Expanding its business in Southeast Tennessee, the Chattanooga-based JHM Certified Public Accountants has acquired the Cleveland CPA firm of Harting, Bishop & Arrendale to expand its services and operations into Bradley County.
The two locally owned accounting firms combined operations last month and are changing the name of the Harting office in Cleveland to JHM.
JHM Managing Partner Dean Krech said the merger will help expand the range of accounting services available at both the Chattanooga and Cleveland offices of JHM, but he said the firm remains locally owned and focused and both offices share a similar approach to serving clients.
"This opens up a new geographic market for us," Krech said in an announcement of the merger, citing past involvement with partners Kelvin Bishop and Tommy Arrendale.
Arrendale, who is serving as manager of the JHM office in Cleveland, said JHM has been doing peer reviews for Harting for more than 30 years, "so they knew us from auditing us through the years, and it was really just a perfect fit."
"This gives us more resources and positions us for more growth," Arrendale said in the release. "It's important to emphasize that despite this merger, our core values and dedication to personalized attention remain unchanged. We understand the unique circumstances and goals of each of our clients and will continue to be here as we have always been to meet their needs."
Harting, Bishop & Arrendale's 40 years of expertise in Cleveland ranges from audits, financial statements, income taxes, estate planning and financial planning and advisory services.
Bishop said the merger should open more opportunities for both client and staff in Cleveland.
"JHM checked every box regarding having a passion for client relationships and a family environment that promotes growth for our team," he said in a statement about the merger.
The merger is the biggest for JHM since the firm began in 1977, adding another 15 employees to the 50 workers already at JHM.
"We are looking at opening other offices in Tennessee or possible acquisitions throughout the Southeast," Krech said in an interview. "We really want to grow, and we have a great culture that we can sell to other folks. We really focus on the trusted adviser relationship with our clients."
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The merger comes eight years after JHM merged with the Hixson accounting firm Mann & Miller PC. Krech said the merger with Harting, Bishop & Arrendale is the biggest in the firm's 47-year history and will open up another market area for the first time outside of Chattanooga.
JHM is part of CPAmerica, and with annual revenues of more than $8 million last year, the firm was ranked as the 444th largest accounting firm in the country in the 2013 Top 500 list by Inside Accounting.
The merger is part of a consolidation trend among most of Chattanooga's accounting firms over the past decade.
In 2013, Hazlett, Lewis & Bieter LLC, a 70-year-old Chattanooga accounting firm, merged with the Atlanta-based Mauldin & Jenkins. The next year, what was then Chattanooga's biggest local accounting firm, Decosimo and Co., merged with Elliott Davis.
Last year, the Chattanooga accounting firm of Market Street Partners merged with the Atlanta-based Smith + Howard CPA firm.
The Chattanooga-based HHM, now the largest locally based accounting firm in the region, also has merged with other accounting firms over its 40-year history to help add offices in Memphis and Cleveland, Tennessee, and Pensacola, Florida.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / From left, Tommy Arrendale, Dean Krech and Kelvin Bishop pose for a photo Wednesday at JHM Certified Public Accountants.