FML founding partners Lisa Willauer and Frank Milone, and partner Justin Wilcox, have been named to Forbes’ inaugural Best-In-State CPAs 2025 list. FML is the only firm in Connecticut to have three CPAs receive this honor.
Forbes Best-In-State CPAs list is the sequel to last year’s Forbes Top 200 CPAs list, which Willauer was also named to as just one of four honorees from Connecticut. This year’s list identifies 1,000 of the finest CPAs from across all 50 states.
The article in Forbes introducing the list says, “It’s no easy feat to determine who should appear on a list of America’s top 1,000 Best-In-State CPAs. The challenge is to recognize the body of work of those who rise to meet the calling again and again. To do so, our review team identified thousands of eligible candidates through interviews with industry insiders, outside nominations, editorial research, and an independent advisory board of accomplished CPAs.”
Willauer and Milone founded FML in 2002 along with Jeff Fiondella. Under their leadership, the firm has grown to 120 employees with 19 partners across six offices throughout Connecticut.
Willauer helps bring young companies from inception all the way through to exit. She understands all the technical aspects, going up against other firms doing due diligence on FML’s work, and she puts her clients in a position to enjoy a smooth transition to exit with no exposures. She also works with entrepreneurial programs at local colleges, including Yale and UConn, supporting these programs by educating students on concepts of tax and accounting while in the infant stages of forming their own companies. Willauer also gives presentations through BioCT, Connecticut Innovations, Angel Investor Forum, The District in New Haven and incubator hubs throughout the state. Willauer was named a Yale Entrepreneur-in-Residence and FML annually supports the Yale Innovation Summit.
Milone leads the firm’s emerging companies and venture capital audit practice, internal control practice, and benefit plan audit practice. FML’s advisory practice has been instrumental in the launch, growth and sale of numerous CT startups, and Milone, also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, is a resource for Yale Ventures and its crop of innovators and is a steady presence each year at the Yale Innovation Summit, both in promotion and execution.
Wilcox joined FML straight out of college and in less than 10 years became the youngest partner in the firm. He heads the firm’s cryptocurrency accounting practice, which he founded in 2018. Wilcox oversees U.S. federal and state tax compliance for FML, including U.S. foreign information reporting and financial accounting. He has also done pro bono tax filings and consulting for UConn’s Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship (CCEI) program for the past seven years and is part of their summer fellowship.
As for its methodology, Forbes “assembled an editorial team with broad experience in CPA practice, coverage of accounting news, and knowledge of CPA practice. The team then identified a wide array of eligible candidates through thousands of interviews with industry insiders, outside nominations, editorial research, and an independent advisory board of experts.
“To qualify for consideration, CPAs were required to be active and licensed. Several thousand CPAs from a variety of backgrounds, specializations and locations were ultimately considered. Candidates were rated in ten weighted categories, including achievements, professional honors, influence on the profession, thought leadership, and community service. Although their lifetime achievements were considered, emphasis was placed on their most recent accomplishments. The CPAs with the highest scores made our final list.”
