Private-equity backed accounting firm Ascend has added Florida Regional Leader firm Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund and California-based Glenn Burdette to its platform, effective June 1.
Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund, based in Pensacola and Tampa, Florida, and Glenn Burdette, in San Luis Obispo, California, are the latest firms to join Arlington, Virginia-based Ascend, which is backed by private equity firm Alpine Investors and ranked No. 29 on Accounting Today‘s 2025 Top 100 Firms list, alongside some of its member firms.
Glenn Burdette formerly operated under an employee stock ownership plan and adds a central California presence to Ascend along with a team of 75 and seven partners, while Saltmarsh marks Ascend’s first Florida footprint and adds a team of 16 partners and 178 total team members to the firm.
Ascend reported $314.74 million in revenue and 1,464 employees in 2024.
Terms of both deals were not disclosed.
“These are two monumental partnerships for Ascend,” said Ascend president Nishaad in a statement. “Glenn Burdette was founded 60 years ago, and in 2000 became the first CPA firm in California to form an ESOP. That decision marked the firm’s commitment to a set of core values that they still wear on their sleeve today – a desire to provide opportunity for their people, a focus on shared ownership as an enabler of success, and a fierce commitment to hold the pen on their own story.”
Glenn Burdette provides tax, audit, bookkeeping, business consulting and financial management services, primarily to middle-market and small owner-managed businesses.
“Partnering with Ascend is the right move at the right time for Glenn Burdette,” said the firm’s CEO David Merlo. “Their forward-thinking approach and shared values make them a natural fit for our next chapter. We chose Ascend because of their strong commitment to reimagining what’s possible — for both our clients and our people.”
Saltmarsh, Cleaveland and Gund is a full-service accounting and advisory firm offering expertise and specialized consulting for many industries and high-net-worth individuals.
“Saltmarsh has an equally proud history, with an 80-year legacy in Florida’s panhandle and central cities,” said Ruparel in a statement. “The firm is synonymous with quality, is a longstanding best-place-to-work, and has a dynamic group of partners that are seen as trusted advisors across disciplines. Less than a year ago, Lee Bell and the Saltmarsh leadership team took the time they needed to articulate a strategic vision that would carry the firm into the next decade and enumerate a plan for achieving that vision. We feel privileged that they decided Ascend is best positioned to help them fulfill those ideals.”
“The success of our business is entirely about putting our people first so they can do what they love, which is helping our clients achieve success,” said Saltmarsh Advisors CEO Lee Bell in a statement. “Ascend’s intense focus on people and their unique concentration on supporting our more than 80-year legacy as Saltmarsh is why we made the decision to partner with them.”
Both Glenn Burdette and Saltmarsh are independent members of the BDO Alliance.
Since Ascend was launched in early 2023, it has made a significant number of investments, including including Opsahl Dawson in Vancouver, Washington, in January 2023; ATKG in San Antonio in May; LMC in New York City in June; Sentient Solutions for Accounting, an offshore services provider in India and Mexico, in July; Goering & Granatino in Overland Park, Kansas, in October; Wilson Lewis in Atlanta in November; LevitZacks in San Diego in March 2024; North Carolina’s Blackman & Sloop and New Hampshire’s TSS in May; and Lucas Horsfall in Pasadena, California, in October; Walter Shuffain in Boston in January 2025; and McGee, Hearne & Paiz in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in February 2025.
