Orange County’s largest accounting firms boosted their local headcount 6.9% in the year ended May 31, the eighth straight year of increases.
The 54 biggest firms on the Business Journal’s annual list added 350 employees locally for a total of 5,402.
One reason for that growth was an acquisition. Irvine-based Bolar Hirsch & Jennings was bought by Armanino, a San Ramon-based competitor that’s been on a growth push in Southern California of late.
Armanino, billed in recent years as the biggest independent accounting and business consulting firm based in California, added to its workforce here and takes over the 14th spot with 101 employees, a 22% jump from the 81 reported last year by Bolar Hirsch.
Bolar Hirsch “is a highly specialized tax firm with an amazing group of people and will put us in the hub of Orange County, where they have created a successful and trusted brand for nearly 30 years,” Armanino Chief Executive Matt Armanino said in a statement.
OC’s Largest
Another reason for the jump: a 5.5% rise at the Big 4 firms, which reported their employee count climbed by 119.
The Costa Mesa office of New York-based Deloitte retains its title as the largest in OC by boosting headcount about 6% to 962, or 58 employees.
That’s nearly double the size locally of its next closest competitor, London’s Ernst & Young, whose Irvine office jumped to No. 2 by growing 15% to 488—surpassing No. 3, New York-based KPMG, which reported a roughly 2% decline in local employees to 469 at its Irvine base.
No. 4, New York-based Pricewaterhouse-
Coopers, also in Irvine, added 10 workers to 375.
“The hot areas [of accounting] continue as you’d suspect—life sciences, high tech, the perennial real estate, a little bit of manufacturing,” said Ted Wilm, office management partner for PwC in Irvine. On the advisory side, cybersecurity and data privacy “are two very big hot areas.”
Wilm expects an increase this year in companies preparing to go public or being bought.
“A lot of management teams are looking to sell and a lot of companies are looking to buy,” he said. “In the fall selling cycle, there will be some additional deals that will hit the street.”
Club 54
The overall list ranks the 54 largest accounting firms by local employees, and includes numbers of partners and CPAs, though those don’t affect rankings. A separate list ranks consulting firms, (see list, page 38).
Thirty-four firms show an increase in headcount from a year ago; only seven reported a decline. Ten were unchanged, and three did not have comparable data for a percentage change.
CPA count jumped 9% listwide to 1,901.
The number of partners on the list climbed 6% to 607. A notable change was EY, which grew 15% to 53.
OC growth was faster than companywide numbers on the list, which rose 5.7% to 1.1 million.
The Irvine office of Seattle-based Moss Adams at No. 5, added 36 workers to 225, a 19% climb.
No. 7 Squar Milnar, also in Irvine, reported no local change but grew beyond its home base by 21% to more than 500 workers; Steve Milner’s firm is one of the state’s largest, and continues to acquire firms.
Woodland Hills-based Grobstein Teeple at No. 53, is the only newbie on the list; its Lake Forest office has 12 employees.
Chicago-based RSM US boosted headcount by 23 to 211, a 12% jump, which pushed it to No. 6 on the list. When Paul Short was named OC managing partner 16 months ago, after 23 years at KPMG, he told the Business Journal he aims to be in the top 4 in OC (see related item, page 29).
