The local accounting firms of Cross, Fernandez & Riley, LLP (C/F/R) and Beckert, Price, & Rowse, P.A. (BPR & Company) recently announced a merger. Effective August 1, 2008, BPR & Company will be recognized as Cross, Fernandez & Riley, LLP"BPR & Company has a very rich tradition in Polk County and we have a great deal of respect for their team," stated Jim Cross, Managing Partner of Cross, Fernandez & Riley, LLP.

The LBMC Technologies Conference 2008 will be held on Tuesday, August 26th at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs in Franklin, TN and again on Wednesday, August 27th at the Knoxville Convention Center in Knoxville, TN. The LBMC Technologies Conference 2008 is an opportunity for business professionals and decision makers to learn about the latest technologies available to help them innovate, optimize, and transform their business. This event is free and open to the public, and everyone in the local business community is invited to attend.

Financial Executives International (FEI), the association for financial executives, has announced that Susan Schmidt Bies, Ph.D., former member of the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve, and John F. Ruffle, former Chairman of the Board of FEI, have been selected as the 2008 class of inductees of the FEI Hall of Fame.

Participants attending San Francisco-based Novogradac & Company LLP's 15th Annual Affordable Housing Conference, September 10-11, 2008 at the Fairmont San Francisco will hear California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer address the shape of the national and state economies and how they are affecting housing and its affordability.

J.H. Cohn LLP, the largest independent accounting and consulting firm headquartered in the Northeast, has combined practices with Frederic Kantor & Co. PC, a Manhattan-based public accounting firm serving high-net worth individuals and families working in entertainment and the creative arts, effective immediately. The addition follows that of Good Swartz Brown & Berns, which announced its combination with J.H. Cohn on June 11 and primarily serves the Southern California market. The addition of Frederic Kantor & Co. supports J.H.

Bit four firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has announced that fiscal year 2008 aggregate member firm revenue increased by 18.6 percent in U.S. dollars to $27.4 billion. This marks Deloitte's sixth consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth from continuing operations. Every service line and every geographic region delivered strong growth.

In a speech to accounting professors and corporate executives at PwC University for Faculty, PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S. Chairman and Senior Partner Dennis Nally announced the firm's release this month of a full suite of educational tools and programs designed to help American accounting students learn the fundamentals of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS describes the financial reporting treatment long used by companies outside the United States and which is expected to replace U.S.

The Rehmann Group, one of the state’s largest CPA and consulting firms, announces its merger with Novi-based Pew & Kearis effective immediately.“With an ever-increasing presence in the Metro Detroit market, we are better positioned to serve middle-market companies,” said Steve Kelly, Chairman & CEO of The Rehmann Group. “Companies have been looking for alternatives in the professional services marketplace, and we believe we are now that strong alternative.”“Our goal is always to become better, not bigger,” adds Kelly.

Indianapolis accounting firm Katz Sapper & Miller, has announced plans to merge with another Indianapolis firm, Heaton and Eadie, effective August 1, 2008. The newly-combined firms will operate as Katz, Sapper & Miller.Terms of the merger were not disclosed."It's about the pie getting bigger, rather than to take from each other," said David Charles, the partner in charge of Katz's health-care services group in an aticle that appeared in the Indianapolis Star.Heaton's 31 employees will join Katz's 30 partners and 215 staffers at Katz's current headquarters, 800 E. 96th St.