For many firms, the most important work happens in what I call The Growth Zone: the practical space between serving today’s clients and building tomorrow’s firm. It is where partners make decisions about client selection, pricing, talent, technology, marketing, business development, leadership, and succession. It is also where firms either preserve their independence or gradually lose control of their options. To make meaningful progress, firms need focus, accountability, and consistent execution.
A practical first step is to review the firm’s most important business indicators: revenue by service line, realization, client profitability, revenue per full-time equivalent, partner productivity, staff leverage, client concentration, recurring revenue, pipeline activity, and write-downs. These numbers need to be visible enough to help partners make better decisions.
Partners should also agree on what “good growth” looks like. Is the firm trying to grow advisory revenue? Improve margins? Develop a stronger niche? Build capacity? Recruit next-generation leaders? The strategy should be specific enough that partners can say yes to the right opportunities and no to work that no longer fits.
The plan also needs ownership. If every partner is generally responsible for growth, no one is truly accountable. Assigning responsibility for client development, referral relationships, niche growth, recruiting visibility, and follow-up can turn vague intent into measurable progress.
Not all revenue is good revenue. One of the most important growth strategies for a midsize firm is to define its ideal client more clearly. This can be a difficult conversation, especially in firms that have spent years building a culture around responsiveness and client loyalty.
Nevertheless, firms should regularly review their client base and identify which ones are profitable, collaborative, aligned with the firm’s expertise, and open to additional advisory conversations. They should also identify the clients who consistently create staffing strain, fee pressure, collection problems, or morale issues.
This does not mean firms need to make sudden changes or disengage from large groups of clients at once. It does mean partners should stop accepting every opportunity as if all growth is equal. Better client selection improves profitability, reduces stress, supports staff retention, and creates capacity for higher-value work.
A client segmentation exercise can be powerful. Rank clients by profitability, growth potential, relationship quality, payment history, service complexity, and strategic fit. Then decide where to invest more attention, where to adjust pricing, and where to transition work over time.
Many firms spend significant time trying to attract new clients while overlooking opportunities within their existing client base. The easiest growth often comes from clients who already know, trust, and value the firm.
Partners can begin with a top-client opportunity map. Select the top 25 to 50 clients, and identify which services they currently use, what challenges they are facing, who the key decision-makers are, whether there is a next-generation contact, what other advisers are involved, and what additional support the firm could reasonably provide.
This is not about aggressive cross-selling: it is about being proactive and useful. A business owner may need help with succession, cash flow, technology, financing, tax planning, outsourced accounting, profitability analysis, or transaction readiness. A nonprofit organization may need stronger financial reporting or board education. These conversations should be built into the firm’s relationship management process, not left to chance.
Advisory growth is often discussed as if every firm needs to launch a major new service line. A more practical approach is to identify two or three areas where the firm already has client demand, internal credibility, and a realistic delivery model.
Client accounting and advisory services, outsourced CFO services, tax planning, business transition planning, transaction support, wealth management coordination, estate and trust advisory services, industry-specific consulting, and profitability improvement are a range of examples. The correct few will depend on the firm’s people, clients, and market.
Before launching anything new, partners should answer a few basic questions:
A small pilot with a defined group of clients is often better than a broad announcement that the firm cannot support.
Sustainable growth depends on alignment of marketing, business development, and client service.
The 2025–2026 Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) Marketing Budget Benchmark Study found that high-growth accounting firms invest more intentionally in marketing and growth activities. The study also noted that high-growth firms are more likely to allocate resources to local and regional markets, have separate but collaborative marketing and business development functions, invest in conferences and client appreciation events, increase video production, and support employer branding and recruiting.
For a midsize firm, this does not necessarily mean a much larger budget. It may entail creating a 90-day growth plan that includes a focused referral strategy, two client education topics, one niche event, consistent LinkedIn visibility, a simple email campaign, a recruiting message, and specific partner follow-up assignments.
The key is consistency. Growth should not depend on whether a partner has time after busy season.
Many firms have tried customer relationship management (CRM) systems with mixed results. When problems arise, it is usually not the software. More often it is lack of ownership, poor data, and unclear expectations.
A CRM does not need to be complicated to be valuable. At a minimum, firms should track clients, prospects, referral sources, industry contacts, alumni, open opportunities, next steps, and communication history.
A firm cannot grow without people who can deliver the work, manage relationships, and eventually lead the firm. Talent strategy and growth strategy are inseparable.
The 2026 AAM Compensation Survey executive summary highlights that future advancement in accounting marketing and growth roles is tied to strategy and business development, operational oversight, marketing technology management, team oversight, data analysis, and AI development. That finding reflects a broader reality inside firms: growth requires people who can connect strategy, operations, technology, and relationships.
Midsize firms should be intentional about leadership development, manager training, career paths, mentoring, flexible work expectations, and employer branding. Staff members want to see a future. Clients want continuity. Partners need successors. Growth is more sustainable when the firm is developing people, not just assigning work.
Technological advances are changing the profession, but firms do not need to chase every new tool. They should focus first on operational improvements that free capacity and improve the client experience.
That may include workflow tools, secure portals, standardized onboarding, e-signatures, automated scheduling, better proposal processes, cleaner client data, templates, dashboards, and more consistent communication. AI can support research, drafting, data analysis, content development, and internal efficiency, but firms must establish practical guidelines for confidentiality, review, accuracy, and appropriate use.
The point is to adopt the right technology, not to simply chase something that is available. The objective should be greater efficiency, stronger capacity, better service, and improved decision-making.
Some firms may eventually consider a merger, acquisition, or outside investment. Others may have no interest in a transaction and want to remain independent for the long term. Either way, the same fundamentals matter.
A firm with strong profitability, recurring revenue, documented processes, leadership depth, specialized expertise, loyal clients, clean data, modern systems, and a healthy growth pipeline is more valuable and better positioned to remain independent.
Independence should not be assumed; it should be designed. Firms that delay strategic decisions may eventually find themselves with fewer choices, particularly if partner retirements, staffing challenges, or technology gaps begin to drive the conversation.
The most successful CPA firms will be those that grow with purpose. They will choose the right clients, strengthen existing relationships, build advisory capabilities, develop people, modernize operations, and create accountability around growth.
In doing so, they will not only improve revenue. They will strengthen independence, increase future value, and give their partners more control over the firm’s next chapter.
Nancy Damato is president of Accountants Advisory Group, where she advises accounting firms on marketing strategy, growth planning, client development, communications, and firm positioning. She is also the creator of The Growth Zone, a strategic framework designed to help accounting firms grow with greater focus, consistency, and long-term value. She can be reached at nancy@accountantsadvisory.com.
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Statements of fact and opinion are the author's responsibility alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of the PICPA's officers or members. The information contained herein does not constitute accounting, legal, or professional advice. For actionable advice, you must engage or consult with a qualified professional.