In the early 1900s, Clarence Birdseye wasn’t trying to invent a new food. He was trying to solve a problem: how to keep food fresh and make it accessible year-round. His breakthrough came with a flash-freezing process that preserved peas, fish, and vegetables in a way no one had seen before. But here’s the key insight: Birdseye didn’t change the peas. He changed the packaging, the preservation method, and the way those peas reached families.
Birdseye’s frozen food empire illustrates a lesson that resonates just as strongly today in the accounting profession as it did in the food industry a century ago: innovation is not always about creating something entirely new. Often, it’s about rethinking delivery, accessibility, and client experience.
Accounting leaders find themselves at a similar inflection point. The financial statements, audits, and tax returns that form the backbone of the profession haven’t fundamentally changed. What has changed, and continues to evolve rapidly, is how those services are packaged, delivered, and consumed. Cloud platforms, artificial intelligence, and client portals are reshaping expectations. Much like frozen food transformed American eating habits, technology is transforming client relationships.
So, what can we learn from the innovators who built the food empires that shaped America? More than you might think.
Like Birdseye, other food pioneers found ways to innovate without changing the core product. In the 1920s, Laura Scudder transformed potato chips by inventing the sealed bag. First using waxed paper, then cellophane, it not only kept chips fresher but also preserved their shape by trapping air inside to cushion them from breaking. Birdseye’s peas were still peas. Scudder’s potato chips were still chips. But their methods of preservation and delivery completely altered consumer behavior. Frozen peas suddenly became available in every season. Sealed chip bags kept food fresh longer and extended shelf life, making mass distribution possible.
In both cases, the product didn’t change; the experience did.
Accounting services mirror this reality. A financial statement prepared in 1995 and one prepared in 2025 might look strikingly similar on paper. What’s different is the experience of how that information is gathered, delivered, and interpreted.
Just as frozen food shifted the perception of convenience and reliability, new delivery models are changing how clients perceive the value of accounting firms. They aren’t buying “a financial statement”, they’re buying an experience that feels fast, secure, and easy.
Consider how the drive-thru changed dining forever. Wendy’s adoption of the two-way speaker system in the 1970s didn’t change hamburgers; it changed how easily customers could get them. Likewise, the rise of frozen dinners in the 1950s gave families a new way to put meals on the table with minimal effort. Convenience was the innovation, not the food itself.
The accounting industry is going through its own drive-thru moment.
Clients are busier, savvier, and less tolerant of friction. They want to access their information when and where they need it, not during business hours, not in paper form, not after weeks of waiting. Mobile apps, secure portals, and client dashboards now function as the accounting industry’s drive-thru window.
The firms that will succeed are those that design client experiences with convenience at the center. This doesn’t mean reducing the quality of service; it means reimagining the touchpoints:
Convenience, in other words, becomes a differentiator. Just as Americans flocked to the fast-food chains that made meals easier, clients are gravitating to firms that make their financial lives simpler.
Packaging in the food industry is no longer just a container; it’s an active participant in the consumer experience. RFID tags track supply chains. Smart labels monitor freshness. Biodegradable packaging communicates sustainability. The wrapper itself now adds value.
Accounting firms have a parallel opportunity. Imagine if a tax return wasn’t just a static PDF, but an interactive report with embedded forecasting tools. Or if an audit report came with a dashboard that alerted management to risk areas before they escalated. These are examples of smart services where the core deliverable is enhanced by technology that makes it more useful, dynamic, and actionable.
Firms today are already experimenting with predictive analytics, machine learning, and AI-driven insights to turn backward-looking reports into forward-looking tools. Much like smart packaging gives consumers peace of mind about freshness, smart services give clients confidence about their financial future.
It’s easy to forget that Birdseye’s frozen food success depended on more than just freezing technology. He had to persuade supermarkets to install freezer cases. He needed refrigerated trucks to transport goods. Entire systems had to evolve to make his product viable.
Accounting faces a similar challenge. You can’t simply purchase AI software or migrate to the cloud and call it innovation. True transformation requires:
Without these elements, firms risk being like a frozen food company without freezer trucks; technically innovative, but practically unworkable.
Some food innovators didn’t just improve existing products; they created entirely new markets. Frieda Caplan, for instance, introduced kiwi to the American public by branding it, packaging it attractively, and telling its story. Before her, few had even heard of it. After her, kiwi became a grocery staple.
Accounting leaders have the same opportunity. Consider firms that:
In each case, the work being done may not be entirely new. But the way it’s framed, delivered, and marketed creates new value, and often, new revenue streams.
Ultimately, the lesson from the food industry is simple: consumers evolve, and businesses must evolve with them. Today’s accounting clients expect more than accuracy. They expect:
The future of accounting isn’t just compliance, it’s foresight. The firms that thrive will be those that design for what clients will need tomorrow, not just what they want today.
Frozen peas didn’t change the world because they were peas. They changed the world because Clarence Birdseye reimagined how people accessed them.
The accounting profession faces the same opportunity. Our “peas”—financial reports, audits, tax compliance—are not going away. But the firms that rethink how those services are packaged, delivered, and experienced will lead the industry into the future.
So, the question for firm leaders is this: What’s your frozen pea moment?
Because the future of accounting won’t be defined by who works the hardest. It will be defined by who innovates the way clients experience value.
At Hollinden, we help firms position themselves for growth by rethinking how they deliver and market their expertise. Curious about how to repackage your firm’s services for the future? Let’s talk.