Retention Is the New Growth: How Accounting Firms Keep Great People in 2026

Robert Half reported in 2025 that 86% of finance and accounting leaders face challenges hiring and retaining accountants. That reality is pushing CPA firms to look beyond recruitment alone and treat retention as a critical growth lever.  

While hiring remains a major priority across the profession, many firms are realizing that the fastest way to strengthen capacity, protect client relationships, and build future leaders is to retain and develop the talent they already have. 

To explore how firms can create environments where professionals want to stay and grow, Ace Cloud Hosting spoke with Joey Havens, CPA, a nationally recognized leadership voice with more than four decades of executive experience. Joey is known for his work on workplace transformation and people-first cultures.  

In his TEDx talk, From Lonely Jobs to Thriving Teams, he shares practical insights on how leaders can build purpose-driven workplaces where teams feel energized, trusted, and connected. 

As the author of Leading with Significance: How to Create a Magnetic, People-First Culture and the writer of the weekly “beBetter” leadership blog, Joey brings a perspective shaped by decades of real leadership experience, mentorship, and culture-building inside professional firms. 

In this conversation, Joey explains why retention now matters more than hiring, how accountants can develop the skills that make them indispensable, and what leaders must do differently to create workplaces where people thrive. 

1) Why is retention a bigger growth lever than hiring for CPA firms in 2026, and how can accountants upskill to be the kind of talent firms fight to keep? 

In 2026, retention is the cheapest, fastest growth strategy most CPA firms have—because every unwanted departure compounds: recruiting costs, onboarding drag, quality risk, client disruption, loss of knowledge/experience, learning curve, pressures on remaining team members, and partner time that should be spent building the firm.  

With new AI tools beginning to automate the repetitive tasks, EXPERIENCE is even more valuable as firms need existing talent to deliver higher-level services.   

For accountants, the upskilling for relevance can be summarized in three moves that really matter most.   

1. Become “AI-fluent,” not “AI-afraid.” Learn to use automation to compress low-value work and elevate judgment, client insight, and risk thinking. EXPERIMENT and become power users, help the team see potential use cases.  We will see many young Gen Z professionals leading their teams in these transitions.    
2. Earn “WE over ME” trust. High performers who make the team better become retention priorities—CULTURE beats talent when talent isn’t aligned. When team members put clients and the team first, they become catalysts for growth. Your influence grows, and so does your personal value.  
3. Learn to Tell the Story. The numbers always tell a story.  When accountants learn what the numbers mean, how the data points to key decisions and trends, they can GUIDE others. Even simple processes from payroll to accounts payable tell a story every week.   

Cinderella Story on Leadership … 

When you combine modern skills + high-trust habits + people skills, you become the kind of person firms build around and frankly must have to build resilience in an exponential world.  

2) What are the top reasons strong performers leave today, even with competitive pay and benefits, and what can accountants do to spot those issues early and protect their own growth? 

Strong performers rarely leave “a firm.” They leave friction—death by a thousand paper cuts: unclear expectations, career stall, chronic burnout seasons, and leaders who trade context for control. Gallup found many voluntary leavers believe something could have been done to prevent their exit, which tells you this is often a leadership + system issue, not just “the market.”  

Strong performers want to do meaningful work, and when they leave, it is almost always an indication that that connection does not exist. In fact, surveys show that people would actually work for less if they had a real sense of meaning in their work.   

What you can do early: 

1. Watch for the “because I said so” pattern. When leaders stop sharing the why, commitment turns into compliance—and growth quietly dies.  
2. Watch for leadership behaviors that do not reflect the people-first culture. Address toxic behaviors before they drive high performers to leave.
3. Develop confidential feedback loops, so leadership has insights into what team members’ experiences are really like.
4. Proactively work with team members on personal goals and a growth continuum that aligns with the firm’s goals.   
5. Reward results and demonstrate appreciation weekly. 

3) What does a people-first firm do differently in day-to-day leadership habits, and what can accountants do on their side to build trust, clarity, and better working rhythm? 

1. Dare to believe in the good in people and magnetic energy. Belief affects our words and actions. Be intentional in sharing your belief in putting people first. Share the vision of building something bigger than ourselves. When leadership shares its energy for a purpose higher than the bottom line, it energizes the team.  
2. Trust first and provide people the benefit of good intentions. Leaders must trust first and seek to understand before judging. When team members feel trusted, they lean in more, and they trust leadership more.  
3. Connect and demonstrate how you care about each team member. If team members do not know you and you do not know them, you have very little influence. Spend the time to see them as a whole person. Connect before you can correct or influence.  
4. Demonstrate gratitude and appreciation on a weekly basis.   
5. Always be transparent with the WHY on all decisions and own mistakes openly.  

Team members can become very influential by implementing the ABCs to Outstanding. Control their Attitude and show up with high energy. A “Get-To” attitude brings many opportunities. Better Focus is the ability to create real periods of Focus on your top priorities so you can perform at your best.   

Eliminating personal interruptions is the number one distractor. Constant learning is the uncommon discipline that moves someone from average to outstanding. 

In an exponential world where we are on a steep learning curve, the courage to experiment is vital to fast learning.  Learn Fast, Learn Forward, Learn Together.   

4) How can leaders build a real pipeline of future leaders through sponsorship, coaching, and clear expectations, and how can accountants develop the skills and behaviors that earn that sponsorship? 

Leadership pipelines aren’t built in a classroom—they’re built in reps, with real feedback and real trust. 

What leaders do: 

1. Develop real personal connections by being vulnerable so people can get to know you. 
2. Consistently align their words and actions with a people-first mindset.  
3. Connect and communicate regularly about the firm’s PURPOSE beyond the bottom line or being the biggest/best. How do you make the world better?  
4. Sponsor on potential, not polish. The “trust first” move—delegating meaningful work before someone is “ready”—often unlocks ownership and confidence.  
5. Set clear standards + express belief. Coaching lands differently when people know you’re betting on them.  
6. Make expectations visible. If “success” is mysterious, people can’t hit it consistently. 

Team members who want that sponsorship must also lean into connecting. People need to know who you are and what your dreams are. Using uncommon discipline to develop habits around the ABCs to achieve excellence in the previous response.   

5) How can firms use technology to reduce burnout and keep top talent, and how can accountants use that same tech to upskill faster and stay ahead in 2026? 

Firms should aggressively pursue AI tools and technologies that eliminate mundane, repetitive tasks. Yes, put in guard rails, but don’t lock the tools in a dark closet. The fastest transitions and best use cases will come from team members who are free to experiment, make mistakes, and learn.   

Top talent will want access to these tools. When leadership provides the trust and freedom to experiment, talent will lean in and become power users.   

For accountants/team members, don’t wait for the perfect tool or use case, experiment, and openly request access to tools that you believe will enhance the work, outcomes, and overall experience. Do not be afraid to lead without a title; it is about who learns the fastest.   

Don’t treat the AI tool as a silver bullet.  Use curiosity and human judgment to understand what the tool needs to respond appropriately and how to leverage its capabilities. This takes practice, and your ability to think critically throughout this process is vital to achieving good outcomes.   

One of the biggest challenges for the profession going forward is the learning gap for new hires, as routine tasks are automated.  

How do people quickly gain that on-the-job experience so they can work on higher-level tasks?  How do we scale up team members more quickly to meet the critical thinking requirements for each position?   

If the profession slows the hiring of new young team members, the ability to replicate itself becomes a huge risk. This learning gap must be addressed as we make the transition to more AI tools in the workplace.    

Build Firms Where People Want to Stay and Lead 

Joey’s perspective reframes the way firms think about growth. Talent retention is not simply an HR issue. It is a leadership system. 

When firms create clarity, trust, and purpose, professionals stay longer, develop faster, and contribute more meaningfully to clients and the firm. Strong cultures are not built solely through policies. They are built through everyday leadership habits: transparency, appreciation, trust, and real connection with team members. 

Technology will also play an important role in the next phase of the profession. As AI removes repetitive work, the accountants who succeed will be those who combine technical expertise with judgment, storytelling, and people skills.

Firms that give their teams the freedom to experiment with new tools will develop stronger capabilities and more engaged professionals. 

The future of the profession will belong to firms that invest in people as intentionally as they invest in technology. When leaders build cultures grounded in trust, purpose, and continuous learning, they create organizations where professionals do more than stay. They grow, lead, and help the firm thrive for the long term. 

At Ace Cloud Hosting, we see this shift every day. Technology supports productivity, but it is a culture that keeps teams motivated and resilient. Our goal is to help firms pair secure cloud solutions with leadership practices that strengthen purpose and connection. The future belongs to firms that lead with significance, and to workplaces where people can grow and thrive. 

Suggested Reads:

• Building a CPA Firm That Scales and Sells: Governance, Succession, and Ownership Transfer
• K.C. Eames Shares Insider Tips on Growing A CAS Practice
• Why the Accounting Tech Stack Is Becoming a Strategic Decision: Hear from Experts