Reskilling Accountants for Advisory and High Value Client Work

Accounting and tax firms are putting more emphasis on advisory work, but many say their employees are not yet prepared to deliver it.

A 2026 Thomson Reuters Institute report surveyed tax-firm decision-makers who lead advisory practices. Among firms that reported growing advisory revenue, 88% said it was growing faster than compliance revenue. Advisory services accounted for 31% of firm revenue on average, and nearly 90% of respondents said their firms planned to expand advisory services within the next year.

Skills gaps ranked as the top obstacle to that expansion, cited by 52% of respondents as a major challenge, ahead of client resistance to paying for advice at 47%.

Advisory requires more than technical knowledge

Advisory work still depends on accounting expertise. But it also requires employees to interpret information, understand the client’s business, ask productive questions, and explain what the numbers mean.

The International Federation of Accountants lists clear communication, active listening, questioning, negotiation, consultative skills, judgment, and problem-solving among the professional skills accountants are expected to develop, alongside technical training.
Firms cannot assume those capabilities will develop automatically through years of preparation and review work.

Theresa Richardson, chief talent officer at Withum, told the Journal of Accountancy that the firm is moving some responsibilities from senior employees to junior staff to create earlier opportunities for hands-on development. She also said accountants need to interpret analytical results and communicate their implications to clients, executives, and boards.

That matters more as routine tasks get automated. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the shift to make accountants’ advisory and analytical duties more prominent. Carl Mayes of the AICPA argues the profession is moving from doing procedures to supervising them, which still requires understanding the work well enough to catch errors.

Technology can create capacity, but it does not determine whether employees know how to use that time with clients

Give staff client experience earlier

Advisory skills develop through practice. Firms can create that practice by:

• Pairing junior employees with experienced advisors on client calls
• Letting employees lead part of a meeting before they own the full relationship
• Reviewing client emails and presentations as carefully as technical work
• Using role-play and case-based training to practice difficult conversations
• Giving staff feedback on questioning, listening, and explanation

This requires some nonbillable development time. But leaving client work until someone reaches a senior title postpones the exact skills firms say they need.

Define who owns the relationship

Firms also need clear responsibility for year-round client contact.

One possible model is to separate client relationship ownership from technical production. Karbon, for example, recommends distinct client-management and production roles based on the different skills each requires. This is a proposed operating model rather than an established industry standard, but it addresses a real problem: technical ability and relationship management are not the same competency.

A formal account-management path also gives employees a clearer way to develop and advance based on client-facing strengths.

More client contact is associated with stronger advisory growth

The Thomson Reuters survey found that 89% of respondents from firms with more frequent client engagement reported advisory growth outpacing compliance growth. That fell to 65% among firms with less frequent contact. Respondents at firms with quarterly meetings also rated their client knowledge and relationship strength more highly.

The survey does not prove that meeting frequency caused the revenue difference. Firms already selling more advisory services probably have more reasons to meet. But regular contact creates more opportunities to understand client needs, identify problems, and demonstrate value outside the filing calendar.

We recommend that firms make that expectation concrete by setting a contact schedule for each client segment and assigning someone to own it.

Funding development ahead of the revenue

Many firms point to staff skills as the main obstacle to advisory growth, ahead of client resistance to paying for advice. The firms already growing advisory revenue meet with their clients regularly. To meet growing demand for these services, firms should consider investing in reskilling existing staff toward client-facing work.

On top of all the market forces at play today, the risk of being disintermediated by technology looms. We think the most durable defense is to reskill and upskill our people proactively to enhance judgement, accountability, and the trust of professionals building relationships, and taking responsibility for outcomes.

Care to discuss reskilling and best practices we are seeing?

Reach out to tony@withcount.com.