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CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA)

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CLA is a top-10 US accounting and advisory firm serving nonprofits, government, and construction clients.

Hard to displace
Assessed 23 July 2026 · Evidence as of 23 July 2026
Strong structural protection; the business model survives ai pressure.
On the recordSince 23 July 2026 · Checkable from 2028 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: CLA-Digits AI model rollout to CAAS clients, three year build promised
The call

CLA stays licensed and profitable while slower growing than its newly PE-funded rivals, with its AI bet still years from proving out.

CliftonLarsonAllen is a partnership-owned accounting firm that does audits, taxes, and consulting work, especially for government agencies and nonprofits. It is hard to replace because CPAs need licenses to do this work and the government closely watches audit firms, but also because CLA has built up deep relationships in niches where the big accounting firms do not want to compete. The real question is whether PE-backed accounting firms like Baker Tilly and Crowe, which are growing much faster by buying up smaller firms with borrowed money, will eventually take away CLA's clients and its best employees by offering them better pay and faster growth paths.

Why
01
AI pressure: Digits (partnered) and AI-native bookkeeping tools like Pilot, Puzzle. CLA is co-building an AI model with Digits for its CAAS unit rather than being replaced, but standalone AI tools could still pull small clients away. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: PE-backed rivals Baker Tilly, Grant Thornton, Crowe, Eide Bailly, CohnReznick. These firms took private equity cash and are growing 38 to 100 percent a year through acquisitions, versus CLA's 4 to 8 percent organic growth. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.
03
What protects it. CPA licensure and PCAOB rules block Big Four and software companies from CLA's audit work, and its government and nonprofit single-audit volume is hard to replicate.
What would change this call
CLA's Accounting Today Top 100 rank falls below 10th by 2027. Would show PE-backed peers are overtaking CLA in size, not just growth rate.
CLA accepts private equity investment or changes ownership structure. Would contradict its independence positioning and match rival playbooks.
CLA-Digits AI platform ships to CAAS clients by 2028 as promised. Would show CLA can defend its CAAS revenue against AI-native competitors.
Key numbers
  • $2.05 to 2.1 billion FY2024 net revenue (2024)
  • Ranked 10th to 11th largest US accounting firm (2025)
  • PE-backed peers growing 38 to 100 percent a year (2026)
Named risks
  • Growth-rate gap versus PE-backed peers (4-8 percent organic vs 38-100 percent for rivals) could widen. Severity: medium
  • CAAS practice, about 15 percent of revenue, is exposed to AI-native competitors before CLA's own Digits model ships. Severity: medium
  • Ongoing litigation exposure including active trade-secret suit against Basin Tax and Accounting PLLC, trial set September 2026. Severity: low
  • Rising industry-wide PE consolidation could pressure CLA's independence positioning or talent retention by 2027-2028. Severity: medium
Rivals, as read in July 2026
RivalDirectionEvidence
Baker Tillygaining onPE-backed via H&F/Valeas since 2024, growing faster than CLA's 4-8 percent organic rate
Grant Thorntongaining onTook New Mountain Capital investment in 2024, part of 38-100 percent YoY PE-backed cohort
Crowegaining onSecured roughly $3 billion KKR investment announced June 2026
Eide Baillygaining onTook Reverence Capital private equity investment in June 2026
Big Four (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG)contestingStructurally uneconomic in CLA's mid-market and nonprofit tier, limited direct overlap
CohnReznickgaining onTook Apax Partners investment in 2025, part of accelerating PE-backed cohort
Questions people ask
Is CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) profitable in 2026?
CLA does not disclose net income publicly since it is a partner-owned LLP, but it reported roughly $2.05-2.1 billion in FY2024 net revenue and has grown organically 4-8% annually, ranking top-10 among US accounting firms for eight straight years through 2025.
Who owns CliftonLarsonAllen?
CLA is a privately held limited liability partnership owned by its own partners, not by private equity and not publicly traded, as of 2026. Leadership has repeatedly stated this independence, with Perkins & Company citing CLA's non-PE status as a reason for its July 2026 acquisition.
Could AI replace CliftonLarsonAllen's accountants?
AI is unlikely to replace CLA's core audit staff because CPA licensure and PCAOB oversight legally require humans. CLA's more automatable CAAS bookkeeping work, about 15% of revenue as of July 2026, is where it launched a proprietary AI model with Digits on July 21, 2026 to keep pace.
Who is CliftonLarsonAllen's biggest competitor?
CLA's closest competitors are same-tier firms like Baker Tilly, Grant Thornton, Crowe, and Eide Bailly, most of which took private equity money between 2024 and June 2026 and are growing 38-100% year over year versus CLA's 4-8% organic growth.
Is CliftonLarsonAllen losing clients to private-equity-backed rivals?
There is no evidence of CLA losing clients as of July 2026; the pressure is a growth-rate gap, with PE-backed peers reportedly growing 38-100% year over year versus CLA's 4-8%, not documented client departures.
What is CliftonLarsonAllen's AI strategy?
On July 21, 2026, CLA announced a strategic collaboration with Digits to co-build a proprietary AI model trained on CLA's own client base and workflows, starting in its CAAS practice and targeting rollout to thousands of clients over three years.
Timeline
  • 2026-07-21CLA announces collaboration with Digits to co-build proprietary AI model for CAAS clients
  • 2026-07-19Perkins & Company president cites CLA's non-PE partnership status as reason for acquisition
  • 2026-07-12Accounting Today reports CLA's acquisition of Perkins & Co, third 2026 deal
  • 2026-07-01CLA expands in Pacific Northwest by adding Perkins & Co, roughly $50M revenue firm
  • 2026-06Crowe secures roughly $3B KKR private equity investment
  • 2026-06Eide Bailly takes private equity investment from Reverence Capital
  • 2026-04CLA acquires Meridian Capital and Answerport
  • 2025-09-11Pennsylvania Superior Court affirms summary judgment in CLA's favor in malpractice suit
  • 2025-08-06CLA ranked No. 2 in Construction Executive's annual accounting ranking
  • 2024CLA acquires London-based AI firm Engine B
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Hard to displace. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
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