Allan Koltin’s strategic forecast: A moment of reckoning for professional services

Ten truths sparking boardroom debate – Part 1: From tradition to transformation

“The accounting profession spent 137 years in a protected shell of predictable growth – but not anymore.” - Allan Koltin

This shift marks a defining moment for the professional services industry – and sets the backdrop for a special on-camera Resource Revolution interview with Allan Koltin, CPA, CGMA, and CEO of Koltin Consulting Group.

A name synonymous with influence across the profession, Allan is a trusted advisor and voice at the center of its most defining and strategic conversations. For more than 25 years, he’s appeared on Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People list, ranking among the top two in recent years, with insights on strategy, leadership, and growth featured in publications including The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

With 45 years advising many of the world’s leading professional services firms, this conversation offers a deeply insightful look at what happens when tradition meets transformation. Known for his wit, straight talk, and gift for storytelling, Allan doesn’t just comment on change – he helps shape it.

In this first of two parts, we explore five truths at the heart of professional services’ defining moment – a reckoning that’s pushing firms from tradition to transformation.

1. The four Ts that are hitting every boardroom

“The top three themes in the boardroom today are talent, technology, and transformation – all hitting at the same time. And when that happens, it brings a fourth T – trouble.” - Allan Koltin

Koltin describes a moment of reckoning for professional services. After decades of predictable growth, firms now face a triple threat that’s redefining the rules – and creating a leadership test unlike any before it.

Talent: “The model that got us to the dance doesn’t work anymore.” Younger professionals have more options and aren’t buying into the old promise of partnership.

Technology: “What used to take 200 people hours can now be done by the flip of a switch.” Automation is rewriting how firms create and capture value.

Transformation: firms are shifting from compliance to advisory and consulting – what Koltin calls, “impact services”. But that shift demands capital, courage, and a new kind of leadership.

He points out that while many firms are experiencing record profits, the strain behind the numbers is real. “Most firms are making more money than they ever dreamed – back-to-back record years of profit. But they’re killing themselves. They’re hitting the glass ceiling.”

For Koltin, these four Ts – talent, technology, transformation, and trouble – are colliding to create a moment of truth for firm leaders. The strategic conversations happening in boardrooms today, he says, are unlike anything the profession has seen before.

“There’s been more strategic discussion in the last four and a half years than in my first forty. Finally, something to talk about!” - Allan Koltin

2. Consensus is killing progress

"Some firms are still running like real partnerships – and as the expression goes, no one can say yes but anyone can say no.” - Allan Koltin

For Allan, the partnership model has shaped the profession’s identity – but it’s also where many firms get stuck. In his view, the consensus mindset that once built stability now limits progress. He calls it "the dysfunction of the partnership model". In firms where every partner has a say, decision-making slows, bold ideas get diluted, and innovation often takes a back seat.

He draws one of his most vivid analogies: "Are you a country – or a country club?"

A country operates with unity. “The firm comes first. We do it one right way. Everyone’s cross-trained. We can move work around. Efficiency leads to profitability.”

A country club, by contrast, is fragmented. “Leadership says, ‘We’re going to go from weekly time reporting to daily.’ Someone says, ‘Great idea – but not for our department.’ The next person says, ‘Same here.’ You can’t get traction – and you can’t get better.”

"Do the partners run the firm – or does the firm run the partners?" - Allan Koltin

For Koltin, this is ultimately a governance problem disguised as a cultural one. To lead effectively, firms need the courage and structure to make decisions quickly and stand behind them. Those that cling to consensus risk being outpaced by firms that lead with accountability and collective purpose.

3. The PE playbook is rewriting the rules

"PE investors don’t want to run a daycare – they want to be enablers.“ - Allan Koltin

Allan describes a defining force of change for the industry: private equity investment, which is rewriting the rules of how firms are run. Since 2020, he’s worked with more than 150 PE-backed firms and seen firsthand how these investors bring not just capital, but commercial discipline, speed, and a new standard of performance.

From his PE perspective, Allan shares three key insights:

The investor mindset: they’re not there to run firms – they’re there to drive growth by backing firms willing to raise their own game.

The capital shift: from pension funds and sovereign wealth funds to high-net-worth investors, capital is flowing in from every direction – a sign, Allan says, of how competitive and valuable this market has become.

The performance standard: private equity is forcing a new level of discipline and decisiveness. Investors expect data-driven decisions, operational efficiency, and measurable results. They’re pushing firms to professionalize management, make decisions faster, and build cultures that reward performance over politics.

“Private equity has raised the bar for performance in this profession. They’ve found a way to get better decisions made, faster decisions made, and tougher decisions that the dysfunction of the partnership wouldn’t allow.” - Allan Koltin

In Allan’s view, PE is holding up a mirror to the profession. Those who adapt will emerge stronger and more scalable. Those who don’t will find the market less forgiving than ever.
 

4. Five years is the new long term

"We never leave the five-year window – when things are changing this fast, talking about ten years out is impossible. Five years is the new long term.” - Allan Koltin

For Allan, the era of 10- or 15-year firm strategies is over. The pace of change in professional services – from technology and regulation to consolidation and private equity – has made long-range forecasting almost impossible.

That doesn’t mean strategy is dead – it means agility has become the new discipline. The firms that thrive will be those that treat strategy as a living process: constantly iterating, scenario-planning, and course-correcting in response to new realities.

“If you asked me to make a bold prediction about the next five years, I’d say this: as much change as we’ve seen in the last five, the next five will bring even more.

But as the saying goes, when the changes outside the boardroom are happening faster than the changes inside the boardroom, it’s just a matter of time.” - Allan Koltin

That final line is a warning. When the pace of external change outstrips the pace of internal change, it’s only a matter of time before firms lose relevance or control. For Allan, this isn’t just about prediction – it’s about preparedness. Strategy can no longer be static, and five years is now as far as the eye can see.

5. The AI revolution is coming in three waves

"What used to take 200 people hours can now be done at the flip of a switch – and the picture AI paints for 2030 is both exciting and scary." - Allan Koltin

For Allan, the rise of AI isn’t gradual – it’s exponential. Each year between now and 2030, he says, will redefine how work gets done and who does it.

He predicts that around 20% of work – from preparing financial statements to completing tax returns – will shift to AI each year for the next five. Offshoring will accelerate that change, with many firms targeting 20–25% of all billable hours to be completed offshore.

Together, these shifts mark a structural transformation – one that’s redefining the skills, roles, and value of professionals across the industry.

Allan describes three waves of the AI revolution:

Wave one: every partner has an AI assistant – and that’s already happening.
Wave two: firms begin upgrading that support, embedding AI deeper into their workflows.
Wave three: “You’re the conductor in an orchestra, and AI represents the instruments.”

In other words, AI will move professionals from doing the work to directing it – elevating roles from execution to insight.

Remember when you were a little kid and you’d see those TV commercials at 11 o’clock – ‘Parents, do you know where your kids are?’ Well, now it’s 2030, and technology and offshore are doing the preparation of the entire financial statement and tax return. And so the question becomes – what will you be doing?" - Allan Koltin

As Allan makes clear, there’s no going back. Firms can no longer rely on what worked before – whether it’s technology, the partnership model, the promise of steady growth, or the assumption that tomorrow will look like today.

From the forces at play, to the players themselves

In a profession long defined by stability, Allan’s perspective is both a wake-up call and a roadmap. From talent and technology to private equity and AI, the forces reshaping professional services aren’t waiting for anyone to catch up.

This is a defining moment for professional services – where governance, culture, accountability, and strategy can no longer operate on autopilot.

In Part 2 of Allan Koltin’s strategic forecast, the focus shifts to the leadership response –exploring how firms can evolve their culture, governance, and decision-making; how leaders can rebuild trust and accountability; and how the next generation will rewrite the rules once again.