Back in the mid-90s, our firm followed the same playbook as most CPA firms: bring in a well-known consultant for our annual firm retreat, develop strategy together, then repeat the process the following year. Every firm did it, and frankly, it wasn't all that different from what I see many firms doing today.
But I had an epiphany that changed everything. Earlier in my career, I'd been involved with the Family Business Association and they talked constantly about outside advisory boards. Over time, I had clients who had outside advisory boards too.
What perplexed me was this: I didn't know of one CPA firm that used an outside advisory board. Not one.
So I thought about it. Every time we brought in a new consultant, they'd have to learn our business, understand our culture, figure out what we were good at and what we weren't. I thought it would be so much better if we had somebody who really understood us—our ability to execute, our strengths and weaknesses. Someone who could provide targeted guidance because they knew us intimately.
In 1999, we established our first outside advisory board. What we learned from that process over the next 15 years as we grew our firm and ultimately sold to BDO fundamentally changed how I think about firm governance and strategic execution.
Consultants always face a learning curve in understanding your culture and decision-makers. While they can provide valuable insights during targeted engagements, the depth of understanding that develops over years creates opportunities for more nuanced guidance.
Consultants provide fresh thinking and proven frameworks that can be tremendously valuable for targeted initiatives. But because their engagements are short-term, firms often hear similar recommendations across different projects. Advisory boards complement this by adding long-term context and continuity, ensuring guidance is not just smart in theory but tailored to how your firm actually operates. They provide highly specific guidance because they've developed institutional knowledge over years, not weeks.
The most important characteristic of any advisory board is the makeup of its members. Our first board included: the managing partner of one of the largest law firms in the country, a leader from a much larger, national CPA firm, and an executive with a marketing background. We wanted people who could help us in areas where we weren't as strong.
One rule I established from the beginning: never put a client on the board. You don't want them to see how you make sausage; the internal debates and strategic uncertainties that are natural parts of running any firm.
That first board taught us the importance of complementary expertise—a lesson I now share with other firms. You need expertise from leaders in similar professional services firms, functional expertise in your capability gaps, and strategic perspective from leaders who've navigated similar transformations.
What I found most valuable as a Managing Partner was the degree of external accountability this advisory board created. Before the advisory board, I was accountable to all my partners, but ultimately, I was still in charge. With the advisory board, I had trusted external voices who understood our business intimately and would push us––and me––to be better.
When we met, we'd put together a list of strategic initiatives that became our execution blueprint. We'd say, "Okay, we want to add outside salespeople, and that's going to be Gary's responsibility." Specific, actionable items. The beauty of advisors who knew our firm intimately was nuanced guidance. They understood not just what we should do theoretically, but what we were actually capable of executing.
Every meeting started with reviewing previous strategic initiatives, discussing what we'd accomplished and how. One critical lesson: keep discussions at 40,000 feet. You don't want to discuss the minutiae of hiring decisions or individual client issues. Focus on strategic questions: market positioning, service line development, succession planning, major technology investments.
We began with the target of having annual meetings, with a half-day agenda and social time the evening before for out-of-town members. After realizing the value of the time we spent with the advisory board, we quickly moved to twice yearly meetings.
As managing partner, I’d be responsible for driving the agenda, and would aim to share that a couple of weeks ahead of the meeting so everyone had a chance to review it and contribute other topics we should discuss. Much of the agenda would be driven by current opportunities and challenges, but we’d always include items like a financial statement review or our growth strategy.
We kept the board small and focused, meeting only with our executive team but occasionally bringing in other partners or members of our C-suite to talk about specific topics. Over time, we rotated advisors as our needs evolved—some didn't click as well as we'd hoped. That's natural and expected.
We asked advisors what they wanted to be paid and met those expectations exactly. Today, most advisors expect around $25,000 annually, although some are paid by the meeting. For advisory boards to work, you need high-powered, accomplished people that are motivated and focused on your success. Occasionally, we’d use members of our advisory board for one-off projects, and in those instances, we’d pay them entirely separately.
Our 15-year journey proved the value of advisory boards in ways I never anticipated. But today, the need is even greater. Technology is reshaping service delivery, private equity is consolidating the market, talent shortages are forcing operational change, and client expectations keep rising. In this environment, relying solely on internal decision-making is increasingly risky.
What was once a differentiator for ambitious firms is quickly becoming table stakes. Firms with external governance structures consistently outperform those that don’t. The most successful leaders view advisory boards not as expenses, but as competitive advantages that bring perspective, accountability, and strategic discipline.
After implementing an advisory board at my own firm and now helping others do the same, I’m convinced this is one of the most underutilized tools in our profession. The question isn’t whether you can afford an advisory board—it’s whether you can afford to keep making strategic decisions without one.