CPA PE Deal Tracker™: 10 Years, 466 Deals

Deal Log, Analysis & Leaderboards – Monthly through May 2026

Where the Deals Are: Top Ten U.S. States

By CPA Trendlines Research

Private equity is buying accounting firms faster than the profession can name the buyers.

MORE CPA PE Deal Tracker™: 57% Say PE Threatens the CPA Brand. But They’ll Take the Money.

MORE Private Equity

The CPA Trendlines CPA PE Deal Tracker™ now counts 466 verified deals reaching back to 2016, and the shape of that market is no longer a story about scattered tuck-ins. It is a story about concentration.

Ten platforms account for 52.4% of every tracked deal

And the top six alone hold 38.6%.

Full-year 2025 finished with 176 meaningful events, including 158 M&A deals. The last three consecutive months have produced the first sustained plateau in 12-month trailing M&A activity since the acceleration phase that began in 2023.

The market keeps expanding while it keeps narrowing. New platforms enter every month, yet the cumulative count keeps flowing toward the same handful of names — Ryan LLC, Ascend, EisnerAmper, Aprio, Crete.

Deals by capital sponsor, with the platform each principally backs

Rank	Capital backer	Deals	Principally backs
1	Alpine Investors	41	Ascend
2	Charlesbank	25	Aprio
3	Ares	24	Ryan LLC
4	TowerBrook	24	EisnerAmper
5	Thrive Capital / Bessemer (VC)	24	Crete Professionals Alliance
6	The Cynosure Group	23	Platform Accounting Group
7	DFW Capital Partners	21	Sorren
8	Audax	19	Doeren Mayhew
9	Unity Partners	13	Prosperity Partners
10	Horizon Capital	12	Dains LLP

The most active capital force in CPA consolidation is not a CPA firm — it is Alpine Investors, backing all 41 Ascend deals. (The CPA Trendlines CPA PE Deal Tracker™)

The most active force in CPA consolidation turns out not to be a CPA firm at all.

Alpine Investors stands behind all 41 Ascend deals. Charlesbank sits behind Aprio, Ares behind Ryan, TowerBrook behind EisnerAmper. The buyer that the CPA firm partner shakes hands with is rarely the buyer in charge.

The cumulative 12-month line still climbs, reaching 190 in March 2026, while the monthly count comes off its January peak of 30 toward the low teens this spring.

The deceleration is real in the exact months of April and May, but the trailing window remains on minimum treatment — counts there are a floor, not a ceiling, and they may rise as verification completes.

 

The boom is not over. It is catching its breath, and the data is still arriving.

 

CPA PE Deal Tracker™
Every Headline Deal, Month by Month

May 2026

• Jackson Thornton (Montgomery, Ala.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced May 1, 2026. The Gulf Coast regional firm, founded in 1919, has six offices across Alabama and about $41 million in revenue.
• Copeland Buhl (Wayzata, Minn.) acquired by Frazier & Deeter (General Atlantic; PSP Capital Partners; Aksia). Announced May 4, 2026.
• Price Kong (Phoenix) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced May 6, 2026.
• Parlade Schaefer Schortz CPAs P.A. (South Miami, Fla.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced May 8, 2026.
• The Molieri Group (Miami) acquired by Nichols Cauley (Madison Dearborn Partners). Announced May 12, 2026.
• Sharff, Wittmer, Kurtz, Jackson & Diaz PC (Coral Gables, Fla.) acquired by Citrin Cooperman (Blackstone). Announced May 12, 2026.
• Gorfine Schiller & Gardyn (Owings Mills, Md.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 12, 2026. IPA reports the firm at $23.4 million in FY24 net revenue.
• Gordon Advisors (Troy, Mich.) acquired by Cohen & Co. (Lovell Minnick Partners). Announced May 13, 2026; close expected June 1, 2026.
• GBC Advisory (Norman, Okla.) joins Springline Advisory (Trinity Hunt Partners). Announced May 19, 2026.
• ASO Advisors, the non-attest tax and advisory business of Agresta, Storms & O’Leary (Indianapolis) acquired by Windsor Path, a family office-backed platform. Announced May 19, 2026.
• MCA Connect (Denver) acquired by Grant Thornton Advisors (New Mountain Capital). Announced May 20, 2026. The Microsoft consulting and technology firm has about 350 professionals.
• Shoreline Advisors / BA Inc., formerly Burke & Associates (Rockland, Mass.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced May 26, 2026.
• William Vaughan Company (Maumee, Ohio) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced May 28, 2026. The IPA 100 firm reports $24.7 million in FY24 net revenue, more than 115 professionals and 15 partners.

What the Month Shows

After the first-quarter capital activity, May is consolidation in its plainest form: one firm folding another in.

Every one of May’s 13 tracked deals is an acquisition or merger. There are no platform-formation financings, recapitalizations, continuation vehicles, sponsor-to-sponsor flips or carve-outs in the May data.

Twelve platforms account for the 13 May deals, with only Ascend booking two. Two deals point beyond conventional private equity: Windsor Path is family office-backed, and Platform Accounting Group is backed by The Cynosure Group. The targets also stretch the category, from a Microsoft consultancy to a non-attest practice.

April 2026

• CAVU Advisors (Columbia, Md.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced April 1, 2026.
• Burwood Group (Oak Brook, Ill.) acquired by Sikich (Bain Capital). Announced April 7, 2026. Classified as an adjacency event.
• CMM, LLP (New York) acquired by J.S. Held (Kelso & Company). Announced April 7, 2026.
• GDM Private Financial Solutions (Bellevue, Wash.) acquired by Soltis Investment Advisors (Estancia Capital Partners; LLR Partners). Announced April 7, 2026.
• Modus (New York) formed with $85 million in seed and Series A capital from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Comma Capital and Garry Tan. Announced April 7, 2026. Classified as a capital event.
• KLG Business Valuators & Forensic Accountants (Melville, N.Y.)acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced April 9, 2026.
• CFO Selections receives capital from Laird Norton Company. Announced April 22, 2026. Classified as a capital event.
• St. Clair & Associates (Pottsville, Pa.) acquired by Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced April 28, 2026.
• CompliancePoint (Duluth, Ga.) acquired by Wipfli (New Mountain Capital). Announced April 30, 2026.
• Jefferson Wells U.S. (Milwaukee) acquired by Sikich (Bain Capital). Announced April 30, 2026.

April 2026 produced 10 meaningful tracker events: seven M&A transactions, two capital events and one adjacency event. The center of gravity shifted from ordinary regional tuck-ins toward capability acquisition: forensic accounting, federal contracting, cybersecurity, IT transformation, tax advisory inside wealth platforms and AI-native audit infrastructure.

Sikich: The Capability Stack Builder. Sikich was the most active April platform in the tracker, appearing twice with Burwood Group and Jefferson Wells U.S. The Jefferson Wells transaction is the month’s clearest scale signal: the deal carries a reported $100 million value, more than 300 U.S. employees and $76 million in 2025 U.S. revenue.

Forensics and Valuation Move to the Front. EisnerAmper’s KLG combination and J.S. Held’s CMM acquisition point to the same demand curve. PE-backed platforms are buying defensible advisory niches tied to litigation, expert testimony, business valuation, family law disputes and forensic accounting.

AI-Native Audit Enters the Tracker. Modus changes the character of the month. The workbook classifies it as a capital event, not a traditional CPA-firm acquisition. Its inclusion matters because it shows venture-backed infrastructure moving directly into the accounting platform model.

March 2026

• MSTiller (MST) (Duluth, Ga.) acquired by Armanino (Further Global Capital Management). Announced March 2, 2026.
• Hucke and Associates (New York) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex; Neuberger Berman). Announced March 4, 2026.
• CFO Hub LLC (San Diego) joins Carr, Riggs & Ingram (Centerbridge Partners; Bessemer Venture Partners). Effective March 5, 2026.
• Schellman receives a capital investment from Goldman Sachs Alternatives, acquiring a stake from Lightyear Capital. Announced March 5, 2026. Classified as a capital event.
• Berman Hopkins CPAs & Associates (Orlando, Fla.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced March 12, 2026.
• Balanced Hospitality Strategies acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced March 17, 2026.
• Price, Reuben, and Associates (Calabasas, Calif.) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced March 17, 2026.
• Accounting Specialists / ASG Advisors (Boca Raton, Fla.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced March 17, 2026.
• SD Mayer & Associates (San Francisco) acquired by Springline Advisory (Trinity Hunt Partners). Announced March 19, 2026.
• CG Advisory (Tinton Falls, N.J.) acquired by Springline Advisory (Trinity Hunt Partners). Announced March 24, 2026.
• Threadline Wealth, a Moss Adams spinoff (Seattle) announces a strategic partnership with The Cynosure Group. Announced March 25, 2026. Classified as an adjacency event.
• CoMetrics Partners acquired by SAX Advisory Group (Cobepa). Announced March 25, 2026.
• EisnerAmper continuation vehicle brings Carlyle AlpInvest and Hamilton Lane into the TowerBrook-backed platform. Announced March 25, 2026. Classified as a capital event.
• FAZ Forensics acquired by SAX Advisory Group (Cobepa). Announced March 31, 2026.

March 2026 produced 14 meaningful tracker events: 11 M&A transactions, two capital events and one adjacency event. EisnerAmper and Springline were both active, while the Schellman and EisnerAmper capital events showed that the market was not limited to firm acquisitions.

February 2026

• 1RDG (Rochester, N.Y.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced Feb. 3, 2026.
• Affiniax Group (Dubai, UAE) acquired by KNAV Advisory (Nikhil Kamath). Announced Feb. 5, 2026.
• Meritax Advisors (Frisco, Texas) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex; Neuberger Berman). Announced Feb. 5, 2026.
• Bowers Advisors (Syracuse, N.Y.) acquired by Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Feb. 5, 2026.
• Step UP Consulting (Los Angeles) acquired by Armanino (Further Global Capital Management). Announced Feb. 5, 2026.
• Williams Young McKaig Ltd / WYM Rating (Edinburgh, UK) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex; Neuberger Berman). Announced Feb. 5, 2026.
• Wagner Kaplan Duys & Wood LLP / WKDW (Englewood, Colo.)acquired by Richey May (F3 Partners). Announced Feb. 9, 2026.
• Browne Consulting Group LLC (Boston) acquired by Citrin Cooperman (Blackstone). Announced Feb. 10, 2026.
• Liptz & Associates (Bellingham, Wash.) acquired by Larson Gross, a Crete Professionals Alliance platform firm. Announced Feb. 10, 2026.
• Peltier, Gustafson & Miller (Albuquerque, N.M.) acquired by Capstone Accounting and Tax (Seaside Equity Partners). Announced Feb. 11, 2026.
• Donald M. Benson CPA, PA acquired by Family Office of America. Announced Feb. 12, 2026.
• Thompson Palmer & Associates (Jackson, Wyo.) merges into McGee, Hearne & Paiz, an Ascend platform firm. Announced Feb. 12, 2026.
• Gonzalez Advisors (Irvine, Calif.) acquired by Elevate Platform. Announced Feb. 18, 2026.
• Richardson Kontogouris Emerson LLP (Los Angeles) acquired by Cherry Bekaert (Parthenon Capital). Announced Feb. 18, 2026.
• Smeriglio Associates / Green Coast Advisors (Greenwich, Conn.)joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Feb. 19, 2026.
• CMJ LLP (Queensbury, N.Y.) acquired by UHY (Summit Partners). Announced Feb. 20, 2026.
• Dent Moses (Birmingham, Ala.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced Feb. 23, 2026.
• Impact Technology Group (Birmingham, Ala.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced Feb. 23, 2026.
• Larson Tax Partners (St. Louis) acquired by UHY (Summit Partners). Announced Feb. 25, 2026.
• Connected Accounting (California) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced Feb. 25, 2026.

February 2026 produced 20 M&A transactions, all classified as M&A. The month was defined by breadth: Ryan added two property-tax and ratings deals, Doeren Mayhew added three, UHY added two, and the platform field continued to widen across tax, accounting, consulting and advisory practices.

January 2026

• Mellott & Mellott joins Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Jan. 1, 2026.
• Partners Risk Services (Johns Creek, Ga.), Nichols Cauley (Dublin, Ga.) and JGH Consulting (Atlanta) form the Nichols Cauley platform backed by Madison Dearborn Partners. Announced Jan. 5, 2026.
• Bowman & Company LLP (Voorhees, N.J.) acquired by PKF O’Connor Davies (Investcorp; PSP Investments). Announced Jan. 5, 2026.
• Smith Schafer (Rochester, Minn.) acquired by CohnReznick (Apax Partners). Announced Jan. 5, 2026.
• Gollob Morgan Peddy (Tyler, Texas) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced Jan. 5, 2026.
• Manley Garvin SC (Greenwood, S.C.) acquired by UHY (Summit Partners). Announced Jan. 5, 2026.
• Sales Tax Defense (Deer Park, N.Y.) acquired by Armanino (Further Global Capital Management). Announced Jan. 6, 2026.
• Delap (Lake Oswego, Ore.) merged into Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Jan. 7, 2026.
• Long RUN Wealth Advisors (Lake Placid, N.Y.) acquired by Mercer Advisors (Genstar Capital; Oak Hill Capital; Altas Partners). Announced Jan. 7, 2026. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Scheidel, Sullivan & Lanni CPA LLC (Sacramento, Calif.) acquired by SAX Advisory Group (Cobepa). Announced Jan. 7, 2026.
• Poterack Capital Advisory (Jackson, Wyo.) acquired by Mercer Advisors (Genstar Capital; Oak Hill Capital; Altas Partners). Announced Jan. 7, 2026.
• Sierra Financial Advisors LLC (Sacramento, Calif.) acquired by SAX Advisory Group (Cobepa). Announced Jan. 7, 2026. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Lancaster & Reed (Key Biscayne, Fla.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced Jan. 7, 2026.
• Hoffman Stewart & Schmidt (Lake Oswego, Ore.) combined with Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Jan. 7, 2026.
• TaxOps SALT Team (Denver) joins Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Jan. 9, 2026.
• Bauknight Pietras & Stormer, P.A. (Columbia, S.C.) acquired by Smith + Howard (Broad Sky Partners). Announced Jan. 13, 2026.
• Tarsus (Washington, D.C.) acquired by Cherry Bekaert (Parthenon Capital). Announced Jan. 13, 2026.
• Baseline Wealth (London, UK) acquired by Creative Planning (TPG). Announced Jan. 13, 2026. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Topping Kessler & Company (Hollywood, Fla.) joins PKF O’Connor Davies (Investcorp; PSP Investments). Announced Jan. 13, 2026.
• Riibner and Associates (Kensington, Md.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Jan. 14, 2026.
• FSA Wealth (Needham, Mass.) acquired by Allworth Financial (Lightyear Capital). Announced Jan. 15, 2026. Classified as an adjacency event.
• MLCworks (New Orleans) joins EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Jan. 15, 2026.
• Bradshaw Rogers (Salisbury, N.C.) acquired by Prime Capital (Abry Partners). Announced Jan. 20, 2026.
• Gettleson Witzer & O’Connor / GWO (Encino, Calif.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced Jan. 20, 2026.
• Alexander Almand & Bangs / AAB (Arlington, Va.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced Jan. 20, 2026.
• Grunden Financial (Denton, Texas) acquired by Allworth Financial (Lightyear Capital). Announced Jan. 20, 2026.
• Rochester Tax Team (Rochester, N.Y.) joins Modern Wealth Management (Crestview Partners). Announced Jan. 20, 2026. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Herbein Financial (Reading, Pa.) acquired by Choreo (Parthenon Capital). Announced Jan. 21, 2026.
• Owen J. Flanagan & Co. acquired by SAX Advisory Group (Cobepa). Announced Jan. 22, 2026.
• Barb & Company and McDowell-Pearman, both of Columbia, S.C., acquired by Reid Advisors, a Crete Professionals Alliance platform firm. Announced Jan. 27, 2026.
• Force 10 Partners acquired by Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Jan. 28, 2026.
• Hess & Rohmer (Gainesville, Texas) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced Jan. 28, 2026.

January 2026 produced 35 meaningful tracker events: 30 M&A transactions and five adjacency events. It remains the 2026 high point through May and includes the Nichols Cauley platform formation, Aprio’s Oregon expansion, Ascend’s additions in Texas, California and Virginia, and a cluster of wealth-adjacent tax and advisory transactions.

December 2025

• Gerald Stinnett CPA PC (Suwanee, Ga.) joins Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Effective Dec. 1, 2025.
• Casey Neilon (Carson City, Nev.) acquired by Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced Dec. 1, 2025.
• Berkowitz Pollack Brant (Miami) acquired by Baker Tilly (Hellman & Friedman). Effective Dec. 1, 2025.
• Sweeney Conrad (Kirkland, Wash.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Effective Dec. 1, 2025.
• Wolf Maryles & Associates (New York) acquired by PKF O’Connor Davies (Investcorp; PSP Investments). Announced Dec. 2, 2025.
• Glass Jacobson Wealth Advisors (Baltimore) acquired by Mercer Advisors (Genstar Capital; Oak Hill Capital; Altas Partners). Announced Dec. 2, 2025.
• Burt Wealth Advisors (North Bethesda, Md.) acquired by Creative Planning (TPG). Announced Dec. 2, 2025. Classified as an adjacency event.
• DK Partners (Austin, Texas) acquired by Carr, Riggs & Ingram (Centerbridge). Joined Dec. 3, 2025.
• The Vroman Group (West Des Moines, Iowa) acquired by BGM (Unity Partners). Announced Dec. 3, 2025.
• Northstar Financial Advisory acquired by Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Dec. 3, 2025.
• Farkouh Furman & Faccio (New York) acquired by Prosperity Partners (Unity Partners). Completed Dec. 9, 2025.
• Marshall Financial Group (Doylestown, Pa.) acquired by Creative Planning (TPG). Announced Dec. 9, 2025.
• Actuarial Resources Corp. acquired by Springline Advisory (Trinity Hunt Partners). Announced Dec. 10, 2025. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Mark Rule & Co. (Butte, Mont.) acquired by Capstone Accounting and Tax (Seaside Equity Partners). Joined Dec. 10, 2025.
• Brown and Bakondi (Oregon City, Ore.) and Watters and Associates (Roseburg, Ore.) join Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Dec. 11, 2025.
• Legacy Valuations & Forensics acquired by Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Dec. 12, 2025.
• RTO & Company (The Dalles, Ore.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced Dec. 15, 2025.
• BPB acquired by Baker Tilly (Hellman & Friedman). Closed Dec. 15, 2025.
• Seghetti Waxler / Bayshore Advisors (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Wayne Long & Co. / Longview Advisors (Bakersfield, Calif.) both join Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Dec. 24, 2025.
• North Star (Snohomish, Wash.) acquired by Capstone Accounting and Tax (Seaside Equity Partners). Joined Dec. 29, 2025.

December 2025 produced 22 meaningful tracker events: 20 M&A transactions and two adjacency events. Platform Accounting Group booked four December M&A transactions, while Baker Tilly, Capstone, Crete, Creative Planning, Mercer and Sorren also added to their footprints.

November 2025

• Mize CPAs Inc. (Topeka, Kan.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank). Effective Nov. 1, 2025.
• BiggsKofford (Colorado Springs, Colo.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced Nov. 3, 2025.
• Pesta Finnie & Associates (Charlotte, N.C.) acquired by Frazier & Deeter Advisory (General Atlantic). Announced Nov. 4, 2025.
• Infinity Globus and Smart Accountants, both in Ahmedabad, India, acquired by Springline Advisory (Trinity Hunt Partners). Completed Nov. 5, 2025.
• Rosen Sapperstein & Friedlander (Towson, Md.) joins Frazier & Deeter Advisory (General Atlantic). Announced Nov. 5, 2025.
• Gatto Pope & Walwick (San Diego) acquired by Citrin Cooperman (Blackstone). Announced Nov. 6, 2025.
• Mennenga Tax & Financial (Madison, Wis.) acquired by Merit Financial Advisors (Constellation Wealth Capital). Effective Oct. 31, 2025; widely reported in November. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Novotny CPA Group (Grand Rapids, Mich.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Effective Nov. 10, 2025.
• KBFM (Nashville, Tenn.) acquired by Citrin Cooperman (New Mountain Capital). Announced Nov. 11, 2025.
• Beach Freeman Lim & Cleland (El Segundo, Calif.) acquired by Mercer Advisors (Genstar Capital; Oak Hill Capital; Altas Partners). Announced Nov. 12, 2025.
• Accuity LLP (Honolulu) joins Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Nov. 13, 2025.
• TBK CPA (Houston) joins Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Effective Nov. 17, 2025.
• McMurray Fox (Nashville, Tenn.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Effective Nov. 17, 2025.
• BGM (Bloomington, Minn.) acquired by Prosperity Partners (Unity Partners). Announced Nov. 17, 2025.
• Cross Financial acquired by Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Nov. 18, 2025. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Richardson & Co (Medway, Mass.) joins Ascend via Walter Shuffain (Alpine Investors). Effective Nov. 20, 2025.
• John G. Burk (Keene, N.H.) joins Ascend via TSS Advisors (Alpine Investors). Effective Nov. 21, 2025.

November 2025 produced 18 meaningful tracker events: 16 M&A transactions and two adjacency events. The month included offshore delivery acquisitions, wealth-adjacent moves and continued activity by Ascend, Crete, Doeren Mayhew and Springline.

October 2025

• Shorepoint Capital Partners (Norwood, Mass.) acquired by Allworth Financial (Lightyear Capital). Effective Oct. 1, 2025.
• Singer Burke (Los Angeles) acquired by Mercer Advisors (Genstar Capital; Oak Hill Capital; Altas Partners). Announced Oct. 7, 2025.
• Herbein + Company (Reading, Pa.) acquired by Cherry Bekaert (Parthenon Capital). Announced Oct. 8, 2025.
• Toone & Associates acquired by Family Office of America. Announced Oct. 15, 2025.
• AVL Growth Partners (Boulder, Colo.) acquired by Ampleo (Unity Partners). Announced Oct. 15, 2025.
• Fernway Solutions acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Oct. 21, 2025.
• TKR Advisors (Arlington, Va.) joins Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Oct. 22, 2025.
• Nissen & Meyer (Redmond, Ore.) acquired by Capstone Accounting and Tax (Seaside Equity Partners). Announced Oct. 23, 2025.
• Healthworks (Los Angeles) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced Oct. 29, 2025.

October 2025 produced nine M&A transactions, with activity spanning wealth management, accounting, tax, consulting and advisory services.

September 2025

• USX Advisors (Seattle) joins Richey May (F3 Partners). Announced Sept. 1, 2025.
• Auxis (Coral Gables, Fla.) acquired by Grant Thornton Advisors LLC (New Mountain Capital). Closed Sept. 2, 2025.
• KSDT (Miami) acquired by Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced Sept. 3, 2025.
• Horton Lee Burnett (Birmingham, Ala.) acquired by Smith + Howard (Broad Sky Partners). Announced Sept. 3, 2025.
• ORBA / Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams (Chicago) acquired by Citrin Cooperman (Blackstone). Announced Sept. 4, 2025.
• Mauldin Vaught (Fayetteville, Ark.) joins Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Sept. 8, 2025.
• Sobul, Primes & Schenkel, The Doty Group, WSRP, Grant Stricklandand Moss Krusick join Richey May (F3 Partners). Announced Sept. 9, 2025.
• Adeptus joins Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Sept. 9, 2025.
• Advisent (San Diego) joins Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Sept. 18, 2025.
• Bolotin Financial Group acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Sept. 18, 2025.
• TimeCredit acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Sept. 19, 2025.
• Prism Financial (Overland Park, Kan.; $1.8 billion AUM) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Sept. 19, 2025. The later Mize CPAs entry references Prism as part of the Mize transaction package rather than a separate second Prism deal.
• Carson & McKinney (Nashville, Tenn.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced Sept. 22, 2025.
• Dhruva Advisors (Mumbai, India) — Ryan LLC (Ares Management) takes a majority interest / JV stake. Announced Sept. 29, 2025.
• Schulman Lobel (New York) joins SAINVUS. Announced Sept. 30, 2025. SAINVUS is a founder-led family office platform, not a traditional PE-backed roll-up.

September 2025 produced 19 M&A transactions. The Richey May/F3 Partners buildout accounts for six of them, and Crete Professionals Alliance accounts for three.

August 2025

• Anglin Reichmann Armstrong (Huntsville, Ala.) joins Frazier & Deeter Advisory (General Atlantic). Announced Aug. 1, 2025.
• Family Wealth Planning Group (Naples, Fla.) acquired by Mercer Advisors (Genstar Capital; Oak Hill Capital; Altas Partners). Announced Aug. 1, 2025. Classified as an adjacency event.
• BC Consulting (Houston) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Effective Aug. 1, 2025. The firm, founded in 2002, serves restaurant, oilfield and logistics clients.
• Wipfli Advisory acquired by Wipfli (New Mountain). Announced Aug. 1, 2025.
• Wipfli (Milwaukee) forms a private equity-backed platform with a majority investment from New Mountain Capital. Announced Aug. 4, 2025. The firm reports about $612 million in revenue and more than 3,200 employees.
• Pipaya (Vienna, Va.) acquired by Prosperity Partners (Unity Partners). Announced Aug. 5, 2025. The transaction advisory firm, founded in 2009, serves aerospace, defense and government-services clients.
• AWG Wine Advisors / Allen Wine Group (Santa Rosa, Calif.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Aug. 5, 2025.
• Jameson & Company CPAs (Bedford, Mass.) acquired by Cherry Bekaert (Parthenon Capital). Announced Aug. 6, 2025.
• DeFalco & Co. (Hoboken, N.J.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Aug. 7, 2025. The firm has offices in Hoboken and Scotch Plains, N.J., with 11 professionals.
• Gioffre & Co. (Armonk, N.Y.) acquired by Cohen & Co. (Lovell Minnick Partners). Closed Aug. 8, 2025. The Westchester County firm, Cohen’s third acquisition of 2025, focuses on outsourced accounting, financial reporting and tax provision work.
• Barkin Perren Schwager & Dolan (Woodland Hills, Calif.) acquired by Citrin Cooperman (Blackstone). Announced Aug. 12, 2025. The firm, with three partners and more than 20 professionals, deepens Citrin Cooperman’s Southern California presence in entertainment and professional services.
• Maddaloni, Nydick & Keenan, P.C. (Florham Park, N.J.) acquired by SAX Advisory Group (Cobepa). Announced Aug. 14, 2025; effective Nov. 15, 2025. It is SAX’s first acquisition following Cobepa’s minority investment.
• Cabrillo Advisors (San Diego) joins Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Aug. 26, 2025. The valuation and financial advisory firm serves national and international clients through a Crete equity stake.

August 2025 produced 13 meaningful tracker events: 11 M&A transactions, one platform formation and one adjacency event. The month’s defining deal is structural rather than incremental: New Mountain Capital’s majority investment in Wipfli converts one of the profession’s largest independent firms into a private equity-backed platform. Around that single event sits the now-familiar pattern of small tuck-ins — single-office practices and niche advisory shops folding into established platforms such as Aprio, Citrin Cooperman, Crete, Doeren Mayhew and Platform Accounting Group. The contrast frames the consolidation wave: the headlines belong to platforms taking institutional capital, but the volume still comes from sub-scale firms deciding they can no longer stand alone. August also shows why platform formation belongs in the monthly vocabulary: the Wipfli event is not merely another investment entry; it formalizes a new sponsor-backed acquisition vehicle in a market increasingly defined by scale, capital access and repeatable tuck-in capacity.

July 2025

• Elliott Davis (Greenville, S.C.) forms a private equity-backed platform with a growth investment from Flexpoint Ford. Announced July 1, 2025. The firm reports $189.2 million in FY24 revenue and more than 800 employees across eight offices.
• BGW (Charlotte, N.C.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced July 1, 2025.
• Tronconi Segarra (Williamsville, N.Y.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced July 1, 2025.
• Reimer McGuinness Hess CPAs & Advisors (Houston) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced July 1, 2025.
• Piascik & Associates (Richmond, Va.) acquired by CohnReznick (Apax Partners). Announced July 1, 2025.
• Sandler & Company (Needham Heights, Mass.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Effective July 1, 2025. The financial services boutique serves hedge funds, private equity firms and broker-dealers.
• Stephen A. Kepniss & Associates (Springfield, N.J.) joins Ascend via LMC Advisors (Alpine Investors). Effective July 1, 2025. The firm specializes in tax planning and real estate tax advisory for high-net-worth individuals.
• Lew Adams (Los Angeles) joins Ascend via Lucas Horsfall (Alpine Investors). Effective July 1, 2025.
• Patricia Morse (Lebanon, N.H.) joins Ascend via TSS Advisors (Alpine Investors). Announced July 2, 2025.
• Patterson & Company CPAs, PLLC (Louisville, Ky.) acquired by Abacus, a Crete Professionals Alliance platform firm. Announced July 8, 2025.
• Madison Street Advisors / McCormick Tax Group (Chicago) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced July 9, 2025.
• Williams Overman Pierce (Raleigh, N.C.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced July 15, 2025.
• AGL CPA Group (Duluth, Ga.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced July 16, 2025.
• SCL Consulting (Baltimore) acquired by SAX Advisory Group (Cobepa). Announced July 17, 2025.
• SSL/Sierra (Sacramento, Calif.) acquired by SAX Advisory Group (Cobepa). Announced July 17, 2025.
• SAX Advisory Group (Parsippany, N.J.) forms a private equity-backed platform with a minority investment from Cobepa. Announced July 17, 2025.

July 2025 produced 16 meaningful tracker events: 14 M&A transactions and two platform formations. The month frames consolidation at both ends of the size scale. At the top, two regional firms convert to private equity-backed platforms — Elliott Davis with Flexpoint Ford and SAX Advisory Group with Cobepa. The SAX formation also carries immediate transaction volume, with SCL Consulting and SSL/Sierra counted as separate acquisitions alongside the platform event. At the bottom, Ascend absorbs five practices in two days, several of them sole practitioners joining through established hubs such as TSS Advisors and Lucas Horsfall. The pattern shows a market no longer defined by mid-market deals alone: institutional capital is forming new platforms while the platforms already in place reach down to the smallest one-person shops.

June 2025

• KraftCPAs (Nashville, Tenn.) acquired by Baker Tilly (Hellman & Friedman). Announced June 1, 2025.
• O’Connor Consulting Services (Washington, D.C.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Effective June 1, 2025. The firm provides nonprofit business advisory and interim outsourcing services.
• Spicer Jeffries (Denver) acquired by Cherry Bekaert (Parthenon Capital). Announced June 1, 2025.
• Flynn & Co. (Cincinnati) acquired by UHY (Summit Partners). Announced June 1, 2025.
• Rainer & Co. (Newtown Square, Pa.) acquired by PKF O’Connor Davies (Investcorp; PSP Investments). Announced June 1, 2025.
• Glenn Burdette (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced June 1, 2025.
• Saltmarsh Cleveland & Gund (Pensacola, Fla.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced June 1, 2025.
• Benoit & Associates CPAs (Grand Rapids, Mich.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced June 1, 2025.
• Vanessa Sola (Houston) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax), in a practice sale from Frierson Sola Simonton & Kutac. Announced June 1, 2025.
• Sewald & Anastasia CPAs (Morganville, N.J.) acquired by SAX Advisory Group. Effective June 1, 2025. It is SAX’s last acquisition before the firm’s own July investment from Cobepa.
• The Albano Group (Bedford, N.H.) — Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex) acquires its property tax service lines. Announced June 3, 2025.
• Danaher Attig (Needham, Mass.) acquired by Prosperity Partners (Unity Partners). Announced June 4, 2025.
• NextFed (Arlington, Va.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced June 4, 2025. The firm serves aerospace, defense and government-services clients.
• Inspired Corporate Advisory (London, UK) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced June 5, 2025.
• Burgess Hodgson (Canterbury, UK) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Abry Partners. Announced June 9, 2025.
• Draper, Bialik & Co. CPAs (Grand Haven, Mich.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced June 15, 2025. It is Doeren Mayhew’s third West Michigan acquisition in a year.
• Sterling Financial Group (Pasadena, Calif.) acquired by Sequoia Financial Group. Announced June 18, 2025.
• Bridgepoint Alliance (Wakefield, Mass.) launches as a private equity-backed platform backed by Liberty Partners. Announced June 18, 2025.
• Ampleo (Lehi, Utah) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Unity Partners. Announced June 24, 2025.
• WFFA Advisors, the non-attest tax and advisory business of Wagner, Ferber, Fine & Ackerman (New York) acquired by Windsor Path, a family office-backed platform. Announced June 30, 2025.

June 2025 produced 20 meaningful tracker events: 17 M&A transactions and three platform formations. Consolidation reaches across the full size range and across borders, with three new private equity-backed platforms forming — Burgess Hodgson with Abry Partners, Bridgepoint Alliance with Liberty Partners and Ampleo with Unity Partners — and UK firms in London and Canterbury entering the model. The month also captures the blurring line between buyer and seller: SAX Advisory Group acquires Sewald & Anastasia as an independent firm in early June, then takes its own investment from Cobepa weeks later, while Windsor Path, a family office-backed platform, makes its first deal. The pattern describes a market in which today’s acquirer is tomorrow’s platform, and fewer firms expect to remain on one side of the table.

May 2025

• Sorren (Meridian, Idaho) forms a private equity-backed platform backed by DFW Capital Partners, consolidating a group of former BDO Alliance firms under a single brand. Announced May 1, 2025.
• Stockman Kast Ryan (Colorado Springs, Colo.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025.
• Pisenti & Brinker (Santa Rosa, Calif.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025.
• Roeser Accountancy (Fresno, Calif.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025.
• Capital Nomics (Fresno, Calif.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025.
• Aycock & Company (Houston) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025.
• KDP Advisors (Medford, Ore.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025.
• Hoerber Tillman (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025.
• SBF Advisors (St. Petersburg, Fla.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025.
• KMA Advisors (Madison, Wis.) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025.
• JRJBF LLP (Chicago) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025.
• Harris CPAs (Meridian, Idaho) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 5, 2025. Harris is the founding firm DFW Capital Partners backed in January 2024.
• Cooper Savas (Salt Lake City) acquired by Armanino (Further Global Capital Management). Announced May 15, 2025.
• Acuity (Atlanta) joins Sorren (DFW Capital Partners). Announced May 20, 2025.

May 2025 produced 14 meaningful tracker events: 13 M&A transactions and one platform formation. The month is essentially one story told many ways. Sorren launches as a DFW Capital Partners-backed platform and records 11 combinations on a single day, May 5, as former BDO Alliance firms consolidate under one brand, with a twelfth firm, Acuity, added later in the month. Only one deal falls outside the Sorren rollup: Armanino’s acquisition of Cooper Savas in Salt Lake City. The month shows why platform formation belongs in the monthly vocabulary, and why raw deal counts can mislead — a single sponsor-backed launch accounts for almost the entire month, so what looks like a wave of independent transactions is, in substance, one consolidation event carrying many names.

April 2025

• Brayn Consulting (Houston) acquired by Ryan LLC (Neuberger Berman). Announced April 1, 2025.
• Prague & Co. (Boston) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced April 1, 2025. The firm serves trusts and estates, high-net-worth clients and alternative investment funds.
• Capstone Accounting and Tax (Bend, Ore.) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Seaside Equity Partners. Announced April 2, 2025.
• Frazier & Deeter (Atlanta) receives a minority investment from General Atlantic. Announced April 3, 2025.
• Aventus Partners (London, UK) acquired by KNAV Advisory (Apax Partners). Announced April 4, 2025.
• Wade Financial (Campbell, Calif.) acquired by Modern Wealth Management (Crestview Partners). Announced April 8, 2025. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Planned Asset Management (Calabasas, Calif.) acquired by Modern Wealth Management (Crestview Partners). Announced April 8, 2025. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Sargent CPA (Klamath Falls, Ore.) acquired by Capstone Accounting and Tax (Seaside Equity Partners). Announced April 15, 2025.
• Keller & Mendoza CPAs (Vail, Colo.) acquired by Capstone Accounting and Tax (Seaside Equity Partners). Announced April 15, 2025. It is Capstone’s first Colorado expansion.
• The Martin Worley Group (Cottonwood Heights, Utah) acquired by Sequoia Financial Group. Announced April 15, 2025.
• Moss Adams (Seattle) acquired by Baker Tilly (Hellman & Friedman). Announced April 21, 2025.
• SND Partners (Lafayette, Calif.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced April 29, 2025. The firm specializes in affordable-housing tax credit and HUD audit work.

April 2025 produced 12 meaningful tracker events: nine M&A transactions, one platform formation and two adjacency events. The month is defined by scale. Baker Tilly, backed by Hellman & Friedman, combines with Moss Adams, the Seattle-based national firm — a pairing of two of the country’s larger practices and a marker of how far private equity-backed scale now reaches up the profession. Beneath it, consolidation runs across every tier: Capstone Accounting and Tax forms a new Seaside Equity Partners-backed platform, General Atlantic takes a minority stake in Frazier & Deeter, and Modern Wealth Management extends the wealth-adjacency thread with two more tuck-ins. The pattern shows the wave reaching the largest firms, the newest platforms and the wealth-management edge at once: scale and capital access, more than size alone, now decide which firms acquire and which are acquired.

March 2025

• Thurman Campbell Group (Clarksville, Tenn.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced March 1, 2025. It marks Doeren Mayhew’s entry into the Tennessee market.
• JMS Advisory Group (Atlanta) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced March 5, 2025. The firm specializes in unclaimed-property compliance.
• Tassi & Co. (Chicago) acquired by Cohen & Co. (Lovell Minnick Partners). Announced March 6, 2025. The real estate specialist expands Cohen’s Chicago presence.
• Auren (Madrid, Spain) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Waterland Private Equity. Announced March 12, 2025.
• Carlson Capital Management (Northfield, Minn.) acquired by Sequoia Financial Group. Announced March 12, 2025.

March 2025 produced five meaningful tracker events: four M&A transactions and one platform formation. It is a quiet month by 2025 standards, but a telling one for reach rather than volume. Waterland Private Equity backs Auren, the Madrid-based firm, extending the platform model into continental Europe, while Doeren Mayhew enters Tennessee and Aprio and Cohen & Co. add niche specialists in unclaimed property and real estate. The month’s lesson is geographic, not numerical: even when domestic deal flow thins, sponsor-backed consolidation keeps widening its map, and the platform vocabulary now spans borders as readily as service lines.

February 2025

• HW&Co. (Cleveland) acquired by Citrin Cooperman (Blackstone). Announced Feb. 1, 2025.
• Hancock Askew & Co. (Savannah, Ga.) acquired by Baker Tilly (Hellman & Friedman). Announced Feb. 1, 2025.
• McGee, Hearne & Paiz (Cheyenne, Wyo.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced Feb. 5, 2025.
• Mangold Anker Phillips (Austin, Texas) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Feb. 6, 2025. The firm provides tax, valuation, litigation and outsourced CFO services.
• Smith Kesler & Co. (Spartanburg, S.C.) acquired by Smith + Howard (Broad Sky Partners). Announced Feb. 10, 2025.
• CironeFriedberg (Bethel, Conn.) acquired by Baker Tilly (Hellman & Friedman). Announced Feb. 11, 2025.
• Radix Law (Scottsdale, Ariz.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners), forming Aprio Legal. Announced Feb. 12, 2025. Classified as an adjacency event.
• KPMG Sweden’s SME practice (Stockholm) acquired by Azets (PAI Partners). Announced Feb. 12, 2025.
• Larson Gross (Bellingham, Wash.) joins Crete Professionals Alliance (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Feb. 13, 2025.
• Keystone Advisor Group / Heckman & Laudeman (Orwigsburg, Pa.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Feb. 13, 2025.
• CohnReznick (New York) receives a strategic growth investment from Apax Partners. Announced Feb. 26, 2025.
• CohnReznick Advisory (New York) acquired by CohnReznick (Apax Partners). Announced Feb. 26, 2025.
• Hayflich CPAs (Huntington, W.Va.) acquired by Baker Tilly (Hellman & Friedman). Announced Feb. 27, 2025.

February 2025 produced 13 meaningful tracker events: 12 M&A transactions and one adjacency event. The month’s anchor is capital entering the top of the profession: Apax Partners takes a strategic growth stake in CohnReznick, one of the country’s largest firms, recorded alongside its advisory arm. Baker Tilly, fresh from its own recapitalization, is the busiest acquirer with three additions, and the activity crosses borders and service lines — Azets absorbs KPMG’s Swedish small-business practice, and Aprio acquires Radix Law to stand up a legal arm. The pattern widens on every axis at once: up the size scale into national firms, outward into Europe and sideways into adjacent professions, even as the platforms keep folding in single-office regional shops.

January 2025

• Walter Shuffain (Boston) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced Jan. 1, 2025.
• Tama Budaj & Raab (Farmington Hills, Mich.) acquired by UHY (Summit Partners). Announced Jan. 1, 2025.
• Botz Deal & Co. (St. Louis) acquired by UHY (Summit Partners). Announced Jan. 1, 2025.
• Rosenberg & Manente (Manhattan) acquired by Reid Advisors, a Crete Professionals Alliance platform firm. Announced Jan. 1, 2025.
• Altus Group (Dallas) — Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex) acquires its property tax services business. Announced Jan. 2, 2025.
• KRD (Chicago) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Jan. 3, 2025.
• Burkett & Beattie (Libertyville, Ill.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Jan. 3, 2025.
• Nardone, Pridgeon & Company (Timonium, Md.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Jan. 6, 2025. It marks Aprio’s entry into the Baltimore market.
• Citrin Cooperman (New York) — a Blackstone-led group acquires a majority stake from New Mountain Capital, valued at about $2 billion. Announced Jan. 7, 2025. Classified as a recapitalization, it is the first private equity-to-private equity sale of a top-25 U.S. CPA firm.
• Laurus Associates (Newcastle, UK) acquired by Azets (PAI Partners). Announced Jan. 7, 2025.
• HDA Accounting Group (Denver) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Jan. 9, 2025. The firm serves more than 800 dental practices nationwide.
• Peisner Johnson (Dallas) acquired by Ampleo (Unity Partners). Announced Jan. 14, 2025.
• Cassady Schiller Wealth (Cincinnati) acquired by Mariner Wealth Advisors (Neuberger Berman). Announced Jan. 14, 2025. Classified as an adjacency event.
• CapinCrouse (Indianapolis) acquired by Carr, Riggs & Ingram (Centerbridge Partners; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced Jan. 17, 2025. The nonprofit-focused firm is CRI’s largest merger.
• AKM Advisors / Adelman Katz & Mond (New York) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Jan. 30, 2025.

January 2025 produced 15 meaningful tracker events: 13 M&A transactions, one recapitalization and one adjacency event. The month marks a turning point in how capital moves through the profession. A Blackstone-led group buys a majority of Citrin Cooperman from New Mountain Capital at roughly $2 billion — the first private equity-to-private equity sale of a top-25 U.S. firm, and a benchmark for what an established platform is worth on resale. Around that signal, the tuck-in machine runs at full speed: Aprio alone adds three firms, UHY adds two, and Azets extends the model into the UK. The paradox of the month is maturity, not novelty — the question is no longer whether private equity will enter accounting, but how often firms will change sponsors once it has.

December 2024

• DHS Advisors (Redding, Calif.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Effective Dec. 1, 2024.
• Elite Tax & Accounting (Denver) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Effective Dec. 1, 2024.
• Pontiff + Associates (Denver) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Effective Dec. 1, 2024.
• Dains (UK) forms a private equity-backed platform with a majority investment from IK Partners. Announced Dec. 1, 2024.
• Eide Bailly Advisors (Fargo, N.D.) acquired by Sequoia Financial Group. Announced Dec. 2, 2024.
• UHY forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Summit Partners. Announced Dec. 3, 2024.
• UHY Advisors (Farmington Hills, Mich.) acquired by UHY (Summit Partners). Announced Dec. 3, 2024.
• LFM Wealth Management (Chapel Hill, N.C.) acquired by Modern Wealth Management (Crestview Partners). Announced Dec. 10, 2024. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Gardey Financial (Saginaw, Mich.) acquired by Modern Wealth Management (Crestview Partners). Announced Dec. 10, 2024. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Fiser Group (Lenexa, Kan.) acquired by Modern Wealth Management (Crestview Partners). Announced Dec. 10, 2024. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Delucchi Hawn (San Jose, Calif.) joins Ascend via PP&Co. (Alpine Investors). Announced Dec. 11, 2024.
• Securitybricks (Bellevue, Wash.) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced Dec. 12, 2024. The cloud-security and compliance firm specializes in CMMC and FedRAMP work.
• Tax & Wealth Management (Cleveland) acquired by Cohen & Co. (Lovell Minnick Partners). Announced Dec. 12, 2024.
• Midwest Advisors / Philip+Rae & Associates (Naperville, Ill.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Dec. 18, 2024.
• Crossroads Advisors / Peachin Schwartz + Weingardt (Indianapolis) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Dec. 18, 2024.

December 2024 produced 15 meaningful tracker events: 10 M&A transactions, two platform formations and three adjacency events. The year closes by building capacity rather than winding down. UHY takes a Summit Partners investment and Dains takes a majority stake from IK Partners in the UK, two formations that seed acquirers for the year ahead. Modern Wealth Management runs a three-firm wealth sweep, and Platform Accounting Group and Aprio close December with tuck-ins. The platform-formation entries matter most here: a month that looks like ordinary year-end housekeeping is really the market loading new vehicles, and several of December’s new platforms become repeat buyers within months.

November 2024

• Marcum (New York) acquired by CBIZ, the publicly traded consolidator. Announced Nov. 1, 2024.
• SPR (San Antonio) joins Ascend via ATKG (Alpine Investors). Effective Nov. 1, 2024.
• Hauser Jones & Sas (Bellevue, Wash.) joins Ascend via Opsahl Dawson (Alpine Investors). Effective Nov. 1, 2024.
• City Fiduciary (Portland, Ore.) acquired by Allworth Financial (Lightyear Capital). Announced Nov. 12, 2024.
• Clearview (Owings Mills, Md.) acquired by Citrin Cooperman (New Mountain Capital). Announced Nov. 14, 2024.
• Carr, Riggs & Ingram (Enterprise, Ala.) forms a private equity-backed platform with a strategic growth investment from Centerbridge Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. Announced Nov. 18, 2024.
• PKF O’Connor Davies (Harrison, N.Y.) forms a private equity-backed platform with a strategic growth investment from Investcorp and PSP Investments. Announced Nov. 18, 2024.
• CCA (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) acquired by Allworth Financial (Lightyear Capital). Announced Nov. 19, 2024.

November 2024 produced eight meaningful tracker events: six M&A transactions and two platform formations. The month is a turning point for the upper tier of the profession. On a single day, Nov. 18, two large national firms take private equity: Carr, Riggs & Ingram with Centerbridge Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners, and PKF O’Connor Davies with Investcorp and PSP Investments. Days earlier, CBIZ, the publicly traded consolidator, closes its acquisition of Marcum, one of the largest accounting combinations on record. The tension defining the month is the reach of institutional capital: private equity sponsors and a public-company acquirer are absorbing the profession’s largest independents at the same time, and the platform-formation entries mark the moment that capital reaches the top 30.

October 2024

• Wiener and Garg (Rockville, Md.) acquired by Prosperity Partners (Unity Partners). Effective Oct. 1, 2024.
• Lucas Horsfall (Pasadena, Calif.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Effective Oct. 1, 2024.
• Alirrium (Reston, Va.) acquired by Baker Tilly (Hellman & Friedman). Announced Oct. 3, 2024. The firm specializes in robotic process automation and AI implementation.
• ArcherPoint (Lawrenceville, Ga.) acquired by Cherry Bekaert (Parthenon Capital). Announced Oct. 14, 2024. The Microsoft Dynamics ERP firm joined with affiliate Suite Engine.
• HLG (Netherlands) acquired by KNAV Advisory (Nikhil Kamath). Announced Oct. 16, 2024.
• Armanino (San Ramon, Calif.) receives a private equity investment from Further Global Capital Management. Announced Oct. 21, 2024.
• Petso Financial (Boise, Idaho) acquired by Modern Wealth Management (Crestview Partners). Announced Oct. 24, 2024. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Cohen & Co. (Cleveland) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Lovell Minnick Partners. Announced Oct. 25, 2024.
• Mendonca & Partners (Union, N.J.) joins RRBB, a Crete Professionals Alliance platform firm. Announced Oct. 31, 2024.
• Skwiersky Alpert & Bressler (New York) joins RRBB, a Crete Professionals Alliance platform firm. Announced Oct. 31, 2024.

October 2024 produced 10 meaningful tracker events: eight M&A transactions, one platform formation and one adjacency event. The month’s signal is capability, not just headcount. Cherry Bekaert buys ArcherPoint, a Microsoft Dynamics ERP firm, and Baker Tilly buys Alirrium, an automation and AI implementation shop — platforms acquiring the technology layer as readily as they acquire tax practices. Around that, Cohen & Co. takes a private equity investment from Lovell Minnick Partners, Armanino draws capital from Further Global Capital Management, and Crete’s RRBB combines two New York-area firms into a single partnership. The pattern is consolidation widening its definition of a target: the firms with capital are buying software, automation and cross-border reach, not only books of clients.

September 2024

• Cendrowski Corporate Advisors (Detroit) acquired by Prosperity Partners (Unity Partners). Announced Sept. 1, 2024.
• Prosperity Partners (Chicago) launches as a private equity-backed platform backed by Unity Partners. Announced Sept. 4, 2024.
• Tighe, Kress & Orr (Elgin, Ill.) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Sept. 5, 2024.
• Property Tax Advisors (Virginia) acquired by Ryan LLC (Neuberger Berman). Announced Sept. 10, 2024.
• KNAV Advisory (Atlanta) forms a family office-backed platform with an investment from NKSquared (Nikhil Kamath). Announced Sept. 16, 2024.
• Compudata (Philadelphia) acquired by CBIZ, the publicly traded consolidator. Announced Sept. 18, 2024.
• Chigbrow Ryan Murata (Boise, Idaho) joins the DFW Capital Partners-backed platform later branded Sorren. Announced Sept. 18, 2024.
• Alexander Thompson Arnold (Jackson, Tenn.) receives a growth investment from Copley Equity Partners. Announced Sept. 18, 2024.
• Creative Planning (Overland Park, Kan.) receives a minority investment from TPG. Announced Sept. 30, 2024.

September 2024 produced nine meaningful tracker events: seven M&A transactions and two platform formations. The month is dominated by first entries rather than tuck-ins. KNAV Advisory takes family office capital from NKSquared, Alexander Thompson Arnold takes a growth investment from Copley Equity Partners, Creative Planning draws a minority investment from TPG, and Prosperity Partners formally brands Unity Partners’ accounting platform. Each is an initial capital event — a sponsor planting a flag rather than a platform harvesting a target. The pattern is foundational: September 2024 is the profession stocking the field with new platforms, most of which become active acquirers within the following year.

August 2024

• Krost CPAs (Pasadena, Calif.) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Aug. 20, 2024. The Top 100 firm reports about $71 million in revenue.
• Doeren Mayhew (Troy, Mich.) forms a private equity-backed platform with a strategic investment from Audax. Announced Aug. 23, 2024.
• Milne Craig (Paisley, UK) acquired by Azets (PAI Partners). Announced Aug. 29, 2024.

August 2024 produced three meaningful tracker events: two M&A transactions and one platform formation. The month is quiet in count but consequential in capacity. Doeren Mayhew takes a strategic investment from Audax, forming a platform that becomes one of the profession’s most active tuck-in acquirers over the following year. EisnerAmper adds the Top 100 firm Krost CPAs, and Azets extends its UK roll-up with Milne Craig. The lesson repeats: a single platform formation in a slow month does more to shape the next year than a dozen ordinary tuck-ins.

July 2024

• The Colony Group (Wellesley, Mass.) acquired by Buckingham Strategic Wealth (CD&R). Announced July 1, 2024. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Aprio Advisory (Atlanta) acquired by Aprio (Charlesbank Capital Partners). Announced July 11, 2024.
• Aprio (Atlanta) forms a private equity-backed platform with a strategic growth investment from Charlesbank Capital Partners. Announced July 12, 2024.

July 2024 produced three meaningful tracker events: one M&A transaction, one platform formation and one adjacency event. The month’s weight sits almost entirely in one event. Aprio takes a strategic growth investment from Charlesbank Capital Partners, forming the platform that becomes the most prolific tuck-in acquirer in the data over the next year. The rest is incidental by comparison: Aprio folds in its own advisory entity, and Buckingham Strategic Wealth adds The Colony Group on the wealth-management side. As in the surrounding months, a slow summer hides the formation of an acquirer that reshapes the following year’s deal flow.

June 2024

• CRS VAT (UK) acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced June 1, 2024.
• Condies Chartered Accountants (UK) acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced June 1, 2024.
• Opto Group (UK) acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced June 1, 2024.
• Moore DRV (Rotterdam, Netherlands) acquired by Moore Global (Waterland Private Equity). Announced June 11, 2024.

June 2024 produced four meaningful tracker events, all M&A transactions and all outside the United States. Dains, backed by Horizon Capital, folds in three UK firms on a single day, and Moore Global, backed by Waterland Private Equity, adds Moore DRV in the Netherlands. The month is a reminder that sponsor-backed consolidation is not a U.S. phenomenon: the same roll-up mechanics, a capitalized platform absorbing smaller independents, are running across the UK and continental Europe well before the U.S. wave reaches full speed.

May 2024

• Tidwell Group (Birmingham, Ala.) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Effective May 1, 2024.
• TSS Advisors (Williamsville, N.Y.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Effective May 1, 2024.
• Blackman & Sloop (Chapel Hill, N.C.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Effective May 1, 2024.
• Vogel & Co. (Darien, Conn.) joins Ascend via LMC Advisors (Alpine Investors). Effective May 1, 2024.
• Cutler Advisors (San Diego) joins Crete Professionals Alliance at its launch (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced May 2, 2024.
• Levy Erlanger & Co. (San Francisco) joins Crete Professionals Alliance at its launch (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced May 2, 2024.
• MJ Berger (Boston) joins Crete Professionals Alliance at its launch (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced May 2, 2024.
• Breslow Starling (Greensboro, N.C.) joins Crete Professionals Alliance at its launch (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced May 2, 2024.
• Assurance Dimensions (Margate, Fla.) joins Crete Professionals Alliance at its launch (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced May 2, 2024.
• Reid Advisors (Woodbury, N.Y.) joins Crete Professionals Alliance at its launch (Thrive Capital; Bessemer Venture Partners). Announced May 2, 2024.
• Edelstein & Co. (Boston) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced May 10, 2024.
• Sikich (Naperville, Ill.) forms a private equity-backed platform with a $250 million minority growth investment from Bain Capital. Announced May 10, 2024.

May 2024 produced 12 meaningful tracker events: six M&A transactions and six platform formations. The month is dominated by two platform debuts. Crete Professionals Alliance launches with six founding firms — Cutler Advisors, Levy Erlanger & Co., MJ Berger, Breslow Starling, Assurance Dimensions and Reid Advisors — backed by Thrive Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners, and Sikich takes a $250 million growth investment from Bain Capital. Around the debuts, EisnerAmper and Ascend run ordinary tuck-ins. The signal is the one that defines the period: new platforms are forming faster than they are buying, stacking capacity that the rest of the year and 2025 will spend.

April 2024

• Wilson Wright (London, UK) acquired by BKL (CBPE Capital). Announced April 1, 2024.
• DeMott & Smith CPAs (Rochester, N.Y.) acquired by Insero Advisors (Rallyday Partners). Announced April 2, 2024.

April 2024 produced two meaningful tracker events, both M&A transactions: BKL, backed by CBPE Capital, adds Wilson Wright in London, and Insero Advisors, backed by Rallyday Partners, adds DeMott & Smith in Rochester. It is the thinnest month in the series — a reminder that as recently as spring 2024 the consolidation wave was still a trickle, with only a handful of sponsor-backed platforms active and most independent firms still standing alone.

March 2024

• LevitZacks (San Diego) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Effective March 1, 2024.
• Popp Hutcheson (Austin, Texas) — Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex) acquires its property tax consulting business. Announced March 6, 2024.
• Grant Thornton Advisory (Chicago) acquired by Grant Thornton Advisors (New Mountain Capital). Announced March 15, 2024.
• Grant Thornton (Chicago) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from New Mountain Capital. Announced March 20, 2024.
• RSM UK Medical (London, UK) acquired by Azets (PAI Partners). Announced March 28, 2024.

March 2024 produced five meaningful tracker events: four M&A transactions and one platform formation. The month’s weight is in a single deal: Grant Thornton takes a private equity investment from New Mountain Capital, the largest U.S. firm to that point to bring in a sponsor. The move reframes the ceiling of the market — if a firm of Grant Thornton’s scale can take outside capital, the question for every large independent becomes when, not whether. Around it, Ryan adds a property-tax line, Ascend folds in LevitZacks, and Azets continues its UK roll-up. One watershed deal, several routine ones: a market still discovering its limits.

February 2024

• EBK (Colorado Springs, Colo.) acquired by CBIZ, the publicly traded consolidator. Announced Feb. 1, 2024.
• Baker Tilly (Chicago) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Hellman & Friedman. Announced Feb. 5, 2024.
• Platform Accounting Group (Salt Lake City) raises an $85 million funding round led by The Cynosure Group. Announced Feb. 6, 2024.
• BGBC Advisory (Indianapolis) joins Springline Advisory (Trinity Hunt Partners). Announced Feb. 12, 2024.
• PP&Co. (San Jose, Calif.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced Feb. 12, 2024.
• HD Davis (Youngstown, Ohio) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced Feb. 12, 2024.

February 2024 produced six meaningful tracker events: five M&A transactions and one platform formation. The month belongs to Baker Tilly, which takes a private equity investment from Hellman & Friedman — among the first of the truly large U.S. firms to do so, and a direct prelude to Grant Thornton’s move weeks later. Platform Accounting Group raises an $85 million round led by The Cynosure Group, Ascend adds two hub firms, and CBIZ continues its strategic consolidation with EBK. Together with the following month, February marks the inflection at which private equity stops being a small-firm story and starts reaching the profession’s largest names.

January 2024

• Jain & Jain (Houston) acquired by Prosperity Partners (Unity Partners). Announced Jan. 1, 2024.
• Magma Chartered Accountants (Rugby, UK) acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced Jan. 1, 2024.
• McInerney Saunders (Swords, Ireland) acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced Jan. 1, 2024.
• Michalak CPAs & Advisors (Spring Branch, Texas) joins Ascend via ATKG (Alpine Investors). Announced Jan. 1, 2024.
• Kowalsky Rose & Company (Laredo, Texas) joins Ascend via ATKG (Alpine Investors). Announced Jan. 1, 2024.
• Caldwell & Company (Bethesda, Md.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Jan. 12, 2024.
• TRS CPA Group (Salisbury, Md.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Jan. 12, 2024.
• Springline Advisory (Dallas) launches as a private equity-backed platform backed by Trinity Hunt Partners. Announced Jan. 18, 2024.
• Wasserman Wealth Management (Farmington Hills, Mich.) acquired by Buckingham Strategic Wealth (CD&R). Announced Jan. 19, 2024. Classified as an adjacency event.

January 2024 produced nine meaningful tracker events: seven M&A transactions, one platform formation and one adjacency event. The year opens in miniature. Springline Advisory launches as a Trinity Hunt Partners-backed platform, and the month’s other activity is small and scattered: Dains adds firms in the UK and Ireland, Ascend builds its Texas hub through ATKG, and Platform Accounting Group adds two Maryland firms. Nothing here approaches the scale of what is weeks away — Baker Tilly in February, Grant Thornton in March. January 2024 is the consolidation wave in its quiet early form: the same platforms and the same hub-and-tuck-in mechanics already in motion, waiting for the capital and the marquee names to arrive.

December 2023

• Morrison & Head (Texas) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced Dec. 4, 2023.
• Hughes Pittman & Gupton (Raleigh, N.C.) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Dec. 14, 2023.
• HPG Wealthcare Advisors (Raleigh, N.C.) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Dec. 14, 2023. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Cetera Financial Group receives a recapitalization led by Genstar. Announced Dec. 21, 2023. Classified as a recapitalization.

December 2023 produced four meaningful tracker events: two M&A transactions, one recapitalization and one adjacency event. EisnerAmper closes the year by taking both Hughes Pittman & Gupton and its wealth arm, capturing attest and wealth advisory in a single move. Ryan adds the property-tax firm Morrison & Head, and Genstar recapitalizes the wealth network Cetera Financial Group. The month is small but characteristic: the platforms are already buying firms and their adjacent wealth practices together, the pattern that defines the larger wave to come.

November 2023

• Wilson Lewis (Atlanta) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Effective Nov. 1, 2023.
• Szymkowiak & Associates (Buffalo, N.Y.) acquired by Cohen & Co. Announced Nov. 13, 2023.
• PEAR Consultants (Buffalo, N.Y.) acquired by Cohen & Co. Announced Nov. 13, 2023.
• Spielman Koenigsberg & Parker (New York) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Nov. 15, 2023.

November 2023 produced four meaningful tracker events, all M&A transactions. EisnerAmper and Ascend, both already sponsor-backed, add firms in New York and Atlanta, while Cohen & Co. — still an independent partnership at this point, more than a year before its own private equity investment — folds in two Buffalo firms. The month captures the late-2023 landscape, when consolidation was a mix of sponsor-backed platforms and traditional firms still buying on their own balance sheets, before capital reshaped who could acquire whom.

October 2023

• Goering Granatina (Overland Park, Kan.) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Effective Oct. 1, 2023.
• Martin James Investment & Tax Management (Mooresville, N.C.) acquired by Modern Wealth Management (Crestview Partners). Announced Oct. 19, 2023. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Northeast Financial (Reading, Pa.) acquired by Choreo (Parthenon Capital). Announced Oct. 31, 2023.

October 2023 produced three meaningful tracker events: two M&A transactions and one adjacency event. Ascend adds Goering Granatina, and two wealth-management platforms move in parallel — Modern Wealth Management takes Martin James Investment & Tax Management, and Choreo adds Northeast Financial. Even in a thin month, the wealth-adjacency thread is already visible, a reminder that sponsor capital entered tax-adjacent wealth management early and steadily, well before the accounting-firm wave peaked.

September 2023

• HSKS Greenhalgh (UK) acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced Sept. 1, 2023.
• Futcher Group (Kelso, Wash.) joins Ascend via Opsahl Dawson (Alpine Investors). Effective Sept. 1, 2023.
• MCM CPAs & Advisors (Baltimore) acquired by Cherry Bekaert (Parthenon Capital). Announced Sept. 12, 2023.
• Avalara’s sales-and-use-tax recovery and audit-defense business (Texas) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced Sept. 14, 2023.

September 2023 produced four meaningful tracker events, all M&A transactions. The month spreads across geographies and niches: Dains adds HSKS Greenhalgh in the UK, Ascend builds its Pacific Northwest hub with Futcher Group, Cherry Bekaert takes MCM CPAs & Advisors in Baltimore, and Ryan buys Avalara’s sales-and-use-tax recovery and audit-defense line. The mix is characteristic of the early wave — regional tuck-ins and specialty tax carve-outs running side by side, with no single deal dominating.

August 2023

• PSTAX (Erith, UK) acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced Aug. 1, 2023.
• S3TAX (Erith, UK) acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced Aug. 1, 2023.
• StraderHallett (Lacey, Wash.) joins Ascend via Opsahl Dawson (Alpine Investors). Effective Aug. 1, 2023.
• Opsahl Dawson (Vancouver, Wash.) joins Ascend as a hub firm (Alpine Investors). Announced Aug. 15, 2023.
• Crowe Healthcare Consulting (Indianapolis) is carved out by TPG and rebranded Kodiak Solutions. Announced Aug. 29, 2023.

August 2023 produced five meaningful tracker events, all M&A transactions. The most distinctive is a carve-out: TPG separates Crowe’s healthcare consulting practice and rebrands it Kodiak Solutions, building a standalone platform out of a large firm’s division rather than buying an independent. Elsewhere, Ascend assembles its Pacific Northwest hub around Opsahl Dawson, and Dains adds two UK tax specialists. The month shows the model’s range early on — sponsors will form platforms by carve-out as readily as by investment, wherever a book of specialized work can stand on its own.

July 2023

• Sentient Solutions (Hyderabad, India) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced July 1, 2023. The offshore accounting provider operates as Ascend’s captive delivery arm.
• Indigo Consulting Group (Hertfordshire, UK) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced July 6, 2023.
• MJI Consulting Group (New York) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced July 10, 2023.
• Moore Ireland (Dublin) acquired by Moore Global (Waterland Private Equity). Announced July 14, 2023.

July 2023 produced four meaningful tracker events, all M&A transactions and mostly international. Ascend acquires Sentient Solutions in Hyderabad, an offshore provider that becomes its captive delivery arm; Ryan adds consulting firms in the UK and New York; and Moore Global takes Moore Ireland in Dublin. The notable move is the offshore one: even in 2023, a platform is buying delivery capacity abroad, a sign that consolidation is about production capability and cost structure as much as client relationships.

June 2023

• LMC Advisors (New York) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Effective June 1, 2023.
• Mercer Advisors (Denver) — Altas Partners takes an equity stake, joining Genstar Capital and Oak Hill Capital. Announced June 6, 2023.
• Azets (UK) — PAI Partners takes co-control in a recapitalization. Announced June 19, 2023. Classified as a recapitalization.

June 2023 produced three meaningful tracker events: two M&A transactions and one recapitalization. The month is about capital layering onto existing platforms rather than new firms entering. Altas Partners takes an equity stake in Mercer Advisors alongside Genstar Capital and Oak Hill Capital, and PAI Partners moves to co-control of Azets in a recapitalization. Ascend, meanwhile, adds the LMC Advisors hub in New York. The early signal of a later pattern is here: platforms are already on their second and third rounds of capital, stacking and trading sponsors well before the practice becomes routine.

May 2023

• Isosceles Finance (Egham, UK) acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced May 1, 2023.
• NDH Advisors (Chicago) forms the Unity Partners-backed platform later branded Prosperity Partners. Announced May 4, 2023.
• BKL (London, UK) forms a private equity-backed platform with a strategic investment from CBPE Capital. Announced May 9, 2023.
• Morrison & Morrison (Chicago) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced May 18, 2023.
• ATKG (San Antonio) joins Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced May 18, 2023.
• COGEP forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Waterland Private Equity. Announced May 25, 2023.

May 2023 produced six meaningful tracker events: three M&A transactions and three platform formations. Three sponsors launch accounting platforms in a single month: Unity Partners builds the platform around NDH Advisors that later becomes Prosperity Partners, CBPE Capital backs BKL in London, and Waterland Private Equity forms COGEP. The simultaneity is the story — by mid-2023, sponsors on both sides of the Atlantic are independently arriving at the same thesis, standing up platforms faster than any one of them is yet buying. EisnerAmper and Ascend add firms in Chicago and San Antonio around the debuts.

April 2023

• Modern Wealth Management (Lenexa, Kan.) launches as a private equity-backed platform with a reported $200 million commitment from Crestview Partners. Announced April 5, 2023.
• Barber Financial Group (Lenexa, Kan.) joins Modern Wealth Management at its launch (Crestview Partners). Announced April 5, 2023. Classified as an adjacency event.
• The Modern Wealth New York team (New York) joins Modern Wealth Management at its launch (Crestview Partners). Announced April 5, 2023. Classified as an adjacency event.
• RETC Group (Dallas) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced April 11, 2023.
• Postlethwaite & Netterville (Baton Rouge, La.) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced April 20, 2023. The Top 100 firm reports about $81 million in revenue across nine offices.
• Naylor Wintersgill (Bradford, UK) acquired by Azets (PAI Partners). Announced April 27, 2023.

April 2023 produced six meaningful tracker events: three M&A transactions, one platform formation and two adjacency events. Modern Wealth Management launches with a reported $200 million commitment from Crestview Partners, combining Barber Financial Group and a New York team into a new wealth platform. On the accounting side, EisnerAmper takes Postlethwaite & Netterville, a Top 100 firm with about $81 million in revenue and nine offices — its largest deal to that point — and Ryan and Azets add specialty and UK firms. The month shows the model maturing on two fronts at once: a marquee wealth-platform debut and a sponsor-backed firm reaching into the Top 100.

March 2023

• Moore Kingston Smith (London, UK) acquired by Moore Global (Waterland Private Equity). Announced March 9, 2023.
• RTC Consulting (Montreal) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced March 13, 2023.

March 2023 produced two meaningful tracker events, both M&A transactions and both cross-border: Moore Global, backed by Waterland Private Equity, adds Moore Kingston Smith in London, and Ryan, backed by Ares Management and Onex, takes RTC Consulting in Montreal. A quiet month, and a characteristic one for early 2023 — the most active acquirers are the global tax and advisory platforms, expanding abroad while the U.S. accounting wave is still finding its footing.

February 2023

• BBD’s Investment Management Group (Philadelphia) acquired by Cohen & Co. Announced Feb. 2, 2023.
• Hopkins Tameron Hostal (Scottsdale, Ariz.) acquired by Mariner Wealth Advisors (Neuberger Berman). Announced Feb. 15, 2023. Classified as an adjacency event.
• MarksNelson’s advisory business (Overland Park, Kan.) forms the Trinity Hunt Partners-backed platform later branded Springline Advisory. Announced Feb. 28, 2023.

February 2023 produced three meaningful tracker events: one M&A transaction, one platform formation and one adjacency event. Trinity Hunt Partners forms the platform around MarksNelson’s advisory business that later becomes Springline Advisory, the second sponsor-backed accounting platform to take shape in the first half of 2023. Mariner Wealth Advisors adds a Scottsdale firm, and Cohen & Co. — still independent at this point — folds in BBD’s investment management group. Three deals, three different tracks: a new platform forming, a wealth roll-up continuing, and a traditional firm buying on its own.

January 2023

• Aronson (Rockville, Md.) acquired by Aprio. Announced Jan. 1, 2023.
• Granted Consultancy (Exeter, UK) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced Jan. 4, 2023.
• Embark (Dallas) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Parthenon Capital. Announced Jan. 10, 2023.
• Insero Advisors (Rochester, N.Y.) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Rallyday Partners. Announced Jan. 18, 2023.
• Alpert & King (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Jan. 23, 2023.
• R.O.A.D. (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Jan. 23, 2023.
• JHS (Danville, Calif.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Jan. 23, 2023.
• Hamilton & Company (Modesto, Calif.) joins Platform Accounting Group (The Cynosure Group). Announced Jan. 23, 2023.
• Ascend forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Alpine Investors. Announced Jan. 30, 2023.

January 2023 produced nine meaningful tracker events: six M&A transactions and three platform formations. The year opens with the wave’s foundations being laid: three sponsor-backed platforms launch within a single month — Ascend with Alpine Investors, Embark with Parthenon Capital, and Insero Advisors with Rallyday Partners. Ascend’s debut is the consequential one; it becomes one of the most active consolidators in the profession. Platform Accounting Group, already running, adds four California firms in a single day. The month marks the point at which private equity’s accounting infrastructure is quietly assembled — multiple platforms capitalized and launched before the trend draws wide attention.

2022

• Marks Paneth (New York) acquired by CBIZ, the publicly traded consolidator. Announced Jan. 1, 2022.
• Tax Advisory Services Group (Houston) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced Jan. 10, 2022.
• MacRostie Historic Advisors (Boston) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced Feb. 8, 2022.
• Marvin F. Poer and Company (Dallas) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced Feb. 16, 2022.
• Catax (Manchester, UK) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced March 1, 2022.
• Popper & Co. (New York) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced March 17, 2022.
• Tait Walker (Newcastle, UK) acquired by Azets (PAI Partners). Announced April 29, 2022.
• Greystone Property Tax Advisors (Boston) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced May 10, 2022.
• Access2Funding (Birkenhead, UK) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced June 13, 2022.
• Raich Ende Malter & Co. (New York) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced June 17, 2022. The Top 80 firm reports about $62 million in revenue.
• Cherry Bekaert (Richmond, Va.) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Parthenon Capital. Announced June 21, 2022.
• Cherry Bekaert Advisory (Raleigh, N.C.) acquired by Cherry Bekaert (Parthenon Capital). Announced June 30, 2022.
• Barringtons acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced July 1, 2022.
• Cooper Parry forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Waterland Private Equity. Announced July 4, 2022.
• The Funding Portal (Toronto) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced July 14, 2022. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Paradigm Tax Group (Dallas) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced July 19, 2022.
• Sandisons (Dorset, UK) acquired by Azets (PAI Partners). Announced Aug. 11, 2022.
• Lurie (Minneapolis) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Aug. 15, 2022.
• de Jong & Laan (Vroomshoop, Netherlands) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Waterland Private Equity. Announced Sept. 6, 2022.
• Thomson Reuters’ OneSource property tax and transfer pricing lines (Texas) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced Sept. 19, 2022.
• Smith + Howard (Atlanta) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Broad Sky Partners. Announced Sept. 27, 2022.
• William Duncan & Co. (Ayr, UK) acquired by Dains (Horizon Capital). Announced Oct. 1, 2022.
• Kurz Group (Dallas) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced Oct. 6, 2022. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Hoffman Group (Baltimore) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Oct. 19, 2022.
• Naver Ejendomsadmin (Copenhagen, Denmark) acquired by Azets (PAI Partners). Announced Oct. 31, 2022.
• Lindsay Brownell (San Diego) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Nov. 3, 2022.
• Kane McKenna and Associates (Chicago) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced Dec. 7, 2022.

2022 produced 27 meaningful tracker events: 21 M&A transactions, four platform formations and two adjacency events. The year reads, at first glance, as a specialty-tax story. Ryan accounts for nearly half of it, absorbing property-tax, credits and incentives firms across the U.S., the UK and Canada in a steady cadence of tuck-ins. But the year’s lasting work is quieter: four platforms form, and they become templates others copy. Parthenon Capital backs Cherry Bekaert and Broad Sky Partners backs Smith + Howard — among the first U.S. accounting firms to take private equity after EisnerAmper’s 2021 debut — while Waterland Private Equity stands up Cooper Parry and de Jong & Laan in Europe. EisnerAmper, in its first full year under TowerBrook, runs the playbook in real time, adding five firms from New York to Minneapolis. The paradox of 2022 is that the year looks small — 27 deals, mostly niche tax practices — while the architecture of the entire wave is being drafted. The model is proven here; the volume arrives later.

2021

• Burgess Cawley Sullivan (Vancouver, B.C.) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced Jan. 4, 2021.
• TCF Services (Australia) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced Jan. 4, 2021.
• PTX Tech (Atlanta) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced March 24, 2021.
• EisnerAmper (New York) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from TowerBrook Capital Partners. Announced July 20, 2021.
• PS Johnson (Ontario) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced Aug. 10, 2021.
• Schellman & Company (Tampa, Fla.) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Lightyear Capital. Announced Sept. 17, 2021.
• Citrin Cooperman (New York) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from New Mountain Capital. Announced Oct. 1, 2021.
• Mentor Works (Guelph, Ontario) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced Oct. 6, 2021.
• Dains (Birmingham, UK) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Horizon Capital. Announced Dec. 1, 2021.
• Caler, Donten, Levine, Cohen, Porter & Veil (West Palm Beach, Fla.) acquired by EisnerAmper (TowerBrook Capital Partners). Announced Dec. 2, 2021.
• Qvalia’s VAT compliance and recovery business (Stockholm) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced Dec. 2, 2021.

2021 produced 11 meaningful tracker events: seven M&A transactions and four platform formations. This is the year the wave begins. In July, TowerBrook Capital Partners invests in EisnerAmper — the first major private equity investment in a large U.S. accounting firm, and the deal every later transaction traces back to. Within months, Lightyear Capital backs Schellman and New Mountain Capital backs Citrin Cooperman, two firms that will themselves become landmark sponsor-to-sponsor flips later in the decade. In the UK, Horizon Capital forms Dains. Around these debuts, Ryan keeps building its specialty-tax franchise across Canada, Australia and Sweden. The paradox of 2021 is one only hindsight reveals: at the time, three U.S. firms taking outside capital looks like three isolated experiments. They are the opening of a structural shift that, within four years, reorders the profession.

2020

• Moore Belgium (Brussels) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Waterland Private Equity. Announced Oct. 1, 2020.
• Indirect Tax Solutions (Tauranga, New Zealand) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced Nov. 12, 2020.
• Real Estate Tax Group (Louisiana) acquired by Ryan LLC (Ares Management; Onex). Announced Nov. 17, 2020.

2020 produced three meaningful tracker events: two M&A transactions and one platform formation. The year is quiet, and entirely outside the U.S. accounting mainstream. Waterland Private Equity continues building its Moore platform in Europe with Moore Belgium, and Ryan extends its specialty-tax franchise to New Zealand and Louisiana. A full year before EisnerAmper, no U.S. accounting firm has yet taken private equity; the only sponsor-backed activity is in Europe and in niche tax services. The wave’s preconditions are in place, but the profession itself has not yet moved.

2019

• Paydayta Paytime (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) acquired by CBIZ, the publicly traded consolidator. Announced July 1, 2019.
• AEC Property Tax (Toronto) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced July 1, 2019.
• Wenner (Wilmington, Del.) acquired by CBIZ, the publicly traded consolidator. Announced Sept. 4, 2019.
• G.M. Bremer & Associates (El Segundo, Calif.) acquired by Mariner Wealth Advisors (Neuberger Berman). Announced Dec. 31, 2019. Classified as an adjacency event.

2019 produced four meaningful tracker events: three M&A transactions and one adjacency event. The acquirers are the ones who predate the private equity wave entirely. CBIZ, the publicly traded consolidator, adds Paydayta Paytime and Wenner; Ryan extends into Canada with AEC Property Tax; and Mariner Wealth Advisors takes G.M. Bremer & Associates. None is a sponsor-backed accounting platform, because none yet exists. The consolidation impulse is already present in the profession — it simply runs, for now, through strategic buyers and wealth managers rather than private equity.

2018

• Cetera Financial Group forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Genstar Capital. Announced July 17, 2018.
• Progressive Property Tax Solutions (Indianapolis) acquired by Ryan LLC. Announced Sept. 1, 2018. Classified as an adjacency event.
• Economics Partners (Denver) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced Dec. 1, 2018.
• VAT Systems (Paris) acquired by Ryan LLC (Onex). Announced Dec. 1, 2018.

2018 produced four meaningful tracker events: two M&A transactions, one platform formation and one adjacency event. The year’s significance is in the buyers’ own capital structures. Genstar Capital forms the Cetera Financial Group wealth platform, and Ryan — which takes its own investment from Onex that October — immediately steps up its pace, adding Progressive Property Tax Solutions, Economics Partners and the Paris-based VAT Systems. Private equity is moving into tax and wealth services well ahead of accounting firms; the capital that will later reshape the profession is, in 2018, still circling its edges.

2017

• Nickel & Company (Tulsa, Okla.) acquired by Ryan LLC. Announced Jan. 1, 2017. Classified as an adjacency event.

2017 produced a single meaningful tracker event, classified as an adjacency event. Ryan — still independent, years before any outside capital — adds the Tulsa property-tax firm Nickel & Company. In the tracker’s long view it is a near-empty year, a reminder of how recent the consolidation wave is: the mechanics that will define the 2020s are, in 2017, the routine tuck-in activity of a single specialty-tax firm.

2016

• Azets (formerly Cogital) (UK) forms a private equity-backed platform with an investment from Hg. Announced Sept. 1, 2016.
• Shiv Om Consultants (Houston) acquired by Ryan LLC. Announced Dec. 1, 2016. Classified as an adjacency event.

2016 produced two meaningful tracker events: one platform formation and one adjacency event. This is where the record begins. Hg forms Cogital — the firm later known as Azets — the first sponsor-backed accounting platform in the tracker, and a European one, five years before any U.S. firm follows. Ryan, still independent, adds the Houston severance-tax specialist Shiv Om Consultants. The starting point of the entire story is modest and offshore: a single UK platform and a niche tax tuck-in, in a year when the idea of private equity owning American accounting firms is not yet on the table.

Posted on June 9, 2026