Image
COO
ATKG
Austin James is a rising star in the public accounting industry—and truly a unicorn. He began his career in the Big 4 at PwC in the DFW metroplex, where he quickly built a strong technical foundation as a CPA. Recognizing early on that his interests and strengths aligned more closely with entrepreneurship, Austin returned to his hometown of San Antonio to join SPR.
At SPR, Austin identified that his highest and best use extended beyond traditional number crunching. He organically carved out an operational leadership role that proved instrumental in scaling the firm into a San Antonio powerhouse and ultimately positioning it as an attractive M&A target for private equity.
Following SPR’s merger with ATKG—part of Ascend, an Alpine-backed platform in the public accounting space—Austin now serves as Chief Operating Officer. In this role, he helps lead ATKG’s continued growth while also serving as a thought leader across the Ascend platform, influencing accounting firms nationwide.
