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Bissett Bullet: What Are Your Clients Working On?

Today’s Bissett Bullet: “There is arguably as big an opportunity for many firms to generate more revenue from their existing client base as there is in seeking new business, although it should not be exclusive or at the expense of the firm’s new client growth.”

By Martin Bissett

How many of your Grade B and C clients have the potential to become Grade A clients? By examining which services your existing clients currently use you for and maintaining dialogue with those existing clients to identify other needs that are not currently being addressed, you may find yourself in a position to introduce additional support.

The key to this approach is investing time and effort into strengthening client relationships and making sure you know what it is those clients are working on at any given time.

Today’s To-Do:

Identify three Grade B or C clients who you believe have the potential to become Grade A clients, given the opportunity. Do you know what they’re working on at the moment? Time to pick up the phone and find out.

See more Bissett Bullets here

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The Skill That May Matter More Than Your CPA License | ARC

Connection, community, and trust create opportunities that credentials alone cannot.

Sponsored by True Advisor: The Definitive Success Guide for Client Advisory Services by Hitendra Patil |
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The step-by-step operating guide for firms building, pricing, and scaling advisory services that clients value—and pay for.

Accounting ARC
With Liz Mason and Byron Patrick
Center for Accounting Transformation

In the accounting profession, technical excellence is expected. However, according to the latest episode of Accounting ARC, relationships — not just work product — often determine who grows, who leads, and who thrives. 

In a candid and deeply personal conversation, Liz Mason, CPA, and Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, explore how relationship-building shapes careers, creates opportunity, and provides stability in an unpredictable profession.  

MORE Accounting ARC: The Real Problem with AI in AccountingAI Can Fix Your Workflow—or Break It in Seconds | Efficiency Is the Wrong Goal for AI | Accounting’s Hidden Talent Risk: The Sandwich GenerationBuilt Fast. Sold Faster. Broken Later? The Truth About Accounting Tech | Recognize When You Need to Recharge Before You Burn OutValuing More Than the Balance Sheet | Accounting’s “Untalked-About” FrontierWhy 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 NowReturn Season is the New Stress Test | Small Firms May Have the Biggest Advantage in 2026 | Downgraded: What the DOE Said About Accounting |

Mason, CEO of High Rock Accounting, opens the discussion by reflecting on how little emphasis the profession places on teaching interpersonal skills. Patrick, senior product manager for Karbon and co-founder and part-time educator for TB Academy, agrees. “You don’t learn it in college,” he says. “There’s no course on building relationships.”

That gap, they argue, becomes especially obvious early in a professional’s career. 

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Accounting Enrollment Surges as Profession Rebuilds Its Talent Pipeline

chart
Trends in the number of college accounting majors compared to salaries in the industry. Enrollments are up 5.7 percent so far this year and so is pay. (CPA Trendlines Research)

 

56,000 new accounting majors since 2023.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Accounting programs at U.S. colleges and universities are seeing a resurgence after years of decline, providing fresh evidence that the profession’s talent shortage may be easing.

MORE The Fastest-Growing Jobs in Accounting Are Not Accounting Jobs | Crowdsourced Salary Data Sparks Accounting Change | Retention Isn’t About Perks or Paychecks Anymore | Why CPAs Quit Public Accounting | Students Who Get Ahead Don’t Wait for Graduation | The Staffing Problem Nobody Talks About | New CPA Licensure Pathway Opens Doors to Talent |  | Gen Z Surges into Accounting for All the Reasons Your Mother Told You

MORE in Pay & Comp | Staffing & Recruiting

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New data from the National Student Clearinghouse and the AICPA show that accounting is now outperforming most other business disciplines in attracting undergraduate students.
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The Cost of Losing Clients

Money coming out of sink faucet and going down drain

Yes, you can put a number on it, and it might be bigger than you expect.

By August Aquila
MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention

It’s important to remember that the most valuable asset of any professional services firm is its clients.

Losing clients can be costly, but do you really know how much it can cost you? Let’s find out.

MORE by August J. Aquila
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The first step is to track client attrition. Be honest with yourself here. It’s important to know how many clients leave each year and why they leave. Most clients don’t leave because of fees. There are two main reasons people leave:

  1. You didn’t spend enough time with them (lack of service/attention).
  2. They didn’t receive sufficient value for the fees paid.

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Guillaume Turmel: What Genuine Workplace Inclusion Feels Like Beyond Policies & Programs | MOVE Like This

“Inclusion often depends on whether people are willing to communicate, listen, and repair misunderstandings when they happen.”

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by True Advisor: The Definitive Success Guide to Client Advisory Services by Hitendra Patil | See Today’s Special Offer 

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MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines Research

In this episode of the MOVE Like This podcast, Bonnie Ruszczyk sits down with Guillaume Turmel, a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne whose research focuses on how people experience genuine inclusion in the workplace. Drawing from his own experiences working internationally, helping launch an LGBTQ+ employee resource group, and observing the disconnect between strong DEI programs and employees still feeling “slightly off,” Guillaume explores why inclusion is far more personal and complex than most organizations assume.

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One of the most compelling parts of the conversation centers around Guillaume’s comparison of inclusion to “love languages.” He explains that organizations often focus heavily on the actions they believe create inclusion, such as policies, programs, or leadership behaviors, without spending enough time understanding how those efforts are actually experienced by employees.
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