The IPA 100 posted another year of double-digit growth, but the underlying numbers show a widening divide between total and organic growth.
Total net revenue growth reached 12.8%, up from 10.4% last year. Organic growth moved in the opposite direction, falling from 7.8% to 7.0%, its slowest pace in five years.
The gap reflects how much acquisitions now contribute to growth among the profession’s largest firms. The IPA 100 completed 211 mergers during the most recent survey year, making inorganic growth an increasingly important part of firms’ expansion strategies.
That does not mean strong organic growth has disappeared. The 10 fastest-growing IPA 100 firms on an organic basis averaged 15.6% internal growth, more than twice the IPA 100 average. But those firms are increasingly the exception to a broader trend.
For firm leaders, the source of growth matters because different growth engines create different management demands.
Organic growth depends heavily on pricing, business development, service expansion and the ability to increase revenue from existing client relationships. Acquired growth adds another set of challenges: integrating people and systems, retaining clients, standardizing operations and ultimately realizing the economics expected from the transaction.
Two firms can therefore report the same 12% growth rate while producing it in very different ways. As consolidation continues, leaders may need to pay closer attention to the mix between organic and acquired growth and whether each is producing sustainable gains.
For firms setting growth targets, benchmarking against peers or evaluating their own performance, growth source and durability now deserve as much attention as the headline rate.
The 2026 IPA 500 analysis examines the growth, profitability and operating trends shaping the top 500 CPA firms. Purchase it here: https://form.jotform.com/253235687892168.
