Spotlight On: Jon Tomberlin, Managing Partner, Atlanta, Forvis Mazars
September 2025 — In an interview with Focus:, Jon Tomberlin, managing partner of Forvis Mazars in Atlanta, discussed how the organization utilized agility and strategic growth to build a hub of excellence in Atlanta. “We want to make sure that we provide a good environment to grow a great career, with clients who will appreciate the unmatched experience that we provide,” said Tomberlin.
What changes have most impacted the organization over the past year?
A major milestone for us was the creation of Forvis Mazars Global Network on June 1, 2024. We are a new entrant into the global accounting network, ranking Top 10 globally in revenues. Our network is unique in that it is seamless, whereas many others will have 30 to 100 different firms making up their global network. But this gives us agility and the ability to approach the global accounting networks differently than our competitors — a tremendous advantage. With the same audit methodology and tax software firmwide, we will capitalize on the greater market that we’ve been granted through this merger.
At the same time, we have been paying attention to sustainable growth and strengthening relationships with our clients, making sure our local markets grow intelligently with our new global capabilities. There are obviously many large companies in Georgia, and many international businesses have their U.S. headquarters, or a significant amount of operations, in Atlanta. It is perfectly positioned to be one of the hubs of excellence for our growing SEC practice. I’m really bullish on Atlanta — supported by its infrastructure, it is one of the greatest cities in our nation for work and business.
How would you describe the current demand for your services?
We’ve worked really hard over the last few years to make Atlanta the hub capable of serving our clients in any way they need — the team has been expanding our abilities, resources, knowledge, and skills. We want to be experts in the industries we serve, and that expertise is augmented by our ability to access other services, including tax, audit, and consulting. For example, if a client wants to engage in M&A, we have services for that. We can do buy-side due diligence, sell-side due diligence, and merger integration. As our clients are growing, we have all the services to assist them.
How is the current economic landscape impacting you and your clients?
While Georgia has a great business climate, with good leadership to support growth and a healthy economy, the overall national economic condition is leading some companies to pause discretionary spending, so we’re seeing a bit of slowing down on the consulting side. But the demand for our audit and tax services remains very strong. Tax planning is still top of mind for a lot of our clients. The discussions on the future of tax policy are ongoing in Washington, D.C., and we have set up our Washington National Tax Office to support our clients. We can be ready as changes happen and pivot quickly. Many companies are still required to be audited by regulators or by a bank, so we always tell our clients that the regulatory rigor won’t diminish. However, different administrations have different areas of emphasis. We must be nimble, in tune with what’s happening, and help address any issues that arise.
How has your hiring strategy evolved with the challenges in attracting and retaining top professionals today?
It is so important that we are able to recruit, train, and retain the best people in the industry. We reach out to universities with strong programs, develop meaningful relationships, and try to hire the best individuals available. One of the accounting analogies that I always use with our people is, when they work with us, we want them to build their balance sheet, grow their assets, and minimize their liabilities. It makes them more valuable individually, more valuable to us, and more valuable to our clients. We pride ourselves on our internal training programs — they are constantly in the Top 10 for learning and development. We have always been very good at internal training from year one to year five, and we’ve now instituted an enhanced leadership training program for mid-career professionals and partners. Our people have been very receptive to it, and our turnover ratio in Atlanta has gone down, below industry standards.
How involved is your organization with civic engagement?
We’re always looking for not-for-profit organizations to partner with, through both our time and resources. We have annual IMPACT Days that have become an excellent opportunity to connect with the community, and Forvis Mazars has a foundation which, in Atlanta, is funded by the partners and other charitable contributions. Some of the biggest organizations that we support here are the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Atlanta Community Food Bank. We partner with other CPA firms in the annual Georgia Accounting Food Fight to raise awareness and money for the food bank. Our foundation also raised an additional $50,000 for not-for-profit organizations in the Asheville area, after the hurricanes last year. We have an Asheville office, and we know the destruction that happened to the communities there. We’re very fortunate to be in the profession we’re in, so we are always looking to give back to the community.
How are you leveraging tools like AI and data analytics to deliver client services efficiently?
We have an innovation lab: the EDGE program. This group finds cutting-edge solutions, creating a number of new products and services. We have a tool called SALT Explorer, for construction and real estate contractors to use during project planning or bidding. It easily navigates complexities and risks associated with varying sales and use taxes, especially when operating in multiple states. Another tool is the Program Economic Analysis, which helps colleges and universities model various financial scenarios. It covers program development, enrollment targets, and budget planning. For instance, there is House Bill 148 in the state of Georgia, which changes the requirements to become a CPA. Universities that are concerned if we have fewer students going into accounting can use the tool to plan for the future.
As a firm, we have gone through a lot of change in the last three years — we understand how hard change is. We have officially created a Change Hub, including advisory groups and adaptive tools, so we can walk clients through navigating changes. We are putting a lot of effort into this. It makes sense to have products that are not just cool, but that are actually useful for our clients. And we are constantly developing more.
What are your top strategic priorities for the Atlanta office over the next couple of years?
First and foremost, it’s growth. We need to enter these markets that come with the new global network, and take advantage of this new formation. I can’t say enough about how strong Atlanta is for business, and we need to capitalize on that growth alongside our existing clients. New clients will then see the caliber of our people, as well as our willingness to help them grow.
As a Top 10 firm, we are able to attract additional talent from other firms, the best and the brightest from universities. We have to also grow with our people — we want to always be attuned to the profession’s growing demands. We’ve been hearing for years that artificial intelligence is going to reduce the need for accountants — we heard similar things when Excel came out years ago. I don’t think any of that is accurate. We’ve been needing more people for a long time, and I believe AI is going to bridge that gap between where the demand is and where the current supply is. Those demands are not going away — they’re only increasing.
Stewardship of the firm and building long-lasting success is also one of our top priorities. That’s what we will focus on as we invest in our people and clients. The key is to ensure that this is a place where people want to work. Over the last couple years, we’ve hired or promoted nine new directors in Atlanta, and that growth in executive-level leadership speaks volumes for our culture. We want to make sure that we provide a good environment to grow a great career, with clients who will appreciate the unmatched experience that we provide.
For more information, please visit:
