ALBERTA

On a Friday morning in early December, some 150 accountants and staff boarded a Manhattan-bound R train. It's doubtful any of their fellow commuters guessed they were all from the CPA firm of WithumSmith+Brown.

A pair of Massachusetts accounting firms, Walter & Shuffain, P.C., and Cooper & Company, P.C., have merged, effective January 1.

Sage North America partner SWK Technologies Inc. has acquired the Sage accounts of Southern California-based Sage MAS 90, 200 and 500 reseller IncorTech, effectively adding nearly 150 clients and increasing its West Coast presence.

Gray, Gray & Gray LLP of Westwood, Mass., has merged in O’Toole & Company of Boston, effective Jan. 1.

Bank of America has begun offering financing to CPA firms to help them fund mergers and acquisitions, expand their facilities, buy equipment and software, and other purposes.

Southern accounting firm Carr, Riggs & Ingram LLC has expanded its footprint in Southern Georgia by merging in the local firm BowenPhillips LLP.

The Burdette Smith Group, P.C., a firm based in Fairfax, Va., has merged with a Tysons Corner, Va.-based firm, Bish and Haffey, P.C., to form Burdette Smith & Bish LLC.

The ability to recognize and address lifecycle issues such as succession and compensation, as well as seize opportunities like mergers, are critical for helping spearhead current and future growth, according to a trio of major firm CEOs.

With the tsunami of CPA firm mergers over the past several years and with more unions projected for 2012 and beyond, a trio of managing partners whose firms have been in “buyer mode” gave attendees at the Winning Is Everything confab here a laundry list of hurdles and issues that firms must address in order for combinations to be successful such as communication, integration and compensation.

Succession planning, recruiting, M&A and developing top talent and pricing pressures were among several front-burner issues that came to the forefront during a roundtable discussion by members of the Advisory Board.

Veris Consulting Inc. has expanded its forensic accounting and litigation support practice to Jacksonville, Fla., adding Edward Buttner, a CPA with over 30 years of experience.

HintonBurdick CPAs & Advisors is merging in a sole proprietor’s practice, Gardner Tax and Accounting, in St. George, Utah.

Smolin Lupin & Co. of Fairfield, N.J., has merged with McKinley White & Co., LLP of Paramus, N.J., expanding the firm’s services in the not-for-profit, education and transportation sectors.

The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters has acquired Canadian tax preparation software developer Dr Tax Software Inc.

Traphagen Financial Group, a provider of accounting and wealth management services based in Oradell, N.J., has merged in the Paramus, N.J.-based practice of Gerald Brignola, CPA, effective January 1.

CPA and business consulting firm Davis & Bellomo has acquired the Leawood, Kan.-based practice of Willa Franklin.

WeiserMazars LLP has merged in Biscotti, Toback & Company, expanding the firm’s presence in Long Island and industry expertise in providing accounting services for food and beverage companies.

Warren Averett, Kimbrough & Marino LLC is merging with Wilson, Price, Barranco, Blankenship & Billingsley P.C. and O’Sullivan Creel LLP to create one of the largest CPA firms in the Southeast.

Online metasearch product maker InfoSpace Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire online tax product provider TaxACT for $287.5 million in cash after the Justice Department blocked H&R Block from buying the company.