From Curiosity to Consequences: Is PE The Right Strategy for Your Firm?

If you lead a CPA firm today, private equity is no longer a distant headline or an abstract industry trend. It’s in your inbox. It’s in your partner meetings. It’s in conversations you’re either having openly or quietly avoiding.

And that matters.

Because the conversation around private equity in accounting has shifted. This is no longer about whether PE belongs in the profession. It’s about what happens next—and whether firms truly understand the implications of the path they’re choosing or resisting.

In the early days, private equity was framed as optional upside: liquidity for aging partners, capital for growth, access to “professionalized” operations, and a faster path to scale. For some firms, that story held—at least on paper.

But we’ve now entered a different phase.

The experiment has moved from theory to execution. And execution is where leadership is exposed.

From Deal Excitement to Operational Reality

What many firms are discovering—often too late—is that capital does not fix fundamentals. It amplifies them.

If a firm struggled with leadership alignment before a transaction, scale makes that friction louder. If communication was inconsistent, growth makes it more visible. If culture lived more in marketing language than lived behavior, the cracks widen quickly under pressure.

This isn’t an indictment of private equity itself. It’s a wake-up call for firm leaders.

Because whether you take PE capital or remain independent, the bar has been raised across the profession.

Clients expect more. Talent expects more. Regulators expect more. And younger leaders are far less tolerant of ambiguity, outdated systems, or leadership models built solely on tenure.

Independence Is No Longer a Passive Choice

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: remaining independent is not the “safe” or “default” option anymore.

Independence now requires intention.

Firms that want to remain independent and relevant must be just as disciplined—if not more so—than PE-backed competitors. That means:

• Clear strategy, not legacy momentum

• Strong leadership alignment, not informal consensus

• Investment in people and managers, not just partners

• Modern operating rhythms, not heroic individual effort

The firms that struggle most in this environment are the ones trying to preserve yesterday’s success while operating in tomorrow’s market.

That gap is unsustainable.

Where Leadership Becomes the Differentiator

What I see repeatedly—across firms of all sizes—is that the real constraint isn’t capital.

It’s leadership capacity.

Most partners were never trained to lead in complexity. They were trained to deliver excellent technical work, serve clients well, and manage risk. Those skills still matter—but they are no longer sufficient.

Today’s firm requires leaders who can:

• Lead through sustained change without burning out their people

• Develop next-generation leaders intentionally, not accidentally

• Hold space for difficult conversations about performance, expectations, and direction

• Balance commercial discipline with human capital investment

This is where many firms—PE-backed or independent—are underprepared.

And it’s also where the biggest opportunity exists.

The Question Every Firm Must Answer

Private equity isn’t the real issue.

The real question is this:

Are we building a firm that can thrive under greater scrutiny, faster decision-making, and higher expectations, regardless of ownership structure?

Firms that answer that question honestly—and act on it—will win. Those who assume scale alone equals success will struggle.

Leadership, culture, and change management are no longer “soft” topics. They are strategic capabilities.

And the firms that treat them that way will define the next era of the profession.

A Simple Next Step

If you’re navigating these questions—whether you’re PE-backed, PE-curious, or firmly independent—don’t try to think it through in isolation.

This is exactly the work I do with CEOs and managing partners: helping leaders slow down, get clear, and build a firm that is both commercially strong and human-centered.

In the next article, we’ll look closely at what independent firms must do differently to remain competitive in a PE-influenced profession—and where many are still falling short.

Until Next Time!