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In the third episode of INSIDE the IPA 500, Chelsea Summers and Rob Brown compare the fastest-growing firms through two lenses: organic growth and all growth.

The 10 firms leading the organic-growth ranking averaged 15.6%, more than double the 7.0% average for the IPA 100. The all-growth ranking tells a different story, with major M&A activity producing much larger jumps and private equity backing 9 of the 10 firms on the list.

Chelsea and Rob examine which firms are leading each ranking, what repeat appearances reveal about sustained momentum and why firms do not have to follow one growth strategy forever. They also preview an upcoming bonus conversation with Wolf & Company, this year’s organic growth leader for the second consecutive year.

Follow or subscribe, rate and review the podcast and visit INSIDEPublicAccounting.com for more IPA 500 coverage. View the complete 2026 IPA 500 rankings and learn more about IPA’s benchmarking and analysis at insidepublicaccounting.com.

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Yeah.

So what's the big takeaway when you look at both lists side by side?

That there's more than one path to the top of the list. Some firms are winning through organic execution, better pricing, better service delivery, stronger client relationships, while others are winning through those bold strategic moves, those mergers, repositioning. Both are legitimate growth stories, but they just look very different when you're you're looking at them up close.

Welcome back to the INSIDE Public Accounting Podcast, where we turn the accounting profession's most important data into insights you firm leaders can actually use. I'm Rob Brown.

And I'm Chelsea Summers, Executive Director of Inside Public Accounting.

And today we are zooming in on one list inside the IPA one hundred that gets people talking. It's the fastest growing firms. These are the movers and shakers, Chelsea.

Yeah. And so there's two ways to measure fastest growing firms. So organic growth, which strips out mergers and acquisitions and shows you client and revenue expansion, and then all growth, which includes everything, organic plus all those merger and acquisition deals.

Well let's start with organic because that seems like the pure number. What's the headline?

So those fastest growing firms, we choose ten of them or we rank ten of them on the list, they averaged 15.6% organic growth this year. That's more than double the 7.0% for the IPA 100 as a whole.

That's a massive gap. What's actually driving it?

So it's not usually one thing. These firms are raising prices, they're adding service lines, they're bringing in new clients, and they're selling more to the clients that they already have. So it's really growth from every direction at once, not typically just a single lever.

That's brilliantly put. And one of the mistakes I see firms making as I talk to leaders is to try and do all of those things at once. Pull a lever, get it done right, and then move on to the next lever. And then before you know it, you've got a few. So who's leading that list this year? Let's call out some names.

Yeah, so Wolf and Company out of Boston tops the list at 16.1% organic growth. So this is the second consecutive year that they've made the fastest growing organic growth list.

Congratulations to Wolf and Company. back to back years on the fastest growing list. That's not easy to pull on.

It is not. Sustained organic growth like that usually means that firms have built real momentum in people and positioning and how they're winning work. It it's not a one year spike. It's something that's sustained.

So who else stood out?

So blue and company out of Carmel, Indiana came in second at 15.4% And Schellman out of Tampa was third at 15.1% which is actually their third consecutive year on the list.

three years running, that that's a friend that's figured it out.

Yeah, and right behind them we have YHB CPAs and consultants in Winchester, Virginia, with 15% growth. Anderson out of San Francisco came at 14.6. And notable because Anderson is a very large firm. So growing that fast at that size is very difficult. Accounting firms are often held back by manual repetitive work and fragmented tech stacks. It's time to move into a new level of productivity with Bill.

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That's incredible. Anyone else worth mentioning before we move to the all growth list?

Yeah, I'll round out the rest of the list. So Kane Waters and Associates in Frisco , Texas Frank Brimmerman in San Jose, Sachs in Parsnippany, New Jersey, and Smith and Howard in Atlanta, which they've showed up on both lists this year, which is interesting. And then lastly, Lutz in Omaha rounds it out at 13.3%.

These are great names. I I've interviewed Smith and Howard recently and showing up on both lists, that's a great transition. Okay. Let's talk about the all growth list, the one that includes M&A activity.

Yeah, so that list looks pretty different and the the numbers are quite staggering. So Richie May Advisory out of Inglewood, Colorado leads that list at 244.6% growth.

Well, wa wait a minute there. Say that number again.

244.6% So that is the kind of number you only see when a major acquisition or combination really reshapes a firm's revenue base in a single year. So they jumped from ranking number 102 last year to number 47 this year.

That must be one of the biggest jumps across the 500 Chelsea, isn't it?

It is. And it's it's really the story of the IPA 100 list. It's less about steady expansion and more about those firms making bold moves. So Springline Advisory in Dallas came in at second at 75.6% growth. They weren't even ranked on the IPA 100 last year, but now they are.

So so brand new entrant right into the top tier of growth.

Yeah, exactly. And Archer Lewis in Chicago was third at 72% We have Soren out of Idaho, who came in at 68% Fraser and Dieter in Atlanta at 57.6% And then rounding out the rest of the list, we have Smith and Howard, Nicholas Cauley in Georgia, Doren Mayhew in Michigan, and is their second consecutive year on the list, Aprio Advisory in Atlanta, and then Mauldin and Jenkins in Atlanta also at 30.97%

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I feel like there's a pattern here with these fastest growing firms.

You noticed. So all but Mauldin and Jenkins at number ten on list have some sort of PE backing that is fueling their growth.

There it is. There it is. The P word. So what's the big takeaway when you look at both lists side by side?

I think that there's more than one path to the top of the list. Some firms are winning through organic execution, better pricing, better service delivery, stronger client relationships, while others are winning through those bold strategic moves, those mergers, repositioning. Both are legitimate growth stories, but they just look very different when you're you're looking at them up close.

Yeah. And for the firm leaders listening, watching, the lesson is you don't have to pick one path and stay on that path forever.

No, the firms that stay on this list year after year, like Wolf and Company, Schellman, they're usually blending both. So deliberate organic growth is the foundation with strategic deals layered in when it makes sense.

So as we wrap this one up, I wanna make sure people know what's coming next.

Yes, and this is very exciting. We have a bonus episode coming up where we sit down with Wolf and Company, that firm that topped our organic growth list for this year for the second year running.

So we'll get to ask them directly what's actually behind that number then.

That's the plan. What are they doing differently? What's sustaining it year over year? And what advice would they give to other firms who are trying to build that kind of momentum inside their own firms? So I think it's gonna be a really great comedy.

That's gonna be priceless advice. we'll keep an eye out for that one. And and that's it for this episode of INSIDE Public Accounting Podcast. If you found it helpful, please like and subscribe and leave us a comment.

Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to today's episode. If you enjoyed this podcast, you can click below to subscribe and check out more from INSIDE Public Accounting.