The priorities defining the accountancy firms of the future
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In a previous article, we explored the headline shifts making waves in the industry. Now, we’re stepping into the boardroom to dive deeper into how the increase in private equity, the war on capacity, and advancements in AI are influencing what today’s leaders are prioritising to steer their firms forward.
Priority 1: Thinking long term
Question: Are we making decisions like a high performing firm?
The firms setting the pace for the future are no longer just reacting to what’s in front of them. They’re looking ahead – years ahead – and making strategic moves and investments today that will define their trajectory tomorrow. The ‘If it’s not broken, why fix it?’ mindset can be a tough one to shift, but future-focused firms are doing exactly that.
Undoubtedly, the increase in private equity is helping to accelerate this change. And it’s causing a mindset shift – from asking ‘How do we deliver today?’ to ‘How do we build a better business?’
This requires breaking away from comfort zones, challenging embedded habits, and rethinking how the business operates. As Tom Quinn, CFO at Bennett Thrasher, shares:
“When I first suggested making a change, there was pushback – people said, ‘We don’t have the need or the time to implement new processes.’ But I broke it down and said, ‘This is an opportunity we don’t want to miss. If we don’t take time now to rethink how we’re working, we’ll keep facing the same challenges that are holding us back.’”
Priority 2: Making resource management strategic
Question: Are we deploying our people in ways that truly deliver our strategy?
In accountancy firms, every growth plan, client promise, and strategic priority ultimately hinges on: having the right people, with the right skills, on the right work, at the right time.
Yet for many firms, despite the so-called war on capacity raging on, how they deploy their people, aka resource management, remains undervalued – treated as a logistical function rather than a strategic lever. It’s too often disconnected from the decisions it directly affects: profitability, client outcomes, team health and strength, and growth capacity. The ripple effect runs through every part of the business.
Wayne Kaplan, former Grant Thornton Partner, explains:
“There’s been a wild temptation among leadership to oversimplify resource management: we have a problem, so let’s tweak utilisation, let’s tweak leverage – that’ll solve all ills. But that’s way, way, way too simplistic an approach to the resource management conundrum and the strategic imperative of getting it right.
The question shouldn’t just be how do we drive profitability for the next season. It should be how do we build a long-term, sustainable, profitable, growth-oriented practice?”
Priority 3: Investing in technology
Question: Are we seeing real ROI on our technology investments?
Across the board, leaders are rethinking how their firms adapt and apply technology. While AI is understandably top of mind, for many firms the immediate priority is getting the foundations right – ensuring core systems, data, and processes are in place to scale and respond to changing demands.
Whether AI-powered or not, it’s about ensuring every technology investment moves the firm forward.
And as Sam Cornish, Financial Servies Partner at BDO, explains, one function that can benefit hugely from technology investment is resource management:
“I think technology plays a significant role – about a third – in enabling an effective resource management process. I say this from personal experience: using resource management software that was clunky, hard to access, or limited by licenses made it difficult to reflect the actual state of play on the system. The technology you choose needs to be intuitive, easily accessible, and capable of real-time updates.”
Final thought
The accountancy firms of the future are being shaped right now. These firms are aligning long-term strategy with the decisions that drive it day to day – from how they invest in technology and measure its impact, to how they plan, deploy, and empower their people. They’re not just adopting new tools – they’re challenging legacy mindsets and building the operational foundations to grow with confidence.
The firms of the future will be the ones who continue to ask:
‘Are we looking far enough ahead – and stepping far enough back – to understand how we’re really operating today, and whether it’s setting us up for the future firm we want to build?’
Ready to level up?
It’s time to show leadership the strategic value of resource management. Join our interactive and uplifting session with Christine Robinson, RMCP and Richard Cassidy to learn the top three things all great (current or aspiring) resource management leaders do. We’ll be covering how to:
- Speak in the language of leadership (hint: revenue, margin, costs)
- Optimise the resource management operation and delivery model, and
- Supercharge your personal brand.
