Kreston Global introduced a Global Transfer Pricing Group, led by David Whitmer, who leads the National Transfer Pricing Practice at Kreston's U.S. member firm CBIZ.
The group will be part of the Global Tax Group, acting as a steering group for Kreston Global's transfer pricing services.
Whitmer advises multinational clients on solutions to transfer pricing and tax valuation issues. He has more than 20 years' experience in transfer pricing consulting, in sectors including oil and gas, finance, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, software, manufacturing, multilevel marketing, service providers and tax-exempt organizations.
CBIZ has an alternative practice structure in which the publicly traded company is affiliated with the CPA firm Mayer Hoffman McCann, which operates the audit practice. Together they're known as CBIZ MHM. Rich Howard, a shareholder at Mayor Hoffman McCann P.C., is the chairman of the board at Kreston Global.
"We are the 13th largest network in the world, according to the latest statistics," he recently told Accounting Today. "That obviously can change with so much M&A activity in the United States going on as people are entering and exiting the various networks once the individual member firms decide to combine. CBIZ MHM has been on the acquiring side of that equation in many cases. We've been acquiring a number of firms over the last few years, including three fairly significant ones in the last 18 months or so. They usually are part of another network, and then of course when they become part of CBIZ and MHM, they become part of Kreston."
CBIZ MHM is the only member firm of Kreston in the U.S. The new transfer pricing group at Kreston brings a wide range of experience from firms in other countries across the network. It includes Jorge Oropeza of Kreston BSG in Mexico, Amit Ajmera of Kreston SNCO in India, Radhika Seth of MMJS/Kreston Menon in the UAE, Victor Matesanwa of Kreston Zimbabwe, Agnieszka Janeczek of EXCO Poland and Yiwen Ping of Zhonghui in China. Not all the firms that join the network have to adopt the Kreston branding, Howard noted.
Transfer pricing, an accounting practice in which one part of a company charges another for goods and services, has long been part of a tax strategy used by multinational companies to lower their taxes. The changing rules at the Organization for Economic Development and in the U.S. with the recent enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act, which imposes a minimum 15% "book tax" on billion-dollar corporations, have prompted multinationals to seek advice on how to adapt their tax strategies.
"The growing prominence of transfer pricing is clear to see on a global level, and the creation of the Global Transfer Pricing Group will ensure that our transfer pricing clients' needs are met with the utmost quality and care," said Whitmer in a statement Wednesday. "I welcome the opportunity to work alongside international colleagues in this field to bring the best service possible to our transfer pricing clients everywhere."
Whitmer will be bringing his experience in the area now to other members of the network through the new group.
"The creation of a Global Transfer Pricing Group marks a key moment for the development and growth of our services in this area, which have gone from strength to strength in recent years," said Mark Taylor, head of the Global Tax Group at Kreston Global, in a statement. "I would like to thank David for his work to date in spearheading our global transfer pricing practice, and to thank the wider Global Transfer Pricing Group team for their involvement in this exciting new initiative."
