Two St. Louis Accounting Firms Merge with Purk & Associates, P.C.

Purk expands senior management team with Doug Pleus, CPA, Pleus & Company, LLC; Terry Knox, CPA, Dwyer Costello and Knox P.C.; Holly Breuer, CPA, and Candice Carter

St. Louis (February 16, 2021) – Purk & Associates, P.C., the leading, woman-owned St. Louis-based accounting, and management advisory firm, announced today that Pleus & Company, LLC; and Dwyer Costello and Knox P.C. have merged with them.

Doug Pleus, CPA, former owner of Pleus & Company, and Terry Knox, CPA, former partner at Dwyer Costello and Knox, join the firm’s senior management team.

“I’ve known Doug and Terry for years, and I have great admiration for their talents and the accounting firms they founded. When we started talking separately about merging firms, it was because each firm had unique strengths, similar core values, and strong client relationships. It all came together at the end of 2020 to merge their firms with Purk” said Jennah Purk, CPA, President and Co-Founding Shareholder, Purk & Associates.

Also, Purk hired Holly Breuer, CPA, as a Principal and Chief Operating Officer, and Candice Carter as a Director.

“I have known and worked with Holly and Candice for more than two decades. We are fortunate to have such talented, dedicated and energetic professionals join our team,” added Purk.

Because of the mergers and addition of talent, Purk & Associates estimates that 2021 revenue is on track to be $5 million, nearly $2 million more than 2020 revenues.

The firm has enhanced and expanded its tax, audit, accounting, and wealth management expertise for the following service lines:

Department of Labor specific to Labor Unions
ERISA Audits
Healthcare
Not-for-Profit
Tax-Centric Investment Management
Valuation and Calculation Services

The new senior management members include:

Holly Breuer: Breuer works with privately held businesses and their owners consulting on topics ranging from day-to-day operations to complex business structures and regulatory issues. She is Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which allows her to work directly with clients to value their businesses.
Candice Carter: Carter specializes in bookkeeping, controllership, payroll, IRS and Department of Revenue representation, tax return preparation and planning for businesses and individuals. In her role, Carter is responsible for new business development and client engagement for the controllership and tax division. Candice brings more than 20 years of accounting and tax experience.
Terry Knox, CPA: Knox will work with the firm’s Audit department, performing audits, reviews and comps for a variety of clients including local unions, employee benefit plans, not-for-profits, and partnerships. Prior to joining Purk & Associates, Knox was a partner at Dwyer Costello and Knox where he was a majority owner since 1985.
Doug Pleus, CPA: Pleus will focus on taxation for small business services, and individual tax and consulting services. He works with small and medium-sized businesses in a variety of industries, including healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, real estate, technology, and service businesses.

About Purk & Associates, P.C.

Founded in 2009, Purk & Associates, P.C., headquartered in St. Louis, is the leading, woman-owned, independent accounting and management advisory firm that delivers a full range of tax, accounting, audit, wealth management and consulting services, by providing high-touch attention to clients’ needs. The firm’s mission – Achieve More—allows Purk & Associates to focus on helping their clients achieve their personal and professional financial goals. To learn more, please visit www.purkpc.com.