MANAGEMENT

Seven Things Your Compensation Model Must Accomplish

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Take a hard look at your partners.

By Domenick J. Esposito
8 Steps to Great

Let’s take a deep dive into both a firm’s partner mix and its compensation model.

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In a “Good to Great” research study on high-performing organizations performed by Jim Collins, it was concluded that the method of compensation, as a causal factor for high and sustained performance, is largely irrelevant. The study concluded that whatever system is in use, it simply must be rational and equitably managed and that high sustained performance is largely the result of doing many things well.
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Put an Accountability Chart in Play

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Three questions to ask about each role.

By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud

“Getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats – these are all crucial steps in the early stages of buildup…” – Jim Collins, “Good to Great”

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When Adam and I first started the company, we didn’t have much organizational structure. We didn’t need it. But as the company grew, it became necessary to develop an organizational structure. There’s a great quote by Michael E. Gerber in his book “The E-Myth Revisited” that says, “Without the Organization Chart, confusion, discord and conflict become the order of the day.”
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Why CPAs Leave to Work for a Client

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Money tree growing in the middle of green meadow

Is that grass really greener?

By Ed Mendlowitz
Call Me Before You Do Anything: The Art of Accounting

I know many CPAs who left public accountancy to take a “better” job. For many of them this was a mistake. For some it worked out, so if you are one of the lucky few, you can stop reading what I have to say.

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There are basically three types of companies the accountant could work for – a small client that does not have an in-house controller or CFO, one whose controller will be replaced by the departing CPA, or a large company that has an entire accounting staff already in place. Let’s talk about working for the small companies that do not have a controller.
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Is Your Boss Really the Problem? | ARC

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The hardest workplace lesson isn’t spotting a bad manager—it’s recognizing when you’re standing in your own way.

 

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Originally Published May 28, 2026.
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Accounting ARC
With Liz Mason and Byron Patrick
Center for Accounting Transformation

In a candid, unfiltered episode of Accounting ARC, Liz Mason, CPA, CEO of High Rock Accounting, and Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, senior product manager at Karbon and co-founder of TB Academy, confront one of the profession’s most relatable—and uncomfortable—topics: bad bosses. 

But the conversation goes further than workplace horror stories. Mason and Patrick explore a more nuanced reality: sometimes the boss is the problem—and sometimes it’s the employee. 

MORE Accounting ARC: Most Accountants Are Missing This AI Shift | AI Can Fix Your Workflow—or Break It in Seconds | Efficiency Is the Wrong Goal for AI | Accounting’s Hidden Talent Risk: The Sandwich Generation | Built Fast. Sold Faster. Broken Later? The Truth About Accounting Tech | Recognize When You Need to Recharge Before You Burn Out | Valuing More Than the Balance Sheet | Accounting’s “Untalked-About” Frontier | Why Happiness is Hard-Fought for High Achievers | The Fastest Way to Lose Talent Is “Dick Leadership” | Post-Holiday Fatigue Isn’t a Failure; It’s a Signal | OCR, Research Bots & Meeting Assistants: What Actually Helps Now | Return Season is the New Stress Test | Small Firms May Have the Biggest Advantage in 2026 | Downgraded: What the DOE Said About Accounting |

“We wanted to talk about this topic because it’s really important to understand when you’re the problem, when your boss is the problem, and what acceptable boundaries are,” Mason says early in the episode.

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Tyler Anderson: Audit Transformation Is a Mindset, Not a Destination | The Disruptors

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“Audit” and “transformation” shouldn’t contradict each other.

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The Disruptors
With Liz Farr
For CPA Trendlines

The words “audit” and “transformation” don’t often appear together. Some might say they contradict each other. But for Tyler Anderson, Director of A&A Innovation at Accountability Plus, audit transformation is something that has been needed for many years.

MORE Tyler Anderson on Re-Inventing Accounting

MORE DISRUPTORS Candy Bellau: The $350 Pricing Mistake that Nearly Broke this Boutique Firm | The Disruptors | Poe: What P.E. Really Wants from Firms | The Disruptors  | Blake Oliver: Build a Biz that Runs Without You | Daiber: Use Succession as a Growth Strategy | Cannon: Busy Season is Self-Inflicted | Carroll: When One Person Can Break the Firm | Rampe: Build a Roadmap Even When the Road’s Not There | Chang: Killing SALY, One Agent at a Time |

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Anderson, along with his colleagues Corey Schmidt and Alan Anderson from Accountability Plus, served as subject matter experts for the 2025 Audit Benchmark Survey conducted by CPA.com, which sought to understand the current state of audit transformation. The CPA.com team included Emily Remington (Director of Audit Product Management), Amy Bridges (Senior Manager of Practice Development), and survey methodologist Katherine Blackburn. The resulting report, The Audit Transformation Report, was released at Digital CPA in December 2025. Liz Farr, host of The Disruptors, served as the report writer. 

Audit transformation is often misunderstood as a destination or a future state reserved for large firms with deep pockets and advanced technology. But according to Anderson, transformation is far more practical and accessible. “I see it as the process, not really like it’s an end state or anything, but it’s really the evolution of audit,” he explains.    READ MORE →