Ask accounting firms whether they offer advisory and almost all of them say yes. Wolters Kluwer's 2025 survey of US firms put it at 94%. Look at where the revenue comes from and the picture changes. In the AICPA and CPA.com 2024 CAS Benchmark Survey, 39% of CAS practices said they do not offer business insights services at all, and fewer than one-third earned more than 10% of CAS revenue from them.
The gap between offering advisory and selling it is where high-growth accounting firms pull away. The research from the last two years is fairly consistent about how they do it.
What the research means by high-growth accounting firms
Definitions vary, so it helps to be precise. Hinge Research Institute's 2026 High Growth Study, which covers professional services firms of all kinds rather than accounting alone, defines high-growth firms as those with at least 20% compound annual growth over three years. Those firms grew at a median of 36.6%, and spent 12% of revenue on marketing against 5% for firms that did not grow.
For accounting specifically, the best benchmark is the CAS survey. Across 206 practices reporting 2023 results, median CAS growth was 17%. The survey notes that the 2023 MAP survey reported a median increase in firm net client fees of 9.11% over the previous year. Client accounting and advisory is growing faster than the firm around it.
They sell advice instead of listing it
The clearest difference is in the revenue mix. The CAS benchmark found that the small set of firms generating significant revenue from CFO or business insights services earned more than 30% higher monthly recurring revenue, with a typical monthly fee more than 30% higher. Most of the revenue across all respondents, more than 65%, still came from transactional accounting and controllership.
Thomson Reuters' 2026 tax firm advisory report, a survey of 150 people who lead advisory practices at tax firms, shows the same pattern from another angle. 85% said their firm's advisory revenue increased last year, averaging 13% growth, and 88% of those said advisory grew faster than compliance. Advisory made up 31% of firm revenue on average and was bought by 35% of clients.
Those firms have a defined advisory service with a price, a scope and a delivery rhythm. A firm that answers advisory questions when a client happens to ask is giving the same work away.
They meet clients more often
This finding gets less attention than it deserves. In the same Thomson Reuters report, 83% of respondents from firms with quarterly client touchpoints had proactively offered advisory services to the client. Among firms meeting clients only once or twice a year, the figures were 52% and 58%. And 89% of the more frequent group said advisory growth was now outpacing compliance growth, against 65% of the rest.
Frequency creates the opening. A tax client seen once a year has a tax relationship. A client seen every quarter has a business relationship, and the questions that come up in it are the advisory work.
They price on a fixed fee
High-growth firms rarely sell advice by the hour. In the CAS benchmark, 84% of respondents were shifting to fixed-fee billing payable monthly, quarterly or annually, and only 10% still used hourly billing as their main method. Ignition's 2025 pricing report, drawn from 219 US firms using its software, found 17% charging hourly for advisory services.
A fixed fee changes the conversation. The client buys an outcome, such as a monthly view of the business and a call about what to do next, and the firm is paid for getting more efficient instead of penalised for it. The trade-off is scope. The CAS report warns that fixed-fee practices have to reassess fees and watch out-of-scope work.
They pick a niche
Specialisation shows up in the numbers. In the CAS benchmark, practices earning more than half their revenue from defined industry niches reported 38% higher median CAS revenue and 51% higher net revenue per client than all respondents.
A niche makes advisory easier to sell and to deliver. The firm knows the numbers that matter in that industry, has seen the same decisions many times, and can explain a variance against what similar businesses look like.
They free senior time from production
The obstacles are consistent across surveys. Among tax firms growing advisory, Thomson Reuters found more than half citing staff skills gaps as their top challenge, followed by clients' resistance to paying for advice at 47%, lack of time because of compliance work at 41%, and difficulty pricing advisory at 37%. Intuit's 2025 survey of 700 US accounting professionals found 80% reporting difficulty hiring experienced professionals.
Firms that grow advisory solve the time problem first. They move close, reconciliation and reporting assembly onto a documented method, a delivery partner or software, so the people who can give advice have the hours to do it. We cover the role design in why senior CPAs should not be doing reconciliations.
| What high-growth firms do | What the evidence shows | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sell advisory as a defined service | More than 30% higher monthly recurring revenue for firms with significant CFO or business insights revenue | AICPA and CPA.com, 2024 |
| Meet clients more often | 83% of firms with quarterly touchpoints proactively offered advisory, against 52% and 58% for firms meeting once or twice a year | Thomson Reuters, 2026 report |
| Price on a fixed fee | 84% shifting to fixed fees, 10% still mainly hourly | AICPA and CPA.com, 2024 |
| Build niches | 38% higher median CAS revenue, 51% higher net revenue per client | AICPA and CPA.com, 2024 |
| Invest in marketing | 12% of revenue for high-growth firms against 5% for no-growth firms, across professional services | Hinge, 2026 |
Where the demand comes from
Firms report strong demand. In Thomson Reuters' 2025 State of Tax Professionals report, three-quarters of respondents said their clients "strongly" desire more tax and business advice in addition to tax preparation. Yet 75% said their firms still cite tax return preparation as their most profitable service.
That is firms describing their clients, not clients speaking for themselves. On the owner side, the data is thinner and older. A 2022 Gusto survey of 1,135 small and medium-sized business owners found 83% saying it was important that their accountant offers business advice in addition to financial and accounting work.
What advisory growth will not fix
It will not fix the books. Advice built on a late or unreconciled close is a confident answer to the wrong numbers, and it costs the client trust the firm cannot easily win back.
It will not fix a weak niche or an unclear scope. A fixed fee on undefined work turns into unpaid hours.
Read the surveys with their limits in mind. Each one is a self-selected sample of firms, several are run by vendors, and the figures describe what respondents reported, not what an audit would find.
Frequently asked questions
What do high-growth accounting firms do differently?
They sell client advisory as a defined, recurring, fixed-fee service, meet clients more often than once a year, specialise in industry niches and move production work off their senior people. Each of these shows up in the 2024 CAS Benchmark Survey or Thomson Reuters' tax firm research.
How fast are client accounting and advisory services growing?
The AICPA and CPA.com 2024 CAS Benchmark Survey reported median CAS growth of 17% across 206 practices for 2023, against a 9.11% median increase in total firm net client fees in the 2023 MAP survey.
What percentage of accounting firms offer advisory services?
Wolters Kluwer's 2025 survey found 94% of US firms offer advisory services. But in the 2024 CAS Benchmark Survey, 39% of CAS practices said they do not offer business insights services, and fewer than one-third earned more than 10% of CAS revenue from them.
How should accounting firms price advisory services?
Most growing practices use fixed fees payable monthly, quarterly or annually. In the 2024 CAS Benchmark Survey, 84% of respondents were shifting to fixed-fee billing and only 10% still billed mainly by the hour.
How often should accountants meet clients to grow advisory?
At least quarterly. In Thomson Reuters' 2026 tax firm advisory report, 83% of firms with quarterly client touchpoints had proactively offered advisory services, against 52% and 58% for firms meeting clients once or twice a year.
Where CFOLogic fits
We are the delivery partner behind accounting firms growing advisory: close, FP&A and CFO-level work under your brand, so your senior people have the hours to advise. Navigator, our software, keeps your firm in front of the client between meetings, with a daily view of their numbers under your name and plain-English answers from the books you close.