The market is heating up
Deal flow is back. Firms that hesitate risk missing the window.
- The Wall Street Journal reports that early August 2025 was the busiest M&A week since 2021.1
- Deal volume is increasing, especially in the Consumer, Industrials, Healthcare, and Financial Services sectors
- Megadeals like Union Pacific’s $71.5B acquisition of Norfolk Southern are driving a wave of consolidation1
- At Makosi, we’re seeing firms from the Big 4 to middle-market to investment banks with immediate needs for high quality TAS (Transactional Advisory Services) consultants
- Confidence is up, activity is high, and firms are burning through capacity just trying to keep up. Big banks like Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Citigroup have ramped up hiring amid a wave of IPOs and M&A activity. JPMorgan alone added over 100 managing directors in its global banking division over the past year, while other firms have paused layoffs entirely to stay ahead of deal flow.2
- Even with the recent SEC slowdown caused by the U.S. government shutdown, firms are still preparing to move. TAS teams need to be ready the moment the window reopens.3
With many TAS practices now operating with a fraction of the capacity they had just three years ago and deal volume accelerating, most firms are trying to figure out how to quickly mobilize and scale-up capacity.
Fear and FOMO: The real risk
Firms are hesitating, not because the deals aren't there, but because the risk of moving too fast feels greater than the risk of standing still. There's a fear that speed will cut into quality, that clients will notice, and that reputations will suffer. But while teams wait for the perfect moment, others are actively building relationships and closing deals. It’s an early bird & worm scenario.
Clients are choosing firms that can show up ready, deliver without delay and scale without drama. Those that have figured out how to move fast without dropping the ball are pulling ahead, and once they're there, they're hard to chase down.
Meanwhile, internal capacity is shrinking. Churn is up, hiring is tough and teams are running lean. Every new deal stretches resources thinner, and there's no slack left to absorb the pressure. The longer firms hold back, the harder it becomes to catch up.
This market doesn’t wait.
The problem: deal demand is rising, but teams can’t scale fast enough
Finding experienced TAS consultants at speed is tough. One common solution has been to move auditors or consultants from other practices into FDD roles. It can work over time, but it’s not a fast fix. Upskilling takes months, sometimes more than a year, and most managers don’t have the capacity to coach. Clients aren’t paying for someone to learn on the job.
Audit professionals are trained to be thorough and cautious, which works in an audit file but slows things down in a deal environment. FDD requires speed, commercial instinct, and the confidence to make quick calls when the data isn’t perfect. The required upskilling takes time, often more than a year, and most managers don’t have the bandwidth to coach. Clients aren’t paying for someone to learn on the job.
At the same time, deals keep coming. Teams are stretched, the market is moving, and expectations are high. Firms that can’t respond quickly are losing mandates to competitors who can.
This isn’t just about resourcing. It’s about agility. In a market that shifts daily, the ability to scale up or down at pace is what keeps your pipeline moving and your team in control.
How to scale your TAS business
1. Don’t build from scratch
- Form pods of deal-experienced professionals.
- Avoid overloading your current team with training duties.
2. Use structured, purpose-built training
- Leverage proven programs like the Makosi TAS Learning Academy.
- Focus on skills that matter now: QoE, Net Working Capital, Net Debt, databook analytics, capital allocation, value creation, and industry-specific patterns.
3. Promote strategically
- Identify internal talent who can shift from audit to advisory.
- Pair them with experienced FDD consultants for real-time learning.
4. Stay flexible
- Use scalable, project-based staffing to adapt to demand.
- Choose consultants who can deliver from day one.
5. Build an elastic bench
- Expand with speed during deal spikes
- Contract without cost during market slowdowns
- Agility protects margins and keeps your delivery model aligned with live pipeline, not long-term projections
The Makosi model
We help firms move fast without cutting corners. Our TAS team has supported thousands of deals and is backed by a TAS learning academy built by seasoned deal professionals. Every consultant is trained, tested, and ready to deliver in under 24 hours.
Clients consistently rate our work between 4.5 and 5 out of 5 across hundreds of engagements.
The window is open, but for how long?
The market is moving fast, and your FDD capability needs to keep pace while staying agile enough to adapt.
If you are still building your bench, you’re already behind. Close the gap before you miss the next deal.
Why Makosi is built for this moment
Traditional offshoring models were never designed to support the speed, flexibility, and precision required in today’s TAS environment. Overnight time zones, transactional output, and back-office roles don’t meet the urgency or complexity of deal work.
Makosi is different.
We offer high-performing deals consultants with 6 to 8 hours of real-time overlap, seamless cultural alignment, and client-facing delivery. Our consultants are interchangeable with US CPAs and supported by agile, tech-enabled staffing so you can scale fast without compromising quality.
Where traditional providers give you rigid supply and inconsistent execution, Makosi delivers agility and consistently high performance.
We support every stage of the deal lifecycle.
Makosi deploys TAS teams across:
- Financial Due Diligence (FDD) – Buy-side and sell-side
- Valuations – Including deal support and financial reporting under ASC and IFRS standards
- Post-Merger Value Creation (PMI) – From operations and supply chain to retention planning
Every Makosi TAS consultant is trained through our structured TAS Learning Academy and can step into any stage of the process (preparation, analysis, reporting, or close) with speed and confidence.
When deals move fast, you need a partner that’s already moving.
Makosi is purpose-built to help firms respond with precision, scale instantly, and deliver on every deal without delay.
1 - It’s a Scorching Hot Summer for Deals on Wall Street. Vacation Can Wait. - WSJ
2 - Morgan Stanley, Goldman, JPMorgan Ramp Up Hiring During IPO and Dealmaking Boom - WSJ
3 - Wall Street regulator eases IPO path during government shutdown | Reuters
