Big accounting firm merger news!

Clifton Gunderson and LarsonAllen have announced their merger this morning.  The new firm is now CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA).

The combined firm will have about $500 million in annual billings, which should make it the 9th or 10th largest CPA firm. Clifton was ranked 14th last year, and LarsonAllen was ranked 19th--but you don't move up many spots in the rarefied atmosphere of the Big Four, as you can see below.

Clifton Gunderson has been a noted leader in providing business valuation services--and it can be expected that the combined firm will strive to grow it's practice here--though the press release emphasizes strengths in wealth management and outsourced accounting services specifically.

BVWire's best guess on the ranking of the largest accounting firms (for those who are interested) at the end of 2011, based on earlier analyses from Accounting Today and other sources, is:

Rank    Firm                Approx.total revenues 2011

1.  Deloitte                                        $11 billion

2. E&Y                                                $ 8 billion

3.  PwC                                               $7.5 billion

4. KPMG                                            $5.5 billion

5. RSM/McGladrey                         $1.5 billion

6. Grant Thornton                           $1.3 billion

7. BDO                                                $650 million

8. CBIZ/MHM                                  $625 million

9. Crowe Horwath                            $550 million

10. CliftonLarsonAllen              $550 million

More news to follow...