Top 4 Investments CPAs and Accountants Should Make This Year 

The accounting profession is changing quickly. CPAs and accounting firms are rethinking how they work, where to invest, and what it takes to stay competitive in a world shaped by technology, higher client expectations, and new service models. Which investments really matter for long-term growth and success? 

Ace Cloud Hosting spoke with Seth Fineberg, an accounting industry consultant, content strategist, and speaker. With over 30 years of experience following the profession’s evolution, Seth has seen firsthand how firms are reshaping their services to stay relevant and responsive to client needs. 

Before founding Accountants Forward, he spent decades as a business editor and journalist, helping the accounting community understand key trends and innovations shaping the industry. 

In this insightful video, Seth breaks down the top four must-make investments every CPA and accounting firm should prioritize to strengthen advisory capabilities, improve operations, and deliver greater value to clients. 

Transcript

Hi, I’m Seth Fineberg from Accountants Forward. Those of you who don’t know me, I started Accountants Forward with the idea, the belief that the accounting profession can and needs to progress and move forward in the best ways possible. I do that through some of my content marketing partnerships with some of the top and emerging technology service providers in the profession.   

I also still continue to write. A lot of you might know about my editorial career through Accounting Today and Accounting Web, and I’m really an advocate for the profession at the end of the day. As I mentioned, I do want to see it move forward in the best ways possible.   

One of the things I recently wrote about and have been speaking about is the four things for accountants to invest in right now or definitely in the foreseeable future. And one, I believe that is key and that you shouldn’t forget. So let me go onto that list.   

Now, to be clear, when we talk about investment by its nature, there’s a return expected. But we aren’t really talking about monetary terms here. Investments of capital, and of course, they’re also about time as well. Interest and people, the return is also time, as I mentioned, but also overall efficiency and increased value of your services and the businesses that you are a part of.   

So, with that in mind, here in my humble view are four things that I believe accountants need to invest in. Possibly or hopefully, before this year ends, and now is a great time to start thinking about those ways to do it, and why I think they’re important. And again, one more thing I think is that you shouldn’t forget.   

First, again, this isn’t really a ranking. FYI, I did just create this list, not in order of importance, but just things that I think matter to you. So, whether you invest in one of them or in all four of them, it’s totally up to you.   

So out of the gate, I’m going with practice management. Practice management is really for firm owners and managers in the room here. But at the core, any firm’s activities, right? And often, at the root of most inefficiencies are processes. Where things are, how they’re done, and really the connection to it all. If these things aren’t working well, it can spell a disaster even at the busiest times, especially. So, one could argue that practice management is really the heartbeat of the firm.   

And when we talk about tech stacks, this is kind of the base that you want to build your tech stack off. So, practice management, if you don’t have a system in place right now, you definitely have a good 30 odd or so that you could possibly consider. And really like our own circulatory system, if something’s not working right, the whole thing could be in trouble. So, but like I said, at the core of any firm is a practice management system. If you have one in place, see how well it integrates with everything else that you need. And a re-evaluation at this time really wouldn’t be such a bad idea.   

Number two, learn or experiment with AI that makes sense. Now, all of you have probably been, at least tinkering around with AI tools like generative AI, like any GPTs. There’s a GPT that can be created for the majority of tasks that you do, but there are also AI technologies that are being built for a lot of your processes. A lot of you have probably been hearing about AI agents and kind of come in and work with your team. I like to refer to AI as assisted intelligence because it’s something that’s actually working alongside you.   

So, I’m sure a lot of you probably knew this one was coming, like so, like cloud that came before it, AI and AI-enabled tools are really the next level of automation. That’s how I believe you should really think about it. And if you haven’t at least tinkered with, demoed, or simply watched someone work with any of these AI platforms, there’s no better time to do it than right now.   

I’m going to start, shame. I’m not really going to start shaming or fear-mongering. That’s not going to help. I saw it happen with the cloud. I’d really not like to see it happen with AI at all. It just doesn’t serve anybody, really.   

So, once again, there are more investments in your time or someone in your firm’s time who may be more comfortable with technology and experimentation. You don’t have to be the most tech-savvy with AI unless you are perhaps looking to build something yourself.   

But even so, from the conversations that I’ve been having about it and from what I’ve seen, it’s really not all that difficult to dive in. And even then, I think you’ll find that, unlike software, which is really designed with a fairly strict set of rules, it sometimes requires connections to other software to work and how you need it to. AI is built more to learn. And if the data queries that you are giving it are solid and you believe in them, the results will be as well.   

Number three, your mental health and well-being. Now, this is something that I think is on a lot of firm owners’ and managers’ minds, and really anyone who works in accounting. At some point or another, you’re feeling the strain. So, this one is likely, I would even say, probably the most important investment that you could make this year and going forward.   

If you’re not prioritizing your mental state and overall well-being, no other investment that you make will matter. May not feel like it at times, but you are actually in control of how your day, how your week, how your life goes outside of the unforeseen, how you handle even day-to-day things, your routine, the overall structure that you can dictate, how you feel, and are able to handle whatever life can throw at you.   

In short, we’re talking about prioritizing having a more life-work balance or harmony, if you will. In this case, life comes first. The breaks you take, the time for you and your staff, as the case may be, and the time that you put in for work, all of it can use your attention to bring more balance, more harmony to your mental and physical health. They don’t have to take a backseat any longer.   

So, whatever you can do to kind of strike that balance and really structure your firm, your business in a way that puts it as a priority, this goes without saying, but there’s no award for working a 60 or 80-hour week.   

I’m paraphrasing here, but all that counts is really what you do with the time that’s given to you. And for work, it has to be value over volume, and using time specifically for yourself and your staff.   

So, start taking a look at that client list, looking at your processes, looking at the things that you can start to make better, and putting your life and your professional and personal health first. As a professional and a person, there’s always more to invest in, but I truly believe in these things, and given the right time and attention, they will pay off for this year and beyond.   

Finally, I would be remiss without saying another key investment that you should make if you haven’t already, and that’s in the cloud. Now, I know what you’re saying. You’re probably thinking, okay, yeah, I’m already using cloud tools. It’s just how I work. We don’t have to talk about it anymore. Now, that’s great, but really look at the tools and the processes that you have in place already.   

Think about your own firm’s data security. Start looking into some of the managed security services that are already out there and can really put everything kind of in this nice, safe bubble for you. That’s what I mean by making cloud investments.   

Again, if you’re still kind of on certain desktop tools and you don’t feel like the cloud is necessarily safe, but re-examine that thinking. Again, as a professional, as a person, there’s always so much more to invest in. But I truly believe in all of these things, and given the right time and attention, they’re definitely going to pay off for you. So, good luck, and I hope to see everything move forward for you.  

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