Center for Accounting Transformation, Author at CPA Trendlines

Conference Season Exposes Accounting’s Knowledge Gap | ARC

From vendor demonstrations to hallway conversations, this year’s conference season highlights both excitement and uncertainty across the profession.

William LeFew: The Best AI Professionals Think Like Humans | ARC

Technology changes quickly, but critical thinking remains the most valuable skill accountants can develop.

True Grit: Recognizing Struggles That Shape Our Successes | ARC

The ARC team spills their messiest moments and why grit—not perfection—matters most.

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Accounting ARC
With Byron Patrick, Liz Mason, and Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation

In the latest episode of Accounting ARC, hosts Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA; Liz Mason, CPA; and Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, CGMA, lay down their professional armor to explore one central theme: grit—what it means, when it matters, and how it shows up in real life.

MORE Accounting ARC: More Admins, Fewer Students, No Plan | What Career Advice Gets Wrong for Gen Z – And How to Fix It |Your Identity is Not a Liability | What Happens in Vegas… Gets Reported on a Tax Return | Burnout, Be Gone: Accounting Needs a Boundary Breakthrough | The Ultimate Business Hack You’re Probably Ignoring | Resilience, Real Talk, and the Road to Mental Wellness | Blockchain Could Still Reshape Accounting | What Gen Z Wants from Business | Firm Differentiation Depends Upon Client Service |

“This episode was about being honest,” says Patrick, CEO of VERIFYiQ and co-founder of TB Academy. “There are moments in everyone’s career where it all feels like too much.” READ MORE →

ACCOUNTING ARC

The Feedback Mistake That Costs You Your Best People | ARC

Intent, tone and delivery matter just as much as the message itself.

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Originally published Feb. 5, 2026

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Accounting ARC
With Liz Mason, Byron Patrick, and Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation

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

One poorly handled conversation can undo months—or years—of trust. In this episode of Accounting ARC, Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, and Liz Mason, CPA, unpack why difficult feedback often fails, how leaders can communicate with greater intention, and what separates constructive coaching from conversations that send employees looking for another job.

The conversation starts with a story familiar to anyone who has ever hovered over the “Send” button on a difficult message.

MORE Accounting ARC: 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 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 |

Mason, founder and CEO of High Rock Accounting, recalls proposing a conference talk with a deliberately provocative title — a reminder that most professionals feel the tension between holding the line and keeping the peace. The point, she says, is not to sanitize reality. It is to learn how to hold people accountable without turning it into a personal attack.

ACCOUNTING ARC

What If the Best Accounting Job Isn’t in Tax or Audit? | Accounting Conversations

The profession’s fastest-growing opportunities help business owners make decisions—not just balance the books.

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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 Conversations
With Chayton Farlee
Center for Accounting Transformation

For 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.

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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.