By Michael Aguirre, CPA, MBA, MST — Managing Partner, UHY M.L. Aguirre & Co., CPAs
This year’s UHY Managing Partners Forum was full of lessons in just two days. The first day focused on benchmarking data and sharing experiences among firms, reflecting where we are today. Meanwhile, the second day was intended to push the conversation much further—making every managing partner ask a difficult question: “What do we actually do next?
Day 1: From Benchmarking to Reinvention
With several managing partners in the conference, benchmarking data was useful and truthful in showing the real differences across the network—be it productivity, recovery, investments, technology, staffing, and firm economics —but the sharper, harder point was pricing. Moreover, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is challenging the professions’ one of the oldest models, and that is billing through hours rendered. Simply put, if technology lets us finish a task in just half the time it used to take, then the client shouldn’t immediately just pay half the fees, as our value sets in in terms of professional judgment, experience, risks forecasted, and intellectual capabilities, not just the hours consumed.
Likewise, the same concept of rethinking extends to growth, as traditional audit and tax services may not put firms on the path they want to take. Several member firms shared their real experience in expanding towards mergers & acquisitions, legal matters, family office, technology, business process outsourcing (BPO), Human Resources, and funding advisory. So we don’t have to build every capability ourselves; instead, we can act like one firm across the network through structured cross-referrals and a center of excellence —an advantage over competitor networks, provided we actually use it.
Underpinning it all is discipline in how a firm measures and prepares; revenue alone does not tell the full story. Other key performance indicators, such as recovery, lockup, and staff leverage, only matter once they are tied to goals and strategy. The most crucial part of the discussion was the human element, particularly succession—as many firms prepare the next generation of partners. It’s still unfinished business, and clear career paths & conversations about ownership and leadership matter more as the profession adapts to change.
Day 2: Turning Strategy into Action
As the second day proceeds, it has been discussed that firm growth must be perceived through four interconnected aspects:
- Developing people,
- Succession planning,
- Investment decisions, and
- Business development
Therefore, the abovementioned areas cannot be managed as separate initiatives. In terms of succession, specifically, the future leader does not have to be the strongest or greatest technical expert in the room. Rather, leadership means being able to bring people together, articulate the direction, and surround yourself with trusted specialists. Additionally, much of the growth that we look for is already closer than we think, often found inside the clients we already serve. Truly, cross-serving shouldn’t rely on chance or a partner remembering another service line; it can be a repeatable process of identifying the right clients, assessing what is missing, and proactively engaging them.
Another thing to note: real competitive advantage isn’t about having hundreds of offices worldwide; it’s about how we connect the capabilities we have to the client. It can be simply starting with curiosity rather than selling. Similarly, AI adoption fits the same logic by starting with conversational AI, connecting firm data, and moving towards an agentic system. However, it is still focused as of today on removing repetitive work, reducing bottlenecks, and making professionals free to make more judgment and advisory—as the risks are real and somewhat pervasive, such as poor data, unapproved AI use, and weak governance, which can quickly undermine the benefits. Thus, it makes human judgment the center of it all, as AI supports the first draft, and professionals retain responsibility for the final output.
Bringing MPF Home
The value of a conference like MPF is not about hearing what other firms are doing; rather, it is in coming home prepared to do something differently.
Indeed, the real challenge lies in execution, as the profession does not currently suffer from a shortage of ideas. Hence, better strategies must translate into making better decisions. Likewise, better collaboration should lead to real client opportunities, and better technologies must translate into measurable value—and the numbers we usually track will only matter when they are tied to goals and acted on.
Moreover, the future of accounting firms will likely be more technology-enabled, more value-driven, more collaborative, and less constrained by traditional boundaries. It won’t be determined simply by how much technology we adopt, how many services we offer, or how large our network becomes — but by how well we connect people, capability, and technology, and turn them into action for our clients.
The challenge for us as Managing Partners isn’t merely to predict what the profession will look like. It’s to start building it.
From Benchmarking to Action: Lessons from the UHY Managing Partners Forum 2026 in Split
By Michael Aguirre, CPA, MBA, MST — Managing Partner, UHY M.L. Aguirre & Co., CPAs
This year’s UHY Managing Partners Forum was full of lessons in just two days. The first day focused on benchmarking data and sharing experiences among firms, reflecting where we are today. Meanwhile, the second day was intended to push the conversation much further—making every managing partner ask a difficult question: “What do we actually do next?
Day 1: From Benchmarking to Reinvention
With several managing partners in the conference, benchmarking data was useful and truthful in showing the real differences across the network—be it productivity, recovery, investments, technology, staffing, and firm economics —but the sharper, harder point was pricing. Moreover, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is challenging the professions’ one of the oldest models, and that is billing through hours rendered. Simply put, if technology lets us finish a task in just half the time it used to take, then the client shouldn’t immediately just pay half the fees, as our value sets in in terms of professional judgment, experience, risks forecasted, and intellectual capabilities, not just the hours consumed.
Likewise, the same concept of rethinking extends to growth, as traditional audit and tax services may not put firms on the path they want to take. Several member firms shared their real experience in expanding towards mergers & acquisitions, legal matters, family office, technology, business process outsourcing (BPO), Human Resources, and funding advisory. So we don’t have to build every capability ourselves; instead, we can act like one firm across the network through structured cross-referrals and a center of excellence —an advantage over competitor networks, provided we actually use it.
Underpinning it all is discipline in how a firm measures and prepares; revenue alone does not tell the full story. Other key performance indicators, such as recovery, lockup, and staff leverage, only matter once they are tied to goals and strategy. The most crucial part of the discussion was the human element, particularly succession—as many firms prepare the next generation of partners. It’s still unfinished business, and clear career paths & conversations about ownership and leadership matter more as the profession adapts to change.
Day 2: Turning Strategy into Action
As the second day proceeds, it has been discussed that firm growth must be perceived through four interconnected aspects:
Therefore, the abovementioned areas cannot be managed as separate initiatives. In terms of succession, specifically, the future leader does not have to be the strongest or greatest technical expert in the room. Rather, leadership means being able to bring people together, articulate the direction, and surround yourself with trusted specialists. Additionally, much of the growth that we look for is already closer than we think, often found inside the clients we already serve. Truly, cross-serving shouldn’t rely on chance or a partner remembering another service line; it can be a repeatable process of identifying the right clients, assessing what is missing, and proactively engaging them.
Another thing to note: real competitive advantage isn’t about having hundreds of offices worldwide; it’s about how we connect the capabilities we have to the client. It can be simply starting with curiosity rather than selling. Similarly, AI adoption fits the same logic by starting with conversational AI, connecting firm data, and moving towards an agentic system. However, it is still focused as of today on removing repetitive work, reducing bottlenecks, and making professionals free to make more judgment and advisory—as the risks are real and somewhat pervasive, such as poor data, unapproved AI use, and weak governance, which can quickly undermine the benefits. Thus, it makes human judgment the center of it all, as AI supports the first draft, and professionals retain responsibility for the final output.
Bringing MPF Home
The value of a conference like MPF is not about hearing what other firms are doing; rather, it is in coming home prepared to do something differently.
Indeed, the real challenge lies in execution, as the profession does not currently suffer from a shortage of ideas. Hence, better strategies must translate into making better decisions. Likewise, better collaboration should lead to real client opportunities, and better technologies must translate into measurable value—and the numbers we usually track will only matter when they are tied to goals and acted on.
Moreover, the future of accounting firms will likely be more technology-enabled, more value-driven, more collaborative, and less constrained by traditional boundaries. It won’t be determined simply by how much technology we adopt, how many services we offer, or how large our network becomes — but by how well we connect people, capability, and technology, and turn them into action for our clients.
The challenge for us as Managing Partners isn’t merely to predict what the profession will look like. It’s to start building it.