The Firmlever Weekly Roundup: Issue #34

I need 30 seconds from you before we dive in.

I'm deciding what to build next. Your answer determines what gets priority.

Which TWO of these feel most urgent for your firm right now?

(A) "Extract more profit from what I've already built"

(B) "Get the firm running without me as the bottleneck"

(C) "Know what I'm actually sitting on — my firm valuation and exit options"

(D) "Grow faster through acquiring another firm or book"

(E) "Find a path forward that isn't just grinding indefinitely"

Reply with two letters. I'll share results next week and introduce new tools and services giving those that respond first access.

Two tools. Two uncomfortable questions.

1. NEW: Introducing the "Do The Work" Audit (10 spots left in private beta)

Let's start with the lie some of us may be telling ourselves (heck, I used to lie to myself for years).

"I bill $350 an hour."

No. That's your rate. That's what the invoice says.

But when you divide what you actually took home by the hours you actually worked--including the nights, the Saturdays, the "quick" reviews that took two hours, the client calls that weren't billable, the emails at 11pm--the real number is closer to $80.

Maybe less.

One owner ran this audit last month. He thought he was earning $289/hr. Actual number: $78.

The gap between what he thought he was worth and what he was actually realizing? Over three years, that gap compounds to $7.3 million in lost wealth.

He didn't have a revenue problem. He had a capacity trap. His time was leaking into work that should never touch a partner--and he couldn't see it because he was too deep inside it.

The Do The Work audit names the specific traps bleeding your hours:

• The Review Trap: Nothing leaves without your eyes on it
• The Client Trap: Relationships that "only you" can hold
• The Admin Trap: Death by a thousand unbillable cuts
• + two other "Traps" you probably weren't aware of

You built a business. Somewhere along the way, it became a prison with nice revenue.

If you are not a firm owner or partner (maybe you're an Ops person or manager)--it will get you firm-level feedback that you can literally print a PDF and share with your management team.

If you are in the private equity space, an M&A broker, a software vendor or maybe you just want a copy of the massive report I'm building for 2026, you can still start the wizard and it will automatically send you a copy once we're live.

(I've been running this for my private 1:1 accounting firm owner clients for the past several weeks, so now releasing to my wider newsletter audience for free (that's you) before it hits the general public.)

10 spots remaining, then I'm closing the private free beta: [Run the Do The Work Audit]

2. LAST CALL: Firmlever Compare (8 spots remaining)

Different problem. Same blindness.

You think you're doing fine because revenue went up. You think your margins are "pretty good" because you've never seen what firms like yours actually achieve.

Here's what I keep finding: owners operating at the 35th percentile for profit in their cohort who genuinely believe they're above average. They're not stupid. They just don't have the data. They're comparing themselves to other stuck owners and concluding that stuck is normal.

They're not stupid. They just don't have the data.

Compare shows you where you actually stand. Not versus "average CPA firms" — that's useless. Versus firms in your exact revenue band, your exact staff size, your exact model. Your percentile for gross margin. Your percentile for owner take-home. The specific dollar gap between where you are and where the top quartile sits.

One owner saw his "Cost of Doing Nothing" calculated at $20,417/month. That's $245K per year he was leaving on the table — not because his firm was broken, but because he didn't know what good looked like for a firm like his.

8 spots left before I pause the private beta and rebuild the engine: [Get your Firmlever Compare report]

The difference:

Do The Work answers: "Why does this still feel like grinding?"

Compare answers: "Am I actually winning or just busy?"

Both reveal something you're not seeing. Both have a cost if you keep ignoring them.

Final Note to my subscribers:

If you do not fit into any of the above or do not reply with your "letters"--please unsubscribe from my list.

Seriously.

Tomorrow I will be deleting 752 subscribers who never clicked or replied to any of my emails (it kills my deliverability...so yeah it's me, not you).

If that is you--no action needed, this is your final newsletter from me.

If that is not you, you are in luck...wait until you see what's cooking for next week as we get closer to "busy season".

Reply with your two letters. I read every one.

—Marc

p.s. - If you enjoyed this edition and decide it's worth sharing on LinkedIn just tag me so I get an alert and we can reach more people together.

p.p.s - Are you tired of the grind, have a killer skillset/deep expertise or just some want to be a part of something new? Reply and let me know how you can help--we're building our team and partnerships for 2026.