The Georgia State Board of Accountancy was created by legislation enacted in 1908 for the purpose of protecting the public welfare by providing for the regulation of the practice of public accountancy and the certification of those who are entitled to engage in this practice.   Though the number of licensed certified public accountants in Georgia now exceeds 17,500, for many years there were less than a thousand.

Truman W. Clifton (1902 - 1989) was one of the first 50 individuals to be licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in Georgia.  Mr. Clifton completed his CPA certification requirements in 1929 and, in light of the economic downturn caused by The Great Depression, chose to take a position as Clerk of Bibb County, Georgia.  He retained this position for a number of years becoming one the top financial leaders among local governments in the Southeast.  At the end of World War II, he spent several months in Europe helping to re-establish local government financial systems under The Marshall Plan.  In 1946, he left his job with Bibb County Government to start his Certified Public Accountancy firm in Macon as a sole practitioner.

In the early 1950's, Sydney McNair joined the firm and it operated as Clifton & McNair until 1974 when the name was changed to T.W. Clifton and Company.  It was also In 1974 that Russell Lipford, already an employee of Mr. Clifton's since 1969, became an owning partner.  In 1980, the firm became known as Clifton, Lipford & Co, and from 1986 to 1995 the firm operated under the name of Clifton, Lipford, & Taylor, P.C.  Finally, upon reorganizing as an LLC in 1995, the name was change to the current Clifton, Lipford, Hardison & Parker, LLC.

Since 1946, Clifton, Lipford, Hardison & Parker, LLC has maintained the specialties and high ethical standards exemplified by Mr. Clifton.  He was widely regarded as a pillar in both the community and in the public accounting profession.

CLHP and its name predecessors operated principally at 1020 Riverside Drive in Macon.  Our offices were well located proximate to downtown Macon enabling us to easily serve the key business area of our region.  The original site of the 1020 Riverside office building was first used for row-houses until the 1960s when these homes were torn down and replaced with commercial structures including a gas station operated as Ralph's Gulf Station.  In 1974, Mr. Clifton acquired the gas station and embarked on a restoration and renovation effort to turn the gas station into a commercial office building suitable for becoming the home of T.W. Clifton and Company.  On August 18, 1974 and again on November 9th, 1975, Sunday editions of the Macon Telegraph & News featured stories on the renovation and reported that Mr. Clifton was one of the first to convert a service station to office use and entrepreneurs from as far as Tennessee and Florida came to look at the building's transformation.  To accommodate our rapid growth, this facility was modified twice with major additions in 1978 and again in 1988. 

In 2000, CLHP opened a second office located at 468 S. Houston Lake Road in Warner Robins to enable us to serve our burgeoning client base in that area.  Both offices are of new construction, utilize state of the art technology, and provide for ample growth in both cities.  Finally, in 2008 CLHP relocated its main office to 1503 Bass Road in Macon to provide more office space for our staff and to better serve our widening client service area.