The 100 largest accounting firms in the United States reported average revenue growth of 7.81 percent for 2013, according to Accounting Today’s new Top 100 Firms list. The Top 100 Firms and Regional Leaders report noted that this was the third year with similar levels of growth since the low points of 2009 and 2010, when the Top 100’s revenues actually shrank.
The growth was also relatively evenly distributed among the three tiers of firms that make up the Top 100: the six firms with revenues of over $1 billion, the 25 firms with between $100 million and $1 billion (three more than last year), and the 69 firms with revenues down to the threshold of $32 million.
In another positive development, while roughly the same number of T100 Firms reported flat or declining revenues for this year’s report as for last year’s (10 versus 11), the number that grew by more than 20 percent jumped to 10, from six the year before, and the number that grew by more than 10 percent was a whopping 37, versus 27 in the prior year.
Among the Regional Leaders, too, there were higher rates of growth, with three regions posting double-digit percentage gains, against none in last year’s report.
Changes to the list
Long-time Top 100 fixtures Alpern Rosenthal and Holtz Rubenstein Reminick both left the list, merging into BDO USA and Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, respectively. Many other firms got a boost from M&A this year, including Connecticut’s BlumShapiro, which jumped 11 spots on the list, and Ohio’s Hill, Barth & King, which jumped 22 spots. Pennsylvania’s Reinsel Kuntz Lesher also managed a double-digit move, up 11 positions from last year.
Then there’s the spectacular entrance of Ohio-based Skoda Minotti to the Top 100 at No. 80, with the highest growth rate of any firm on the list. Also graduating from last year’s Firms to Watch list to join the T100 this year was New York-based Prager Metis International, while the third new T100 Firm this year, Texas’ Montgomery Coscia Greilich, was one that hadn’t previously been part of the Accounting Today survey.
A number of firms joined the Regional Leaders this year, from Virginia’s PBMares and Washington, D.C.’s Tate & Tryon, to Atlanta-based Windham Brannon, the Mid-Atlantic’s Perelson Weiner and Untracht & Early, St. Louis’ Mueller Prost, Houston’s Melton & Melton, Oregon’s Perkins & Co., and California’s NSBN.
