When you’re busy running a business, “finding a CPA firm” can feel like one more admin task on a very long list. But as we dug into in our Ask a DHJJ CPA podcast episode, “How to Pick a CPA Firm You Can Trust (With 40 Years of Insight),” choosing the right firm is actually a strategic decision that can shape your growth, your financial confidence, and even your exit one day.
In this episode, I sat down with Ed Brooks, CPA and Chief Growth Officer at DHJJ, who recently celebrated his 39th year with the firm. Ed has seen what great CPA relationships look like over the long haul and what goes wrong when the fit isn’t right.
Below, I’m breaking down the key takeaways from our conversation in article form, so if you prefer reading to listening (or want something to share with your team), you’re in the right place.
Why Choosing the Right CPA Firm Matters More Than You Think
One of the first things I asked Ed was: Why is this decision such a big deal?
His answer came down to one word: fit.
Businesses evolve. What works today may not work five or ten years from now. As Ed explained, the real question isn’t whether your CPA firm has served you well in the past. It’s whether they’re equipped to support where you’re going next.
“What fits in 2025 might not fit in 2030.”
If your business is expected to grow, change, or become more complex, your CPA firm needs to be able to navigate that evolution with you. Without the right partner, growth can stall, or worse, create unplanned mistakes and setbacks.
Ed shared examples of the kinds of decisions CPA firms often help guide:
- When to approach a bank
- How much to finance
- How large a line of credit should be
- How much cash to take out of the business versus reinvest
- How much capital is needed for the next phase
These are not compliance questions, they’re growth questions. And having the wrong CPA firm can limit your ability to answer them confidently.
That said, Ed also made an important distinction. If you’re what he calls a “permanently small business”, one that isn’t planning to evolve or grow significantly, and your current firm meets your needs, a change may not be necessary. The key is knowing who you are and where you’re headed.
Get Clear on What You Actually Need From a CPA Firm
Before you even start meeting with firms, Ed encouraged business owners to step back and define what’s going on inside the business today, and what might be coming in the next 3–5 years, even the next 10 years.
During the episode, we talked about situations where a more full-service advisory relationship becomes especially important, such as:
- Multiple entities or ownership structures
- Inventory, job costing, or more complex revenue recognition
- Multi-state operations and state & local tax (SALT) exposure
- A 401(k) or retirement plan that may require an audit as it grows
- Plans to bring on additional owners or key leaders with equity
- A future sale, merger, or family transition
When those factors are in play, you don’t just want someone who can technically prepare a return; you want a firm that can be a partner as your business evolves.
What to Look For Beyond Tax Prep and Compliance
Ed made a great point in the episode: most firms should be competent at compliance work, tax returns, financial statements for banks, and basic reporting. The differentiator is what happens beyond that baseline.
Here are the specific areas Ed said owners should explore when interviewing a firm:
Industry Experience
Ed encouraged owners to ask:
- “What do you know about my industry?”
- “What trends are you seeing in my industry?”
- “What unique accounting or business issues come up for companies like mine?”
He gave examples like construction and distribution, where specialized issues (like inventory valuation and write-offs) can become critical. Industry knowledge helps your CPA firm become part of your finance team, not just a vendor you talk to once a year.
Firm Structure and Scalability
Ed recommended asking firms what they’re structured to serve and where their “sweet spot” is. The right firm should be able to explain:
- what size clients they serve best,
- what their team looks like,
- and whether they can scale with you as your needs evolve.
Depth of Expertise (Beyond One Person)
Ed emphasized that even if you have a strong main contact, you want a firm that has experts behind the scenes, especially as questions get more complex.
His warning was simple: you don’t want to be limited to the knowledge of just one person.
Professional Network
Ed also recommended asking about a firm’s network:
- attorneys,
- estate planning and gifting specialists,
- insurance contacts,
- and commercial banking relationships.
Because as your business grows, your needs won’t stay neatly inside the accounting box. A CPA firm with a strong network can connect you to specialists when issues come up: ownership transitions, estate planning, financing needs, and more.
Peer Review (Quality Control)
This was one of the most practical points Ed shared: ask about peer review.
CPA firms are reviewed for quality and adherence to professional standards. Ed said this question isn’t asked often enough, and business owners can request the peer review report to better understand a firm’s quality controls.
Advisory vs. Transactional: How to Tell the Difference
One of the themes we hear a lot at DHJJ, and one we talked about directly in the episode, is the difference between a transactional CPA relationship and a proactive advisory relationship.
Ed explained that when planning is done right, tax prep should be a “boring process,” because there should be no surprises.
That means:
- running tax projections,
- looking at scenarios,
- and making decisions before year-end.
And it requires proactive check-ins. Ed described a strong advisory model as reaching out quarterly, or at least two to three times per year, to talk through business updates, trends, estimated payments, cash flow, and performance.
If you’re interviewing a firm, he suggested asking:
“What do your services typically look like throughout the year?”
Then listen carefully. The answer tells you whether the firm is proactive or only reactive when deadlines hit.
Red Flags to Watch For
After we talked about advisory vs. transactional, I asked Ed about red flags.
He pointed to three big ones:
- Lack of depth: you ask questions and they can’t answer—or they don’t have internal experts to pull in.
- Lack of proactive communication: no check-ins, no mid-year discussions, no outreach.
- Slow responsiveness: delayed emails, missed calls, or signs they’re struggling to keep up.
Ed also mentioned a reality in the industry right now: staffing shortages are real, and smaller firms can have a particularly hard time keeping up. If you’re seeing these issues consistently, it’s worth exploring other options.
Solo CPA vs. Full-Service Firm: What’s The Difference?
We also talked about the range of CPA firm sizes, from solo practitioners to Big 4, and how to think about fit.
Ed explained that smaller firms can work well for very small businesses, but as complexity grows, the difference often comes down to depth and scalability.
A firm with five people (or fewer) can be limited to the knowledge and capacity of one individual. That might be fine at a smaller revenue range with a small team, but “pretty quickly,” as Ed said, a growing business often needs more resources and expertise.
He also pointed out that larger national firms may not be the right fit either if you’re in the middle market, because their sweet spot may start at $100M+.
The takeaway: ask firms where they fit in the market and who their ideal client is. The best answer is usually specific, not “everyone.”
The Biggest Mistake Owners Make When Choosing a CPA Firm
Toward the end of the episode, I asked Ed what mistake he sees most often.
His answer: not evaluating fit on a regular basis.
Businesses change. Firms change. A firm might have been the right partner in 2008, but it’s 2025, and your business may have grown dramatically while the firm stayed the same (or became smaller).
Ed’s recommendation was to periodically ask:
- “Do I have the right fit for today?”
- “Do I have the right fit for the next 5–10 years?”
He even shared a real-life example of a fast-growing company that held on to a CPA too long. The company struggled to get financing because it couldn’t produce reliable financials, missed multi-state tax issues, and left tax savings on the table. Once they made the change, they repaired the bank relationship and found wins quickly, like identifying missed opportunities such as R&D credits.
He also suggested a practical step when interviewing new firms.
Let them review your most recently filed tax returns and financials. You’ll learn a lot from that discussion, and the best firms will look hard for opportunities to create a “win right out of the gate.”
One More Factor That Matters: Passion
One of my favorite moments of the episode was when Ed brought up something intangible but real.
Beyond expertise, he said, business owners should look for passion, focus, and enthusiasm. Because knowledge matters, but if a CPA firm is burned out or disengaged, you won’t get the full value of what they know.
As Ed put it, without passion, you might get 70–80% of the value. With passion, you get everything you should be getting.
And honestly, someone has to care deeply about the numbers, so you don’t have to.
Practical Next Steps if You’re Evaluating CPA Firms
If this conversation hits close to home, here’s how to put it into action:
- Write down what you need for the next stage (not just today).
- Interview 2–3 firms so you can compare and contrast.
- Use the questions above, industry experience, scalability, depth, service model, network, and peer review.
- Ask what the relationship looks like throughout the year and listen for proactive planning.
- Pay attention to fit. Do you feel heard, supported, and confident in their ability to grow with you?
As Ed said, it’s not so much a sales process as it is a fit process.
Watch or Listen to The Full Episode
This article hits the main points, but Ed shared additional stories and examples in the full conversation that really bring these ideas to life.
You can watch Episode 1: How to Pick a CPA Firm You Can Trust (With 40 Years of Insight) on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform to hear the discussion in full.
And if this sparked questions about choosing a CPA firm, evaluating your current relationship, or planning for the next stage of your business, send them in. On Ask a DHJJ CPA, every episode starts with real questions from business owners just like you.
