AAM MINUTE
September 2025: Your Guide to Marketing & BD Planning for 2026
Beginner’s Guide: When it comes to marketing retreats, securing a block of time on the calendar is only half the battle. In this Beginner’s Guide article, two accounting marketing professionals share what they include in a typical marketing retreat agenda to make the best use of this precious meeting time.
Seasoned Marketer: Budgeting is a term we know all too well in accounting, yet marketing budgets are often forgotten, nonexistent, or rarely reviewed and updated. Whether you’re new to budgeting or already have an established budget, AAM’s Marketing Budget Benchmark Study highlights the key drivers that directly influence high-growth firms. To dive deeper into the study’s findings and their implications, we sat down with Will Casserly, Managing Director at Hinge, for an insightful Q&A.
Business Development: What does a smart business development strategy look like for accounting firms in 2026—and how should you fund it? This article explores four priorities that leading firms are putting into their growth blueprints, with practical guidance on where to focus and where to invest.
Hot Topic: What would accounting marketers do with a dream budget? From high-end media studios to clean data and strategic team hires, professionals across the industry shared their boldest and most insightful wish list items. Their responses reveal not only creative aspirations, but also the foundational investments they believe would drive real impact.
Meet a Member: Kayla Juba, Senior Marketing Specialist at Brown Plus in Camp Hill, PA, has over 11 years in MarCom and six in accounting marketing. She drives content, events and proposals for Brown Plus, a firm with five offices and 140 staff. Active in AAM (Minute Committee Co-Chair) and LEA Global (Marketing & BD Steering Committee), Juba discusses her firm’s aligned marketing strategy, tips for new marketers, AAM’s networking value, AI’s challenges and opportunities and her busy fall event lineup.
Resources of Interest: Budget season is upon us, and it’s time to decide which marketing and business development tools and resources will be included in your team’s 2026 tech stack. For teams using HubSpot, here are some of the most intriguing tools from the INBOUND conference that you should consider adding to your 2026 budget.
August New Members
Aimee Biondo, UHY Advisors, Inc.
Akasha Mullis, Saville CPAs & Advisors
Amanda Salinas, Mathieson Moyski Austin & Co. LLP
Chris Bothel, Larson Gross
Demetra Miller, GBQ Partners LLC
Jessi Peters, Kingston Ross Pasnak LLP
Jill Mackey, Hedman Partners LLP
John Surrette, Kahn, Litwin, Renza (KLR)
Kyle Womach, Larson Gross
Laura Graham, AGH CPAs & Advisors
Meg Goforth-Ward, RKL LLP
Rachel Stevens, LSL CPAs
Ramya Chandran, Holman Frenia Allison, PC
Sarah Stehman, RKL LLP
Seanne Sabroso, Sorren
Shay Ziegler, WebsterRogers LLP
Sophia Vinciguerra, BST & Co. CPAs, LLP
Wade Clark Dream, Parrot Consulting
