iscover High-growth firms engage more closely with high-value clients, clients’ decision making
BusinessNew research has revealed the key differences among high-, moderate-, and conservative-growth accounting firms, underscoring the importance of engaging with client decision-making and maintaining formal feedback systems.
In a report commissioned by Intuit QuickBooks, the Growth and Marketing Maturity Benchmarking Report 2025, Agile Market Intelligence analysed survey responses from 460 accounting practices across Australia between September and October 2025 to explore the differences between firms with differing growth outlooks. Within this report, Intuit also explored how firms navigated AI-driven productivity and client acquisition.
The findings revealed that high-growth practices were significantly more embedded in their clients' business decisions than those of moderate- and conservative-growth firms, and that these high-growth firms were more likely to maintain formal feedback systems and to be more active in cultivating relationships with high-value clients.
Overall, 32 per cent of firms reported regularly connecting with their high-value clients, while 43 per cent said they only did so from time to time, and nine per cent said they spent as much time as they wanted or needed.
Interestingly, the research revealed that conservative-growth firms equally cultivated relationships with high-value clients (46 per cent) compared to high-growth firms (52 per cent), with these two classes of firms well ahead of their moderate-growth counterparts (38 per cent).
Agile revealed that conservative-growth firms tended to channel most of their efforts to high-value clients due to their limited capacity (mostly fewer than five employees).
The importance of client feedback systems
Agile Market Intelligence director Michael Johnson (pictured) noted that involvement in client decision-making varied with an accounting firm's growth outlook.
High-growth firms tended to have far deeper involvement with their clients’ decision-making, with 33 per cent of these firms reporting that they were mostly involved and 28 per cent saying that they were completely involved, the report found.
Six in 10 high-growth firms reported being deeply embedded in their clients’ business decisions, with these firms (39 per cent) being more than twice as likely as moderate-growth firms (26 per cent) and over four times as likely as conservative firms (10 per cent) to have established client feedback systems.
This high level of client-firm collaboration was also evident in the 61 per cent of high-growth firms that reported having strategic advisory relationships with their clients, with almost three in 10 high-growth firms being completely involved in their clients’ business decisions.
On the contrary, less than half (46 per cent) of moderate-growth firms and only 35 per cent of conservative-growth firms reported having deep involvement with their clients’ decision-making, with 60 per cent of conservative-growth firms saying that they are only sometimes involved.
“High-growth firms lean into deeper collaboration, while moderate and conservative-outlook firms often take a more measured, hands-off approach,” Johnson said.
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Carlos Tse
Carlos Tse is a graduate journalist writing for Accountants Daily, HR Leader, Lawyers Weekly.
