Brovitz, Insero accounting firms
move into top five with merger

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Cortland L. Brovitz & Co. P.C. has teamed with Insero & McLaughlin LLP to create a new accounting firm with some 65 employees, 37 of them CPAs, making it one of the five largest in Rochester.
The firm is called Brovitz, Insero, Kasperski & Co. P.C., reflecting the names of the best-known of the 11 partners. The union was official Jan. 1.
Later this month, Insero & McLaughlin staff will move to expanded Cortland L. Brovitz offices on the 11th and 12th floors of Midtown Tower.
The merger is the second among local accounting firms in less than a month. In December, Davie, Kaplan & Braverman P.C. announced it would unite with Chapman, Collins, Agostinelli & Shaw P.C. That merger also took effect Jan. 1.
One reason for the latest merger was Insero & McLaughlin needed to expand offerings in order to hold on to growing clients’ business.
“The one difficulty (in running a small accounting business) is trying to offer the wide range of services our clients demand, in a 12-person firm,” said Frank Insero, one of the partners.
For Cortland L. Brovitz, the merger means a larger roster of top-notch CPAs and expansion in its niche markets without major overhead expenses, Managing Partner Richard Kasperski said.
“What this merger does is it brings us more breadth,” said Cortland Brovitz, founding partner. “And we bring (Insero & McLaughlin) more depth.”
Both firms specialize in closely held for-profit companies. Cortland L. Brovitz, founded in 1952 as an individual practice, offers business consulting on a variety of topics–including profit sharing, employee benefits, information technology and business valuation–as well as standard services such as financial statements and tax-return preparation.
Insero & McLaughlin spun off from Bonadio, Insero & Co. in 1994, and has offered some business consulting as well as the regular accounting services.
Cortland L. Brovitz has had an affiliation, since 1992, with the accounting network of McGladrey & Pullen LLP, the sixth-largest CPA firm in the country. That relationship means access to tools such as training opportunities and studies.
National firms have established the pattern for mergers between accounting companies, even in the Rochester area.
“Every client can use some sort of sophistication,” Insero said.
Even manufacturing businesses with $2 million to $3 million in revenues want to work with accountants familiar with the latest technologies and manufacturing systems, Kasperski said. They also want to keep the accountants who are familiar with their businesses.
It is part of “the movement toward one-stop shopping,” Insero observed.
The new firm is expected to take in $5.7 million in revenues in 1998, Insero and Kasperski said.