Stiles, Carter & Associates, a firm based in Elizabethtown, Ky., is adding another Kentucky firm, Blandford & McCubbins CPAs, based in Bardstown.

The merger takes effect on January 1, according to a local newspaper site, the Kentucky Standard. Blandford’s staff, which includes four CPAs, will be joining SCA, but will remain in their current offices. The firm has been operating in Bardstown for approximately three decades.

Blandford managing partner Brenda Johnson told the Standard her firm had spent countless hours vetting firms before deciding to combine with SCA.

Michael Cohn, editor-in-chief of AccountingToday.com, has been covering business and technology for a variety of publications since 1985.