New Year Reflections with Praxity Chairman Steffen Ahrens

Steffen Ahrens: Within Praxity, my priority is to set a clear vision on a global level. Each market faces its own regulatory, business and technological challenges. Our goal is to unite our global Alliance under a shared vision and signal our next evolution. Having recently been appointed to the position of Chairman, and with three years lying ahead in the role, I’m eager to see our plans manifest in reality to drive measurable success.

Parallel to this, my role at FALK provides me with a completely different set of insights. As Managing Partner, I have a view of both the strategic vision and the challenges involved in the day-to-day operations. The German tax system is undeniably complex, and navigating regulatory requirements to provide tailored, comprehensive solutions is no simple task. At FALK, we service an incredible range of industrial and service sectors, both locally and internationally. No two clients are the same, and each unique challenge requires a unique solution.

The two roles, with FALK and with Praxity, combined allow me to go from macro to micro details. This provides rare and incredibly valuable insights, creating opportunities to blend operational thinking with long term success planning. Businesses thrive when the two go hand and hand - and that’s exactly what we hope to achieve over the coming three years.  

SA: My relationship with Praxity is longstanding, with three years of MMB experiences and having attended the vast majority of conferences since the inception of the Alliance. As many can attest to, the strength of the organisation lies in the connection it facilitates. The Alliance is reciprocally beneficial and, over the years, Praxity has been pivotal in securing inbound and outbound work alike for FALK.

The Board exists to create opportunities, to problem solve, and to have oversight over our expansive organisation. At Praxity, it’s our purpose to enable businesses globally, through seamless collaboration within Praxity’s global Alliance of independent Firms. Across the world, every one of our Firms pass stringent requirements and a vigorous vetting process, ensuring that Praxity remains the pre-eminent Alliance of high-quality Firms. Responsiveness is critical to this, and our Firms remain deeply collaborative in their ways of working. This consolidates relationships between Member Firms, increasing our reach and unlocking value. 

SA: Our impact matters. The world around us faces innumerable global challenges; it’s important that we help clients navigate and comply with changing regulations. Certainly, ESG is ever more critical. To that end, our Member Firms have worked diligently to provide new service lines. It’s important to note that ESG requirements are inextricably linked to global shifts; we already see particular emphasis on ESG service lines in Europe, and the US Presidential Election and EU Omnibus Regulation will inevitably have further impact.

Accountability and transparency are essential. Equally, it’s important that the regulatory burden does not become too high. With that in mind, the introduction of the Omnibus Regulation should go a long way in significantly reducing bureaucracy. This is particularly true insofar that it will reduce the number of reporting obligations and, in turn, naturally reduce overlap. In turn, this creates opportunities for our Member Firms to lead on ESG reporting through proactively responding to changes in regulation.  

SA: The Praxity Assurance Committee is a chance to take stock of our global Assurance capabilities, assessing them considering a rapidly evolving landscape. Crucially, it’s an opportunity to invite input from the entirety of the Praxity Alliance, amplifying the expertise of our members to unlock value for our clients.

The founding insight was simple: we’re at our best when we learn from one another. At Praxity we share our strengths, and we don’t believe in operating in silos - whether that’s internally or externally, across disciplines or over the globe. It’s crucial that we listen to our people and our clients, as understanding their unique experiences provides valuable insights that enable us to deliver exceptional service every time.

Each of the Working Groups provides a space for like-minded professionals to gather, share expertise, and work through challenges as they arise.

In particular, the Praxity Assurance Committee will focus on best practices in marketing, effective relationship building, new approaches to our capabilities, centralising administration and organisation, reporting, and training opportunities. This is an ambitious exercise in knowledge-sharing, and we’re excited to see real results come about through authentic collaboration.  

SA: The Praxity Assurance Committee intends to dedicate significant attention to examining our AI capabilities. Our priority is collaboration, and we’ll be investigating the extent to which we can use AI to supercharge our abilities across the Alliance. It’s essential that we learn from one another, and we’ll utilise the Praxity Assurance Committee to enable Firms to share successes, learnings, insights and ideas, incorporating innovative technology into our day-to-day work. Importantly, we’re a future-thinking organisation, and it seems that AI may be the next step in helping us be more agile and strategic, and helping us better service our clients with high-quality results.

SA: To my mind, Praxity is all but synonymous with global connectivity. Consequently, outsourcing tax and other functions is a natural step for many of our Member Firms. The challenge is connecting the right jurisdictions with the necessary functions in a way that streamlines the organisation and facilitates growth.  

When it comes to outsourcing, the key players are beginning to emerge - India and South-East Europe, in particular, provide ample opportunity. This evolution in talent sourcing is not without its risks, and firms must be mindful of any potential data, privacy and security concerns. It’s crucial that any outsourcing partners maintain the utmost standards of compliance, regardless of the jurisdiction that they operate in.  

Looking ahead, we’ll likely continue to balance outsourcing with our in-house team functions. Neither can eclipse the other but, by combining the two, organisations can establish future pathways for growth. Jurisdictions with growing interest are ones with skilled workforces and robust infrastructure, able to maximise value while benefiting operational efficiency.  

SA: The global scale of our Alliance, and the broad range of skill sets throughout, put us in a strong position throughout 2024. Amidst new economic, technological and geopolitical challenges, we’re proud to announce that Praxity achieved exceptional growth throughout 2024.

Our total revenue in 2024 was $10.9 billion, up from $9.8 billion the previous year. This remarkable growth encompasses 120 countries spanning over 975 offices, and more than 95,000 professionals across a diverse range of specialisations.   

The future looks optimistic, and we’re excited to continue to implement our core strategy throughout our Alliance. Our conference schedule will continue to unite experts from across the globe, bringing together leading minds from across the Alliance. At Board level, we plan to continue to expand our regional representation, amplifying the voices of those from all different geographies. We’re also looking to increase our representation of smaller and larger Firms alike, to ensure that our priorities focus on the needs of all Firms moving forward.  

In the years ahead, our priority will be to focus on key areas of growth, strengthening our Alliance with a clear focus on collaboration and communication to deliver high-quality results for our clients, time and time again.