Firm News: Feb. 27, 2015

FLORIDA

CBIZ MHM, is hosting a photo contest. The purpose of the contest is for CFOs to share their diverse interests and hobbies, beyond number crunching. CFOs can enter the contest by posting photos of themselves participating in their hobbies via social media. The finalists will receive a variety of prizes within the Apple suite (iPad air, iPod, etc.) among others. The contest saw great success last year, and served as a way to lighten the mood, especially during busy season. A flier for the contest can be found on CBIZ’ Facebook page

ILLINOIS

Pricing tops the list of challenges facing private equity firms in 2015, according to the sixth annual PErspective Private Equity Study by BDO USA, LLP. Forty-two percent of fund managers say it will be the primary challenge facing their firm during the next 12 months, marking the second year in a row that private equity professionals identified pricing as their most significant pressure point. The identification and quality of targets came in second, with 27 percent of fund managers saying it represented their top challenge in 2015. … Pattillo, Brown & Hill, L.L.P selected several Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting US best-in-class tax, accounting and audit solutions to complement its existing workflow processes, enhancing all of the services they provide to their clients. … The Illinois CPA Society is accepting scholarship applications for the 2015-16 academic year. Students enrolled in an Illinois college or university, who are pursuing an accounting degree with plans to become a CPA are encouraged to apply. Approximately 30 individual tuition and textbook scholarships are available to students who demonstrate strong academic performance and financial need.

MARYLAND

The local accounting firm of DeLeon & Stang ranked 43th of the Top 50 Accounting Firms in the Washington D.C. area according to a recent issue of the Washington Business Journal.

MEXICO

HLB Mexico has incorporated two new firms in the state of Sinaloa on the North-Western coast of the country, totaling 10 partners and 60 staff. One is established in Los Mochis: Villarreal Corporativo y Consultores, S.C.; the other in Mazatlán: Valdez Núñez y Osuna Contadores Públicos y Consultores, S.C..
The two firms have provided audit, tax, corporate finance and business advisory services for 20 years with strict adherence to professional ethics, accounting standards and tax laws.
HLB Mexico comprises 16 firms, covering the wider part of the country.

MISSOURI

BKD placed 57th on Training magazine’s 2015 Training Top 125 list, which ranks companies by the effectiveness of their employee development programs. BKD—the only CPA and advisory firm on the Top 125 list—moved up 32 spots from last year.

MONTENEGRO

HLB Mont Audit, based in the capital city Podgorica, has joined the network. Established in 2002, HLB Mont Audit provides audit, tax, corporate finance and asset and capital valuation services to a wide range of companies including state-owned, listed and family-owned.

NEW JERSEY

Alloy Silverstein, headquartered in Cherry Hill, NJ, is both continuing and expanding its professional golf sponsorships for the 2015 season. Team Alloy welcomes back Cameron Percy of the PGA Tour; Steve Allan, Adam Crawford, Ashley Hall, and Bronson La’Cassie of the Web.Com Tour; and is excited to announce new branding agreements with Garrett Driver of the Web.Com Tour, and Su-Hyun Oh and Jayde Panos of the LPGA Symetra Tour.

NEW YORK

The American Institute of CPAs launched a new site, cpapowered.org, which underscores the value CPAs can provide to the nation’s 28 million small businesses on strategic planning, compliance reporting and financial management. This is an expansion of the AICPA’s #CPAPOWERED campaign, begun last year to highlight CPAs’ expertise. The AICPA and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants have today launched a new professional learning and development website for Chartered Global Management Accountants that will equip them with the competencies required to maintain and improve their employability in today’s challenging business environment. … Global professional services group Russell Bedford has added New York CPA firm Spielman Koenigsberg & Parker LLP as a member of its US network. … PwC’s 18th Annual CEO Survey is out. The report shows that the revival of corporate deals is poised to continue with U.S. CEOs in the new year with 54% planning to complete an acquisition this year. Additional Deals findings from the CEO Survey can be found here

SOUTH AFRICA

Oil & gas explorers must rethink their capital expenditure on exploration activity across the African continent in the wake of the significant drop in the global oil price, according to an analysis on the oil & gas industry in Africa released by PwC. “Oil & gas explorers will be relooking at their budgets and deciding where to allocate their limited capital spend given the substantial decline in the oil price. Overall, low oil prices could have an impact on production undermining certain players in the market,” warns Chris Bredenhann, PwC Africa Oil and Gas Advisory Leader. Download the report

TENNESSEE

Coulter & Justus, PC, headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., and Erickson, Brown & Kloster, P.C., headquartered in Colorado Springs, have joined CPAmerica International, an accounting association of independent, certified public accounting firms that provides shared best practices, networking opportunities and access to expert resources for member firms.

TEXAS

CohnReznick has expanded its Technology and Life Science Industry Practice to Austin, Texas. The local practice builds on the firm’s longstanding relationship with private and public technology, new media, and life sciences companies and industry investors, including private equity and venture capital firms.

VIRGINIA

Bloomberg BNA is now offering CPAs and legal professionals unlimited access to its comprehensive collection of professional learning courses in multiple formats for CPE and CLE credit. For a flat fee, subscribers will now have access to a wealth of webinars, on-demand and eLearning courses on a wide variety of legal and tax topics.

WASHINGTON

Opsahl Dawson, Certified Public Accountants based in Vancouver, has given $25,000 to Washington State University Vancouver. The gift will be divided between accounting fellowships and sponsorship of WSU Vancouver’s annual Notable Alumni Award for the next five years.

 

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