Epic Trust Financial Group LLC, a Richland, Washington-based accounting company, has acquired Spokane-based Stewart-Longhurst PS Certified Public Accounting, says Greg Stewart-Longhurst, the Spokane firm’s co-founder.

The transaction was completed on Sept. 1, and the practice will now operate here as Epic Trust Financial Group, he adds. 

Stewart-Longhurst declines to disclose the terms of the transaction.

As part of the acquisition, Stewart-Longhurst says he will stay on for a year to help transition the Spokane office’s nearly 500 clients to Epic Trust Financial Group. The current Spokane staff of four, the office location, and fee structure also will be retained with the acquisition, he says.

The Spokane office is located on the first floor of the Second Avenue Professional Building, at 323 E. Second on the periphery of downtown Spokane.

In a letter to clients, Stewart-Longhurst shared that his wife and business partner, Hanna Stewart-Longhurst, has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the blood. Due to health challenges, the couple decided upon an exit strategy for their business, and they vetted several other CPA firms to find the right match to take over the Spokane practice, the letter says.

Nathan Burt, Richland-based CPA and owner of Epic Trust Financial Group, couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

Stewart-Longhurst says he started his firm Stewart & Associates PS in 1992 on his kitchen counter. His wife started her CPA business, Hanna Franchino CPA LLC, in 2004 in her kitchen as well. In 2012, the two married and subsequently merged businesses.