Gear Up for Growth

Jen Cryder: Collapse of the CPA Firm Pyramid | Gear Up for Growth

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Relationships, Not Technology, Will Define Success.
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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher

“More than anything else, I think CPAs have this incredible opportunity right now to redefine our relevance in the future,” Jennifer Cryder, CEO of the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs, says in the new episode of Gear Up for Growth with host Jean Caragher. “What CPA meant for the last hundred years was relatively static. All of that has changed.”

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Cryder says that the profession is at a pivotal moment. While artificial intelligence and new market entrants are transforming service delivery, Cryder stressed that the profession’s true competitive advantage lies in human connection.

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Ellen Choi: It’s ‘Go Time’ for AI | Gear Up for Growth

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AI Readiness Gap Threatens CPA Firm Competitiveness.

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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher

“This is a make-or-break year for AI in accounting,” says Ellen Choi, a co-founder of Aiwyn.ai, the AI-powered practice management platform. “Firms that don’t move now will start to see a widening gap between themselves and competitors who have already begun building these capabilities,” Choi tells Jean Caragher in the new episode of Gear Up for Growth.

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The serial entrepreneur and early-stage investor warns that timing is critical: Firms that delay risk falling behind. With even basic AI tools capable of delivering immediate productivity gains, firms that act quickly can improve efficiency, enhance client experience, and create capacity for growth. Choi identifies two additional critical issues firms must address now to remain competitive: AI readiness and workforce upskilling.

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Geof Brown: The Three Things You Can’t Ignore | Gear Up for Growth

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Illinois CPA Society CEO lays out the three big challenges.

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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

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“What got you to this point is not going to be what gets your firm to its next major milestone,” says Geoffrey Brown, president and CEO of the Illinois CPA Society.

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“Be flexible. Be nimble,” he tells Jean Caragher in this episode of Gear Up for Growth. “Surround yourself with the right people and take advantage of opportunities that help you lead into the future.”  READ MORE →

Kane Polakoff: What You’re Still Getting Wrong About CAS | Gear Up for Growth

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Too many potential clients, not enough staff or capacity.

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The step-by-step operating guide for firms building, pricing, and scaling advisory services that clients value—and pay for.

Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

“CAS is kicking CASS right now,” says Kane Polakoff, principal and CAS practice leader at CohnReznick, in the new episode of Gear Up for Growth, hosted by Jean Caragher, president of Capstone Marketing.

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“It’s on fire, especially over the last five or six years. The demand is incredible, but the key is having a strong delivery mechanism and the right capacity to provide real value to clients.”  READ MORE →

Alan Whitman: Why the Next Big CPA Firms Won’t Look Like CPA Firms | Gear Up for Growth

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And why culture matters more than ever.

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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

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Alan Whitman isn’t trying to build a better CPA firm. He’s trying to replace it.

At Nichols Cauley, the former Baker Tilly CEO is recasting the traditional accounting practice as a “financial services company”—a structure that blends tax, insurance, risk, and transaction advisory into a single, continuous client relationship.

MORE ALAN WHITMAN: PE Deal Tracker Update: Alan Whitman Plants a Flag in the Private Equity Landscape | Breaking the Mold with PE Backing | Build Culture on ‘Progress,’ Not Change | Moss Adams-Baker Tilly Merger: Bigger Isn’t Better. Better Is Better.| Unlocking the Secrets to Smart Growth 

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The goal, he tells Jean Caragher in this episode of Gear Up for Growth, is not to expand services around the edges, but to collapse them into one integrated model designed to “manage, protect, and grow” client wealth in a recurring loop.

The shift reflects a broader rethinking across the profession, in which private equity capital, client demand for one-stop advisory services, and advances in AI are pushing firms beyond the partnership model that has defined accounting for decades.

Having previously led transformational growth at Baker Tilly, Whitman rejects the notion that rapid growth damages culture.

“That’s hogwash,” he says. “Culture comes down to one word: trust.” READ MORE →

Stephanie Otero: Your Firm, Your Way | Gear Up for Growth

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Success Requires Intention, Focus, and Community.

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

Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

“Small firm practitioners need to remember that they are in the driver’s seat,” says Stephanie Otero, vice president, Small Firm Advocate at the AICPA, in this episode of Gear Up for Growth with Jean Caragher.

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“They have the power to intentionally design a practice they enjoy, and that truly works for them,” Otero says in a wide-ranging conversation about the most pressing challenges facing small accounting firms and the strategies that can help them thrive in an increasingly complex environment.

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Joe Pine: The Transformation Economy Comes for Public Accounting | Gear Up for Growth

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As AI automates compliance, value shifts to measurable outcomes and client aspirations.

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

Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

Author and strategist B. Joseph Pine II urges accounting firm leaders to confront a fundamental question: What business are you really in?

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According to Pine, the profession is approaching a critical inflection point as the global economy moves beyond goods, services, and even experiences, into what he calls the transformation economy.

“You use experiences as a raw material to guide people to change, to help them achieve their aspirations,” Pine tells Gear Up for Growth host Jean Caragher, president of Capstone Marketing. This shift, he explains, requires firms to move beyond simply delivering accounting work efficiently to helping clients achieve meaningful, measurable change.

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AJ Johnson: New CPA Licensure Pathway Opens Doors to Talent | Gear Up for Growth

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Expanding access while maintaining rigorous standards.

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

Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

“This legislation has real consequences – positive consequences – for the health of firms, corporate accounting departments, and the broader economy,” says Aiysha “AJ” Johnson, CEO and executive director of the New Jersey Society of CPAs, during her appearance on Gear Up for Growth with Jean Caragher of Capstone Marketing. “I like to think that we’re opening doors.”

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Johnson highlights New Jersey’s new legislation signed by Governor Murphy, creating an additional pathway to CPA licensure, a move designed to expand access while maintaining rigorous standards. It will take effect Feb. 11, 2026. READ MORE →

Jan Lewis: Workforce Development Is the Next Imperative | Gear Up For Growth

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Training and growth—not just recruitment—will determine the profession’s future.

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Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!
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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

When Jan Lewis, vice chair of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), says, “The world is a complicated place, and who better than a CPA to help cut through the noise?” she’s not offering a slogan. She’s issuing a call to action.

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In a wide-ranging and refreshingly candid conversation with host Jean Caragher on Gear Up for Growth, Lewis makes the case that this moment—right now—is one of the most consequential and opportunity-rich periods the CPA profession has ever faced.

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Roman Kepczyk: Why Every Accounting Firm Is Now a Tech Business | Gear Up For Growth

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Technology Is the #1 Driver of Firm Value—Full Stop.

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

Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

Technology is no longer something CPA firms use to get work done. It’s what defines how firms compete, scale, attract talent—and increasingly, how they’re valued.

That was the clear, unambiguous message from Roman Kepczyk, director of Firm Technology Strategy at Rightworks, on Gear Up for Growth, hosted by Jean Caragher.

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With nearly 30 years spent advising CPA firms of all sizes, Kepczyk didn’t mince words: firms that fail to standardize, automate, and strategically invest in technology are already falling behind—whether they realize it or not.

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