Accounting firms continue to branch out from their traditional financial services, opting to offer additional technology consulting, risk mitigation, cybersecurity and managed IT services to their clientele.
Many of those accounting firms are diversifying into the IT services sector through M&A deals, as Forrester Research Principal Analyst Jay McBain and ChannelE2E have frequently pointed out.
Indeed, certified public accountants (CPAs) are seeking to add financial application, business automation and risk mitigation expertise to their roster of services. Moreover, accounting firms have increasingly pursued predictable monthly recurring revenue (MRR) that MSPs and cloud service providers deliver.
Accounting Firms and Technology Services: M&A List
ChannelE2E's ever-growing list of M&A deals in the sector includes:
22. November 2022: Sikich acquired Accelerated Growth.
21. November 2022: Rea & Associates merged with ARCIS Technology Group.
20. July 2022: RubinBrown acquired Himes Consulting Group for CRM and RPA consulting expertise.
19. March 2022: Baker Tilly US acquired Vanilla. The CPA gained ERP implementation and consulting expertise.
18. October 2021: Accounting firm Crowe acquired Spark.Orange, a Salesforce cloud consulting partner.
17. October 2021: Accounting and tax audit firm Sikich acquired PA Group USA, a Microsoft Dynamics partner that deploys ERP and CRM applications for manufacturing customers.
16. September 2021: Baker Tilly acquired AcctTwo Shared Services, an MSP and VAR focused on Sage Intacct financial software.
15. July 2020: MNP acquired Next Digital, further blending accounting and MSP services in Canada.
14. April 2020: Wipfli, a US accounting and consulting firm, acquired Microsoft Dynamics partner Tidestone Solutions.
13. February 2020: Cherry Bekaert, an accounting firm from the Southeastern United States, acquired icimo, a data analytics and technology services firm from Raleigh, North Carolina.
12. January 2020: TJS Deemer Dana (TJSDD) acquired Vertisys of Atlanta.
11. October 2019: BPM LLP, which is one of the 50 largest public accounting and advisory firms in the United States, acquired Infinitech Inc., an MSP in San Francisco.
10. July 2019: EisnerAmper LLP, an accounting firm in New York City, acquiring CSAM Marketing Inc. -- an MSP with risk mitigation and remediation services.
9. June 2019: Accounting and consulting firm MNP acquired ERP (enterprise resource planning) software and IT consultancy firm Mantralogix.
8. January 2019: AcctTwo acquired Leap the Pond, uniting two Sage Intacct partners that offer managed accounting services, accounting software, and custom-developed applications.
7. October 2018: Richey May, a Denver, Colorado-based accounting and advisory firm, acquired two IT consulting firms – Arrow Partnership and Corporate Blue.
6. July 2018: BDO USA acquired IT solutions provider SWC Technology Partners.
5. May 2018: RSM US LLP bought Explore Consulting.
4. May 2018: KPMG’s Canadian division acquired Adoxio Business Solutions, a Microsoft Dynamics 365 integrator and gold-level partner.
3. March 2018: Accounting and advisory services firm Rehmann merged with Trivalent Group, an MSP in Grandville, Michigan.
2. January 2018: Deloitte bought certain assets of ATADATA.
1. August 2017: Avitus Group (payroll, accounting, taxes & HR outsourcing) acquired Technical Edge Consulting for IT services.
Note: This blog, originally written in July 2019, is updated regularly to reflect the latest M&A deals in the accounting industry.
