Whitlock & Company

What Whitlock & Company does

Whitlock & Company, P.C. is a privately held regional Certified Public Accounting firm headquartered in Alcoa, Tennessee, founded in 1996 by Michael Whitlock. The firm operates from two offices in East Tennessee — Alcoa (Blount County) and Pigeon Forge (Sevier County) — and provides tax preparation and planning, bookkeeping, payroll, financial statement compilations and reviews, business valuation, and advisory services to individuals, small businesses, and larger corporations with 100+ employees. The firm has developed vertical specialization across healthcare, construction, real estate, hospitality, restaurants, non-profits, and homeowner/condo associations, positioning itself as a full-service accounting partner rather than a seasonal tax preparer.

The business is structured as a professional corporation (P.C.) and remains under founder Michael Whitlock's control, with internal succession partially addressed by Chris Rop's 2024 promotion to Partner. The firm completed the acquisition of Ingram, Overholt, and Bean (IOB) in 2019, reuniting Whitlock with former colleagues and expanding the practice's client base. The technology stack relies on standard third-party platforms — QuickBooks (Certified ProAdvisor Platinum status) and Accounting CS — supplemented by a ShareFile client portal and Iospays for invoice payment; there is no proprietary platform or AI-driven tooling.

Revenue is generated through professional services fees negotiated by engagement scope and complexity, with no public pricing or subscription tiers. Client acquisition is primarily referral-driven, supported by community involvement, professional affiliations (AICPA, TSCPA, Blount County Chamber of Commerce), and a content marketing resource center on the firm's website. The firm has no external investors, no parent company, and no M&A pipeline beyond its 2019 IOB deal, operating as an independent, founder-led East Tennessee practice.

Name

Whitlock & Company

Legal name

Whitlock & Company, P.C.

Website

https://whitlockcpa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Whitlock & Company, P.C. is a privately held CPA firm in East Tennessee providing tax preparation, bookkeeping, financial statement compilations, payroll, and advisory services to individuals, small businesses, and corporations across multiple verticals from offices in Alcoa and Pigeon Forge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Alcoa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Accounting Services: Revenue generated from providing comprehensive accounting services including tax preparation and planning, bookkeeping, financial statement compilations and reviews, payroll processing, and consulting services. Services are delivered to individuals, small businesses, and large corporations with fees based on scope and complexity of engagement.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Whitlock & Company, P.C. is a Tennessee-based CPA firm that provides professional accounting services including individual and business income tax preparation and planning, bookkeeping and payroll processing, financial statement compilations and reviews, business valuation, estate and trust planning, and advisory/consulting services. The firm serves individuals, small businesses, and corporations with 100+ employees across East Tennessee from offices in Alcoa and Pigeon Forge.

Product overview

Whitlock & Company, P.C. is a CPA firm offering professional accounting services through a unified service model rather than a software platform. The firm provides Tax Preparation & Planning (individual and business), Estate & Trust Planning, Business Tax Services, Assurance (Reviews and Compilations), Advisory Services, Business Valuation, QuickBooks Assistance (setup, training, support), and Client Accounting Services (bookkeeping and payroll). Services are delivered through two East Tennessee offices in Alcoa and Pigeon Forge, with a team of CPAs and accounting professionals serving individuals, small businesses, and larger corporations with 100+ employees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tax Preparation & Planning Individual 1040 tax preparation, tax planning, IRS representation, social security tax planning, and quarterly estimate calculations for individuals and sole proprietors.
• Estate & Trust Planning Family tax planning, gift tax planning, charitable gifting, trust and estate tax planning, business succession planning, retirement distribution planning, and multi-state tax planning for individuals.
• Sole Proprietor and Single Member LLC Services LLC tax preparation, audit representation, business entity selection, mergers and acquisitions structuring, and sales and use tax planning for sole proprietors and single-member LLCs.
• Business Tax Services Corporate, partnership and LLC tax preparation, capital acquisition planning, and non-profit tax services for businesses.
• Assurance - Reviews and Compilations Financial statement reviews (limited assurance based on analytical procedures) and compilations (assisting management in presenting financial statements without assurance).
• Advisory Services Business start-up, buying, sale and acquisition consulting, business entity selection, succession planning, CFO outsource, financial projections, cash flow management, and risk management.
• Business Valuation In-depth analysis to identify and analyze factors that drive business value, used for estate planning, buying/selling businesses, divorce matters, family limited partnerships and ESOPs.
• QuickBooks Assistance QuickBooks setup and installation, personal one-on-one training, and ongoing support services including Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor assistance.
• Client Accounting Services Full-charge bookkeeping and payroll services including accounts payable/receivable management, bank reconciliation, payroll processing, sales/use tax preparation, and 1099/W-2 preparation.

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• HHM CPAs: HHM is a Chattanooga-based Tennessee CPA firm serving Southeast clients with tax, audit, and advisory services. Comparable as a Tennessee regional peer competing in overlapping geographies, though primarily based in the Chattanooga corridor rather than East Tennessee.

Direct peers

• Frazier & Deeter: Frazier & Deeter is a Top-50 U.S. accounting and advisory firm with Southeast roots serving mid-market and emerging-growth clients. Comparable as a regional CPA competitor pursuing similar advisory, tax, and assurance work for privately held businesses in overlapping verticals.
• Elliott Davis: Elliott Davis is a Southeast regional CPA and advisory firm (post-Decosimo combination) with significant Tennessee presence across mid-market verticals. Comparable in geographic and client overlap, with Whitlock competing for similar healthcare, real estate, and construction engagements in overlapping geographies.
• LBMC: LBMC is a Tennessee-headquartered full-service accounting and advisory firm serving clients across the state and Southeast. Comparable to Whitlock as a Tennessee CPA firm with multi-vertical expertise, though larger in scale with broader service lines and deeper specialty practices.
• Cherry Bekaert: Cherry Bekaert is a Southeast-headquartered CPA and advisory firm with offices across multiple states serving private and public mid-market clients. Comparable to Whitlock in regional Southeast footprint and full-service tax, assurance, and advisory delivery model.
• PYA: PYA is a Tennessee-based accounting and advisory firm with strong East Tennessee presence out of Knoxville, serving mid-market clients across healthcare, construction, real estate, and other verticals — directly comparable to Whitlock's regional CPA model with a similar vertical specialization playbook.

Emerging players

• Pilot: Pilot is a tech-enabled bookkeeping, CFO, and tax service for small businesses that competes for some of Whitlock's core SMB bookkeeping and tax preparation work. Comparable in serving small businesses' accounting needs, but with a software-led delivery model that threatens traditional CPA firm economics.
• Bench: Bench is an AI- and software-enabled bookkeeping and accounting platform serving SMBs. Comparable as an emerging alternative to Whitlock's traditional bookkeeping and tax offerings for small businesses, with a technology-led model that pressures incumbent CPA firm pricing.

Broad incumbents

• FORVIS: FORVIS (formed from BKD and Dixon Hughes Goodman combination) is a Top-10 U.S. accounting and advisory firm with broad Southeast presence. Comparable capability overlap in tax, audit, and advisory services, though operating at materially larger scale and competing for Whitlock's larger enterprise clients.

Others

• Intuit QuickBooks: Intuit's QuickBooks is both a software partner (where Whitlock holds Certified ProAdvisor Platinum status) and an indirect ecosystem participant. Relevant as the core technology platform underpinning the firm's bookkeeping services and increasingly as a competitive force as Intuit bundles AI-driven accounting features that reduce reliance on CPA firms for basic bookkeeping.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Whitlock & Company