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Cornerstone

The Fastest-Growing Jobs in Accounting Are Not Accounting Jobs

CPAs Not Wanted: Firms Build a New Workforce – without Accountants

CPA firms have added just 3,930 accountants and auditors in the last five years, far fewer than the expansions in sales, finance, technology, project management and data science.

By CPA Trendlines
Cornerstone Report

CPA firms are building a new workforce, and they’re doing it without CPAs.

Firms are hiring thousands of new staffers in jobs that look less like traditional accounting and more like sales, systems and management, according to new data parsed by CPA Trendlines.

MORE Private Equity’s Accounting Playbook Is Shifting from Dealmaking to Operating Systems | Why CPAs Quit Public Accounting | Inside Tax Season’s Hidden Shift: Same Work, Fewer People, Higher Cost | MORE Cornerstone Reports | Outlook & Analysis | Staffing & Recruiting | Surveys & Research | Tax | Pay & Compensation |

The public accounting profession has added 3,930 accountant and auditor positions since 2021, which pales in comparison to the 12,250 new sales representatives, 11,140 new financial managers, or 8,130 new computer and information systems managers. Firms added 4,370 new software developers and 4,190 new project management specialists. They also added 2,210 new data scientists. Even the number of chief executives has grown faster.

The pattern shows firms are not simply replacing missing CPAs and CPA candidates. They are building a different kind of firm, with more people assigned to sell services, manage clients, run systems, build software and coordinate projects. CPAs need not apply. READ MORE →

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Private Equity’s Accounting Playbook Is Shifting from Dealmaking to Operating Systems

Prove It: PE-Backed Firms Must Now Deliver on Their Big Strategies

CPA Trendlines CPA-PE Deal Tracker™ — May 2026

Target Platform/Buyer Sponsor Funding Strategy
Jackson Thornton Ascend Alpine Investors PE-backed Wealth management, Gulf Coast expansion
Jefferson Wells U.S. Sikich Bain Capital involvement Institutionally backed Consulting and staffing capabilities
Copeland Buhl Frazier & Deeter — Conventional M&A First Midwest footprint
Price Kong Aprio Charlesbank PE-backed Arizona and cannabis specialization
SWKJD Citrin Cooperman Blackstone PE-backed South Florida expansion
Gorfine Schiller & Gardyn Sorren DFW Capital PE-backed Mid-Atlantic expansion
Gordon Advisors Cohen & Co. Lovell Minnick PE-backed Michigan expansion
ArightCo Abbott Stringham & Lynch — Conventional M&A CAS and fractional CFO scaling
ASO Advisors Windsor Path Family-office backed Private capital Platform’s second deal
GBC Advisory Springline Advisory Trinity Hunt Partners PE-backed Oklahoma expansion
MCA Connect Grant Thornton Advisors New Mountain Capital PE-backed AI and digital transformation
Burke & Associates Platform Accounting Group / Shoreline Cynosure Group Private capital Massachusetts expansion
Of the month’s notable deals, 10 are funded by outside capital, led by Grant Thornton’s deal for a tech consultancy and Sikich’s for a staffing service.
Half “decidedly opposed” and the other half in favor, in talks or done. (CPA Trendlines Research)

By CPA Trendlines

Marking a new phase in the private equity takeover of the CPA business, the next test for accounting platforms will be proving that serial acquisitions can be converted into integrated firms, not just larger collections of offices, partners and legacy systems.

MORE CPA-PE DEAL TRACKER™: How Big Buyouts Are Turning the Profession into a Platform |  PE Wars: The CPA Platform Economy Is Concentrating Fast | Alan Whitman: Why the Next Big CPA Firms Won’t Look Like CPA Firms | The PE Takeover: Audit Problem? What Audit Problem? | 1,000 Deals Show Where PE Money in Accounting Really Goes. | The 7.6x Machine: How Grassroots Firms Are Taking Private Equity for a Ride | Deal Tracker(™): PE Platforms Accelerate the Grab for CPA Firms | With Apax Sale, CohnReznick Starts Building a National Platform | PE Deal Tracker™ for Feb. 2026: 57 deals in 60 days | PE Deal Tracker™ Update: Alan Whitman Plants a Flag in the Private Equity Landscape | Alan Whitman: Breaking the Mold with PE Backing
MORE Private Equity

Call it: The Implementation Imperative. It’s the place where grand schemes on paper meet the concrete realities of running a business. The first phase was acquisition. The second was consolidation. The next is all about making it work.

The May 2026 edition of the CPA Trendlines CPA-PE Deal Tracker™ illustrates the change. And a CPA Trendlines survey in April shows 44% of accountants are eager, open or already closed on a deal.

READ MORE →

BONUS DOWNLOAD

The 45-Minute Problem Scaling Across Tax Teams

These workflows quietly erode firm margins.

By CPA Trendlines

The biggest cost of K-1 inefficiency isn’t always visible on a timesheet. It shows up in missed opportunities, compressed timelines, and rising pressure on already stretched teams.

WEBINAR June 3: From K-1 Chaos to K-1 Capital: Turning Compliance Bottlenecks into Advisory Opportunities

FREE EBOOK Break the K-1 Bottleneck

Consider this: Manual extraction of a single K-1 takes an average of 45 minutes. Multiply that across dozens—or hundreds—of K-1s, and the impact becomes clear. But the real issue goes deeper.

Because K-1 data often arrives late and in inconsistent formats, firms are forced to: reassign senior staff to low-value tasks, rework data multiple times, and delay higher-level analysis and planning

In many cases, the most experienced (and expensive) professionals end up doing manual, administrative work simply because timelines leave no alternative. That dynamic doesn’t just affect efficiency. It affects profitability. Budgets stretch. Margins shrink. And the ability to deliver proactive advisory services disappears under the weight of compliance demands.

PRO Member Exclusive

New Data: K-1 Workloads Reach a Breaking Point

K-1 season isn’t what it used to be.

By CPA Trendlines

What was once a defined window during busy season has quietly expanded into a months-long operational challenge—stretching well into summer and fall for many firms.

New data from K1x highlights just how concentrated—and disruptive—the workload has become.

MORE: Join the FREE June 3 webinar: From K-1 Chaos to K-1 Capital: Turning Compliance Bottlenecks into Advisory Opportunities

Break the K-1 Bottleneck: Download the full guide.

More than 52% of K-1 aggregation work now happens within a three-month window, with over 80% completed within six months. That compression creates a cascading effect: workloads spike unpredictably, timelines shrink under pressure, and teams are forced into reactive mode.

At the same time, delays across the broader K-1 ecosystem—many outside firms’ control—make it nearly impossible to smooth workflows or plan capacity effectively.

The result: A growing mismatch between how firms are structured to work… and how K-1 data actually arrives. That disconnect is becoming one of the defining operational challenges in modern tax practices.

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INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Jen Cryder: From Membership Model to Market Maker | Big 4 Transparency

State societies can evolve into engines of innovation, education, and workforce resilience.

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.
Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!
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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

At a time when the accounting profession is undergoing its most rapid transformation in decades, Jen Cryder, CEO of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), is quietly redefining what a state CPA society can (and arguably should) become. 

MORE Dominic Piscopo | MORE Private Equity | MORE Pay & Compensation

In this episode of the Big 4 Transparency Podcast, Cryder joins host Dominic Piscopo to discuss how advocacy, revenue diversification, and technology investment are converging to reshape the future of the CPA profession. 

Cryder, who spent 15 years in public accounting before joining PICPA more than a decade ago, now finds herself at the center of national conversations around licensure reform, continuing professional education (CPE), and the evolving definition of what it means to be a CPA. While state societies have historically focused on a relatively narrow set of services, Cryder argues that the profession’s accelerating rate of change has expanded that mandate dramatically. “For most of our 130-year history, the definition of a CPA was fairly static,” she notes. “In just the last few years, that list of issues has become infinite.” 

READ MORE →

ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Which ‘Money Script’ Do Your Clients Follow?

Businessman tightly holding briefcase with dollar sign on it

Understand this relationship to better advise them.

By Rory Henry
The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

Joy Lere Psy.D., licensed clinical psychologist and co-founder of Shaping Wealth, a learning platform transforming the human experience of money, told me on my podcast that she was amazed by how often money was the cause of her clients’ anxiety and unhappiness. Research confirms this phenomenon.

MORE Rory Henry and The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), money has consistently topped Americans’ list of stressors ever since the first Stress in America survey was conducted in 2007. According to the APA:

  • 72 percent of adults report feeling stressed about money at least some of the time
  • 22 percent reported feeling “extreme stress” about money at some point during the past month
  • 26 percent of adults report feeling stressed about money most or all of the time

It shouldn’t be this way and this is where financial advisors can be a huge help.
READ MORE →

MARKETING & SALES

Market to the Business Life Cycle

illustration of business life cycleMeet your clients where they are.

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

The business life cycle refers to the stages that a business goes through from its inception to its eventual closure or exit. Each stage presents unique challenges and opportunities, and it is essential for accounting firms to adapt their marketing strategies accordingly.

MORE by August J. Aquila
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

Here are some marketing strategies that can be effective during different stages of the business life cycle. Take a fresh look at your existing clients, and sort them according to their business life cycle: startup stage, growth stage, mature stage and transitional/decline. You want to make sure that as your clients go through these different cycles, your marketing messages and services change and address the right business concern.
READ MORE →

Gear Up for Growth

Rampe: Make Strategy Stick | Gear Up For Growth

Five steps turn vision into execution.

This is a preview. The complete episode is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by Poe Group Advisors: Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms. See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS
Poe Group Advisors consistently excels in helping our clients find the right accounting practice sales opportunity.
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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

On the latest episode of “Gear Up for Growth,” host Jean Caragher interviews Matt Rampe, partner at Rosenberg Associates and author of the forthcoming book, “CPA Firm Strategic Planning: Your Roadmap for Long-Term Success,” about how accounting firms can move beyond ad-hoc retreats to a disciplined, accountable planning process that sticks.

Rampe, who advises firms on strategy, succession, partner development, and profitability, said the book grew out of years of facilitation and coaching with firms of all sizes. “The book was in my brain for a long time before it got put on paper,” he says. “When I started writing, it actually came pretty quickly—but I learned there’s a lot more to making a book than a Word document.”

More Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | More Gear Up for Growth

More CPA Trendlines videos and podcasts here

Rampe argues that the profession has reached a disruption point, citing converging pressures including private equity, technology, staffing shortages, succession for retiring Baby Boomers, and a shift toward advisory services. “What worked for us 10 years ago isn’t going to work for us 10 years in the future,” he says. “The old model, where a few partners disappear into a room and come out with a plan, doesn’t work in this age. We need to be nimble.”

READ MORE →