ADP

Allinial Global
CPAmerica International
CPA.com
NACVA
NetSuite
 notes and methodology

SPONSORED BY:
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: AcToday@SourceMedia.com 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 AcToday@SourceMedia.com,
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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www.cpamerica.org t 104 N. Main Street, Gainesville, FL 32601 t (352) 727-4070

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-
gest challenge facing the members of
this year’s class of the Top 100 Firms is
finding enough quality people, both to
staff current engagements and to prepare
for future successions.
For instance, at New York City’s Cohn–
Reznick, CEO Frank Longobardi noted that
two of the firm’s strategic priorities for 2017
are “building on our existing commitment
to being an employer of choice by iden-
tifying and developing future leaders early
in their careers and continu[ing] to recruit
top talent,” and “recruiting and developing
top talent quickly enough to succeed reti-
ring partners.”
To a degree, these are perennial con-
cerns. As BDO USA CEO Wayne Berson
noted, “In professional services, you are
only as good as your people; therefore,
people will always be the most critical is-
sue in our industry.”
But the profession is definitely feel-
ing more heat in this area than usual,
with firms going to greater lengths to dis-
tinguish themselves as employers. BDO
USA, for instance, is a regular on lists that
recognize great workplaces, as are many
of the other members of the T100 — but
the firm is also trying new things. “More
recently, we have begun to roll out our
Exceptional Workplace concept in new
offices,” Berson explained. “These open,
flexible, collaborative designs maximize
the benefits of office time by connecting
teams and individuals to drive knowledge
sharing, learning and mentoring.”
Brian Kreischer, managing partner at
California’s Frank, Rimerman + Co., high-
lighted the difficulties firms face: “The
continual shortage of qualified candida-
tes entering our industry combined with
the increasing complexity of our business
makes recruiting top talent an enduring,
critical issue,” he said. “In order to de-
10
liver our clients outstanding service, we
continue investing heavily in training and
development of our top talent.”
To that end, in 2016 the firm hosted
its largest-ever internship and sophomore
leadership programs, with the former
being ranked as the No. 1 internship in the
country by career information Web site
Vault. “We have also expanded our search
such that while our offices are located in
Northern California, our recruiting out-
reach stretches nationwide,” he said. “We
focus heavily on developing our people
into our future managers and partners.”
‘Innovation is
in many ways
tied to growth.’
That focus on building future talent
is part of the impetus behind Big Four
firm KPMG’s recently announced plans
to build a state-of-the-art learning, deve-
lopment and innovation facility in Florida.
“This investment nourishes the intelligen-
ce and curiosity of all of our people, while
empowering them to think outside of the
box and perform at their best,” said chair-
man and CEO Lynne Doughtie.
Taking an interesting approach to the
staffing issue is Louisiana’s Postlethwaite
& Netterville, which has built up a diverse
team of experts that it can make availa-
ble to other accounting firms. “We can
help firms that have gaps in capacity or
expertise of staff to meet client deadlines,
firms that may be interested in expanding
into new markets or services but don’t
have the resources in-house, and firms
that may want to take on a client or project
outside of their existing core competen-
cies,” explained managing director Wil-
liam Balhoff. “Other firms can leverage our
workforce in an outsourced, co-sourced,
or other arrangement.”
CHALLENGES TO GROWTH
Being able to grow their staff is one con-
cern — the other main concern of the T100
is being able to grow their business.
“Since the Great Recession, the eco-
nomy has experienced little to no growth,”
said Louis Grassi, CEO and managing part-
ner of New York’s Grassi & Co. “As a result,
growth for firms our size typically comes
by taking clients away from other firms.
This has put downward pressure on fees
for attest, accounting and tax services. Un-
fortunately, this trend will continue in the
foreseeable future — resulting in more
firm consolidation to eliminate redundan-
cies and lower costs.”
That consolidation, in turn, may cause
problems: “Industry consolidation will
continue to put pressure on CPA firms as
their marketplaces are exposed to firms
that they have not been in the past,” said
Mark Stebbins, vice chair and tax practice
leader at Buffalo, N.Y.’s Freed Maxick. “The
trend of industry consolidation continues
to foster an environment of threats and
opportunities as national firms acquire
market-dominant local firms. This creates
opportunity for the remaining local firms
to take advantage of the fallout from chan-
ges in fees, engagement management, etc.
However, when regional firms acquire
smaller firms in a local market, it presents
a threat as the regional firms introduce
services into a potentially underserved
market that weren’t previously available.”
The members of the T100 have a range
of strategies planned to help grow their
practices, but before looking at them, it’s
worth examining another challenge, one
that several firms feel will be key to their
See STRATEGIES on 12
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.

STRATEGIES
from page 10
growth — if only they can master it.
“A critical issue for any firm is inno-
vation. In fact, innovation is in many ways
tied to growth,” explained Andy Armanino,
MP of California’s Armanino. “If a firm re-
mains stagnant and isn’t looking for ways
to innovate, it will quickly lose market
share. … Successful firms welcome this
challenge and continue to engineer a bet-
ter mousetrap to sell to clients, which will
drive revenue for the firm and create value
for clients.”
Freed Maxick’s Stebbins was also bul-
lish on innovation: “It is the lifeblood of
a CPA firm’s culture that is committed to
growth.” His firm has established an in-
ternal innovation committee to vet ideas
from all levels of the firm. “Our object-
ives include the creation and fostering of
a firm-wide culture that encourages and
rewards innovative thinking, and is view-
ed as a business function. We also want
to increase firm revenue by identifying,
creating, testing and launching new pro-
ducts and/or services; improve versions of
current products and spinoffs of existing
products. Our expectations for innovation
at the firm is that it be strategic, systematic,
measurable and accountable.”
GROWTH ENHANCERS
While many of the Top 100 plan to pursue
mergers and acquisitions as a source of
growth, one of the most common strate-
gies involved developing their own spe-
cialties, with a special focus on value-ad-
ded services.
At Ohio-based Hill, Barth & King, for
instance, CEO and managing principal
Christopher Allegretti explained that even
as the firm’s strategy is to grow its service
regions through M&A, one of its primary
challenges is “adding value by anticipating
the needs of our clients and prospective
clients. This includes showing entrepre-
neurial insight by forecasting the industry
and regulatory trends, which will directly
impact the bottom line for our clients’
businesses,” he said.
Specificity of services — often in areas
that are not considered “traditional” to
accounting — is particularly important to
many of the Top 100. “We’ve also spent a
lot of time building out existing and new
service areas,” said Diane Medley, MP of
Kentucky-based Mountjoy Chilton Med-
ley. “Steady growth in the demand of our
HR consulting, risk advisory, employee be-
See STRATEGIES on 14

12
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firm
nichestrategies
services
STRATEGIES
from page 12
nefits, international tax and SALT service
areas has led to expansion and acquisition
of more focused expertise in these key
areas. We also continue to develop new
service offerings as we see the demand,
and in 2017 we’ll likely be focusing on CFO
services, executive compensation and IT
advisory.”
Besides the services that Medley
mentioned, other hot areas for the Top 100
included cyber-security, SOC audits, client
accounting services — and preparing cli-
ents for the changes to come from the new
administration.
“With the potential for massive de-
regulation and the most sweeping tax re-
form since 1986 on the horizon, regulatory
and policy changes will be top of mind for
our firm, our clients and the accounting
profession in 2017,” noted Terri Andrews,
national public relations director at RSM
US. “While the details are still forthcoming,
we believe there will be a business uptick
resulting from deregulation early in the
year, followed by tax reform and infra-
structure spending. … Helping our clients
understand and navigate these changes
will be a top priority for our firm in 2017.”
A common theme to all this focus
on service areas is client need. “We con-
tinue to make significant organic and in-
organic investments that make a tangible
difference for clients when it comes to
navigating uncertainty, anticipating needs,
and delivering solutions to their toughest
business challenges,” explained KPMG’s
Doughtie. “We have been making signifi-
cant investments across all business func-
tions to deliver real value and enhance
the relevance of our work in areas like
cognitive technology, data and analytics,
and cybersecurity. Clients appreciate our
ability to help them leverage change in
unique and meaningful ways.”
While the notion that accountants
14
should move in new directions to offer
more value-added services to clients has
been bruited about for a couple of years
or more, it still remains a challenge for the
profession, as it involves “changing our
mindset that we are management consul-
tants, and not just accountants,” according
to Carl Schultz, CEO of Wisconsin’s SVA.
GROWTH PLANS
Perhaps as a reflection of the difficulties
standing in the way of growth, many firms
in the Top 100 were taking deliberate steps
to formalize their strategies, giving them
some rigor and a formal structure.
St. Louis’ Brown Smith Wallace was
only one of several firms to aim to create
a documented roadmap to success. “In
2016 we launched our strategic planning
process for the firm, including gaining an
understanding from all levels of the orga-
nization as to what we individually view
as the firm’s strengths, weaknesses, op-
portunities and threats,” said MP Anthony
Caleca. “The consistent themes derived
from these four independently prepared
assessments will serve as the starting point
and ultimate driver of our strategic plan:
2020 Vision. Our strategic plan will be
focused on the continued professional
development investment for our Brown
Smith Wallace Family members, which
will continue to drive our firm revenue and
growth targets.”
In some cases, these growth plans
will require changes to the ways firms
— and, in particular, partners — operate.
Atlanta’s Mauldin & Jenkins, for instan-
ce, plans to “initiate a ‘farming’ initiative
over all niches, including reduced partner
chargeable hour goals and increased ac-
countability for growth results,” according
to MP Donald Luker, while at Illinois’ Si-
kich, newly installed CEO and MP Chris
Geier said the firm is “re-invigorating our
organic growth culture by implementing
Partner Practice Development Plans, by
adding business development professio-
nals, and restructuring internal marketing
incentive plans.”
Beyond changing how they pursue
growth internally, some firms are changing
how they pursue it externally, by working
with outside allies. “Forming strategic al-
liances with the right external partners —
such as we’ve done with Microsoft, Intuit,
CoStar and Indiggo — enables BDO to
leverage the latest technologies to bring in-
creased efficiencies and standardized best
practices to client relationships,” said Ber-
son. “By aligning with external providers,
BDO combines the best of our experience
and resources with those of our alliance
relationships to provide more comprehen-
sive and differentiated solutions. More-
over, these alliances enhance our speed-
to-market in bringing industry-leading
technologies and services to our clients to
help meet their changing needs.”
A STAPLE STRATEGY
Even with those external partnerships,
however, Berson expects to maintain
BDO’s strategy of serial M&A, as do many
other firms that have made a habit of snap-
ping up smaller practices over the past
several years.
At New York’s PKF O’Connor Davies,
for instance, “The firm’s ongoing expan-
sion has included a series of recent mer-
gers and acquisitions in the Northeast and
Washington, D.C. area, and we’ll continue
to look for opportunities to expand our
talent base as well as our geographic foot-
print to stay ahead of the evolving needs of
our clients,” according to MP Kevin Keane.
As M&A mania continues, however,
the Top 100 are also being careful about
who they merge with. “We have been wor-
king on fine-tuning our approach to mer-
gers and acquisitions,” said Chris Hon-
komp, CEO of BerganKDV in Minnesota,
which joined the ranks of the T100 last
year through a formative merger. “Growing
rapidly comes with a challenge to also
keep the culture of the organization intact.
Finding the right mix is something we con-
stantly strive to achieve.” AT
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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.
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
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

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 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.
 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
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

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 NC No change NA Not available or not applicable NR Not ranked
10 Changed name from Habif, Arogeti & Wynne.
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
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

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 NC No change NA Not available or not applicable NR Not ranked
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
in-demand for the 2017 Top
100 Firms, with the 10 fast-
est-growing areas steady with
last year’s list. While the top niche services
couldn’t exceed the huge percent of ac-
counting firms reporting growth last year,
their predominance was solid, especially
for the top three growth areas: attest, busi-
ness valuations and state and local taxes.
Attest services, while down a couple
of percentage points from 2016, was still
No. 1, with 81 percent of firms reporting
growth in that area. Close behind were
business valuations, with 78 percent of
responding firms tracking an uptick, 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.
Industry specializations were a
growth area for 68 percent of responding
firms, while forensics/fraud was the only
Top 10 niche service to increase over last
year, rising 2 percentage points and two
spots to 66 percent. Nonprofits were an
in-demand area for 65 percent of firms and
litigation services fell 5 percentage points
and two spots to 63 percent.
Many firms experiencing growth in
the most sought-after niches attributed
their success to specialized service.
Denver-based Hein & Associates de-
veloped its valuation services to be indus-
try-focused, particularly in energy, accord-
ing to managing partner Jim Brendel. “Our
established team ranges from experienced
petroleum engineers to financial experts,
ensuring that we have the in-house knowl-
edge necessary for the transactions we are
a part of. This familiarity with the industry
allows us to be a part of complex valua-
tions while delivering quality work product
that passes the scrutiny of IRS examina-
tions and courts of law.”
22
The growth of Chicago-based FGMK’s the firm’s ag consultant, Jeanne Bernick.
SALT services is likewise entwined with its “As of now, more than 90 million acres of
growing real estate practice, according to farmland will change hands between 2015
Fuad Saba, tax partner and leader of the and 2019, according to the U.S. Depart-
firm’s specialty tax practice. Globalization ment of Agriculture. Of that, the majority
is also a factor: “Supply chains have be- will transfer into trusts or to a relative, with
come longer and more complex, custom- about 21 million acres expected to sell to a
ers and manufacturing are located in many non-relative. With nearly a century of farm
countries, intellectual property is being specialization, K-Coe Isom has the exper-
developed all around the world, and inves- tise to address their highly nuanced estate
tors are seeking the ‘best’ places to invest plans and business transition.”
in assets, people and intellectual property.”
K-Coe Isom, in Loveland, Colo., has EMBEDDED EXPERTISE
seen greater demand for estate/trust/gift After a downturn last year, almost all client
planning services due to the “mammoth categories surged in growth for the 2017
change” in the agricultural industry, said Top 100 Firms, with manufacturing and
Top niche services
Percentage of firms increasing their business in these areas
(of 79 firms responding)
Attest
Business valuations
SALT
Estate/trust/gift tax planning
International tax
M&A
Industry specializations
Forensics/fraud
Nonprofits
Litigation support
Technology consulting
SOX compliance/Risk mgmt.
Retirement plans
Businss mgmt. for wealthy individuals
Succession planning/family office
CAS/business process outsourcing
Cost segregation
Employee benefits
Business mgmt. for small businesses
CFO/project staffing services
Personal financial planning
Strategic planning/business plans
Investment advice/services
Cash flow forecasting/management
Bankruptcy /insolvency
Payroll services/ consulting
1031 like-kind exchange
Business management services
IFRS consulting
Financing arrangements
Lease vs. buy analysis
0 20 40 60 80 100
niches and clients
NICHES
from page 22
midsized businesses again claiming the
top two spots. Manufacturing was up a
whopping 30 percentage points over last
year, with 86 percent of firms reporting
growth in that client category, and mid-
sized businesses jumped 25 percentage
points to 78 percent of responding firms.
Construction and real estate were both
hot client groups for 75 percent of the
T100, marking a 26 and 23 point jump over
last year, respectively. Technology again
rounded out the top 5 client categories
with 73 percent, up 24 percentage points.
Individual clients rose 27 percentage
points and five rankings to the sixth spot,
followed by nonprofit organizations, pro-
fessional services (lawyers, doctors, etc.),
health care facilities and pension plans.
The success of St. Cloud, Minn.-based
BerganKDV’s manufacturing practice is re-
gionally specific, according to CEO Chris
Honkomp: “The Upper Midwest region is
often cited for its strong work ethic and
labor force. With this, we see many of our
markets flush with successful manufactur-
ing organizations. Given that concentra-
tion, it makes sense for us to heavily invest
in helping these organizations grow.”
Kentucky’s Mountjoy Chilton Medley
also owes its large manufacturing client
base to location, though its expansion is
more intentional, according to managing
partner Diane Medley: “We are really lead-
ing in growth initiatives in those areas with
solutions and tax-saving strategies.”
An improving economy, new technol-
ogy and low interest rates have converged
for New York-based Berdon, creating the
“right place, right time” for manufacturing,
said practice leader Matthew Jahrsdoerfer.
The swell in Miami-based Berkowitz
Pollack Brant’s midsized business clients is
due to location and “significant growth in
our representation of these types of entre-
preneurial clients,” said CEO Joseph Saka.
24
Top client categories
Percentage of firms increasing their business with these types of clients
(of 79 firms responding)
Manufacturing
Midsized businesses
Construction
Real estate
Technology
Individuals
Nonprofit organizations
Professional services
Healthcare facilities
Pension plans
Large businesses
Wholesale distributors
State and local government
Hotels & restaurants
Small businesses
Banking & thrift companies
Brokers/dealers
Colleges and universities
Retail trade
Entertainment
Auto dealerships
Finance cos./mortgage banks
Government Contractors
Investment cos. & mutual funds
School districts
Franchising
Agriculture/farming/forestry/fishing
Publishing/broadcasting/media
Insurance carriers/companies
Other
Insurance agents/brokers
0 20 40 60 80 100
The Bonadio Group, in Pittsford, N.Y., ily available for real estate investment,
is strategic with its construction clients, consistently low (and stabilized) interest
said Michael Smith, partner and construc- rates, sustained, extremely favorable de-
tion division leader. “Each year across New mographics, and near rock-solid property
York State we hold a series of Construction fundamentals across almost all sectors of
Summits, where industry executives gather our industry and throughout the U.S.”
to learn new management techniques and Pittsburgh’s Schneider Downs report-
share information. We also stay very close ed an increase in individual clients, related
with the construction associations, and we to “significant growth in our private family
conduct an annual [industry] survey.” office practice,” said co-CEO Tim Ham-
CohnReznick is just as entrenched mer. “We believe this speaks to the market
in commercial real estate, where the New demand among high-net-worth families
York firm reported the highest growth. for an integrated bundle of services from
The firm conducts several CFO forums a trusted provider. Those services can in-
and is heavily involved in national and clude wealth management, estate and tax
local industry groups, said David Kessler, planning, concierge-level services … or
partner and national director of the firm’s any other service on our roster. These are
commercial real estate industry practice. services that we have historically offered
Additional reasons for CohnReznick’s suc- for years, and the market is responding to
cess, according to Kessler, include “the our ability to provide them as a bundled
immense supply of global capital read- package from a single provider.” AT
 regional overview

Expanding the Regional Leaders

T
he criteria for membership in
the Top 100 Firms list is fairly
straightforward: If an account-
ing firm meets a certain thresh-
old of net revenue (this year it happens to
be $37.7 million), then it makes the list.
With our Regional Leaders, however,
there are a few more variables to consider
— and that led to a significant expansion of
the rosters this year.
First off, the main point of the Region-
al Leaders is to highlight the large group
of strong firms that exist beyond the Top
100, whose names may not be nationally
known but that are thriving in different
regions of the country. With that in mind,
in the early years of the list we aimed to
name at least 15 firms in each of our 10
geographical regions. Filling those slots is
no longer an issue — and in many regions
we’re able to go well beyond 15 list-worthy
firms (both the Mid-Atlantic Region and
the West, for instance, include more than
30 firms).
Nowadays, we pick the Regional Lead-
ers based on two main criteria: We aim
to include at least 15 firms, all of which
achieve a level of revenue that sets them in
the top tier of their region. In many areas
(though not all), we’ve set that level this
year (somewhat arbitrarily) at $10 million,
which has allowed us to include more top
firms than ever — such as Florida’s Vestal
& Wiler, New York’s Teal, Becker & Chiara-
monte, Illinois’ CDH, and many more.
In a few parts of the country (the
Mountain Region, for instance, and New
England), the landscape is such that a
slightly lower threshold is in order to make
sure we’re including the leading firms;
in those cases, we may dip below the $10
million level to include the region’s best.
With all that in mind, we’re happy
to present this year’s expanded list of ac-
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.

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

Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other
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
Total revenue: $624.82 million. Average firm growth: 9.76%
Firms in the region around Washington, D.C., had a good year, with a higher average growth rate
than in 2015.

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

Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other
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
Total revenue: $467.77 million. Average firm growth: 7.09%
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.

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

Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other
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

Notes: NA Not available/applicable

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
Total revenue: $403.23 million. Average firm growth: 10.04%
After coming last in growth last year, the Mountain States surged ahead in 2016, with the second-highest average
growth per firm.

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

Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other
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
Notes: NA Not available/applicable

Top Firms: Southeast

Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee
Total revenue: $1,229.29 million. Average firm growth: 9.47%
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.

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

Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other
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
Total revenue: $2,074.3 million. Average firm growth: 7.86%
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.

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

Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other
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
Total revenue: $1,352.15 million. Average firm growth: 8.53%
Coming off a strong 2015, the Midwest’s 2016 was not quite as explosive, but it nonetheless managed a comfortable aver-
age growth rate.

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

Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other
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
Total revenue: $530.34 million. Average firm growth: 5.62%
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.

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

Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other
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
Total revenue: $2,047.51 million. Average firm growth: 9.24%
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.

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

Firm Headquarters $ mn. chg. Offices Partners ionals emps. A&A Tax MAS Other
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
necessarily their responses.
When we asked the Top 100
Firms and the Regional Leaders
what they saw as the major issues facing
them, their answers covered much the
same ground: Staffing is a major concern,
followed by the struggle for growth.
But when it came to their strategic
plans for 2017, the Regional Leaders struck
out on different paths from the Top 100.
(For the latter’s plans, see page 10.) In diffe-
rent regions all across the country, the fo-
cus for many leading firms will be in three
areas: selling more services to their current
clients, marketing themselves better, and
developing their niche practices.
THE MORE THE BETTER
Getting current clients to buy more ser-
vices was a frequent theme among the
members of this year’s Regional Leaders.
“Cotton & Co.’s primary growth strategy
for 2017 is to expand our business with
existing customers,” said George Bills, a
partner at the Virginia firm. “The firm has
several clients where the level of service
can significantly increase if existing work
is done well and staffing needs can be met.
This growth strategy is in line with our
firm’s overall strategy of growing by doing
great work.”
Similarly, at Oregon’s Perkins & Co.,
“We plan to strengthen our capability to
cross-service existing clients with accoun-
ting and consulting services,” said director
of operations Colleen Murray — though
she noted the firm will also be expanding
its consulting and non-traditional services.
The benefits of getting current clients
to buy more — in terms of both the ease
of the sale and the deepening of the client
relationship — does not necessarily mean
that the Regional Leaders want to do this
with all of their clients. In Texas, Briggs
34
& Veselka has very specific targets for its
cross-selling initiatives, aiming to “sell
more services to our A and B clients via
excellent service,” according to managing
shareholder John Flatowicz.
Internal changes and succession pro-
cesses can also create opportunities for
selling more services. Donna Erbs, chief
marketing officer of St. Louis’ Anders, no-
ted that her firm is making “continuing
efforts to retain the clients and work of
transitioning partners, and growing those
clients with additional cross-serving op-
portunities through our robust transition
program and processes created in 2016.”
MARKETING AND EXPERTISE
Part of cross-selling is letting clients know
what you do, and many of the Regional
Leaders have plans to boost their marke-
ting efforts both in that area and in getting
out the word about their specific skills.
At New York’s Janover, the firm is fo-
cusing on “enhanced strategic marketing
efforts to core industries and specialties
that we excel at,” according to partner Ken-
neth Rick, as well as “more partner invol-
vement at industry and other conferences,
both to contribute to these events and to
get Janover’s name out to the public. [We
will also have a] concerted firm effort to
share marketing activities at the individual
partner level so as to be aware of oppor-
tunities where we can assist each other
leveraging of our diverse specializations.”
That combination of marketing focus
on niche specialties is common to many of
the Regional Leaders. At West Virginia’s Ar-
nett Carbis Toothman, “We will continue
to focus on growing our niche groups with
integrated marketing efforts that were de-
veloped as part of our strategic plan,” said
CEO Steven Robey. “Most of the marketing
will be focused on niche-specific events
and media, providing our team members
with various internally developed tools to
reach out to new clients, while looking for
additional opportunities with our exist-
ing client base. Each niche will continue
to focus on new services or address new
challenges within each industry that will
drive value to our existing client base and
our prospective clients. With an institutio-
nally ingrained marketing rewards system
to compensate for successfully obtaining
recurring and non-recurring type work, we
believe we have a financial rewards system
that provides our team members with the
financial motivation to ensure success.”
Developing and emphasizing their
skill sets is a major focus for the Regional
Leaders, with good reason. “At $30 million,
we are now being considered for larger
engagements,” said Anders’ Erbs. “This
puts us in competition with much larger
firms and we, like others in our size range,
are determining the best ways to compete,
not so much on price, as with smaller
clients, but in showcasing the depth of our
experience.”
That desire to bring the tools that fit
clients’ individual needs is one area where
the Regional Leaders and the Top 100 sha-
re an approach. At Janover, Rick noted that
the firm is “transitioning to specialization
by staff and partners, versus many CPAs
who are generalists, in order to provide
value and the best creative solutions for
our clients.”
Of course, these strategies are not
mutually exclusive — and some firms are
going for all of them. “Three years ago, the
firm launched a growth strategy centered
on niche development, systematic busi-
ness development activity and accounta-
bility, and information sharing through
our CRM,” said Robert Wheeler, CEO of
Washington-based Clark Nuber. “We con-
tinue to pursue this strategy and improve
both the process and results.” AT

2017 firm highlights
Aldrich: In December 2016, rebranded
from AKT. Opened an office in Seattle.
Anchin, Block & Anchin: Grew number
of professionals by over 8 percent.
Aprio: In November 2016, acquired At-
lanta-based Retirement Plan Services Co.
In January 2017, rebranded from Habif,
Arogeti & Wynne. Added financial consult-
ing services.
Armanino: In January 2017, merged
in Dallas-based Travis Wolff, and Lafay-
ette, Calif.-based Financial Strategies
Consulting Group. Launched a corporate
finance practice, a new revenue recogni-
tion solution, an Innovation Committee,
and a Women’s Advancement Network.
Launched the Armanino Foundation.
Aronson: In January 2017, elected new
managing partner.
Baker Newman & Noyes: In January
2016, installed new managing principal.
Baker Tilly Virchow Krause: In Feb-
ruary, added a team of FLVS profession-
als from the consulting unit of financial
services firm Mesirow Financial. In June,
installed new CEO; opened office in Aus-
tin, Texas. In December, implemented a
national steering committee on diversity
and inclusion. In January 2017, merged in
EB-5 consulting practice Wright Johnson.
BDO USA: Re-elected CEO. In March
2016, merged in Chicago-based True Part-
ners. In May, merged in Boston-based
Feeley & Driscoll. In July, merged in Utah-
based Mantyla McReynolds, and New
York-based Charles A. Barrogato & Co.
In August, merged in Florida’s Goldstein
Schechter Koch. In November, merged in
Norfolk, Va.-based McPhillips, Roberts &
Deans, and Jacksonville, Fla.-based LBA
Group. In December, merged in Bos-
ton-based litigation support services pro-
vider Key Discovery.
Bennett Thrasher: In April 2016, merged
in Atlanta-based tech consultancy Graves
Technology. Installed new MP. Named an
Accounting Today Best Firm to Work For.
Berdon: Added new members to exec-
utive committee, including younger part-
ners and representatives from multiple
service areas. Hired a new chief marketing
officer.
BerganKDV: In October 2016, acquired
Eldora, Iowa-based Agribusiness Resourc-
es. In December, acquired Iowa City-based
Carlson Hartsock & Guither. Added a di-
rector of finance position.
Berkowitz Pollack Brant: In November
2016, installed new CEO. In January 2017,
opened new offices in New York City and
Palm Beach, Fla.
BerryDunn: Grew total staff by over 7
percent.
BKD: In December 2016, merged in
Midwestern firm Kiesling Associates, ex-
panding in Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and
Wisconsin. Added big data and analytics
advisory services.
Blue & Co.: In January 2016, merged
in Lubbock, Texas-based JW Anderson &
Associates. In January 2017, merged in
Cincinnati-based Fleming, Brockschmidt
& Durkin, and Bloomington, Ind.-based
Indiana Benefits Inc.
BlumShapiro: In January 2016, installed
a new CEO. Had the “best year in the his-
tory of the firm.”
The Bonadio Group: In June 2016,
launched three-year succession plan
which will install a new CEO in May 2019.
BPM: In January 2016, installed new
CEO. Marked its 30th anniversary. Add-
ed new advisory services. In December,
launched BPM India.
Brown Smith Wallace: In January 2016,
installed new managing partner; merged
in Creve Coeur, Mo.-based Bergman,
Schraier & Co. Named an Accounting To-
firm highlights
day Best Firm to Work For.
Carr, Riggs & Ingram: In March 2016,
merged in Conroe, Texas-based McGee,
Miller & Co. In November, merged in Dal-
las-based Vogel CPAs. In January 2017,
merged in Nashville’s Rayburn Fitzgerald.
CBIZ & Mayer Hoffman McCann: In
January 2016, acquired San Diego-based
Millimaki Eggert. In June, acquired Win-
ston-Salem, N.C.-based Flex-Pay Busi-
ness Services. In April, acquired Phila-
delphia-based actuarial consulting firm
The Savitz Organization. In July, acquired
the employee benefits consulting business
of Tennessee-based Ed Jacobs & Associ-
ates. In November, acquired Torrance, Ca-
lif.-based Actuarial Consultants Inc., and
the non-attest business of Denver-based
The Seff Group.
Cherry Bekaert: In August 2016,
launched innovation fund to promote
internal idea generation. In September,
launched cloud solutions practice.
Citrin Cooperman & Co.: In August
2016, merged in Boston’s Kirkland Albrecht
& Fredrickson. In September, launched
Citrin Cooperman Business Alliance;
merged in Providence, R.I.-based LGC+D.
Added government contracting services,
risk advisory and cybersecurity consulting.
Added space in India and Philadelphia.
Clark, Schaefer, Hackett & Co.: In De-
cember 2016, elected new president to
take office in July 2017. Developed ca-
reer path structure for staff. New HR and
leadership development services, and exit
planning services.
CliftonLarsonAllen: In January 2016,
merged in Edina, Minn.-based Four Point
Partners, Bloomington, Ill.-based Guthoff
Mehall Allen & Co., Milwaukee’s Komisar
Brady & Co., and Atlanta’s Galanti & Co.
In February, merged in Northeast Ohio’s
Bruner Cox. In May, merged in Raleigh,
N.C.-based Adams, Martin and Associ-
ates. In June, merged in San Antonio’s
Tsakopulos Brown Schott & Anchors. In
July, merged in Tucson, Ariz.-based Peto &
35
firm highlights
Co., and Seattle’s Repanich & Clevenger. In
August, merged in Dallas’ CPWR, and Mil-
waukee’s Bray & Co. In November, merged
with Top 100 Firm Gallina. In January 2017,
merged with Reno, Nev.-based The Bosma
Group, Las Vegas-based Main Amundson
and Associates, and Oregon’s Mack, Rob-
erts & Co.
Cohen & Co.: In February 2016, merged
in St. Clair Shores, Mich.-based Godfrey,
Hammel, Danneels & Co. Opened an office
in Pittsburgh. In June, merged in Beach-
wood, Ohio-based RAV Financial.
CohnReznick: Opened the CohnRez-
nick Innovation Lab. Finished move to
new New York City headquarters. Added
three new members to executive board.
Crowe Horwath: In May 2016, merged
in London-based risk consulting firm Bax-
terBruce; launched new performance re-
view system. In June, merged in Westbor-
ough, Mass.-based AbleBridge. In August,
launched Crowe Insight Center for Audit
to advance its auditing services. In January
2017, merged in Denver-based Crowe GHP
Horwath.
Deloitte: In May 2016, launched De-
loitte Pixel to crowdsource new service
offerings. In June, acquired asset manage-
ment industry consultancy Casey Quirk.
In September, launched an Apple practice.
In November, opened its Innovation Tech
Terminal in Israel to connect U.S. orga-
nizations with Israeli startups. In January
2017, opened a blockchain lab.
Dixon Hughes Goodman: In June 2016,
merged in Baltimore-based Stegman &
Co. In November, merged in Ontario, Ca-
lif.-based Parke, Guptill & Co., expanding
its presence to the West Coast. In Febru-
ary 2017, acquired Nashville, Tenn.-based
HDR Consulting. Continued to develop
and expand people strategy. Continued to
develop new service offerings, particularly
in advisory.
Doeren Mayhew: In January 2016,
merged in Farmington Hills, Mich.-based
Adler & Co. In January 2017, merged in
36
No. of
mergers
reported by
the T100:
130
Switzerland’s Emerson & Partner U.S. Tax.
Eide Bailly: In January 2016, merged
in Enterprise, Ore.-based Edison, Perry
& Co. In February, merged in Boulder,
Colo.-based R. Waidler & Associates. In
October, merged in Scottsdale, Ariz.-based
Rauch, Hermanson, Everroad and Rent-
schler. In November, merged in Las Ve-
gas-based JW Advisors and the CPA prac-
tice of Bryce Wisan, and Utah’s Daines
Goodwin & Co. In January 2017, merged
in Spokane, Wash.-based Langenhorst &
Self-Merritt CPAs. Enhanced cybersecurity
service offerings.
EisnerAmper: In December 2016,
merged in New York City-based Alan L.
Goldberg CPA. In January 2017, merged
in Princeton, N.J.-based Field & Higgins.
Made “substantial investment” in develop-
ing technology and tools.
EKS&H: Added an investment banking
practice. Grew total staff by over 12 per-
cent.
Elliott Davis Decosimo: In January
2016, merged in Nashville, Tenn.-based
Crowell & Crowell.
Ernst & Young: In January 2016, merged
in New York City consulting firm Family
Office Metrics. In March, launched eFi-
nancial Wellness financial planning and
education service for small and midsized
businesses. In April, formed alliance with
Adobe to expand digital experience and
Web content services; expanded paid pa-
rental leave to 16 weeks. In July, formed
partnership with OpenText to expand dig-
ital and analytical services. In October,
announced plans to hire over 15,000 em-
ployees in the U.S. in fiscal 2017. In January
2017, launched Future Work Now service
to help businesses develop staff.
FGMK: In January 2016, formed Special-
ty Tax Practice.
Frank, Rimerman + Co.: Expanded
offices in San Francisco and San Jose,
Calif. Hired its largest-ever class of new
associates.
Frazier & Deeter: In January 2017,
joined PKF International network. Grew
net revenue by over 10 percent. Named an
Accounting Today Best Firm to Work For.
Freed Maxick: Created a firm purpose
statement.
Friedman: In January 2016, merged in
Philadelphia’s Schechtman Marks Devor.
In December, announced new co-manag-
ing partners. Expanded forensic, litigation
support and valuation services practice.
Launched a market study and an inte-
grated marketing campaign. Named an
Accounting Today Best Firm to Work For.
Grant Thornton: In April 2016, acquired
Bellevue, Wash.-based consulting firm Ar-
ryve.
Grassi & Co.: In January 2017, acquired
Scarsdale, N.Y.-based Bernstein and Seid-
man, and Long Island’s James Bohl CPA
PC. Added a technology group.
Hein & Associates: Grew net revenue by
over 13 percent. Fastest growing specialty
service — valuations. Fastest growing cli-
ent category — manufacturing.
Hill, Barth & King: In January 2016,
merged in Florida’s Urish Popeck. In Sep-
tember, merged in Cherry Hill, N.J.-based
Cordua Pastore & Associates. In Decem-
ber, merged in Blue Bell, Pa.-based Res-
nick, Amsterdam, Leshner. Also added
Naples, Fla.-based Global Wealth Consul-
tants and Fredonia, N.Y.-based Compre-

hensive Wealth Solutions to HBKS Wealth
Advisors.
Holthouse, Carlin & Van Trigt: Grew
net revenue by 26 percent, and total staff
by over 17 percent. Named an Accounting
Today Best Firm to Work For.
Honkamp Krueger & Co.: In January
2016, acquired Davenport, Iowa-based
Doyle & Keenan. Expanded decision sup-
port services.
Horne: Initiated training for all team
members on offering “anticipatory in-
sights” to clients. Launched cyber-solu-
tions practice. Opened a project office in
South Carolina, and a permanent office in
Washington, D.C.
Katz, Sapper & Miller: Grew revenue by
over 9 percent.
Kaufman Rossin Group: In February
2016, sold hedge fund administrator unit.
Expanded advisory practice in risk adviso-
ry and business consulting. Named the No.
1 Large Firm to Work For by Accounting
Today.
K-Coe Isom: In November 2016, ac-
quired Turlock, Calif.-based Schmidt, Bet-
tencourt & Medeiros.
Kearney & Co.: Grew revenue by over
16 percent; grew total staff by 11 percent.
Named an Accounting Today Best Firm to
Work For.
Kemper CPA Group: Grew number of
partners by over 10 percent.
KLR: Grew net revenue by over 11 per-
cent. Fastest growing specialty service —
international tax services. Fastest growing
client category — closely held businesses.
KPMG: In March 2016, announced plans
with IBM to apply IBM’s cognitive com-
puting technology to KPMG’s professional
service offerings. In September, launched
blockchain services in Canada. In January
2017, announced plans to build 55-acre
learning and innovation facility in Florida.
Also announced a number of alliances:
with Vertex, on indirect tax compliance
services; with CyberArk on cybersecurity
services; with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise
on ERP deployments; with Ivalua on help-
ing clients realize savings and conserve
cash; and with Taulia on financial supply
chain optimization.
LBMC: In November 2016, moved head-
quarters to a new building with “employ-
ee-driven special features.” Continued to
invest in specialty tax services, transaction
advisory services and technology.
Macias Gini & O’Connell: Launched
wealth advisory firm, and cannabis com-
pliance and taxation service for municipal
governments. Opened new office in San
Francisco.
Marcum: In June 2016, merged in Cal-
ifornia’s Lautze & Lautze. In October,
opened first European office in Ireland.
In November, opened new Chicago office.
Margolin Winer & Evens: In January
2017, installed new co-managing partner,
who will become sole MP in 2018.
Marks Paneth: In July 2016, merged
in Jenkintown, Pa.-based firm MDG, and
New York’s Kranz & Co. In February 2017,
merged in New York City’s Shedler & Co-
hen.
Mauldin & Jenkins: Fastest growing spe-
cialty service — nonprofit. Fastest growing
client category — nonprofit.
Mazars USA: Rebranded from Weiser-
Mazars. In January 2016, acquired Syosset,
N.Y.-based Lion & Co. In July, merged in
Risk Management Group. In November,
merged in Frederick, Md.-based Integrity
Consulting Solutions.
MBAF: In February 2016, merged in
Palm Beach, Fla.-based Rampell & Ram-
pell. Expanded risk advisory services.
Miller Kaplan Arase: Marked its 75th
anniversary. In October 2016, merged in
Damasco & Associates.
Montgomery Coscia Greilich: In Janu-
ary 2017, installed new managing partner.
Moss Adams: In January 2016, merged
in Spokane, Wash.-based financial services
consulting firm Contineo. In June, merged
firm highlights
in Fresno, Calif.-based Morse Wittwer
Sampson and Dallas-based CF Accoun-
tants & Consultants. Re-elected chairman
and CEO, elected new president and CEO.
Mountjoy Chilton Medley: In July 2016,
merged in the Cincinnati practice of Top
100 Firm Elliott Davis Decosimo. In Sep-
tember, merged in Preferred Accounting
Services.
Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno:
Fastest growing specialty service — busi-
ness management for wealthy individuals.
Fastest growing client category — high-
net-worth individuals.
Novogradac & Co.: In September 2016,
opened its 24th office, in San Rafael, Calif.
Grew total staff by over 10 percent.
PKF O’Connor Davies: In January 2016,
merged in New Jersey-based Flackman,
Goodman & Potter. In February, rebrand-
ed from O’Connor Davies, becoming the
lead North American firm in the PKF In-
ternational network; merged in Geneva,
Switzerland-based global administration
firm VBK+Co. In January 2017, merged
in Suffern, N.Y.-based Scialo, Reimann &
Varley CPA.
Plante Moran: In October, elected next
MP, to take office in July 2017.
Postlethwaite & Netterville: In June
2016, launched award-winning market-
ing app Pounce, named an Accounting
Today Top New Product. In January 2017,
launched new brand identity with new
logo, tagline and Web site.
Prager Metis International: In March
2016, merged in Long Island, N.Y.-based
Mayer CPAs. In January 2017, merged in
Long Island’s Cohen Greve & Co., and New
Jersey’s Bernknopf Group. Launched PM
Business Advisors.
PwC: In July 2016, installed new U.S.
chairman. In January 2017, brought on
more than 600 tax professionals and the
tax technologies of General Electric; an-
nounced plans to invest $11 million in
Carnegie Mellon University’s new Risk and
37
firm highlights
Regulatory Services Innovation Center;
and partnered with Oracle Financial Ser-
vices Analytical Applications to offer IFRS
services.
PYA: New to the list.
Raffa: Launched Raffa Social Capital
Advisors to offer leadership coaching and
financial advisory for social entrepreneurs.
Hired a business development director.
Raich Ende Malter & Co.: In November
2016, merged in New York City-based Stein
deVisser & Mintz. Expects another acquisi-
tion in 2017.
Rea & Associates: In November 2016,
merged in Chardon, Ohio-based Friel &
Associates. In January 2017, installed a
new CEO.
Rehmann: In September 2016, merged
in Toledo, Ohio-based Sobb Roberts.
RGL Forensics: In July 2016, merged
in Florida’s Stahl Forensic and Valuations
Experts. Opened new offices in Miami and
Frankfurt, Germany. Named an Account-
ing Today Best Firm to Work For.
RKL: Rebranded firm from Reinsel,
Kuntz, Lesher. Launched a new strategic
plan. In January 2016, acquired Sage re-
seller Baesis. In October, acquired Radnor,
Pa.-based GTM Risk Management.
RSM US: Marked its 90th anniversary.
In March 2016, launched RSM US Middle
Market Business Index. In August, merged
in San Antonio’s Padgett Stratemann.
Opened new offices in Detroit, Tampa,
Fla., and Edison, N.J.
RubinBrown: In January 2016, merged
in Denver-based Business Manager. In Au-
gust, rebranded wealth advisory services.
Grew total staff by over 20 percent.
SC&H Group: Grew revenue by over
9 percent, total staff by over 13 percent.
Named an Accounting Today Best Firm to
Work For.
Schenck: Tiered clients, “reducing the
bottom 10 percent” to focus more on top
clients. Moved to a more regionalized ap-
proach to firm management.
38
Schneider Downs: Expanded turn-
around services and family office services.
Seiler: Grew revenue by over 10 percent.
Installed new CEO.
Sikich: In April 2016, acquired Ohio-
based Brockman, Coats, Gedelian & Co.
In May, elected new managing partner
and CEO; installed in January 2017. In No-
vember, acquired Glendale, Calif.-based
Microsoft Dynamics reseller SCS, and Chi-
cago-area firm Stanfield & Associates. Also
acquired custom developer Hale Solutions
and tech firm Solution Partners. Built a
new facility in Akron, Ohio. Expanded Mil-
waukee office.
SingerLewak: In August 2016, merged
in Riverside, Calif.-based Ahern Adcock
Devlin. In January 2017, merged in South
San Francisco’s Good & Fowler.
Skoda Minotti: Grew total staff by more
than 15 percent. Named an Accounting
Today Best Firm to Work For.
Squar Milner: “Significantly expanding”
offices in Encino, San Diego and and New-
port Beach, Calif.
SVA: In February 2016, launched new
Web site. In February 2017, hired its
first-ever talent acquisition and develop-
ment director.
UHY Advisors: In November 2016, ac-
quired West Hartford, Conn.-based Prate-
si, Salemi & Co., and Brentmore Valua-
No. of
new CEOs
elected or
installed:
16
tion Advisors. In February 2017, acquired
Byrne International.
Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co.: Fastest
growing specialty service — attest services.
Fastest growing client category — state and
local government.
Warren Averett: In January 2016,
merged in Panama City, Fla.-based Jinks
& Moody. In May, merged in Florida’s
Hutto & Carver. In November, merged in
Alabama’s Beason & Nalley. Launched a
financial planning solution for the emerg-
ing affluent. Organized Transaction Advi-
sory Group. Launched a new client service
initiative.
Weaver: In January 2016, merged in
Texas’ Hereford, Lynch, Sellars & Kirkham.
Saw strong growth in advisory practices,
and in audit, tax and advisory services to
private equity and hedge funds.
Whitley Penn: In January 2017, merged
in two Texas firms, Wagner, Eubank &
Nichols, and Hanner & Associates.
Wipfli: In January 2016, merged in
Northbrook, Ill.-based Steinberg Advi-
sors. In May, merged in Reston, Va.-based
Brittenford Systems. In August, merged
in Oakland, Calif.-based health care con-
sultancy HFS Consultants. In September,
merged in Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based Welt-
man Bernfield. In December, merged in
Milwaukee’s Benes & Krueger. In January
2017, merged in Chicago-based BIK & Co.
In February, merged in Chicago-based
Horwich Coleman Levin. Expanded exec-
utive leadership team from three people
to seven.
Withum: In January 2016, merged in
Central Florida’s Averett Warmus Durkee,
and Edison, N.J.-based The Mironov
Group. In July, relocated and expanded
Princeton, N.J., office. In August, merged in
Manasquan, N.J.-based McGuigan Tombs
& Co., and New York City-based Fried &
Kowgios Partners.
Wolf & Co.: Named a chief financial
officer. Named an Accounting Today Best
Firm to Work For.
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