Will Non-Accountant Firm Owners Save Us All?

Hey 👋 - Brandon here.

Happy Saturday to 1410 growth-minded accountants.

Here’s one growth tip for you and your firm.

Today’s issue takes less than 5 minutes to read.

Shoutout to Adam Shay for the recent referrals and the kind words you shared about this newsletter on X.

Appreciate you!

Most accountants believe firms can’t be run by non-accountants.

After all, how could a person lacking “in the trenches” experience possibly add any value?

The work is too technical. Clients would never go for it. They want to work with highly experienced partners. This belief has led sub-optimal firm running which has led to stagnating salaries, accountants leaving the industry in droves, and poor client service.

Here are some sobering facts:

• The number of new accounting grads decreased 7.8% (2021-2022)

• The NPS for the accounting industry is 39

• Reviewing the 2012 and 2023 Robert Half salary guide shows wages failing to keep up with inflation

So tell me again why us accountants think we are so good at firm running?

Outsider perspective could save the industry

If we set our egos aside for a minute, we might appreciate an outsider’s take on how we are running our firms.

An industry outsider can bring fresh perspective. Perhaps there are ways to optimize client experience, build a better sales pipeline, price more effectively, manage capacity better, and drive leadership development firm-wide.

Why do you think PE and small SMB searches are so interested in buying accounting firms?

Is it because we cash flow so well and are relatively recession resistant?

Or is there more to it?

Maybe these outside buyers see major opportunity to improve how a firm operates and, if operations are streamlines, they feel confident valuations will double (or triple).

Either way, larger firms are taking the opportunity to bring PE money on to enable faster growth while simultaneously leveraging the platform PE brings to the table.

That’s signal, not noise.

That's all for this Saturday. See you next week.

Whenever you're ready, here's how I can help you.

→ Work with me 1:1 to grow your firm (now accepting waitlist coaching applications)

See you again next week.

Cheers,

Brandon

If you're enjoying this newsletter, please share it with your connections and you'll get rewards:

• 5 referrals = shout out in the next newsletter issue

• 10 referrals = shout out on Twitter

• 25 referrals = 1-1 Zoom meeting with me

You can easily share by clicking the button below.