let’s take a look at the last 20-plus years of my experience and my research as to where new clients come from in an accounting practice. i don’t think there are going to be too many shocks here.
what i’ve found is that 82 percent of all new clients in a given year who come into an accounting firm come in from a referral source. this may be a bank or a lawyer or some other source, perhaps an existing client, who has recommended that a particular business meet with your firm and come on board as a client. read more →
erin daiber, founder and ceo of well balanced accountants, keeps seeing the same issue in firm after firm. a partner announces their intention to retire within a year or two, and the firm suddenly realizes no one is ready to take over. “firms are not starting that conversation soon enough,” daiber says.
“they’re not thinking about succession planning as a strategy,” she explains. instead of treating succession as an ongoing process, firms see it as simply the point in time when a partner exits the firm. according to daiber, succession planning should ideally begin with hiring decisions and culture building so that firms can be confident that they won’t lose clients or staff due to uncertainty about what might happen as partners get older.
when succession planning fails, firms lose key employees before they even reach partnership consideration. “we’re losing them much sooner than that, which creates a big hole in the pipeline,” daiber notes. she identifies an inability to have difficult conversations as the root cause, particularly when dealing with founders who view the firm as their legacy.
experience, complexity, and scarcity redefine the market
volume and consulting drive growth: of the 48% of firms reporting advances, 78% credit more business and 54% credit higher-grade services. source: natp
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tax preparation is getting markedly more expensive in 2026, and not in the slow, incremental way many firms have long assumed they can explain away.
in a widely used pricing model, the national association of tax professionals reports the average base charge for a form 1040 with schedules is $236, up from a 2024 average of $162 reported in the same study series. that’s a 45.7% nominal increase in two years for the profession’s signature product, before a single schedule, state filing, or complexity premium is added.
the u.s. tax preparation market is not merely more expensive. it is increasingly stratified, with pricing that clearly distinguishes between complex professional work and the lower tiers of retail and do-it-yourself alternatives.
across multiple independent pricing measures, certified public accountants and credentialed tax professionals command fees that are substantially higher than the base costs advertised by major retail chains, software platforms, and dwindling government-sponsored free filing options. the result is a world of tax preparation pricing that reflects not only the complexity of engagement but also client expectations, risk management, service delivery models, and clear segmentation of value. read more →
the concierge cpa with jackie meyer
for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
the concierge cpa hosts a deep dive into captive insurance planning this week, as host dr. jackie meyer, cpa, and guest vardan pogosian, cpa, unpack both the risk-management foundations and tax-planning implications of small captive insurance companies. the episode clarifies a strategy that many tax professionals find complex or intimidating, with actionable guidance on identifying suitable clients and avoiding compliance risks.
captive insurance — typically formed under internal revenue code section 831(b) — allows businesses to establish their own insurance company to cover risks that may be difficult or costly to insure through commercial carriers. under the provision, small qualifying captives can elect alternative tax treatment, in which premiums paid into the captive are tax-deductible to the operating business but not immediately recognized as income by the captive. tax is generally deferred until the captive is dissolved, at which point capital gains tax applies.
davyde “day” wachell is the co-founder and ceo of responsive ai. he studied ai in the symsys program at stanford and film at columbia. their innovative thinking drives the company’s success by bridging technology and the arts, leading to a culture of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.
six steps to using it to grow and protect revenue.
“there are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” – vladimir ilyich lenin
lenin’s quip resonates deeply with any seasoned advice professional. black friday, 9/11, the great recession and covid-19 kept us on our toes when it came to the markets and our clients. big outlier events that disrupt “business as usual” can arise at any moment. these moments can change the lives of our clients, and as a result, the growth and stability of our businesses. our clients can lose their trust in us in the blink of an eye if we haven’t positioned those clients correctly, or if we do not respond effectively to changes in the market.
how we prepare our business for the unexpected determines our ability to respond to outlier events. how we respond to those events determines how we perform under pressure. staying competitive isn’t about performing well when the sun is shining; it’s about executing and gaining clarity in the fog of war. read more →
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