At a glance:
- Firms are shifting from compliance work to a more consultative, advisory model.
- However, compliance workloads remain the biggest practical barrier to scaling advisory services.
- Tax planning is the most common advisory, with ESG and crypto on the rise.
- Generative AI is a key driver, helping automate tasks and generate client insights.
For decades, accounting firms have built their value proposition around compliance – accurate reporting, timely lodgements, and managing regulatory risk.
But that foundation is increasingly giving way to a more consultative, advisory model focused on helping clients make better decisions.
This shift is captured in a recent report by Wolters Kluwer, which found that 69% of firms in APAC now say advisory is now a key part of their core offering – up from 52% the previous year.
A further 25% are providing advisory services on a more ad-hoc, opportunistic basis, usually in response to specific client requests.
“Taken together, that tells us advisory is no longer experimental. Firms are clearly moving along an adoption curve, from reactive, one-off engagements toward more deliberate, repeatable advisory offerings,” says Megan Mulia, managing director of Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting Asia Pacific.
However, she says, compliance remains the backbone of most accounting firms across APAC, meaning that advisory is largely being delivered on top of existing services, rather than replacing them.
“APAC firms understand the strategic importance of advisory; the challenge now is operationalising it at scale without destabilising compliance workloads,” she says.
Practical challenges in expanding advisory
While advisory services are becoming more common, the report shows they are still relatively constrained in scope.
Business and individual tax planning and strategy continue to be the most established advisory services across APAC.
These offerings are familiar to clients, align naturally with compliance work, and can often be delivered by expanding existing processes and expertise rather than requiring entirely new capabilities.
“At the other end of the spectrum, wealth management remains the least commonly offered advisory service – perhaps reflecting increasing regulatory complexity, capability gaps, and, in some markets, strong competition from specialist providers,” says Mulia.
“Compliance work still absorbs the majority of firm resources … it’s difficult to scale advisory in a truly strategic way.”
Megan Mulia
Over the next 12 months, many firms are planning to expand into areas such as ESG advisory, cryptocurrency, and business transition and succession planning, she says.
While this represents an exciting shift for accountants, challenges remain in scaling these forms of advisory work – particularly for small and medium firms.
“The main barriers to further developing advisory services are not conceptual, but practical,” says Mulia.
“Compliance work still absorbs the majority of firm resources. Until that workload is more effectively automated and managed, it’s difficult to scale advisory in a truly strategic way.”
The role of AI in the shift to advisory
Generative AI has emerged as one of the most powerful drivers of accountants’ shift towards advisory services.
Wolters Kluwer’s research suggests AI tools capable of summarising regulations, identifying anomalies, and analysing large datasets are already helping firms lift the quality of their advice.
56% of APAC firms say they are likely or very likely to adopt AI to identify clients who are not meeting compliance obligations, and the same proportion plan to use AI to generate predictive insights based on client data.
“AI-enabled insights can set advisors apart, helping them demonstrate strategic impact by moving beyond just tallying up activity from the past,” says Joel Morris, vice-president and segment leader at Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting Research and Advisory.
“In the advisory-driven practice of the future, in addition to the summary of the past, accountants can proactively show clients what is possible in the future, and how they as accountants can help their clients reach their goals.”
However, while AI can deliver efficiency and depth of analysis, trust, context, and judgement remain firmly human responsibilities, he adds.
“The most successful firms invest in a combination of people, processes, and technology to create a continuous learning environment to ensure advisory growth is both valuable to clients, and sustainable and responsible for the firm.”
Firms also need to be deliberate in how they communicate the value of advisory and build client confidence in these services over time, he says. Helping clients understand what advisory looks like in practice is often just as important as developing the capability itself.
“By sharing success stories, offering tailored guidance, and positioning themselves as partners in growth, accountants can reshape how clients view their value and expertise.”
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