Century Business Services Enters NY Market

By Danielle D'Angelo

Century Business Services recently announced that it will acquire the CPA firm Saltzer Lassar Piccinnini & Co. LLP (SLP), which represents Century's first New York City-based acquisition.

SLP, a firm with 28 employees, specializes in the high-technology and personnel services industries, and its services include accounting, tax, litigation support, management consulting for ISO 9000 requirements, advanced information systems, and executive compensation.

"We see the profession changing, and clients want one-stop shopping," said Jeffrey L. Saltzer, managing partner of SLP. "Century allows us to provide cross services, which is an advantage to a single firm like ours. Their philosophy is akin to our own."

Century Business Services marks the second CPA firm "consolidator" to enter the New York market in recent months. In July, American Express Tax and Business Services acquired Goldstein Golub Kessler & Co.

H&R Block Buys Top 20 Firm

In addition to Century and American Express, the acquisition of CPA firms by publicly-held companies also reached a new level with H&R Block's planned acquisition of Friedman Eisenstein Raemer and Schwartz LLP (FERS), a large, regional Chicago-based firm that ranks 19th in the list of top 100 accounting firms published by Public Accounting Report.