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PE Deal Tracker Update: Alan Whitman Plants a Flag in the Private Equity Landscape
Tracker surges into 2026 with more than 200 transactions.
In January alone, dozens of private-equity-backed deals surfaced — more than a quarter of all 12 months last year. And it hasn’t slowed down yet.
By CPA Trendlines Research
Cornerstone Reports
Former Baker Tilly CEO Alan Whitman is returning to the center of accounting’s private equity vortex with a new mandate and a new sponsor, taking the helm of a newly capitalized triple-threat CPA firm, insurance agency, and transaction consultancy.
MORE Alan Whitman: Breaking the Mold with PE Backing | Holistic Guide | Whitman: Build Culture on ‘Progress,’ Not Change |Moss Adams-Baker Tilly Merger: Bigger Isn’t Better. Better Is Better. | Rory Henry and The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management | Cornerstone Reports | Private Equity
In the new edition of the CPA Trendlines PE Deal Tracker™, Madison Dearborn Partners, the Chicago-based private equity firm, founded in 1992 and managing more than $28 billion in assets, is backing the combination of Nichols Cauley, a Georgia-based CPA firm, with Partners Risk Services and JGH Consulting in a three-entity formation designed not as a tuck-in acquisition but as an integrated advisory foundation from inception.
At Nichols, an eight-office regional leader, Whitman may be inventing more than the next generation of CPA firms. It could be a new breed. “It’s going to be a lot of fun scaling a new product,” Whitman tells CPA Trendlines’ Rory Henry in the latest episode of The Holitic Guide to Wealth Management. “It’s kind of a new category in the space.”
The CPA PE Playbook: Private Equity 2026 Outlook & Strategy Guide
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The Definitive Guide to Private Equity’s Transformation of the CPA Profession
Exclusively for PRO Members Only, here
Not yet a PRO Member? Go PRO here
By CPA Trendlines Research
The accounting profession is changing faster than at any time in its modern history—and private equity is driving the shift. More than $30 billion in new capital has entered CPA firms since 2020, igniting a powerful wave of consolidation, modernization, and strategic reinvention. Firms that once relied on incremental growth and traditional partnership structures are now operating as high-performance platforms built for scale, technology adoption, and national reach.
The CPA PE Playbook is the most comprehensive analysis available today on this historic transformation.
If you want to know where the profession is heading, how PE-backed firms are competing, and what it will take to thrive in the next decade, this is the report you need.
Exclusively for PRO Members Only
(PRO Member Log in required)
Not yet a PRO Member? Upgrade with one of today’s great offers here.
Accounting’s “Untalked-About” Frontier | ARC
Rural communities offer meaningful work — and a chance to build a practice on purpose.
Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special Offer
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Accounting ARC
With Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation
In an era when private equity rollups and “bigger is better” narratives dominate accounting headlines, Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, returns to a quieter question: What does it look like to build a firm — and a career — around serving the places that rarely get the spotlight?
MORE Accounting ARC: Why Happiness is Hard-Fought for High Achievers | The Fastest Way to Lose Talent Is “Dick Leadership” | Post-Holiday Fatigue Isn’t a Failure; It’s a Signal | OCR, Research Bots & Meeting Assistants: What Actually Helps Now | Return Season is the New Stress Test | Small Firms May Have the Biggest Advantage in 2026 | Downgraded: What the DOE Said About Accounting | Savage: Using Your License as a Megaphone | Baker: Interpreting Pricing Psychology | Don’t Get Fired by Your Own Automation | What Amazon Doesn’t Tell You | Royalties, Residuals, and Reality Checks | ARC-SLC
In this episode of Accounting ARC, Shimamoto sits down with two practitioners who live that reality every day: Shayna Chapman, who runs a practice rooted in a small Ohio community, and Mohan Chirumamilla, who serves clients across Omaha, Nebraska, and Columbia, Missouri. Their conversation is part practical playbook, part gut-check — and it lands on a message that feels increasingly urgent for the profession: small towns still need sophisticated accounting, and accountants still need work that feels meaningful.
Six Ways to Grow Your Profits
Steps you can take even during busy season.
By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms
Many accountants these days are anxious to hit the golden $100,000 mark this year. Others are interested in growing their revenues steadily and incrementally. Still others are focused on lowering costs, raising profits from that side of the equation.
MORE by Sandi Leyva
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.
All of these approaches are well and good to help you keep more of what you make, but there are far more options to grow your take-home dollars besides raising revenue and lowering costs.
READ MORE →
Four Financial Metrics to See Your Firm’s True Picture
What you have now and what you have coming.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
Having a solid understanding of their finances can make a huge difference for business owners. Not only does it help business owners make decisions about when it’s time to hire a new employee or whether or not to invest in new equipment, but it also enables them to sleep better at night!
MORE by Jody Grunden
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.
As a business grows, there are a few metrics business owners need to understand and review on a regular basis. When we work with growing businesses through our virtual CFO service, we help them focus on the following key metrics:
READ MORE →
Fifteen Age-Based Client Milestones to Cover
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Philipp Hecker is a co-founder and the CEO of Bento Engine, a FinTech at the intersection of technology and impactful wealth management advice. At J.P. Morgan he founded and led the Wealth Planning & Advice organization. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. |
Close the advice gaps.
By Philipp Hecker
The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management
Despite the significant growth of the U.S. wealth management industry over the past few decades, the state of advice in this country falls short of its potential. Americans deserve more and better advice beyond just investment-related matters. Several concerning statistics highlight this issue:
- A Caring.com survey finds that a staggering 67 percent of Americans pass away without a will, lacking even the most fundamental trust and estate documents.
- An Edward Jones survey finds just one in five U.S. parents have saved, or are planning to save, for their children’s education using a 529 plan. In fact, two thirds (67%) of survey respondents said they were not aware of the features and potential tax benefits of 529 plans.
- Vanguard data finds that just one in six retirement account holders over age 50 are making catchup contributions to which they are eligible.
Our firm’s research found that three in five investors (60%) who have advisors are not getting the guidance they need about making retirement catchup contributions, while two in five (40%) lack clarity about fundamental decisions around the optimal timing for initiating Social Security benefits.
Imagine what it’s like for the majority of Americans who don’t have financial advisors.
READ MORE →
Bissett Bullet: Not All Business Owners are Created the Same
Today’s Bissett Bullet: “Every business owner you meet will have a unique set of goals, both business and personal, but they will fall under one of three motivations.”
By Martin Bissett