Laura LaPeer, a seasoned certified public accountant, has taken the role of chief financial officer at UHY, a New York-based accounting firm eyeing significant expansion. With a career rooted in finance since her first accounting class in eighth grade, LaPeer brings extensive experience from roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers, ProQuest, and most recently as CFO at Plante Moran. Her appointment comes as UHY, ranked 29th on Accounting today’s top 100 firms list, secures private-equity backing from Summit Partners to fuel both organic growth and acquisitions.
LaPeer’s expertise lies in tailoring financial reporting to her audience. At ProQuest, she simplified complex financial data for non-accountants, but at accounting firms like Plante Moran, she learned CPAs demand detailed numbers. “They said, ‘this summary is good, but we still need numbers, we’re still CPAs,’” LaPeer noted in an interview. Now at UHY, she’s returning to her auditing roots, analyzing potential acquisition targets to support the firm’s growth strategy.
UHY, with nearly $500 million in revenue and 2,000 staff across the eastern U.S., aims to climb into the top 15-20 accounting firms within five years, targeting over $1 billion in revenue. LaPeer, who has a key role in shaping this strategy, said the firm is pursuing acquisitions of smaller firms, particularly those with retiring CPAs. UHY has already completed three deals this year, with more consolidation expected in the industry.
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To support this growth, LaPeer is focused on centralizing UHY’s operations. Moving away from a regional model, she aims to streamline processes like payroll to align with firm-wide profitability goals. “We need to start moving toward the firm’s merit approach … and getting our partners to be focused more on the firm,” she said.
With her deep accounting background and strategic vision, LaPeer is poised to guide UHY toward its ambitious goals, leveraging both her technical expertise and a numbers-driven mindset to navigate the challenges of a rapidly consolidating industry.
