The Modern CPA Success Show

Most CPA firms benchmark pay with salary data that’s a year or more old by the time they see it. Dominic Piscopo, a CPA and founder of Big 4 Transparency, joins Tom Wadelton and Adam Hale to share what his crowdsourced salary database reveals about manager pay, the loyalty tax, the shrinking path from intern to manager, and the skills that will make CPAs more marketable. Key Takeaways: Stale data...

The podcasters are back for their third holiday draft, and this time it’s Halloween candy. The Anders VCFO team held a team retreat last week and the entire team voted on who had the best candy picks. Adam Hale, Jamie Nau, Joey Kinney, and Hannah Hood bring Roxanne Raynor into the room for six rounds of snake-style drafting. Everyone gets to stick a rival with one candy, and at the end they trade...

Office space is the second biggest cost in almost every service business, and most firm owners can't say how it's being used. Christopher Burke, an Australian CPA and founder of the workplace management platform Hybrid Hero, joins Tom Wadelton and Adam Hale to talk about how CPA firms can reduce real estate costs in a hybrid workplace, close the gap between hybrid policy and actual behav...

Most firms think their competition is the CPA office down the street. Jody Padar, co-founder of XcelLabs and the original Radical CPA, says that is not even close. In this episode, she joins Tom Wadelton and Adam Hale to talk about why AI's real job in accounting is making CPAs more human, not replacing them, and how her company built a coaching tool that scores advisors on authenticity and c...

Most CPA firms still run their billing off a timesheet nobody trusts. Jason Ackerman's firm hasn't tracked one since 2013. In this episode, Tom Wadelton and Adam Hale sit down with Jason Ackerman, Co-Managing Partner at BNA CPA Advisors and Co-Founder & CFO of WealthRabbit. Jason shares how BNA moved to fully fixed-price billing, uses a simple three-tier cleanup pricing model, and me...

Most accounting firm owners assume the big, PE-backed players have an unbeatable head start on AI.  In this state-of-the-industry conversation, Joey Kinney, Virtual CFO at Anders, pinch-hits for Tom Wadelton and sits down with Adam Hale, Partner at Anders, for an unscripted look at where AI is actually changing accounting advisory work right now. Fresh off a live Basis AI conference with the top 1...

Most CPA firm owners know their revenue. Far fewer know how a buyer would value the business behind it. Brannon Poe, founder of Poe Group Advisors, joins Tom Wadelton and Adam Hale to break down the factors that make an accounting practice more attractive to buyers. After working on hundreds of CPA firm sales and acquisitions, Brannon has seen which operational decisions strengthen value and which...

AI is changing more than the speed of accounting work. It is changing what firms can sell and how clients measure value. Shawn Yeager, founder of Upshift, joins Tom Wadelton and Adam Hale to discuss how AI is reshaping pricing and service design across professional services. After three decades commercializing emerging technology, including work on Microsoft’s first browser team, Shawn now helps f...

Most accounting firms have the talent to deliver real CFO-level advisory work. They just have not built the path to get there.  In this episode, Tom Wadelton sits down with Hannah Hood, VCFO Principal at Anders, to talk about what it actually takes to grow accounting talent from senior accountant to trusted CFO. Hannah has lived the full journey from bookkeeper to controller in industry, to VCFO P...

The accounting profession is opening up. The firm owners who see that clearly right now are the ones who will come out ahead.  Tom Wadelton and Adam Hale share key takeaways from the LEA (Leading Edge Alliance) North American Regional Conference 2026, one of the top CPA firm conferences in the industry. They cover what the profession's biggest thinkers are saying about where accounting firms...

AI is shrinking the time it takes to do accounting work and for firm owners still billing by the hour, it is quietly shrinking their revenue, too.  Mark Wickersham, mentor to over 400 accountants at Value Pricing Academy Ltd, tackles the two skills separating profitable accounting firms from overworked ones: value pricing and AI. Mark has spent 25 years teaching accountants how to stop trading hou...

You built your CPA firm from the ground up. So why does it feel like it is running you instead of the other way around?  Geraldine Carter, Founder and Business Coach at Geraldine Carter LLC, talks about what it really takes for CPA and accounting firm owners to stop overworking, start charging what they are worth, and design a firm that fits the life they want. Geraldine has spent a decade coachin...

AI is already here. If you are still billing by the hour and running your team on timesheets, you are building on a foundation that is cracking fast.  Blake Oliver, Founder and CEO of Earmark and one of Accounting Today’s top 100 most influential people, talks about the billing revolution happening right now in accounting. Blake breaks down why the billable hour is the root of inefficiency in acco...

Your CPA firm is growing but is your team growing with it?  Terrell Turner, co-founder of TLTurner Group, talks about how growing CPA firms can take control of their capacity. Terrell shares the exact framework his firm uses to measure workload, standardize processes, and know with confidence when to add more clients without overwhelming the team. Terrell brings a manufacturing mindset to accounti...

Still trying to grow your firm by working more hours? That approach has a ceiling. Ryan Lazanis, CPA and founder of Future Firm, shares what he learned building and selling an online accounting firm from scratch, and why most firm owners stay stuck running a practice instead of a business. You will hear why clarity on what you actually want comes first, why your service packages need to sell a tra...

Still pricing by the hour? You are limiting your cash flow.   Ron Baker, founder of VeraSage Institute and co-founder of THRESHOLD, talks about why the billable hour fails business owners and what to do instead. You’ll hear why pricing is a core skill, why mindset blocks change, and why most firms stay stuck even when better models exist.  Learn how fixed pricing removes surprises and builds trust...

If you want cash flow freedom, you cannot separate money from leadership. Your revenue, team performance, pricing power, and long-term stability all reflect how you lead. Scotty Scarano, Rapping Custodian at Accounting High, shares how he is reshaping how people view accounting, financial literacy, and career development.   Listen to how to Build Cash Flow Freedom Through Leadership. Resources: ●...

You can’t afford to plan your finances based on how things used to work. Cash flow pressure, pricing changes, technology shifts, and new reporting demands are forcing business owners to think ahead instead of reacting late. Daniel Hood, Editor in Chief of Accounting Today, on where business finance is heading and what small business owners should prepare for now. You learn how advisory services, v...

Running a business is more than putting out fires and checking boxes. Thinking like an owner changes how you make decisions and lead your team. Chad Davis, co-founder at LiveCA LLP & AutomationTown.io, joins the conversation to explore what it truly means to behave like a business owner. You'll hear real talk on financial ownership, setting priorities, letting go of control, and why emoti...

As a small business owner, you wear a lot of hats and it’s easy to feel like the pressure never stops.  Randy Crabtree, Co-Founder of Tri-Merit Specialty Tax Professionals, shares lessons that push you to rethink how you run your finances. He talks about passion, problem solving, and building systems that help you get better cash flow, and long‑term stability for your business. You’ll hear how he...

Being the boss doesn’t automatically make you a business owner. Running a business requires you to think differently, act strategically, and lead with clarity. Chris Papin, CPA, Attorney & Business Advisor at Papin Speaks, talks about what it really means to behave like a business owner. From facing hard truths about failed marketing to balancing emotional attachment with accountability, Chris...

Bringing in the right people can transform your CPA firm. Hiring is a strategic move that drives your growth. If you're looking to make smarter hiring decisions, this episode is for you. Will Spengler, founder of Frederick Fox, shares how his team finds strong controller and finance candidates in markets like Dallas, and what firms should do to stay competitive. You’ll get insights into how r...

If your numbers feel disconnected from your decisions, it’s time to change that. Profit-Focused Accounting helps you align operations so you can stop guessing and start leading with confidence. Discover a clear roadmap to financial maturity with the five pillars of profit-focused accounting. Learn how to build cash flow that supports growth, know why accurate and timely reporting must come first,...

You started your business to grow, not to get stuck in spreadsheets. Today, smart tools make it easier than ever to stay ahead. In this episode of The Modern CPA Success Show, we sit down with Jeff Seibert, CEO and co-founder of Digits, to explore how AI is transforming small business finance. We cover how Digits uses machine learning to automate up to 93% of bookkeeping, how their proprietary led...

In today's rapidly evolving financial landscape, small business CFOs are navigating complexities that demand more than spreadsheets and manual processes. In this episode of The Modern CPA Success Show, Ahikam Kaufman, co-founder and CEO of SafeBooks AI, explains how AI is transforming financial operations, enhancing data integrity, and streamlining decision-making.  With over 20 years of expe...