MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

PE Deal Tracker for Feb. 2026: 57 deals in 60 days

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February 2026 produced 21 recorded transactions — second only to January.

The accounting profession’s private equity wave shows no sign of cresting.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The 57 private-equity-backed accounting transactions recorded in the CPA Trendlines PE Deal Tracker™ through the first two months of 2026 represent more than three times the 18 deals logged in the same period a year ago, as the PE phenomenon continues to gather speed.

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February didn’t beat January’s record pace but it came in second, even if down 42%. Still, the underlying rate remains roughly double the 2025 monthly average of 12.1 deals. READ MORE →

Thirteen Things to Ask in a Merger of Equals

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Overhead view of 4 hands putting together 4 puzzle pieces

How about an executive committee from both firms?

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide 

Mergers of equals or firms close to equal (some call these sideways mergers) are much less common than mergers in which there is a clear survivor. But they do occur.

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Quite simply, there are two reasons mergers of equals are uncommon:
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Merging in a Smaller Firm: 33 Questions to Ask

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Young businesswoman using smartphone and tablet at outdoor cafe

BONUS: a telephone screening form.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

Even though these questions are primarily intended for larger firms to ask smaller firms, some of the questions may be appropriate for the smaller firm to ask larger firms. These are general questions; based on your review of the other firm’s data, you will certainly have specific questions to ask in addition to those below.

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An important goal of these interviews is to get open, honest and brutally candid responses. At most firms, this is virtually impossible if you interview two or more partners together. Only rarely, where two or three partners appear to be “joined at the hip,” is it acceptable to do group interviews.

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Candy Bellau: The $350 Pricing Mistake that Nearly Broke this Boutique Firm | The Disruptors

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How to reset pricing, rebuild margins, and stop “helping” clients into bankruptcy.

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Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Candy Bellau didn’t set out to build a firm that could operate without her. But her hand was forced when her mother became ill.

“I kept dropping the ball at my own company and my team, the long-term members kept picking it up, and slowly but surely, they just absorbed the client work I was doing,” Bellau recalls. 

MORE DISRUPTORS: Oliver: Build a Biz that Runs Without You | Daiber: Use Succession as a Growth Strategy | Cannon: Busy Season is Self-Inflicted | Carroll: When One Person Can Break the Firm |  Rampe: Build a Roadmap Even When the Road’s Not There | Chang: Killing SALY, One Agent at a Time | Vanover: 5-Star Firms Don’t Bill by the Hour | Kless: Profit Is a Result. Flourishing Is the Purpose | Whitman: Build Culture on ‘Progress,’ Not Change | Shein: No PE? No M&A? No Problem | Hood and Weber: Time to RISE | Proctor: Turn Dumb Ideas into Brilliant Solutions | Carter-Gray: How 1 Poor Review Strengthened the Firm | Hartman: Upwork to “40 Under 40” in 3 Years |

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Her team at Kramerica Business Solutions not only maintained the business but made it better. “They did things that were so much better, and they looked out for me,” Bellau says.  

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