ACCOUNTING INFLUENCERS

Jason Staats: Thriving in Turbulence | Accounting Influencers

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Balancing tech, trust, and innovation.

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Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

In a recent episode of the “Accounting Influencers” podcast, Jason Staats, a content creator and influencer in the accounting industry, shared insights on balancing innovation, mental health, and technology in today’s profession. Staats, known for his ability to mix accounting expertise with entrepreneurial thinking, has become a prominent voice in the field.

Staats’ mission is to help accountants and firm owners create enjoyable and sustainable ways to manage their practices. Through platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, Staats encourages his audience to rethink traditional success in accounting.

“Sometimes, we mistake working hard for working smart,” Staats said. “Running into the same wall for the tenth time isn’t progress—it’s a sign to rethink your approach.”

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Steve Rosvold: What Makes the Best CFOs? | Accounting Influencers

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Move from being just an accountant to a successful finance leader using these four pillars of success.

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Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

Rob Brown and Steve Rosvold discuss whether accountants and CPAs make the best CFOs, CFO.University, and the four competencies of top financial professionals.

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Steve Rosvold is the Founder of CFO.University, a professional development platform for finance leaders. He spent 20 years leading corporate finance teams honing his ability to drive change, improve profitability and ensure long-term financial health for businesses before creating an advisory practice that grew into CFO.University.

Michael King: Fractional CFOs Provide Challenges and Opportunities | Accounting Influencers

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In a world of AI, outsourcing, and shifting client expectations, accountants can remain indispensable.

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Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

Michael King’s journey to becoming a fractional CFO and mentor to accounting professionals is as unconventional as it is inspiring.

A former nuclear submarine engineer, King transitioned into the world of business management, eventually running a $90 million facility. His lack of understanding of financial principles at the time ignited his passion for empowering business owners with actionable financial insights.

Today, King is a fractional CFO and podcaster. He guides others in starting, scaling, and optimizing advisory services through his firm and educational platform, The Connected Accountant.

Fractional CFOs are reshaping the financial services landscape by bridging the gap between compliance work and strategic advisory services. King explains that while traditional accounting focuses on rearview mirror reporting—documenting what happened in the past—fractional CFOs help businesses look forward with forecasts, projections, and strategic planning.

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Susan Bryant: Set Boundaries and Elevate Client Services for Better Results | Accounting Influencers

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Accountants who stay silent risk disappointing–and probably losing–clients.

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Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

Accountants, take charge of your client relationships, says Susan Bryant, CPA, in this episode of Accounting Influencers.  Bryant’s on a mission to empower accountants to refine their client base, set professional boundaries, and elevate client interactions to meet today’s high expectations.

Bryant, a CPA and co-owner of a firm in Plano, Texas, has built her career on driving excellence in accounting. Known for her expertise in advisory services, she’s passionate about transforming how accountants view client relationships and service delivery. “Accountants today must redefine what a good client looks like,” Bryant stated. “In this industry, it’s time to align with clients who truly value and respect the work we do and are ready to invest in that relationship.”

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Ed Kless: Accounting Must Innovate Beyond Technology | Accounting Influencers

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In an era when traditional models fail, accountants should rethink relevance, client experience, and the power of language.

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Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

Accounting visionary Ed Kless challenges the profession to move beyond the traditional billable hour and embrace a proactive, subscription-based model. In this episode of Accounting Influencers, Kless, known for his strong stance on abolishing hourly billing, offers actionable insights into how accountants can redefine their services and stay relevant in an evolving landscape.

Kless wastes no time challenging one of the industry’s longest-standing practices: billing by the hour. “It’s an absolutely dead model, and it’s a problem not only for accountants but also for their customers,” he argues. By emphasizing efficiency over effectiveness, Kless says hourly billing creates a barrier to innovation and true client satisfaction. “Think about it—if you had a brain tumor, would you want an efficient surgeon or an effective one?” he asks, underscoring the need for quality service over rigid time-tracking.

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Tom Wheelwright: If It’s Not Fun, Rethink Client Service | Accounting Influencers

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“Good accountants focus on tasks, but great ones focus on outcomes.”

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Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

WealthAbility founder and veteran CPA Tom Wheelwright dives into the essential strategies for client-centric service and relationship-building in accounting. Hosted by Rob Brown, this episode explores how accountants can elevate their client relationships, optimize billing practices, and bring joy back into their work.

In an industry where billing by the hour is typical, Wheelwright advocates for a shift to flat, value-based pricing. This, he explains, allows accountants to focus on delivering value without clients worrying about the ticking clock.”When clients know upfront what they’ll pay, it removes financial surprises and puts the focus on service, not cost,” Wheelwright says. “Our clients need to know we’re there to solve their challenges without worrying about extra charges.”

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Bailey Parnell: Why Accountants Must Master Soft Skills in a VUCA World | Accounting Influencers

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Having a growth mindset, seeking feedback, and auditing one’s skills are essential to continuous learning and development.

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Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

Bailey Parnell, owner of Skills Camp, says grit is just one element of resilience and that soft skills often characterize our relationships with ourselves and others. Parnell also explains how to navigate through today’s volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—VUCA, for short.

Parnell says accountants need a growth mindset in times of change and stress. Parnell highlights the need for a learner-centric approach to teaching soft skills that prioritizes the learners’ interests and learning styles over serving the institution.

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Ed Warren: The Difficult Conversations to Grow Your Business | Accounting Influencers

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Prune your existing portfolio to create a revenue pipeline.

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Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

Ed Warren, a veteran sales executive in the accounting industry, shares expert insights on growing accounting firms through client advisory services and leveraging technology to stay ahead of the competition in this episode of the Accounting Influencers Podcast with host Rob Brown.

Warren shares his insights on how the accounting industry has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and what the future may hold for it. He believes that while the accounting firm space is in a good place given the circumstances, there is also a bit of complacency, as they have weathered the storm reasonably well. However, staffing is a huge issue right now, and the industry will have to figure out how to adjust to players with values different from those of the legacy partner.

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Kate Johnson: How Accountants Can Grow with Video | Accounting Influencers

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Diversify your revenue streams with video and build a virtual accounting career.

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Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

Kate Josephine Johnson owns Heritage Business Services, LLC, a virtual bookkeeping firm serving small businesses across the United States. She is also the Chief Hustler at Bookkeeping Side Hustle, where she helps other accounting professionals build virtual accounting careers they love.

Johnson urges accounting professionals to diversify their revenue streams by leveraging eBooks, monthly membership for DIY clients, vendor referral links, YouTube, and newsletter and video content sponsorships. She says you need two skills to make videos: creating and communicating. 

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Donny Shimamoto: Defining Accounting Transformation | Accounting Influencers

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“This is a new area for accountants, but it’s an evolving area, and I think it represents a great opportunity for us…”

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Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

Rob Brown and Donny Shimamoto discuss reform, transformation, and change in the accounting profession at individual accountant and CPA plus practice levels.

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In 2001, Donny founded IntrapriseTechknowlogies LLC, a specialized CPA firm dedicated to helping small businesses and middle-market organizations leverage strategic technologies, proactively manage their business and technical risks, and enable balanced organizational growth and development. Donny also works as a trusted business advisor with larger organizations, facilitating organizational strategic planning and execution, IT governance and planning, enterprise architecture, information architecture and assurance, business process improvement, and business intelligence initiatives.

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Richard Kopelman: Aprio’s Plans for Global Conquest | Accounting Influencers | Part 2 of 2

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From $70 milliion to $450 million: The power of positivity, strategic planning, and going international.

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/Youtube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.

Accounting Influencers
with Rob Brown

Richard Kopelman, CEO and managing partner of PE-owned Aprio, shares his philosophy of staying positive and never giving up, the importance of having a well-written strategic plan, and his vision of truly global accounting firms.

See Part 1: Richard Kopelman: Inside Aprio’s Bold Makeover | More Accounting Influencers with Rob Brown | Aprio Sells Majority Stake to Charlesbank Capital Partners  | Cited: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

In the second part of a two-part Accounting Influencers series, Kopelman tells Rob Brown that a growth mindset drives Aprio’s tremendous revenue growth from $70 million to $450 million.

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