BKD, Moore Stephens Frost still top accounting list

Arkansas Business, Sept 10, 2007 by John Henry

DESPITE REPORTING A DROP of 10 certified public accountants during the past year, BKD LLP of Little Rock remains the largest accounting firm in Arkansas, followed by Moore Stephens Frost PLC, also of Little Rock.

BKD reported 53 CPAs this year, compared with 63 last year. MSF was down one from the previous year.

Nationally, CPA firms are experiencing strong growth, with 76 percent reporting an increase in firm size in the last year, according to benchmark data in the 2006 National Management of an Accounting Practice Survey conducted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants.

And most in Arkansas grew slightly or at least held their own.

Beall Barclay & Co. PLC of Fort Smith, with 27 CPAs, is tied for third with JPMS Cox PLLC of Little Rock. Beall Barclay held steady while JPMS Cox gained one over last year.

Hudson Cisne & Co. of Little Rock gained a couple of CPAs and now has 22 to retain fifth place on the list of largest accounting firms in the state.

Others with a double-digit number of CPAs include Thomas & Thomas LLP of Little Rock, which has 20 (one more than last year); Erwin & Co. PA of Little Rock with 14 (down one); EGP PLLC of North Little Rock (up one) and Thomas Speight & Noble CPAs of Blytheville, both with 13; Deloitte & Touche of Little Rock with 12 (down one); Bell & Co. PA of North Little Rock with 11 (up three); and Jones & Co. Ltd. of Jonesboro with 10. EGP last year was Engstrom Grayson Green & Patterson PLLC.

Steven Warren, partner in charge of BKD's office, said the drop in the number of CPAs at his firm is the result of the increasing demand for CPAs in private industry.

"There's a huge demand for CPAs," he said, "and they come to BKD first because we hire quality people and train and develop them."

That view is echoed by Barbara Angel, executive director of the Arkansas Society of CPAs.

"Twenty years ago," she said, "95 percent of the CPAs were in public practice. Now it's more like 50-50 or maybe even more in private industry."

Private industry pays better and offers opportunities to move up to controller or chief financial officer positions in a company, Warren said. He added that he's looking to hire several CPAs.

Angel said another reason for the shortage of CPAs is that fewer people are getting accounting degrees because of the five-year requirement. The AICPA has several initiatives to persuade more people to sit for the CPA exams.

The AICPA's most recent survey found that the average partner compensation jumped 16 percent to $185,892 and the average hourly billing rate for partners was up 5 percent to $168 since 2004.

Despite strong growth, the survey said succession planning remains a stumbling block for many firms facing the imminent retirement of a generation of baby boomers. The survey found that only 24.1 percent of firms have a succession plan and only 7.2 percent of firms have partner-in-training programs.

UCA Leads CPA Graduates

University of Central Arkansas alumni received eight of the 21 CPA certificates awarded by the Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy during its April-May testing window. The UCA graduates who passed the rigorous exam were John D. Albritton, Susan E. Held, Courtney E. Lampkin, Nathan P. McLaughlin, Muhammad A. Qureshi, Amber N. Sherrill, Victoria L. Temple and Elizabeth A. McCarron.

The Uniform CPA Examination is administered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The 14-hour exam consists of four parts: financial accounting and reporting, business environment and concepts, auditing and attestation, and regulation. The exam may be taken during four testing windows each year.

Arkansas requires 150 hours of college credit to sit for the exam, including certain business and accounting courses with minimum grade requirements. In addition, Arkansas requires candidates to have one year of experience providing accounting, attestation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills.

By John Henry

jhenry@abpg.com