Worcester Business Journal

16 Worcester Business Journal | September 2, 2024 | wbjournal.com Acquiring S&G e road to acquisition for a leading Central Mass. accounting firm centered growth and core values F O C U S L AW & AC C O U N T I N G BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer M ore than four decades aer opening their Worcester accounting firm S&G LLP in 1980, Carl Goldstein and Terry Shepherd knew it was time for a change. By 2024, S&G had roughly 2,500 clients in the U.S. and around the globe, a number of which had revenues in the billions. e firm had grown to be the third largest in Central Massachusetts when ranked by local staff by WBJ's Research Department, with 39 total staff and 15 certified public accountants. But as S&G's client base expanded, Goldstein and Shepherd recognized their business' need to join a firm with the services and resources to support their growth. On the hunt for an acquirer, S&G was in talks with 10 of the county's largest accounting firms, shopping around for about five weeks before first meeting with New York-based Citrin Cooperman, the second fastest-growing accounting firm in the nation, according to INSIDE Public Accounting, with a client base of more than 25,000. In a matter of six weeks, S&G went from its initial conversation with Citrin to signing an acquisition deal. "We felt that we needed the depth of an organization like Citrin to be able to properly service our clients. Citrin offers such greater opportunities for us to do that," said Goldstein. Strategic moves Bringing outsourced services in-house was a main catalyst behind S&G's acquisition. Prior to joining Citrin, the firm had to utilize third-parties to provide services such as cost segregation and research and development tax work. "Normally, we would have reached out to a tax attorney, but now we don't have to because we can just use our own resources to service the client's needs," said Goldstein. Like S&G, many firms look to be acquired when there is more business than the resources they have internally, said Zach Donah, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Society of CPAs. "[If ] you're offering traditional accounting services, some of these larger firm arrangements allow for a broader spectrum of services. It's sort of more of a one-stop shop for clients," said Donah. "So instead of coming in and getting your tax and auditing done or maybe a little advisory, now you have really robust offerings for your clients and so there's an additional value that's being added." e number of acquisitions has been ticking upward in 2024, Donah said, many with the driving force being a lack of access to capital for technological improvements. Emerging products used to offset the more mundane tasks of accounting allow CPAs to focus more on value-added services, though utilizing these technologies takes time not always available to firms on a smaller scale. Another common reason firms look to sell is due to an overall talent shortage in the accounting field. ough many industries are experiencing compressed workforces, the accounting space has a combination of barriers to entry making it difficult to enter the field, said Donah, including lower entry-level compensation compared to other professions and the costly and 1995 2000 1991 The principles behind S&G LLP in Worcester have remained steady as the firm grew over the last 44 years. They are (in the 2000 photo, from left) Ronald Masiello, Curtis Feldman, Terry Shepherd, and Carl Goldstein. PHOTOS | COURTESY OF S&G LLP

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