Angie Caldwell, Consulting Principal & Office Managing Principal, PYA

Florida and Tampa Bay are magnets for business activity, which is why professional firms like PYA have a bright outlook going forward, according to Angie Caldwell, the firm’s office managing principal. “From the myriad services that we provide, we stand ready to help and grow along with this community,” Caldwell told Invest:.

What were the significant achievements or highlights for PYA in the last year?

PYA relocated its office into vibrant Downtown Tampa, and we love it here. Downtown Tampa continues to grow and thrive, and it continues to diversify.

PYA is ranked in the Top 100 Accounting Firms in America by Inside Public Accounting and has been recognized by USA Today as one of the top tax advisers in the country. We have a diverse ownership group, and we are a leader in female ownership for professional services firms. We continue to expand and grow along with this community. We also enjoy being ranked by Modern Healthcare as a Top 20 Healthcare Consulting Firm. 

What makes Tampa an ideal location for PYA’s growth?

There is a diverse client base here in Tampa, and PYA serves all the major industries in the area. We help these organizations innovate and grow by providing them with professional services, whether that be advisory services, audit, or tax services. Tampa is a hub for certain industries and businesses, healthcare being one of them. We’ve been in the Tampa Bay area for over 20 years and within the past five years, we have watched this market become a leader in healthcare because of the leadership and talent in this region. 

Technology supporting the healthcare sector is also growing rapidly in Tampa. We need to be here so that we can easily serve our clients in those industries.

Are there any specific services that are seeing more demand? 

PYA is a full-service, professional services firm for the business of healthcare and healthcare technologies, but our greatest demands at present surround assistance with transactions, strategic planning services, business and compensation valuations, and regulatory compliance assessments and audits. Healthcare is a highly regulated industry with many different business and compliance concerns. 

PYA continues to see all aspects of our audit and tax practices grow, primarily in the industries of healthcare, real estate, technology, and family-owned businesses. Our tax services include international tax. 

One area of PYA focus that’s gained traction is our forensic accounting service, as baby boomers continue to retire and transition their family businesses, perhaps to people outside of their families. In the current regulatory environment, there’s been an increased need for forensic services. As those businesses change hands, their boards are reaching out for a forensic review by a professional services firm.

What is your view on the growing participation of women in professional firms like PYA?

We are privately held, and we are almost 50% female-owned, which is just unheard of in professional services for large firms. Women have found their way to leading many organizations, including industries where female leadership was less likely, like professional services firms, engineering firms, auto mechanics, and construction companies. As women continue to grow in those areas, it’s only natural for them to lead and become owners and innovators in those businesses. 

What trends are you observing for professional services firms in Florida and Tampa?

Most notably, and this applies across the country, many large firms are selling to Private Equity firms. This is a trend started only recently (within the last four years) so the impact of these investments is still unknown. We view our role as serving the public trust, and PYA’s owners have made the decision to remain independently owned. 

Regarding other trends, Florida has a booming economy and from a regulatory perspective, it’s very business-friendly. As the population has moved into Florida and because of the business-friendly climate, professional services firms are growing to meet the demands from that influx of population and businesses. 

In Tampa, and across Florida, industries within communities also need to keep up with the population growth and business growth. PYA stands ready to help all those organizations.  From the myriad services that we provide, we stand ready to help and grow along with this community.

How is technology and innovation changing the way you do business?

AI is going to change how we serve our clients and will change how everyone serves their clients. It’s changing so rapidly that organizations need to be very careful from a resource perspective to weigh which technology, which resource, and which innovation they’re going to implement first. 

From PYA’s perspective, we are trying to look at everything available to us. We are adopting AI in our processes to serve clients but with a skeptical eye, ensuring that at the end of the day, PYA’s products and solutions are working on behalf of the client, serving the public trust as a professional services firm needs to do, ensuring that the product that we provide is correct, accurate, fair, objective, and ultimately meets the client’s needs. 

Overall, we are beginning to use AI in our daily work. Predictive analytics comes into play for us, and we hope to continue to leverage that.

How do you assess the talent pool for your profession? 

One of our concerns is recruiting and retaining top talent. Accounting as a major has continued to decline. Students are looking to other career paths and seeing accounting as something that is not as interesting. Accounting leaders are taking a look at that and implementing corrective measures from both a compensation and a career perspective.

Also, universities are starting to look at accounting as part of the STEM program –  science, technology, engineering, and math. The world needs accountants. Accounting is the language of business. Accountants serve as translators for business leaders and others who are innovators and who are focusing on growing their businesses. Our focus has been on elevating accounting as a career choice, helping people understand all the different things that you can do with accounting.

What is your outlook for the Tampa Bay market in general and your top priorities for PYA over the next two to three years?

Tampa Bay is just a magnet. It’s an absolute magnet for industries here. There’s a great infrastructure of businesses and collaborative work across organizations within Tampa, and I think that’s very attractive to organizations coming in. There is a solid workforce, and a solid university and educational system within the state of Florida and within the Tampa Bay region. 

From my perspective, the Tampa Bay region is one of the top regions in the country to bring business and to drive business and innovation forward.

PYA is going to continue to invest in this community, put this community first, put our clients first, and we look forward to helping this community succeed.