Professional Services: Law firms not ready to jump headfirst into risky tech
Artificial intelligence continues to make headway into most industries, as C-suite professionals test AI-powered tools’ potential for cost savings and efficiency. Some people are even asking whether the speed of AI could finally kill off the billable hour. Not so fast, Siri. Clients often are not fans of the hourly billing model, which averaged $370 […]
Out of balance
Kate Austin had a job waiting for her when she graduated last year from Christopher Newport University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. “I love it,” she says about her work as a tax associate at Keiter, a certified public accounting firm in Henrico County. Unlike two of her friends, who are still looking […]
Brown Edwards CEO to retire in June
Brown Edwards partner and CEO Jason Hartman will retire this summer, the Roanoke-based public accounting firm announced Tuesday. Hartman joined Brown Edwards in 1986 and has led the firm for the past seven years. Laura Sprouse, Brown Edwards’ chief operating officer and partner, will become the next CEO on June 1. Under Hartman’s leadership, Brown […]
KPMG names Richmond office managing partner
Wendy Lewis was promoted to managing partner of KPMG LLP’s Richmond office on Aug. 1, overseeing more than 235 employees based there, the New York-based professional services firm announced Wednesday. Lewis, also a partner in KPMG’s audit practice, succeeds Paul Croston, who will retire on Sept. 30 after 33 years with the firm. “I am […]
Falling short
In the accounting field, the books are out of balance. Demand for the profession’s services is rising, which is one for the assets column, but on the debit side of the ledger, the number of people willing and able to provide those services is dropping so alarmingly that some firms are being forced to turn […]
Belabored shortages
Faced with a shortage of drivers, Trevor Dunlap had to find a new way to recruit interested candidates for his Chesapeake-based trucking and warehousing companies, Givens Transportation Inc. and Givens Inc. “It’s very challenging to find qualified people and then be able to retain them,” he says, “and the wages we’re paying are substantially higher […]
Forvis names Fran Randall to governing board
Just weeks after promoting Fran Randall as its Richmond market leader, accounting firm Forvis has also appointed her to its governing board. The company, a new top 10 accounting firm formed by the merger this year of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP and Springfield, Missouri-based BKD CPAs & Advisor, made the announcement Wednesday. Randall […]
DHG to merge with BKD, forming top 10 accounting firm
The fifth-largest accounting firm operating in Virginia, Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP, is merging with Springfield, Missouri-based BKD CPAs & Advisors to form a combined top 10 accounting firm with $1.4 billion in revenue, the two firms announced Thursday. The “merger of equals” will be effective June 1, a company spokesperson said. The new firm will […]