Five years of analysis constitute a sufficiently long period to identify trends, confirm changes, and observe how a profession evolves. With this purpose, the Wolters Kluwer Advisory Barometer, a leading company in the development of software solutions, information, and services for professional firms and companies, reaches its fifth edition with a long-term perspective that has established it as the main observatory of the sector’s reality.
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Thanks to its continuity, the report has managed to go beyond a snapshot to study the core, distinguish between cyclical changes and structural transformations, and understand where the professional firm is heading, a key player for competitiveness and economic development due to the support and guidance it provides to the business fabric.
During this period, the advisory sector has undergone an unprecedented transformation: increasing automation and digitization of processes, continuous regulatory complexity, evolving client needs, and difficulty attracting talent are some of the factors that have profoundly changed how advisory firms work and their clients’ expectations, redefining the advisor’s role and accelerating the evolution of the entire profession.
The advisory sector moves towards a model of greater added value and specialization
The main conclusion emerging from the successive editions of the Wolters Kluwer report is clear: advisory services are ceasing to be perceived solely as providers of compliance-related services to evolve towards an increasingly strategic, consultative model oriented to business support.
According to the conclusions of the 2026 Advisory Barometer, the sector’s profile maintains a relatively stable structure: most firms remain small, as 76.5% have fewer than ten employees, and primarily serve companies with revenues between 150,000 and 500,000 euros (48.1%).
According to data from this fifth edition, 67.3% of firms increased their revenue during 2025, the highest percentage in the last five years, and 68.6% grew their client portfolio, reflecting a very positive dynamic. Furthermore, forecasts for the coming months remain favorable: 63% expect to increase their income in 2026, also the highest value in the entire historical series analyzed.
Technology has largely marked the sector’s evolution over the past five years. Digitization has gone from being an option to improve efficiency to becoming one of the main competitiveness factors, with the sector decisively advancing towards cloud-based models, collaborative environments, and increasingly automated processes.
A digital transformation marked in this edition by artificial intelligence; what barely a year ago began to emerge as a trend is now being rapidly incorporated into the daily work of firms: 70.5% of advisors state they already use artificial intelligence in their professional activity, representing a 66.3% increase over last year, a figure that evidences the speed with which this technology is being adopted.
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Beyond automation
However, the importance of AI does not lie solely in task automation; its true impact is in the ability to free up time, improve productivity, and allow professionals to focus their efforts on higher value-added activities. Technology is thus fostering a much deeper transformation: the evolution of the advisor’s role itself towards strategic support, one of the most consistent trends identified by the Advisory Barometer throughout its various editions.
Today, clients seek not only regulatory compliance but also guidance, judgment, and support. And the report indicates that more than half of firms (50.9%) plan to focus on advisory and value-added tasks thanks to technology, helping companies interpret regulatory changes, identify risks, seize opportunities, and plan their growth.
Data:
– 67% of advisory firms increased their revenue during 2025, the highest percentage in the last five years.
– 70.5% of professionals in the advisory sector state they already use artificial intelligence in their daily work.
Despite observed advances, the sector continues to face significant challenges. One is increasing regulatory complexity, which constitutes the main challenge of the profession, according to 63.7% of respondents: the succession of regulatory changes in areas such as invoicing or labor obligations is increasing the workload and forcing firms to remain constantly updated.
Challenges in attracting talent also persist: 74% of firms are concerned about the lack of qualified profiles, and 53.4% identify generational turnover as a risk; additionally, 57% consider their profession unattractive.
Five years after its inception, the Advisory Barometer allows a clear view of the direction the sector is taking. Technology, artificial intelligence, specialization, and strategic advice are not isolated trends but elements that are part of a broader transformation of the professional model.
The professional firm is strengthening its role within the business ecosystem, but it does so from a different position than a few years ago: more digital, more specialized, and more oriented to generating value. And from this repositioning, not only will the profession become more attractive and attract new talent, but it will also offer better service to the business fabric in an increasingly complex environment. And, based on the data collected over these five years, all signs point to this evolution process having only just begun.
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