CPA Trendlines Podcasts

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  Blake Christian: Why CPAs, Family Offices, & Investors Are Paying Attention to OZ 2.0 | Holistic Guide 23.09.2026 25นาที

  Proper entity structure, timing, and compliance are critical to maximizing the next phase of Opportunity Zone benefits.The Holistic Guide to Wealth ManagementWith 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 first phase of the OZ program expires at the end of 2026, but Blake Christian, CPA, says the program is entering a new phase (OZ 2.0) that could dramatically expand its impact across operating businesses, infrastructure, AI data centers, and rural America.MORE Rory Henry | THE HANDBOOK Holistic Guide to Wealth Management | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkWhile many investors initially focus on the tax deferral aspects of Opportunity Zones, Christian explains that the program delivers three separate benefits.
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  Rachel Anevski: Your Next Leader Will Not Develop by Accident | The Disruptors 22.09.2026 1ชม. 19นาที

  Replace informal succession practices with trained mentors and measurable opportunities for growth.The DisruptorsWith Liz FarrFor CPA TrendlinesFor 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.According to Rachel Anevski, that approach is no longer sustainable.Anevski, president and CEO of Matters of Management and managing director of leadership and people at Winding River Consulting, says we must become far more intentional about training, mentoring, and retaining their next generation of leaders.MORE Disruptors with Liz Farr | CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkAs she describes in her book, Train Your Successor, the greatest weakness in the traditional model is its lack of deliberate preparation. The book’s title, inspired by her doctoral research on training and retention, comes from advice given by her first mentor, Ted Dudek.“His talk to everyone was that retention and the future perpetuity of the firm were solely reliant on whether or not you could successfully train your successor,” Anevski tells The Disruptors host Liz Farr.
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  Michael Hoover: Growth Without Discipline Comes at a Cost | Big 4 Transparency 21.09.2026 41นาที

  Disciplined choices, talent investment, and cultural alignment matter more than chasing every opportunity.Big 4 TransparencyBy Dominic Piscopo, CPAFor CPA TrendlinesAs 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 host Dominic Piscopo on The Big 4 Transparency Podcast to explain why the firm considers independence central to its growth strategy—and why saying no may be one of the most important disciplines a growing firm can develop.MORE Dominic Piscopo | MORE Private Equity | MORE Pay & Compensation“The biggest bet,” Hoover says, “is just remaining fiercely independent.”That commitment shapes how Bennett Thrasher approaches everything from new service lines and acquisitions to recruiting and compensation. Rather than pursuing growth for its own sake, Hoover says the firm is working toward a long-term strategy for 2030 and scrutinizing whether each opportunity advances that vision.In a market where firms are searching for new revenue streams, the temptation to pursue the latest “shiny object” can be powerful. But every new initiative consumes capital, leadership attention, and talent. Hoover argues that firms must examine not only an opportunity’s potential revenue, but also what they may have to postpone or abandon to pursue it.
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  Your Org Just Announced a Major Change. Now What? | Accounting Voices 19.09.2026 15นาที

  Protect your credibility and career options by responding with calm, connection, and purpose.Accounting VoicesWith Rob BrownAn email arrives. A town hall appears on the calendar. Leaders begin using words such as “merger,” “sale,” “new ownership,” “restructuring,” or “strategic reset.”Suddenly, the change that once felt theoretical becomes personal.For accounting professionals, these announcements can trigger immediate questions about job security, leadership, culture, client relationships, and the future of the organization. Some people freeze. Others panic, withdraw, overshare, or rush to update their LinkedIn profiles.MORE Accounting Voices with Rob BrownBut this episode of Accounting Voices argues that change itself does not necessarily damage careers. How people respond to it often matters more.As private equity investment, mergers, leadership turnover, technology pressures, and evolving business models reshape the profession, the ability to cope with uncertainty is becoming a career-defining skill. Professionals who remain composed, connected, and useful during periods of disruption can strengthen their reputations and create new opportunities.The episode outlines four practical moves for navigating the days and weeks after a significant announcement.
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  Calvin Harris: The Future of Accounting Belongs to Those Willing to Rethink Everything | Gear Up for Growth 18.09.2026 41นาที

  Accounting teams should be intentionally designed around technology, outsourcing, and evolving organizational structures Gear Up for Growthwith Jean Caragherfor CPA Trendlines“We're at a time where we have multiple generational changes happening all at the same time," says Calvin Harris Jr., CEO of the New York State Society of CPAs, during a recent episode of Gear Up for Growth, hosted by Jean Caragher, president, Capstone Marketing, and powered by CPA Trendlines.According to Harris, technology, alternative practice structures, outsourcing and changing workforce expectations are converging to reshape the future of public accounting. Firm leaders must look beyond today's headlines and begin rethinking how their firms operate, develop talent and deliver value to clients.MORE Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | MORE Gear Up for Growth here MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming Network hereAlthough artificial intelligence dominates much of today's discussion, Harris believes technology is just one piece of a much larger transformation. "You can't be effective in this work anymore without also being effective in technology,” he says. “You will get lapped in terms of how efficient people can be."Rather than viewing AI as a standalone initiative, Harris encourages firms to think strategically about how technology supports new business models, enhances advisory services and improves the client experience.
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  Tony Wilson: Career Options CPAs May Be Overlooking | Accounting Conversations 17.09.2026 34นาที

  Extraordinary opportunities lie ahead for those who combine accounting knowledge with curiosity, judgment, and business insight.Accounting ConversationsWith Chayton FarleeCenter for Accounting TransformationAccounting students often feel pressure to choose the perfect career path before they have taken their first professional step. Tony Wilson, CPA, CMA, offers a more forgiving — and practical — approach: Choose a direction, start moving, and learn along the way.“Sometimes, just choose the thing,” Wilson says. “Just go after it.”In this episode of the Accounting Conversations Podcast, host Chayton Farlee, an assurance associate at CliftonLarsonAllen, talks with Wilson, founder of Accquip, about building a career that stretches from public accounting and corporate finance to entrepreneurship and fractional CFO services.MORE Center for Accounting Transformation | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkAlong the way, Wilson shares candid advice for students and early-career accountants who want to gain meaningful experience, prepare for firm ownership, and understand where they can create value in a profession transformed by technology.
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  Donny Shimamoto: Build Careers That Bend, Not Break | MOVE Like This 16.09.2026 38นาที

  Flexible systems help accounting professionals remain, contribute, and advance when life’s responsibilities change.MOVE Like ThisWith Bonnie Buol RuszczykFor CPA Trendlines ResearchWhen caregiving responsibilities collide with work, even the most committed professionals can find themselves questioning whether their careers are still sustainable.In this episode of MOVE Like This, Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies and inspiration architect at the Center for Accounting Transformation, joins Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk to discuss what accounting firms can do to better support employees with caregiving responsibilities. Drawing from his own experience as a caregiver and his firm's long-standing flexible work model, Shimamoto explains why supporting caregivers isn't about creating complicated new policies. Instead, it's about building thoughtful systems, training managers, and planning work in ways that recognize employees have lives outside the office.MORE MOVE Like This | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkShimamoto shares how becoming a caregiver for his great-aunt changed his own perspective on the issue. While many people associate caregiving with raising young children, his experience highlighted how responsibilities for aging parents, relatives, and others often arrive unexpectedly and affect employees across every stage of their careers. Rather than viewing caregiving as a temporary accommodation for a small group of employees, he believes firms should recognize it as a reality that will affect nearly everyone at some point in their lives. That shift in thinking changes how organizations design policies, manage workloads, and retain experienced professionals. 
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  Kenji Kuramoto: AI Agents Are Coming for SALY — and the Billable Hour | The Disruptors 15.09.2026 1ชม. 15นาที

  Intelligent agents will reshape accounting workflows, pricing models, employee development, and the value firms deliver to clients.The DisruptorsWith Liz FarrFor CPA TrendlinesKenji Kuramoto says accounting firms will be changing how they work — and even who does the work.“The future of accounting firms,” Kuramoto says, “is going to be made up of a workforce that has two components. It’ll have people and agents.”His current company, Basis, where he serves as managing partner in residence, is building those agents. Kuramoto says approximately 30% of the top 25 accounting firms are using them across client accounting services, tax, and audit. The agents perform multistep workflows such as reconciliations, account categorization, and first-pass tax return preparation, including work on complex partnership returns.MORE Disruptors with Liz Farr | CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkBy the end of the year, Kuramoto expects some practice lines to achieve efficiency gains of 60% to 80% by using agents. Within a year, “we should probably be able to see agents working and collaborating together, overall, being directed and architected by people,” he says.
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  Jason Ackerman: The Roth IRA Mistakes That Can Cost Clients | The Concierge CPA 14.09.2026 46นาที

  The strategy may be simple, but the execution is not.The Concierge CPAWith Jackie MeyerIn this episode, Dr. Jackie Meyer, CPA, welcomes Jason Ackerman, CPA, CFP, CGMA, chief financial officer and co-founder of WealthRabbit, to separate practical Roth IRA guidance from the oversimplified advice circulating online. MORE Jackie Meyer | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkRoth IRAs can provide tax-free growth and qualified withdrawals, but eligibility rules, reporting requirements, and conversion mechanics leave plenty of room for costly mistakes. Meyer and Ackerman examine direct contributions, backdoor Roth strategies, the often-misunderstood five-year rules, and the documentation advisers need to implement these strategies correctly.A central warning: A backdoor Roth is not a product or a one-click transaction. It is a multistep process that requires advisers to examine the client’s existing IRA balances, properly report nondeductible contributions and conversions, and reconcile Form 8606 with Form 1099-R.“Messing up the backdoor Roth is probably the one that can hurt the most,” Ackerman says.
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  Can AI Finally Tame the K-1? 10.09.2026 31นาที

  K1x Is Betting $175 Million on It.Full show notes hereBy Seth FinebergFor CPA TrendlinesK1x is putting $175 million in new investment behind an expansion of its K-1 technology platform, with plans to accelerate product development, broaden its offerings and build a more standardized system for managing partnership tax data.MORE K1x: K1x Secures $175 Million for Private Markets AI Tax Tech | Private Market Tax Is Heading for a Collision | The 3-Part Framework Firms Are Using to Fix K-1 Chaos | Why the Future of Tax Isn’t Compliance—It’s Timing | AI Tax App Crashes Financial Stocks on Wall Street | MORE A.I. | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming Network CEO John LaMancuso says the company is pushing beyond automating individual K-1 tasks. K1x wants to connect K-1 creation and aggregation into a unified platform that can move tax data among CPA firms, investment funds and investors with less manual handling.“Start with the bottleneck, not the technology,” LaMancuso says.MORE > > > 
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  Agentic AI Needs Guardrails, Not Hype | ARC 10.09.2026 28นาที

  Accountants should demand systems that reveal the work, respect boundaries, and produce results humans can verify.Accounting ARCWith Donny Shimamoto, Liz Mason, and Byron PatrickCenter for Accounting TransformationAgentic AI does not have to replace an accountant to transform accounting. Its more practical role may be far less dramatic — and far more useful.In this episode of the Accounting ARC podcast, Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA; Liz Mason, CPA; and Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, explore how narrowly focused AI agents can help professionals retrieve information, analyze data, navigate systems, and make better-informed decisions.MORE Accounting ARC: AI Isn't Erasing Tax Careers. It's Rewriting Them. | Accounting Internships Need an Upgrade | The CPA Career Nobody Talks About | Conference Season Exposes Accounting's Knowledge Gap | The Feedback Mistake That Costs You Your Best People | Is Your Boss Really the Problem? | Most Accountants Are Missing This AI Shift | AI Can Fix Your Workflow—or Break It in Seconds | Efficiency Is the Wrong Goal for AI | Accounting’s Hidden Talent Risk: The Sandwich Generation | Built Fast. Sold Faster. Broken Later? The Truth About Accounting Tech | Recognize When You Need to Recharge Before You Burn Out | Valuing More Than the Balance SheetTheir conversation challenges one of the dominant narratives surrounding agentic AI: that firms should build autonomous digital employees capable of handling everything a staff accountant does. Instead, the hosts envision specialized agents that operate within structured systems, perform clearly defined tasks, and show users how they reach their conclusions.“If you have agentic AI that’s built into an architecture that already exists, there’s a whole lot more that has to happen from a training perspective,” says Mason, CEO of High Rock Accounting.That architecture, she explains, can include multiple agents working together rather than one agent attempting to handle an entire assignment.
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  AI Isn’t Erasing Tax Careers. It’s Rewriting Them | ARC 03.09.2026 45นาที

  Firms must build new pathways that develop reviewers, judgment and client-facing skills.Accounting ARCWith Donny Shimamoto, Liz Mason, and Byron PatrickCenter for Accounting TransformationArtificial intelligence may not eliminate the entry-level tax professional. But it is dismantling the job that many firms still use to train one.That's the conversation driving a new episode of the Accounting ARC podcast featuring Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC and founder and inspiration architect for the Center for Accounting Transformation; and Liz Mason, CPA, CEO of High Rock Accounting.The conversation begins with a small tax firm that hires six interns each year and teaches them to prepare returns much as earlier generations learned: working from paper documents, identifying relevant numbers, mapping those figures to tax forms, and entering the data into tax software.MORE Accounting ARC: Accounting Internships Need an Upgrade | The CPA Career Nobody Talks About | Conference Season Exposes Accounting's Knowledge Gap | The Feedback Mistake That Costs You Your Best People | Is Your Boss Really the Problem? | Most Accountants Are Missing This AI Shift | AI Can Fix Your Workflow—or Break It in Seconds | Efficiency Is the Wrong Goal for AI | Accounting’s Hidden Talent Risk: The Sandwich Generation | Built Fast. Sold Faster. Broken Later? The Truth About Accounting Tech | Recognize When You Need to Recharge Before You Burn Out The firm owner sees the process as an apprenticeship that helps students bridge the gap between an individual tax course and real-world preparation. Shimamoto sees value in teaching interns how information moves from source documents to a completed return. Mason agrees with the objective but challenges the method.“From a holistic learning exploration, sure, yes, that is a way to learn,” Mason says. “From a where-we-are-today perspective, I think that’s a giant disservice to these interns.”
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  Leah Yoneda: Stop Mistaking Networking for Business Development | MOVE Like This 02.09.2026 45นาที

  Sustainable growth comes from cultivating trust over time—not collecting contacts, memorizing sales scripts or forcing professionals into uncomfortable networking routines.MOVE Like ThisWith Bonnie Buol RuszczykFor CPA Trendlines ResearchIn this episode of MOVE Like This, Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk sits down with Lea Yoneda, founder and CEO of Golden Ginkgo Group, to explore why so many talented accounting professionals struggle with business development and why the problem often has less to do with personality than with how firms define, teach, and reward growth.Yoneda argues that firms frequently wait until professionals are on the doorstep of partnership before introducing business development, then expect them to master an entirely different skill set with little guidance or support.MORE MOVE Like This | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkRather than treating relationship building as a long-term professional competency, many firms reduce it to a one-time training session or a list of networking tactics. She believes this approach sets professionals up for unnecessary stress and overlooks the fact that meaningful business development takes years to develop. A significant portion of the conversation focuses on introversion and the misconceptions surrounding it.
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  Erin Pohan: How to Help Your Clients Understand Accounting | The Disruptors 02.09.2026 55นาที

  Connect with your clients: "You're an entrepreneur, I'm an entrepreneur."Full show notes hereThe DisruptorsWith Liz FarrErin Pohan’s firm, Upkeeping, is on a mission “to make accounting relevant and understandable” to all its clients. Pohan describes Upkeeping as “a tax-ready firm” that does everything but tax prep, which they hand off to the clients’ tax professionals. But their hand-off doesn’t stop with providing the tax pro with the information needed for the tax return.MORE Liz Farr | CPA Trendlines Streaming Network“We don’t believe in just handing pieces of paper over to our clients and letting them run with it,” she explains. “We do work with them throughout the year. We do our client calls where we’re explaining the numbers and the stories behind the numbers, especially, and making sure that they feel equipped and empowered to understand their business finances.” MORE > > > 
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  Shelly Weir: Florida CPAs Save Their Licenses. For Now | Gear Up for Growth 28.08.2026 35นาที

  FICPA CEO Shelly Weir says the profession survived its most serious deregulation fight yet. The threat isn’t confined to Florida. Full show notes hereGear Up for GrowthWith Jean CaragherFor CPA TrendlinesFlorida CPAs came closer than many realized to losing the regulatory structure behind the CPA license, as a sweeping deregulation drive threatened the state Board of Accountancy and raised the possibility of a credential weakened to the point that “anybody could put those letters behind their name,” according to Shelly Weir, president and CEO of the Florida Institute of CPAs.MORE Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | MORE Gear Up for Growth here | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming Network here“The elimination of the CPA license altogether – or having a license so degraded and devalued that anybody could put those letters behind their name – I don’t know what terrifies me more,” Weir tells Jean Caragher in this episode of Gear Up for Growth.READ MORE > > > 
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  Blake Carroll: The CPA Exam Isn’t Testing How Smart You Are | Accounting Conversations 27.08.2026 47นาที

  PwC consultant and CPA exam coach says success depends less on being the smartest person in the room and more on managing time, building effective habits, and continuing after setbacks.Accounting ConversationsWith Chayton FarleeCenter for Accounting TransformationThe greatest obstacle standing between most CPA candidates and their licenses is not intelligence. It is time. That distinction matters, says Blake Carroll, CPA, a deployment consultant with PwC who helps aspiring CPAs develop the plans, habits, and mindsets they need to pass the exam.“I truly believe anyone can pass it,” Carroll tells host Chayton Farlee on the Accounting Conversations podcast. “It’s not a test of intelligence. It is a test of endurance.”MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkIn the episode, Carroll and Farlee, an assurance associate at CliftonLarsonAllen, explore what makes the exam so difficult — and why the skills candidates develop while preparing for it can continue serving them long after they earn their licenses.Carroll knows candidates must master a large volume of technical material, often while working full time, attending school, or managing family responsibilities. They must sustain that effort for months and sometimes longer, without the frequent deadlines and feedback that help structure a college course. The resulting pressure can lead candidates to question whether they are smart enough, moving quickly enough, or studying the right way.“Anxiety can kill more CPA dreams than the difficulty of the material,” Carroll says.
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  David Podell: The Retirement Plan Provision Most Tax Advisers Overlook | The Concierge CPA 24.08.2026 31นาที

  Solo 401(k)s let you think beyond retirement.Full show notes here.The Concierge CPAWith Jackie MeyerIn this episode of The Concierge CPA, Dr. Jackie Meyer welcomes back David Podell, founder of Business Benefits Consultants, to unravel the evolving world of retirement planning and its strategic value for business owners.MORE Jackie Meyer and The Concierge CPA | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkPodell explains the solo 401(k)’s advantages over simpler plans like SEPs or SIMPLEs, dives into common mistakes business owners make, and shares how smart structuring — including leveraging Roth contributions and defined benefit add-ons — can elevate retirement planning from compliance to strategy.“Putting money in these retirement plans pulls money out of the business and creates a personal net worth," Podell says.MORE > > >  
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  Jim Metzler: The Profession’s Best Are Walking Away from Partnership | Gear Up for Growth 21.08.2026 43นาที

  Firms, not candidates, are to blame for a generation of superstars declining the summons.Show notes hereGear Up for Growthwith Jean Caragherfor CPA TrendlinesFew voices carry more weight on the question of who becomes a partner, and why, than Jim Metzler’s.So when the former AICPA vice president and longtime mentor to emerging firm leaders says the profession’s top performers are hesitating at the threshold of partnership, firm owners would do well to listen.MORE Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | MORE Gear Up for Growth here | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming Network hereIn the new episode of “Gear Up for Growth,” hosted by Jean Caragher of Capstone Marketing, Metzler lays out why – and what separates the firms that keep their stars from the ones that lose them.“The bigger the superstar in the firm, the more they say, ‘I’m really not sure if I want to be a partner,'” says Jim Metzler, founder of Metzler Advisory Group and author of “The Emerging Partner Playbook: A Complete Guide for Emerging Partners in CPA Firms,” this edition of “Gear Up for Growth,” powered by CPA Trendlines and hosted by Jean Caragher, president of Capstone Marketing.READ MORE > > > 
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  Can Gen Z and Boomers Speak the Same Business Language? | ARC 20.08.2026 34นาที

  As workplace language evolves, effective professionals know their audience and adapt their message.Accounting ARCWith Byron Patrick, Donny Shimamoto and Liz MasonCenter for Accounting TransformationEvery generation enters the workplace speaking a slightly different language.For Generation Z, that language may include phrases such as “delulu,” “mid” and “fire.” For earlier generations, the dated vocabulary might sound different, but the underlying challenge remains familiar: How do people bring their authentic voices to work while still communicating professionally?MORE Accounting ARC: Accounting Internships Need an Upgrade | The CPA Career Nobody Talks About | Conference Season Exposes Accounting's Knowledge Gap | The Feedback Mistake That Costs You Your Best People | Is Your Boss Really the Problem? | Most Accountants Are Missing This AI Shift | AI Can Fix Your Workflow—or Break It in Seconds | Efficiency Is the Wrong Goal for AI | Accounting’s Hidden Talent Risk: The Sandwich Generation | Built Fast. Sold Faster. Broken Later? The Truth About Accounting Tech | Recognize When You Need to Recharge Before You Burn Out | Valuing More Than the Balance SheetIn this episode of the Accounting ARC podcast, Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA; Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP; and Liz Mason, CPA, examine the supposed language barrier separating Generation Z and baby boomers — and question whether it is really as new or insurmountable as some portray it.Their conclusion is less about memorizing the latest slang and more about developing an essential power skill: adaptability.
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  Shannon Stone-Winding: The Workforce Was Built for a Life That No Longer Exists | MOVE Like This 19.08.2026 39นาที

  As caregiving responsibilities expand across generations and definitions of family, employers have an opportunity to rethink how work gets done — and keep valuable people in the process.MOVE Like ThisWith Bonnie Buol RuszczykFor CPA Trendlines ResearchIn this episode of MOVE Like This, Shannon Stone-Winding, President and CEO of the Business Alliance of Colleges and Employers (BACE), joins Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk to explore caregiving through a much broader lens: what does it mean for an organization to truly care for its people?Shannon brings both a professional and deeply personal perspective to the conversation. In addition to her work connecting employers, colleges, and emerging talent, she has spent 20 years as the primary caregiver for her husband, a 100% service-connected disabled Marine Corps veteran.MORE MOVE Like This | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkThat experience has shaped how she thinks about caregiving, workplace culture, and what employees need to remain and thrive in their careers.Shannon’s current caregiving research grew from a conversation at a diversity symposium, where accounting professionals began sharing examples of how firms were responding to employees’ changing needs.