Programs - Growth
Marketing in accounting firms is undergoing a significant transformation, and firm leaders need to stay ahead of the curve. Join us for an insightful forum that will explore growth strategies and how they impact the entire firm. Sarah Dobek of Inovautus will provide an executive-level overview of critical shifts in the marketing landscape, including the rise of inbound lead generation, the role of generative SEO, and how modern lead qualification processes are evolving. We'll focus on what these changes mean for firm strategy, resource allocation, and partner involvement in driving growth. Christine Hollinden of Hollinden marketers + strategists and Adam Klein of Introhive will then bring us two complementary perspectives: how to design and refine your growth strategy, and how to embed a mindset of growth across business development, marketing and sales. Together, they’ll walk through the eight pillars for creating scalable growth—specialization, advisory, client optimization, partnerships, client experience, cross-selling, marketing, and technology—and show how these levers only work when tied to accountability and leadership alignment.
Ideal for partners, practice leaders and marketing/growth professionals.
Great ideas grow when they’re shared. And sustained growth starts with empowering people to think - and act - like business developers. Join CPA Alliance Members Saltmarsh and LerroSarbey as they explore how a simple business development challenge evolved into firmwide movements for leadership growth and client connection. Participants will explore practical steps for engaging professionals across all levels, building accountability into business development goals, and turning friendly competition into a long-term strategy for firm growth. Come away with tangible ideas for jumpstarting your own business development initiatives - whether you’re looking to build momentum, deepen collaboration, or create a more intentional culture of growth and connection.
The accounting and tax landscape is rapidly evolving, requiring firms to adapt to stay competitive. Join this dynamic panel to hear from industry leaders sharing innovative solutions for the tax and accounting sector. Discover how top firms are tackling pain points and boosting profitability through strategies like outsourcing low-value tasks, optimizing workflows for greater efficiency, and driving value-focused growth. This session delivers actionable insights and real-world examples to transform client challenges into sustainable opportunities, empowering your firm to thrive in a competitive market.
In today’s rapidly shifting accounting landscape, firm growth isn’t a one-size-fits-all journey. Should you double down on staying independent? Merge with a larger firm? Be the acquirer? Or take the leap with private equity backing? This candid panel brings together three managing partners from Alliance firms, each of whom has chosen a distinct growth strategy. Hear firsthand how their decisions are playing out, what they wish they’d known before choosing a path, and the impact on culture, talent, and long-term vision. No theory; just real talk from firm leaders navigating growth in real time.
In today’s landscape, growth isn’t just about adding clients - it’s about adding the right clients and pricing smarter. This session explores how to align your firm’s pricing strategy with the 6-Step Smart Growth Framework to drive profitability, attract ideal clients, and empower your team to deliver higher-value advisory work. You’ll leave with practical strategies and discussion insights to strengthen pricing confidence, consistency, and impact across your firm.
For many accounting professionals, business development feels intimidating—full of rejection, self-doubt, and uncertainty. But what if those same challenges could become stepping stones to success? This session reframes business development through the lens of a growth mindset, encouraging professionals to see setbacks as opportunities to learn and to approach client relationships with curiosity rather than fear. By cultivating resilience and reframing challenges, participants will walk away with the confidence to approach business development as a journey of growth, not perfection.
In a competitive marketplace where clients have endless choices, true differentiation doesn’t come from technical expertise alone—it comes from the strength of relationships. For accounting firms, building lasting customer loyalty means moving beyond transactional services to deliver experiences that foster trust, consistency, and long-term value. This session will explore the key drivers of customer loyalty in professional services, from understanding client expectations to delivering proactive advice that positions your firm as a trusted partner. Attendees will learn strategies for deepening client relationships, anticipating needs, and creating memorable touchpoints that set their firm apart.
Sustainable growth in an accounting firm isn’t just the result of great service—it’s driven by leaders who intentionally foster a culture of business development. For partners, firm leaders, and aspiring leaders, the challenge lies in shifting mindsets and embedding growth as a shared responsibility across the organization. This session will explore how to cultivate a proactive, growth-driven culture that moves beyond traditional service delivery, empowers teams to contribute to business development, and positions your firm for long-term success.
If you came for the same old CAS talk you’ve heard at every CPA conference for the last 30 years—this isn’t it. This is a straight-to-the-point, against-the-grain session that will challenge conventional wisdom, dismantle the myths holding your firm back, and give you a simpler, more powerful way to turn CAS into a true growth engine. It’s no secret — CAS is the fastest-growing, highest-potential service line in the profession, and for good reason. The demand is there, the opportunity is massive, and the clients you seek are already in your book of business. Done right, your CAS service line can unlock up to 9 figures of new annual revenue while strengthening every other service line in your firm. This session will share a proven framework built from 30+ years of transformational CAS results, billions in CAS sales, and over 11,000 CPA client engagements. You’ll discover how to simplify CAS, align it with what clients truly value, and scale it as one of the most strategic and profitable lines in your firm.
We’ve all heard the saying that in M&A, 1+1=3. But that equation only works when firms commit to the effort behind it. With so much consolidation reshaping the profession, the real question isn’t just about the transaction — it’s about what comes next. Some firms take a traditional path of full integration from day one. Others operate as alliances designed to stay independent for the long term. Many are finding themselves somewhere in between, taking a thoughtful, staged journey toward integration that fits their people, their clients, and their culture. In this session, we’ll have a candid conversation with leaders who have lived through mergers, alliances, and everything along the continuum. They’ll share lessons learned, stories from the field, and insights on how to navigate the integration journey with clarity and confidence. You’ll explore how change management principles can help you lead your people through transition and create lasting value beyond the transaction itself.