every year, the 2025 rosenberg map survey asks the industry’s top consultants to share their observations from cpa firms across the country: how do you think the next 12 months will unfold? trends? predictions? other thoughts? also, how would you assess the last 12 months? trends? observations? struggles?
pe groups seek their own solutions.
by roman kepczyk
the rosenberg survey
from my perspective, private equity investments in both firm acquisitions and technology solutions focused specifically toward accounting automation will be a key driver in firm strategic discussions in the next 12 months.
more: the 2025 rosenberg map survey is available from 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 here.
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as i consult from a technology perspective, i believe we will see significant advances in the use of agentic artificial intelligence solutions being integrated into accounting production processes. agentic solutions work autonomously to complete tasks and can analyze options and redirect themselves, minimizing human interaction until needed.
we can expect to see tools that will significantly automate the collection of data from clients, the processing of returns, the generation of financial reports and responses to client inquiries, being delivered by the major vendors and solutions providers in 2026. we are already seeing the major pe groups investing in their own ai automation as they become disenchanted with the products currently available within the accounting profession.
for the last 12 months, pe investments have, without a doubt, been the key driver of accounting firm leadership strategic discussions, particularly in medium and larger firms. whether firms want to consider a change in ownership or make strategic moves to shore up their “independence,” this topic has permeated leadership discussions in preparation either “for” or “against” pe.
from a technological perspective, generative ai tools have been laying the foundation for significant changes in how firms process tax returns, identify accounting anomalies and collaborate digitally with clients. this was definitely evidenced by the variety of generative ai-enabled features that were integrated into existing applications or on display by new vendors during this summer’s major accounting conferences.
virtually everyone in the profession has been exposed to the transformative potential of generative ai tools over the past 12 months, but a significant percentage of firm leadership is still holding a “wait and see” attitude. at the same time, their professional staff are actively exploring the use of these tools either personally or within broad firm guidelines, so there is growing awareness.
the introduction of agentic ai tools from intuit, thomson reuters and pwc in the past year – as well as recent $1 billion ai investment announcements from bdo and rsm – point to the profession taking notice of the potential of ai changing the way accountants will process work, so disruptive change is definitely on its way in 2026 and i believe examples of successful agentic ai will be at the driver to make firm owners notice!