Terry Putney brings his unique experience in both the accounting and merger/acquisition disciplines to his role as Managing Director of Whitman Transition Advisors, a firm dedicated to working exclusively with accounting firms nationwide to:
- Develop and execute strategies to expand through mergers and acquisitions
- Identify objectives and create unique methods to facilitate retirement and other transition of owners
- Build business plans and owner agreements to facilitate and manage internal succession
- Identify and source talent for CPA firms
- Create access for CPA firms to overseas workforces
Terry has over 44 years of experience as a practicing CPA, as managing partner of a large local CPA firm, as a partner leading M & A for a national accounting firm, as a corporate executive responsible for building and leading professional service strategies, and as a consultant to accounting firms of all sizes.
Terry, as Managing Partner for five years. led the unprecedented growth of Donnelly Meiners Jordan Kline in Kansas City. Terry negotiated the sale of the firm to form the foundation of HRB Business Services. He became the first president of this accounting firm consolidation strategy. The firm expanded to over 1,000 professionals in the first year through the acquisition of large local firms forming regional platforms. He led the transformation of HRB Business Services into RSM McGladrey after its acquisition of the non-attest assets of McGladrey & Pullen in 1999.
As Senior Managing Director-Mergers and Integrations of RSM he assisted in managing the growth of the firm through acquisition to its current position as the fifth largest accounting firm in the United States. Terry then successfully launched a pilot program to offer accounting and tax services under an alternative branding strategy as Vice-president of the Small Business Resources division of a Fortune 500 professional services firm in 2002.
Terry fulfilled a personal goal to return to his first passion, consulting, and bring the knowledge and personal experience he gained firsthand back to the accounting industry when in 2004, he joined forces with Joel Sinkin to form Transition Advisors. As CEO of Transition Advisors, Terry and his partner merged with Whitman Business Advisors in 2022 to form the largest firm nationally providing these services to CPA firms.
An Accounting graduate of Kansas University, a member of the AICPA and the University of Kansas Accounting Advisory Council. He is a Past-president of the CPA Consultants’ Alliance. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and is regularly published in accounting profession magazines. He co-authored with his partner, Joel Sinkin, the book CPA Firm Mergers & Acquisitions, published by the AICPA in 2014. Terry and Joel authored the CPA Firm Succession series which was published by Journal of Accountancy, from July, 2013 through June, 2014 as well as the CPA Firm Valuation series published from October, 2014 through December, 2014. A sample of other recently published articles include After the Merger: Creating a Culture of Success, Journal of Accountancy, December, 2018; Building a State of Art M&A Target, Journal of Accountancy, August, 2018; Why Is Your Firm Worth Less Than You Think, Accounting Today, March, 2019; Accounting Firm M&A in the World of Coronavirus, Accounting Today, April, 2020; What's Hot and What's Not in M&A, Accounting Today, April, 2021. Phil Whitman and Terry jointly presented a webinar titled "The Effect of Private Equity on the M&A of CPA Firms" in May, 2022, following the recent wave of activity from this segment of investors in the profession. Terry has been named to the annual list of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the Accounting Profession by Accounting Today from 2012 through 2021.