How leading tax firms actually make advisory work

Q Why do some larger tax firms talk about advisory but struggle to deliver the service to clients at scale?

A Because at scale, advisory isn’t a service you “add”; it’s a shift in how the firm operates. Many firms underestimate that. They align on the idea, but not on execution. Without a defined operating model with clear processes, ownership, and delivery standards, advisory stays siloed, driven by a few individuals instead of becoming part of how the firm runs.

Q Where do larger tax firms break down when trying to create capacity?

A They assume capacity comes from working faster. However, it actually comes from working consistently. In most firms, tax work is executed differently across partners, teams, and offices. That variability creates rework and bottlenecks. Until execution is standardized, and unless firms continuously assess and improve their overall operations, time savings stay isolated and never translate into real, firmwide capacity.

Q From your perspective, why are firms still doing work in their tax workflows that doesn’t add meaningful value?

AFirms are still doing work that doesn’t add meaningful value because they aren’t consistently stepping back to inspect their processes, evaluate them, and eliminate unnecessary work. Instead of simplifying the work itself, firms try to move faster within existing processes, allowing nonvalue tasks to persist. Firms that create capacity standardize workflows, align systems, and connect bookkeeping, tax, and planning to reduce manual work and free up time for higher-value client conversations.

Q What separates tax firms that successfully scale advisory across the organization?

AT hey don’t treat compliance as the end goal; they treat it as the foundation for advisory. Leading firms embed advisory into the core tax workflow, using tax return data to consistently generate insights and recommendations. That shift is what makes advisory scalable. Solutions such as Intuit® ProConnect™ Tax support this by connecting workflows and surfacing insights within the process — turning compliance work into ongoing advisory opportunities. That’s what makes advisory scalable.