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79episodes
Episodes
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What If the Best Accounting Job Isn't in Tax or Audit? | Accounting Conversations
1w ago00:39:27Tap to summarizeThe profession's fastest-growing opportunities help business owners make decisions—not just balance the books.Accounting ConversationsWith Chayton FarleeCenter for Accounting TransformationFor many accounting students, the profession appears to offer two primary destinations: tax or audit.But what if that's only part of the story?In the latest episode of Accounting Conversations, host Chayton Farlee, an assurance associate at CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), welcomes Kaden Cook, CPA, CMA, a virtual CFO with Anders, for a conversation that challenges many of the assumptions students have about accounting careers. MORE Podcasts Cook's own career follows a path that many students may not realize exists. He begins with bookkeeping, gains experience in accounts receivable and accounts payable, discovers outsourced accounting and eventually finds his way into advisory services, where he helps business owners make financial decisions rather than simply report financial results.That distinction becomes one of the central themes of the conversation.
Transcribe →The Most Expensive Promotion Your Firm Can Make | MOVE Like This
1w ago00:34:54Tap to summarizeIt may create costly leadership gaps that affect engagement, retention, and firm performance.MOVE Like ThisWith Bonnie Buol RuszczykFor CPA Trendlines ResearchPromotions are meant to strengthen an organization. But when firms elevate top performers without preparing them to lead, those promotions can become some of the most expensive decisions they make. The result is often disengaged employees, overwhelmed managers, and avoidable turnover. MORE MOVE Like This | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming Network In this episode of MOVE Like This, Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk talks with Megan Robinson, founder and CEO of E Leader Experience, about why leadership isn't a natural next step for every high performer—and what firms can do to build leaders intentionally instead of hoping they'll figure it out.Originally published May 13, 2026
Transcribe →Is Your Boss Really the Problem? | ARC
2w ago00:53:29Tap to summarizeThe hardest workplace lesson isn't spotting a bad manager—it's recognizing when you're standing in your own way. Accounting ARCWith Liz Mason and Byron PatrickCenter for Accounting TransformationIn a candid, unfiltered episode of Accounting ARC, Liz Mason, CPA, CEO of High Rock Accounting, and Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, senior product manager at Karbon and co-founder of TB Academy, confront one of the profession’s most relatable—and uncomfortable—topics: bad bosses. But the conversation goes further than workplace horror stories. Mason and Patrick explore a more nuanced reality: sometimes the boss is the problem—and sometimes it's the employee. MORE Accounting ARC: 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 Sheet | Accounting’s “Untalked-About” Frontier | Why Happiness is Hard-Fought for High Achievers | The Fastest Way to Lose Talent Is “Dick Leadership” | Post-Holiday Fatigue Isn’t a Failure; It’s a Signal | OCR, Research Bots & Meeting Assistants: What Actually Helps Now | Return Season is the New Stress Test | Small Firms May Have the Biggest Advantage in 2026 | Downgraded: What the DOE Said About Accounting | “We wanted to talk about this topic because it’s really important to understand when you’re the problem, when your boss is the problem, and what acceptable boundaries are,” Mason says early in the episode.Unpack real stories about bad bosses, miscommunication, and the career lessons that come with both. This episode challenges how accountants think about leadership, accountability, and growth. Originally published May 28, 2026.
Transcribe →Denise Froemming | The CPA’s Secret Formula Hiding in Plain Sight | Holistic Guide
3w ago00:27:02Tap to summarizeModernizing the Profession Without Losing Its Core. Full show notes hereThe Holistic Guide to Wealth ManagementWith Rory Henry, CFP®, BFA™It’s no secret that the accounting profession is undergoing one of the most significant transitions in its history. Firms are more likely to sell to private equity than to other accounting firms. Technology is reshaping workflows. Worker shortages are forcing firms to rethink talent pipelines. But through it all, public trust remains the foundation on which everything rests.MORE Rory Henry | THE HANDBOOK Holistic Guide to Wealth Management | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkThat tension — protecting what makes the profession trusted while adapting to what the market demands — defines the moment.Few leaders sit closer to that tension than Denise LeDuc Froemming, President and CEO of CalCPA, the nation’s largest state CPA society.READ MORE > > >
Transcribe →Freeman, Dixon: AI Is Quietly Stealing Your Best Clients | Gear Up for Growth
3w ago00:49:42Tap to summarizeEvery client relationship is now up for renewal—and every partner has to learn how to compete. Full show notes hereGear Up for Growthwith Jean Caragherfor CPA Trendlines“The relationship gets you in the door, but it doesn't get you the work,” says Karen Freeman, chief product officer, DCM Insights, and co-author of Activator Advantage: What Today's Rainmakers Do Differently, in this episode of Gear Up for Growth, powered by CPA Trendlines and hosted by Jean Caragher, president of Capstone Marketing. "Once it's competitive, it's a lot harder to differentiate based on your past relationship."MORE Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | Gear Up for Growth is tailored specifically for public accounting firms with up to 100 team members looking to expand their practices intelligently and efficiently. | MORE Gear Up for Growth here | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming Network hereFreeman and co-author Matt Dixon, founding partner of DCM Insights, reflect on what they have learned one year after the release of their bestselling book. They discuss how AI, changing buyer behavior and increasing competition are reshaping growth strategies for accounting and advisory firms. Firms that rely on traditional relationship-based growth models risk falling behind.READ MORE > > >
Transcribe →Art Werner: Five Rules for Trump Accounts | Quick Tax Tip
3w ago00:07:22Tap to summarizeThese accounts offer unique contribution opportunities, strict investment guidelines, and a pathway to future retirement savings. Full show notes hereQuick Tax TipWith Art WernerCPE TodayArt Werner outlines the five key rules advisors and families should understand when considering these accounts.MORE Art Werner | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkDesigned as long-term savings vehicles for children, these accounts offer unique contribution opportunities, strict investment guidelines, and a pathway to future retirement savings.MORE > > >
Transcribe →Most Accountants Are Missing This AI Shift | ARC
3w ago00:37:38Tap to summarizeThe profession is changing in ways that go far beyond automation.Accounting ARCWith Donny ShimamotoCenter for Accounting TransformationIn a profession often defined by structure, standards, and well-worn career paths, Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, opens a different kind of conversation in a recent Accounting ARC episode—one that challenges assumptions about what it means to build a career in accounting.His guest, Danielle Supkis Cheek, embodies that challenge.As senior vice president of AI, analytics and assurance at CaseWare, Supkis Cheek operates at the intersection of technology, methodology, and human judgment. But her path there was anything but linear—and that, Shimamoto suggests, is exactly the point. MORE Accounting ARC: 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 Sheet | Accounting’s “Untalked-About” Frontier | Why Happiness is Hard-Fought for High Achievers | The Fastest Way to Lose Talent Is “Dick Leadership” | Post-Holiday Fatigue Isn’t a Failure; It’s a Signal | OCR, Research Bots & Meeting Assistants: What Actually Helps Now | Return Season is the New Stress Test | Small Firms May Have the Biggest Advantage in 2026 | Downgraded: What the DOE Said About Accounting | Supkis Cheek describes her role less as a technologist and more as a translator. “I like to think of myself as someone who translates across domains,” she says, explaining how she helps software companies understand how accountants actually work—and how technology can reshape those workflows.Originally published May 7, 2026
Transcribe →Chelsea Sowers: From Bitcoin Barbie to AFWA President-Elect | MOVE Like This
3w ago00:47:20Tap to summarizeA roller derby skater, crypto auditor, and accounting leader shares why belief, sponsorship, and community shape the future of the profession.MOVE Like ThisWith Bonnie Buol RuszczykFor CPA Trendlines ResearchIn this episode of MOVE Like This, Chelsea Sowers, incoming President of the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA), audit manager specializing in cryptocurrency assurance with The Network Firm, and “Bitcoin Barbie” on the Atlanta Roller Derby team, joins Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk to discuss leadership, retention, mentorship, and the realities shaping women’s careers in accounting today. MORE MOVE Like This | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming Network | JOIN MOVE 2026 At the center of the conversation is a recurring challenge within the profession: attracting women into accounting is only part of the equation. Retaining and advancing them into leadership remains a persistent issue. Sowers argues that women often receive access to the profession without receiving a roadmap for advancement. Flexibility, mentorship, sponsorship, and community increasingly matter to younger professionals, particularly those entering the workforce after major disruptions like COVID. Firms may focus heavily on recruitment while overlooking what keeps talented people engaged years later.
Transcribe →Ira Rosenbloom: PE Forces Firms to Pick a Future | The Disruptors
3w ago00:54:01Tap to summarizePE makes CPA firms rethink strategy – even if they don't want to sell. Show notes hereThe DisruptorsWith Liz FarrFor CPA TrendlinesWith private equity becoming “a real player and a disruptor in the marketplace,” Ira Rosenbloom, CEO of Optimum Strategies, says, the dramatic influx of capital is intensifying competition for quality firms, especially those with strong client bases and growth potential.MORE DISRUPTORS: Candy Bellau: The $350 Pricing Mistake that Nearly Broke this Boutique Firm | The Disruptors | Poe: What P.E. Really Wants from Firms | The Disruptors | Blake Oliver: Build a Biz that Runs Without You | Daiber: Use Succession as a Growth Strategy | Cannon: Busy Season is Self-Inflicted | Carroll: When One Person Can Break the Firm | Rampe: Build a Roadmap Even When the Road’s Not There | Chang: Killing SALY, One Agent at a Time | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkFirms that PE wouldn’t touch are now being approached by brokers without accounting industry experience, hired by PE groups striving to “build an engine,” Rosenbloom says. But the unwanted attention has “helped some of the smaller firms quickly decide they don't want to go down that path.” So they “take themselves out of the running for a PE situation quicker because of a better understanding of what private equity wants,” he explains.READ MORE > > >
Transcribe →Allan Koltin: What Elite CPA Firms Do Differently | Gear Up for Growth
4w ago00:39:19Tap to summarizeThe best firm build accountability cultures, develop climbers, and make tough calls.Full show notes hereGear Up for GrowthWith Jean Caragherfor CPA Trendlines Research“Some firms dream of being great but only are willing to make the commitment to be good,” Allan Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, says in the new episode of Gear Up for Growth with host Jean Caragher. “Leadership is the delta that separates all.”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 hereKoltin says the gap between elite firms and average firms keeps widening, and leadership is the defining factor. Widely recognized as one of the profession’s top consultants, he argues that firms chasing high performance must stop avoiding hard decisions, embrace accountability, and rethink what leadership means.“You can have the same clients, same talent pool, same market opportunities, and one firm ends up in the upper quartile while another struggles,” Koltin says. “The difference is leadership.”READ MORE > > >
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