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Private Equity

The Math Is Brutal: Every CPA Must Triple Their Productivity by 2035 or Face Professional Extinction

Blake Oliver · September 10, 2025 ·

“When you chart out demand versus supply of people over time, what that math tells you is that ten years from now, 2035, every CPA in the profession will have to be 2.7 times more productive on a revenue per employee basis than they are today. That is crazy.”

David Wurtzbacher shared this projection on a recent episode of the Earmark Podcast. As the founder and CEO of Ascend, a private equity-backed platform that’s completed over three dozen firm acquisitions in just over two years, Wurtzbacher offers an outsider’s perspective on the profession.

His background scaling Lightwave Dental from 7 to 80 locations taught him how private equity can either destroy professional cultures or transform them for the better. Now he’s applying those lessons to accounting, where the numbers paint a sobering picture: demand for services keeps climbing while fewer people enter the profession each year.

To put this in perspective, a typical well-performing firm today generates around $200,000 in revenue per employee. Wurtzbacher’s projection means that number needs to approach $600,000 per person within a decade. Even scarier? By 2035, roughly 85% of the profession will consist of people with ten years or less of experience in an industry where most say you can’t even make partner in that timeframe.

But Wurtzbacher isn’t just highlighting the problem. Through Ascend’s model of preserving firm independence while providing enterprise-scale resources, he’s showing how firms can achieve these seemingly impossible productivity gains through three key transformations.

The Leadership Evolution: From Managing Partner to True CEO

The biggest barrier to 2.7x productivity isn’t technology or talent. It’s how firm leaders spend their time. Most managing partners remain trapped doing client work while trying to run their businesses, creating a fundamental ceiling on growth.

“The very first place we go is to the leader of the firm,” Wurtzbacher explains. “We want to help them through a transition to become a true CEO, defined as them having one client, which is the firm.”

This leadership trap stems from what Wurtzbacher calls the “fiercely independent” culture of accounting. During his research, he consistently heard from entrepreneurial CPAs who valued their independence: the name on the door, community reputation, caring for people and clients their way. But this independence prevents the changes necessary for breakthrough growth.

The problem runs deeper than time management. The client service orientation that defines quality accounting actually caps leadership development. With seasonal demands and constant client pressure, managing partners find limited windows for strategic work throughout the year.

The real breakthrough requires confronting a limiting belief. “When you’re close with your clients, you believe nobody can do the work but you,” Wurtzbacher observes. “No one else can have this client relationship.”

Consider Lee Cohen from LMC in New York, who exemplifies this transformation. Cohen was initially stressed, unhappy, and heavily involved in client work. Through Ascend’s CEO transition process, “Cohen literally became a different person. He would tell you that,” Wurtzbacher says.

Fifty percent of Cohen’s transformation came from a mindset shift. The other fifty percent came from bringing in a Chief Growth Officer—not a traditional business development role, but a general manager from outside the profession. “A lot of them have MBAs, but they are hungry, humble, smart people that come in and create visibility for that leader about what’s going on in the business and where there are opportunities.”

This operational support, combined with the mindset shift away from client dependency, sets leaders free to focus on what only they can do: building and directing their firms.

Creating an “Irresistible Offer” for Top Talent

Even the best leadership transformation can’t solve the profession’s talent crisis through traditional methods. When quality candidates routinely field six, seven, or eight job offers, firms need something fundamentally different.

Wurtzbacher’s solution centers on creating an “irresistible offer,” and it starts with better recruiting. “So many firm recruiters grew up in the profession, and they’re trapped with the baggage of old ways of doing things,” he explains. Ascend built a team of professional recruiters from outside accounting who understand best practices for finding candidates and closing deals.

But the real breakthrough is compensation innovation. While the profession is “very base salary heavy,” Ascend developed an off-the-shelf bonus program that lets firms pay more cash than competitors. They also extended equity ownership far beyond traditional partner levels.

“We have well over 100 people across all our firms that are managers or senior managers that are investors in Ascend. They own Ascend stock,” Wurtzbacher reveals. These employees invest $10,000 to $50,000 annually in company stock—typically funded through the enhanced bonus program—essentially dollar-cost averaging into equity appreciation throughout their careers.

This creates what Wurtzbacher calls “a different cultural energy.” When people understand how equity value creation works outside the traditional partnership model, they connect their daily work to long-term wealth building. The psychological shift from employee to owner fundamentally changes commitment levels.

The design also solves a collaboration problem. Because everyone owns Ascend stock regardless of which firm they work for, “it creates a one team attitude across all our firms” that unlocks knowledge sharing across the platform.

The results speak for themselves. Firms that described capacity as their “#1 issue” now consider that problem solved. “Our big issue now is how do we go and get all the right kinds of new business that we want to keep our great people excited and motivated,” Wurtzbacher notes.

Technology at Enterprise Scale

Achieving nearly triple productivity requires more than incremental improvements. It demands systematic transformation through AI, global teams, and automation that individual firms cannot afford alone.

But there’s a gap between AI hype and reality. “There is so much more hype and future forecasting than there is reality in this area,” Wurtzbacher observes. For firms feeling behind, “that’s just not the case.” Most firms implementing AI are saving perhaps two hours per person per week, and that’s only for the most advanced adopters.

This creates both opportunity and strategic imperative. While individual firms struggle with overwhelming AI options, they lack technical expertise and capital for truly transformative capabilities. The solution requires enterprise scale.

Ascend illustrates this advantage in action. They’re building a 30-person software engineering and AI team by year-end. “No medium-sized or smaller firm is going to be able to do that,” Wurtzbacher explains.

Their strategy operates on two fronts: strategic buying versus building. For general needs, they purchase existing products. For capabilities essential to their workflows, they invest millions annually developing proprietary AI solutions.

One promising area addresses what Wurtzbacher calls the client context problem. Years of relationships generate institutional knowledge typically trapped “in your head, in spreadsheets, in work papers, in your inbox, and some other tool.” Their AI team works on aggregating this context into accessible systems that transform practitioners from information gatherers into true advisors.

Global talent represents another productivity component. Ascend’s acquisition and transformation of Sentient Solutions, a global capability center exclusively serving US accounting firms in Hyderabad, India, demonstrates sophisticated global team integration. But this isn’t simple outsourcing; it requires developing playbooks that elevate rather than replace domestic work.

Even basic infrastructure offers huge opportunities. Practice management systems in accounting are “so messed up,” Wurtzbacher notes. Before AI delivers transformation, firms need fundamental technological foundations for tracking work and maintaining institutional knowledge.

The Choice Facing Every Firm

Survival depends on three interconnected transformations happening simultaneously: leaders evolving from client servers to strategic CEOs, revolutionary talent approaches through equity ownership, and enterprise-scale technology investments individual firms cannot achieve.

This is a watershed moment for professional services. The mathematical reality of 2.7x productivity gains will separate surviving firms from those becoming obsolete. When 85% of the profession will have a decade or less experience by 2035, traditional models don’t just fail; they become mathematically impossible.

But there’s reason for optimism. Firms embracing these changes discover that freeing leaders from client work unleashes strategic energy, equity ownership creates cultural transformation beyond salary increases, and enterprise-scale technology delivers impossible productivity gains.

Wurtzbacher’s personal timeline reinforces this long-term vision. At 37, he tells people “this very well could be the last thing I do. So I’m thinking of Ascend in terms of decades.” While typical private equity investments last three to four years, his commitment spans the time needed for real transformation.

For accounting professionals, this is an existential threat and an unprecedented opportunity. The mathematical moment of truth has arrived. The question isn’t whether change is coming. It’s whether you’ll lead it or be overwhelmed by it.

Listen to the full conversation with David Wurtzbacher on the Earmark Podcast to hear more about Ascend’s approach to transforming accounting firms while preserving their independence.

The Blueprint for Turning Your Accounting Practice into a Private Equity Magnet

Earmark Team · November 20, 2024 ·

Private equity investment is changing the accounting industry in a big way. In the past three years, five of the top 26 accounting firms in the U.S. have received financial support from private equity firms. This marks a notable change in how these businesses operate. As more money comes into the industry, smaller to mid-sized accounting firms are feeling the pressure to either grow larger or focus on specific areas of expertise to stay competitive.

How can we ensure our practices thrive in the face of ongoing challenges? Dave Bunce, Director of Partnerships at interVal, has extensive experience in accounting and mergers and suggests that companies willing to change and adapt their operations can achieve remarkable growth and value. This applies whether they are looking for investment from private equity firms or choosing to operate independently.

On a recent webinar, Dave shared three critical transformations that can help position your firm for success:

1. Moving beyond compliance work
2. Building sustainable recurring revenue
3. Creating scalable operations

Beyond Compliance: Redefining Value

When looking to buy a business, buyers pay close attention to two main things: the people you serve (your clients) and the skills of your staff (your talent). It’s important to remember that it’s not just about how many clients or employees you have; what really matters is the quality of your relationships, and the unique value you bring that goes beyond just meeting basic requirements.

“What they’re going to assess on that client list is how long they’ve been with you, how well you’ve grown or retained them, how well you’ve sold your other services to them, and how you’ve moved beyond the commodity of compliance,” Dave explains.

Offering high-profit advisory services can significantly increase the overall value of a firm. While accounting firms usually sell for a price that is about half to two times their revenue, where you fall on that scale largely depends on how well you provide valuable additional services. Top firms often group their clients into three categories—A, B, and C—based on how much growth potential they have and how open they are to receiving advisory services. This approach allows these firms to concentrate their efforts on the clients who are most likely to benefit from these expanded services.

Great opportunities for offering advice can often be found in the information we have about our current clients. For instance, analyzing $15 billion worth of client businesses, Dave’s team discovered that there was $4 billion sitting in working capital that businesses weren’t using efficiently. This finding opened up immediate chances to have important discussions with clients about smart ways to handle their money, plan for the future of their business, and improve how they manage their financial resources.

Finding new opportunities is only the beginning. Companies need clear methods to effectively offer these services on a larger scale and truly make the most of them. This is why creating strong Client Advisory Services (CAS) is so important.

Building Recurring Revenue with Strategic CAS Development

Many firms looking to increase their recurring revenue often begin by considering CAS. However, they must make an important choice: What kind of CAS do they want to provide?

“Are you looking at being a fractional CFO and bookkeeper? Or are you aiming for a high-margin, value-add CAS practice where you guide business owners through strategic planning exercises?” Dave asks. These are completely different ways of running a business, and each one needs unique strategies for hiring people, using technology, and providing services.

To build a successful CAS practice, Dave recommends a four-step approach:

  1. Define Your Scope: Determine whether you’re pursuing a high-volume bookkeeping model (starting around $500 monthly per client) or a high-margin advisory practice focused on strategic guidance.
  2. Validate the Market: Test your proposed offering with existing clients, understand what competitors charge, and ensure your pricing aligns with market expectations and cost structure.
  3. Build the Processes: Develop standardized workflows and procedures to ensure consistent delivery and scalability.
  4. Assemble the Team: Hire and train professionals suited to your chosen model—process-driven staff for bookkeeping or experienced advisors for strategic guidance.

Creating Scalable Operations

The foundation of a valuable, scalable firm lies in well-documented processes. Yet many firms make the costly mistake of implementing technology solutions before mapping out their core business processes.

“Map those things out—current state. Identify the gaps. Build the process the way you want it. Then identify where technology can fit,” Dave advises.

Start by documenting your key business cycles:

  • New Business to Cash Collection: From acquiring a client to receiving payment.
  • Resource Allocation and Delivery: Managing how work is assigned and completed.
  • Talent Lifecycle Management: Recruiting, training, and retaining staff.

This documentation is important for several reasons: it helps maintain stability when employees leave, ensures that services are provided in a consistent way, and shows potential buyers that the company operates at a high level of professionalism and readiness.

Think about the issue of employee turnover. Firms often invest a lot of time helping new employees learn their roles without having clear instructions or guidelines to follow. By creating standardized processes and having everything documented, the onboarding experience for new team members becomes smoother and quicker. This not only helps maintain a high level of service but also boosts the firm’s overall efficiency and profitability. Additionally, a well-organized business is more appealing to potential buyers.

Only after mapping these processes should you evaluate technology solutions. By mapping out how things work and noticing where there are gaps or inefficiencies, you can make better choices about which digital tools and automation will truly help your business succeed.

Positioning Your Firm for Success

Changing a traditional compliance-focused accounting practice into a more scalable business takes careful planning and a step-by-step approach. By moving beyond compliance tasks, firms can develop regular income sources and create clear, documented processes, which can lead to both immediate profits and lasting success.

Whether you choose to seek investment from private equity firms or decide to stay independent, making these changes can help your firm thrive in a competitive marketplace. Successful firms will focus on building efficient operations and offering valuable services.

Anyone looking to build an accounting firm that’s ready for the future should consider watching the full webinar recording. You’ll get practical strategies, pricing ideas, and tips based on Dave Bunce’s wide-ranging experience in both public accounting and private equity.

Accounting’s Wild Ride: Private Equity, Burnout, and AI

David Leary · April 18, 2024 ·

The accounting industry is in the middle of a wild ride! Private equity money, work-life balance drama, AI taking over – it’s enough to make your head spin. Blake Oliver and I dug into all these topics in our latest episode of The Accounting Podcast.

Through all the craziness, one thing’s clear: accountants have got to stay on their toes to make it in this business. Embrace the new, take care of yourself, and sharpen those skills – that’s the trick.

Will Private Equity End the Partnership Business Model?

You know it’s serious when a heavyweight like Grant Thornton gets gobbled up by private equity. New Mountain Capital swooping in shakes up the partnership model that’s been the foundation of accounting for decades.

In partnerships, profits end up lining partners’ pockets instead of getting pumped back into the firm. Private equity cash could be just what’s needed to drag firms into the future. Blake nailed it on the show: “The argument in favor of this sort of investment is that private equity can invest in modernizing technology, modernizing the firm in a way a partnership doesn’t.” 

But here’s the catch – private equity folks want their dough, which could mean partners’ paydays take a hit down the road. Accounting firms have to thread the needle – get that sweet private equity money but keep the partner track golden so that staff want to work hard and stick around to get there.

To Attract Talent, Firms Must Improve Work-Life Balance

Speaking of incentives, our discussion on working hours and job satisfaction in accounting was eye-opening. According to a report by Big 4 Transparency, a crowdsourced compensation website, the big cheeses – equity partners – are grinding 50+ hours a week on average.

“Could this be part of the problem with convincing people to stay in accounting?” Blake pondered. “You would think that the longer you stick around, the better off you’d be. You make more money. But you also work more hours, so it doesn’t add up.” 

Could this be part of the problem with convincing people to stay in accounting? You would think that the longer you stick around, the better off you’d be. You make more money. But you also work more hours, so it doesn’t add up.

Blake Oliver, CPA

And get this: No accounting firm had an average workweek of 40 hours or less.

Accounting firms have to tackle work-life balance head-on to keep top talent from running for the hills. Flexible work schedules, using tech to work smarter, not harder – firms need to get creative. Young people want a life outside work, and if we don’t get with the program, we’re going to lose out on the best of the best.

Artificial Intelligence Could Help

AI is about to shake things up big time in traditional accounting. ChatGPT and tools like it paint a wild picture – AI-powered insights transforming how we crunch numbers and dazzle clients.

Blake shared a great example: “When I met with clients as a manager, going over their financials, clients would have a question. And in the meeting, I couldn’t answer their question right then and there because I would have to go and do some research. But if I could use a chatbot to ask the question, I could review the answer real quick and then maybe give them the answer right then and there, rather than saying, I’ll do some research and get back to you. That saves a lot of time.”

The trick is using AI to make us accounting pros look good, not put us out of a job. With AI doing the heavy lifting on numbers and insights, we can focus on the high-value stuff clients need. But to make AI work for us, accountants must carve out time to level up their tech skills.

Navigating the Future

Accounting is at a fork in the road, juggling private equity plot twists, work-life balance meltdowns, and AI’s world takeover. It’s a wild ride! But every stomach-churning dip is a chance to throw our hands up and holler. Stay loose, take care of your crew, and always be first in line for the latest tech – that’s how we’ll come out of this ride, grinning.

To stay updated on the latest in the accounting profession, listen to me and Blake Oliver ride the accounting roller coaster every week on The Accounting Podcast.

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