Sustainable independence: Our firm’s vision for a bright future

By Steve McDonald, CPA

Within the last several years, our industry has seen a substantial amount of private equity entering the market and purchasing ownership in firms.

This new development has certainly given every accounting firm an opportunity to look inward and challenge its thinking about the future. In doing so, many are asking the question: “What does staying independent look like?”

At Abdo, we’re building a future that prioritizes our people, clients, and long-term sustainability. This means maintaining our independence and, because we’re stronger together, strengthening our interdependence (more on this in my next article).

To achieve this vision, we’re looking to connect with like-minded firms that share the following values.

A people-first culture

We have long valued growth that creates opportunities for our team, not just financial returns. For decades, we’ve been consistently recruiting recent college graduates and watching them grow into managers and partners. Fostering a deep pipeline of partner-level talent has given us a solid foundation for a sustainable firm.

The power of scale

Staying competitive means having access to resources, technology, and expertise. At our firm, this has meant acquiring an outsourced human resources group (Abdo Workforce Resources), developing specialty tax areas and services, data analytics (Abdo Compass), and establishing an outsourced CFO practice (Abdo Financial Solutions).

We seek to be experts in certain industry segments and services beyond compliance work. This of course requires capital—as well as younger talent that shares this passion for specialization or a particular industry.

Long-term independence

Our firm is structured in a way that ensures we remain owned by professionals, not investors. This allows us to continue to create growth opportunities for our staff that aren’t limited by a capital structure.

Empowering our staff in this way means we’re growing from where we are now; it’s more about having a great opportunity in the future.

Client-centric growth

For us, innovation has always been about finding ways to meet our clients’ needs. Not only has this outward focus enhanced our client relationships—it’s created new growth opportunities. Continuing to anticipate our clients’ needs is one way we’ll stay competitive into the future.

Shine a light on your firm’s independent future

As we lay the groundwork for the path ahead, we’re open to discussions with firms that share these values—whether this means considering a strategic partnership, affiliation, or exploring a future together as part of our firm.

Depending on where your firm is in its growth cycle, we understand lack of resources may be a challenge. Because we’ve made strong investments in our human resources, IT, and technology over the last 15 years, we believe we have the resources needed to stay competitive.

If you’re thinking about creating a sustainable future but unsure of a path to get there, we’d love to start a conversation. Contact us today.