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The IPA Top 500: When Bigger Isn’t Better, Firms Get Smarter.

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 Success is no accident.

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CPA Trendlines Research
With Chelsea Summers
Inside Public Accounting

The firms in the 2025 IPA 500 are redefining what it means to grow in the accounting profession. Yes, many are getting bigger—but more importantly, they’re getting sharper. Growth without a plan is no longer enough. The firms pulling ahead are the ones making intentional choices about who they serve, how they work, and where they’re headed.

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“This year’s IPA 500 firms had a really strong year,” Chelsea Summers, executive director of Inside Public Accounting, says in a new webinar report, hosted by CPA Trendlines founder and CEO Rick Telberg. “But it wasn’t by accident. The firms that are winning right now are the ones doing things with purpose. It’s about making strategic choices—not just reacting to change, but leading it.” READ MORE →

Accountants Raise Alarms on Small Business Outlook

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The Avalara Accountants Confidence Report points to difficulties ahead for small businesses to access capital, increase profits, raise revenues, hire new employees, and control costs.

Looking ahead 12-18 months, accountants expect increasingly acute hardships, led by problems in accessing fresh capital, hiring, and managing labor costs. But new technology and automation could help cushion the pain for some.
https://cpa.click/smb23outlook
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Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, released a new survey of over 500 Main Street accountants representing more than 100,000 small businesses.

Survey responses revealed that looming economic headwinds could create challenges for small businesses in the next 12–18 months. The survey, conducted during the 2023 tax season, shows that accountants believe small businesses will face challenges in accessing fresh capital, increasing profits, managing payroll costs, weathering supply chain difficulties, and hiring new staff.

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The Avalara Accountants Confidence Report

The 2023 Avalara Accountants Confidence Report, produced in conjunction with CPA Trendlines, queried trusted advisors with clear insights into the financial health of small business clients. The report measures accountants’ attitudes and outlook on a variety of pressing issues, leading with sentiment on the health of small business clients, and providing a read on the national economy and the state of smaller accounting practices. Accountants were surveyed as they combed through business clients’ financials and prepared their tax returns.

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Why Is Change So Hard for Firms?

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One person makes a change to a new different direction from crowd of peopleStart with trends in your clients’ industries.

By Bruce Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0

EDITOR’S NOTE: CPA Trendlines was privileged to have a long relationship with Bruce W. Marcus, who was ahead of his time in his thinking and practice in marketing for accounting. We are publishing some of the late expert’s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.

I’m puzzled by the accounting firm that continues to function today as it did many decades ago – in so many areas, as if the world continues to be as it was decades ago.

MORE: How Marketing in Accounting Has Evolved | How Marketing Evolved to 3.0 | Why Value Pricing Works | Accounting Marketing 3.0: New Rules | Accountants Don’t Sell Soap. | Why Competition Matters Most | Nine Fundamentals for a Healthy Marketing Culture in an Accounting Firm
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At the same time, in the midst of all that’s changing in the professional world, I’m surprised that change in the marketing process for professional services is evolving so slowly. There are indeed exceptions, in which a handful of firms have extensive programs that are innovative, and very large staffs to execute them. These few firms have specialists in such activities as business development, media relations and so forth, but considering the vast number of accounting firms, their number is a small percentage of the professions.
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Wanna Know What Clients Say About You?

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If they can’t communicate your value, referrals will be tough.

By Russ Alan Prince

Accounting services are commodities, but that does not mean that accountants are inherently fungible. Without question, some accountants are better than others.

That said, a large majority of accountants are unable to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Many times even when they are more capable, they blend in with the morass of mediocre accountants.

MORE: What Level of Advice Do Entrepreneurs Need? | Three Approaches to Investment Consulting | The Role of the Personal CFO | Three Components of Collaborative Wealth Management | Cashing Out: Your Business Clients’ Five Big Issues
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The reason is simple. Very few accountants are proficient at communicating their value to their clients. Think of your situation. What value are you providing your various clients? Now, if those clients were asked what value they were receiving from you, how much alignment would there be?
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