Justin Crosslin, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Crosslin

In an interview with Invest:, Justin Crosslin, co-chief executive officer at accounting and professional services firm Crosslin, discussed the firm’s evolution in response to industry pressures, including workforce shortages and rapid technological change. “Our goal is to offer an outstanding client experience through frictionless, convenient service focused on outcomes.”

What changes over the past year have most shaped how the firm delivers its services?
There’s a lot of pressure on the industry right now, and we haven’t been immune to it. One of the biggest shifts has been the nationwide accountant shortage, which has impacted clients directly. More companies are choosing to outsource services instead of hiring, training, and retaining in-house staff, only to have them leave and start the process all over again.

As a result, we’ve seen a rise in demand for outsourced services. We’re now attracting the kind of clients we hoped to land five years ago, and we’re doing it more easily. That’s pushed us to expand our service lines.

Over the last few years, we’ve worked hard to align our services so that when we bring someone on who needs outsourced accounting and technology help, they’re also looking for strategic advice. Five years ago, not every client needed or wanted that. Today, we don’t bring on any clients who don’t.

We’ve trained our team to provide a higher level of consulting and made our services more cohesive. We don’t track time; we work off a subscription model. So, when someone comes to us for IT, tax, or accounting services and learns we also provide outsourced HR or other offerings, it’s easy for them to add those on.

This alignment of services has made it easy to do business with us. Ultimately, our goal is to offer an outstanding client experience through frictionless, convenient service focused on outcomes.

How are you seeing business confidence and priorities shift in the current economic environment?
We’re in a phase of accelerated growth. There’s a lot of opportunity out there, and we’re in a unique position for clients who don’t want to work with a large regional or Big Four firm.

At our size, with the depth of expertise and service offerings we provide, we’re often the next logical choice. A few firms here may be bigger in headcount, but not in overall capabilities or company size. If a client doesn’t want a Big Four or a large regional firm, we’re next on the list, and there’s a steep drop-off after that.

In the last two or three years, we’ve picked up a lot of opportunities from clients leaving larger firms and coming to us.

Which advisory services are seeing the most demand, and what’s driving that?
I own a business myself, so I think about what I need in areas outside my expertise, like legal or insurance. That perspective helps us understand our clients. Many of them are in the same position and need advice.

Technology is changing things rapidly. Eventually, it will handle most, if not all, compliance work. That work has historically defined accounting firms. Yet many firms have complained about doing compliance work and not having time to make a real difference for clients.

We launched a strategic initiative a few years ago to change that. We cleared out the noise, stopped doing things that didn’t make sense, retrained our team, and focused on delivering outcomes. In doing so, we also redefined our ideal client.

Today’s client is looking for help in running their business, planning their exit, and supporting their family’s financial future. As software and analytics improve, we can do that more efficiently and with better results. A big part of our work now is bringing insights to clients they didn’t know were possible, based on their own data.

How are clients approaching tax planning, audit prep, or valuation services in light of regulatory changes?
Clients fall into two categories. Some already know they need planning. They’ve reached a level of sophistication where that’s a given, but even then, they don’t always know what they don’t know. Others have done well in business, but haven’t asked for help. We recently brought on a client who went from earning $200,000 a year to $1 million a month. For a while, he was too embarrassed to ask anyone what to do with it.

We assembled the right team, including a financial planner and a banker, and talked through asset protection, wealth management, and long-term planning. That kind of coordination takes someone inside the company who is willing to speak up and say it’s time to address these needs.

Historically, accountants haven’t asked those kinds of questions. They just keep their heads down and complete the work. But we’re training our team to think differently.

I wouldn’t say clients are thinking entirely differently, but they are more open to these conversations. With political and economic uncertainty growing, there’s more reason to be proactive. Still, most of the planning we’re doing is focused on long-term goals.

How is technology changing how professional services firms operate, and what role will it play going forward?
That’s the big question. For us, we’re excited about what’s coming. The industry has been operating in an archaic way for a long time. The software has been functional but clunky, and it’s prevented firms from running efficiently as one unit. Platforms don’t talk to each other across departments, which adds a lot of inefficiency.

We’ve spent a lot on software just to get the basics done, but now we’re finally seeing progress. By next year, we expect to see software that starts to truly automate tasks, including simple tax returns. At scale, that will change the game. Soon, firms won’t need people to handle basic compliance work.

That’s why we’ve already shifted our model over the last three years to focus on advisory. With AI advancing and 75% of today’s CPAs nearing retirement, plus only a recent uptick in accounting grads after two decades of decline, the talent shortage won’t be solved anytime soon.

I think within five to 10 years, we could see half as many accounting firms. Consolidation will continue. Private equity is accelerating that trend. We’re also looking to grow through acquisitions.

Now that we’ve completed our internal transformation, our focus is on growth. That includes training and reinvesting in technology. We switched major software platforms two years ago, and we’ll likely do it again soon. The pace of change is intense. It makes long-term planning harder, but it’s a good challenge to have.

We’re also zeroing in on processes to ensure the compliance work that cannot be automated is done as efficiently as possible. That way, we free up more time to focus on what matters: advising clients.