From $25 return to top 120 firm

The story of James Moore & Co., a firm born from a Florida university professor’s part-time venture in 1964 that evolved into a Top 120 US accounting firm.

This oral history interview isn’t just a corporate timeline; what Robert Watson (former partner at James Moore & Co, CPA & Accounting Services) and Jay Hutto (partner at James Moore & Co, CPA & Accounting Services) tell about the history of James Moore & Co is a captivating story of resilience and adaptation over six decades of transformation in the accounting profession and the US’ business and accounting practices and trends.

The story of James Moore & Co. began in the corridors of the University of Florida in 1964. It starts with Jim Moore, an accounting professor known for his sharp mind, outgoing nature, and quiet determination – a determination made more remarkable by the muscular dystrophy that would confine him to a wheelchair. Balancing academia, he began a small, part-time tax practice. Legend holds his first client was Charles Perry, founder of Charles Perry Partners, Inc. (CPPI), a professional general contracting firm founded in 1968 and headquartered in Gainesville, FL, and the fee was a modest $25 – a humble seed for what was to come.

As accounting historians explain, in the post WWII years, M&A became a dominant strategy for nearly all major US firms. The early years were fluid for James Moore & Co. Partnerships formed and reformed, often with fellow academics or local CPAs. It wasn’t until the early 1970s, with the arrival of driven individuals like Keith Petteway, Curt Green, and Ed Goolsby, that a more permanent structure began to coalesce. Petteway, especially, brought a keen interest in how to run a CPA firm, seeking out best practices nationwide.

When Bob Watson joined in September 1977 – literally the first employee under the newly minted, permanent name “James Moore & Company” – he stepped into a firm finding its footing. Gainesville was in a “no-growth situation,” and strict ethical rules forbade outright marketing. Growth was painstaking, relying on word-of-mouth and Jim Moore’s natural ability to connect within the community, particularly the Greater GNV Chamber of Commerce. The work itself was a testament to the era: audits conducted on sprawling 13-column paper, calculations verified on adding machines spitting out tapes to be meticulously Scotch-taped into binders, and client files hauled around in heavy trunks. The firm had around 40 employees, mostly serving the local area.

The 1980s marked a turning point. Marketing rules began to relax, coinciding with Pettaway taking the helm as Managing Partner upon Jim Moore’s retirement in 1983. Recognizing the limitations of the local market, the firm embarked on cautious expansion, opening offices in Tallahassee and merging with a firm in Daytona Beach. This required staff to spend significant time on the road, a new challenge for the growing team.

Opportunity often knocked unexpectedly. A call from UF’s public broadcasting station, seeking an auditor around 1983, proved pivotal. Pat Elrod, the bookkeeper there, noticed in the Yellow Pages that James Moore listed more female CPAs than other firms. That single engagement, born from a simple observation, became the cornerstone of a major niche. It led to work with other stations, athletic departments, university foundations, and support organizations, driving growth and requiring specialized expertise.

Technology evolved, albeit sometimes reluctantly. Bob Watson recalled the arrival of cumbersome “suitcase” computers with tiny screens and the revolutionary spreadsheet program SuperCalc, later Lotus 1-2-3. There was resistance to spending $400 on the first specialized audit software, FAST, which ultimately proved transformative. A dedicated computer department managed a mini-mainframe for client accounting, staffed by keypunch operators. The transition was gradual, moving from pencil and paper, through early spreadsheets, to integrated tax and audit software performed in house.

By the time Jay Hutto arrived in 1993, mentored by Bob Watson, the firm was significantly larger and more structured. This was also a time of consolidation in the US’ accounting organization context. It was the time of the Big Eight, and the number of dominant firms dramatically decreased, primarily through mega-mergers in the late 1980s (E&Y, DTT) and late 1990s (PwC), reducing the “Big Eight” to the “Big Five” (and later Big Four after Andersen’s demise in 2002). In the 1990s a marketing function existed (though marketing was not allowed for accounting firms until the early 1990s), career paths were being formalized, and female partners like Carol Villemaire were established in leadership – a reflection of Pettaway’s early recognition of talent demographics. The firm had to adapt to changes—for example, adopting IT network technology and later transitioning from Novell to Microsoft. There was a requirement to personalize services to confront the big push for consolidation, and to leverage local and regional expertise, and enhance brand development. Another important effort was directed towards client acquisition and retention.

The biggest operational leap came in the mid-2000s with the transition to a fully paperless environment. This required a massive, multi-week effort to scan decades of work papers—culminating in a celebratory shredding event. This period also marked significant growth. The firm added the DeLand location in 2017 following the acquisition of Cohen, Smith & Company, and the Ocala office in 2021 when Canopy 360’s Tax & Accounting division joined the firm.

These expansions helped lay the groundwork for our evolution from a traditional accounting firm to a comprehensive business consulting provider and the consequent organizational transformation with the launch of several specialized divisions: James Moore Technology Solutions (managed IT services, cybersecurity, and more), James Moore HR Solutions (human resources services and consulting), and James Moore Digital (data analytics, business intelligence, automation, etc.).

From Jim Moore’s $25 tax return rate in 1964 to today’s era of service specialization, technological transformation, strategic positioning, and cultural change, James Moore & Co. has continually adapted and evolved. In Accounting Today’s 2025 “Beyond the Top 100: Firms to Watch,” James Moore & Co. ranks 14th—an impressive recognition reflecting their sustained growth and strategic foresight. This year’s trends show that “the strength of the Top 100 Firms is more clearly revealed, with firms below $100 million in revenue and those between $100 million and $1 billion growing at 13–14%.”^[1] Bob Watson and Jay Hutto’s story as partners offers a compelling lens on how regional firms thrive amid national shifts in the accounting industry.

This story was submitted and produced as part of the Gainesville Business History project. Please contact Dr. Paula de la Cruz-Fernández for assistance with conducting oral history interviews and historical company research.

^[1] Accounting Today | Inside the 2025 Top 100 Accounting Firms