CLA adds Axiom CPAs | Accounting Today

CliftonLarsonAllen said Axiom Certified Public Accountants & Business Advisors, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, joined CLA, effective Aug. 1.

The acquisition will help CLA serve its clients in New Mexico and the southwest U.S.

Four partners and 16 team members joined CLA as of Aug. 1. CLA has nearly 9,000 professionals.

Financial terms were not disclosed. CLA ranked No. 8 on Accounting Today‘s 2024 list of the Top 100 Firms, with $2 billion in annual revenue. 

Axiom was founded in 2012 and offers clients tax, assurance and general accounting services along with specialty tax credit and incentive services, plus state and local tax consulting. 

“The team at Axiom is another great addition to our CLA family,” said CLA chief geographic officer Scott Engelbrecht in a statement. “CLA continues to be an attractive location for exceptional organizations like Axiom that are looking to grow and expand, within a firm that has similar values and philosophies. And their deep knowledge of New Mexico and the southwest U.S. economy will only further extend the value that CLA brings to clients across the country.”

The deal will enable CLA to expand to New Mexico.

“As we continue to grow and serve more and more clients, we felt it was time to become part of a firm like CLA that is like-minded and that has the resources and technology to help our clients continue to thrive,” said Axiom partner Ron Saavedra in a news release. “Both firms believe in similar philosophies, like offering meaningful and valued services to clients, and continuing to invest in the future through artificial intelligence and digital technologies. We are excited to be part of such a progressive-thinking firm.”

In May, CLA acquired Engine B, a London-based AI company that helps accounting firms get more insights from their clients’ data, its first acquisition abroad. Earlier this year, it acquired Ronald Blue and Co, a tax, audit and accounting firm with offices in Atlanta, Georgia; Tempe, Arizona; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Santa Ana, California, effective May 1. Last year, CLA acquired Richard, Witt & Charles in Garden City, New York; Frost & Co. in Tacoma, Washington; and Gilmore Jasion Mahler in Toledo and Findlay, Ohio. In 2022, CLA did a number of mergers and acquisitions, including with Hayashi Wayland in Salinas, California, Concannon Miller in Florida and Pennsylvania, and Price CPAs in Nashville, Tennessee.