By Jeff Call, CEO, Bennett Thrasher.
The tax advisory world is navigating a period of unprecedented demand. Firms with tax practices – including ours – are busier than ever, a trend driven by a combination of new tax laws, talent pool shortages, and IRS shifts.
For firms to succeed, we must adapt our operational strategies to meet these challenges head-on. These are three key factors contributing to the increased demand for tax services:
1. The Ever-Evolving Tax Law
Tax laws are constantly evolving, making it challenging to keep up. This year’s One Big Beautiful Bill – the most significant tax package in recent years – has created fresh demand as businesses and individuals seek professionals to help them navigate the new regulations, take advantage of new tax benefits and stay legally compliant.
Some of the most significant shifts under the One Big Beautiful Bill that Bennett Thrasher is helping clients navigate include:
- R&D expensing reinstatement: This allows companies to deduct domestic R&D expenses, such as those related to software development, engineering salaries, UX testing and AI model training costs. For startups and growth firms, this can free up cash for reinvestment. Individuals who own interests in businesses with domestic R&D activity may also benefit from filing amended returns to reduce taxable income.
- 100% Bonus depreciation reinstatement: Businesses can now fully expense qualifying large investments for property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. This provision applies to tangible property with a recovery period of 20 years or less, such as machinery, equipment, and furniture. This encourages capital investment by accelerating write-offs and improving cash flow.
- Changes to business interest expense limitation, 163(j): The new law eases restrictions on the deductibility of interest expense by allowing EBITDA, rather than EBIT, to serve as the basis for calculating the limitation. This increases the deductible amount of business interest for companies in capital-intensive industries or those that rely on financing for growth.
2. Talent Pool Shortages
The accounting industry is in the midst of a significant transition. A wave of retirements among senior professionals is creating gaps in leadership and institutional knowledge, leaving many long-standing client relationships without their trusted advisors. At the same time, fewer young professionals are entering the field as talent gravitates toward finance, consulting and technology careers. The result is a tightening talent pool across firms of all sizes, driving clients to seek out larger firms, like ours, that have the infrastructure and experience to provide stability, continuity, and strategic guidance.
3. Navigating an Evolving IRS Landscape
Our clients see the headlines about IRS layoffs and are asking, “What impact will these have?” The short answer: this trend isn’t making a substantial impact – yet.
While only approximately 2 percent of our time is dedicated to supporting clients with IRS audits, the shifting landscape still presents challenges. With fewer resources, the IRS is slower to respond to correspondence, making our jobs more challenging operationally. That’s why having seasoned professionals on our team, such as our head of tax controversy, who previously worked at the IRS for 30 years, is invaluable. We continue to strengthen our tax practice and are open to hiring former senior IRS employees to support our work in tax controversy and audits, as these individuals can offer critical insight into the different audit and appeals processes.
Tips for Operational and Strategic Adjustments in this “New Normal”
To meet the increased demand for tax accounting services, firms must make strategic operational adjustments. We’ve found success by:
- Maintaining direct, transparent communication: Delivering the high-quality, five-star service our clients expect is central to our core values. We offer support to both business and high-net-worth clients by keeping them informed on tax landscape shifts, helping them anticipate impacts and plan proactively so they stay ahead of the game.
- Investing in our team: We continue to train and build out our tax practices within our Atlanta, Dallas, and Denver offices. We actively seek high-quality lateral talent and add client service specialists to help with the operational aspects of our practice so the tax experts can focus on what they do best.
- Embracing technology: We continually invest in cutting-edge technology to remain agile and optimize operations, whether that’s investment in third-party automation tools or building our own. For example, HubSpot allows for streamlined electronic exchanges, and we use tools such as Blue J, a generative AI tax law research and predictive analytics platform.
- Resisting the consolidation trend: By remaining fiercely independent, we are able to stay true to our values, putting our people first to deliver nimble service, hands-on relationships, and fair pricing that many PE-backed firms can’t match.
- Committing to core values: Our values guide every decision – from how we serve our clients to how we operate our business. We uphold ethical practices in all we do, ensuring that every tax position we take is sustainable, compliant and designed to protect our clients from unnecessary risk.
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Jeff Call is CEO of Bennett Thrasher, Georgia’s largest independent accounting firm with satellite offices in Denver and Dallas. He specializes in wealth transfer, estate planning, investment strategy, tax, and financial planning for high-net-worth individuals, entrepreneurs, family business owners, and executives. For more information, visit btcpa.net.
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