TWO RUSSELL BEDFORD CPA FIRMS UNITE TO CREATE A 12-PARTNER REGIONAL PRACTICE

PMB Helin Donovan, LLP – a new 12-partner regional CPA practice – has been created by the merger of two North American member firms of Russell Bedford International. The California accounting firm of Pohl, McNabola, Berg & Co., LLP and the well established Texas firm of Helin, Donovan, Trubee & Wilkinson, LLP, merged on 1 January 2007.

Merger discussions started early in 2006 at the Russell Bedford Americas Conference in Mexico City. It was there that San Francisco CPA Michael Berg met up with Tom Donovan, a fellow CPA from Texas, and discussed merger opportunities.

The partners’ conversations were fruitful, and the momentum for what Michael Berg calls ‘a merger of equals’ grew.

The partners of both firms discovered that their practices, while located in very different parts of the country, had a great deal in common. Both firms feature rosters of partners with a good deal of corporate experience, most cutting their teeth with the Big-4 accounting firms and several having worked internationally for a number of years. Two of the partners, one from San Francisco and one from Austin, had worked together at KPMG in Kuwait right after the Gulf War and had kept in touch. Both firms share a philosophy of client service that includes direct partner involvement in all engagements.

PMB Helin Donovan, LLP - now officially in operation - maintains offices in Austin and Houston, Texas and San Francisco and Orange County, California. The new firm has 12 partners and approximately 65 total staff.

The merger of the two local accounting firms has created a regional CPA firm that Tom Donovan says is ‘big enough to compete effectively with other regional, national and international accounting firms’.

According to Tom Donovan, the creation of the new firm provides greater access to technical resources, broadens its partner base, and improves staff training and internal systems. PMB Helin Donovan will specialize in providing audit and tax services to financial services companies, technology companies, middle market enterprises, oil and gas companies, entertainment businesses, SEC registrants, employee benefit plans, government, and not-for-profit entities. The firm also specializes in individual taxation.

The newly combined client list includes over 1000 tax clients and more than 200 audit clients including 25 publicly listed companies.

‘We do international work, SEC work, individual work … you name it,’ Berg says.

Michael Berg sees PMB Helin Donovan being in a position to take advantage of what he views as a ‘torrent of work’ flowing to smaller accounting firms as corporate clients move away from the Big-4 accounting firms and team up with CPA firms that can provide technical expertise with a customer service focus.

For further information, contact Michael Berg on +1 415 399 1330 or Tom Donovan on +1 512 258 9670 x108. Alternatively, visit the websites at www.pmbhd.com .