Growing revenue and growing a firm are different things

Back at the office, or still at the beach? Either way, this week we’re delivering a packed TBR list for firm owners ready to break out of a revenue plateau, from how to improve workflow capacity with better visibility to growing your tax client base for predictable revenue. And if you think not needing to market is a badge of honor, we’ve got a Jason On Firms video that may convince you otherwise.

But first, hang onto those patriotic vibes a little longer with this retrospective of American accounting history.

Never had to market: Why adding a marketing system to a successful referrals process can increase growth even more (skip ahead to 21:00)

Death and taxes: Grow your tax client base for sure-fire revenue using five strategies, including a doable content plan and targeted ads

Skip the struggle: Ask these questions about any AI software before using it for tax work

Retirement ready: Most firms under $10 million don’t have a formal succession plan, which can be risky for your business

Scale better: Surpassing the $500k threshold looks different than what it took to get there; here are 12 ways to push past it

Sponsored by Puzzle Financial

Built for firms with modern startup clients, Puzzle helps your accounting workflow move as fast as your clients.

Puzzle replaces batch-based bookkeeping with continuous reconciliation and automated categorization.

Instead of waiting for month-end cleanup, your books stay current in real time.

That means less manual work, fewer surprises, and more scalable client delivery.

Still managing your firm in Excel? Tim Sines, CPA, argues you need a better system for project management. For the big picture, you should be able to easily track where your firm is with project due dates and outstanding information needed from clients. Your systems should also give visibility to assignments at the task level, including who’s at bat to execute and review tax returns. Sines argues that tracking project data at both the high level and granular level is a game-changer for firms.

Why this matters: Swapping the spreadsheet for a dashboard helps solve for workforce capacity challenges that are holding back your firm. The more information you have, the better you can make decisions about staffing, clients and growth. (Insightful Accountant)

A new report reveals that nearly two-thirds of tax firms are set to increase revenue this year. The biggest drivers? Fee increases and organic client acquisition. But the report warns that these two factors come with limitations that firm owners should be wary of. Fee increases may eventually cause clients to jump ship if competitors undercut your pricing and revenue from client acquisition could be offset by increased staffing needs.

Why this matters: Revenue growth alone isn’t an indicator of long-term success or profitability. If your firm primarily relies on price increases and organic referrals, you don’t actually have a growth strategy. Get specific with how you plan to grow your firm or risk plateauing in the future. (Thomson Reuters)

The number of accounting firms with an AI strategy (CPA Trendlines)

Client trust, regulatory compliance, staffing workloads–all of these are at risk when a cyber incident occurs in your firm. Michel Sahyoun and Ram Vasudevan outline a preparation plan to minimize impact and response times when your systems are hacked.

First, implement containment steps alongside an investigation in order to understand the true scope of the breach. The next set of action items should occur in tandem: trace the attack path, create a restoration path, and communicate to stakeholders, legal counsel and regulators as needed. But having these processes in place ahead of time helps you avoid the mistake of sacrificing discipline for speed. 

Why this matters: A cyberattack isn’t the time to figure out who’s in charge or what happens next. Investing in an incident response plan today helps reduce the risk of future financial and reputational damage. (CPA Practice Advisor)

Thanks for reading this week's edition! You can reach the newsletter team at [email protected]. We enjoy hearing from you.

Interested in advertising? Email us at [email protected]

The Net Gains is written and curated by Lauren Ward and edited by Bianca Prieto.