Why Most CAS Practices Stall | It’s Not Just the Numbers

…And what the successful ones do differently.

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

For CPA Trendlines

Client Accounting Services (CAS) has moved well beyond bookkeeping. For firms serious about advisory, CAS is now a fundamentally different operating model, one that demands new roles, new systems, and a far higher level of internal transparency than traditional tax or audit practices ever required. 

In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin draw on more than two decades of shared experience to unpack what actually makes a modern CAS practice work in the real world. Their discussion goes beyond theory and into the structural, cultural, and operational decisions firms must confront if they want CAS to be scalable, profitable, and sustainable . 

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Traditional accounting firms are built around specialization and hierarchy: junior and senior accountants, bookkeepers, managers, and partners, each working essentially in isolation on their own client list. That structure works for compliance, but it breaks down in a CAS environment. 

“CAS requires the team to approach the client holistically,” Breslin explains. “You can’t have people operating in silos. Everyone needs to understand the client’s goals, not just their individual task.” 

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The Hidden Friction Killing CAS Profitability | It’s Not Just the Numbers

CAS success isn’t accidental. It’s engineered.

Originally published November 2025
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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

For CPA Trendlines

Client Advisory Services (CAS) continue to outperform every other service line in accounting. But firms that treat CAS as “enhanced bookkeeping” quickly hit a ceiling. The firms that scale profitably make harder—and smarter—choices: who they serve, how they staff, how they price, and how they explain their value in a world obsessed with automation.

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In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, co-hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead get refreshingly practical about what actually drives CAS success. Their message is clear: strong CAS practices are built intentionally, not incrementally.

One question cuts straight to the tension many firm owners feel: Should teams see profitability numbers?

Breslin and Greathead don’t argue for radical openness—or secrecy. Instead, they advocate for profit literacy.

Teams don’t need to know margins by client. They do need to understand three things:

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Grunt Work Is Dead | It’s Not Just the Numbers

…And accounting careers are better for it. 

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

For CPA Trendlines

For decades, accounting careers followed a familiar script: grind through repetitive work, earn your stripes, and maybe—eventually—get to the interesting stuff.

That script is officially broken.

In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead tackled one of the most misunderstood shifts in the profession: how artificial intelligence and outsourcing are reshaping early-career accounting work—and why that’s actually good news for graduates and firm leaders.

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The big question isn’t whether AI and outsourcing are here to stay. They are. The real question is whether firms will use them to strip away opportunity—or to finally fix a broken talent model.

Let’s be honest: repetitive data entry, reconciliations, and manual cleanup were never great learning tools. They were time-consuming, error-prone, and often disconnected from how firms actually create value.

Yet for years, they were treated as a rite of passage.

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AI’s Already in Your Workflow…| It’s Not Just the Numbers

The question is: Do you know what it’s doing?

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

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Artificial intelligence has arrived in accounting, but not in the way many expected. It’s not a single app or a single process. It’s everywhere, embedded in workflows, changing how firms scope engagements, price cleanup work, and train their people. 

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In the latest episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, co-hosts Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin explore how AI reshapes the day-to-day work of accounting firms. Their conversation moves beyond theory to real-world examples of how AI is being used in client engagements, what it means for team development, and why critical thinking, not coding, is the skill every firm must cultivate next. 

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The “LBD” of Tech: Simplicity & Standardization Still Win | It’s Not Just the Numbers

“If you don’t have accountability, you can never reach your ambition.” 

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

For CPA Trendlines

If there’s one topic that never gets old in accounting, it’s technology. New apps promise smoother workflows, faster reconciliations, and smarter insights every year. Yet, despite all the innovation, many firms still struggle with the same problem: too many tools, too little strategy. 

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In the latest episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead revisit a metaphor that’s as timeless as it is practical, the “little black dress” of technology. The conversation digs into what every firm owner should understand about building a tech stack that actually fits their ambition, not just their app wish list. 

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The CAS Bottleneck No One Talks About | It’s Not Just the Numbers

Poor onboarding frustrates clients, burns out staff, and kills profitability.

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

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Winning the client is exciting—but in Client Accounting Services (CAS), that’s just the opening act. The real work, and the real success, depends on what happens immediately after a prospect says “yes.”

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In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead make the case that onboarding is one of the most overlooked, underdeveloped, and business-critical functions in CAS firms today.

“Too many firms have no clue what actually happens when a client walks in the door,” Breslin says. “You sold the work, but what happens next? What experience does the client have? And what does your team do first?”

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Why Policies, Processes, and Procedures Make or Break CAS | It’s Not Just the Numbers

Get more value from the technology you already own. 

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Is your firm truly ready for tax season—or just hoping to survive it? Join this 90-minute webinar featuring an Accounting ARC Live panel with thought leaders who know what it takes to optimize performance under pressure.

It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines

When accountants and bookkeepers talk about building a scalable, profitable firm, the conversation often jumps straight to technology. Which workflow app is best? Should we move payroll into a dedicated platform? Is our practice management system due for an upgrade? 

But as Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead emphasize in the latest episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, software is only as good as the processes that support it. Without consistent policies and documented procedures, even the most advanced tech stack will fail to deliver efficiency or profitability. 

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This lesson is especially crucial for firms offering Client Advisory Services (CAS). Advisory work depends on reliable, timely data and standardized outputs. If every accountant on the team closes the books differently, it doesn’t just create inefficiency; it undermines the consistency and trust that clients rely on.  READ MORE →

Make Clients Part of Your CAS Team | It’s Not Just the Numbers

“If they’re consistently uncooperative, they’re not a good CAS client, no matter how much they pay.” 

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

For CPA Trendlines

In the world of client accounting and advisory services (CAS), most firms focus on building internal teams, refining processes, and adopting the right technology. Yet, one crucial element often gets overlooked: the client. 

In a recent episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, co-hosts Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin explore why clients must be treated as integral members of the team, and what happens when firms fail to define the client’s role in the process. Their conversation, drawn from decades of working with accounting firms around the world, provides a blueprint for CPAs and firm owners aiming to elevate their CAS practices. 

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Traditionally, accountants position clients as recipients of a service; for example, the client would deliver documents once a year, and the firm would produce a tax return. That transactional model doesn’t work in CAS, says Breslin. 

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Gocke: Operations Overhaul Doubles Firm Rev | It’s Not Just the Numbers

Structured operations freed partners to focus on clients and doubled revenue in six years.

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

For CPA Trendlines

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Running a modern accounting firm requires more than technical expertise. Partners must balance client relationships, business development, and administrative responsibilities, often leaving firms stretched thin.

In a recent episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, Doug Gocke, chief operations officer at a mid-sized California firm, describes how restructuring responsibilities and focusing on operations helped his firm double revenue in six years without significantly increasing staff or client count.

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Gocke, who refers to his role as “chief of all trades,” said growth came from building teams before taking on new clients, creating clear accountability, and relentlessly reviewing procedures.

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Ladd: Start Advisory with Empathy | It’s Not Just the Numbers

By starting with conversations and clean books, accountants can deliver clarity, confidence, and real results.

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

For CPA Trendlines

4ImpactData: 10X Your Advisory.
Not Your Headcount

When accountants and advisors talk about “advisory services,” the conversation often drifts toward models, frameworks, and numbers. Advisory is explained through dashboards, KPIs, forecasts, and ratios. However, sometimes in our focus on data, we forget the human side —the fact that behind every balance sheet is a business owner who is stressed, overwhelmed, and often lonely. 

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That’s where voices like Steven Ladd’s come in. In a recent It’s Not Just the Numbers podcast “After Hours” session, Ladd shares his journey from engineer to entrepreneur to trusted advisor for small business owners. His insights reveal why advisory services are more than just financial analysis. They’re about empathy, connection, and equipping business owners with clarity. 

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Lang: The Right Clients > Revenue | It’s Not Just the Numbers

Tough client calls, tax planning, and better leadership turned hard knocks into growth.

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

For CPA Trendlines

When Lang launched Upside CFO, he didn’t set out with a grand blueprint. “If we’re being honest, we started off with simple bookkeeping,” he says. Over time, his firm evolved into a multi-faceted practice offering fractional CFO services, tax planning, and even financial planning partnerships. Along the way, he admits to trial and error. “Sometimes I do smart stuff. Sometimes I don’t,” Lang laughs.

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Yet from that messy middle came clarity: the future of advisory services lies in translating numbers into strategy, choosing the right clients, and building processes that can scale without sacrificing value.

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Build a CAS Practice that Works | It’s Not Just the Numbers

The debut episode reveals why half-built CAS divisions fail and what to do instead – Plus 12 key takeaways! 

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead

For CPA Trendlines

In the inaugural episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead deliver a candid, experience-driven conversation aimed at accounting and bookkeeping firm owners seeking to move beyond compliance work and grow successful Client Accounting and Advisory Services (CAS) practices.

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The duo, who have worked together for over two decades, including hosting one of the first CAS workshops in 2013, are well-known voices in the evolution of cloud-based accounting and outsourced advisory services. Their show—named after their 2019 book—digs into the practical, strategic, and often messy realities of transitioning to advisory work. And for Breslin and Greathead, the key message is clear: building a sustainable CAS practice starts with intentionality.

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AI Is Not Your Enemy; Here’s Why

Clients will always need context.

By Penny Breslin
It’s Not Just the Numbers

In 1994, in a small hotel meeting room in Colorado Springs, 50 accounting firms were up in arms when the presenter mentioned QuickBooks. They shouted angry comments: “QuickBooks is destroying my business.” “They want to take my clients.” “They are giving people a false sense of security with their commercials that say, ‘If you can write a check, you can do QuickBooks.’”

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The presenter was nervous and asked me what he was to do. I said I use QuickBooks for your company, and I have no idea what I am doing, and I could use an accountant to teach me.

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