Firm That Calls Itself the ‘Construction CPAs’ Did Not Make the List of the Top 50 Construction Accounting Firms

Up until last year, there hadn’t been an actual ranking of the best independent construction accounting firms. But trade magazine Construction Executive is into that sort of thing, I guess.

For its latest report, which of course has a pandemic-related theme, Construction Executive used an algorithm that weighed seven factors in descending order of importance to determine its accounting firm ranking:

• 2019 revenues from construction practice;
• Number of CPAs in construction practice;
• Percentage of firm’s total revenues from construction practice;
• Number of construction clients in 2019;
• Number of office locations with a construction accounting practice;
• Number of employees with Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional certification; and
• Year construction accounting practice was established.

The funny thing is, if you do a Google search for “Construction CPAs,” there’s a firm in Lynchburg, VA, Shelton & Co. CPAs, that calls itself the “construction CPAs.” According to the firm’s website:

Shelton & Company, CPAs, P.C. was founded in 1991 by now retired CPA and former CFO of a bridge contractor, Fred C. Shelton, Jr.  Fred understood and recognized the specific accounting needs related to contractors. He felt that having an accounting firm that dealt only with construction accounting would directly benefit construction companies of all sizes and types. …

Shelton & Company expanded its practice to offer not only comprehensive financial and accounting services, but also to offer valuation services for construction companies as well. Fred and his team of accountants offered seminars, and taught courses at local and national CPE conferences, published articles and offered their free time to sit on various boards in local chapters relevant to the construction industry. When Fred retired, he knew that he was leaving the firm he founded in very capable hands. Chad Maddox and Mason Brugh, who had worked beside Fred for years, took the reins and the company has thrived while the transition was seamless. The combined experience and knowledge among the staff at Shelton & Company spans decades and it shows in the services we provide every day.

Fred started this company with a very simple idea to provide specialized accounting services to the construction industry while maintaining exceptional customer service. That legacy continues on today.

So where did Shelton rank in Construction Executive’s top 50 construction accounting firms? I dunno. I can’t find them in the top 50.

Here are the firms that did make the top 25 (you can see firms 26-50 here):

1. CliftonLarsonAllen
2. Crowe
3. Marcum
4. Wipfli
5. Moss Adams
6. BKD
7. Baker Tilly
8. Plante Moran
9. Eide Bailly
10. CBIZ & MHM
11. Grassi
12. RSM US
13. Carr, Riggs & Ingram
14. Withum
15. Aldrich CPAs + Advisors
16. Anchin, Block & Anchin
17. Dixon Hughes Goodman
18. Somerset CPAs and Advisors
19. Berntson Porter & Co.
20. BerganKDV
21. Warren Averett
22. Citrin Cooperman
23. Sax
24. Schneider Downs
25. The Bonadio Group

Better luck next year, Shelton.

Related article:

TIL: There’s a Ranking of the Top 50 Construction Accounting Firms