AUTHORS in the NEWS

Yes, Technology Disrupts – But for the Better

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Hitendra Patil: Celebrate the pandemic’s silver lining.

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr for CPA Trendlines

Technology is disrupting the profession, but for the good.

Hitendra Patil, CPA, long the head of customer success at AccountantsWorld by IRIS and an independent advisor, says that the silver lining of the pandemic is that it forced accountants to move to the cloud and to develop distributed labor models–changes that are here to stay.

MORE: Donny Shimamoto: Future Firm Growth Requires a Mindshift | Jennifer Wilson: Empower Young Workers to Build the Firm Everyone Loves | Mike Whitmire: Re-Think Your Hiring and Training Practices | Hector Garcia: Success Strategies of a Quickbooks YouTube Superstar | Blake Oliver: Why Tax Work Yearns To Be Free| Private Equity Explodes in U.K. | Brannon Poe: The Status Quo Must Go  | Accounting Nerds, Unlock Your Super Powers  | Disruptor: Jason Statts Shakes Up the Status Quo | Think Small to Think Big with Matt Wilkinson | When Financial Statements Go Extinct with Corey Schmidt | Can Geraldine Carter Save Accountants from Themselves? | Re-Inventing Accounting with Tyler Anderson

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“We can’t fight the rapid technological changes – we can only leverage them to provide better service and insights to our clients,” Patil said. “Technology puts advisory services within the financial reach of more small business owners. But the superpower that accountants still have is the ability to connect our clients’ goals and aspirations with what’s happening in accounting,” he added, saying that it enables conversations on a higher level. “Instead of pestering them for bank statements and receipts, we can ask about trends we see in the financials,” Patil said.

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Grunden, Zecca, Minkler Ink Anders Deal

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The merger joins Jody Grunden, author of “Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud,” with Bob Minkler’s top 100 super-regional.

Minkler

Minkler cites CPA Trendlines for sparking the deal.
Grunden

Summit CPA co-founders Jody Grunden and Adam Hale and all 60 staff members are joining St. Louis-based Anders, bringing Anders’ total partners and staff to 335 with revenue of  $60 million.

Anthony Zecca, CEO of Growth Path Partners LLC, and author of CPA Trendlines’ “Leading from the Edge,” advised Anders on the transaction. Zecca was instrumental in connecting Anders and Summit, and he will continue to serve as an advisor as the merger solidifies and grows. Zecca is a retired partner of CohnReznick and was managing partner of the firm’s Advisory Group.

More Grunden here | See “Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud” by Grunden
More Zecca here | See “Leading from the Edge” by Zecca

Founded in 2002, Summit has been a pioneer of remote work in the accounting industry since 2013. By offering virtual CFO services, including cash flow management, business tax planning and financial forecasting, Summit has grown fast to $8.5 million, approximately doubling in size every three years since 2010 and has been recognized by Inc. 5000. Anders has also grown rapidly through the addition of advisory services, new industry lines, organically and through mergers, doubling to over $51 million since 2013.

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Dom Esposito, Ex-Grant Thornton CEO, Dead at Age 74

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Dom Esposito: 1947-2021
Dom Esposito: 1947-2021

A long and distinguished career at the pinnacles of the CPA profession.

By CPA Trendlines

Domenick J. Esposito, the former CEO of Grant Thornton, vice-chair of BDO, and national growth director at CohnReznick, died Sept. 22 at the age of 74, at his home in Westport, Conn.

The family said he passed peacefully in his sleep. Survivors include wife Dorothy Savino Esposito, daughter Karen, and a granddaughter. Funeral arrangements, details and tributes can be found here.

FROM COMMENTS: “A good friend and colleague who will be missed by many..”  “The kindest man I ever met…”   “Made me a better accountant…”  “Always a gentleman…”  “Great competitor and friend…”  “Truly one of the most brilliant in the profession…”   “A great visionary and leader…”

“Dom was a pillar of the CPA profession he so loved, and his work lives on in the thousands of lives he touched in a long and distinguished career,” said Rick Telberg, CEO of CPA Trendlines, which published his “8 Steps to Great: The Eight Essential Strategies Driving Success at the World’s Largest CPA Firms. And How to Apply the Lessons at Firms of All Sizes.”  See his articles for CPA Trendlines here.

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