Michael Hoffman, Chief Operating Officer, Adeptus

In this episode of the Think Small Podcast, Michael Hoffman, Chief Operating Officer of Adeptus Advisors Group, shares how a 35-to-40-year-old public accounting and advisory firm with offices across the East Coast and California has navigated decades of growth without a single year of revenue decline, and what it has taken operationally to sustain that record through COVID, rapid client onboarding, and a recent strategic partnership with the private equity-backed alliance now rebranding as Current. Adeptus serves clients across every industry with tax, audit, and business management services, but is perhaps best known for its deep roots in entertainment business management, a practice that requires simultaneous presence in both New York and Los Angeles. Michael discusses how the firm's annuity-driven revenue model, where satisfied clients simply come back every year, combined with a relentless culture of referral generation, has created a remarkably stable growth engine that required almost no external marketing to sustain. The conversation covers what it actually looks like to join a professional alliance, maintain your own brand identity and day-to-day operating control, and use the capital infusion and back-office infrastructure to accelerate growth through firm mergers, with three already completed in 2026 and more on the horizon. Michael also digs into how Adeptus is deploying AI not as a headcount reduction tool but as a way to free its people from manual data work so they can spend more time being proactive with clients, developing their skills, and simply enjoying their jobs more during tax season. His closing thought on culture is one of the sharpest distillations of an M&A philosophy heard on this show: growth is only worth pursuing if the people you are merging with are people you would genuinely want to spend four hours in a conference room with. Connect: Website: https://www.adeptusadvisors.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hoffman-bb38107/