Crowe firm history
About Crowe
Crowe LLP is a public accounting, consulting, and technology firm that uses its deep industry expertise to provide audit services to public and private entities. The firm and its subsidiaries also help clients make smart decisions that lead to lasting value with its tax and consulting services, helping businesses uncover hidden opportunities in the market – no matter what challenges the markets present. Crowe is recognized by many organizations as one of the best places to work in the U.S. As an independent member of Crowe Global, one of the largest global accounting networks in the world, Crowe serves clients worldwide. The network consists of more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in more than 130 countries around the world.
Crowe reported $1.3 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. The firm and its affiliates have more than 5,000 personnel in 39 offices. Mark Baer serves at the firm's chief executive officer (CEO), a role he took on in 2021. Brenda Torres serves as the firm's chief operating officer (COO).
Crowe is a leading accounting firm in the U.S., as ranked by Accounting Today and INSIDE Public Accounting.
Crowe has been named one of the best places to work by professional and business associations and is a Great Place to Work-certified company. In 2024, the firm was again named one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® and was named as one of the Best Places to Work by Glassdoor.
Crowe is currently ranked one of the top accounting firms for construction companies on the list published by Construction Executive.
2023
In 2023, Rachael Gibson was named chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Jeff Schmidt was named chief technology officer, and Manny Goncalves was named chief strategy and communications officer.
In March, the firm announced Crowe CX for Commercial Lending, a new solution designed to simplify the lending process and strengthen relationships between borrowers and lenders.
In July, Crowe announced its strategic partnership with FloQast, a provider of accounting workflow automation software.
In August, private equity firm TPG signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Crowe healthcare consulting practice. Under the transaction, the team became an independent entity and was rebranded as Kodiak Solutions.
The firm’s inaugural Crowe Cares Day took place in August, which saw more than 4,000 employees join to make a difference in the communities where they work and live.
In October, Crowe announced its collaboration with venture builder High Alpha Innovation and its agreement with digital forensics and eDiscovery advisory firm 4Discovery, LLC.
2022
Crowe welcomed the more than 300 personnel of Texas-based Briggs & Veselka on January 1. As part of this transaction, the firm expanded its Houston office and established offices in Austin, The Woodlands and El Campo, Texas.
In March, Crowe established two new delivery units within its firmwide risk management business unit: firm quality, led by Jennifer Kary, and national office – professional standards, led by Matthew Schell.
Also in March, Crowe launched the Crowe ESG Center of Excellence (COE), led by advisory partner Chris McClure. The ESG COE serves as a facilitator and integrator across the firm’s advisory, audit & assurance, consulting and tax business units, bringing clients access to the firm’s ESG expertise and solutions, which include environmental, social, and governance.
Katie Hamada assumed the role of chief people officer and Manuel “Manny” Goncalves joined the Crowe leadership team as chief communications officer.
In May, LeaseQuery, a leading provider of accounting software, acquired Crowe Lease Accounting Optimizer for NetSuite, a solution developed by Crowe.
In June, Crowe sold three Crowe tax technology products – C-TRAC, K-1 Analyzer and K-1 Navigator – in a sale to venture-backed K1X Inc. Crowe will maintain a licensing agreeing with K1X Inc. to continue using the tools to provide tax services.
2021
In April, Mark Baer assumed the role of Crowe CEO and named Brenda Torres COO. New members to their executive team include Simon Riley, chief strategy and transformation officer, Ray Calvey, chief financial officer, and Chris Goodman, chief marketing officer.
In addition, Nicole Bencik was named managing partner of tax; Chad Kellar was named managing partner of advisory; and Tony Klaich was named managing partner of markets and industries.
View the full Crowe leadership team
In May, Crowe was identified as a Pacesetter in the report, “ALM Intelligence Pacesetter Research: M&A Services 2021-2022,” ranking among leading multiservice firms for bringing together integrated mergers and acquisitions core offerings.
Chris Goodman joined the Crowe leadership team in May as chief marketing officer.
In July, Crowe was named a Market Leader in Legal Operations in the report, “ALM Pacesetter Research: Legal Departments - Legal Operations 2021-2022,” ranking among leading multiservice firms for bringing together their multiple service lines to provide clients with a strategic legal operations approach.
In October, Crowe welcomed the personnel of Upaya – The Solution Inc., a firm with expertise in cloud consulting. As part of this transaction, the firm established a subsidiary based in Manila, Philippines.
Crowe established a Syracuse office when the personnel of Spark.Orange, a technology and services firm specializing in Salesforce cloud solutions, joined the firm in October.
2020
Crowe launched the Crowe Hive, a social network for healthcare professionals to interact and collaborate in a safe and trusted digital environment.
For the third consecutive year, Crowe was named to the prestigious Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list.
In March, the firm released the free Crowe Pandemic Response app to help clients manage risk and compliance across multiple jurisdictions while simultaneously protecting their workforce.
Chris Mitchell was appointed as the firm’s first chief diversity officer in April. In this new role, Mitchell is responsible for driving an innovative and programmatic agenda to support a culture of inclusion in line with the firm’s vision and strategy.
In May, the firm introduced the Crowe PPP Loan Forgiveness Platform for Lenders, which helps lenders manage the complexities of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness process.
In June 2020, Wendy Cama was named the managing partner of audit services at Crowe.
Crowe achieved the prestigious 2020/2021 Inner Circle for Microsoft Business Applications. Membership in this elite group is based on sales achievements that rank Crowe in the top echelon of the Microsoft’s Business Applications global network of partners.
Crowe launched the Crowe Business Challenges Survey, a research project that tracks c-level executives’ sentiment on the pandemic, the economy, the government, social issues, the election and business resilience. The firm published a spring, summer and fall report highlighting these findings.
During this decade, Crowe began practicing under the name Crowe LLP, launched a new brand platform, and reorganized its risk consulting services and its performance consulting services under one umbrella. The firm also added two new C-suite roles: Chief data science officer and chief information security officer.
In addition, Crowe continued its focus on growing nationally and globally, adding offices in Sacramento, California; San Francisco; downtown Dallas; Washington D.C.; St. Louis; Miami; Simsbury, Connecticut; Burlington, Vermont; Cayman Islands; Boston; London; Denver; San Jose, California; downtown Los Angeles; and Houston.
Crowe invested heavily in innovation by means of new product development and merger and acquisitions. The firm also combined resources with CHAN Healthcare, now Crowe Healthcare Risk Consulting.
The firm debuted on the prestigious Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list in 2018. Crowe was also included on several other lists compiled by Fortune over the years, including: best workplaces in consulting and professional services, best workplaces for women, best workplaces for recent college graduates, best workplaces for millennials, best workplaces for parents and best workplaces for giving back.
2019
By 2019, Crowe had consolidated revenue of $951.9 million, 4,568 personnel and 39 offices.
Effective April 1, Crowe reorganized its Risk Consulting practice and its Performance Consulting practice under one umbrella as Crowe Consulting, led by managing principal Josh Cole.
Crowe was recognized as an FY20 Microsoft Business Applications Inner Circle partner. This list represents the top 1% of all organizations in the Microsoft Business Applications group.
In response to its growing and expanding services in Texas and the south, Crowe opened its first office in Houston in October.
In October, Rex Voorheis was named the firm’s first chief information security officer and Steve Strammello was named the firm’s new chief risk officer.
Crowe and Thomson Reuters announced a strategic collaboration, the K-1 Analyzer tool, to help tax professionals address the burdensome manual work related to Schedule K-1 forms. The tool uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to read, extract and analyze K-1 data from front to back, including statements and disclosures.
2018
As part of its yearlong 75th anniversary celebration, the firm challenged its personnel to volunteer 75,000 hours in their communities, which was more than double the number of volunteer hours from the previous year. By the end of the challenge, Crowe personnel had exceeded expectations and volunteered 82,000 hours.
Crowe and the Department of Computer and Information Technology (CIT) at Purdue Polytechnic Institute announced the establishment of the Purdue-Crowe Digital Risk Collaboratory, which serves to develop opportunities in sponsored and government-funded research, with both sides working together on select Crowe client projects and services.
On June 4, the firm began practicing under the new name, Crowe LLP. At the same time, CHAN Healthcare, already part of Crowe, became Crowe Healthcare Risk Consulting LLC. The international accounting network, Crowe Horwath International, rebranded as Crowe Global.
In May, as part of its continued investment in technology and data, Crowe named its first chief data science officer.
In January, the personnel of TRU8, a risk consulting firm with deep specialized knowledge and experience in the Archer platform, joined Crowe. In December, Crowe purchased Asset Optimization Group, LLC (AOG), a healthcare technology and consulting firm specializing in a data-driven approach to asset management, from Hylant Group, Inc. Also in December, the firm welcomed the personnel from Sixred, an award-winning software consultancy specializing in cloud-based enterprise solutions from Oracle NetSuite, Adaptive Insights, Avalara and Dell Boomi.
2017
The firm established its first office in Denver when the personnel of Crowe GHP Horwath (GHP) joined Crowe. The personnel of SDGblue, LLC, based in Lexington, Kentucky, and San Francisco-based Rowbotham International also joined Crowe in 2017. The firm opened new offices in San Jose, California, and downtown Los Angeles.
2016
Crowe unveiled a new brand platform: Smart decisions today. Lasting value tomorrow. The new brand was created based on market research and an analysis of the firm’s culture, including its management philosophy, core values and vision, as well as existing client and people engagement feedback.
The firm established a Boston-area office when the personnel of AbleBridge, Inc., a software company that specialized in industry software solutions built upon the Microsoft Dynamics Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, joined Crowe. A London office was established with the acquisition of insurance industry risk consulting firm, BaxterBruce.
2015
Jim Powers was elected CEO of Crowe. He named Joe Santucci as Crowe’s new COO and Derek Bang as the firm’s chief strategy and innovation officer.
Crowe added offices in Simsbury, Connecticut, and Burlington, Vermont, when the personnel of Saslow, Lufkin & Buggy, an accounting firm specialized in serving the insurance industry, joined Crowe.
A Cayman Islands office was opened with the establishment of Crowe Cayman Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary providing audit, accounting and business advisory services to the offshore financial community, with a focus on investment company and captive insurance entities.
2014
The firm extended its presence in Florida when it opened its Miami office.
Crowe sold its subsidiary Creative Financial Staffing (CFS) to its employees through the establishment of an employee stock ownership plan.
2013
Crowe combined resources with CHAN HEALTHCARE LLC, a 320-employee company based in St. Louis, Missouri, creating one of the largest providers of internal audit and financial advisory services in the U.S. healthcare industry. (CHAN now operates as Crowe Healthcare Risk Consulting LLC.)
That same year, professionals of ExtOrg, a Microsoft Dynamics consulting firm that specialized in the automotive supplier industry, joined Crowe. As part of the transition, Crowe also opened a new entity in New Delhi, India, where many of ExtOrg’s professionals reside, establishing the firm’s Technology Center of Excellence and Crowe Horwath IT Services Private Limited.
2012
After serving as Crowe’s COO for five years, Kevin McGrath became CEO at Crowe Horwath International, effective July 1, 2012. This followed the retirement of former Crowe partner and Crowe Horwath International CEO Frank Arford.
Crowe was ranked on the InformationWeek 500 list for the first time, and made the list again in 2013. This list, compiled by InformationWeek magazine, recognized the nation's top 500 innovative business teams that have made notable improvements to how their companies operate through the use of new technologies and models.
Crowe welcomed the talent of Sacramento-based NewPoint Group, a consulting firm that served state and local government clients in California.
2011
The firm established Crowe Horwath Global Risk Consulting (Crowe Horwath GRC), a global professional services firm assisting multinational companies with their governance, risk and compliance needs. In addition to its presence in the U.S., Crowe Horwath GRC originally had offices in London, Beijing, Paris, Toronto, Montreal and Tokyo.
The firm added offices in Sacramento and San Francisco, California when the people of accounting firm Perry Smith LLP joined Crowe. Crowe also opened an office in downtown Dallas and an office in Washington, D.C.
During this decade, through expansion and mergers, Crowe focused on its strategy of becoming a national firm that is globally branded, adding offices in Chicago; Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee; Livingston, New Jersey; Atlanta; Irving, Texas; Los Angeles and Orange County, California; and New York City.
Crowe invested heavily in innovative solutions during this decade, as well, which included developing the not-for-profit tax solution Crowe Tax Risk Assessment and Control (C-TRAC), healthcare solution Crowe Revenue Cycle Analytics (RCA) and the lender risk assessment solution, Crowe Navigator. The firm also developed a strong healthcare group and private equity group practice during this time.
2009
By 2009, Crowe had consolidated revenue of $575.9 million, 2,427 personnel and 25 offices.
Global accounting network Horwath International changed its name to Crowe Horwath International. The new name combined the international awareness of the Horwath brand with the U.S. awareness of Crowe Horwath LLP (Crowe), the network’s largest member firm. Ahead of the international name change, Crowe changed its name in 2008 from Crowe Chizek to strengthen its alignment with Horwath International.
2007
Chuck Allen was elected CEO of Crowe. Former CEO Mark Hildebrand remained with the firm and stepped into the new role of executive-in-charge of strategic alliances, while maintaining his role as chair of the board of Horwath International. Kevin McGrath was appointed Crowe’s new COO. After 35 years with the firm, former COO Frank Arford retired from Crowe in order to take on a new role as CEO of Horwath International.
Crowe was first honored as a Microsoft Partner of the Year for the Midwest District and established membership in Microsoft Business Solutions President’s Club.
2006
The Crowe Foundation (rebranded the Crowe Horwath Foundation for several years) was established and designed to coordinate and better focus the firm’s charitable giving while encouraging and supporting personnel’s volunteer involvement.
Through expansion and mergers in the ‘90s, Crowe offices were established in Cleveland; Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, Florida, and Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky.
1999
By 1999, Crowe had annual revenue of $144.9 million, 1,137 personnel and 11 offices.
Mark Hildebrand was elected CEO, replacing the role of managing partner. He appointed Frank Arford as COO.
1995
Crowe was named by Public Accounting Report as one of the nation’s 10 largest accounting and consulting firms by revenue. Crowe has been named to this list each year since.
1994
Ronald S. Cohen retired as managing partner of the firm and James H. Naus was elected managing partner. That same year, Crowe established the affiliated firm Creative Financial Staffing LLC (CFS). The purpose of CFS was to build a network of certified public accountant firms trained to deliver staffing services as representatives of CFS.
1991
Crowe became a member of Horwath International, a worldwide organization of accounting and consulting firms. The affiliation provided the firm with local, professional experts located worldwide to aid in providing service to clients with international needs.
Through expansion and mergers in the ‘80s, Crowe offices were established in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Oak Brook, Illinois and Columbus, Ohio.
By 1989, Crowe had annual revenue of $35.6 million, 427 personnel and seven offices.
M. Mendel Piser, one of the firm’s original founding partners, retired from his position as managing partner of the firm in 1982 and was succeeded by Ronald S. Cohen. Under Cohen, the firm decided to practice in major metropolitan areas.
By 1979, the firm had annual revenue of $5.6 million, 126 personnel and three offices.
In 1963, the tax services group was created. In 1966, a second Crowe office opened in Elkhart, Indiana. That year the Management Advisory Services group was created, which evolved into what is today Performance Services and Risk Consulting Services.
Crowe Chizek was established in South Bend, Indiana, in 1942 by Fred P. Crowe Sr. and Cletus F. Chizek. Previously, Crowe had worked in public accounting for many years and served as the St. Joseph County auditor. Chizek was head of the accounting department at the University of Notre Dame and worked part time in public accounting. When it was first established, the firm had a single office in South Bend.
Following the death of Crowe in 1952, Chizek reorganized the firm as Crowe, Chizek and Company and two firm personnel, M. Mendel Piser and Fred P. Crowe Jr., became partners. In 1962, the first legal partnership of Crowe, Chizek and Company was formulated with six founding partners: Chizek, Piser, Crowe Jr., Robert W. Green, Joseph A. Bauters and John J. Pairitz. Chizek served as managing partner of the firm until his retirement in 1972, when he was succeeded by Piser.