A longtime Bowling Green accounting firm that has helped clients navigate changes in tax laws and audit procedures is now navigating some huge changes of its own.

BKD (formerly Baird, Kurtz & Dobson), a 100-year-old accounting firm with roots in Kansas City, Mo., established an office in downtown Bowling Green 60 years ago and has grown with the city into a 30-employee office that serves clients locally and throughout the country.

That local office is now changing both its name and its location.

Already a large regional firm that had grown to include the Nashville area, BKD’s Bowling Green office is now part of a merger with the DHG firm (formerly Dixon Hughes Goodman) that has created a new accounting firm called FORVIS.

After decades as BKD in downtown Bowling Green, the local FORVIS office will be moving to a new location on Wallace Court near Scottsville Road.

The merger creates a company that will be among the nation’s 10 largest accounting firms. A news release said FORVIS (a combination of the words forward and vision) will be a top-10 national firm with revenue of $1.4 billion and more than 5,400 team members across 68 markets in 27 states.

Tom Watson, current CEO of BKD, will serve as the CEO of the new organization.

Matt Snow, current CEO of DHG, will serve as chairman of a company that aims to continue growing.

“Business today is moving faster, with greater complexity than ever before,” Watson said in the news release. “To lead in this environment, businesses need to anticipate and prepare for what comes next. The past two years have certainly shown us that the world can change instantly, and you can never be too prepared for tomorrow.”

The benefits of the larger firm will trickle down to the Bowling Green office, local partner Ann Puckett said.

“It will make us that much stronger,” Puckett said. “It will put us in a position to better serve our clients, whatever their needs may be.”

Puckett said the staff in the Bowling Green office will have greater resources and will be able to tap into the expertise in other FORVIS offices across the country.

“Some projects require a lot of specialization,” Puckett said. “This (merger) makes the depth and breadth of our services larger.”

The specialization of the Bowling Green office should also benefit other FORVIS offices, Puckett said.

BKD in Bowling Green developed an expertise in employee stock ownership programs that Puckett said will be an asset for the new FORVIS office.

“That (ESOPs) is one of the things we’re best known for,” Puckett said. “We do work for ESOPs all over the country.”

Being part of the merged company should open up opportunities to work with more ESOP companies, Puckett reasons.

While embracing the benefits of the merger, Puckett is also optimistic that the move to offices on Wallace Court near the Double Dogs restaurant will be beneficial.

“It’s probably slightly less square footage,” she said, “but it’s designed the way accounting firms are these days. It’s very modern.

“It’s a good location that’s close to Scottsville Road. We’ll be leaving downtown for the first time in my career, but I’m excited about it.”

Puckett said the Bowling Green FORVIS office will move into its new location June 13.

– Follow business reporter Don Sergent on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.