The FirmLever Weekly Roundup: Issue #48

Claude Opus 4.7 shipped this week. Anthropic's newest model. The one everyone was calling "the accountant killer."

Someone ran it through a real month-end close. It scored 50 percent.

Half the work you and I do every day, done wrong, shipped anyway.

I wrote a full take here: Claude Opus 4.7 Scored 50% on Month-End Close. Short version: AI compresses commodity work. Specialists keep the premium.

In Other News

First, the platform. April 15 came and went on Wednesday. Some of you are still finishing extensions. Tax deadline didn't slow us down, and the post-deadline surge has already started.

Quick context for newer subscribers. The FirmLever Network is a private network where accounting firms, CPAs, and fractional CFOs buy, sell, and refer books of business to vetted colleagues. No brokers, no success fees, no six-month exclusives. Members post client blocks they've outgrown, referral work outside their niche, and what they want to buy. The platform matches based on what each firm actually specializes in.

This Week's Numbers

• 286 admitted member firms on the platform
• 34 newly admitted this week (despite the tax deadline crush)
• 88 new firms applied to the waitlist this week. The post-tax surge is starting.
• 199 firms still pending on the active waitlist
• 43 states covered
• $276K in live marketplace value across 7 active client listings
• 92 firm-to-firm connections formed, with 32 new this week
• 20 new listings posted this week

Applications jumped to 88 in the last 7 days. Admissions stayed at 34 because we are being deliberate about quality and pace. If you're on the waitlist, the skip-the-line move is the same. Get invited by a current member.

Micro M&A Spotlight

Three listings I want to flag this week.

1. North Carolina bookkeeping block. $30K per year across 20 clients. 19 firms interested already, still open. This is the highest-demand single listing on the platform.
2. Remote PE fund administration client. $200K per year. Alternative credits strategy, needs a fund admin, portfolio management software, and bank workflow automation. 5 firms moved on it.
3. Pennsylvania quality-of-earnings specialist. Does no tax, bookkeeping, or CAS work in-house. Wants a firm to take post-acquisition clients off referral. 13 firms interested. This handoff corridor doesn't exist in traditional broker channels.

What My Team and I Have Been Writing

A few of you have asked where I've been publishing the longer pieces. Here's everything worth your time from the last month.

If you're stuck on pricing

• The Underpricing Trap: Fix It This Quarter. The diagnostic I run on every firm I talk to. Three or more signs and you're leaving 20 to 40 percent on the table.
• The 2026 Fee Increase Workflow. A decision tree for which clients get the call and which get the email.
• 9 Signs You're Underpriced. The quantitative and behavioral indicators. Realization under 85 percent is the one almost everyone fails.

If you're thinking about M&A

• Post-Acquisition Integration: Why Day 2 Kills More Deals Than Day 1. The first 100 days is where most firms blow the ROI.
• Why M&A Advisory Firms Charge 3x. The positioning shift that breaks the hourly-billing ceiling.

If you run a niche practice (or want to)

• Why Niche Firms Charge Double. The specialist premium is real, and AI is widening the gap.
• Buying an IT/MSP Accounting Firm. Why MSP-vertical firms are trading at 2.5x revenue.
• Selling Your MSP Accounting Practice. Where the specialist premium actually lives when you go to exit.
• Buying a Cannabis Accounting Firm: The 280E Moat. The most defensible niche in accounting.
• Selling a Cannabis Accounting Firm. What buyers actually pay for.

One Ask

If any of the above is useful, forward this to one person who'd want it. Email me at marc@firmlever.com and I'll fast-track whoever you send.

That's it for this week.

Marc
Founder, FirmLever

P.S. Many of you replied positively to last week's newsletter about the the ability to buy and sell an entire firm (instead of just blocks of clients). This is a MAJOR new feature that the majority of you seem to want. My team is working on a beta for this--just reply "buy/sell beta" if want in (no fee and first come, first served).

P.P.S. Tax season is over and the floodgates are now open. Join the waitlist, or if you already know a member, grab their invite link and skip the 199-firm line.