2025 Accounting Buyer Insights Report

Join one of the industry’s leading voices on buyer behavior and client experience, ClearlyRated founder Eric Gregg, as he provides a sneak peek into the changing needs of accounting buyers and how firms can best position themselves for growth in 2025 and beyond.

The ClearlyRated buyer survey will share key satisfaction benchmarks and drivers, along with the most impactful trends facing your accounting firm now and in the future.

What you'll learn:

• How buyers of accounting services make decisions about which firms to use, and how your firm can stand out
• How economic uncertainty impacts satisfaction and how best to create client loyalty
• What current clients wish their accounting firm contacts would do differently, and how top firms outperform
• How new and emerging technologies have altered the buying decisions of accounting clients

We'd like to thank our research sponsor:

Speaker

Eric Gregg, Co-Founder & CX Strategist

With two decades of research experience in B2B professional services, Eric Gregg and the team at ClearlyRated have analyzed more than 7.2 million surveys with the goal of determining what drives success for professional services firms.

Eric has served as an adjunct faculty member in Portland State University’s marketing program, and has published numerous articles, business cases, and technical notes in the field of marketing, client loyalty and employee satisfaction. His research and consulting have been featured in articles and as a noted industry speaker.

Join ClearlyRated founder and CX strategist, Eric Gregg for a fast-paced, 30-minute discussion of how Best of Accounting firms leverage the program to outpace the competition.

More than just a survey, learn how ClearlyRated is helping firms unlock growth through better service, stronger social proof, and improved reputation, with the industry's largest database to benchmark your performance.

What you'll learn:

• The role that CX has in accelerating accounting firm growth
• How the Best of Accounting designation is earned, and how the program impacts growth
• Simple tools for improving retention and increasing expansion
• How to turn client testimonials into new opportunities

About our Moderator

Eric Gregg, Founder & CX Strategist

With two decades of research experience in B2B professional services, Eric Gregg and the team at ClearlyRated have analyzed more than 7.2 million surveys with the goal of determining what drives success for professional services firms.

Eric has served as an adjunct faculty member in Portland State University’s marketing program, and has published numerous articles, business cases, and technical notes in the field of marketing, client loyalty and employee satisfaction. His research and consulting have been featured in articles and as a noted industry speaker.

In the ever-competitive world of accounting, standing out requires more than just exceptional technical expertise—it demands an unparalleled client experience (CX). For marketers, partners, and business development leaders at accounting firms, this challenge is an opportunity to innovate and drive growth. That’s why our upcoming webinar is the perfect chance to dive into best practices from those leading the charge in CX excellence.

Join us for an in-depth discussion featuring a panel of industry leaders from top-performing accounting firms who have successfully implemented CX initiatives and seen transformative results.

Our expert panelists, Sarah Cirelli, Chief Marketing Officer at Grassi Advisors & Accountants, and Suzanne Reed, Chief Marketing Officer at LBMC, are seasoned professionals from leading accounting firms who have been in the trenches of client experience initiatives. Moderated by ClearlyRated Founder and CX Strategist, Eric Gregg, this conversation will delve into the practices, strategies, and mindsets that have propelled their firms to the forefront of client experience excellence.

What you'll gain: peer wisdom and proven strategies.

• Roadmap to Successful CX Initiatives: Discover the essential steps to effectively launch and manage a client experience initiative in your firm.
• Avoid Common Pitfalls: Learn from the missteps and challenges our panelists have faced, so you can navigate your own CX journey more smoothly.
• Actionable Client Feedback: Uncover the most effective techniques for collecting, analyzing, and acting on client feedback to drive tangible improvements.
• Calculating and Proving ROI: Gain insights into how to measure the return on investment for your CX efforts, convincing stakeholders of its critical value.
• Interactive Q&A: Engage directly with our panelists to ask questions and share your experiences, ensuring personalized learning and the fostering of industry connections.

Whether you’re spearheading a new CX initiative or looking to refine your existing strategy, this webinar offers invaluable insights from those who’ve successfully navigated the path to CX excellence.

About our Moderator

Eric Gregg, Founder & CX Strategist

With two decades of research experience in B2B professional services, Eric Gregg and the team at ClearlyRated have analyzed more than 7.2 million surveys with the goal of determining what drives success for professional services firms.

Eric has served as an adjunct faculty member in Portland State University’s marketing program, and has published numerous articles, business cases, and technical notes in the field of marketing, client loyalty and employee satisfaction. His research and consulting have been featured in articles and as a noted industry speaker.

Join us for a panel discussion tailored specifically for accounting firms with a merger or acquisition in the near future. Hosted by Eric Gregg, CEO & Founder of ClearlyRated, this webinar will provide you with practical tools and rich insights, drawn from key communication techniques and survey data applications.

You'll benefit from the unique knowledge of three accomplished industry veterans - Katie Tolin of Growth Partners, Alyson Fieldman of Rockit Results, and Jade Reichling of EisnerAmper, each with a successful track record in skillfully handling and assisting with mergers and acquisitions.

What you'll learn:

• How to leverage the power of timely communication to keep your clients, staff, and stakeholders confident and informed during the transition.
• Insights on how to extract and apply imperative data from client surveys before, during, and after the deal.
• The impact of starting your surveys early in the M&A process and how this critical step can shape the success of the transaction.
• Real-life scenarios where client experience tipped the balance in M&A outcomes.

Presenter

Eric Gregg, Co-Founder
Connect on LinkedIn

Join ClearlyRated’s CEO Eric Gregg for this quick-hit 30-minute webinar as he reveals brand new research, including the latest NPS® benchmarks for the accounting industry and highlights from our Industry Benchmark Study. Get a sneak preview of our upcoming report, and gain insight into the minds of accounting buyers. 

What you'll learn:

• The latest research on NPS benchmarks for accounting firms
• Key factors influencing accounting buyer decisions
• The drivers of satisfaction for accounting buyers
• Strategies to elevate client experiences from satisfaction to loyalty
• The evolution of CX to always-on experience management

Empower your firm with actionable insights into client expectations and learn how to craft exceptional client experiences that not only prevent churn but also pave the way for organic growth within your existing accounts.

Presenter

Eric Gregg, CEO & Founder

With two decades of research experience in B2B professional services, Eric Gregg and his team at ClearlyRated have analyzed more than 6.7 million surveys with the goal of determining what drives success for professional services firms. Eric has served as an adjunct faculty member in Portland State University’s marketing program, and has published numerous articles, business cases, and technical notes in the field of marketing, client loyalty and employee satisfaction. His research and consulting have been featured in articles and as a noted industry speaker.

What's inside?

3 out of 4 accounting clients say they would like a consistent way to provide feedback to their providers. But where, and how, should your firm begin when asking clients how you can improve?

Designing a satisfaction survey initiative is a great place to start. What steps can be taken to maximize the ROI of a survey program for your team, your clients, and even your prospects?

ClearlyRated has compiled these checklists (yes, multiple checklists—you’ll see why) to help accounting teams:

• Build an execution roadmap
• Avoid common survey pitfalls
• Gain the most valuable insights possible from the initiative.

With more than a decade of experience administering satisfaction surveys for professional service providers — ClearlyRated is thrilled to share with you these hard-fought lessons from the field.

A world-class experience awaits

Get the recognition you deserve and grow your business with ClearlyRated.

Who is this guide for?

• Have you heard about the Net Promoter® Score and want to learn more?
• Perhaps you have a different survey program in place and are considering a switch to NPS...
• Or maybe you're already using NPS and want to learn how to best leverage it...

What's inside?

ClearlyRated's NPS Guide for Accounting Firms can help you better understand the Net Promoter Score and its unique value in the accounting industry. This document offers a guide for deploying your NPS survey initiative, as well as how to understand your results and leverage feedback in a way that maximizes long-term ROI, client satisfaction, and revenue. Inside you'll find:

• An overview of the Net Promoter Score - what it is and how it's calculated.
• A look at NPS trends in the accounting industry - how clients have ranked their accounting firms year-over-year.
• The multi-faceted benefits that accounting firms and other professional service providers gain from utilizing NPS.
• Common mistakes to avoid when utilizing NPS at your firm.
• Field-tested practices for maximizing the value of your NPS initiative.

Download your free copy now by completing the form to your right!

‍

Accounting firms – like other professional service providers – rely heavily on client satisfaction and service quality to retain accounts and differentiate from the competition. Service quality and client satisfaction grow even more essential to business success during economic lulls and industry challenges. This may partially explain why business leaders across sectors prioritized customer experience (CX) in 2023. To understand how your service measures up year over year, you need a feedback tool that gathers insights and simplifies tracking—and gives you a metric that you can easily compare to your competition’s performance. Enter the Net Promoter Score® (NPS®), a service quality and customer satisfaction metric that serves as a leading indicator of revenue retention and growth, not to mention brand differentiation.

What is NPS?

Your NPS starts with a single survey question that asks clients how likely they are to recommend your firm to a friend or colleague. The most forward-thinking firms are also asking their employees, hoping to boost their employee experience (EX) too. Responses land on a scale of 0–10, ten being extremely likely and zero being not at all likely. From there, people have the option to offer more specific feedback.To calculate NPS, we subtract the % of detractors (those who respond with a 6 or lower) from the % of promoters (those who respond with 9 or 10).

Why is NPS Uniquely Useful?

NPS offers a standardized measurement to track and report on client satisfaction and service quality—one that can be applied across every level, from the industry as a whole to the brand level. Each company can also drill down within their organization, including by lines of business, department, or account manager. This means that you can compare your firm to others while also pinpointing the shining stars and any areas to improve within your organization. Learn more about how NPS can help drive business growth.

Accounting Industry NPS in 2023

ClearlyRated’s annual NPS Benchmark Study includes an industry focus on accounting firm NPS—and it’s good news. The 2023 accounting industry NPS has bumped up 2 points from 2022, landing at 41%. This NPS is the highest level recorded in the accounting industry going back to 2011, the first year that ClearlyRated measured industry satisfaction. Many drivers of accounting client satisfaction, such as responsiveness to calls/emails and delivering results within established timelines, are also at record highs in the industry. After a low point in the late 2010s, the industry’s average NPS picked up significantly, increasing by 15% in just one year, from 2020 to 2021. After a 1% increase in 2022, this year’s 2% increase marks the accounting industry’s third straight NPS rise, suggesting a trending improvement in the industry’s service levels.

Accounting Client Satisfaction – measured as NPS

Year-Over-Year Accounting Industry NPS (Client Ratings)

Insights on 2023 Ratings

We’re glad to see our accounting clients increase their NPS for the third consecutive year, especially within an industry that lags compared to global NPS standards. For reference those wider standards only classify organizations as excellent once they’ve earned a 50% NPS. A 70% NPS would classify them as world-class. What does it look like to have a 70%+ NPS? Consider Starbucks and USAA, recognizable service leaders with an NPS of 77% and 75%, respectively. Then compare them to Comcast, a notorious service laggard, whose clients give them a -25% NPS. While the accounting industry seems to be improving overall, it is still ripe for further progress. And as firms achieve better service levels, clients’ expectations will rightfully get higher, meaning any firms that don’t keep are likely to flounder. Click here to learn more about the NPS methodology.On the other hand, this presents a huge opportunity for accounting firms that capitalize on their NPS momentum, continuing to improve their customer satisfaction and service. Firms that manage to deliver an outstanding CX and earn a high NPS as a result will more easily outshine their competition. Get tips on how to improve your CX based on customer feedback.

A Note on EX in the Accounting Industry

Our NPS survey programs can help our clients in every industry measure both their CX and their employee experience (EX). In fact, we believe so much in the importance of EX that we use NPS surveys for our own employees and have even shared what we learned. Unfortunately, in our experience accounting firms are typically more hesitant than other types of organizations to measure and improve their EX.Thankfully, we’ve already seen some wise accounting firms like Perkins & Co use their NPS survey program to not only improve their CX but also boost their EX by celebrating their wins. When employees receive recognition for providing good service, they are happier and more likely to continue providing high levels of customer care. Keep in mind that a better EX helps you retain your employees and builds a foundation for an improved CX.

How does your firm stack up?

If you’re not already leveraging NPS at your firm, we hope you consider this article a call-to-action. Not only do client satisfaction and service quality represent opportunities to differentiate in an increasingly commodified service industry, they are fuel for firm growth. Remember the adage: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure” – and you certainly won’t be able to improve it either. Up against a reluctant firm culture? Get some tips on how to overcome common objections to survey programs to help build buy-in and get started.

Next Steps

• Ready to get started with NPS? Contact the ClearlyRated team for insights, best practices, and a tour of our survey platform (designed specifically to support professional services firms).
• Considering a survey program? Our veteran team of survey experts has compiled a Satisfaction Survey Checklist for accounting Firms to help you avoid common pitfalls and build a road map for a successful client survey initiative.