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The basics:

• CPA firms are evolving from traditional accounting roles to strategic business advisors
• Firms like Kamens & Associates, Forvis Mazars and HBK CPAs help clients identify new value and growth opportunities
• Modern CPAs now offer financial planning, valuation, technology, HR and operational guidance
• Transformation reflects rising client demand for deeper insights, collaboration and proactive business strategy

When the owner of a manufacturing company in North Jersey passed away suddenly, “The descendants thought the company was worth $1.2 million,” said Seth Kamens, managing member of Kamens & Associates, a Livingston-based CPA and advisory firm. “But we did an in-depth valuation and determined that it was worth over $5 million. This significant difference allowed the descendants to take offers for the business, instead of just closing shop. I always look for value outside the typical, and this is just one example of how CPA firms are increasingly moving beyond traditional accounting services.”

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, CPAs have moved beyond simply reporting historical results. They are now at the forefront of strategic decision-making, leveraging their expertise to drive innovation, ensure compliance, and provide invaluable insights that shape the future of organizations.

Kamens said this kind of expanded approach also “helps us get clients from bigger firms that don’t give the personal attention they used to. Our growth is a testament to the firm’s commitment to providing personalized service and building strong client relationships. Part of this is because we do not simply report historical results for clients.”

Regurgitating past results would not add value, he added. “Instead, in addition to core accounting and tax services, we offer valuations and other solutions. We also provide corporate-structural advice – like whether it’s better to be a traditional ‘C’ corporation or a passthrough entity, like an ‘S’ corporation, for example – and we work with clients on retirement plans, and SALT (State and Local Tax) workarounds, which are crucial for their success.

Kamens emphasized the importance of a holistic approach to client service. “If all I do is tax returns and talk once a year, there would be no value-add and the work would be pretty much commoditized,” he observed. “That would mean we could be easily replaced. Instead, we aim to help clients in a variety of capacities, from financial planning to strategic advisory.”

It’s an approach that aligns with his own interests. “Personally, I enjoy financial planning — I have an investment license [he worked on Wall Street before becoming a CPA] and aim to bring it all together for clients,” Kamens explained. “This ensures that they receive comprehensive support and advice tailored to their specific needs. And if I don’t know the answer, I’ll bring someone in who does.”

He believes CPA firms will continue to branch out. “Clients like to be able to bounce a variety of ideas off their adviser,” he noted. “The industry has to keep going this way.”

Beyond basics

Of course, numbers are still important, according to Alisha Jernack, an Iselin-based partner at Forvis Mazars, but “the difference now is that we use the data alongside our deep familiarity with the client and their industry to glean insights that will help them understand what comes next. It’s been a differentiator for us, and it’s been happening for a few years now. Reporting on data and historical financial information is always at the core of what we do, that’s not going to go away.”

CPA firms like Forvis Mazars are “in the relationship business,” she continued. “And by building these relationships, we’re able to bridge those gaps for our clients. We’re in a unique position as CPAs, accountants and consultants to be able to help these companies. We’re living in a time of constant change and evolution. Our clients need us not just as some who provides a tax return or financial statement, but as someone who helps them bridge gaps, understand the big picture, and help them set and achieve goals.”

The firm’s relationships with clients “will often lead to day-to-day advisory services,” Jernack observed. “That ranges from software selection, technology enablement, post-merger integration, finance optimization — you name it. It starts with those of us who are the primary relationship holders. We might still be servicing them through financial statement preparation or tax delivery, but we are still listening to understand so we can find ways to continually add value and bring forward solutions. Sometimes that may involve bringing in other partners or specialists when we hear there’s a challenge.”

We truly want to be that one-stop shop for our clients.
– Alisha Jernack, an Iselin-based partner at Forvis Mazars

That kind of mindset can make a big difference for clients, like some mid-size distributor clients who wanted to improve operations. “The issues could be as simple as managers not working well together,” Jernack said. “We might have a company with 50 to 100 employees, but six different managers for different areas of the company, and none of them are in sync. By changing the mindset and workflow, establishing relevant KPIs, and setting up a cadence to work with the managers, we’ve seen companies go from a multimillion-dollar loss to a multimillion-dollar profit. We truly want to be that one-stop shop for our clients. If we can’t do something for you, we know somebody who can. Outside of the day-to-day advisory, there’s a wide range of services that we offer. We’re growing and evolving in that area, and it all comes from listening to our clients and paying attention to what’s going on in the world.”

Changing with the times

CPA firms, like any other successful business, have to adapt. And as client expectations and market demands change, accounting firms need to evolve their service offerings, counseled Holmdel-based Antonio Ribeira, market leader and practice leader, Real Estate, at HBK CPAs.

“The accounting profession is experiencing a fundamental shift as CPAs move beyond traditional compliance work to become strategic business advisors,” he said. “This transformation reflects changing client expectations and market demands that require accounting firms to adapt their service offerings.”

Ribeira has seen HBK move away from simply reporting historical results, “though compliance-related services remain an important foundation of what we do. The reality is that our clients’ needs are evolving rapidly. They no longer want just someone to handle scorekeeping – they’re seeking advisors who can guide them through all aspects of their business operations. We’ve shifted our firm’s strategy to align with these changing demands.”

He pointed to a Central Jersey distribution company with about 15 employees and $50 million in annual revenue as an example. “They were facing challenges with their banking relationships, so I essentially stepped into a CFO role, coordinating calls with bankers and working to secure the financing they need for continued growth,” Ribeira recalled. “This goes far beyond traditional accounting and tax services — I’ve become almost an embedded employee focused on their strategic financial needs.”

Financial ‘influencers’

In another case, a real estate client in Central and South Jersey with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue “wanted to restructure their accounting department, so I modeled what an optimal accounting and finance team would look like for their organization,” he detailed. “I then participated in interviews for CFOs, controllers, and staff accountants, taking on an HR advisory function that’s quite different from typical CPA services.”

HBK plans to continue expanding its strategic advisory offerings, Ribeira said. “We have a clear focus: becoming the right hand of the CFO,” he explained. “Anything that falls under a CFO’s jurisdiction within a business, we want to provide strategic advisory services to support. This includes deepening our expertise in areas where we already operate – tax compliance, financial statements, IT, HR, payroll, and valuation services.”

This approach “recognizes that CFOs are key influencers in business decision-making,” he added. “By continuing to provide services that support them and add value to their operations, we can deliver greater value to our clients while positioning ourselves as indispensable strategic partners rather than just service providers.”