Forbes Top 200 CPAs in America

I am honored to be included in the first Forbes Top 200 CPAs in America list, and further honored to be alongside three of my Withum partners: Pat Walsh, Bill Hagaman and Jim Bourke.

Withum is an extraordinary firm and the fact that 4 of us are included on that list indicates recognition of that.

Pat is our managing partner and CEO and only the third person to occupy that role in our 50-year history. Withum was founded on March 21, 1974, and has grown to over 2500 people with a volume in excess of $575 million and is one of the top 25 largest accounting firms in the United States. Bill was our driving force from 2010 through 2022 succeeding founding partner Ivan Brown. Jim Bourke is the partner in charge of our Advisory Services Team which encompass so many innovative and nontraditional services that it is hard to describe. All three are friends and great people to be with.

Jim and I are also included in the Accounting Today Top 100 Most Influential People list. I have been on that list for 10 years, and Jim much longer than that.

Peter Weitsen, Frank Boutillette, and I joined Withum in 2005 when there were 200 people. That year, three other firms also merged, and combined, we added 50 people. The growth since 2005 has been phenomenal and has been spurred by quality people performing quality services for quality clients. About half of the growth has been organic, i.e., through client growth and referrals, and the other half through mergers with other quality practices.

Withum has strong expertise in most major industries, professions and not-for-profits as well as all of the major service areas clients need representation. Further, we are part of the global HLB International network of accounting firms with offices in over 150 countries and every major city throughout the world. Bill Hagaman currently is its Chairman and we have many Withum partners heading or serving on HLB committees. We have a strong presence in HLB, and this benefits our clients who do business or want to do business on a global scale.

Withum has expanded its presence with offices in over 25 cities and includes over 300 staff members in Bengaluru, India. I have pretty regular contact with people in many of the offices depending upon the services needed. Withum is now organized by niche specialties and it is not unusual for people in four or five cities to work together as a team on a client project. It has become so ubiquitous that I have even stopped asking what office they work out of.

When we have firm-wide briefings or Pat’s Town Halls, I am continually amazed at how many new services we perform. An example is Withum’s Digital and Technology Transformation Services Team with over 60 consultants, including project managers, business analysts, data scientists, engineers, software developers and user experience designers that help clients succeed in today’s dynamic and competitive world through agile and personalized Cloud and AI-driven solutions that transform clients’ operations, collaboration and communication. What they do is mind-boggling and state-of-the-art, and if you wonder if you could benefit from any of these services, just contact me, and I’ll set up a no-obligation meeting with just the right people here. My email is [email protected].