The stats
- ~$300K gross revenue in 2024, ~50% from tax planning
- ~$500K+ in 2025, ~$350K from tax planning
- 2 firm acquisitions in the past year
- ~4 staff plus owners
- Fully off hourly billing for ~18 months
The tech stack:
- Juno
- TaxDome
- Drake
“We’ve been dropping tax returns into Juno’s Advisor and it spits out a beautiful PDF that we can download and review. Getting that much more time to spend with our tax planning clients has been instrumental in nearly doubling our revenue.”
The situation: Growth pressure without operational slack
Amatore & Co was already leaning into tax planning when growth accelerated. Over the past year, the firm acquired two practices, each bringing clients, history, and habits that did not line up cleanly with how the firm wanted to operate.
One acquisition, in particular, came with almost no technology in place. Clients were used to paper. Files lived in folders and cabinets. Prep moved slowly, not because the work was complex, but because everything required manual handling. Documents were copied, rechecked, and filed again.
At the same time, the firm was intentionally shifting its revenue mix toward planning. Tax preparation kept the lights on, but planning required time, attention, and clear thinking. Prep and review could not be allowed to sprawl, especially with new clients entering the system.
“It’s all time,” Zach said. “Not that the work is difficult. It just takes time. And that time adds up.”
The risk was clear. Without tightening prep and review, growth would crowd out the very work the firm wanted to do more of.
What they did: Locked down prep and review before scaling planning
Instead of layering planning on top of messy operations, Amatore & Co focused on stabilizing the foundation.
- Standardized intake across all clients and acquisitions. Every client, new or inherited, moved through the same early workflow. Paper-heavy clients were scanned in once and brought into a digital process that made documents easier to track and reuse. The immediate benefit was visibility. Nothing disappeared into a stack.
- Used Juno to absorb first-pass prep work. Source documents were uploaded, returns were drafted, and workpapers were assembled automatically. Admin staff could move work forward without waiting on senior review, which mattered during crunch when volume spiked.
- Reframed review as judgment, not transcription. With data already structured and flagged, reviewers spent their time validating intent and applying firm context. Less energy went into checking boxes. More went into confirming strategy.
- Integrated planning directly off completed returns. Once a return was assembled, the team used Juno to explore planning options using the same client data. Those outputs stayed internal and were reviewed critically before any client discussion.
“It gives us a clean PDF to look at,” Zach said. “We decide what makes sense and what doesn’t. That’s still on us.”
What changed: Acquisitions without chaos and planning without burnout
The operational cleanup paid off quickly. The firm absorbed two acquisitions without adding layers of manual work. Prep no longer dictated the pace of the day. Review stopped being a bottleneck.
Most importantly, tax professionals had room to engage with planning clients consistently. About half of revenue came from planning in 2024. In 2025, planning represents the majority of growth, even as the firm integrated new clients from acquired practices.
“Tax prep keeps the lights on,” Zach said. “Planning is our bread and butter. Getting that time back has been instrumental.”
The shift was not about speed for its own sake. It was about removing work that never required senior attention so that attention could be used where it mattered.
Why it matters: Acquisitions expose weak prep faster than anything else
Acquisitions do not create operational problems. They reveal them.
For experienced tax professionals, this is the real lesson. Planning does not scale on top of fragile prep and review. It only scales when those functions are predictable, contained, and no longer competing for judgment.
Amatore & Co did not grow planning revenue by pushing harder. They did it by making prep boring, review focused, and judgment protected.
A steadier base supports better decisions
Today, the firm looks different. Fewer papers. Clearer workflows. Clients who are more receptive to planning because conversations are not rushed.
“It’s functioning a heck of a lot faster,” Zach said. “And it’s nicer. There aren’t papers stacked up to the ceiling anymore.”
That steadiness made it possible to absorb two firms, grow planning revenue, and still deliver careful work. For firms considering acquisitions or trying to make advisory real, that sequence matters.