The 2025 Best Firms for Technology

ByChris Gaetano, Daniel Hood, Danielle Lee

May 6, 2025 9:30 AM

Technology and connected office concept art - Best Firms for Tech 2025

The initial response to artificial intelligence from the accounting community was one of wonder and amazement and, for a while, it seemed like every firm from the smallest storefront to the largest network was eager to demonstrate its embrace of the technology.

But today, as more firms become familiar with AI — especially its generative and agentic variants — firms are focusing less on blanket adoption and more on governance, recognizing both its powerful potential and its very real limitations.

Virtually every firm included in this year's list has a formal governance policy specifically governing AI use, and the few who do not have already found ways to work AI into already existing frameworks. Further, a rough consensus of what an AI policy should look like has begun to form. Firms in general have implemented strict prohibitions on unloading sensitive client data into public AI tools, require mandatory training on responsible AI use, and regularly monitor and assess their AI activities.

Many others have gone further, doing things like establishing cross-functional AI teams, addressing AI in their written information security plans, educating people on AI's ethical challenges, or establishing private cloud environments specifically for AI.

Much of this has been done in recognition of AI's risk and its limitations. It is not 2023 anymore and no one is thinking AI will solve all their problems. Yes, the technology has done many impressive things: Firm leaders report major time savings, deeper analytics, expanded automation, better brainstorming, and incredible efficiencies in software development. At the same time, nearly all the Best Firms for Technology have been frustrated by inaccurate, inconsistent or low-quality outputs, naming this as one of their biggest disappointments with the technology.

Other firms mentioned lengthy and difficult implementations, cybersecurity and data privacy problems, and difficulty working with tools like Excel.

"AI is far from a silver bullet. It's easy to build something that works in the innovation lab, but it's much more challenging to build something reliable and scalable across the firm. Even well-trained models can be inconsistent, and costs can rise quickly without a clear return," said Jonathan Kraftchick, an assurance partner at Top 100 Firm Cherry Bekaert.

These firms' approach toward AI has much in common with their technology stance as a whole, as every firm in this year's list also said they have a written technology strategy. Each one is taking a deliberate and intentional approach to their technology infrastructure with the expectation that it will pay dividends in the future.

When asked what they hope AI would be able to do eventually, leaders mentioned not just these problems being solved, but also bots being able to better connect the dots and understand contexts better, which would enable them to become true assistants that can handle complex administrative tasks, as well as better data cleaning capacities and better interoperability with things like Excel or PowerPoint.

Yet these challenges are not preventing firms from continuing major investments in AI; they are, in fact, accelerating them, as tech spending is going up. Of the 10 firms in this list, four said their technology spending has increased significantly since last year, four said it increased slightly, one said it stayed about the same and one said that, while absolute costs have significantly grown, its per-user costs have shrunk. As for why so many firms are spending more on tech, AI was frequently cited, alongside rising service fees and the need to support additional staff.

"We are a digitally determined organization from the top down. We seek to invest in technologies that improve our capabilities, responsiveness, and our quality. Fiscal year 2024 and 2025 has us investing in AI-enabled solutions which support these attributes. Additionally, some core solutions under transition/transformation result in overlapping costs for the duration of the change," said Peter Sebilian, chief technology officer and chief information security officer for Top 100 Firm AAFCPAs.

This focus on AI plays into other aspects of their technology. For instance, this year's firms lean heavily on cloud computing, with the majority saying they have no physical servers on site. Even among those that do have at least one, the applications they use are almost entirely cloud-based. Similarly, cybersecurity is a big priority for each of these firms as well, as nearly all of them adhere to at least one recognized cybersecurity standard, such as SOC 2, ISO 27001 or NIST CSF.

Overall, these are firms that take AI seriously in terms of not only adoption but oversight and supporting infrastructure. Given the rapid pace of development in this sector, who knows what we'll see next year?

With all that in mind, below are this year's Best Firms for Technology.

(Read more: See the 2024 Best Firms for Technology.)

AAFCPAs

HQ: Westborough, Massachusetts
Employees: 325
Offices: 2
Avg. screens per employee: 4

Sometimes, technology excellence is about sweating the small stuff — refreshing a quarter of your firm's laptops every year, for instance, as AAFCPAs does — while also keeping an eye on the far horizon, as it's doing by exploring the broadest trends in the field.

"The most significant technology change for us has been the widespread adoption of RPA and generative AI tools across the firm," said CTO and CISO Peter Sebilian. "We are continually exploring new use cases for RPA and AI in all functional areas. For instance, 25% of our employees now have Copilot licenses, and our automation center of excellence collaborates with champions to identify opportunities for leveraging AI and RPA."

An openness to the new doesn't mean pursuing it for its own sake, or being unaware of the difficulties it can bring. "Strategic interoperability and investment return is our biggest challenge," explained Sebilian. "The complexity of these opportunities' integration and improving the overall end-to-end work process we see as a significant challenge. Many shiny nickels cannot result in a pocket full of change, but instead need to result in an understood total value to the business."

With such a clear-sighted strategy in place, and its multifaceted approach to measuring return on investment from its technology spending, it's no surprise that the firm has had success with early implementations of AI.

"The adoption of LLMs such as Copilot and ChatGPT is widely used and has significantly increased efficiency from audit and tax to marketing," Sebilian explained, helping the firm streamline the handling of sales-tax-related queries; identify recurring client pain points; facilitate knowledge management; accelerate onboarding; ensure quality control; and much, much more.

Armanino

HQ: San Ramon, California
Employees: 2,500-plus
Offices: 22
Frequency of data backup: Every four hours (for critical data)

Armanino's commitment to artificial intelligence is unsurprising given the Top 25 Firm's resources and history of innovation, but its dedication to cybersecurity is even more vital to protect the data of its large number of clients, and to safely execute on the latest emerging technologies.

Jim Nagata, senior director of cybersecurity and IT operations, stressed the importance of responsible adoption of AI solutions: "Balancing innovation with robust data security measures is crucial, especially given the rapid pace of AI advancements and the substantial investments required."

In conjunction with the AI-powered tools and software, Armanino has created an AI Inner Circle Initiative and AI training program, which join its other technology-focused employee training programs. The firm also has a formal policy specifically governing AI.

And while Armanino's effective use of AI has resulted in "substantial productivity gains and the enhanced accuracy in complex decision-making processes" to streamline operations significantly, according to Nagata, the firm maintains a realistic and safe approach in implementing the technology.

He acknowledged the occasional inaccuracies or biases inherent in AI-generated outputs as an ongoing challenge, which he and his team monitor as they lead the firm safely down the adoption path so many other accounting firms are also crowding, though not always as responsibly. And regardless of the safeguards and due diligence exercised, Armanino is firmly on — and a long way down — that path, with a clear vision and strategy for the ways AI and other related technology will continue to transform both accounting and the world in general.

Cherry Bekaert

HQ: Raleigh, North Carolina
Employees: 2,611
Offices: 47
No. of software applications: 425

Top 25 Firm Cherry Bekaert has thought a lot about AI governance. This makes sense considering that, like many firms of its size, it has spent the past few years making heavy investments in the technology, acquiring and integrating several AI-based tools as well as developing some of its own. Most recently, Cherry Bekaert touted the full rollout of an integrated generative AI tool that, along with a substantial increase in API usage, has driven improvements in standardization, efficiency, and experimentation with emerging technologies.

As a result, Cherry Bekaert has embraced an approach to AI that emphasizes accountability, security and transparency. The firm has established a cross-functional, business-led AI steering committee to guide strategy, define risk tolerance, and ensure firmwide alignment in order to help shape policy, assess use cases, and oversee adoption.

Beyond that, it has focused on strengthening data governance and classification systems in order to ensure that individuals only have access to the data they are authorized to see — a foundational step before introducing AI tools into those environments.

To mitigate risk, the firm also restricts access to public or unvetted AI tools and blocks select third-party generative AI sites that do not meet its security standards, which helps ensure that both proprietary and client data remain secure and contained within approved systems. The AI governance framework also includes regular risk assessments, internal audits, and compliance with industry standards, such as the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and ISO 42001.

"Ultimately, our goal is to unlock the benefits of AI while protecting our clients' trust, safeguarding sensitive data, and ensuring our teams have the clarity and confidence to use these tools appropriately," said partner Jonathan Kraftchick.

EisnerAmper

Courtesy of EisnerAmper

HQ: New York City
Employees: 4,276
Offices: 50
Size of tech team: 100

Top 25 Firm EisnerAmper has devoted significant time and resources to upgrading its technology infrastructure, especially this past year, and it shows. For one, it recently launched a new SaaS-based engagement letter process that automates the creation, routing, approval, delivery, and tracking of engagement letters, which also plays a key role in risk management by using standardized templates and workflows to ensure compliance with firm policies and regulatory requirements. It has also introduced a centralized SaaS-based client portal that enhances collaboration and visibility across all engagements, but also improves data collection functionality.

That both these innovations are cloud-based is no accident. Of the more than 300 applications the firm uses, about 91% are cloud-based, all part of the firm's overall approach to technology, which is rooted in delivering integrated, scalable cloud-based solutions. Because of this, the firm also focuses strongly on its data strategy, given its importance in automation and AI, concentrating particularly hard on data governance, integration, and analytics capabilities, which further fuels the development of its own solutions.

"We are building integrated, next-generation systems to enhance core services like tax, audit and wealth management, while also expanding our ability to deliver innovative, tech-enabled solutions," said chief technology officer Sanjay Desai. "Grounded in a strong data strategy, our approach brings together cybersecurity best practices and the power of generative AI to unlock smarter insights, reduce risk, and streamline decision-making. This technology strategy not only benefits client-facing services but also strengthens our internal operations — improving efficiency, collaboration, and the overall quality of delivery."

Eisner Amper also supports strong AI oversight, building transparency, observability and traceability into any system that uses the technology. This is paired with governance policies like access controls, data protection, model validation, and human oversight to ensure safety and responsibility.

Grant Thornton

Milan Jaros/Bloomberg

HQ: Chicago
Employees: 12,000-plus
Offices: 50-plus
% of software applications that are cloud-based: 99.8%

Grant Thornton understands it's not just about throwing more technology at any operational or client problem (and as a Top 10 Firm, GT has the resources to throw a lot) but about applying the right tech — which means intentionally implementing and tracking all the new tools the firm consistently adds to its arsenal.

The firm employs a rigorous process to measure the ROI for all technology investments and the success of tech implementations, according to chief information officer Mike Kempke, which starts with a comprehensive business case review identifying that return on investment to ensure accountability and accurate measurements of financial impact. Once the technology is implemented, the evaluation continues with the tracking of key performance indicators for both staff and clients, which Grant Thornton monitors so it can continually and effectively adjust the firm's tech stack.

Based on this, said Kempke, "Any savings generated by an investment in technology are reinvested in the firm to drive further technology enablement and associated savings and growth."

One recent investment was GT's internal CompliAI tool, launched in 2024, which uses AI to enhance compliance and risk management for clients. Overall, AI is integrated into everything the firm is doing, reports Kempke, from specialized software to firmwide strategy, which means balancing "data security, compliance, and stakeholder buy-in." To keep that balance across all tech, whether AI-related or not, all Grant Thornton employees complete an average of 10 hours of technology-specific training per year.

All this is to support the three tiers of GT's successful technology strategy: application modernization, data centralization and AI integration.

Mowery & Schoenfeld

HQ: Lincolnshire, Illinois
Employees: 176
Offices: 5
Frequency of data backup: Every other hour

Like many logistics of modernizing a firm, the flood of IT help desk queries that can come from adding software can bog down the bigger-picture advancements these additions were meant to achieve. Mowery & Schoenfeld recognizes this, and smartly provides an internal resource center for its 176 employees to get answers to routine questions about any of the firm's 38 software tools. Intended to capture any issues before they are upgraded to tickets that can monopolize its IT team's time, the center also includes a status board for staff to check before waving an IT employee over to their desks.

The move has proven successful, according to Chris Madden, director of information technology. "This has greatly improved efficiency among our internal IT team and allowed us time to explore bigger-picture initiatives, like AI and APIs, in more detail," he shared.

Mowery & Schoenfeld also balances narrow focus with wider scope in its approach to developing and implementing AI and automation, integrating these tools into smaller teams before implementing them firmwide. And all along, the firm ensures its people are kept up to date and knowledgeable.

"We are always increasing our investment in education and training for leadership and our team, beyond just one-hour webinars for staff, to understand technology, [and the] threats and opportunities it brings," Madden said.

Additionally, Mowery & Schoenfeld's IT team uses the firm's wholly owned subsidiary arm Xamin Inc. to help identify, explore and leverage new technology opportunities — while also building guardrails for any threats, because, as Madden acknowledged, "As with many firms, cybersecurity and protection of client data is a top tech priority for us."

Navolio & Tallman

HQ: Walnut Creek, California
Employees: 47
Offices: 3
% of deliverables that are digital-only: 99%

Technology changes so quickly that one hallmark of all our Best Firms for Tech is devoting time to seeing what's coming down the pike. Navolio & Tallman has an IT committee charged with making sure it "stays up to date on industry advancements to ensure we are using leading-edge technology," according to IT partner Stephanie Ringrose.

And sometimes, leading-edge tech requires other lead-edge tech to support it: "We're planning to invest in a new generation of laptops that come with Copilot-enabled neural processing units. These laptops are designed to accelerate AI-powered tasks, and we see them as an investment that keeps our firm aligned with the future of the tech industry," Ringrose said. "The laptops will have improved internal specs for multitasking and include touchscreen functionality to make day-to-day usage more intuitive."

On the software side, the firm is focusing on tools to automate repetitive tasks and reduce manual data entry, and taking a fresh look at its workflows to identify and address any inefficiencies.

"The goal is to reduce administrative work so our team can spend more time on meaningful, client-focused tasks," she said. "We're also keeping a close eye on how AI is evolving in tax and audit. Right now, we're especially interested in tools that can assist with document comparison and smart review/research features — anything that can help us work more efficiently while maintaining a high level of quality."

Navolio & Tallman is always on the lookout for solutions that promote collaboration, connection and efficiency, that facilitate firm growth, and that support excellent client service — but never at the expense of security, and never merely because it's the next big thing.

"There are so many options when it comes to technology that it can be hard to evaluate the right technology," said Ringrose. "We don't want to adopt technology for the sake of technology."

The Network Firm

HQ: Miami
Employees: 20
Offices: 1
% of budget devoted to tech: 65%

The Network Firm is small, with just two partners and 20 employees in a single office, but in terms of technology this Miami-based practice punches well above its weight. Conceiving of itself as a hybrid CPA firm/tech company, this crypto-specialist firm boasts an alternative practice structure that provides traditional accounting services like auditing and advisory on top of internally developed software solutions that provide regular SaaS income. For example, this year the Network Firm developed and launched LedgerLens, a suite of crypto audit tools marketed to other accounting firms.

"LedgerLens is a core component of our revenue goals going forward, as SaaS technology is scalable and recurring. At the same time, we can enable firms to capture the opportunity that crypto and digital assets provide," said assurance partner Jeremy Nau.

The solution leverages the Network Firm's years of experience serving cryptocurrency companies, providing auditing and attest as well as tax, compliance, internal controls and other services for this highly specialized sector. Nau noted that working with these companies, especially on audits, requires specialized software that can deal with the major differences between cryptocurrencies and more traditional asserts.

Overall, the Network Firm appears to lean heavily on the "build" side of the buy-versus-build question: When asked about the kinds of solutions they plan to acquire in the next year, they answered that they plan to develop internally. Given this emphasis on software development alongside accounting work, it is perhaps not surprising that, of the 20 people they employ at the firm, six of them — almost 30% of the total staff — are part of the internal technology team.

Schellman

HQ: Tampa, Florida
Employees: Approx. 500
Offices: 1
Avg. no. hours of annual tech training per employee: 75%

Schellman, a Top 50 Firm, leans heavily on tech — it is 100% remote, 100% paperless, and almost 100% cloud-based, all operating from a single office that acts as a nerve center for its disparate professionals. The firm's tech focus also shows in its highly specialized practice niche, focusing mostly on IT compliance attestation, cybersecurity testing and assessment, cryptography and digital trust services, and artificial intelligence management and development. On this last point, Schellman has also been making a major push to AI not only for client services but its own internal operations, as well.

"We're focused on leveraging AI to eliminate mundane tasks and free up time for our knowledge workers to focus on higher-value work. Our first AI agent is already helping us build a release launching this week — it's as close to magic as we've seen so far. Looking ahead, our strategy is to continue integrating advanced technologies that enhance efficiency, user experience, and innovation," said Christopher Kouzios, Schellman's chief information officer.

Beyond implementing AI itself, Schellman is also aiming to be a firm that can evaluate AI. Last year it became the first ANSI National Accreditation Board-accredited International Organization for Standardization 42001 certification body, allowing the firm to certify organizations on the world's first artificial intelligence management system standard, and it already offers assessment as one of its services.

Schellman's AI ambitions are unlikely to stop, as Kouzios noted that the firm plans to " to acquire a heavy investment in AI" soon.

WilkinGuttenplan

HQ: East Brunswick, N.J.

Employees: 116

Offices: 2

Frequency of data backup: Three times a day

Technology can often seem like a rich firm's game, with success determined by the ability to dump millions, if not billions, into new solutions — but that's not always the case. For smaller firms, a thoughtful strategy and a careful approach can go a long way.

"Our biggest technology challenge is determining which platforms to prioritize and invest in with our limited time and resources," explained IT shareholder Tom Hasard. "The rapid pace of technological change means we need to make careful choices that will deliver the best return on investment and align with our strategic goals. At the same time, we must manage the internal transformations required — such as training staff on new tools and restructuring processes — to fully leverage new technology."

At the core of the firm's technology policy are three key pillars:

Fast to test, slow to embrace: The firm rapidly prototypes and evaluates new technologies, but adopts them carefully and deliberately.
Build what they can't buy: WilkinGuttenplan isn't afraid to build its own, tailored tools when the market doesn't provide them (an approach that has been greatly furthered by its recent adoption of AI-powered coding assistant GitHub Copilot).
Thoughtful stewardship of resources: The firm carefully manages its time and budget, spending them only on initiatives that promise the greatest value and sustainable impact.

This strategy allows WilkinGuttenplan to better measure the return on its technology investments, which revolves around engagement realization — how effectively initiatives produce tangible outcomes — and tool usage rates, which gauge how deeply new technologies are integrated into daily operations.