Secrets of the Fastest-Growing Firms

Published September 1, 2026 9:00 AM

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Updated September 1, 2026 9:43 AM

1 Min Read

Just as success has many fathers, it has many secrets, too — and what's important for one organization may not matter as much to another.

But in polling the leaders of this year's Fastest-Growing Accounting Firms, while they had a wide range of advice to share, a couple of trends stood out: the importance of having a bold plan for the future, and the need to know what their firm is all about — and to stay true to that.

Read their best advice below, and see their individual strategies for growt here.

Shoot for the stars

James Godfrey at the 2026 Firm Growth Forum

"Think big and dream big," advised James Godfrey, CEO of TSS Advisors. "We're a small rural firm in Lebanon, New Hampshire, that three years ago is doing $9 million in revenue and we have a goal of $80 million in five years. So dream big and achieve big goals."

Know your value

"Identify what your value proposition is and how you stand out and how you're different in the market and then double down on that," suggested Platform Accounting Group CEO Reyes Florez.

"I would say that that's a recipe for success in any business and any market is: you know who are you and what's the value prop that you're bringing to a client base, and really just leaning heavily into that," he added.

Commit to the future

Aprio CEO and managing partner Richard Kopelman

Scott Areman

"Know who you are and where you're going, and then go all in," said Aprio CEO Richard Kopelman. "The firms that walk into the next decade with a clear sense of purpose, the right culture and a team committed to something bigger than themselves are going to build something extraordinary."

"Going 'all in' is the part most firms underestimate. It means putting real resources behind the future you say you believe in," he explained. "For us, that meant building national scale, a financial foundation strong enough to hold through any cycle, and a five-year $300 million investment in AI. Building that foundation alone takes years. The firms that join a platform already standing on it can put their energy into clients from day one. That is how this profession will sort the firms defining its next era from the ones describing it."

Perseverance

Left to right: Jay Brooks, Blake Chapman, Michael Stephano, Jolie Karp, Jim Forgione and Nick Ciocca of Stephano Slack

"I have two pieces of advice," said Stephano Slack managing partner Michael Stephano. "No. 1 is stick with it. It is not easy. It is very difficult. It's very time-consuming and leadership is very, very important. ..."

"And you have to have leadership," he continued. "You have to have somebody who's going to drive the bus. … And if that's not part of your conversation of leadership and where you want to be, I think it's very difficult. Understand that you need strong leadership, understand that you need a strong business plan, and understand that you're not going to get there in a year. It takes two or three years in in order for anybody to be successful at almost anything that you do."

Get ahead of the curve

Jesse Sutton

"Don't wait for disruption to force change," advised Steve Stagner, the CEO of Current (formerly Crete). "Lean into it very early. I would invest in people, process and technology simultaneously."

Lessons from 'No'

2025_FGF_Interview_TimBrackney_v1.00_01_33_15.Still002.jpg

"You've got to stay true to yourself," said Springline Advisory CEO Tim Brackney. "I have talked about being really focused on your mission and that's born from having chased deals down rabbit holes and realizing, 'Oh my God, that's not a good fit for us.' And I think there's as much learning from saying no to somebody. Even somebody in our profession, you can almost get a sense of what people look like on paper in ways that you can't in other industries. Somebody who looks good on paper may or may not necessarily fit what you're trying to build. Be really, really selective about what you're trying to build and stay true to that."

Opportunities abound

Sean Taylor at the 2026 Firm Growth Forum

"What's your mindset?" asked Smith + Howard CEO Sean Taylor. "You can either have a mindset that's steeped in scarcity or you can have a mindset that's steeped in abundance. And if you want to grow, have an abundance mindset and really focus on [where] there's plenty of growth."

"Forty years ago, the hundredth largest firm in our profession was $7.5 million in revenues," he noted. "If you're $7.5 million in revenues now, you're probably No. 500. So there's plenty of growth out there. It's just, do you believe it? And will you go and get what you can get and what can be yours? I think that's the mindset you have to have."

Know what your growth is for

Nishad Ruparell at the 2026 Firm Growth Forum

"You hear a lot of people talk about growth for the sake of growth and there's some simple logic that growth creates opportunity and opportunity is good, but I would push people to go further than that and really articulate for themselves what is the firm that they're trying to create?" asked Nishaad Ruparel, president of Ascend. "What values is that firm rooted in? What will it look like to be successful? And the sharper that you can paint that picture for yourself, the more discriminately you're going to be able to prosecute growth because it's available, but choosing the right style and form and pace is probably how you keep your team with you along the way."

More than the sum

"The organization has to enable people to grow," said Nichols Cauley CEO Alan Whitman. "You can't just ask people to do more. We're not machines. We have limited capabilities, capacity, mindset. So the firms that are willing to make the investment to build that engine of growth … they're going to grow more, and they will grow faster and more sustainably, than those that just leave it up to the people."

"It's the old sum of the parts," he added. "Are you a sum-of-the-parts organization? You are a whole made up of the parts. If you become a whole made up of the parts where everybody's executing strategy, everybody's working the machine, the engines, I believe that growth will result at a more rapid pace than the others."

Work with the right people

Dan Applegate of Alan & James Partners at the 2026 Firm Growth Forum

"Find people that you trust and want to work with," advised Alan & James Partners CEO and co-founder Dan Applegate.

Shoot for the moon, one step at a time

Jesse Sutton

"Set big goals, create a strategy, and then go after the goals by following your strategy," suggested Prosperity Partners CEO Jeremy Dubow. "It's somewhat basic, for sure, but if you don't think big and aim for the moon to some extent, you're never going to achieve above-market growth. And we've done that historically. We've got a one-year plan, a three-year plan and a five-year plan. And in our five-year plan, our goals are massive. And if you start moving them into smaller and smaller pieces, you start to realize you can achieve those goals. And happily we've done that in our journey and we're going to continue to strive for it."

Stick to the plan

"Define your plan and track it and hold yourself accountable," said Moss Krusick & Associates managing partner Ed Moss. "We kept ours very simple — kept it to one page. I heard another firm say, 'If it's more than one page, it's probably too much information.' Come up with a plan and stick to it. That was our methodology.

Stretch reasonably

PKF O'Connor Davies managing partner Jonathan Moore

Photo: Ed Haas

"Don't be afraid to pick a lane and to stay in it," said Jonathan Moore, managing partner of PKF O'Connor Davies. "And so really being focused on what you're trying to acquire and, of course, making sure that the cultures are aligned in terms of the deals. Because what we found is bad deals were when maybe we stretched a little too far — you always want to push and stretch, but don't stretch too far outside of where you have the expertise."

"Be focused and do it well," he concluded. "Don't overlook or underestimate the value of culture."

Selective M&A

"Don't just do an acquisition to do an acquisition," warned LMC Advisors CEO Lee Cohen. "Make sure it's right, because a bad acquisition is just going to ruin the whole morale of your firm."

Believe in what you're doing

"Figure it out," suggested KSM president and CEO Tim Cook. "Figure out what it is you want to do and what it is you want to be. And you want to always revisit that, but then you've got to stay true to it. And there will be pressure to let up or to slow it down or to remove pieces that don't seem to fit based on one or more people's opinion. And you've got to have, not an arrogance, but a belief in what you're doing and the courage to stick through it because there will be tough times."

What makes you, you

"Stay focused on ultimately what makes you you," said Archer Lewis CEO Jake Nice. "As we've grown over the last couple of years, we haven't tried to change the identity of the firm. … We've ultimately tried to lean into that because we think there's a lot of advantage in the part of the market that we operate in and who works for us and who we are."

"A lot of times as you grow, that can start drifting because you see shiny objects or different opportunities that may present themselves in ways that ultimately you lose sight of that core image of what the firm and the client base are," he warned. "And so I think it's really staying true ultimately and consistent over time from a client experience perspective and from an associate perspective."

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