Connect with us

Accounting

M&A roundup: EY, CLA, Wipfli and Avantax expand

Published

on

Top 10 firm CliftonLarsonAllen has acquired Ronald Blue and Co, a tax, audit and accounting firm with offices in Atlanta, Georgia; Tempe, Arizona; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Santa Ana, California, effective May 1. 

Ronald Blue’s approximately 80 employees and eight partners will join CLA’s network of nearly 9,000 professionals and over 1,300 partners in providing personalized wealth advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax and consulting services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. CLA ranked No. 8 on Accounting Today‘s 2024 list of the Top 100 Firms, with $2 billion in annual revenue.

Founded in 1979, Ronald Blue and Co.’s client base includes musicians, entertainers and professional athletes, in addition to nonprofit clients and privately held businesses. 

“Becoming part of CLA is a tremendous opportunity not only for the entire team at Ronald Blue & Co. CPAs, but for the thousands of clients who rely on our specialized services,” said David Hogan, CPA, managing partner of Ronald Blue & Co. CPAs, in a statement Wednesday. “We have similar values and share a common focus on serving families, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations. And now, with access to the entire CLA national footprint, we can bring even more resources to bear for our clients.”

 CLA has more than 130 offices across the country, along with its CLA Global network. 

“We are excited to welcome Ronald Blue & Co. CPAs into the CLA family,” said Scott Engelbrecht, chief geographic officer for CLA, in a statement. “CLA continues to look for opportunities to have exceptional firms like this join us and grow our overall portfolio. Their mix of nonprofit and privately-held business clients align with the type of clients we currently serve on a daily basis at CLA.”

Last September, CLA acquired Richard, Witt & Charles in Garden City, New York;  Frost & Co. in Tacoma, Washington; and Gilmore Jasion Mahler in Toledo and Findlay, Ohio. In 2022, CLA did a number of mergers and acquisitions, including with Hayashi Wayland in Salinas, California, Concannon Miller in Florida and Pennsylvania, and Price CPAs in Nashville, Tennessee.

Continue Reading

Accounting

Total college enrollment rose 3.2%

Published

on

Total postsecondary spring enrollment grew 3.2% year-over-year, according to a report.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center published the latest edition of its Current Term Enrollment Estimates series, which provides final enrollment estimates for the fall and spring terms.

The report found that undergraduate enrollment grew 3.5% and reached 15.3 million students, but remains below pre-pandemic levels (378,000 less students). Graduate enrollment also increased to 7.2%, higher than in 2020 (209,000 more students).

Graduation photo

(Read more: Undergraduate accounting enrollment rose 12%)

Community colleges saw the largest growth in enrollment (5.4%), and enrollment increased for all undergraduate credential types. Bachelor’s and associate programs grew 2.1% and 6.3%, respectively, but remain below pre-pandemic levels. 

Most ethnoracial groups saw increases in enrollment this spring, with Black and multiracial undergraduate students seeing the largest growth (10.3% and 8.5%, respectively). The number of undergraduate students in their twenties also increased. Enrollment of students between the ages of 21 and 24 grew 3.2%, and enrollment for students between 25 and 29 grew 5.9%.

For the third consecutive year, high vocational public two-years had substantial growth in enrollment, increasing 11.7% from 2023 to 2024. Enrollment at these trade-focused institutions have increased nearly 20% since pre-pandemic levels.

Continue Reading

Accounting

Interim guidance from the IRS simplifies corporate AMT

Published

on

irs-nametags.jpg

Jordan Vonderhaar/Photographer: Jordan Vonderhaar/

The Internal Revenue Service has released Notice 2025-27, which provides interim guidance on an optional simplified method for determining an applicable corporation for the corporate alternative minimum tax.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 amended Sec. 55 to impose the CAMT based on the “adjusted financial statement income” of an “applicable corporation” for taxable years beginning in 2023. 

Among other details, proposed regs provide that “applicable corporation” means any corporation (other than an S corp, a regulated investment company or a REIT) that meets either of two average annual AFSI tests depending on financial statement net operating losses for three taxable years and whether the corporation is a member of a foreign-parented multinational group.

Prior to the publication of any final regulations relating to the CAMT, the Treasury and the IRS will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking. Notice 2025-27 will be in IRB: 2025-26, dated June 23.

Continue Reading

Accounting

In the blogs: Whiplash | Accounting Today

Published

on

Conquering tariffs; bracing for notices; FBAR penalty timing; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Whiplash

Number-crunching

  • Canopy (https://www.getcanopy.com/blog): “7-Figure Firm, 4-Hour Workweek: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself.”
  • The National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): This week’s “You Make the Call” looks at Sarah, a U.S. citizen who moved to London for work in 2024. On May 15, 2025, it hit her that she forgot to file her 2024 U.S. return. Was she required to file her 2024 taxes by April 15?
  • Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): Anteing up with Uncle Sam: The World Series of Poker is back, and one major change this year involves players from Russia and Hungary. After suspension of tax treaties with those nations, players will have 30% of winnings withheld. 
  • Parametric (https://www.parametricportfolio.com/blog): Direct indexing seems to come with a common misunderstanding: On the performance statement, conflating the value of harvested losses with returns. 

Problems brewing

  • Taxing Subjects (https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog): No chill is chillier than the client’s at the mailbox when an IRS notice appears out of the blue. How you can educate — and warn — them about the various notices everybody’s that favorite agency might send.
  • Dean Dorton (https://deandorton.com/insights/): Perhaps because they can be founded on trust, your nonprofit clients are especially vulnerable to fraud.
  • Global Taxes (https://www.globaltaxes.com/blog.php): When it’s your time, it’s your time: The clock starts on FBAR penalties when the tax forms are due and not when penalties are assessed — and even the death of the taxpayer doesn’t extend the deadline.
  • TaxConnex (https://www.taxconnex.com/blog-): Your e-commerce clients can muck up sales tax obligations in many ways. How some of the seeds of trouble might hide in their own billing system.
  • Sovos (https://sovos.com/blog/): What’s up with the five states that don’t have a sales tax?
  • Taxjar (https://www.taxjar.com/resources/blog): Humans are still needed to handle sales tax complexity, with real-world examples.
  • Wiss (https://wiss.com/insights/read/): A business — and business-advising — success story from a California chicken eatery.

Almost half done

Continue Reading

Trending