iscoverWhile accountants may wish to become key strategic advisers for their clients, very few SMBs see their accounting professionals in such a light, new research shows.
Accountants not seen as strategic partners by SMBs
19 August 2025
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9 minute read
Market research agency Agile Market Intelligence has provided Accountants Daily with data from its SMB Navigator Report 2025, based on quantitative research conducted between December 2024 and January 2025. The research, commissioned by Intuit, sought and received responses from 506 Australian small businesses and 404 practising accountants.
Advocacy not equalling influence
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According to the findings, accountants enjoy a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +26 and majority satisfaction among their small and medium business (SMB) clients, with NPS scores of +31 and +29, respectively.
Despite this, just 15 per cent of all businesses view accountants as strategic partners, Agile reported.
This does represent an uptick from last year’s score of 10 per cent, but ultimately, accountants currently have an “under-leveraged position” with their clients, the agency noted. Many firms are delivering well on compliance and service, it said, but missing the opportunity to position themselves as indispensable advisers on broader business decisions.
Furthermore, one in three SMBs categorise their accountant relationship as purely transactional.
“The data tells us accountants are trusted and valued – but too often as efficient service providers, not growth partners. Elevating the relationship means moving beyond compliance into the conversations that shape a client’s business direction,” Agile Market Intelligence director Michael Johnson said.
The value of being a ‘key strategic partner’
Moreover, Agile’s research found that this year, almost half (44 per cent) of all SMBs feel that they “definitely” get value for money from their accountant. Among strategic partnerships, the agency said, this figure jumps to 84 per cent, compared with just 33 per cent for transactional relationships.
When businesses recognise their accountants as key strategic partners, Agile wrote, it translates to valuing their investment and also increases their satisfaction.
“Businesses in strategic partnership are willing to invest more, 32 per cent spend over $50,000 annually on accounting, versus only 11 per cent in transactional relationships. Beyond tax compliance, payroll and bookkeeping, accountants can positively impact business performance when they include strategy, planning advisory services,” it outlined.
Johnson said: “Value-for-money perception isn’t just about price. It’s about relevance. When accountants are involved in strategic decisions, clients see the connection between their fee and their future growth.”
Aspirations of accounting firms
Elsewhere, Agile found that three in four (76 per cent) accounting firms want to shift their focus on helping clients run their business through structure and tax planning, with over half (57 per cent) seeing accounting technology and data planning as a service they can offer for their clientele.
While only 15 per cent of SMBs currently see their accountants as partners, there is a clear desire to move from existing valued or transactional relationships to key strategic partnership from both sides of the table, the agency suggested.
“One step accountants can take is through technology advisory, which could start their repositioning toward strategic partners. By moving from tool recommendations into embedding those tools in business workflows, accountants can link their role directly to operational improvement and growth,” it wrote.
“Advisory doesn’t have to start with a boardroom strategy session. For many clients, the first step is helping them choose and embed the right tech. That’s often where the trust to have bigger conversations is built,” said Johnson.
The findings follow those from the interim results of the 2025 Agile Market Intelligence Accounting Tech Review, which found that most accountants are tech enablers for their clients, accounting professionals choose tech “by credibility and community”, half of accounting firms have not adopted new tech in the last five years, and that once annual revenue reaches $100,000, businesses are much more likely to engage with external accountants.
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