This summer, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen) the eighth largest accounting firm in the United States, which has a presence in Tampa, announced that, together with Evelyn Partners, a wealth management services group in the United Kingdom, formed a new organization, CLA Global Limited (CLA Global).
Together, CLA Global network firms CLA and Evelyn Partners, provide services to more than 10,000 international clients in more than 100 countries.
Tampa Bay Business and Wealth Magazine caught up with Gretchen Whalen, managing principal of CLA’s, Tampa office to learn more about the deal.
This new global company is big news. Why did CLA feel it was the right time to expand in this way?
We saw an opportunity to collaborate and build a global organization different from any other in our world today. CLA Global is significant to the broader industry, filling a gap among top global organizations with its keen focus on fast-growing, innovative and dynamic middle-market, cross-border businesses while also concentrating on assisting international public interest and listed entities.
Does this change business in Tampa? And if so, how?
CLA Global provides additional opportunities for our team, in Tampa, to develop relationships with professionals at network firms internationally, to reach more businesses entering the United States and to strengthen our service offerings for multinational businesses.
Our Tampa location has, for years, been a hub for national teams that provide value-added service offerings such as specialty tax, cybersecurity, transaction advisory and outsourcing accounting. We have also developed a niche in serving global businesses given how many companies are drawn to the Florida market as they enter or expand in the U.S.
Other than a much larger stage for CLA, how will this impact business moving forward?
CLA provides services to clients of all sizes, with particular emphasis on fast-growing, innovative and dynamic, middle-market, cross-border businesses. We’re taking that passion to a global scale, with like-minded firms, to organizations all over the world through CLA Global.
CLA Global was created to support growing, and evolving, global clients by helping them navigate international complexity to better meet the needs of their business and customers. Member firms’ highly integrated capabilities can address dynamic, global markets and can help clients grow, scale and operate on a global level.
Will there be any leadership changes locally?
There are none planned. We are fortunate that CLA’s leader of global tax, David Springsteen, is based in the Tampa location. David was integrally involved in the launch of CLA Global and brings that perspective back to our market. I will continue in my role as the managing principal of the Tampa office.
What’s next for CLA?
We’re on a path to redefine what it means to work in, and be served by, the accounting industry. This new global organization can make it easier to elevate alignment, and collaboration, around our capabilities and markets through which CLA team members can realize personal and career experiences across the globe.
What else should people know about this news?
Global markets have evolved and the world is more connected than ever. We see the opportunity to collaborate with people of many cultures to build a global community different from any other. CLA Global member firms can help clients as they journey across our world.
CLA Global has among the largest financial outsourcing services offering and among the largest private client and wealth advisory platforms of any global accounting organization.
CLA, an independent legal entity, is a network member of CLA Global, an international organization of independent accounting and advisory firms. Each CLA Global network firm is a member of CLA Global Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee. ♦
For more information, contact Gretchen Whalen at [email protected] or 813.384.2783.
