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EDI TOR-IN-CHIEF BILL CARLINO
Managing Editor Daniel Hood
Senior Editor Roger Russell
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For those of you who reside in
the colder regions of the U.S.,
the onset of March is most likely accompanied by a tempered
optimism that the snow and ice of yet
another unforgiving winter will shortly begin to ebb.
For us at Accounting Today,
March represents the culmination
of months of grueling
quantitative calculations that serve to produce our annual Top
100 Firms ranking.
Considering this is
our 22nd edition of the
Top 100 Firms, we think
we’ve become pretty
good at it.
The Top 100 is
Accounting Today’s annual exercise in producing
our marquee numbers-crunching
study, a feature used by CPA practices
and other monitors of the profession
as not only a barometer to gauge the
growth of the profession, but as a
stick of self-measurement as well.
For the 2009 report, our staff contacted roughly 220 firms; the revenue
cutoff for the 100th largest firm was
$31.5 million — about $3 million
higher than last year’s. Had not Top
100 Firms stalwarts such as Tofias,
Goldenberg Rosenthal and Mahoney
Cohen dropped out as a result of
mergers, the threshold could well
have risen even higher.
Those T100 veterans who are
familiar with our survey criteria are
probably tired of hearing chapter and
verse on the guidelines for the section’s extensive charts and breakout
boxes. But for the benefit of our newer readers, please remember:
A Revenue, unless otherwise
indicated, is net revenue.
A Unless noted, the revenues are
U.S. only; no international figures are
included.
A The category of
“total employees” comprises partners, professionals and other personnel.
A In the rare case
where two Top 100
firms have reported
equal revenue, the firm
with the higher percentage of revenue
increase receives the
higher ranking.
For the 2009 study, our staff was
again quarterbacked by managing
editor Dan Hood, whose Herculean
efforts entailed collecting and subsequently rechecking the figures until
he became more familiar with them
than his own retirement portfolio.
Thanks also go out to Accounting
Today’s edit team of Roger Russell, Liz
Gold and Michael Cohn, as well as to
Jeff Stimpson of our sibling publication, Practical Accountant.
Without further delay,
Accounting Today presents its 2009 edition of
the Top 100 Firms. Can warmer
weather be far behind?
— Bill Carlino
Contents
Top 100 Overview 4
Top 100 Databank 5
Firms to Watch 6
Firm Strategies 8
Top Tax Firms 10
Niche Services 12
Client Categories 13
Regional Leaders 14
Rankings 17
Firm Highlights 20
Cover design: Wen-Wyst / Cover image: Gettyimages
