Plan B Business
Professional Services

One-stop SMB advisor.
Not two firms wearing the same nameplate.

We work with combined legal + CPA firms doing $165K-$3.3M in annual revenue. You have attorneys AND CPAs under one roof - but they operate as parallel firms with minimal cross-referral. Our monthly engagement, no minimum term works to integrate them into a true one-stop SMB advisory firm with 60%+ retainer revenue and 3x cross-service penetration. How fast it moves depends on how seriously you work the plan - what you will see from the first meeting is exactly what is holding the business back.

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Industry Reality

9 patterns we see in most combined legal + cpa firms

85%
how often we see it

Legal and CPA sides operate as parallel firms (no cross-referral, no shared client roster)

Root cause: Firm grew through merger or organic expansion. Lawyers and CPAs never integrated. Shared front desk but separate everything else.

What we do: Joint client review meetings (monthly). One shared client record across both sides - or at minimum, two systems that reconcile monthly. Cross-referral commission structure (10% internal). Target: cross-service penetration lifts from 8% to 35%+.

80%
how often we see it

Hourly billing dominates (under 25% fixed-fee or retainer revenue)

Root cause: Both sides default to billable hour. Realization rate (collected / billed) at 78-82%. Cash flow on 60-90 day cycle.

What we do: Productized service offerings: Business Formation Bundle ($2,500), Quarterly Tax + Compliance Retainer ($1,800/mo), Estate Planning Package ($5,500), Annual Business Advisory Retainer ($24,000). Move 60%+ of revenue to fixed-fee or retainer within 18 months.

75%
how often we see it

SMB clients use you for one service, hire competitors for the others

Root cause: Lawyers never mention CPA services. CPAs never mention legal services. Clients don't know you offer both.

What we do: Mandatory cross-service introduction at every new client onboarding. Joint annual business review for top 30 clients (lawyer + CPA in same meeting). Bundled annual retainer pricing makes the bundle cheaper than buying separately.

70%
how often we see it

Partner billable hour culture - everyone bills 1,800+ hours

Root cause: Compensation tied to personal billable hours. Partners can't take real vacation. No incentive to delegate.

What we do: Shift partner comp to: base + origination credit (revenue from clients you brought in) + firm profit share. Reduce personal billable hour target to 1,200. Free partners up to do business development and mentor associates.

75%
how often we see it

CPE (Continuing Professional Education) and CLE (Continuing Legal Education) requirements eating 60+ hours/year per professional

Root cause: No centralized tracking. Last-minute scrambling in December. Quality of CE choices poor (cheap/online vs strategic).

What we do: Centralized CPE/CLE tracking system. Annual learning plan per professional. Conference rotation strategy (1 major conference per year per professional). Quality CE that doubles as marketing (speaking engagements).

70%
how often we see it

Dual licensure complexity (state bar + state CPA board, plus AICPA, plus IRS Circular 230)

Root cause: Each professional carries 2-3 active licenses. Compliance failures (missed CPE deadline, MCLE shortfall, lapsed PTIN) create real liability.

What we do: Centralized compliance calendar. Quarterly check-ins on each professional's licensure status. A designated compliance lead who owns the calendar - usually the office manager or COO, never a partner who is also billing. The test is simple and binary: nobody in the firm should ever learn about a deadline after it has passed.

70%
how often we see it

Average client revenue under $4,500/year

Root cause: Transactional mindset. Each engagement is a one-off. Client doesn't see you as 'their advisor' - just 'a vendor for one thing.'

What we do: Annual Business Advisory Retainer: $18K-$48K/year covers tax planning + entity maintenance + 2 advisory meetings + responsive Q&A. Built around the SMB owner's full year, not transactional moments. Average client revenue lifts to $12K-$25K.

65%
how often we see it

Associate attorney + staff accountant retention under 60% at 3 years

Root cause: Below-market base, no clear path to partnership, billable hour pressure, no equity story.

What we do: Restructure career paths: Partner-track (3-7 years), Career Senior (no partnership ambition, comp-protected), Of Counsel/Senior Manager (lateral expertise). Equity vesting schedule for Partner-track. Retention lifts to 80%+.

75%
how often we see it

Marketing is 100% referral-based with no proactive BD engine

Root cause: Both sides rely on word-of-mouth and CPA-attorney referrals from other professionals. No content, no SEO, no LinkedIn presence.

What we do: Joint thought leadership content (3 posts/week from 2-3 partners on LinkedIn). Quarterly SMB owner webinars (tax planning, entity structure, succession). Strategic referral partnerships with bankers, financial advisors, business brokers.

Benchmarks

The numbers we aim at

These are the targets we work toward in an engagement - a bar to measure against, not an average anyone measured for you.

KPITypical starting pointPlan B target12-month goal
% revenue from retainer or fixed-fee engagements15-30%60%+45-65%
Cross-service penetration (clients using both legal AND CPA)5-12%40%+28-45%
Average annual revenue per client$3,500-$6,000$12,000-$25,000$9K-$20K
Partner billable hours (annual)1,800-2,000<1,3001,200-1,500
Realization rate (collected / billed)78-85%92%+88-94%
Associate / staff retention (3-year)45-60%80%+65-82%
Days sales outstanding (DSO)70-95<4038-55%
Engagement Model

What working with us looks like

  1. 01

    Month 1: Joint practice audit + financial deep-dive

    We pull every client's full revenue history across legal and CPA sides. We identify cross-service penetration baseline. We audit billable hour vs fixed-fee mix. We identify top 50 clients with cross-service upside.

  2. 02

    Months 2-3: Productized service offerings + joint client review

    Build 5-7 productized service offerings spanning legal + CPA. Launch monthly joint client review meetings. Cross-referral commission structure live. Top 30 clients invited to annual business review (lawyer + CPA in same meeting).

  3. 03

    Months 4-6: Retainer migration + BD engine

    Top 30 clients converted to Annual Business Advisory Retainer ($18K-$48K). Joint thought leadership content cadence launches. Quarterly SMB webinar series begins. Compliance calendar deployed across firm.

  4. 04

    Months 7-12: Partner comp + operations leverage

    Partner compensation restructured (base + origination + firm profit). Practice management software fully deployed on both sides, reconciling to one client record. Partner billable hours drop to 1,200-1,400. We shift to quarterly cadence.

Common questions from combined legal + cpa firms owners

What size firm is this for?−
Sweet spot: $165K-$3.3M in annual revenue with 3-15 professionals split between the legal and CPA sides - the same band our Hebrew site states in shekels. Below it there are three ways in, not none: the academy at $33/month, the $365 paid diagnostic and B-Start at $365/month - plus business-plan work for an owner who has not opened yet. Above it you usually need an internal managing partner or COO in-house rather than an outside partner. It is a guide, not a gate - ask and we will tell you straight.
Are combined legal + CPA firms even allowed in my state?+
Mostly yes, with structural rules. Most US states allow lawyers and CPAs to operate under shared ownership through an MDP (multidisciplinary practice) structure or through parallel entities with shared services. Some states (notably DC) have explicit rules. Texas and California have specific structural requirements. We connect you with a professional responsibility attorney for state-specific structure - we don't provide legal/ethics advice on entity structure.
How does cross-referral commission work without violating ethics rules?+
Internal cross-referrals between professionals in the same firm are explicitly permitted in every US state under shared compensation rules. Cross-referral commissions to professionals OUTSIDE the firm are restricted (most states allow CPAs to receive but not pay referral fees; lawyer-to-lawyer referral fees have ABA Rule 1.5 disclosure requirements). We work within the rules - and connect you with ethics counsel as needed.
What practice areas work best in a combined firm?+
The natural overlap: business law + tax/CPA, estate planning + tax/CPA, employment law + payroll/HR, real estate law + real estate accounting, M&A law + transaction tax. We do not see strong synergy in litigation-heavy practices (personal injury, criminal defense) + CPA - those typically stay separate.
Should we hire dual-licensed professionals (JD/CPA)?+
Tactical yes for 1-2 key roles. A JD/CPA professional handles complex tax controversy, M&A, and estate planning matters that pure attorneys and pure CPAs can't fully cover. They command 25-40% premium comp. We help you decide if/when to hire one vs building cross-functional teams.
What about CPE (continuing professional education) and CLE (continuing legal education)?+
Both vary by state, and in a dual-licensure firm that variation is the whole problem: two boards, two renewal cycles, two sets of subject-matter requirements, and each professional tracking their own in a personal spreadsheet. Get the current requirement for each license from the board that sets it - not from us, and not from last year memory. What we build is the centralized tracking system that sits on top of those requirements, so the firm knows the position of every professional at any moment. We do not provide CPE or CLE content.
What entity structure works for a combined firm?+
Most combined firms operate as PLLCs (Professional LLCs) or LLPs (Limited Liability Partnerships) with specific state-by-state structural requirements. Some states require separate professional entities for legal vs CPA practice with a parent management company. Your professional responsibility counsel + state CPA board handle entity structure - we focus on operations and growth strategy.
What about AICPA peer review and state bar audits?+
Peer review applies to CPA firms providing attest services, on the cycle the AICPA sets; bar-side firm audits are a live possibility rather than a certainty. Both ask the same underlying question, which is whether you have a documented quality control system or an oral tradition. That system is what we help you build, and it is worth building for its own sake - it is the same discipline that keeps work from being redone. Confirm the current requirement and cycle with the AICPA and your state bar; actual peer-review participation sits with your registered peer reviewer, not with us.
Who does the work?+
Ligal Frish and Eitan Eshtemaker - the two co-founders. Direct access, no associates. Fee structure: Situation Room $365 one-time, B-Grow $1,430/month (most firms), B-Beyond $2,750/month (multi-partner firms or pre-merger integration). No minimum term and no notice period - you can end it at any time.

Stop running two firms. Become the SMB advisor your clients actually need.

30-minute strategy call. We'll diagnose your top 2 levers and tell you if we're a fit. No pitch. No pressure.

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