Dane Boeckermann, Principal & CEO, BGM

In an interview with Invest:, Dane Boeckermann, principal and CEO of BGM, discussed the firm’s strategic evolution. “The focus this year has been increasing the enterprise value of our clients,” he said. Boeckermann also explored BGM’s rebranding, acquisition of SealedBid, and its expansion in the advisory services space.

Let’s start by reflecting on the past year. What have been the main highlights and key milestones for BGM?

That’s one of the first things I’ll mention. We did a rebrand at the end of 2023 going into 2024. We transitioned from Boeckermann, Grafstrom, & Mayer to BGM to create a simpler, unified name that connects our various service lines. We went through a new website launch and a new branding launch. 

A main highlight in 2024 is that we acquired a company that does M&A mergers and acquisition consulting and helps broker the selling of firms. That firm is called SealedBid Marketing and joined the BGM family of companies in early July.

Some additional experiences and new services that we added is a tax incentive practice that allows us to do tax studies like research and development credits and cost segregations internally inside of BGM. We’re also working on providing HR services to clients internally.

This year, we’ve focused on increasing our client’s enterprise value by broadening the scope of services we provide them. The easiest way to generate new work is by doing more for existing clients who already have strong relationships with us. There’s been a significant focus on increasing the value we add to each client. If we have a client that only uses one service, our goal is to add two more that support their needs. That’s really happened in the last year, increasing enterprise value, which we’ve had quite a bit of success with. 

Could you give us an overview of the accounting industry in the Twin Cities? Are there any key trends or market dynamics we should be aware of?

Our industry is seeing significant consolidation. Private equity entered our space for the first time in the last three years. Our competitors continue to sell to private equity firms and larger organizations. 

Accounting firms are redefining their client base. Clients are moving from top-tier firms to lower tiers. Firms are categorizing A and B clients while pushing C and D clients downward. This creates opportunity – large firms’ C/D clients become A/B clients for others. Firms are reassessing their ideal client base.

Our industry has faced a CPA shortage for the last several years. Hiring was extremely difficult in 2023-2024, though this is easing slightly. The market is shifting towards an employer’s market. 

Another trend is offshore expansion. We opened an office in India. The strategy shifts compliance work offshore while upskilling our local team. This accelerates their progression to more complex work and client-facing roles faster than the traditional career paths. While some fear replacement, the focus is on career acceleration. Competitors are adopting similar approaches.

What are some of BGM’s key strategic advantages that set it apart from competitors in the region?

We’ve been somewhat trendsetting with our services. Many firms are now entering wealth management and technology; we’ve done this for over 20 years. Looking at our 2024 client base, about 50% of revenue comes from non-traditional CPA services. This comes from wealth management, technology, M&A brokerage, and plus we own our own trust company. Few U.S. CPA firms own a trust division, and most that do are much larger firms.

As the industry shifts towards advisory services, what sets us apart is that half our firm is already dedicated to advisory work. Our opportunity now is to keep adding unique advisory services to stay ahead of this trend. 

Given BGM’s broad range of advisory, audit, accounting, and tax services, which of these are currently the main drivers of growth, demand, and profitability?

Our growth right now is really being driven by our wealth management practice. We’re seeing opportunities as clients are beginning to sell their business, creating the chance for us to manage their assets and cash after the transaction. We’re seeing growth in our M&A transaction and brokerage advisory services as well as our fractional CFO services. As more companies start to grow and need more analytical resources but aren’t able to hire a CFO, we can help guide the financial side of their business. Additionally, we’re also seeing growth in the new tax incentive practice service line that accounting firms historically outsourced to third party providers. 

What are the top industries driving growth for BGM in the Twin Cities market? Where are you seeing the most demand?

For us, it is professional service organizations. We work with a lot of engineering firms and architectural firms that are experiencing growth. We’re also seeing growth in manufacturing, even though they are struggling a bit with the economy. One area we expect future growth is our large cannabis practice started in 2015. We have over 600 clients throughout the United States in the cannabis industry. With cannabis becoming legal in Minnesota, they are beginning the process of providing licenses to growers. We see that as a growth opportunity as that industry continues to grow in Minnesota. Historically in Minnesota, cannabis was only medically legal and only two companies were allowed to have those licenses. Now that it’s recreationally legal, we expect to see strong growth. Based on our national practice, we’re excited and ready to participate in that growth in Minnesota.

What initiatives or innovations is BGM implementing to adapt to shifts in client expectations and enhance customer service?

We are spending time talking about AI, as is everybody else. We’ve looked at all the AI initiatives that we could do in-house to continue to accelerate the timing of tax work. That’s where the offshoring comes into play, where we can use that team to help with the preparation of the tax work. AI and offshoring will make that a much more efficient process for clients, especially around tax deadlines. We’re using tools like AI note takers to speed up the process of moving information to other service providers inside of the organization. The key is in our organization, you have one lead relationship, but then you have service providers in specific areas. If people can’t attend all meetings now with some of the AI tools, we’re able to move that information much more fluid to each person versus doing a follow up discussion. We’re continuing to find ways in AI to automate some of our processes internally. Lastly, we’re also looking at possibly providing AI services for clients, helping consult them on how to utilize it inside of their business. We’re not quite there yet, but it is something we’re focused on in 2025.

What are the primary challenges facing the accounting industry today, and how is BGM working to address them?

The challenge is still the staffing and the lack of CPAs coming into the industry. We’re building our business to not be CPA focused and have several non-CPA partners in our organization already. We’re focused on relying less on our CPA services and growing our other advisory service areas.   

We’re working on developing our next generation of leaders and making sure they understand the opportunities at BGM. With the CPA shortage, there’s no lack of opportunity for staff. We’re ensuring we are communicating the opportunity here and that they’re understanding it, feeling it, and seeing it, so they’re not seeking it elsewhere. There’s time spent in educating the next generation on why there’s value in being an owner of a professional service organization. The next generation is different in what they’re looking for and their goals. We’re working to meet the next generation where they are, understanding their needs and helping them recognize the benefits of ownership.

What is your outlook for the future—not just for BGM, but also for the accounting landscape in the Twin Cities? 

I’ll start with the landscape for accounting firms. There’s an opportunity to continue to bring new services into the mix and be that trusted advisor. That’s where most firms are focused on their growth. You’re going to see more firms bring in non-traditional CPA services, focusing more on the advisory services. Consolidation will continue to happen, and we will see some longstanding independent Minnesota firms merge up or into private equity and no longer have that local ownership. 

At BGM, we are committed to staying independent and passing the firm on to the next generation of our staff and ownership group. Our primary focus is on growth, as we continue to explore new service lines and expand our geographical presence. Whether that be through acquisitions or supporting our remote employees who are interested in building an office presence in their market. We’re committed to supporting those employees and assisting them in building a client base and staff in their area.