A Scott and Company March 4 press release announced that post-merger, the firm will operate under the Scott and Company name, and all members of each firm's Greenville offices will combine in a single Greenville location. Scott and Company will also continue to operate at its Columbia office.

 

"We're still working out some of the details," Don Mobley, a managing partner at Scott and Company told AccountingWEB, but it's expected the merged firm will be run by a management committee of four partners. 

 

Mobley said the firms are much alike. "We've known the principals at Johnstone, Graydon & Thompson for a long time, and we share the same basic business philosophies."

 

The merged firm will include eighteen CPAs, he said, and the practice will continue to be focused on audit, tax, and consulting services. 

 

Scott's clients range from individuals to multistate and international organizations. The firm has expertise in serving closely held businesses and their owners as well as companies in the health care, real estate, government, manufacturing, professional services, and nonprofit areas. 

 

Johnstone, Graydon & Thompson founder Bill Johnstone, who has "scaled back involvement in recent years as he approaches retirement, will continue in an active role, serving a limited number of clients and mentoring younger staff in the combined firm," according to the press release.

 

Mobley said the firm hired a marketing director for its Greenville office in January who will help build the firm's client base.

 

As for future expansion plans, Mobley said, "We would like to expand to other [areas] of the state, but we'll get this [merger] done first."

 

S. Hunter Howard Jr., who has directed Scott and Company's Greenville office since its opening in 2010, said in the press release, "We envision a huge upside to meeting the growing demands of South Carolina's middle-market organizations and governments by providing highly skilled, highly efficient, personable and professional accountants and consultants at a value proposition that meets their needs. Combined, our superior depth and capabilities will make that value proposition even more attractive to many."