Vicksburg accounting firm May & Company LLP has been named Best of the Best Under $5 Million by INSIDE Public Accounting, one of only 10 firms in the nation to receive the distinction.

Managing partner Riley Nelson said he thinks May & Company probably excelled in categories such as growth and efficiency but he won’t be able to tell for sure until the data comes in later this year.

“We’re a full-service accounting firm,” he said. “We do everything from taxes, audits, evaluations of businesses, bookkeeping and computer support — pretty much anything related to accounting.”

Nelson said one of his colleagues just became a certified financial planner.

“We’re required to have 40 hours of continuing professional education, but we send people to conferences in Atlanta, Chicago and wherever else we need to send them,” he said.”

Nelson said the company also utilizes the newest in technology to maximize efficiency, a benefit that trickles down to customers.

“The more our staff know and the more designations we get, we’re able to do more for our clients,” he said. “We’re constantly looking for ways to do more.”

Nelson said they would use the data they get back from the contest to look for other ways to improve.

“We look to see how we match up against other firms,” he said. “They’re basically piling up data from other comparable-sized firms.”

IPA Publisher Michael Platt said unlike its large firm counterparts, May & Co. and the other recipients earned the distinction with fewer resources available to deliver exceptional client service, firm-wide training and prized staff benefits.

“All accounting firm leaders are looking for ways to differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace, and the IPA Best of the Best Under $5 Million have figured out how to be successful with fewer resources at their disposal,” he said. “Success takes more than hard work, it takes vision, and these firms are ones to watch.”

Kelly Plat, publisher of INSIDE Publish Accounting, said strong leaders guide the winners of the distinction and a staff dedicated to long-term success.

“Smaller firms looking to grow should look to the winning strategies of the Best of the Best Under $5 Million,” she said. “We are proud to honor these 10 exceptional firms.”

May & Company was founded in 1922 and has offices in Vicksburg, Tallulah, La. and Lake Providence, La. Nelson said about 50 percent of the firm’s work comes from Warren County, though the firm has clients in every state.

The company has won numerous awards in its history, and just in the last few years “Mississippi Business Journal” has named in the Best Accounting Firms to Work for by “Accounting Today” multiple times, and in Mississippi’s Best Places to Work and Leaders in Finance the firm.