Bradenton CPA office names new top exec

BRADENTON — Wade Sansbury, a CPA with nearly two decades experience, was named lead partner for the Bradenton office of Mauldin & Jenkins, an Atlanta-based firm with $46 million in annual revenues.

Sansbury takes over for Jerry Marlar, according to a release. The promotion is the final phase of a transaction that dates back to January 2011, when Mauldin & Jenkins acquired Bradenton-based CPA Associates. A prominent executive in the Bradenton business community for years, Marlar headed up CPA Associates before the merger with Mauldin & Jenkins. CPA Associates, with 45 employees in 2011, was one of the largest independent accounting firms in the Sarasota-Bradenton market. The firm's specialties were in government, litigation support, business valuation and banking services.

Sansbury's accounting career has been focused on state and local government clients, the release states. He worked in Mauldin & Jenkins' Macon, Ga. office for 18 years before he transferred to Bradenton in June 2013.

“I have enjoyed working with Jerry and I appreciate his work to preserve the client base that makes up our Bradenton office,” Mauldin & Jenkins Managing Partner Donny Luker says in the release. “We have retained over 80% of the clients that came into M&J in the combination with CPA Associates and that ranks at the top of retention rates in our profession. Retaining this client base has been a direct result of the efforts of Jerry and the other partners and staff in Bradenton.”

Mauldin & Jenkins is a top 100 public accounting firm with clients across the Southeast. In addition to surpassing $45 million in annual sales, the firm also has 45 partners and nearly 300 employees spread across six offices. It provides audit and tax services, with niche practices in nonprofit, government, health care and financial institutions.