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ABOUT US

When Tax Meets AI, Savvy Tax Pros Turn to ‘Tax Platforms 2026’

Tax Platforms 2026: Request your FREE ebook today

Your 2026 Roadmap for the Tax Tech Transformation

Planning, Research, and the Rise of Intelligent Automation.

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond the testing phase. It’s now powering the everyday workflows of tax professionals. Tech providers are racing to integrate AI. And new startups are reshaping how firms research, plan, and deliver advice.

DOWNLOAD: Get the free ebook here

This report by CPA Trendlines Research and powered by the Center for Accounting Transformation breaks down the changing landscape across two essential areas

1 – Tax Planning and

2 – Tax Research

This report reveals where innovation meets efficiency and where reliability matters most.

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CHARTS & GRAPHS

New 20-Year Low in College Accounting Graduates

But are trends already on the upswing again?

By CPA Trendlines

The pipeline of U.S. accounting graduates has fallen to its lowest level in roughly 20 years, capping a decade-long slide of about 17% in completions even as demand from public accounting firms remains strong, according to the latest release of a much-watched study.

In this report:
  • The tension between shrinking supply and resilient demand
  • Bachelor’s degrees: From mid-2010s peak to current lows
  • Master’s degrees: A steep 15% drop in the last academic year
  • CPA Exam Trends: The new baseline
  • Potential Turning Point? New growth in enrollments

In addition, the CPA exam pipeline has thinned over the past 10 years, with new candidates and successful passers both down from earlier peaks, though 2023 saw a temporary surge tied to the rollout of the CPA Evolution exam.

New research is also revealing that while auditors remain in steady supply, the tax profession is facing a severe and deepening talent drought.

And yet, new enrollment data point to a possible turning point, with accounting program enrollments up double digits in 2024–25 and firms signaling plans to keep hiring as many or more graduates in the year ahead.

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ACCOUNTING ARC

Get Ready Before It Gets Busy: Dec. 10 Webinar with Accounting ARC

The “Tax Season Readiness” webinar provides quick, practical strategies to help firms prepare for the hectic demands of the upcoming months.

Click here to learn more and register

By CPA Trendlines

As tax professionals gear up for another challenging filing season, the Center for Accounting Transformation and CPA Trendlines Research invite practitioners, firm owners, and IT professionals to join a powerhouse panel for “Tax Season Readiness: Practical Steps for a Smoother Busy Season,” a 90-minute live webinar and Accounting ARC Live event on Dec. 10, 2025, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. ET.

For more details or to register, visit cpa.click/taxready.

The session will feature the popular Accounting ARC trio—Donny Shimamoto, Liz Mason, and Byron Patrick—alongside special guest thought leaders Dr. Jackie Meyer, CPA; Rory Henry; and Katelyn Hopson, who will bring fresh insights into tax efficiency, firm capacity, and modern advisory methods.

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PRO Member Exclusive

IRS Set for a Turbulent 2026 Season as TIGTA Flags Persistent Weaknesses

Heading into 2026, problems from the past several filing seasons are still unresolved.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The coming 2026 filing season is shaping up to be another high-stakes test of the Internal Revenue Service’s capacity to serve taxpayers and practitioners, with new reports from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration offering an unusually candid look at the agency’s most vulnerable operational seams.

Join the survey. Get the results.

MORE: Firms Brace for a Tough Tax Season

How smart pros are prepping for tax season:
Join the survey. Get the results.

Taken together, the findings forecast a filing season characterized by incremental improvements in training but overshadowed by enduring structural constraints in telephone service, submission processing, identity verification, and staffing.

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Cornerstone

PE Deal Tracker: 118 Deals Build $30 Billion in New Value

Year-end pace hits rate of a deal every day.

The Surge: 2025 sees 70% of all deals tracked.

By CPA Trendlines Research
Cornerstone Report

Private equity activity is accelerating sharply as 2025 heads for a close, with a deal-a-day pace through the first half of November.

MORE Cornerstone Reports | MORE Private Equity
To submit updates, additions, or additional information, contact CPA Trendlines here

By the time 2026 arrives, the tax and accounting industry will have seen 81 deals in the year, according to CPA Trendlines Research projections. And perhaps another 90 are planned for 2026.

In this update, CPA Trendlines tracks 118 deals since 2020. CPA Trendlines estimates that PE firms are investing more than $10 billion in the tax and accounting business, which has led to ballooning post-deal valuations of approximately $30 billion. To say the PE wave is reshaping the structure and competitive dynamics of the accounting profession would be an understatement.

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ABOUT US

CPA Trendlines Cites 4impactdata for Leadership in CAS Tech

CPA Trendlines announces a new strategic partnership with 4impactdata, citing their Business Guidance System that helps firms deliver 10X Advisory without adding headcount.

CEO Eric Eager is a CPA Trendlines contributor. Get the new ebook here:  “10x Advisory in the AI Era” 

CPA Trendlines recognizes 4impactdata as the Go-To authority in CAS technology for CPA firms, citing their role as a foundational platform in the modern CAS tech stack. Together, the two companies are advancing the profession by delivering insight, impact, and actionable intelligence.

For more about 4impactdata, book a demo here.

BONUS DOWNLOAD

The IPA Top 500: When Bigger Isn’t Better, Firms Get Smarter.

 Success is no accident.

Sponsored by CPA Trendlines Go PRO – Get More. Go PRO!  See Today’s Special Offer
Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS
Unlock site-wide, 24/7 access to more than 7,000 articles and millions of tips, tricks, news, trends, commentary, checklists, and how-to guides. Plus: Daily news, research, analysis, and commentary. Bonus: Free gifts, great discounts, and special reports

CPA Trendlines Research
With Chelsea Summers
Inside Public Accounting

The firms in the 2025 IPA 500 are redefining what it means to grow in the accounting profession. Yes, many are getting bigger—but more importantly, they’re getting sharper. Growth without a plan is no longer enough. The firms pulling ahead are the ones making intentional choices about who they serve, how they work, and where they’re headed.

BONUS: Download the slide deck here

“This year’s IPA 500 firms had a really strong year,” Chelsea Summers, executive director of Inside Public Accounting, says in a new webinar report, hosted by CPA Trendlines founder and CEO Rick Telberg. “But it wasn’t by accident. The firms that are winning right now are the ones doing things with purpose. It’s about making strategic choices—not just reacting to change, but leading it.” READ MORE →

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

The $125 Billion Challenge: Intuit’s AI Platform Redraws the Accounting Map

Intuit CEO Goodarzi: Investing $1 billion a year in AI.

By CPA Trendlines

Intuit’s AI revolution is here, and it’s not waiting for accountants to catch up.

At the 2025 Intuit Connect conference, CEO Sasan Goodarzi pulled no punches. The company’s launch of its new Intuit Intelligence platform, he said, was “the largest technology disruption in our history.”

For CPA firms, that disruption is already underway. The platform’s autonomous AI agents are performing the work that accountants have historically billed by the hour, including transaction categorization, reconciliations, invoicing, payroll, and even client communications.

RELATED: Bot Wars: Wolters Kluwer, Intuit, Thomson Reuters Battle for AI Dominance in CPA Firms | Cornerstone Report

Routine has become real-time. Compliance is now continuous. And bookkeeping? It’s getting automated.

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