For accounting firms
Managing people at an accounting firm without an HR department
You are a partner or the firm administrator at a CPA firm or bookkeeping practice of five to sixty people: partners, managers, seniors, staff accountants, bookkeepers, and seasonal preparers who join for tax season. HR is whichever partner is least busy that week. In March, that is nobody.
The moments where people work goes wrong
Busy season swallows the review cycle
Reviews were planned for the start of the year because that is when the firm's year ended. It is the worst time to ask anyone to write a self-review. The cycle slips to summer, then to the holidays, and then it is busy season again.
The seasonal preparers arrive in the same January week
Five preparers start together. Each needs software access, the firm's review standards, the engagement workflow explained and a desk. The checklist is in one manager's head, and she is also preparing returns.
PTIN, CPA license and EA renewals in the same quarter
Every preparer's PTIN expires at the end of the calendar year. CPA licenses renew on the state board's cycle and enrolled agents on the IRS's. The firm learns a PTIN lapsed when a preparer cannot sign a return.
Staff to senior to manager, decided in one partners' meeting
Whether a staff accountant is ready to run engagements as a senior is decided once a year, from what the partners remember of a few files. The senior who wanted manager hears no, and the reasons stay in the meeting.
The manager who reviews workpapers and not people
A manager gives careful notes on every workpaper and none on the person. A second-year staff accountant knows which tick marks were wrong and nothing about whether she is on track.
What it costs the firm
The review cycle quietly disappears
When the cycle is pushed past busy season twice, a staff accountant goes two years without a written review. The raise conversation has nothing under it.
Good seniors leave after the deadline
The weeks after the filing deadline are when people update their résumés. A senior who was not told where her career was going takes the offer from a larger firm, and the firm rebuilds a team before next season.
A lapsed credential stops work in the worst week
An expired PTIN or license is a paperwork fix that lands in the middle of filing season, with clients waiting and a preparer who cannot sign.
How LVL Up helps
Review cycles set around the calendar you actually have
Open the cycle after the deadline or in the autumn lull. LVL Up sends the self-reviews and manager reviews, reminds people, and shows the partner who has not started, so a stalled review is visible in the week it stalls.
PTIN, license and EA dates with a reminder you set
Each preparer's PTIN, each CPA license and each enrolled agent's renewal sits on the person's record with its expiry date and a copy of the document. The holder and the admins are emailed ahead of the date, and one view lists what expires next across the firm.
One onboarding checklist for the January cohort
Write the checklist once: accounts to set up, review standards to read, the handbook to acknowledge. Each seasonal preparer gets it on the first day, and the manager sees who is done without asking.
Career paths for the staff, senior and manager ladder
On Growth, write down what a senior and a manager are expected to do at your firm, and see each person against it in the skills matrix. Goals, feedback and reviews sit on a per-person timeline, so the promotion conversation starts from the year on record.
Where we are the wrong answer
LVL Up does not track CPE hours or whether someone has met a state's CPE requirement. It tracks dated credentials such as a CPA license, a PTIN or an enrolled agent renewal, with a reminder before the date, and it does not check their status with a state board or the IRS. It does not track billable hours, realization or capacity, and it does not schedule engagements or staff. It does not run payroll for your team. It holds employment records for your staff, not client or customer records, and it does not replace your practice-management, matter-management or job-management software. Career paths and the skills matrix are Growth features.
Which plan, and what it costs
Growth — Up to 100 people
$79/month, or $758/year
A firm of a dozen people can run on Team for reviews, 1:1s, credential alerts and onboarding. Most firms that bring on seasonal preparers, or want a written ladder from staff to manager, pick Growth: the same core with room for more people, plus career paths, the skills matrix, OKRs and API access.
- • Everything in Team
- • Goals & OKRs
- • More AI coaching (500 requests a month)
- • Skills matrix & career paths
- • 1:1 video calls
- • Recognition rewards & team rituals
- • LVL Proof™ portfolios
- • API access
- • Founder-led email support
No credit card. The trial runs on Growth so you can see everything; pick Growth when it ends.
Getting set up
- Start the trial after the filing deadline, not before it, and import the firm from a spreadsheet with each person's manager.
- Add every PTIN, CPA license and enrolled agent renewal with its expiry date, and set each reminder far enough ahead to land before busy season.
- Write down what staff, senior and manager mean at your firm as career paths, and open the review cycle in the quiet months.
- Build the onboarding checklist for seasonal preparers now, so the January cohort gets the same first week.
Common questions
Can LVL Up track CPE credits?
No. It tracks credentials with expiry dates and stores documents, so a CPE certificate can be attached to a person's record. It does not add up hours or tell you whether someone met a state's requirement. Keep your CPE tracker for that.
When should an accounting firm run performance reviews?
After the filing deadline and well before the next busy season. Many firms run the main cycle in late spring or early summer and a short check-in in the autumn. A cycle run in the middle of tax season produces short, rushed forms and resentment.
Does LVL Up track a preparer's PTIN?
Yes, as a credential with an expiry date. Put the PTIN on the preparer's record and set the reminder lead, and the preparer and the admins are emailed before the end of the year. LVL Up does not renew it or check its status with the IRS; you update the date when the renewal comes through.
How do we handle seasonal staff?
Add them like anyone else and give them the seasonal onboarding checklist. Count them when you choose a plan: if the season takes you past Team's people limit, Growth gives you room.
Does it connect to our practice-management or tax software?
No. LVL Up is a staff-side system and does not read from or write to practice-management, tax or workpaper software. Client files, engagements and time stay where they are. It has CSV import for staff data and a read-only API on Growth.
What happens when the trial ends?
The trial is 14 days, no credit card, then read-only until a plan is chosen. Nothing you entered is deleted while it is read-only.
Related:
Start with your own staff list
Import your team, add the CPA licenses and PTINs that renew next, and set the review cycle for the quiet months after the deadline. Growth fits a firm of up to 100 people.