Update with Kelly Partners Group (KPG.AX/KPGHF): The Buy and Build Leaders in Accounting Services

In this Business Breakdown, David Barbato sits down with Kelly Partners Group’s (KPG.AX/KPGHF) CEO Brett Kelly. The company was originally profiled by Adrián Hernández on April 7, 2021, at $2.01 AUD per share.

This discussion took place live on August 12th, 2026, on the MicroCapClub Community. Join MicroCapClub and unlock the ability to listen and participate live in these discussions - microcapclub.com/#join

Brett Kelly is the founder and CEO of Kelly+Partners Group Holdings (KPG.AX/KPGHF), the accounting group he started in 2006 and listed in 2017. It now runs 42 businesses with around 100 partners under its partner-owner-driver model, and has grown revenue from $30 million at IPO to a run rate of roughly $165 million.

In this episode, Brett explains why he sees AI as an enabler for accounting firms rather than a threat, and why he has stopped publishing the group's playbook. He walks through how a list of everything he and three partners disliked about the firms they had worked in became a 204-point implementation checklist, and why leadership quality decides whether it ever gets used. He also addresses the margin loan he took during a family emergency this year and the 50% share price fall that cost him 14% of his shareholding, along with what comes next: acquiring multi-office firms, a listing outside Australia, and a Constellation-style long-dated debt structure.

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Chapters

00:00 – Intro
01:37 – Twenty years in
02:11 – AI as part of the ecosystem, not the whole ecosystem
05:05 – Why they won't publish the playbook
06:42 – The 30–50% of accounting work nobody ever paid for
09:41 – Leadership is the X factor, not cost cutting
12:44 – Humility as the trait that lets people keep learning
14:25 – The 204-point checklist and the "shit list" that built it
21:25 – Why professional services firms can't keep people
22:46 – Being a doctor for numbers
23:53 – What makes a partnership work: progress
27:03 – Win-win, lose-lose
28:53 – Incentives, disincentives, and personal values
30:39 – The margin call: what actually happened
39:17 – Valuation, shareholders, and why there's no buyback
42:18 – The case for staying public
43:33 – The next move: acquiring whole groups
44:26 – The US listing and a Constellation-style debenture
46:29 – The ten-year vision: Berkshire, LVMH, Constellation
51:48 – How you build a brand in a "boring" industry
53:48 – Select people who like people
55:18 – Taking the model into other professions
57:51 – Why he became an accountant