Inside Platform Accounting Group: Growth, People, and the AI Bet

Growth Private equity

Most accounting firm owners have questions they can't easily get answered. What does it actually look like when a firm sells? What happens to staff? What does the acquirer do on day one? And day three hundred? And what does a firm at serious scale think about AI?

This episode of Open Books—a brand new interview series—puts those questions directly to the people who can answer them.

Reyes Florez, CEO of Platform Accounting Group, has built a 1,000-person firm through a deliberate acquisition strategy. He joined us alongside Albert, a senior leader at one of the local firms they acquired, and Kaycie, who led operations at an acquired firm and has since moved into a central team role at Platform—a path that didn't exist for her before the deal.

This is a rare, unfiltered look at one of the most ambitious firms operating in the profession today.

They discuss:

The Platform Model: Reyes on what makes his acquisition approach different, what he looks for in a firm, and how he thinks about building at scale.
Life after the sale: Albert and Kaycie on what the transition actually looked like. Staff, clients, culture, and the things they didn't expect (including what improved).
The AI and infrastructure play: Reyes on how Platform is investing in AI across the firm, and why the firms that join them are better positioned for what's coming next than they would be alone.

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Managing Editor, Karbon Magazine

Joe Carufe
Project Manager, Karbon

Joe has led cloud accounting firms since 2011, focusing on strategy, leadership, technology, efficiency, and talent integration. He is passionate about process improvement and loves talking with leading accounting firms and other top app vendors from across the globe.

Mary Delaney
CEO, Karbon

Mary is a visionary, customer-obsessed executive with 20+ years of expertise driving hypergrowth, transformations and award-winning company culture across domestic and international B2B software companies. She has an unmatched ability to attract and retain world-class talent and galvanize a highly engaging culture based on inclusion, customer focus, and employee ownership. Mary joined Karbon in 2022 and became Chief Executive Officer in 2023.

Reyes Florez
CEO, Platform Accounting Group

Reyes Florez is founder and CEO of Platform Accounting Group, an Accounting Today Top 100 firm and one of the profession's most ambitious growth stories. Starting with a single office and eight employees in 2016, Platform now spans 50+ offices, 1,500+ employees, and more than 55,000 clients across 15 states. An early adopter of AI in professional services and a frequent voice at AICPA and leading industry events, Reyes brings rare first-hand perspective on what it actually takes to scale a modern firm.

Website

Kaycie Edeh
Manager, Strategic Operations, Platform Accounting Group

Kaycie Edeh built her career in firm operations at Bayshore Tax & Consulting before joining the corporate team at Platform Accounting Group. She now oversees strategic operations across the PAG portfolio, giving her a firsthand view of what improves and what stays the same when a firm joins the platform.

Albert Tinnell
Director, Platform Business Advisors, Platform Accounting Group

Albert Tinnell was a senior leader at his firm when they joined Platform Accounting Group. Rather than stepping back, he stepped up, growing into a director role leading a hospitality-focused CAS practice fueled by PAG's referral network. He went from doing the work to leading the firm.

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