How does your accounting firm stack up against the top-performing practices in the country?
Drawing from the industry-leading Rosenberg Survey and IPA Survey, this presentation analyzes data from over 800 accounting firms and 400,000 data points to reveal what truly drives firm success in 2025.
While most tax presentations focus on helping your clients, this session is entirely about YOU—the CPA firm owner and partner. Learn how the most profitable firms are navigating high organic growth (9.5%+) alongside the most challenging hiring market in decades.
Core Metrics for CPA Firm Success:
- Income Per Equity Partner (IPP): The ultimate measure of profitability. Learn how to normalize “partner perks” (W-2, Auto, 401k) to get an accurate benchmark.
- The Leverage Triangle: Why high revenue per partner makes it “impossible not to make money,” and the benchmark target of $2M–$3M per partner.
- Fees Per Person vs. Billable Hours: Why “Fees Per Person” is the critical metric for firms shifting from a compliance mindset to an advisory model.
- The Entrepreneurial Premium: Differentiating between the “wage” for your work and the “return” on your business ownership.
Key Insights from the 2025 Data:
- Organic Growth vs. M&A: Organic growth is hitting record highs (near 8%), creating a massive capacity crunch that requires better leverage, not just more hours.
- The Death of the Billable Hour? Discover why the firms with the highest “Partner Billing Rates” (regardless of market size) consistently have the highest net income.
- The Transition to “Other” Revenue: Why audit and tax practices are losing ground to advisory and financial services in the profitability rankings.
- Sustainability & Smart Work: A comparison of firms making $1M per partner at 3,000 hours vs. 2,000 hours—and how technology bridges the gap.
Charles Hylan discusses benchmarking your firm's performance as a trusted advisor at the 2022 HABU Conference.
