For decades, the value proposition of Asia’s small and medium practices (SMPs) was straightforward: reliable compliance work delivered with a personal touch. That formula still matters, but it is no longer sufficient on its own. Across the region, SMPs are adding a new dimension to their offering – developing and deploying technology solutions that reposition them as strategic partners rather than just back-office functionaries.
According to Wolters Kluwer’s 2025 Future Ready Accountant report, advisory services have become nearly universal across the profession, with 93% of firms now offering them – up from 83% in 2024. Meanwhile, 52% of firms expanded their cloud-based solutions in 2025, and 87% of those with highly integrated systems reported revenue growth.
Customisation is key
That shift is already well under way. At Forvis Mazars Hong Kong, the approach is to build. Jonathan Wan, a partner in the firm’s financial services practice, describes a deliberate ‘build-on-top’ philosophy – using established platforms as the backbone while developing bespoke tools for specific regulatory and reporting challenges.
‘Technology should amplify professional judgment, not compete with it’
‘We have developed customised regulatory tracking and data analytics solutions for clients operating in highly regulated environments, allowing them to monitor compliance obligations, transaction data and risk indicators in a more structured and real-time manner,’ Wan says.
The payoff goes beyond a one-off project fee. ‘This has not only deepened client relationships – by embedding us more closely into their ongoing governance and compliance processes – but has also opened up recurring advisory and managed service revenue,’ Wan notes.
Still, Wan is careful not to oversell. ‘Mid-tier firms risk overreaching when they try to become full-scale technology developers rather than professional advisers who use technology intelligently,’ he warns. ‘Technology should amplify professional judgment, not compete with it. Once a tool starts requiring disproportionate engineering investment unrelated to advisory value, that is usually a signal to reconsider the approach.’
Don’t reinvent the wheel
Not every SMP needs to write code from scratch to compete. Henry Tan, group CEO and chief innovation officer at CLA Global TS in Singapore, favours a partnership-led model. ‘As an SMP, we do not build technology tools internally. Instead, we work closely with industry partners and member firms across the CLA Global network, giving us access to proven tools, real user insights and practical use cases,’ Tan explains.
‘Smaller practices are far more precise in identifying specific pain points’
The firm customises established market solutions and collaborates with external partners to develop bespoke tools where gaps exist – an approach he sees as a genuine competitive advantage over larger rivals. ‘While larger organisations tend to build broad and complex systems, smaller practices are far more precise in identifying specific pain points and deploying technology that directly addresses them,’ he says.
Then there are firms born digital. Eugenio Ferrante, CEO of Osome, a tech-native accounting platform, explains that Osome’s AI automates routine bookkeeping, but he is adamant that the endgame is not a ‘zero-human’ future. ‘When a founder is facing a complex tax audit or restructuring for a Series A, they don’t want to talk to an algorithm; they want to look an expert in the eye.’ Through Osome’s channel partner programme, the company arms traditional SMPs with its AI platform so that they can ‘protect their margins and focus entirely on being that trusted adviser’.
Crossborder boost
Whether firms build, partner or plug into a platform, the opportunity is being shaped by shifting client needs – not least the surge in crossborder advisory work. According to EY’s 2025 overview of the Chinese mainland’s outbound investment, overall outward direct investment reached US$174.4bn in 2025, up 7.1% year on year.
Andrew Lam, managing director at BDO Hong Kong, sees this directly fuelling advisory demand. ‘Companies in the Chinese mainland have been stepping up their investments overseas in recent years. Asia Pacific is one of the more popular locations,’ Lam notes. ‘This provides lots of opportunities for the provision of advisory services within the region, both from the buy side and the sell side.’
‘We can respond to our clients’ individual needs in a comprehensive, timely and flexible manner’
BDO’s edge, he argues, lies in combining its reach across roughly 170 jurisdictions with the deep local knowledge of its member firms. ‘We can respond to our clients’ individual needs in a comprehensive, timely and flexible manner,’ he notes.
Yet technology and networks will only take firms so far without the human element. In markets at an earlier stage of digital maturity, the calculus is different again. Henri Martha, a partner at HLB Indonesia, notes that clients there ‘are not necessarily looking to replace human resources, given the relatively competitive labour cost environment and consideration of the social impact in society’.
Instead, the focus is on enhancing productivity and improving data visibility – particularly for the many growing enterprises that remain underserved by traditional financial frameworks. ‘A significant portion of growing enterprises operate with strong cashflows and solid operational performance, yet remain underserved by traditional financial frameworks, which often prioritise collateral and formal credit metrics,’ Martha explains.
HLB Indonesia has responded by partnering with ecosystem players to deliver financial literacy and capability-building initiatives for SMEs – work that combines technology with old-fashioned advisory judgement. ‘Future readiness is not defined by the dominant technology environment,’ says Martha, ‘but by how effectively it is combined with financial capability, human insight and purpose-driven growth.’
