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Reyes Florez

Founder & CEO at Platform Accounting Group

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

RF
Why they matter

Ex-Goldman/Credit Suisse banker turned operator who built a PE-backed, ~40-deal accounting roll-up now doing $200M+ revenue — direct read on roll-up economics and pipeline in the space.

Background

Reyes Florez is Founder & CEO of Platform Accounting Group, a private-equity-backed roll-up of boutique CPA and professional services firms he founded in 2015. He holds a BS in Economics (cum laude) from the University of Utah and an MBA (1898 Scholar) from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and began his career as a Corporate Finance Associate at Goldman Sachs before moving to Credit Suisse as an Investment Banking Associate focused on M&A and capital markets for business services and edtech companies.

Notable deals

  • 2024
    Closed an $85M minority funding round led by The Cynosure Group, with continued participation from Swell Capital and Peery Partners, to fund continued accounting-firm acquisitions
  • 2024
    Named to Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting as Platform approached ~40 completed firm acquisitions
  • 2024
    Named Utah Business magazine's CEO of the Year for scaling Platform's private-equity-backed roll-up across the Western U.S.
  • 2015
    Founded Platform Accounting Group, growing it from a single office with 8 employees into a multi-state platform of boutique CPA firms

Call-prep brief

Reyes Florez — Founder & CEO, Platform Accounting Group

Background

  • BS Economics (U. of Utah), MBA (Chicago Booth, 2014, 1898 Scholar)
  • Prior: Corporate Finance Associate at Goldman Sachs; Investment Banking Associate (M&A/capital markets) at Credit Suisse; also operated his family's boutique accounting firm
  • Founded Platform Accounting Group in 2015; grew from 1 office/8 employees (2016) to 50+ offices, 1,500+ employees, 55,000+ clients across 15+ states

Current focus

  • Executing a disciplined firm-by-firm acquisition strategy (near 40 deals as of 2024) funded by an $85M raise from The Cynosure Group, Swell Capital, and Peery Partners
  • Heavy AI infrastructure investment across the platform, positioned as a retention/competitive tool for acquired firms
  • Adding adjacent service lines (wealth advisory, ERP consulting) to increase wallet share per client

What he cares about

  • Preserving "boutique firm" culture and local partner autonomy post-acquisition (frequent talking point)
  • Long-term, "common-sense" innovation over innovation-for-its-own-sake
  • Capital + operational support as the value prop for sellers, not just a payout

Recent moves

  • Multiple 2024–2026 tuck-in acquisitions (DHS Advisors, Keystone Advisor Group, The Hultquist Firm, Accounting Specialists, others) across CA, PA, SC, MA, CT, MD

Sensitivities

  • Already PE-backed (Cynosure/Swell/Peery) — probe for exclusivity/conflict before pitching a competing capital process
  • Roll-up model draws scrutiny on integration/culture risk — avoid framing questions as skeptical of the thesis

Questions to ask

  1. How is the platform's underlying organic growth (vs. acquired growth) trending, and how do you benchmark it?
  2. What's the AI investment actually delivering in unit economics per acquired firm?
  3. What does your current cap table/governance look like, and is there appetite for a follow-on or partial liquidity event?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick call on accounting roll-up strategy?
Hi Reyes, I've been following Platform Accounting Group's growth — the $85M Cynosure-led raise and the pace of tuck-in acquisitions since is impressive, especially paired with your AI investment thesis for the acquired firms. I'm on the deal team at [Firm Name], and we're mapping the accounting services roll-up space closely. Given your background on both sides of the table (banking at Goldman/Credit Suisse, now operating one of the more active platforms in the space), I'd value 20-30 minutes to hear your read on where consolidation goes from here — multiples, integration playbooks, and what's changed in the capital landscape for firms like yours. Would you have time for a short call in the next couple of weeks? Best, [Your Name]

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