Philly accounting firm merged again

The merger of accountants Eisner LLP, New York, and Amper, Politzner & Mattia LLP, Edison NJ, t form EisnerAmper LLP (which says it's the 14th largest US accounting firm), means the third name in two years for Amper's 130-person Jenkintown office. The former Goldenberg Rosenthal LLP was acquired by Amper in 2008, followed by administrative layoffs that won't be repeated, says managing partner and Philadelphia-area office head Jay Weinstein.

"We'll be practicing the same way we were yesterday," Weinstein promised. "We do not anticipate any layoffs," and "we continue to hire people out of college, but we are certainly hiring fewer people than five years ago" due to the slow economy.

Weinstein said the merger will combine Amper's public-company and mid-market business and the former Goldenberg's nonprofit and personal-wealth expertise with Eisner's "very strong" hedge fund, private equity and broker-dealer clientele. It's the latest in a string of accounting firm mergers (Marcum-Margolis, Weisner-Fishbaum, LECG-Smart, Parente Beard-Randolph). Why? "There's a trend toward smaller firms wanting to increase their service offerings," Weinstein offered.