Accounting Firm, Consulting Firm

Is there any such thing as “just” an accounting firm anymore? You know, a company that does nothing but accounting, auditing, and tax preparation?

There might be a few out there, but more and more, as corporate and individual clients’ needs become more complex, certified public accounting (CPA) firms are branching out into various kinds of consulting. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that it’s a trend,” says Rick Burrock, chairman of Boulay Heutmaker Zibell & Company, PLLP, a CPA and consulting firm based in Minneapolis. “As companies grow larger and individuals have more needs, they kind of gravitate to a resource base where they can get it all under one roof. Clients are attracted to that.”

Jeff DeYoung, managing partner at Virchow Krause & Company, LLP, a consulting and CPA firm in Minneapolis, agrees: “I think there’s a real trend towards CPA firms continuing to add consulting and other service offerings to assist their clients: wealth management, employee benefits, staffing resources, international resources.”

There is some ebb and flow in the CPA market. About seven years ago, in response to market pressures, the Minneapolis office of Grant Thornton sold off a consulting practice that focused on information technology solutions and enterprise resource planning implementations. But now it has rebuilt its consulting capabilities in other areas.

“It’s kind of this spiraling-up [phenomenon],” says Grant Thornton partner Kullen Birkeland. “As we continue to do our day-to-day jobs, we find situations where we’re best served to fill a market niche, or we are very capable of serving a market niche. And so that’s why, recently, forensic accounting and transaction advisory services have been significant growth areas for us.”

Trusted Advisors

Accounting firms offer all kinds of consulting services. Olsen Thielen & Company, Ltd., a St. Paul–based CPA firm, has a wholly owned technology consultancy called Olsen Thielen Technologies, Inc., that focuses on business applications (including accounting, enterprise resource planning, and customer resource management) and network infrastructure.

Taking a somewhat broader approach, Wipfli, LLP, a CPA and consulting firm in St. Paul, currently employs more than 100 associates who provide consulting services in human resources, process improvement, and information technology. It even has two offices in India that specialize in offshore development work. It’s fairly distinctive, says Wipfli senior manager Bob Cedergren, for a CPA firm to actually own those international resources instead of farming them out.