Triple acquisition sees Count rise up the Oz professional services leaderboard

Accounting and consulting firm Count has added three new businesses to its growing Australian network, expanding its coverage in South Australia, Queensland, and Northern New South Wales.
The Gold Coast branch of Count has picked up boutique accounting and finance firms MJG Partnership and Harrison & Harrison on either side of the Tweed-Coolangatta border, while Johnston Grocke has been added in Adelaide.
After a brief quiet period, in relative terms, the latest trio of acquisitions follow a flurry of M&A activity executed last year through its equity partnership model, which has helped push the firm’s revenues beyond the $100 million mark.
“Our strategy is to partner with professional firms that will grow in size and scale, leveraging the strength of our national group without losing the personal, trusted relationships that their clients rely on,” said group CEO Hugh Humphrey. “We work alongside talented principals to grow the business, expanding its capabilities and reach while staying true to its community roots.”
MJG Partnership
Based in the Gold Coast suburb of Bundall next door to Surfers, MJG specialises in tax planning and business development among a wider suite of accounting services. Founded in 2007, the firm is led by four-decade industry veteran Michael Gibbons, who previously worked at Ernst & Young before setting up and selling his earlier business to failed consolidator Harts.
Harrison & Harrison
Harrison & Harrison was established in Tweed Heads in 2021 by James and Eddie Harrison, respectively directors of tax & advisory and finance & mortgage broking, after the pair parted ways with their previous business CHG Integrated Wealth. The team of around one and a half dozen provide a range of services covering personal and business tax advisory and lending.
Johnston Grocke
Meanwhile, Johnston Grocke, co-founded by current director John Grocke in 1990 and presently based in Fullarton just outside of the CBD, provides a wide range of services to clients in Adelaide grouped around the three core lines of business advisory & accounting, financial planning, and wealth creation, with property among its key specialisations.
Growing network
While crossing the $100 million revenue mark last year was a significant milestone following the firm’s major Diverger acquisition and rebranding from CountPlus, that figure will likely seem a long way back at the upcoming end of the current period, with Count bringing in almost $80 million in collective revenues in the front half of the 2025 financial year alone.
“Strong client demand for accounting and financial planning, coupled with the successful Diverger integration, has strengthened Count’s position as a leading diversified financial services business,” Humphrey said in the mid-year report. “The group is well positioned to meet growing demand through our three segments: wealth, equity partnerships, and services.”
With 2024 revenues just shy of $110 million, Count is presently the 18th largest organisation of its kind in Australia, with the likes of Hall Chadwick ($119 million) in close sight and internationally-networked names such Nexia and HLB Mann Judd ($133 million) not all that far afield. Kelly+Partners, however, pursuing a similar equity model, is also in hot pursuit.