The The Mid- Great New The
Coast Region Southeast West Midwest Atlantic Lakes England Southwest
28
regional leaders
Top Firms: Mountain

Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming
After coming last in growth last year, the Mountain States surged ahead in 2016, with the second-highest average
growth per firm.

EKS&H Denver 99.60 4.73 3 41 438 591 41 40 19 0
K-Coe Isom Loveland, Colo. 61.15 6.16 18 56 213 357 23 43 34 0
Hein & Associates Denver 61.00 13.62 4 38 242 298 48 36 10 5
Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co. Helena, Mont. 23.80 -8.81 7 29 130 202 39 41 7 13
Anton Collins Mitchell Denver 22.05 35.03 4 17 104 142 42 49 9 0
Tanner Salt Lake City 19.62 10.29 1 14 79 106 60 24 11 5
Richey May & Co. Englewood, Colo. 16.91 23.52 1 12 89 116 43 47 10 0
Squire & Co. Orem, Utah 16.48 6.87 1 16 60 92 35 30 32 3
WSRP Salt Lake City 14.17 31.08 3 13 78 101 53 33 10 6
Dalby, Wendland & Co. Grand Junction, Colo. 13.53 1.20 4 12 51 86 20 61 8 11
JCCS Great Falls, Mont. 12.96 1.17 6 14 65 109 39 46 4 11
Haynie & Co. Salt Lake City 12.00 13.21 4 6 86 105 44 42 4 10
HintonBurdick St George, Utah 10.64 2.60 6 12 55 82 61 29 0 10
Joseph Eve Great Falls, Mont. 10.45 10.00 4 3 43 59 68 5 11 16
Stockman Kast Ryan & Co. Colorado Springs, Colo. 8.87 NA 1 9 40 57 30 62 2 6
Top Firms: Southeast

Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee
The Regional Leaders here had a strong year, with growth higher than in 2015, and a
large number of new firms on the list, including this year’s single new Top 100 Firm,
Kentucky’s PYA.

Dixon Hughes Goodman Charlotte, N.C. 394.00 12.25 28 155 1,389 1,918 32 33 35 0
Cherry Bekaert Richmond, Va. 164.20 14.19 12 55 660 901 41 46 10 3
Elliott Davis Decosimo Greenville, S.C. 125.00 6.84 9 93 522 763 42 44 14 0
LBMC Brentwood, Tenn. 86.59 5.19 3 45 381 489 23 26 23 28
Aprio Atlanta 76.32 3.79 2 25 300 378 33 49 13 5
Frazier & Deeter Atlanta 74.01 10.56 5 16 215 269 35 36 0 29
Mountjoy Chilton Medley Louisville, Ky. 48.70 12.50 5 43 214 310 37 42 8 13
Mauldin & Jenkins Atlanta 44.80 -0.33 6 37 180 270 63 30 1 6
PYA Knoxville, Tenn. 41.62 5.34 5 16 151 235 10 15 75 0
Bennett Thrasher Atlanta 41.35 14.13 1 34 178 248 31 58 2 9
Smith & Howard Atlanta 26.05 4.62 1 10 67 101 45 51 4 0
Dean Dorton Allen Ford Lexington, Ky. 25.61 19.62 2 24 115 165 32 46 22 0
Windham Brannon Atlanta 25.38 11.95 1 13 125 166 32 54 14 0
VonLehman & Co. Ft. Wright, Ky. 18.85 6.32 3 18 75 117 43 41 16 0
Porter Keadle Moore Atlanta 13.31 18.84 1 13 55 80 47 20 33 0
Blackburn, Childers & Steagall Johnson City, Tenn. 11.80 10.49 3 11 65 87 28 48 6 18
Hancock Askew Savannah, Ga. 11.70 4.65 3 10 58 83 54 36 9 1
29
regional leaders
Top Firms: Great Lakes

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin
Growth rates were down slightly on average, but a number of new Regional Leaders helped make up the difference,
with the region’s overall revenue up significantly from 2015.

Plante Moran Southfield, Mich. 481.76 3.41 21 266 1,574 2,249 39 25 36 0
Wipfli Milwaukee 227.00 9.66 41 214 1,122 1,596 34 31 35 0
Sikich Naperville, Ill. 146.40 26.53 21 54 623 791 26 16 55 3
UHY Advisors Chicago 126.50 11.26 16 66 459 649 31 49 20 0
Rehmann Saginaw, Mich. 115.00 -0.86 18 62 560 829 33 36 13 18
FGMK Chicago 96.00 5.49 2 67 332 422 17 34 49 0
Schenck Appleton, Wis. 80.51 3.20 10 60 370 551 36 37 20 7
Blue & Co. Carmel, Ind. 77.51 9.54 11 50 252 400 28 25 45 2
Doeren Mayhew Troy, Mich. 72.56 17.20 5 30 233 329 37 34 19 10
Katz, Sapper & Miller Indianapolis 72.36 9.74 3 37 270 365 24 37 23 16
Hill, Barth & King Canfield, Ohio 67.00 11.67 12 46 247 370 19 40 12 29
Clark, Schaefer, Hackett & Co. Cincinnati 64.64 1.64 6 26 291 390 51 36 10 3
Cohen & Co. Cleveland 60.10 26.15 7 29 287 372 46 40 2 12
Skoda Minotti Cleveland 51.88 3.47 4 23 205 290 27 25 8 40
SVA Madison, Wis. 51.41 -12.42 5 27 164 323 16 24 14 46
Kemper CPA Group Evansville, Ind. 43.12 7.10 27 63 243 348 41 40 19 0
Rea & Associates New Philadelphia, Ohio 40.60 15.05 11 20 167 231 40 33 15 12
Somerset CPAs Indianapolis 31.77 5.34 2 30 93 163 38 32 30 0
Yeo & Yeo Saginaw, Mich. 30.67 -1.41 8 12 158 209 28 25 20 27
ORBA Chicago 26.40 6.88 1 14 86 124 32 54 14 0
Porte Brown Elk Grove Village, Ill. 22.94 9.92 5 15 85 125 43 40 13 4
Maner Costerisan Lansing, Mich. 18.86 3.40 1 23 70 107 39 22 14 25
Brady Ware & Co.* Miamisburg, Ohio 17.50 6.71 4 22 96 129 33 53 14 0
Warady & Davis Deerfield, Ill. 16.35 2.83 1 23 66 97 45 51 1 3
Wegner Madison, Wis. 14.97 13.75 6 11 98 121 54 35 6 4
Kutchins, Robbins & Diamond Schaumburg, Ill. 10.30 3.62 1 5 42 52 45 43 12 0
CDH Itasca, Ill. 10.19 13.47 3 2 65 82 41 41 12 6
Notes: * Firm estimate or projection
13 No. of Illinois firms

in the Top 100 and
Regional Leaders
30
No. of Ohio-based firms 7
regional leaders
Top Firms: Midwest

Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota
Coming off a strong 2015, the Midwest’s 2016 was not quite as explosive, but it nonetheless managed a comfortable aver-
age growth rate.

BKD Springfield, Mo. 537.60 8.28 35 264 1,776 2,529 48 31 21 0
Eide Bailly Fargo, N.D. 259.40 15.49 29 119 1,246 1,742 41 40 10 9
RubinBrown St. Louis 86.07 9.60 5 26 531 620 43 42 15 0
Honkamp Krueger & Co. Dubuque, Iowa 68.10 16.61 8 33 233 458 16 21 7 56
BerganKDV St. Cloud, Minn. 48.13 5.83 7 37 211 281 20 40 3 37
Brown Smith Wallace St. Louis 43.00 8.12 3 29 238 289 35 32 20 13
Brady, Martz & Associates Grand Forks, N.D. 37.24 21.82 5 41 150 239 45 45 10 0
Lutz Omaha, Neb. 32.64 11.48 1 29 103 154 31 34 10 25
Anders St. Louis 30.00 6.01 1 20 130 177 18 49 2 31
Lurie Minneapolis 28.85 1.23 1 17 110 158 33 49 13 5
Boulay Minneapolis 27.40 4.90 2 28 99 155 32 33 19 16
Mize Houser & Co. Topeka, Kansas 26.40 7.19 3 19 142 230 66 26 8 0
Abdo, Eick & Meyers Mankato, Minn. 21.60 3.30 2 24 115 156 45 50 5 0
MarksNelson Kansas City, Mo. 20.80 22.35 1 18 116 154 44 34 22 0
Redpath & Co. St. Paul, Minn. 20.20 8.89 2 16 100 151 47 42 11 0
Mueller Prost St. Louis 17.47 10.85 4 17 85 122 30 45 25 0
Seim Johnson Omaha, Neb. 16.63 0.48 1 21 47 83 42 31 27 0
Olsen Thielen & Co. Roseville, Minn. 15.42 1.65 2 11 69 100 41 33 26 0
KPM Springfield, Mo. 15.20 -1.94 2 24 53 102 40 38 22 0
Where the money is

Combined 2016 revenues, in millions of dollars by region
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0 Mid- Great The The The Gulf Capital The New Mountain
Atlantic Lakes West Midwest Southeast Coast Region Southwest England
31
regional leaders
Top Firms: Southwest

Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas
Average firm growth moderated somewhat in the Southwest from last year, with a slightly
less hectic pace of M&A. But mergers still reshaped the roster of Regional Leaders, with RSM
US merging in last year’s No. 4 in the Southwest, Padgett Stratemann, and Armanino picking
up No. 12 Travis Wolff.

Weaver Fort Worth, Texas 104.30 9.67 9 38 404 539 34 41 16 9
Whitley Penn Fort Worth, Texas 83.12 14.74 5 45 347 434 41 49 0 10
Montgomery Coscia Greilich Plano, Texas 53.40 5.37 3 29 240 300 26 41 27 6
Briggs & Veselka Co. Houston 31.44 5.79 2 20 129 173 41 48 8 3
REDW Albuquerque, N.M. 27.64 2.41 2 14 131 181 46 23 15 16
Cain Watters & Associates Plano, Texas 26.33 5.74 1 11 71 130 10 18 0 72
BeachFleischman Tucson, Ariz. 25.58 8.16 2 25 90 152 30 50 4 16
PKF Texas Houston 25.50 5.15 1 13 94 130 50 50 0 0
Maxwell Locke & Ritter Austin, Texas 24.25 5.39 2 17 71 102 37 42 0 21
Lane Gorman Trubitt Dallas 24.00 14.29 1 18 71 100 46 38 7 9
Henry & Horne Tempe, Ariz. 22.90 13.93 3 18 106 150 30 61 7 2
Johnson Miller & Co. Odessa, Texas 21.63 4.09 3 14 86 114 31 53 4 12
RPC Albuquerque, N.M. 15.89 5.30 8 6 92 120 30 41 7 22
PMB Helin Donovan1 Austin, Texas 12.00 -33.33 3 12 48 70 55 40 5 0
MiddletonRaines+Zapata Houston 11.24 24.61 4 10 80 93 20 70 10 0
MaloneBailey Houston 11.08 -5.94 1 6 39 51 100 0 0 0
McConnell & Jones Houston 10.04 10.09 4 8 63 88 72 18 10 0
Notes: 1 Firm divested itself of its California operations.
Where the money is

Combined 2016 firm revenues
T100 under
T100 over $100 mn
Regional $100 mn ($3.57 bn)
Leaders ($9.52 bn)
Top 7 Firms ($13.01 bn)
($58.1 bn)
32
regional leaders
Top Firms: West

California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington
Seven new firms joined the Regional Leaders list in the West, with a particular concentration on the Pacific Northwest,
raising the prospect that in the future this mega-region may need to be broken into two parts. For the moment, though,
growth remained strong, and the biggest news came, unsurprisingly, in the form of a merger: The late-2016 folding in of
last year’s No. 7, Gallina, into serial acquirer CliftonLarsonAllen, which also made a few other deals in the area.

Moss Adams Seattle 527.00 10.48 25 284 1,708 2,589 44 37 19 0
Armanino San Ramon, Calif. 195.00 18.72 8 80 590 764 21 33 39 7
Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt W. Los Angeles, Calif. 128.32 15.97 11 48 372 502 18 75 0 7
Novogradac & Co. San Francisco 123.96 5.89 25 49 416 543 57 29 3 11
Frank, Rimerman + Co. Palo Alto, Calif. 82.90 10.68 4 27 354 389 29 61 10 0
BPM San Francisco 82.00 4.73 6 35 317 431 37 50 12 1
Squar Milner Newport Beach, Calif. 72.50 16.94 5 31 270 360 37 56 7 0
Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno Los Angeles 65.00 NC 5 27 248 310 16 10 0 74
Seiler Redwood City, Calif. 51.10 10.37 2 14 164 215 8 70 0 22
Aldrich Salem, Ore. 46.95 1.58 7 15 236 299 29 34 12 25
SingerLewak Los Angeles 44.76 8.19 9 38 134 251 42 39 6 13
Macias Gini & O’Connell Sacramento, Calif. 42.28 11.38 10 10 189 257 60 12 7 21
Miller Kaplan Arase North Hollywood, Calif. 41.25 4.43 6 27 138 195 58 18 21 3
Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co. Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. 39.30 8.56 9 35 179 241 72 21 7 0
Gursey | Schneider Los Angeles 36.46 15.75 6 14 115 173 4 33 0 63
Clark Nuber Bellevue, Wash. 36.20 5.85 1 22 144 198 49 44 0 7
Peterson Sullivan Seattle 30.30 3.77 1 20 115 163 38 58 4 0
Perkins & Co.* Portland, Ore. 29.41 28.60 2 26 128 174 26 45 21 8
Hutchinson and Bloodgood Glendale, Calif. 27.30 -0.73 4 34 61 120 34 55 11 0
Green Hasson Janks Los Angeles 26.70 9.88 1 14 103 135 36 35 11 18
Windes Long Beach, Calif. 25.63 3.35 3 14 91 134 42 49 3 6
Krost* Pasadena, Calif. 25.47 24.55 7 5 84 130 14 16 0 70
Hagen, Streiff, Newton & Oshiro1 Irvine, Calif. 23.54 -6.14 14 16 53 83 0 0 70 30
Sensiba San Filippo Pleasanton, Calif. 23.30 12.56 6 16 98 141 44 49 5 2
Geffen Mesher & Co. Portland, Ore. 20.90 8.74 1 18 86 123 30 65 5 0
NSBN* Los Angeles 20.00 16.28 1 8 76 93 38 50 5 7
Gumbiner Savett Santa Monica, Calif. 20.00 NC 1 11 81 105 40 53 5 2
DZH Phillips San Francisco 19.37 17.39 4 9 87 106 26 52 0 22
Abbott, Stringham & Lynch San Jose, Calif. 18.20 2.25 1 12 60 81 35 55 4 6
Delap Lake Oswego, Ore. 17.99 23.56 2 15 76 107 33 59 8 0
OUM & Co.* San Francisco 17.60 1.73 2 10 70 88 45 48 7 0
Genske Mulder & Co. Costa Mesa, Calif. 17.04 13.22 4 22 14 98 42 54 4 0
RINA Accountancy Corp. Walnut Creek, Calif. 16.37 17.60 4 11 51 78 23 66 2 10
Hood & Strong San Francisco 15.67 11.93 3 16 57 84 54 46 0 0
Bader Martin Seattle 14.88 -5.46 1 10 59 94 35 65 0 0
Jones & Roth Eugene, Ore. 11.60 6.52 4 10 58 83 53 40 1 6
Sweeney Conrad Bellevue, Wash. 11.26 2.93 1 11 46 65 32 61 7 0
Notes: * Firm estimate or projection NC No change 1 Firm has locations across the country
33
regional leaders
Taking different approaches

BY DANIEL HOOD
T
heir issues are similar — but not & Veselka has very specific targets for its with various internally developed tools to
necessarily their responses. cross-selling initiatives, aiming to “sell reach out to new clients, while looking for
When we asked the Top 100 more services to our A and B clients via additional opportunities with our exist-
Firms and the Regional Leaders excellent service,” according to managing ing client base. Each niche will continue
what they saw as the major issues facing shareholder John Flatowicz. to focus on new services or address new
them, their answers covered much the Internal changes and succession pro- challenges within each industry that will
same ground: Staffing is a major concern, cesses can also create opportunities for drive value to our existing client base and
followed by the struggle for growth. selling more services. Donna Erbs, chief our prospective clients. With an institutio-
But when it came to their strategic marketing officer of St. Louis’ Anders, no- nally ingrained marketing rewards system
plans for 2017, the Regional Leaders struck ted that her firm is making “continuing to compensate for successfully obtaining
out on different paths from the Top 100. efforts to retain the clients and work of recurring and non-recurring type work, we
(For the latter’s plans, see page 10.) In diffe- transitioning partners, and growing those believe we have a financial rewards system
rent regions all across the country, the fo- clients with additional cross-serving op- that provides our team members with the
cus for many leading firms will be in three portunities through our robust transition financial motivation to ensure success.”
areas: selling more services to their current program and processes created in 2016.” Developing and emphasizing their
clients, marketing themselves better, and skill sets is a major focus for the Regional
developing their niche practices. MARKETING AND EXPERTISE Leaders, with good reason. “At $30 million,
Part of cross-selling is letting clients know we are now being considered for larger
THE MORE THE BETTER what you do, and many of the Regional engagements,” said Anders’ Erbs. “This
Getting current clients to buy more ser- Leaders have plans to boost their marke- puts us in competition with much larger
vices was a frequent theme among the ting efforts both in that area and in getting firms and we, like others in our size range,
members of this year’s Regional Leaders. out the word about their specific skills. are determining the best ways to compete,
“Cotton & Co.’s primary growth strategy At New York’s Janover, the firm is fo- not so much on price, as with smaller
for 2017 is to expand our business with cusing on “enhanced strategic marketing clients, but in showcasing the depth of our
existing customers,” said George Bills, a efforts to core industries and specialties experience.”
partner at the Virginia firm. “The firm has that we excel at,” according to partner Ken- That desire to bring the tools that fit
several clients where the level of service neth Rick, as well as “more partner invol- clients’ individual needs is one area where
can significantly increase if existing work vement at industry and other conferences, the Regional Leaders and the Top 100 sha-
is done well and staffing needs can be met. both to contribute to these events and to re an approach. At Janover, Rick noted that
This growth strategy is in line with our get Janover’s name out to the public. [We the firm is “transitioning to specialization
firm’s overall strategy of growing by doing will also have a] concerted firm effort to by staff and partners, versus many CPAs
great work.” share marketing activities at the individual who are generalists, in order to provide
Similarly, at Oregon’s Perkins & Co., partner level so as to be aware of oppor- value and the best creative solutions for
“We plan to strengthen our capability to tunities where we can assist each other our clients.”
cross-service existing clients with accoun- leveraging of our diverse specializations.” Of course, these strategies are not
ting and consulting services,” said director That combination of marketing focus mutually exclusive — and some firms are
of operations Colleen Murray — though on niche specialties is common to many of going for all of them. “Three years ago, the
she noted the firm will also be expanding the Regional Leaders. At West Virginia’s Ar- firm launched a growth strategy centered
its consulting and non-traditional services. nett Carbis Toothman, “We will continue on niche development, systematic busi-
The benefits of getting current clients to focus on growing our niche groups with ness development activity and accounta-
to buy more — in terms of both the ease integrated marketing efforts that were de- bility, and information sharing through
of the sale and the deepening of the client veloped as part of our strategic plan,” said our CRM,” said Robert Wheeler, CEO of
relationship — does not necessarily mean CEO Steven Robey. “Most of the marketing Washington-based Clark Nuber. “We con-
that the Regional Leaders want to do this will be focused on niche-specific events tinue to pursue this strategy and improve
with all of their clients. In Texas, Briggs and media, providing our team members both the process and results.” AT
34
firm highlights
2017 firm highlights

day Best Firm to Work For.
Carr, Riggs & Ingram: In March 2016,
merged in Conroe, Texas-based McGee,
Aldrich: In December 2016, rebranded in Atlanta-based tech consultancy Graves Miller & Co. In November, merged in Dal-
from AKT. Opened an office in Seattle. Technology. Installed new MP. Named an las-based Vogel CPAs. In January 2017,
Anchin, Block & Anchin: Grew number Accounting Today Best Firm to Work For. merged in Nashville’s Rayburn Fitzgerald.
of professionals by over 8 percent. Berdon: Added new members to exec- CBIZ & Mayer Hoffman McCann: In
Aprio: In November 2016, acquired At- utive committee, including younger part- January 2016, acquired San Diego-based
lanta-based Retirement Plan Services Co. ners and representatives from multiple Millimaki Eggert. In June, acquired Win-
In January 2017, rebranded from Habif, service areas. Hired a new chief marketing ston-Salem, N.C.-based Flex-Pay Busi-
Arogeti & Wynne. Added financial consult- officer. ness Services. In April, acquired Phila-
ing services. BerganKDV: In October 2016, acquired delphia-based actuarial consulting firm
Eldora, Iowa-based Agribusiness Resourc- The Savitz Organization. In July, acquired
Armanino: In January 2017, merged
es. In December, acquired Iowa City-based the employee benefits consulting business
in Dallas-based Travis Wolff, and Lafay-
Carlson Hartsock & Guither. Added a di- of Tennessee-based Ed Jacobs & Associ-
ette, Calif.-based Financial Strategies
rector of finance position. ates. In November, acquired Torrance, Ca-
Consulting Group. Launched a corporate
Berkowitz Pollack Brant: In November lif.-based Actuarial Consultants Inc., and
finance practice, a new revenue recogni-
2016, installed new CEO. In January 2017, the non-attest business of Denver-based
tion solution, an Innovation Committee,
opened new offices in New York City and The Seff Group.
and a Women’s Advancement Network.
Launched the Armanino Foundation. Palm Beach, Fla. Cherry Bekaert: In August 2016,
BerryDunn: Grew total staff by over 7 launched innovation fund to promote
Aronson: In January 2017, elected new
percent. internal idea generation. In September,
managing partner.
launched cloud solutions practice.
Baker Newman & Noyes: In January BKD: In December 2016, merged in
Midwestern firm Kiesling Associates, ex- Citrin Cooperman & Co.: In August
2016, installed new managing principal.
panding in Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and 2016, merged in Boston’s Kirkland Albrecht
Baker Tilly Virchow Krause: In Feb-
Wisconsin. Added big data and analytics & Fredrickson. In September, launched
ruary, added a team of FLVS profession-
advisory services. Citrin Cooperman Business Alliance;
als from the consulting unit of financial
merged in Providence, R.I.-based LGC+D.
services firm Mesirow Financial. In June, Blue & Co.: In January 2016, merged
Added government contracting services,
installed new CEO; opened office in Aus- in Lubbock, Texas-based JW Anderson &
risk advisory and cybersecurity consulting.
tin, Texas. In December, implemented a Associates. In January 2017, merged in
Added space in India and Philadelphia.
national steering committee on diversity Cincinnati-based Fleming, Brockschmidt
& Durkin, and Bloomington, Ind.-based Clark, Schaefer, Hackett & Co.: In De-
and inclusion. In January 2017, merged in
Indiana Benefits Inc. cember 2016, elected new president to
EB-5 consulting practice Wright Johnson.
take office in July 2017. Developed ca-
BDO USA: Re-elected CEO. In March BlumShapiro: In January 2016, installed
reer path structure for staff. New HR and
2016, merged in Chicago-based True Part- a new CEO. Had the “best year in the his-
leadership development services, and exit
ners. In May, merged in Boston-based tory of the firm.”
planning services.
Feeley & Driscoll. In July, merged in Utah- The Bonadio Group: In June 2016,
CliftonLarsonAllen: In January 2016,
based Mantyla McReynolds, and New launched three-year succession plan
merged in Edina, Minn.-based Four Point
York-based Charles A. Barrogato & Co. which will install a new CEO in May 2019.
Partners, Bloomington, Ill.-based Guthoff
In August, merged in Florida’s Goldstein BPM: In January 2016, installed new
Mehall Allen & Co., Milwaukee’s Komisar
Schechter Koch. In November, merged in CEO. Marked its 30th anniversary. Add-
Brady & Co., and Atlanta’s Galanti & Co.
Norfolk, Va.-based McPhillips, Roberts & ed new advisory services. In December,
In February, merged in Northeast Ohio’s
Deans, and Jacksonville, Fla.-based LBA launched BPM India.
Bruner Cox. In May, merged in Raleigh,
Group. In December, merged in Bos-
Brown Smith Wallace: In January 2016, N.C.-based Adams, Martin and Associ-
ton-based litigation support services pro-
installed new managing partner; merged ates. In June, merged in San Antonio’s
vider Key Discovery.
in Creve Coeur, Mo.-based Bergman, Tsakopulos Brown Schott & Anchors. In
Bennett Thrasher: In April 2016, merged Schraier & Co. Named an Accounting To- July, merged in Tucson, Ariz.-based Peto &
35
firm highlights
No. of
Co., and Seattle’s Repanich & Clevenger. In Web content services; expanded paid pa-
August, merged in Dallas’ CPWR, and Mil- rental leave to 16 weeks. In July, formed
waukee’s Bray & Co. In November, merged partnership with OpenText to expand dig-
with Top 100 Firm Gallina. In January 2017,
merged with Reno, Nev.-based The Bosma
mergers ital and analytical services. In October,
announced plans to hire over 15,000 em-
Group, Las Vegas-based Main Amundson
and Associates, and Oregon’s Mack, Rob-
reported by ployees in the U.S. in fiscal 2017. In January
2017, launched Future Work Now service
erts & Co.
Cohen & Co.: In February 2016, merged
the T100: to help businesses develop staff.
FGMK: In January 2016, formed Special-
130
in St. Clair Shores, Mich.-based Godfrey, ty Tax Practice.
Hammel, Danneels & Co. Opened an office Frank, Rimerman + Co.: Expanded
in Pittsburgh. In June, merged in Beach- offices in San Francisco and San Jose,
wood, Ohio-based RAV Financial. Calif. Hired its largest-ever class of new
CohnReznick: Opened the CohnRez- associates.
nick Innovation Lab. Finished move to Frazier & Deeter: In January 2017,
new New York City headquarters. Added Switzerland’s Emerson & Partner U.S. Tax. joined PKF International network. Grew
three new members to executive board. Eide Bailly: In January 2016, merged net revenue by over 10 percent. Named an
Crowe Horwath: In May 2016, merged in Enterprise, Ore.-based Edison, Perry Accounting Today Best Firm to Work For.
in London-based risk consulting firm Bax- & Co. In February, merged in Boulder, Freed Maxick: Created a firm purpose
terBruce; launched new performance re- Colo.-based R. Waidler & Associates. In statement.
view system. In June, merged in Westbor- October, merged in Scottsdale, Ariz.-based
Friedman: In January 2016, merged in
ough, Mass.-based AbleBridge. In August, Rauch, Hermanson, Everroad and Rent-
Philadelphia’s Schechtman Marks Devor.
launched Crowe Insight Center for Audit schler. In November, merged in Las Ve-
In December, announced new co-manag-
to advance its auditing services. In January gas-based JW Advisors and the CPA prac-
ing partners. Expanded forensic, litigation
2017, merged in Denver-based Crowe GHP tice of Bryce Wisan, and Utah’s Daines
support and valuation services practice.
Horwath. Goodwin & Co. In January 2017, merged
Launched a market study and an inte-
Deloitte: In May 2016, launched De- in Spokane, Wash.-based Langenhorst &
grated marketing campaign. Named an
loitte Pixel to crowdsource new service Self-Merritt CPAs. Enhanced cybersecurity
Accounting Today Best Firm to Work For.
offerings. In June, acquired asset manage- service offerings.
Grant Thornton: In April 2016, acquired
ment industry consultancy Casey Quirk. EisnerAmper: In December 2016,
merged in New York City-based Alan L. Bellevue, Wash.-based consulting firm Ar-
In September, launched an Apple practice.
In November, opened its Innovation Tech Goldberg CPA. In January 2017, merged ryve.
Terminal in Israel to connect U.S. orga- in Princeton, N.J.-based Field & Higgins. Grassi & Co.: In January 2017, acquired
nizations with Israeli startups. In January Made “substantial investment” in develop- Scarsdale, N.Y.-based Bernstein and Seid-
2017, opened a blockchain lab. ing technology and tools. man, and Long Island’s James Bohl CPA
Dixon Hughes Goodman: In June 2016, EKS&H: Added an investment banking PC. Added a technology group.
merged in Baltimore-based Stegman & practice. Grew total staff by over 12 per- Hein & Associates: Grew net revenue by
Co. In November, merged in Ontario, Ca- cent. over 13 percent. Fastest growing specialty
lif.-based Parke, Guptill & Co., expanding Elliott Davis Decosimo: In January service — valuations. Fastest growing cli-
its presence to the West Coast. In Febru- 2016, merged in Nashville, Tenn.-based ent category — manufacturing.
ary 2017, acquired Nashville, Tenn.-based Crowell & Crowell. Hill, Barth & King: In January 2016,
HDR Consulting. Continued to develop Ernst & Young: In January 2016, merged merged in Florida’s Urish Popeck. In Sep-
and expand people strategy. Continued to in New York City consulting firm Family tember, merged in Cherry Hill, N.J.-based
develop new service offerings, particularly Office Metrics. In March, launched eFi- Cordua Pastore & Associates. In Decem-
in advisory. nancial Wellness financial planning and ber, merged in Blue Bell, Pa.-based Res-
Doeren Mayhew: In January 2016, education service for small and midsized nick, Amsterdam, Leshner. Also added
merged in Farmington Hills, Mich.-based businesses. In April, formed alliance with Naples, Fla.-based Global Wealth Consul-
Adler & Co. In January 2017, merged in Adobe to expand digital experience and tants and Fredonia, N.Y.-based Compre-
36
firm highlights
hensive Wealth Solutions to HBKS Wealth services; with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise in Fresno, Calif.-based Morse Wittwer
Advisors. on ERP deployments; with Ivalua on help- Sampson and Dallas-based CF Accoun-
Holthouse, Carlin & Van Trigt: Grew ing clients realize savings and conserve tants & Consultants. Re-elected chairman
net revenue by 26 percent, and total staff cash; and with Taulia on financial supply and CEO, elected new president and CEO.
by over 17 percent. Named an Accounting chain optimization. Mountjoy Chilton Medley: In July 2016,
Today Best Firm to Work For. LBMC: In November 2016, moved head- merged in the Cincinnati practice of Top
Honkamp Krueger & Co.: In January quarters to a new building with “employ- 100 Firm Elliott Davis Decosimo. In Sep-
2016, acquired Davenport, Iowa-based ee-driven special features.” Continued to tember, merged in Preferred Accounting
Doyle & Keenan. Expanded decision sup- invest in specialty tax services, transaction Services.
port services. advisory services and technology. Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno:
Horne: Initiated training for all team Macias Gini & O’Connell: Launched Fastest growing specialty service — busi-
members on offering “anticipatory in- wealth advisory firm, and cannabis com- ness management for wealthy individuals.
sights” to clients. Launched cyber-solu- pliance and taxation service for municipal Fastest growing client category — high-
tions practice. Opened a project office in governments. Opened new office in San net-worth individuals.
South Carolina, and a permanent office in Francisco. Novogradac & Co.: In September 2016,
Washington, D.C. Marcum: In June 2016, merged in Cal- opened its 24th office, in San Rafael, Calif.
Katz, Sapper & Miller: Grew revenue by ifornia’s Lautze & Lautze. In October, Grew total staff by over 10 percent.
over 9 percent. opened first European office in Ireland. PKF O’Connor Davies: In January 2016,
In November, opened new Chicago office. merged in New Jersey-based Flackman,
Kaufman Rossin Group: In February
2016, sold hedge fund administrator unit. Margolin Winer & Evens: In January Goodman & Potter. In February, rebrand-
Expanded advisory practice in risk adviso- 2017, installed new co-managing partner, ed from O’Connor Davies, becoming the
ry and business consulting. Named the No. who will become sole MP in 2018. lead North American firm in the PKF In-
1 Large Firm to Work For by Accounting Marks Paneth: In July 2016, merged ternational network; merged in Geneva,
Today. in Jenkintown, Pa.-based firm MDG, and Switzerland-based global administration
K-Coe Isom: In November 2016, ac- New York’s Kranz & Co. In February 2017, firm VBK+Co. In January 2017, merged
quired Turlock, Calif.-based Schmidt, Bet- merged in New York City’s Shedler & Co- in Suffern, N.Y.-based Scialo, Reimann &
tencourt & Medeiros. hen. Varley CPA.
Kearney & Co.: Grew revenue by over Mauldin & Jenkins: Fastest growing spe- Plante Moran: In October, elected next
16 percent; grew total staff by 11 percent. cialty service — nonprofit. Fastest growing MP, to take office in July 2017.
Named an Accounting Today Best Firm to client category — nonprofit. Postlethwaite & Netterville: In June
Work For. Mazars USA: Rebranded from Weiser- 2016, launched award-winning market-
Kemper CPA Group: Grew number of Mazars. In January 2016, acquired Syosset, ing app Pounce, named an Accounting
partners by over 10 percent. N.Y.-based Lion & Co. In July, merged in Today Top New Product. In January 2017,
Risk Management Group. In November, launched new brand identity with new
KLR: Grew net revenue by over 11 per-
merged in Frederick, Md.-based Integrity logo, tagline and Web site.
cent. Fastest growing specialty service —
Consulting Solutions.
international tax services. Fastest growing Prager Metis International: In March
client category — closely held businesses. MBAF: In February 2016, merged in 2016, merged in Long Island, N.Y.-based
Palm Beach, Fla.-based Rampell & Ram- Mayer CPAs. In January 2017, merged in
KPMG: In March 2016, announced plans
pell. Expanded risk advisory services. Long Island’s Cohen Greve & Co., and New
with IBM to apply IBM’s cognitive com-
puting technology to KPMG’s professional Miller Kaplan Arase: Marked its 75th Jersey’s Bernknopf Group. Launched PM
service offerings. In September, launched anniversary. In October 2016, merged in Business Advisors.
blockchain services in Canada. In January Damasco & Associates. PwC: In July 2016, installed new U.S.
2017, announced plans to build 55-acre Montgomery Coscia Greilich: In Janu- chairman. In January 2017, brought on
learning and innovation facility in Florida. ary 2017, installed new managing partner. more than 600 tax professionals and the
Also announced a number of alliances: Moss Adams: In January 2016, merged tax technologies of General Electric; an-
with Vertex, on indirect tax compliance in Spokane, Wash.-based financial services nounced plans to invest $11 million in
services; with CyberArk on cybersecurity consulting firm Contineo. In June, merged Carnegie Mellon University’s new Risk and
37
firm highlights
Regulatory Services Innovation Center; Schneider Downs: Expanded turn- tion Advisors. In February 2017, acquired
and partnered with Oracle Financial Ser- around services and family office services. Byrne International.
vices Analytical Applications to offer IFRS Seiler: Grew revenue by over 10 percent. Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co.: Fastest
services. Installed new CEO. growing specialty service — attest services.
PYA: New to the list. Sikich: In April 2016, acquired Ohio- Fastest growing client category — state and
Raffa: Launched Raffa Social Capital based Brockman, Coats, Gedelian & Co. local government.
Advisors to offer leadership coaching and In May, elected new managing partner Warren Averett: In January 2016,
financial advisory for social entrepreneurs. and CEO; installed in January 2017. In No- merged in Panama City, Fla.-based Jinks
Hired a business development director. vember, acquired Glendale, Calif.-based & Moody. In May, merged in Florida’s
Raich Ende Malter & Co.: In November Microsoft Dynamics reseller SCS, and Chi- Hutto & Carver. In November, merged in
2016, merged in New York City-based Stein cago-area firm Stanfield & Associates. Also Alabama’s Beason & Nalley. Launched a
deVisser & Mintz. Expects another acquisi- acquired custom developer Hale Solutions financial planning solution for the emerg-
tion in 2017. and tech firm Solution Partners. Built a ing affluent. Organized Transaction Advi-
Rea & Associates: In November 2016, new facility in Akron, Ohio. Expanded Mil- sory Group. Launched a new client service
merged in Chardon, Ohio-based Friel & waukee office. initiative.
Associates. In January 2017, installed a SingerLewak: In August 2016, merged Weaver: In January 2016, merged in
new CEO. in Riverside, Calif.-based Ahern Adcock Texas’ Hereford, Lynch, Sellars & Kirkham.
Rehmann: In September 2016, merged Devlin. In January 2017, merged in South Saw strong growth in advisory practices,
in Toledo, Ohio-based Sobb Roberts. San Francisco’s Good & Fowler. and in audit, tax and advisory services to
Skoda Minotti: Grew total staff by more private equity and hedge funds.
RGL Forensics: In July 2016, merged
in Florida’s Stahl Forensic and Valuations than 15 percent. Named an Accounting Whitley Penn: In January 2017, merged
Experts. Opened new offices in Miami and Today Best Firm to Work For. in two Texas firms, Wagner, Eubank &
Frankfurt, Germany. Named an Account- Squar Milner: “Significantly expanding” Nichols, and Hanner & Associates.
ing Today Best Firm to Work For. offices in Encino, San Diego and and New- Wipfli: In January 2016, merged in
RKL: Rebranded firm from Reinsel, port Beach, Calif. Northbrook, Ill.-based Steinberg Advi-
Kuntz, Lesher. Launched a new strategic SVA: In February 2016, launched new sors. In May, merged in Reston, Va.-based
plan. In January 2016, acquired Sage re- Web site. In February 2017, hired its Brittenford Systems. In August, merged
seller Baesis. In October, acquired Radnor, first-ever talent acquisition and develop- in Oakland, Calif.-based health care con-
Pa.-based GTM Risk Management. ment director. sultancy HFS Consultants. In September,
merged in Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based Welt-
RSM US: Marked its 90th anniversary. UHY Advisors: In November 2016, ac-
man Bernfield. In December, merged in
In March 2016, launched RSM US Middle quired West Hartford, Conn.-based Prate-
Milwaukee’s Benes & Krueger. In January
Market Business Index. In August, merged si, Salemi & Co., and Brentmore Valua-
2017, merged in Chicago-based BIK & Co.
in San Antonio’s Padgett Stratemann.
In February, merged in Chicago-based
Opened new offices in Detroit, Tampa,
Fla., and Edison, N.J. No. of Horwich Coleman Levin. Expanded exec-
utive leadership team from three people
RubinBrown: In January 2016, merged
in Denver-based Business Manager. In Au-
gust, rebranded wealth advisory services.
new CEOs to seven.
Withum: In January 2016, merged in
Grew total staff by over 20 percent. elected or Central Florida’s Averett Warmus Durkee,
and Edison, N.J.-based The Mironov
SC&H Group: Grew revenue by over
9 percent, total staff by over 13 percent. installed: Group. In July, relocated and expanded
Princeton, N.J., office. In August, merged in
16
Named an Accounting Today Best Firm to Manasquan, N.J.-based McGuigan Tombs
Work For. & Co., and New York City-based Fried &
Schenck: Tiered clients, “reducing the Kowgios Partners.
bottom 10 percent” to focus more on top Wolf & Co.: Named a chief financial
clients. Moved to a more regionalized ap- officer. Named an Accounting Today Best
proach to firm management. Firm to Work For.
38
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ADP

Growth, with moderation

www.cpamerica.org t 104 N. Main Street, Gainesville, FL 32601 t (352) 727-4070

BEYOND THE TOP 100: FIRMS TO WATCH

2017 TOP 100 FIRMS DATABANK

Rev. share % Rev. share % Rev. share % Rev. share %

Leaders in A&A Leaders in Tax Leaders in MAS

Firms over $100 mn Firms over $100 mn Firms over $100 mn

Firms under $100 mn Firms under $100 mn Firms under $100 mn

Pacesetters in growth Overall Top 100 Firms

Staffing for growth, growing for staff

THE TOP TAX FIRMS

should move in new directions to offer incentive plans.”

STRATEGIES more value-added services to clients has

A new user experience optimized to meet your needs.

More News & Analysis.

More of what matters to you.

Accountant Connect by ADP is the cloud platform for SM

on-the-move, single sign-on access to your client payroll data.

Oh, and it’s free.

Top service areas remain constant

NICHES Top client categories

Expanding the Regional Leaders

THE 2017 REGIONAL LEADERS

Notes: NA Not available/applicable

Top Firms: Mid-Atlantic

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ————

Notes: * Firm estimate or projection NA Not available/applicable

No. of firms from New

Top Firms: Capital Region

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ————

Notes: * Firm estimate or projection

Top Firms: New England

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ————

Notes: NA Not available/applicable

Where the growth is

Top Firms: Mountain

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ————

Top Firms: Southeast

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ————

Top Firms: Great Lakes

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ————

13 No. of Illinois firms

Top Firms: Midwest

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ————

Where the money is

Top Firms: Southwest

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ————

Notes: 1 Firm divested itself of its California operations.

Where the money is

Top Firms: West

Rev. % Profess- Total ———— Fee split ————

Taking different approaches

2017 firm highlights

2017 RANKING | Registration Now Available

ELIGIBILITY: Small-sized firms

A complimentary participation report.

Invaluable insight about your firm’s policies and practices.

For a FREE trial

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