Whitlock, Selim & Keehn merges with local firm

Patti Stoner, a certified public accountant who has become WSK’s sixth partner, owned her practice since 1986. Her staff accountant, Judy Gann, also joined WSK in the merger, which adds 432 clients to WSK’s roster of 1,700 clients.

“I wanted to focus on the client work, and I found that an awful lot of my time was spent on the administrative hassles,” Stoner said. “I was tired of reinventing the wheel when they’ve got so much more in terms of resources.”

At its peak, Stoner’s firm employed three people. By contrast, WSK, Springfield’s fourth-largest CPA firm according to Springfield Business Journal research, has 33 employees, including 18 CPAs, following the merger.

WSK Managing Partner W. David Myers said both Stoner and WSK have built their practices on serving the accounting needs of small- and mid-size businesses, so the merger was a natural fit. He wouldn’t say whether Stoner or WSK initiated the merger.

“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Myers said, adding that the decision to merge was an easy one.

This is the first merger for WSK since R. Barnes Whitlock, Elmer C. Selim and David A. Keehn established the firm under its current banner in 1985.

See SBJ’s Feb. 5 issue for more on the Whitlock, Selim & Keehn and Patricia S. Stoner CPA merger.