Aprio Firm Alliance: A Two-Year Reflection

As we approach the two-year mark for Aprio Firm Alliance, it feels appropriate to reflect on where we started and where we are going.

Where we started, and where we are today

We began by acquiring two other alliances in a six-month span: Firm Foundation from our friends at RSM, and CPAsNET from our friend, Sarah Dobek, of Inovautus Consulting. Dean Sengstock, Kevin Poppen and Barb Fletcher from RSM, as well as Sarah and her team, are the most helpful and gracious group of professionals I have worked with on a transition. We still routinely touch base and they openly share their wealth of experience, which has been absolutely invaluable and has allowed us to focus on the value of our Alliance to you as members.

Today we have approximately 40 Alliance members. We are extremely proud of the work all of you are doing to serve businesses and individuals in your communities. Many of the firms in our Alliance have made significant changes to better prepare for the future of the profession.

It has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of this evolution and support you and the rest of our member firms on your journeys.

What lies ahead

The issues we face are common to the industry, and the solutions you are implementing will give your people, including your partners, more time back in their lives. You are working smarter rather than harder; billing for value delivered rather than time incurred; determining and focusing on your niche for intentional growth; adding new management styles to create more effective teams; and implementing technology and AI to be more efficient. With this newly created time, your people are enjoying more time off, and you are able to be more intentional about your firm’s growth strategy.

One of the strategy items our Alliance firms are working on is succession planning. Whether they are looking to transition to the next generation of leadership, acquire a complementary firm or merge into another firm, members are taking an active role in determining their future instead of letting it come to them, or fumbling to adjust without planning ahead to assess and address future needs.

Sometimes this means certain Alliance firms may cease being members due to a merger — but we are genuinely happy for those that do find a successful succession strategy. Our role as Alliance leaders is to help our member firms; and if your firm needs assistance preparing for an upward merger, we are here to support you.

While it is entirely possible for Alliance members to merge into Aprio, that’s not why we’re here. When we look at the big picture, we believe it is vital for small businesses in our local communities to be successful — and local accounting firms are a vital part of the success of those businesses. When your firm is successful, our Alliance is successful, which collectively adds to the strength of our Alliance community. Our primary goal is to help you, our members, serve your clients.

Final thoughts

I took on the role of Aprio Firm Alliance leader because I wanted to make a dent in the profession and provide a positive influence. I would like to challenge the historical “norms” that no longer make sense and create an army of firms who are doing things differently — and successfully — to better serve their employees and clients. I want to be surrounded by role models, firms and people who other professionals look to for inspiration. I want to be surrounded by those who dream about what’s possible, who ignore the naysayers and theoretical roadblocks and say: “Why not?”

Aprio Firm Alliance is designed to support progressive firms that will make the profession better for the next generation and those who follow. If we commit to the necessary changes, follow the blueprints of the trailblazers, and lean on each other for insight and advice, we can even make the profession better for those who are currently in it.

We are in this field because we want to help people — and we’re really, really good with the numbers that are necessary to run a business. Our role at Aprio Firm Alliance is to help you help your clients; to empower you to exist in your communities so you can support the businesses that are at the heart of them; and to elevate your employees to perform their roles.

We are nearly two years into our Alliance, and we are already seeing progress. It’s a slow churn for sure; we have over 125 years of history to combat. But we are here to question what we’ve done, keep what makes sense, change what doesn’t and create the future we all want to live in within this profession. It’s been a great ride these past two years, and I can’t wait for what’s next.

- Michael Maksymiw, CPA CGMA MSA