A Top 50 CPA firm just gave it a name, a partner, and a scope. Here’s how a smaller firm can start with the client data it already has.
Most accounting firms already give technology advice. A client asks whether a tool is worth paying for, someone on the team takes a look, and the answer never shows up on an invoice. That is a favor, not a service line.
On October 30, 2026, Sorren, a Boise-based IPA Top 50 firm, turned that favor into a practice. Its new Digital Advisory practice helps organizations modernize business systems, integrate technology, and improve operational performance.
A longer service list isn’t what made it a practice. Three decisions did, and a firm of any size can make them.
What made it a practice: a name, a partner, and a scope
Sorren’s Digital Advisory offering has five parts (Accounting Today):
- Digital assessments and modernization planning
- ERP system evaluations
- ERP implementations
- Business process automation and applied AI
- Project management
It starts with clients in construction, healthcare, manufacturing, and distribution, and runs alongside Sorren’s existing tax, accounting, and advisory services. The problems it targets will sound familiar to anyone who closes the books for a mid-market business: outdated systems, disconnected data, and inefficient processes.
Sorren’s CEO, Josh Tyree, framed the launch around how much of every major client decision now involves technology. But look past the service list. Three choices are what turn technology advice into a practice:
- A name. “Digital Advisory” is something a client can buy and a partner can refer into. A favor has no name and no price.
- A partner. Chad Back joined as Managing Partner, bringing more than 30 years of operational and technology leadership, including ERP and CRM transformations. One person is accountable for growing the practice, not just delivering projects.
- A scope. Five defined service areas, four starting industries, and a clear place next to the firm’s tax and accounting work. Clients know what they’re buying and who delivers it.
You don’t need all five services on day one
Look at Sorren’s list again and count how much of it needs specialist capacity. ERP implementation needs certified consultants and project managers. Process automation and applied AI need people who can design and support workflows, not just recommend tools. Those are hires, partnerships, or both, and they take quarters to set up.
A mid-size or smaller firm that tries to match the full menu usually ends up with a services page and no engagements. The better move is to start where you already have an advantage: you have the data, the client relationship, and permission to ask questions about money.
Back puts it simply: “Technology decisions are ultimately business decisions.” He says the work starts with the client’s business problem, then moves to an informed technology decision. For most clients, the first business question about technology is basic: what are we paying for, who uses it, and is it worth it? Answer that first, and the rest of the practice has somewhere to grow from.
Start with the client data you already have
If you handle bookkeeping, write-up, or monthly close for a client, you already hold the data this practice starts from. Their software spend sits in the vendor ledger, the card feeds, and the expense categories you reconcile every month. Most clients have never seen it laid out in one place.
A software spend review turns that data into a short, billable deliverable:
- Inventory. Pull every software and AI vendor from the GL and card transactions for the last 12 months. Group them by vendor, category, and department.
- Normalize. Separate annual from monthly billing, flag price increases, and spot tools billed to more than one card or entity.
- Flag. Mark duplicate and overlapping tools, renewals due in the next 90 days, and subscriptions with no clear owner.
- Review. Walk the owner or CFO through what they pay for, what they use, and what to cut, renegotiate, or consolidate.
- Recommend next steps. Some findings are quick savings. Others point to a bigger decision: a system the client has outgrown, a reporting gap, or a process that should be automated.
Step 5 is where the practice grows. A review that finds three overlapping project management tools and a finance stack held together by spreadsheets opens a roadmap conversation. It is the same conversation Sorren’s assessments are built to start.
This slice suits a smaller firm for four reasons:
- It is data-backed from day one. You report on transactions, not opinions.
- It needs no new hires. Your current team can run it with the right tooling and a repeatable template.
- It is easy to price. Charge a fixed fee per review, or a recurring quarterly fee to track renewals and new spend.
- It keeps you in the room. Software spend changes every month. A quarterly review gives you a standing reason to talk with the client about decisions, not just compliance.
How Sorren’s practice maps to your starting point
Each part of Sorren’s offering has a smaller version you can run now, or add once your reviews create the demand.
| Sorren’s service | Your starting version | When to add more |
|---|---|---|
| Digital assessments and modernization planning | Software spend review built from GL and card data | Now |
| ERP system evaluations | Flag systems the client has outgrown; refer evaluation to a partner | When several reviews surface the same system gaps |
| ERP implementations | Partner with an implementation firm; keep the client relationship and oversight | When referral volume justifies a formal partner agreement |
| Business process automation and applied AI | Flag manual workflows and AI tool spend; recommend specific tools | When you have staff who can design and support workflows |
| Project management | Quarterly spend and renewal check-ins | When you have a base of recurring review clients |
The order matters. Each later service is easier to sell because the review has already shown the client where the problem is.
Give your practice a name, a partner, and a scope
Sorren didn’t invent the demand for technology advice. It made three decisions about how to offer it. A smaller firm can make the same three this quarter:
- Name the service. Call it a software spend review or technology advisory, and put a price on it.
- Give it a partner. One partner owns the service, its pricing, and its pipeline.
- Keep the scope narrow. Start with the one or two industries where you have the most clients, and one deliverable: a software spend review built from the client data you already have.
Then let what the reviews find tell you which part of the larger practice to build next.
AppVentory helps accounting and advisory firms run software spend reviews across their client base. It pulls software and AI spend from the books, flags duplicates and upcoming renewals, and turns the findings into advisory conversations.
Book a demo with us today.
