Forvis Mazars was formed by the merger of two large accounting firms BKD and
Dixon Hughes Goodman on June 1, 2022. They announced a new name on April 28, 2022, choosing the name "FORVIS", a combination of "Forward Vision".
Baird, Kurtz & Dobson In 1922, three men—William Baird, Wade Kurtz and Claire Dobson—decided to start their own firm with offices in
Kansas City and
Joplin, Missouri, after the disbandment of the Montgomery Firm, where the three had been employed. On January 2, 1923, the men took the $1,700 they had in the bank and opened their business: Baird, Kurtz & Dobson. Initially, the firm looked to expand to
St. Louis and
Chicago, but the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent
Great Depression curtailed growth, forcing the firm to build its clientele and reputation in Kansas City and Joplin. After
World War II, a growth period began. A third office opened in
Springfield, Missouri, in July 1948, and a uranium boom led the firm to purchase a tax practice in
Grand Junction, Colorado. The 1960s represented a period of significant change. In 1964, the firm drafted its formal partnership agreement, which still exists today. The passage of the
Medicare Act in 1965 led the firm to focus on growing its health care practice, which today constitutes the firm's largest industry focus. Expansion continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with the firm opening new offices in
Arkansas,
Oklahoma,
Missouri,
Texas,
Nebraska and
Kentucky. Since that time, steady growth has continued. The firm created its first wholly owned subsidiary, BKD Corporate Finance, LLC, in 1994 (rebranded to BKD Capital Advisors in 2019) and passed the $100 million revenue mark in 1999. The firm created its charitable arm, the BKD Foundation, in 1999; since making its first charitable gift in February 2000, the foundation has given more than $14 million to qualifying 501(c)(3) organization. In recent years, BKD has been known to play an active role in the charities "Fighting Hunger... Feeding Hope." and the Ronald McDonald House. The firm undertook its second largest merger in 2001, combining with Olive LLP to create BKD, LLP, which was the eighth-largest U.S. accounting firm at the time. That year also marked a name change for BKD Investment Advisors, founded in 1998, to BKD Wealth Advisors, LLC. On October 1, 2013 BKD officially acquired Malin Bergquist & Co, LLP, a firm that was previously based in Erie, Pennsylvania. As of November 1, 2014, Wolf & Company officially became a part of BKD through the result of a merger. In 2015, BKD launched women's initiatives, sales training that spanned the entire firm, and a national enterprise risk solutions practice. In 2016, the firm claimed 41 offices in 19 states, including Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, making it one of the largest accounting firms in the United States. == Initiatives ==