“This year we’ll do $20 million in revenue. Shouldn’t a company our size be with one of the big firms?”
This is a question I often get asked in one form or another by fast-growing companies, and it makes a lot of sense. Most companies started off working with a solo accountant who was a jack-of-all-trades and outgrew them, so doesn’t that mean they need a big firm?
What I caution folks on is that the size of a firm doesn’t automatically correlate with their ability to meet your needs or provide the level of service you need. I’ve seen both models from the inside, and in this article I’ll walk through what big firms genuinely do well, what a solo specialist does well, and how to figure out which one fits your business — so by the end, you can make this decision with confidence.
What Do Big Firms Do Well?
- Breadth of Services. If your company needs a wide area of services (e.g. audit, international tax, business valuations, M&A advisory, bookkeeping, etc.), and you want it all under one roof, then a large firm can be a great fit. Large regional or national firms will have a specialist for nearly everything, and if you’re looking for a firm that has a deep bench in-house, then a big firm almost certainly has you covered.
- Institutional Stability. Some owners simply prefer knowing that there is a large team behind the scenes and that multiple people can step in if someone leaves the firm.
- Scale. If you’re running a $100 million operation across 30 states, you are dealing with a scale of complexity that few professionals have the ability to handle by themselves. That level almost always needs a team to handle it & it is rare to find the ability to handle that outside of a big firm.
What Does a Solo Specialist Do Well?
- You get the expert every time. At large firms, it’s not uncommon for the partner who impressed you in the sales meeting to hand your account off to do the work. Or, for you to email questions to a partner only to have them answered by a junior associate you’ve never met. At a solo firm, the person who quoted the work does the work — every return, every strategy session, every email, & every interaction.
- Relationship and Context. Your company has a lot of moving pieces. Having one advisor who knows your business intimately can make those conversations much easier. Consider a North Carolina contractor that wins a project in Arizona, sends Pennsylvania employees to the job site, and opens a temporary office near the project. To the owner, it’s one job. To the states involved, it can mean payroll withholding, income tax nexus, business registrations, sales tax questions, and apportionment issues—all triggered by different rules and thresholds. That’s why context matters. When your advisor understands how your business actually operates, they’re more likely to identify these issues before they become expensive surprises
- Speed of responses. A solo specialist will likely have the time and bandwidth to not only answer your questions, but to do so quickly. Every firm is different, so make sure your advisor has the margin to respond within 24 hours to any inquiries.
- Year-round attention, not just a spring deliverable. Big-firm economics tend to be focused on preparing the tax returns more so then planning. A solo specialist often has the flexibility to be more involved throughout the year and to spot issues before they become expensive problems. A specialist tax strategist built around planning is thinking about your December equipment purchase in July, not discovering it the following March when it’s too late to plan around it.
- Depth in one lane. In my opinion, the biggest risk of working with a solo firm is when that person is a generalist rather than a specialist. Ensure you’re working with a specialist who has a focus they go deep on, and someone who knows your industry and the unique issues you face. A generalist sees these issues once a year; a specialist sees them every week.
So How Do You Actually Decide?
The answer, like so many tax questions, is: it depends.
- A Big Firm May Be Right If… your company is extremely large, or regularly requires highly specialized services across multiple disciplines.
- A Solo Specialist May Be Right If… you want a close relationship, year-round guidance, proactive planning, and someone who understands the day-to-day realities of running a growing business across multiple states.
How Can You Decide Which Is Right for You?
Here are a few questions you should ask yourself this week:
- Do I need a broad team of professionals, or do I need one trusted advisor?
- Am I getting proactive guidance throughout the year or only hearing from my CPA during tax season?
- Do I feel known and understood by my current advisor?
- If I called my CPA tomorrow with a question, would I know who is calling me back? How long would it take them to call me back?
There’s no universally right answer here—only the right fit for your business. Over the years, I’ve met companies that truly outgrew their accountant. More often though, I meet companies that outgrew a generalist. Those aren’t always the same thing.
Before assuming you need a bigger firm, ask yourself a different question: Do you need more people, or do you need deeper expertise? For many growing construction companies operating across multiple states, that distinction can make all the difference. And if you’d like an experienced perspective on where your business falls then please reach out. I’d be happy to help you think it through.
