Cherry Bekaert LLP, a Top 100 Firm, has expanded its state and local tax practice by acquiring Windward Tax LLC in Alpharetta, Ga., effective Dec. 31, 2017.

Windward has decades of experience in sales and use tax consulting, sales and use tax minimization strategies, sales tax nexus, and sales and use tax compliance, mainly to clients in the manufacturing industry.

“Windward brings more value-added solutions to our SALT practice,” said Kurt W. Taves, CPA, managing partner of Tax Services for Cherry Bekaert, in a statement. “The manufacturing sector is one of our key industry verticals, so our clients in the industrial space will greatly benefit from Windward’s ability to minimize sales tax exposure and maximize sales tax savings.”

Founded in 2012, Windward works with hundreds of manufacturers to help manage their sales and use tax compliance programs. As part of the deal, Windward founder Lauren Stinson will join Cherry Bekaert as a principal and lead the firm’s Sales Use Tax practice. She has more than 22 years of experience managing sales and use tax projects and is a sought-after speaker and author on sales and use tax topics.

Windward’s professional staff will be joining Cherry Bekaert and will continue to operate out of their current offices in Alpharetta, Ga. Windward has one principal and 10 associates who will become part of Cherry Bekaert, which has 140 partners and more than 1,100 associates.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cherry Bekaert, based in Richmond, Va., ranked 25th on Accounting Today’s 2017 list of the Top 100 Firms. The firm had $200 million in annual revenue, while Windward had about $1.5 million in annual revenue.

Last year, Cherry Bekaert grew its presence in the Washington, D.C., area by adding Berlin Ramos Company PA in Rockville, Md., and expanded to Nashville by acquiring a Tennessee firm, Frasier, Dean Howard. It also established a technology arm by acquiring The Computer Solution Co. of Virginia, Inc. in Midlothian, Va.

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