Most articles on the subject of accounting roles just list job titles and descriptions in the accounting profession.
That’s not helpful when you’re trying to build a firm.
Instead of doing that, I’ll show you which roles to hire at each stage of growth.
I’ll also show you how to structure them so you stop being the bottleneck and how to build your team based on where your accounting firm is now.
Let’s go!
Table of Contents
- Roles in Accounting Practices vs. Accounting Businesses
- Accounting Roles You Need in a Business
- Accounting Roles in Different Stages of Growth
- Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Team
Roles in Accounting Practices vs. Accounting Businesses
Many accountants begin their journey by building a practice.
It’s a natural starting point. You want to help clients through your expertise, so you serve them directly.
When I started Xen Accounting in 2013, I felt that same way.
This was me then — a young man with a lot of ambition (and fear, to be honest)…
However, I also realized early on that my strength wasn’t in accounting or crunching numbers.
I knew that I had to get out of client work and focus on growing the business.
That’s why my first two hires were experienced CPAs.
While they quit because of my inexperience, I believed it was the right way to go.
So I hired another senior team member.
It was a bold move that put pressure on my margins, but it allowed me to offload much of the client work and focus on growing the business.
Another reason for my decision was that I saw the biggest problem with accounting practices:
They’re always dependent on the founder.
You’re managing clients, reviewing junior work, handling sales and marketing, etc…
This setup works for a while, but as the firm grows, you become the bottleneck.
And if you’re providing advisory services, this model is even more difficult in terms of growth — like I talked about in my Future Firm newsletter.
So when I grew Xen Accounting, I treated it like a business instead of a practice.
It worked out well, because unlike an accounting practice, a business is designed to operate independently of the founder.
It’s built on systems, processes, and the right people.
Instead of doing day-to-day work like reviewing financial statements themselves, the firm owner can focus on strategy and growth.
This transition lets them remove themselves as the bottleneck, reduce stress, and finally achieve the freedom they’ve always wanted, like one of my Future Firm Accelerate members below.
That’s why I recommend thinking of your accounting firm as a corporation when establishing roles.
Accounting Roles You Need in a Business
Your list of accounting roles will look like this:
- Chief Executive Officer: The CEO guides overall company strategy and manages the firm’s largest client relationships while establishing the company vision. As the firm grows, they delegate operational functions to focus on high-level strategy and business development.
- Director of Sales & Marketing: This role ensures leads flow into the organization and manages the sales process to close deals effectively. They’re responsible for hitting sales targets and may oversee Sales Development Representatives who help bring new business through the door.
- Chief Operating Officer/Director of Operations: The COO manages the internal engine of the business, ensuring work is completed on time and the team operates efficiently. This senior role reports directly to the CEO and implements the right systems and processes for smooth business operations.
- Head of People: This role oversees human resources functions including recruitment efforts and employee engagement initiatives. They’re responsible for team building activities, training programs, and maintaining a positive workplace culture.
- Head of Technology: The Head of Technology researches and implements the latest technology for both internal processes and client services. They handle IT security, train the team on new technology features, and ideally can code custom solutions to automate workflows.
- Head of Client Services: This role ensures everything runs smoothly from a client perspective, focusing on work quality and client satisfaction. They may oversee department heads for specific service lines like Advisory Services, Compliance, or Tax.
- Onboarding Managers / Specialists: Onboarding Managers oversee the smooth transition of new clients before passing them to the production team. Specialists clean up client files and work out details to ensure a clean handoff to the ongoing accounting team.
- Senior Managers: Senior Managers handle complex client work and provide oversight for a group of Managers. They’re responsible for the most challenging cases and strategic client relationships.
- Managers: Managers work on moderately complex clients and supervise teams of accountants, bookkeepers, and specialists. They serve as the bridge between senior leadership and front-line staff.
- Senior Accountants / Bookkeepers / Tax Associates: These experienced professionals handle day-to-day client work with several years of expertise under their belt. They often mentor junior staff while managing their own client portfolio.
- Accountants / Bookkeepers / Tax Associates: Entry-level professionals with limited experience who handle basic day-to-day accounting work. They form the foundation of the production team and grow into senior roles over time.
- Payroll / Accounts Receivable / Accounts Payable Specialists: These specialists focus on specific accounting functions and handle dedicated responsibilities for client processes. They have varying experience levels depending on the complexity of their assigned function.
- Virtual Assistants: VAs handle administrative functions to free up valuable time for accounting professionals and leadership. The CEO should have VA support early on, with additional VAs supporting other team members as the company grows.
That said, you don’t need to have all of these roles in your firm to be successful.
Accounting Roles in Different Stages of Growth
The key to building a sustainable firm isn’t just knowing which roles exist — it’s understanding when to hire them.
Too early, and you’ll burn through cash.
Too late, and you’ll stay trapped doing everything yourself.
Here are the different roles I recommend for different firm growth stages.
Startup Stage (0 to $250K Revenue)
At this stage, the instinct for many firm owners is to hire junior accountants or bookkeepers to handle the day-to-day tasks.
While this can help lighten the load, it often creates a trap…
Juniors lack the experience to handle complex client issues.
Plus, the other issue is with the firm owners themselves: they’re always chasing after perfection.
But like I talked about in my podcast, perfection doesn’t scale.
This keeps them stuck in the weeds, juggling both client work and the business’s growth.
Here are the roles I recommend at this early stage:
- Manager
- Junior Accountant / Bookkeeper
A senior can manage the junior(s), handle client relationships, and oversee the technical work.
This shields you from being involved in every client-related matter and frees up your time to focus on growth, strategy, and building the firm’s foundation.
Like I mentioned earlier, this was the approach I took when I started Xen Accounting in 2013.
Convincing them to join was hard. I had to get them to do junior work before I even hired juniors,
But as difficult as it was early on, it was the right move.
It allowed the firm to grow.
And by 2018, Xen was a 7-figure firm. There were 13 people in the firm when I sold it.
You can listen to the full story in my podcast.
I’m not saying you have to do this.
However, you do have to think about what would lead to the long-term payoff instead of how you could minimize your firm’s expenses (i.e., hiring a bunch of junior accountants).
Growth Stage ($250K to $1M Revenue)
As your firm scales past $250K in revenue, the complexity of operations increases significantly.
Here are the roles you’ll have:
- Chief Operating Officer / Director of Operations
- Senior Manager
- Junior Accountant / Bookkeeper
You’re likely managing a growing team of accounting professionals, more clients, and a heavier workload.
At this stage, many firm owners find themselves trying to juggle client work, team management, and business strategy.
I recommend thinking about getting a Chief Operating Officer (COO) or Director of Operations on the team.
You can even hire a fractional team member for this role if you want to save on costs.
It’s one of the most important accounting jobs that doesn’t actually have anything to do with accounting.
(You can listen to their impact in a firm in one of my podcast episodes.)
To give you a better idea, here’s the role description I used for a Director of Operations at Future Firm:
The COO can handle the broader operational workflow and standard operating procedures (SOPs) while senior accounting managers oversee their teams.
These two roles played a huge role in my success with delegation, as I shared on LinkedIn.
When I ran my firm, this was one of the most impactful hires I made.
Even now at Future Firm, I have a Director of Operations who owns our processes.
She also checks in on team members and makes sure they have everything they need to do their best work!
While this hire may feel like a big expense at this stage, it’s an investment that pays off in the long run.
Scaling Stage ($1M+ Revenue)
Once your firm surpasses $1M in revenue, the focus shifts to building a leadership team and adding capacity to support continued growth.
At this stage, these roles will be important:
- Chief of Operations/Director of Operations
- Head of Tax
- Head of Technology
- Senior Managers
- Junior Accountant / Bookkeeper
- Virtual Assistant
A key priority here is to bring on 2 to 3 additional senior accountants to help manage the increased workload, mentor junior staff, and maintain quality control.
To help you find the right people for your team, I wrote a guide to writing a senior accountant job description.
Beyond senior accountants, this is also the time to consider adding specialized leadership roles depending on your firm’s needs and service offerings.
For example:
- Head of Tax: If compliance and tax planning services are a big part of your business, a Head of Tax can oversee these tasks while keeping your firm on top of regulatory changes.
- Head of Technology: A dedicated Head of Technology can focus on automation, accounting software implementation, and improving internal efficiencies. They can also set up integrations between your different tools to improve your efficiency.
- Head of Sales/Marketing: If growth is a top priority, a Head of Sales/Marketing can drive client acquisition and retention strategies. This frees you from being the sole driver of business development.
When I scaled my own firm, I made leadership hires that aligned with my firm’s goals and my personal strengths and weaknesses.
For instance, I brought on a tax expert early on because I wasn’t strong in that area.
I also hired a Technology Lead to maintain our edge in automation and innovation.
Virtual assistants can also assist with additional admin tasks and work hand-in-hand with your Director of Operations.
You can read more about VAs in my guide to hiring virtual assistants for CPAs.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Team
I’ve seen firm owners make the same hiring mistakes several times.
These errors can set you back months or even years. Here are the big ones to avoid.
Mistake #1: Hiring Based on Cost Instead of Value
Many firm owners default to hiring the cheapest option, often juniors, to save on costs.
While this might seem smart financially in the short term, it usually backfires.
Juniors require significant oversight, which adds to your workload instead of reducing it.
Investing in experienced hires, like seniors or managers, ensures the work gets done right the first time.
This applies to other roles as well, especially if you’re offshoring for roles like VAs.
Going for the cheapest option is never the best move — I’ll let this LinkedIn post explain:
Mistake #2: Waiting Too Long to Hire
A common trap is waiting until you’re overwhelmed to bring someone on board.
By the time you hire, you’re already in crisis mode, which leads to rushed decisions and poor onboarding. Hire proactively, ahead of demand.
Mistake #3: Failing to Define Clear Roles and Responsibilities
Without clearly defined roles, team members step on each other’s toes or leave critical tasks undone. This creates inefficiency and frustration.
A well-structured org chart and clear job descriptions let everyone know their responsibilities and how they contribute to the firm’s success.
Ready to Build Your Team the Right Way?
The roles I’ve shared are based on the approach I used to successfully grow 2 firms from scratch.
Your firm’s success isn’t determined by how hard you work, but by how well you build the systems and team that let you work on the business instead of in it.
If you need help implementing this approach — and the complete playbook for building a firm that runs without you — check out Future Firm Accelerate.
But now, I’d like to hear from you.
What roles have made the biggest impact on your firm? Which ones do you wish you had prioritized earlier?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
