The Accounting Technology Lab

The technology M&A market is sending some unusually clear signals about where the industry is headed. In ATL277, Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley examine a wave of acquisitions involving AI, semiconductors, data platforms, streaming, automation, and accounting technology—and what those deals may mean for accounting professionals. The discussion ranges from Lattice Semiconductor's acquisitio...

In ATL276, Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley sit down with Alexis Kingsbury, author of Accrual Intentions , to unpack what he learned from building a deliberately extreme experiment: an accountancy practice staffed by eleven AI agents with their own roles, personalities, and responsibilities. Kingsbury explains that the project began as part parody and part management-science experiment, but qui...

Episode Summary AI may feel like a flat monthly subscription today, but ATL275 argues that the economics are moving toward a metered, multi-model market. Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley examine AI routers, token marketplaces, and agent orchestration—tools designed to let firms choose different models for different jobs rather than committing every task to one vendor. Brian explains why OpenRou...

ATL274 — Alliances, AI, and Self-Funding! Oh My! Guest: Dan Pinkous, Founder & CEO, Truss Hosts: Randy Johnston and Brian F. Tankersley, CPA.CITP, CGMA Podcast: The Accounting Technology Lab Publisher/Sponsor: CPA Practice Advisor Release Date: September 11, 2026 Approximate Runtime: 28:26 Primary Topics: Tax workflow, artificial intelligence, technology partnerships, client experience, adviso...

ATL273 — Reinventing Your Practice with Advisory With Guest Nancy Sperry of Sage Episode: ATL273 Release date: September 4, 2026 Hosts: Randy Johnston and Brian F. Tankersley, CPA.CITP, CGMA Guest: Nancy Sperry, Senior Vice President of U.S. Partner Sales, Sage Approximate runtime: 33 minutes Primary topic: Using trusted AI, agentic automation, and the Sage partner ecosystem to move accounting pro...

In ATL272, “The Gathering Storm,” Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley argue that AI is changing cybersecurity faster than many accounting firms are changing their defenses. The issue is not simply smarter phishing or more malware. AI can automate reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, exploit development, credential testing, and lateral movement at machine speed, while open-weight models and fal...

Episode Summary: ATL271 - Why Your WISP Is Essential in 2026 Podcast Page/Subscription Links: https://podcast.cpate.ch Wiki Page: ATL271 - CPA Tech Wiki In ATL271, “Why Your WISP Is Essential in 2026,” Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley explain why a written information security plan is no longer a compliance document that can sit on a shelf. Accounting firms hold concentrated stores of tax, fina...

ATL270: Hardware Hullabaloo - Episode Summary Hardware is once again a strategic business issue—not merely an IT purchasing decision. In ATL270, Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley examine how cybersecurity concerns, new processor families, and extraordinary component-price increases are reshaping technology plans for accounting firms and home offices. They begin with aging consumer routers, warni...

ATL269 — Microsoft Agent 365 Program: Accounting Technology Lab Hosts: Randy Johnston and Brian F. Tankersley, CPA.CITP, CGMA Approximate runtime: 31 minutes Resource: 100 Free AI Prompts for Accounting - https://cpate.ch/100-prompts-atl Primary topic: Governed deployment, monitoring, security, and economics of enterprise AI agents 200-Word Episode Summary In ATL269, Randy Johnston and Brian Tanke...

ATL268 — Scaling New Heights 2026, Part Two is an episode of the Accounting Technology Lab podcast hosted by Randy Johnston and Brian F. Tankersley, CPA.CITP, CGMA. In Part Two of their Scaling New Heights 2026 recap, Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley examine what the conference revealed about artificial intelligence, accounting platforms and the profession’s readiness for change. They describe...

ATL267 – AI Is the Ultimate Accounting Assistant, Part Two Guest: Sasha Orloff, Co-founder and CEO of Puzzle Hosts: Randy Johnston and Brian F. Tankersley, CPA.CITP, CGMA Program: Accounting Technology Lab, presented by CPA Practice Advisor Episode length: Approximately 10 minutes Episode Summary In part two of the conversation with Puzzle co-founder and CEO Sasha Orloff, the Accounting Technology...

Title: ATL266 — AI Is the Ultimate Accounting Assistant Wiki: ATL266 - CPA Tech Wiki Guest: Sasha Orloff, CEO of Puzzle Hosts: Randy Johnston and Brian F. Tankersley, CPA.CITP, CGMA Publisher/Sponsor: CPA Practice Advisor AI Is the Ultimate Accounting Assistant—But the Accountant Is Still Accountable In ATL266, hosts Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley speak with Sasha Orloff, CEO of Puzzle, about...

In this episode of the Accounting Technology Lab, Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley discuss Scaling New Heights 2026 from Orlando and unpack why this year’s theme, "Strange New World," feels especially relevant for accountants. Randy shares observations from the conference floor, including strong attendance, a large exhibitor presence, sessions on AI, data cleanup, SOPs written with AI, and main...

Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley record on-site in Orlando to debrief a packed week around AICPA ENGAGE 2026 and the annual Thought Leader/40 Under 40 mashup. They open with the Rise 2040 vision project, highlighting mega-trends like the profession’s “great identity shift,” AI as a strategic force multiplier, globalization, and the emerging “trust paradox” created by artificial intelligence. Th...

In this episode of the Accounting Technology Lab, Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley welcome Kashif Ali, founder of TaxGPT, for a discussion on why general-purpose AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are not sufficient for professional tax research and advisory work. Kashif shares his unconventional journey from journalism to software development and entrepreneurship, ultimately leading...

In this episode of the Accounting Technology Lab, Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley provide an in-depth recap of the 2026 Black Ore AI Tax Summit held at Nasdaq Tower in New York City. The event brought together many of the accounting profession’s most influential leaders, technology innovators, managing partners, and AI experts to discuss the rapidly evolving future of AI-powered tax preparatio...

The accounting profession continues to struggle with fragmented systems. Documents arrive through email, text messages, portals, and cloud storage systems, while workflow management, client communication, and document storage often exist in separate applications.    In this episode (ATL261), Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley review Keyveve (https://www.keyveve.com) , a platform designed to solve...

(Note - a previous version of this episode had a gap in the audio, so we re-rendered the audio and have reposted the episode.) The accounting profession is on the verge of a major transformation in document management. In this episode of the Accounting Technology Lab, Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley examine how artificial intelligence is reshaping the way firms capture, organize, search, and p...

In this memorable and surprisingly emotional episode of the Accounting Technology Lab , Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley reflect on the “dead pool” of accounting and business software — products that have already disappeared or are approaching end-of-life support. The conversation blends humor, nostalgia, and serious operational warnings for accounting firms still relying on aging technology. T...

In this episode of the Accounting Technology Lab, Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley welcome Donny Shimamoto of the Center for Accounting Transformation and high school student Arpan Grewal to discuss one of the accounting profession’s most urgent challenges: recruiting the next generation of talent. The conversation explores how outdated perceptions of accounting continue to discourage students...

In this episode of the Accounting Technology Lab, hosts Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley explore the alarming implications of Anthropic’s experimental AI security model known as “Mythos.” The discussion centers on how advanced AI systems are dramatically accelerating cyberattack capabilities, vulnerability discovery, exploit chaining, and zero-day attacks. The hosts compare Mythos to a “cyberse...

In this episode of the Accounting Technology Lab, Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley tackle a critical strategic decision for accounting firms: whether to adopt an all-in-one software suite or build a best-of-breed technology stack. They explore how suites from providers like Thomson Reuters and Wolters Kluwer offer convenience through integrated workflows, unified interfaces, and simplified vend...

In this episode of the Accounting Technology Lab , Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley explore how generative AI is actively reshaping accounting practices—not as a future concept, but as a present-day operational tool. They break down where AI is already embedded in workflows, from document processing and OCR to client communication, research, and advisory services. The discussion emphasizes that...

In this episode of the Accounting Technology Lab , hosts Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley welcome CPA and entrepreneur Eric Eager to explore the emerging concept of Decision Intelligence —the next evolution beyond AI. While AI delivers probabilistic, text-based outputs, Eager explains that Decision Intelligence is deterministic, proactive, and auditable, combining AI, data science, business int...

This episode of the Accounting Technology Lab delivers a behind-the-scenes look at the 2026 CPA Practice Advisor Thought Leader Symposium, where leading voices in accounting technology gathered to discuss the profession’s future. Hosts Randy Johnston and Brian Tankersley explore key themes including AI integration, “vibe coding,” private equity’s growing influence, and the evolution of client acco...