HOUSTON, Texas – February 7, 2025 – McConnell Jones, the largest majority African American-owned and controlled public accounting firm in the United States, today announced that it acquired Taylor CPA & Associates (TCPA), a well-established public accounting firm with offices in Columbus and Atlanta, Georgia, effective January 1, 2025. Led by partner and founder, William A. Taylor, Jr., CPA, CFP®, PFS, MACCT, the firm has an outstanding reputation providing Tax, Accounting, Wealth-Creation, and Consulting services to its clients in 21 states across various industry sectors.
“The combination of our resources with those of TCPA creates a powerful, balanced synergy that will enhance our ability to innovate and deliver solution-based services, providing exceptional value to our clients” said McConnell Jones’ Managing Partner Wayne McConnell. “We are now equipped to reach a broader audience and penetrate new markets with TCPA’s wealth-creation through tax and financial planning, and Client Accounting Services expertise. TCPA’s extensive 21-state market presence allows us to extend our geographic reach to connect with clients we have not previously been able to engage. This expansion is a testament to our commitment to growth and our pursuit of excellence” he added.
“This strategic move enhances our capabilities and allows us to integrate TCPA’s exceptional risk advisory, internal audit co-sourcing, and Sarbanes Oxley operational control assessments expertise into our existing strengths, further positioning our firm to provide innovative, comprehensive solutions that address the challenges our clients face in an everchanging economy. We can’t be more excited!” said McConnell Jones’ Partner and Advisory Practice Leader Odysseus “OD” Lanier.
“By joining McConnell Jones, our combined resources, in seven offices located in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia, will empower us to better serve our current clients by providing them with a more comprehensive and diversified range of services. We are committed to ensuring a seamless integration process that aligns with our core values and strategic imperatives” added William Taylor.
About McConnell Jones
McConnell Jones is the largest majority African American-owned and controlled CPA firm in the United States, providing assurance, tax and management consulting services to a range of clients from publicly traded and privately held companies; foundations; nonprofits; and local, state and federal governmental agencies.
This strategic acquisition marks yet another pivotal moment in the firm’s history since its initial merger transaction in 1999. Wayne McConnell founded McConnell & Company in 1987, primarily providing audit services and tax partner Thomas Jones, Jr. joined the firm in 1996, and the firm expanded its tax services. In 1999, McConnell Jones merged with an advisory and management consulting firm founded by Odysseus Lanier and Sharon Murphy, creating Texas’ largest African American-owned business advisory firm McConnell Jones Lanier & Murphy (“MJLM”). Between 1999 and 2013 MJLM operated as a consulting firm while separate affiliate McConnell Jones provided attestation and tax services. In 2014, following best practices in the accounting industry, MJLM consolidated its advisory and consulting services into McConnell Jones, to create a vertically integrated full-service accounting firm offering assurance, tax, and advisory services. Operating as a full-service accounting firm, leveraging the collective expertise of Wayne McConnell, Thomas Jones, Odysseus Lanier, and Sharon Murphy, along with highly talented employees and strategic acquisitions, the addition of TCPA enabled the firm to achieve its goal to become the largest majority African American-owned and controlled public accounting firm in the United States.
The firm’s diversity is a core tenet of its mission and value propositions, reporting that approximately 70 percent of its employees are from ethnically diverse backgrounds contributing to innovative solutions for our clients.
About Taylor CPA & Associates
Taylor CPA & Associates (TCPA) is the largest African American-owned and controlled CPA firm in the state of Georgia, providing expert tax, accounting, advisory, reporting, and financial planning services to clients in a variety of industries including healthcare, financial services, consumer services, athletics and entertainment, information technology, real estate, and nonprofits. The firm’s clients include high net worth individuals, corporate executives, estates and trusts, sole proprietorships, partnerships, publicly held and privately held corporations, professional services and non-professional services firms, and nonprofit organizations.
Inside Public Accounting, an accounting industry trade publication, recognized TCPA as among the “Best of the Best Firms” and “Fastest Growing Firms” in 2023. The Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce recognized TCPA as its “2021 Small Business of the Year”, and the Atlanta Tribune named TCPA its “Minority Business of the Year in 2018”, while Aflac named TCPA “Business Partner of the Year” in 2017 and 2018, and as a finalist in 2019.
For more information, please contact info@mjlm.com