Crains New York - September 24, 2012 - (Page 13)

REPORT istock ACCOUNTING INSIDE The List New York area’s largest accounting firms PAGE 17 Tech boom Accounting firms home in on startups that need personal attention PAGE 19 Marriage equality accounts for bigger workloads Firms welcome affluent same-sex couples, but tax laws are complicated BY STEVE WEINSTEIN As an accountant with many gay clients, Adeptus Partners’ Shelly Goch has seen her business grow as much as 50% since same-sex marriage was legalized in New York state last June. “It’s so much more complicated for same-sex couples,” she said. “Wills, financial planning, estates, trusts—all have to be considered to minimize the tax burden.” Indeed, New York accountants are finding that gay marriage is good for their business. Those who have done their homework to figure out how to handle a two-tiered tax structure—couples who are deemed to be married by state and city reckoning but who are two single people in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service—are finding a loyal client base, and an affluent one as well. Marketing firm Witeck-Combs Communications estimates that the buying power of gay men and lesbians in the United States this year will exceed $2 trillion. What Harvey Susnick, who heads Berdon’s LGBT practice, called “the strange anomaly of the tremendous discord between state and federal returns” has created essentially a specialty within the city’s accounting profession. Before same-sex marriage, it wasn’t unusual for Mr. Susnick to see an unmarried couple who had been together for 34 years but still See MARRIAGE on Page 14 THOMAS MARINO’s firm, J.H. Cohn, is looking for increased market share as it merges with Reznick Group. buck ennis From minnows to marlins Mergers help smaller fish compete in an environment that favors larger firms BY ALEC FOEGE When Thomas Marino, chief executive of top 20 accounting firm J.H. Cohn, was looking to expand the firm’s depth and expertise earlier this year, he and his partners found an opportunity they might not have considered just five years ago—a merger. “In 2007, everybody was making a lot of money,” said Mr. Marino. “The economic conditions today are different. The market hasn’t grown, so you’re going after market share.” In April, the Roseland, N.J.-based firm announced a merger agreement with Reznick Group, another top 20 firm headquartered in Bethesda, Md. The deal will close at the end of September and create the 11th-largest accounting firm in the country, with $450 million in revenues. CohnReznick will be based in Manhattan. The deal is the largest so far in JOINING UP of accounting firms in the NY area will experience an ownership change in the next five years Source: RF Resources 35% 2012 in an increasingly steady stream of marriages that can only be described as merger mania, with the New York area at the center of the frenzy. For the past three years, there have been more than 30 mergers in the area each year. Indeed, some 35% of CPA firms in the area will experience a change in ownership over the next five years, according to an analysis by Robert Fligel, president of RF Resources, a Manhattan firm that advises accounting firms about mergers. And it’s not just middle-market firms snatching up the small-fry. See MINNOWS on Page 15 September 24, 2012 | Crain’s New York Business | 13

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - September 24, 2012

In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Business People
Corporate Ladder
Small Business
Opinion
Greg David
Report: Accounting
The List
Classifieds
Real Estate Deals
New York, New York
Source Lunch
Out and About
Snaps

Crains New York - September 24, 2012