Zion & Company

What Zion & Company does

Zion & Company, Inc. is a privately held professional services firm headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, providing tax, accounting, and advisory services to individuals, families, and small-to-mid-sized businesses. Founded in 1973 by Hugh W. Zion and now owned by his son Mark W. Zion, the firm operates as a single-office CPA practice with approximately seven staff. Service delivery is organized across three pillars: Tax Services (business and individual return preparation and year-round tax planning), Accounting Services (bookkeeping, financial statement preparation, and QuickBooks consulting/training), and Advisory Services (business valuations, retirement strategies, estate planning, succession planning, and CFO-level coaching). The firm also holds a related registered investment advisory entity, Paragon Financial Services, LLC, co-founded by Mark W. Zion, extending into wealth advisory.

The firm's technology stack is built entirely on industry-standard third-party platforms rather than proprietary systems, including Rightworks (cloud hosting and website infrastructure), SafeSend Exchange (client portal and e-signature), Intuit QuickBooks Desktop and Online (bookkeeping platform), Dext Prepare (receipt and document capture), SurePrep (tax preparation automation), Thomson Reuters (research), and CPACharge (payments). This stack supports a hybrid in-person and digital client engagement model, with digital document collection through filing as the primary workflow backbone. There is no evidence of proprietary software development, APIs, mobile applications, or AI/ML capabilities developed in-house.

The revenue model is straightforward professional services billing across tax, bookkeeping, and advisory engagements, with bookkeeping priced on a fixed monthly fee basis (specific tiers not publicly disclosed). The firm operates a sales-led and community-led go-to-market motion, targeting service-based businesses, product-based businesses, dental practices, individuals, and high net-worth individuals/entrepreneurs primarily within the Columbia, SC and broader Southeast region. Marketing relies on the firm's SEO-optimized website, educational content (QuickReads, eBooks, video library), and community/referral relationships. No external funding, M&A activity, or institutional investment is evident, and the firm remains wholly founder/family controlled.

Name

Zion & Company

Legal name

Zion & Company, Inc.

Website

https://zionco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1973

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Zion & Company is a privately held Columbia, SC-based CPA firm founded in 1973 providing tax preparation, bookkeeping, and advisory services to individuals, small businesses, and dental practices. The 1-10 employee firm operates on industry-standard accounting software and serves its local community through long-term client relationships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Tax Services: Tax preparation and planning services for individuals and businesses, including business entity tax return preparation, individual tax return preparation, and ongoing tax planning.
2. Accounting and Bookkeeping Services: Comprehensive bookkeeping services including daily transaction classification, expense tracking, bill payment, invoicing, financial statement preparation, and ongoing accounting support.
3. Advisory Services: Strategic advisory including business valuations, business best practices and coaching, retirement strategies, estate planning, and succession planning services.
4. QuickBooks Training: Consulting services to help businesses utilize QuickBooks platform, including setup and training.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Zion & Company, Inc. is a full-service CPA firm offering tax preparation and planning, accounting/bookkeeping, and strategic advisory services for individuals, service-based businesses, product-based businesses, dental practices, and entrepreneurs in Columbia, SC and surrounding region. The firm delivers professional consulting engagements augmented by digital client portals and third-party accounting software integrations.

Product overview

Zion & Company is a full-service accounting and advisory firm offering a comprehensive suite of professional services organized into three core pillars: Advisory Services (business valuations, best practices coaching, retirement strategies, estate planning, and succession planning), Tax Services (business and individual tax return preparation and planning), and Accounting Services (bookkeeping and QuickBooks training). The firm supplements its core offerings with client-facing online tools including a Refund Tracker and educational resources such as eBooks, a video library, and tax forms. This is a service-based business providing professional consulting rather than a software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Advisory Services Strategic advisory services providing business valuations, CFO-level coaching, retirement plan analysis, estate planning, and succession/transaction planning to help clients make sound business and wealth-management decisions.
• Tax Services Tax preparation and planning services including business entity tax return preparation, individual tax return preparation, and year-round strategic tax planning for both businesses and individuals.
• Accounting Services Financial reporting and accounting services including financial statement preparation, compilations, and reviews with ongoing analysis for businesses.
• Bookkeeping Comprehensive ongoing bookkeeping including daily transaction classification, expense tracking, bill payment, invoicing, and financial reporting, billed at a fixed monthly fee.
• QuickBooks Training Consulting and training services to help businesses set up and optimize QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online usage for accurate financial information.
• Refund Tracker Web-based self-service tool allowing clients to check the status of their federal or state tax refunds online.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RightworkscoreTechnology or IntegrationCloud-based practice management platform powering the firm's website and client portal. The firm uses Rightworks for hosting and infrastructure, as noted in website footer 'website powered by Rightworks'.
• Intuit QuickBookscoreTechnology or IntegrationCertified QuickBooks partner offering training and support. The firm provides QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online integration and training services.
• Dext PreparecoreTechnology or IntegrationReceipt bank and expense management platform integrated into firm workflow for document capture and bookkeeping preparation.
• SafeSend ExchangecoreTechnology or IntegrationSecure client portal for document exchange, tax questionnaire completion, and electronic signature. Primary digital engagement platform for clients.
• National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP)minorOthersProfessional membership organization for tax professionals. Firm displays NATP membership logo indicating professional affiliation.
• National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA)minorOthersProfessional membership organization for Enrolled Agents. Firm displays NAEA membership logo indicating professional affiliation.
• California Society of Enrolled Agents (CSEA)minorOthersProfessional membership organization for Enrolled Agents in California. Firm displays CSEA membership logo indicating professional affiliation.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• BDO USA: Top-10 U.S. accounting firm with full tax, assurance, and advisory; represents the upper bound of competitive threat for larger clients Zion serves (HNW individuals and growing businesses).
• H&R Block: Largest U.S. consumer tax preparation brand; competes directly for Zion & Company's individual and small-business tax clients but at retail/seasonal scale rather than full-service advisory.
• Liberty Tax: National franchise-based tax preparation chain; adjacent competitor for individual and small-business tax preparation at the entry-level end of the market.

Emerging players

• Pilot.com: Online bookkeeping, tax, and CFO services for startups and small businesses — emerging digital competitor for Zion's product-based business and service-based business segments.
• Botkeeper: AI-driven bookkeeping platform with human oversight for accounting firms and SMBs; long-term competitive threat to Zion's manual bookkeeping revenue stream.
• Bench (by Employer.com): Tech-enabled bookkeeping service for small businesses; competes directly with Zion's monthly bookkeeping offering through a software-plus-human delivery model.

Direct peers

• Cherry Bekaert: Southeast-headquartered CPA and advisory firm serving individuals, businesses, and industries including healthcare/dental. Same service mix (tax, accounting, advisory) with significantly greater scale.
• GreerWalker CPAs & Advisors: Mid-sized regional CPA firm in Charlotte, NC providing tax, accounting, and advisory to closely-held businesses and individuals — highly comparable size, geography, and service profile to Zion & Company.
• Elliott Davis: Top-30 U.S. accounting and advisory firm headquartered in Greenville, SC. Closest geographic and service peer — same Southeast regional market, full tax/accounting/advisory offering, multi-office footprint.
• Forvis: Top-10 U.S. accounting firm formed from merger of Dixon Hughes Goodman (Charlotte, NC) and BKD; large Southeast presence. Directly comparable services across tax, assurance, and advisory to SMB and individual clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Zion & Company