I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – the CPA firm "Merger-rama" isn’t a passing trend.
In February, when DHG and BKG joined forces to become a Top-10 national accounting firm, we made this prediction:
“We can look forward to seeing other new ‘powerhouses’ forming as the accounting profession continues to navigate challenges like ‘The Great Resignation’ and firms continue to evolve and consolidate.”
It didn’t take long: the newest powerhouse to emerge will be the product of this summer’s blockbuster merger between two Top-50 firms based in New York: Marcum LLP and Friedman LLP. The result will be a $1B national Top-12 megafirm with 3,400 associates and “the power to make the investments in people and technology to set a sustainable course for the future.”
Before announcing this deal, the two firms combined had undergone five large M&A deals just since 2019.
We’ve explored the three main reasons for the flurry of M&A activity in the accounting space:
- Talent
- Technology
- Tomorrow
To recap: the competition for top talent and the necessity of investing in efficiency-driving technology are putting major demands on firms, as they strive to answer the question: “What do the services of tomorrow look like?” For many firms, the smartest solution is to join forces.
The Marcum-Friedman merger “is expected to deepen both firms’ expertise in services such as public company audit and assurance, digital assets, cybersecurity, real estate, construction, and other advisory services.”
I caught up with Bob Lewis, President of The Visionary Group and one of Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting, and he had this to say of the Marcum-Friedman deal:
“This merger is another market signal of evolution in the CPA profession. Opportunities to enhance the client experience by providing advanced services infrastructures, combined with succession concerns for some firms, will continue to fuel mergers or acquisitions. Most opportunities will not be of this size, but there are many firms from a few million dollars on up that need to act.”
And act they will. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – the CPA firm merger-rama isn’t a passing trend.
It’s an exciting time to be in the accounting space, and at Aiwyn we’re working hard to deliver the best tech to the firms of tomorrow–from small to mega.
To learn how your firm can leverage tech to position itself for the future, schedule a demo with Aiwyn.
About Aiwyn
Aiwyn helps top-ranked professional services firms revolutionize their work-to-cash cycle, resulting in faster cash flow firm-wide, more productive and fulfilled professionals, and a superior client experience. With Aiwyn's Intelligence-Based Billing™ (IBB) platform, high-value firm executives, partners, and staff are liberated to deliver more value to clients and work at the highest end of their professional expertise. Aiwyn offers a suite of solutions built on the IBB platform that speed up the client payment cycle and provide firm leaders with predictive insights to drive smarter strategic growth decisions. Benefits of Aiwyn to accounting and law firms firms: partners can save time, bill faster, and shed administrative headaches; finance leaders can reduce days-in-WIP and days-in-AR, speed up client payments, and smooth out cash flow; executives can better protect financial health with predictive insights and controls, and improve their firm reputation by offering best-in-class experiences to clients.
Source 1: https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/marcum-merges-in-friedman-to-create-1b-megafirm.
Source 2: Bob will be a keynote at our Unlock user conference in September! Register here to learn how you can unlock underlying data and modernize your firm’s billing processes and performance.
