Here’s what you’re looking for: Jean Marie Caragher

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Lewis: Workforce Development Is the Next Imperative | Gear Up For Growth

Training and growth—not just recruitment—will determine the profession’s future.

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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

When Jan Lewis, vice chair of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), says, “The world is a complicated place, and who better than a CPA to help cut through the noise?” she’s not offering a slogan. She’s issuing a call to action.

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

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In a wide-ranging and refreshingly candid conversation with host Jean Caragher on Gear Up for Growth, Lewis makes the case that this moment—right now—is one of the most consequential and opportunity-rich periods the CPA profession has ever faced.

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FEATURED VIDEO

Kepczyk: Tech IS the New Business Model | Gear Up For Growth

Firm leaders can no longer ignore this conversation.

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Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!

Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

Technology is no longer something CPA firms use to get work done. It’s what defines how firms compete, scale, attract talent—and increasingly, how they’re valued.

That was the clear, unambiguous message from Roman Kepczyk, director of Firm Technology Strategy at Rightworks, during his recent appearance on Gear Up for Growth, hosted by Jean Caragher.

Gear Up for Growth spotlights the best strategies for smart and effficient growth in today’s competitive landscape. More Gear Up for Growth every Friday here.|  More Capstone Conversations with Jean Caragher every Monday | More Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | More CPA Trendlines videos and podcasts here

With nearly 30 years spent advising CPA firms of all sizes, Kepczyk didn’t mince words: firms that fail to standardize, automate, and strategically invest in technology are already falling behind—whether they realize it or not.

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CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Weak Business Models Exposed | Gear Up For Growth

AI accelerates advisory work, but only if firms rethink pricing and risk.
Sponsored by “Radical Pricing: How to Optimize Profits, Delight Customers, and Build a Top-Value Firm” by Jody Padar | See Today’s Special Offer

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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

On this episode of Gear Up for Growth, host Jean Caragher sits down with John Higgins, founder and CEO of Higgins Advisory, to explore how ChatGPT and generative AI are reshaping advisory services, pricing models, and the way CPAs work.

Higgins is blunt about the opportunity—and the risk. “AI and ChatGPT-type tools can become your advisory services assistant,” he says. “They help CPAs communicate better as advisors and focus on what matters most for each client. But you can’t let them turn into a way of giving away your time.”

Gear Up for Growth spotlights the best strategies for smart and effficient growth in today’s competitive landscape. More Gear Up for Growth every Friday here.|  More Capstone Conversations with Jean Caragher every Monday | More Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | More CPA Trendlines videos and podcasts here

For decades, CPAs have been told they need to “become more advisory.” The challenge hasn’t been belief—it’s been execution. Many practitioners equate advisory with answering questions accurately, rather than proactively guiding decisions.

Generative AI changes that equation.

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FEATURED VIDEO

Dunn: Time’s the Wrong Growth Metric | Gear Up For Growth

Stop counting minutes. Start creating meaning.

Originally published May 2025
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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

In a re-energizing episode of Gear Up for Growth, Paul Dunn makes the case that the billable hour isn’t just outdated—it’s holding firms back. The four-time TEDx speaker and cofounder of B1G1 challenges accounting leaders to rethink how success is measured and to lead with purpose, not punch clocks.

Gear Up for Growth spotlights the best strategies for smart and efficient growth in today’s competitive landscape. More Gear Up for Growth here | More Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | More CPA Trendlines videos and podcasts here

Talking with host Jean Caragher, Dunn reframes the profession’s obsession with time as a distraction from what clients actually value. “It’s not about the inputs,” he says. “It’s about the outcomes.” When firms anchor their work to results—and to the human impact behind those results—growth follows naturally.

More than two decades after coauthoring “The Firm of the Future,” Dunn remains a vocal critic of six-minute increments. While some firms are inching toward value pricing and advisory-led models, he argues the real shift requires courage. Measuring work by time, he notes, is “the opposite of human flourishing.” Measuring by impact, on the other hand, elevates both clients and teams.

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FEATURED VIDEO

Grassi: How the Hell Did This Happen? | Gear Up For Growth

Here’s what it takes to grow a CPA firm from zero to the Top 100—without losing your soul.

This is a preview. The complete episode 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!
.

Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

When Lou Grassi started his firm at age 24, he couldn’t afford to pay himself. There was no client base, no safety net, and no guarantee it would work.

More than four decades later, Grassi is the 56th largest accounting firm in the U.S., with $146.5 million in revenue, seven offices, 58 partners, and more than 560 employees. And yet, as Grassi tells host Jean Caragher on Gear Up for Growth, the most important lessons from that journey have very little to do with size.

They have everything to do with intention.

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

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In this conversation, Grassi reflects on what it takes to build a firm that grows sustainably, treats people like owners, and stays independent in a profession reshaped by private equity, talent shortages, and rapid change.

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