---
title: KKR's Stake in Crowe Sits in the Advisory Arm While the Audit Firm Stays Separate
description: KKR has closed its investment in Crowe Advisory LLC while Crowe LLP keeps the audits, the structure the AICPA is now rewriting its independence guidance around.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
updated: 2026-08-08T01:22:44.591Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/kkr-crowe-advisory-audit-firm-separate
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/accounting-firm-split-audit-advisory-120311.webp
categories: Business
content_type: Analysis
region: United States
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

Funds managed by KKR have closed on an equity investment in Crowe Advisory LLC, a newly formed company that now holds the tax, advisory and other non-attest work that used to sit inside Crowe LLP alongside its audits. Crowe LLP keeps the audits and reviews, stays a licensed CPA firm, and keeps the independence obligations that come with signing off on a client's financial statements. Both entities serve the same clients and both remain members of the Crowe Global network, which connects more than 300 independent accounting and advisory firms in more than 150 countries.

Steven Strammello, Crowe's chief executive, says the deal gives the firm more capacity to [invest in talent and technology](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/accounting-firms-rush-to-adopt-ai-but-do-they-have-a-strategic-vision-for-transformation). Chris Harrington, a partner at KKR, says the investment reflects "confidence in the Crowe team and the many compelling opportunities ahead". Neither firm disclosed a value.

> "The only thing that changes is our capacity to do even more for our clients, bringing more of the firm to them."
> — Steven Strammello, Chief Executive, Crowe

## The Split Has Become the Standard Shape of These Deals

Crowe is a top 15 US firm, and the two-entity structure it now uses is what the Journal of Accountancy, the AICPA's own publication, describes as the common approach to private equity deals in the profession: the licensed CPA firm keeps all the attest work, and a separately owned entity takes the tax, advisory and consulting side along with the outside capital. Baker Tilly, a top 10 firm, closed a major private equity investment in February 2024, merged with the top 15 firm Moss Adams last year, and is moving its headquarters from Chicago to New York while acquiring Anchin, a New York firm founded in 1923.

## The Profession's Ethics Committee Is Updating Guidance Written for a Different Era

The AICPA's Professional Ethics Executive Committee, known as PEEC, voted in December 2025 to [issue an exposure draft revising the independence guidance that covers these structures](https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2025/dec/aicpa-proposes-changes-to-independence-rules-related-to-private-equity/), with public comment open until April 30. Independence guidelines have addressed this kind of arrangement for decades, but the committee said the growing volume of private equity money moving into the profession calls for updated interpretations.

The draft identifies which relationships and circumstances could impair independence, sets out factors for evaluating those threats, and suggests safeguards where they apply. It proposes a distinction between "significant influence" and "control" when an outside investor holds a stake in the non-attest side of a firm, and a revised definition of "network firm", the term for entities that fall under independence requirements on audit and review clients. If the committee adopts the changes, firms would have a year to apply them, and could move earlier.

## For a Client, Two Different Firms Now Sit Behind the Same Name

The practical effect is that the accountant signing an audit report works for a firm KKR does not own, while the consultants pitching a system upgrade or a tax strategy work for the firm it does. Both carry the Crowe name and both belong to the same global network. Strammello says the firm's values, built over 80 years, will continue to define how it works.

## FAQ

**Q: Does Crowe LLP still perform the audits?**
Yes. Crowe LLP remains a licensed CPA firm and continues to provide attest services, including audits and reviews. KKR's investment went into Crowe Advisory LLC, the separate entity that handles tax, advisory and other non-attest work.

**Q: What is an alternative practice structure?**
It is the term for an arrangement where a licensed CPA firm and a separately owned non-attest business serve the same clients under a shared brand or network, with the CPA firm alone handling attest work. Independence guidance has covered these structures for decades.

**Q: Why does the audit work sit in its own entity?**
Independence requirements attach to the firm that signs audit opinions. Keeping that firm separately owned is what lets the rest of the business take outside investment, and it is the shape the AICPA's ethics committee is now writing updated guidance around.

**Q: When would the new independence guidance take effect?**
Public comment on the exposure draft closed on April 30. If the ethics committee adopts the proposed revisions, firms would have a year to apply them, with the option to apply them sooner.

**Q: Why do accounting firms want outside investment?**
Strammello says the KKR investment gives Crowe more capacity to invest in talent, technology and innovation. Baker Tilly has used similar capital to fund mergers, acquisitions and a headquarters move.