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280+ CPA Firm PE Deals Projected for 2026, Per Cornerstone CPA PE Deal Tracker

By chrisomo

CPA firm PE deals are on pace to break 280 in 2026, according to the Cornerstone CPA PE Deal Tracker published by CPA Trendlines on June 9, 2026, which logged 70 acquisitions in the first half of the year and pushed the ten-year cumulative count to 466 transactions since 2016.

The headline numbers

The Cornerstone CPA PE Deal Tracker, maintained by Cornerstone Research Group and republished through CPA Trendlines, dated its latest update June 9, 2026 and reported a cumulative count of 466 CPA firm private equity transactions since the first tracked deal in 2016 (CPA Trendlines, “CPA PE Deal Tracker: 10 Years, 466 Deals,” June 9, 2026). The trajectory is the story. The tracker recorded a handful of deals per year through 2020, then accelerated as TowerBrook’s 2021 EisnerAmper recapitalization opened the gate. By 2024 the annual count had climbed into triple digits, and 2025 closed at 180 tracked transactions.

The first half of 2026 alone produced 70 deals, a pace that projects to roughly 280 transactions by year-end if the trend holds. That figure would represent a 56 percent increase over 2025 and would push the cumulative tracker past 600 deals before the end of 2026.

What is happening in 2026 specifically

The acceleration is concentrated in platform tuck-ins rather than new platform formations. The Cornerstone tracker recorded 13 transactions in May 2026 alone, including roll-ups by Ascend, Aprio, Citrin Cooperman, and Springline Advisory (CPA Trendlines, June 9, 2026 update). Inside Public Accounting’s M&A tracker corroborates the pace and lists individual deal announcements at insidepublicaccounting.com/category/mergers-acquisitions/.

The most recent named transaction is William Vaughan Company of Maumee, Ohio, which joined Ascend on May 28, 2026. Ascend is the CPA platform sponsored by Alpine Investors and launched in 2023. William Vaughan reported $24.7 million in annual revenue and roughly 130 staff at the time of the announcement, making it a mid-market tuck-in rather than an anchor (Ascend press release, “Ascend Welcomes William Vaughan Company,” May 28, 2026). Other named 2026 deals include Citrin Cooperman’s continued geographic expansion under New Mountain Capital and Aprio’s add-ons under Charlesbank Capital Partners.

The APS structure: why it works

Nearly every PE-backed CPA transaction is executed through an Alternative Practice Structure. Under APS, the private equity sponsor acquires the non-attest business (tax, advisory, consulting, technology services), while the licensed CPA firm retains the audit and attest practice as a separate legal entity. The structure preserves partner independence under AICPA and state board rules, which prohibit non-CPA ownership of attest practices in most jurisdictions.

The CPA Journal’s February 2026 analysis, “Private Equity and the Public Accounting Profession,” walked through the mechanics and the open questions, including audit quality oversight, partner compensation alignment, and successor-firm liability when sponsors exit (The CPA Journal, February 2026 issue). The AICPA Practice Aid on alternative practice structures, last updated in 2024, provides the underlying compliance framework.

The active sponsors

Seven platforms account for the majority of tracked activity. TowerBrook Capital Partners recapitalized EisnerAmper in August 2021, the deal that opened the modern PE era for CPA firms. New Mountain Capital backs Citrin Cooperman (2021) and announced its Grant Thornton recapitalization in March 2024. Charlesbank Capital Partners closed on Aprio in July 2024. Centerbridge Partners recapitalized Carr, Riggs & Ingram (CRI) in March 2024. Hellman & Friedman partnered with Valeas Capital Partners on Baker Tilly’s recapitalization announced in February 2024, and Baker Tilly subsequently merged with Moss Adams effective January 2025. Alpine Investors launched Ascend in 2023 as a dedicated CPA roll-up platform. Investcorp and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) closed on PKF O’Connor Davies in November 2024.

For full sponsor profiles, deal terms where disclosed, and platform-by-platform tuck-in counts, see the Ledgerism Brief’s 2026 CPA Firm PE Roll-Up Report at /2026-cpa-firm-pe-roll-up-report/.

What is driving the wave

Four structural drivers underpin the deal pace. First, partner demographics. The AICPA’s 2023 Trends report and successive updates show that more than 75 percent of CPA partners at firms with over $5 million in revenue are within ten years of traditional retirement age, creating a forced succession event across thousands of firms (AICPA Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits, 2023 edition).

Second, the entry-level pipeline. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a continued decline in accounting graduates entering public practice, and several states have moved to roll back or modify the 150-hour education requirement to widen the funnel. Ohio, Minnesota, Virginia, and Indiana enacted alternative pathways in 2024 and 2025. The pipeline pressure raises the value of scale and technology investment, both of which favor PE-backed consolidators.

Third, technology adoption. AI-assisted audit tooling, document-automation platforms, and cloud accounting systems require capital expenditure that smaller firms cannot fund from partner draws. Platform sponsors fund the capex centrally and amortize across the network.

Fourth, cross-sell economics. Wealth management, outsourced CFO services, transaction advisory, and ERP implementation carry higher multiples and stickier revenue than compliance tax work. Sponsors underwrite the deals on the basis of multi-service-line cross-sell, with the attest business as a retention anchor rather than the profit center.

For continuing coverage of CPA firm PE deal flow, see /news/. For the operating playbook used by platform sponsors during integration, see /playbook/. For underlying datasets and methodology, see /research/.