57% Say PE Threatens the CPA Brand. But They’ll Take the Money.

CPA PE Deal Tracker™: 13 firms rolled up in May. 92 so far this year.

 

By CPA Trendlines

As the CPA Trendlines CPA PE Deal Tracker™ adds 13 more closings for the month of May, a new survey shows accountants worrying about PE tarnishing the image and reputation of the profession. But half say they might take the money anyway.

MORE Private Equity | MORE All 466 Deals for the Last 10 Years

Nearly half of the professionals surveyed— 49.5 percent — describe themselves as decidedly opposed to private equity investment: fiercely independent, not interested, never ever.

The rest, a bare but discernible majority, are not. They would do a deal for the right price. Or they are already in play. Or have already done a deal.

“It only makes sense to keep our options open,” says Michael Royer of Royer Advisors and Accountants in Falmouth, Maine. He is not opposed, and he is not sold, adding “it’s still a personal business — and we don’t know the full impact of AI.”

Top Ten CPA PE Deal Tracker™ Platforms

The top 10 platforms control 52.4% of verified tracker activity, with Ryan and Ascend accounting for 83 deals combined. (CPA Trendlines CPA PE Deal Tracker™)

	Platform	Deals	Share	Scale
1	Ryan LLC	42	9.0%
2	Ascend	41	8.8%
3	EisnerAmper	25	5.4%
4	Aprio	25	5.4%
5	Crete Professionals Alliance	24	5.2%
6	Platform Accounting Group	23	4.9%
7	Sorren	21	4.5%
8	Doeren Mayhew	19	4.1%
9	Dains LLP	13	2.8%
10	Modern Wealth Management	11	2.4%

92 deals so far in 2026

May 2026 is what the unopposed look like when they do a deal. Monthly activity remained healthy, even as growth slowed. May produced 13 verified institutional-capital M&A transactions in accounting firms and related advisory businesses, up from seven M&A deals and 10 meaningful tracker events in April, and on par with the year-ago May.

The CPA Trendlines PE Deal Tracker now contains 466 verified tracker rows. Through May 31, the tracker shows 92 meaningful 2026 events, including 81 M&A deals. 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.

Ascend opens the month on May 1 with the marquee deal, Alabama’s Jackson Thornton — founded in 1919, a Gulf Coast regional leader with six offices, roughly $41 million in revenue and 30 partners.

Three days later, Frazier & Deeter – backed by General Atlantic, PSP Capital Partners and Aksia – picks up Copeland Buhl in Minneapolis.

On May 6, Aprio adds Phoenix’s Price Kong and a cannabis-industry client base. Two days after, Doeren Mayhew takes South Miami’s Parlade Schaefer Schortz, with about 25 professionals. Mid-month brings a cluster: Nichols Cauley — the Madison Dearborn platform, barely a year old — buys Miami’s Molieri Group. Citrin Cooperman adds Coral Gables firm Sharff, Wittmer, Kurtz, Jackson & Diaz, and Sorren absorbs the $23 million Gorfine Schiller & Gardyn. The next day, Cohen & Co. crosses into Michigan for Gordon Advisors.

Don’t be fooled by a lull

The back half of the month widens the map: Springline Advisory goes to Norman, Okla., for GBC Advisory. Windsor Path, backed by a family office, buys the non-attest book of ASO Advisors. Grant Thornton Advisors agrees to acquire MCA Connect, a Denver Microsoft consultancy of some 350 people. Platform Accounting Group enters Massachusetts through Shoreline Advisors. And Ascend closes the month as it opened it, adding Ohio’s William Vaughan Company, its second deal of May and the only platform to buy twice.

The pace reads as a lull and a record at once. May’s 13 deals — all of them M&A, the first such month since February — sit below January’s peak of 30, and the three-month M&A average has fallen to 10.3 from 23.3 in February. But the rolling total remains near its high: the 12-month M&A count hit 190 in March, then held at 188 in both April and May. May is also a rebound from April’s seven-M&A, 10-event trough, the slowest month of the year. The monthly count and the cumulative line measure different things: how hard the buyers are pushing now, and how far the profession has already moved. The survey explains the second number. The deal count is the open half transacting, one firm at a time.

The Exhaustion Hypothesis

The survey data suggests that the most burned-out practitioners are the most open to a deal. CPAs who describe themselves as decidedly opposed to PE report they had a particularly difficult, busy season. Exhaustion, not greed, may be what moves a practitioner from “never” to “maybe.” “They inject capital that you desperately need,” notes a CPA in the survey.

The specific fears that animate the opposition go well beyond the commonly cited concerns about professional independence or service quality. Practitioners are worried about the architecture of the profession itself, the succession pathway for junior staff, the economics of firms that don’t take PE money, and the long-term talent pipeline. Among the top concerns: Converting partners to employees drew 43.3 percent. Impacting succession strategies at non-PE firms drew the same.“Why work and invest in a firm as a young employee if you know a PE firm is going to make an offer you can’t come close to matching?” says a partner in a local firm generally opposed to PE.

But even at a firm in play, the CEO is concerned about “the impact of non-CPA ownership and its long-term impact on the profession.”

The Most Overlooked Aspects

The open-ended question asking for the most overlooked aspect of PE generated some of the most substantive responses in the survey. The answers ranged from structural observations about exit risk to granular concerns about professional standards to historical perspective.“I remember roll-ups in the ’90s and maybe early 2000s, that fizzled out,” recalls Jonathan Kaplow at his Houston firm. “PE may be kind of the same thing with more money.”Bill Brown in Irving, Texas, might agree. Citing “the impact on independence and quality over net profit,” brown says “it’s possibly a repeat of the background found in Enron.” In Crestwood, Ky, the owner-operator of a small firm wonders, “What happens when the investors want out?”“Clients and top quality accountants go home at night,” says Robert Davidson at Arundel Consulting, with offices in New York and London. “PE does not have a good track record in running businesses where those assets are not nailed to the floor.” In rural Illinois, a partner in a regional firm worries about “cultural erosion and staff turnover.” In Oklahoma City, a CPA says, “PE is about the current bottom line and potentially flipping an investment after a few years, rather than focusing on an ongoing profession built on client trust and relationships for the long haul.”

The PE debate in accounting is not fundamentally about capital or efficiency or even independence. It is about succession. The wave of retirements among boomer-generation practitioners — evident in the verbatims across all four waves, with multiple respondents mentioning transitions, retiring partners and mergers as their primary operational challenge — has created a structural problem that PE offers to solve, for a price.

For many small firms, especially solo practitioners facing the mathematics of a one-person practice with no obvious buyer, the choice is not between PE and an ideal transition. It is between PE and nothing. The 44 percent who are open to the right offer are not necessarily enthusiasts for the private equity model. They are practitioners who have run the numbers on their alternatives. One respondent captures the posture exactly: the firm is “mostly opposed, but if no other option presents itself, might consider it as a last option.”

The Succession Subtext

From Toronto, Daren Chalupiak at Accountancy Insurance, mentions “Lack of allegiance” and says, PE “would just sell tomorrow and then it’s a new owner with new rules or ideas.”

In Bonita Springs, Fla., Debra Reno sees a “conflict of interest when firms take on auditing clients and give tax advice.” She foresees PE-backed firms “underserving the backbone of the country” and “pricing out small clients who will not be properly served.”

The concerns that track most tightly with opposition are the identity and legitimacy ones — independence, brand, talent pipeline and two-tier market. The concerns that the PE-curious hold just as readily, or more, are the operational and succession ones — succession/personnel, higher-margin client focus, partner-to-employee conversion. In other words, the opposed and the open largely agree that PE changes the mechanics of a firm; where they part company is whether it damages what the CPA designation means.

But no single concern is unique to the opposed camp. Even the harshest items are endorsed by sizable minorities of owners still weighing an offer. People aren’t sorting into “for” and “against” based on what they fear PE will do — they’re sorting on whether those effects are disqualifying.

The other side of every May transaction is a buyer, and that pool is widening too.

Platform moves

Ryan LLC and EisnerAmper, first and third all-time, sit the month out, coasting on positions built earlier.

The work falls to Ascend and to the middle and the newcomers, and to capital that is no longer uniformly private equity. Two of May’s 13 run on family-office money, in Windsor Path and in Platform Accounting Group through The Cynosure Group. The targets stretch the category as well, from a Microsoft consultancy to a non-attest practice.

The two-tier market that the opposition fears is forming in plain view, and it is being built with more kinds of money than the survey question assumes.

The drumbeat continues because the conditions that manufacture sellers are still in place — the exhaustion, the missing successor, the brand worry that troubles a practitioner without disqualifying the deal. The opposed and the open largely agree on what private equity does to a firm. Where they part is whether those effects are disqualifying, and May records 13 owners who decided they were not. That is the number to watch as the year runs on. The deal count is not enthusiasm spreading through the profession. It is resolve, giving way, one firm at a time.

Ryan moves into first place in the CPA Trendlines PE Deal Tracker while the largest platforms continue to capture a growing share of all transactions. Ryan leads the CPA Trendlines PE Deal Tracker with 42 verified transactions, followed by Ascend with 41. EisnerAmper and Aprio each have 25. Crete Professionals Alliance has 24. Platform Accounting Group has 23.

Leaderboard leaders

The leaderboard measures cumulative verified institutional-capital transactions through May 31, 2026. The ranking reflects a market increasingly controlled by a small number of large consolidators.

The top six platforms account for 180 of 466 verified tracker rows. The top six control 38.6% of all activity recorded in the tracker. The top 10 platforms account for 244 transactions. The top 10 control 52.4% of all verified activity.

More than half of every verified deal in the tracker belongs to one of 10 organizations. Scale remains the defining competitive advantage in the PE-backed accounting market.

Larger platforms benefit from broader capital access, larger recruiting networks, stronger technology investment capacity and greater acquisition experience. Independent firms evaluating succession options increasingly face a buyer universe dominated by a relatively small number of organizations.

CPA Trendlines CPA-PE Deal Tracker™

Selected Deals and Analysis

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

Every one of May’s 13 tracked deals is a simple acquisition. There are no platform-formation financings, recapitalizations, continuation vehicles, sponsor-to-sponsor flips or carve-outs in the May data. After the first-quarter capital activity, May is consolidation in its plainest form: one firm folding another in.

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 workbook records a $100 million deal 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 Strickland and 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.

Posted on June 9, 2026