AI-Led Growth for CPA Firms: From Better Marketing to Better Client Experience 

Many CPA firms want growth, but they often sound the same in the market. They offer similar services, speak in similar language, and rely heavily on referrals without a clear way to stand apart. In a profession where trust matters, sameness can make it harder for firms to show why they are the right choice.

To explore how CPA firms can use AI to sharpen growth, client experience, and marketing strategy, Ace Cloud Hosting spoke with Katie Tolin, Chief Growth Guide at CPA Growth Guides LLC and co-founder of XcelLabs.

Katie is an award-winning CPA firm growth strategist with decades of experience helping accounting firms connect strategy to execution across marketing, business development, innovation, and client experience.

Named one of Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Public Accounting and a former Accounting Marketer of the Year, Katie brings a practical view of how firms can use AI without losing the judgment, relationships, and market understanding that make growth work.

In this conversation, Katie shares how firms can move beyond the “sea of sameness,” use AI to identify ideal clients, strengthen referrals, improve client communication, and build marketing systems that feel focused, personal, and scalable.

Q1. Where do you see the biggest growth opportunity for CPA firms today — better marketing, better client experience, or stronger advisory services?

I once heard someone call accounting a “sea of sameness,” and that is so true. Firms offer similar services delivered to the same standards, so they sound very familiar when describing themselves. What sets them apart?

I think that’s the biggest growth opportunity. It stems from providing better advisory services delivered in a way that is uniquely theirs. I don’t mean an advisory service line either. While that’s important, it’s the everyday moments when you have to think beyond compliance and help a client.

That’s also advisory, and how firms handle this can be unique and an important part of the client experience. Then, when you have this figured out, market the heck out of your uniqueness.

Q2. How can CPA firms use AI to better understand their ideal clients and create more focused marketing strategies?

AI is great at adding structure to unstructured data and finding trends in that data. Let’s say a firm wants to specialize its service. They could upload nondescript client data like location, industry, services purchased, total revenue, etc., into a paid account and have AI help in finding trends in the types of businesses they serve.

Then they could use AI to help research the market size of similar businesses to help narrow down what might be the best areas to target. From there, they could use AI to flesh out an ICP (Ideal Client Profile) to provide detailed information about the target, what they care about, where you find them, and more. The key is to combine all of this with personal knowledge and to challenge AI when something doesn’t sound right.

Ultimately, it’s your strategy, and if you listen to the market, the market will tell you where to go and what it needs. AI results should support that.

Q3. Many CPA firms still depend heavily on referrals. How can AI help them build a more consistent and scalable growth engine?

Referrals are ingrained in accounting and are not going away anytime soon. Accountants need to continue to invest in them. AI should be thought of as a way to supplement them with more consistent, scalable business development.

Instead of starting with a blank page as you attempt to build a marketing strategy, use AI to brainstorm with you. Ask it for potential growth opportunities based on your experience, clients, and industry trends. Once you have identified a few solid ideas, ask AI how it can help you deliver on them.

For example, if you decide to invest in personal outreach, AI can help you tailor messaging to different ICPs while following your firm’s voice. Or, if you decide to launch a podcast, AI can help you come up with show ideas, interview questions, scripts, and regular promotional content so you can deliver a consistent show.

Across almost any marketing initiative, AI can reduce the effort required to create high-quality content on a regular basis. AI can also help firms identify which conversations are leading to new work and which opportunities are consistently being missed. Those insights can shape both marketing and business development strategies.

Be aware of anything that appears too easy to be true, though. While some marketing strategies are easier than others, growth still takes work. You still have to do the work to build trust and win the new business. There is no magic pill.

And if you used AI to uncover new target markets and their pain points, validate those insights with your referral network. Ask your referral partners whether those challenges resonate with what they’re seeing. Refine your messaging based on their feedback, and let them know exactly what types of clients you’re looking to serve. The combination of AI-generated insights and relationship-driven validation is far more powerful than either one alone.

Q4. What are some practical ways accounting firms can use AI to improve client communication, follow-ups, and overall client experience?

Firms should be looking toward AI solutions that help them have better conversations with every client. Every client interaction shapes the overall experience, whether it’s a kickoff meeting, a tax planning discussion, or a routine touch base.

AI can help professionals prepare for those conversations by surfacing relevant context, identifying likely questions, suggesting thoughtful follow-up actions, and ensuring important details don’t fall through the cracks. The result is a more personalized, consistent experience for every client.

This also helps solve a common challenge within firms. Every firm has a handful of people who naturally excel at client communication and relationship building. AI makes it possible to capture and replicate many of those best practices, so they’re not limited to a few individuals. Instead, every team member has access to guidance that helps them ask better questions, communicate more effectively, and follow up consistently.

The goal should be to use AI to raise the quality of every interaction, one conversation at a time. AI simply gives firms a way to do that more consistently across the entire organization. When that happens consistently across an entire firm, the impact on the client’s experience is significant. Real value is created when clients remember how you made them feel throughout the relationship.

Q5. How can firms use AI without making their marketing or client communication feel generic, robotic, or impersonal?

It is best when you use AI to refine what you already know. Don’t simply ask AI to draft an email to your client about a certain topic. Start with your own expertise and your understanding of the client.

What industry are they in? What challenges are they facing? What conversations have you already had? Feed those details into AI and ask it to draft the email from that. Then challenge AI to improve the structure, tighten the language, or further tailor the message. The more context you provide, the more useful and authentic the output will be.

It’s also important to remember that clients hire accountants for judgment, not just information. AI can help you draft an email or summarize a complex tax change, but your perspective — how that change affects this client and what they should do next — is what creates value. That’s the part AI can’t replicate. Use AI as your first draft, not your final draft. Your expertise, relationships, and understanding of the client’s business are what turn a good message into one that feels personal and builds trust.

Q6. For a CPA firm just starting with AI, what should be the first 2–3 areas to focus on for measurable growth impact?

First, I think it’s important to note that many CPA firms are further along with AI than they realize. A lot of the software they use every day has been incorporating AI and automation for years, even if it wasn’t marketed that way. The difference today is that firms can put AI directly into the hands of their people.

A good first place to start is by using AI to improve personal productivity. Have it draft emails, summarize meetings, organize notes, brainstorm ideas, or help work through complex problems. Think of it as a thought partner that helps you get unstuck and spend less time on routine tasks. The time savings add up quickly.

Next, use AI to tackle a marketing initiative that’s been sitting on the back burner. Maybe it’s finally launching a firm newsletter, creating a consistent LinkedIn presence, starting a blog, or developing an industry-focused content series. AI can dramatically reduce the effort required to plan, write, and maintain those initiatives consistently.

As firms become more comfortable with AI, the next step is applying it to client interactions. The biggest growth opportunities are often hidden inside conversations with clients. AI can help professionals prepare better, follow up more consistently, and learn from every client interaction so those conversations become stronger over time.

AI Can Support Growth, but Clarity Still Leads

AI can help CPA firms analyze data, identify patterns, build client profiles, create content, and improve follow-up. But it cannot replace a clear strategy. Firms still need to understand who they serve, what sets them apart, and how they deliver value. The best results come from combining AI insights with human judgment, client feedback, and market validation.

Ace Cloud Hosting helps CPA and accounting firms explore AI without exposing local devices or giving agents unrestricted access to sensitive client data. Automate workflows, process documents, summarize information, and work with hosted accounting applications inside an isolated, managed workspace.