CPA Trendlines Podcasts

“This isn’t a flash in the pan. This is an actual structural change in the profession.” Big 4 Transparency By Dominic Piscopo, CPA For CPA Trendlines Private equity in public accounting is often reduced to a caricature - buy, cut, flip. Tim Brackney, CEO of Springline Advisory, says that framing misses what many accounting investments are actually trying to do: fund a growth thesis built around ex...

Burnout pushed him to rethink growth, rebuild his processes, and make room for a better life. The Disruptors With Liz Farr For CPA Trendlines  When Nick Boscia joined his father's accounting firm in 2013, it was like stepping back in time. “When I joined, we were still using like the green ledger sheets,” he recalls. “I started in 2013, and it was like it was 1980.” Today, Boscia is known as the B...

Leaders reveal a widening gap between adopting new capabilities and building firms that can use them effectively. Accounting Voices With Rob Brown A firm buys powerful technology, announces ambitious growth plans, and asks an already stretched team to deliver more. The tools change. The way the business operates barely moves. Accounting Voices explores the strain inside that scenario. Drawing on r...

Nontechnical teams can use AI-built scripts to automate repetitive work, reclaim valuable time, and turn an accounting firm’s operational problem into a marketable product. It's Not Just the Numbers With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead For CPA Trendlines Most accounting firms talk about AI automation in the future tense. They're waiting for the right tool, the right vendor, or the right moment...

Building an accounting tool with AI is only the beginning of making it useful, secure, and sustainable. Innovation Insights With Donny Shimamoto and Byron Patrick Center for Accounting Transformation An accountant builds a dashboard that pulls information from several systems. A proposal generator turns service selections into a polished PDF. A homemade utility eliminates a tedious step in the mon...

Leaders must align everyday decisions with the flexibility, innovation, and growth they promise employees. MOVE Like This With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk For CPA Trendlines Research In this episode of MOVE Like This , Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk sits down with Kassi Rushing, strategist and speaker with Kassi Rushing Consulting, to explore what future-ready accounting firms need from their people strategies, an...

A five-layer “AI trust stack” helps auditors put AI to work while keeping professional judgment at the center. The Disruptors With Liz Farr For CPA Trendlines As AI takes on more audit work, David Marquis sees professional judgment becoming more valuable. The Caseware CEO argues that the opportunity extends beyond faster document reviews and automated analysis. Firms can rethink how audits work wh...

Leaders face growing questions about influence, identity, and professional relevance. Accounting Voices With Rob Brown An accounting firm can keep its clients, meet its deadlines, and remain profitable while the people inside it quietly wonder whether they still belong in its future. As technology, ownership models, and expectations reshape the profession, Accounting Voices examines the questions...

An AI engineer can help accounting teams tackle bottlenecks, streamline workflows, and build capacity. It's Not Just the Numbers With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead For CPA Trendlines For years, accounting firm owners have treated the "next hire" question as a simple one: bring on another accountant. However, that assumption is starting to cost firms real time and money. In this recent case st...

Practical experience, thoughtful questions, and strong communication help students build careers that reach beyond the classroom. Accounting Conversations With Chayton Farlee Center for Accounting Transformation A perfect GPA can open a door. It cannot explain a client’s financial story, replace practical experience, or demonstrate how someone responds when there is no answer key. For accounting s...

Employees lose stability and firms lose money through churn Big 4 Transparency By Dominic Piscopo, CPA For CPA Trendlines A growing body of compensation data suggests that accounting firms may be unintentionally penalizing their most loyal employees. In a recent solo episode of the Big 4 Transparency, founder Dominic Piscopo unpacks what he calls the “loyalty tax” — the pay gap between internally...

Curiosity, problem-solving, and creative habits help strengthen marketing, improve client experiences, and bring more humanity to an AI-driven profession. The Disruptors With Liz Farr For CPA Trendlines Karen Reyburn, managing director of We Are PF and author of the new book Accountants, You Are Creative , wants accountants to embrace their innate creativity. Reyburn's first book, The Accountant M...

Technology, consolidation, and changing expectations expose weaknesses in business strategies. Accounting Voices With Rob Brown Accountants help clients plan for growth, manage risk, and prepare for uncertainty. But what happens when they turn that same scrutiny on their own firms? The answers may be uncomfortable. In this episode of Accounting Voices , reflections from 48 interviews conducted in...

The expectation that tax preparation can happen instantly is creating real pressure. It's Not Just the Numbers With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead For CPA Trendlines Tax season is supposed to be predictable. The work comes in, the work goes out, the deadlines hold. But this year, something broke for accounting firms across the board — and it wasn't the tax code. The culprit wasn't client volum...

ARC hosts debate credentials, accountability, and the risks of advice that exceeds a provider’s expertise. Accounting ARC With Liz Mason, Donny Shimamoto, and Byron Patrick Center for Accounting Transformation A business owner asks for financial reports. A bookkeeper delivers them. For years, the arrangement appears to work — until another accountant examines the numbers and discovers that the rep...

When leaders admit they don’t have all the answers, they create room for others to contribute. MOVE Like This With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk For CPA Trendlines Research Randy Crabtree founded an accounting firm, then came to a difficult realization: Being its founder didn’t make him the right person to lead it. His decision to step aside as managing partner of Tri-Merit opens a bigger conversation abou...

"People don't want to work themselves to death for a third of the year." The Disruptors With Liz Farr For CPA Trendlines Logan Graf, owner of The Graf Tax Co and founder of the Counter community, is proof that there’s a better way to run a tax firm. Last tax season, after restructuring, hiring a manager, and implementing a tax scheduling system, neither he nor his manager worked more than 40 hours...

"I make more money now, but more importantly, I'm not miserable." Big 4 Transparency By Dominic Piscopo, CPA For CPA Trendlines Jaimie Nichols expected her accounting practice to grow faster. Two years after leaving firm life, she is glad it didn’t. Nichols started the practice around the time she learned she was going to become a mother. Now, she tells host Dominic Piscopo on The Big 4 Transparen...

Accounting teams must ensure their people can recognize anomalies, challenge outputs, and apply sound judgment. It's Not Just the Numbers With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead For CPA Trendlines AI is everywhere in accounting right now. It's in your inbox, on the Super Bowl, and probably inside at least one tool your firm uses for tax prep. But there's a conversation happening inside serious acc...

The profession isn't slowing down, but accountants can build clarity, visibility, and career capital to move forward with greater control. Accounting Voices With Rob Brown Accountants have spent years preparing for demanding work. Far fewer are prepared for what happens when the nature of that work changes almost overnight. Artificial intelligence, private equity, mergers, leadership changes, shif...

AI, talent development, pricing, and advisory services demand action now — even when leaders do not have all the answers. Gear Up for Growth with Jean Caragher for CPA Trendlines The accounting profession has no shortage of predictions about its future. But RISE2040 is designed to be something different: a future shaped by the profession itself and a practical framework for deciding what to do nex...

Even a small volunteer commitment can deliver lasting professional and personal returns. Accounting ARC With Donny Shimamoto and Byron Patrick Center for Accounting Transformation A single meeting changed the trajectory of Byron Patrick’s career. Early in his career, the owner of Patrick’s firm, who was serving as chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs, invited him to come along to a meeting. P...

Proper entity structure, timing, and compliance are critical to maximizing the next phase of Opportunity Zone benefits. The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management With Rory Henry, CFP®, BFA™ A decade ago, federal Opportunity Zones (OZ) were introduced as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs act to encourage long-term investment into economically distressed communities through tax incentives. The firs...

Replace informal succession practices with trained mentors and measurable opportunities for growth. The Disruptors With Liz Farr For CPA Trendlines For decades, accounting teams have assumed future leaders would emerge through the normal progression of the ranks. The best seniors would become managers, and the best managers would become partners, ready to step into the shoes of retiring leaders. A...

Disciplined choices, talent investment, and cultural alignment matter more than chasing every opportunity. Big 4 Transparency By Dominic Piscopo, CPA For CPA Trendlines As private equity reshapes the accounting profession, Bennett Thrasher is making a different kind of bet. The top 100 firm intends to remain independent. Michael Hoover, Bennett Thrasher’s chief growth and strategy officer, joins h...