After a merger deal between the accounting firm of Carlin, Charron & Rosen — which has an office in Glastonbury — and Chicago-based UHY LLP fell apart earlier this year, it’s no wonder CCR might be a little gun shy about future mergers.
But despite that trepidation, the firm — and its newly elected managing partner firm — is still aggressively seeking growth.
Partners at the Westborough, Mass.-based firm have directed their new managing partner — relative newcomer David Platt — to focus the CCR’s growth within New England, and avoid any mega-mergers like the ill-fated match up with UHY. But Platt, who has only held the title of managing partner for a few weeks, has a tough mission on his hands. The firm’s recently approved strategic plan calls for a doubling of staff and top-line revenues in five years time.
“We are going to try to do that independently,” Platt said. “If there is a merger, at this time it will be a downstream or lateral merger … We don’t see an upstream type consolidation.” In other words, the firm’s partners, who balked at the idea of being absorbed into the much larger national firm UHY, aren’t courting any big firms to fuel growth and they’ll only consider gobbling up smaller firms.
Although doubling an already large regional firm sounds daunting, Platt said he thinks CCR is “set up quite nicely” to achieve that goal, in part, through attracting strong talent.
“By attracting the best and the brightest, it’s easier to attract good clients,” he said. But finding that talent will be a challenge.
“Every firm I think has the same issues and that’s relative to human capital,” Platt said. “Recruiting is a very difficult thing these days.” One of the challenges is the “requirements that professional associations are putting on becoming a CPA,” he said.
CCR has seen fast growth in recent years. It currently has approximately 34 CPAs working from its corporate headquarters in Westborough. With outposts in Boston, New York City, Providence and Glastonbury, the firm employs about 75 CPAs, including 23 in Glastonbury.
“When I started with the firm we had about 12 people,” recalled Robert Charron, who stepped down as managing partner of the firm at the conclusion of his three-year term at the end of October. Today, the firm has more than 240 employees and estimates are that the firm brings in about $30 million in revenues annually.
Although Charron is stepping down as managing partner, he remains with the firm where he’s worked for 35 years.
“I’m still going to be working whatever time is required to service my clients list,” Charron said. “At times that means I’ll be working full-time, at other times that means I’ll be working less than full-time. But I’ll be thinking about the firm full-time.”
Platt, Charron’s successor, only joined CCR a year ago. He had previously been co-managing partner at Boston-based Tofias PC. He joined that firm when Tofias acquired Rooney, Plotkin & Willey of Rhode Island, where he had worked for 12 years.
Platt said it is his experience at Tofias that made him a strong candidate for the top job at CCR.
“Given where I came from, it was a natural fit for me to succeed Bob (Charron),” he said.
