What Gen Z accountants actually want

Peer into your future this week with multiple resources to help you create a long-term vision for your firm. You’ll find an interesting alternative to the traditional firm partner model, as well as what to evaluate as your firm becomes more successful and how to attract younger hires who need work experience for their alternative CPA pathway. 

But first, how big could you grow in three years? A U.S. investment firm recently took a stake in a three-year-old UK accounting practice founded by a KPMG alum. The valuation? A cool £1 billion.

What Gen Z wants: Attract younger accountants with competitive pay, as well as work that matters (and counts toward alternative CPA requirements)

Q4 playbook: Three tips to increase your firm’s value before the end of the year

Leadership challenge: Why it’s important to think ahead for your firm, especially when things are going well

Retention check: Improve your client retention rate with new onboarding and year-round strategies

Trust builder: The conversation starters that lead to advisory work

Sponsored by Canopy

Registration for Canopy Summit 2026 is live! Join thousands of accounting professionals on November 12th to see what's coming next and learn what actually worked for firm leaders this year—and what didn't.

What to expect:

Featured speakers include firm leaders and executives from Canopy, MillerMusmar CPAs, J&S Accounting Solutions and Rhodes, Young, Black & Duncan.

Walk away with practical steps to reduce friction, keep the team on the same page, and keep your firm running smoothly.

Traditional CPA partner tracks offer an ownership stake, but equity alone doesn’t guarantee a long-term commitment. Brett Kelly, chairman and CEO of Kelly+Partners, takes a different approach by acquiring firms and retaining the founders instead of growing partners from employees. His firm requires those founder-partners to stay for at least 10 years while collectively retaining 49% ownership of their local firms. A centralized services team then handles operational work so that partners can focus on client relationships and business growth. According to Kelly, this ownership structure fuels growth without relying on private equity investment. 

Why this matters: Private equity isn’t the only way to scale a firm for growth-minded owners. While Kelly’s approach takes time and capital to build, it’s a unique alternative that embeds long-term incentives into a sustainable business model. (Thomson Reuters)

The lull between tax deadlines is the perfect time to rethink your firm’s workflow processes. Lisa Erickson, CPA, recommends creating connections between each stage of tax preparation. Focus on the handoffs and make sure you address everything that needs to get done in order for the return to move forward. Before you implement any changes, however, measure your baseline so you can track each connection’s effectiveness.

Why this matters: In addition to improving efficiency, a connected tax workflow can help you expand your existing team’s capacity without adding headcount. (CPA Practice Advisor)

Accounting firm resignations related to caregiving (Inside Public Accounting)

Adding more technology to your practice doesn’t mean your marketing and business development strategies will lose their personal touch. But it takes some protocols and guardrails to make sure your firm doesn’t become over-reliant on automations and AI-produced communications. Find the tools that support your team’s efforts instead of replacing their creativity and expertise. Tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator can help identify prospects, while a quality CRM system can track relationship touchpoints.

Why this matters: Selecting a well-curated set of tools should help scale your marketing efforts rather than replace the human touch at the heart of client relationships. (Association for Accounting Marketing)

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