Forbes Andersen LLP
Qualified beyond question. Invisible to the clients who needed them most. We closed the gap.
The challenge
Forbes Andersen was a boutique Toronto accounting firm doing work that rivalled firms twice its size—public companies, complex tax structures, holistic business advisory. The gap was perception, not capability. Clients pushed back on fees because they didn‘t understand the value. Staff wouldn‘t name-drop the firm in conversation. Basically, a firm doing Tier 1 work was being treated (and priced) like a bookkeeper.
Services
Diagnostic
Strategy
Positioning
Brand Identity
Signage
Office Interior
The constraints
Accounting is a referral business. Reputation moves slowly, and it moves through relationships. Any repositioning had to feel earned, as opposed to invented—credible to the lawyers, CFOs, and business owners who were already clients, and compelling enough to attract more of the right prospects. The firm needed to look like what it already was.
What changed
Diagnostic research uncovered the real problem: Forbes Andersen wasn’t failing to deliver—it was failing to present. The value of senior partner access, holistic thinking, and growth-oriented advice was buried under generic positioning that made the firm indistinguishable from any other accountancy. We identified the firm’s genuine strengths and built a brand around them—identity, messaging, and a positioning that matched the calibre of the client the firm actually deserved.
The result
The firm grew. Forbes Andersen expanded to a second location, broadened its service offer into fractional CFO, entertainment, crypto and cross-border tax, and joined the UHY international network—one of the world’s largest accounting and consulting networks. A firm that once struggled to justify its fees now operates at a scale that justifies its reputation.
