According to the fifth edition of the Wolters Kluwer Consulting Barometer, the sector confirms a period of transformation towards a more strategic, technological professional firm focused on client support.
The report analyzes the present and future of the sector, and this year outlines a profession in full transformation, marked by digitalization and the emergence of artificial intelligence, with 71% of advisors already using artificial intelligence in their daily work, 66% more than last year.
“After five years taking the pulse of the sector, the Advisory Barometer is consolidating itself as a privileged observatory of its evolution and allows us to look at the profession with perspective in a time of unprecedented transformation. Regulatory changes, digitalization and artificial intelligence are redefining the way of working of advisors and accelerating their evolution towards a more strategic, technological and higher added value model,” said Bas Kniphorst, EVP & Managing Director of Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting Europe.
Increased billing and number of clients
The study identifies a business fabric made up mostly of small offices (77% have less than 10 employees), although increasingly professionalized and with a clear desire for growth. 67% increased their billing during 2025 and 69% increased their client portfolio, evidencing a positive evolution compared to the previous year, when 64% increased their billing and 68% increased their number of clients.
The fifth edition of the Advisory Barometer reflects that technological evolution is accelerating a transformation of the role of the advisor, increasingly oriented towards support functions and services with greater added value. Thus, 68% of consultancies already give high importance to digitalization, more than 11 points more than in 2025.
84% highlight that technology frees up time by reducing monotonous and repetitive tasks and allows it to be dedicated to functions of greater value; 51% anticipate that their activity will focus more on advice than on administrative procedures, while 38% consider that they favor a more consultative professional profile. In parallel, artificial intelligence emerges as a key tool to reinforce this strategic value of the advisor: 55% believe that it improves the client advisory service and 46% that it optimizes the processes themselves.
Automation and efficiency as the main benefit
The use of AI has expanded significantly in the last year: 71% of advisors use it in their daily work, compared to 42% last year, which represents a growth of almost 70%. Automation and efficiency are positioned as the main benefit of AI for 71% of offices, although respondents show concern about the quality of the data (63%) and the lack of experience and internal training (53%). In addition, search and productivity solutions through AI are positioned as the main technological priority for implementation for the coming years, indicated by 27%.
The cloud and the collaborative work model with clients continue to gain weight: 53% of consultancies already work with a hybrid model of cloud and local solutions, five points more than in 2025, while 74% already use or plan to implement a collaborative model thanks to cloud technology.
In the same way, there is significant progress in the digital maturity of clients of professional offices: the percentage of companies with a low level of digitalization reduces to 22%, compared to 39% registered in 2025, while the average level grows to 68% from 55% in 2025 and companies with a high level of digital maturity practically double and reach 10%.
Regulatory overload, the main challenge of the sector
Regulatory pressure continues to be the main challenge for professional firms, according to 64% of advisors. 95% say that regulatory developments increase their workload and 78% turn to software solutions to manage this impact, compared to 71% in 2025.
The cloud and the collaborative work model with clients continue to gain weight: 53% of consultancies already work with a hybrid model
Knowledge about the new billing regulations also increases: 85% claim to be up to date with the Anti-Fraud Law (Verifactu) and the Crea y Crece Law (electronic billing), two points more than in 2025 and more than 11 points above 2024. However, doubts persist about the preparation of the business fabric, since 61% of law firms consider that the majority of companies are still not prepared to face these changes (a percentage lower than 74% registered in 2025).
Another of the regulations analyzed is the future digital time registration. 82% of consultancies are up to date with this legal development, although they recognize that 54% of their clients continue to register time manually. On the other hand, more than half of the offices (54%) claim that they already have adapted software and that 33% of their clients also use time registration software, an increase of 28% compared to last year.
The report also reveals that relevant structural challenges persist in the sector, especially linked to talent: 57% of firms recognize difficulties in recruiting professionals, the same as in 2025, mainly due to the lack of qualified profiles, according to 74% of consultancies, 10 points more than last year. 57% of advisors consider that the advisory profession is not attractive, mainly due to the excessive bureaucratic and administrative burden (85%) and the low social recognition of the profession (58%), factors that condition the attractiveness of the sector and the generational change, identified by 54% as a risk.
