BusinessTN

Experienced CPAs are vital to a business' growth and success. From business plan to succession strategy, they have a hand in every aspect of a business' life cycle. And for public companies in a post-Sarbanes-Oxley world, they are more crucial than ever.

Despite this, accountants, especially the good ones, remain relatively invisible. Unfortunately, unless there's a scandal of Enron-ic proportions, members of this profession maintain a relatively low profile. As a result, this list is always a bit more difficult to compile than the others BusinessTN pulls together each year.

Admittedly Nashville-heavy (Ernst & Young alone audits nearly two dozen Nashville companies who are SEC registrants) and male-dominated (an indictment of the profession's slow-turning gears), this peer-review list encompasses practicing accountants from traditional to niche players--from members of the Big 4 firms serving the needs of big public companies to more entrepreneurial firms providing key tax and other services that help build companies big and small.

It also includes a few individuals who are not practicing accountants but whose influence on the profession, whether through technology services or association leadership, is profound. Thanks to the following list, these star professionals will have to tolerate a higher profile than usual.