Revenue Mix, Not Just Revenue Size: Redesigning Your Services
Revenue growth tells you that something is working, but revenue mix tells you whether what's working will keep working. Two firms at identical...
Accounting
The PE-Backed Competitor Next Door: How Independent Firms Compete Without Selling
The competitive landscape for independent accounting firms has changed more in the past four years than in the previous four decades. As of 2026,...
Specialty as Currency: Building Platforms That Command Premium Valuations
The traditional accounting firm valuation model is fracturing, and where your firm lands in the new range will be determined largely by one variable:...
Kentucky Passes CPA Alternative Pathway: One Less Holdout
If you read our article last year on CPA licensure reform, you may remember that Kentucky was on the holdout list. Seven states were still clinging...
Post Tax Season: What to Do in the Next 60 Days
The deadline has passed, the returns are filed, and if your firm is like most, the first week of May looks a lot like exhaling. That exhale is...
EY Put Agentic AI Into 160,000 Audits: What That Means for Mid-Market Firms
On April 7, 2026, EY announced the global rollout of enterprise-scale agentic AI across its assurance practice, embedding a multi-agent framework...
The Best Time to Plan for Next Year Is Right Now
Most mid-market firms wait until Q4 to begin strategic planning, and that timing is precisely why most strategic plans do not produce results. By the...
M&A Without Strategic Fit Is Just Expensive Chaos
Why accounting firm acquisitions succeed, or stall, and how to manage the pace of change. The accounting profession is in the middle of one of the...
Talent Strategy is The Threat, Not AI
Accounting Firms Should Embrace AI Generative AI has produced a predictable reaction across the professional workforce: anxiety. Employees are...
The Modern Operating Model: Fixing Partner Bottlenecks Without Burning Out Managers
Growth is exciting until the foundational operating model begins to crack.
Growth by Capability: Why Specialty Practices Are Becoming the New Currency in Accounting Firm M&A
When AAFCPAs announced its acquisition of McLaren & Associates CPAs, the headline was not simply about growth in size. The more meaningful shift was...
AI Adoption Without Governance Is a Brand Risk
If you lead an accounting, advisory, or M&A practice, you have probably felt the shift: AI went from “interesting” to “everywhere” in about a year....
How Accounting Firms Gained a Path into Law Firm Ownership
In early 2025, a quiet but consequential regulatory decision in Arizona signaled a meaningful shift in the professional services landscape. The...
Accounting Firm M&A Trends 2026: What January Deals Reveal
January 2026 delivered a revealing snapshot of the accounting firm M&A market. Not because of a single blockbuster transaction, but because of the...
Clients Will Pay More for AI-First Audits
Several years ago, when cloud workpapers first entered the mainstream, most audit leaders treated them as an internal upgrade - something that made...
When the Acquiring Firm Leaves You Out: A Warning Sign for Your Transition
Acquisitions often start with a sense of optimism and anticipation. The initial discussions resemble a courtship, each side eager to impress. The...