How Private Equity Turns CPA Loyalty into Legal Risk
Overlapping ownership tests conflict and control. Cue the lawyers.
By CPA Trendlines Research
OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS
Private Equity’s Big Bet Faces an AI Shake-Up
But scale may matter more, not less, in the accounting and legal markets.
By CPA Trendlines Research
The same technology that promises higher margins could weaken the billable-hour economics that made professional services so attractive.
MORE Private Equity | What $1 Billion Buys in Today’s CPA Market
Private equity’s rush into law and accounting is running into a new question: What happens to a roll-up strategy built on professional labor when artificial intelligence starts doing more of the work?
Outlook: Tax and Accounting Workloads Are Only Getting Heavier
Accounting Firms Face a Productivity Test as Demand Outruns Capacity.
Accountants Demand Index: Steady Growth in New Work
By CPA Trendlines Research
The tax and accounting profession’s biggest problem is no longer finding work. It is finding the time, people, and technology to do it.
The new CPA Trendlines Accountants Demand Index, which slipped in May, remains firmly above year-ago levels. The proprietary index of economic indicators fell to 121.2 in May, down 0.3 percent from April but still up 1.8 percent from a year earlier and comfortably above its 2019 baseline level of 100.
The next six months are forecast to follow a pattern firm owners will recognize. June softens. July surges with the sharpest single-month gain in the forecast window. Then August stalls, nearly flat, which is where the index makes its call.
History says late summer is the reset. This year, the data says the reset holds: the index climbs steadily through September, October and into November, reaching its fall peak before December pulls it back below zero.
The Accountants Demand Index: How it Works, How to Use It
A new tool from CPA Trendlines for benchmarking and strategic decision-making
By CPA Trendlines Research
At ENGAGE 2026, a Profession Richer and Less Certain Than Ever
On the agenda: Consolidation, ethics, AI, and talent.
By CPA Trendlines
The CPA profession arrives at its biggest annual gathering this month, carrying two truths that refuse to sit comfortably together: It has never been worth more money. And it has never been less sure of what it is becoming.
MORE AICPA
AICPA and CIMA convene ENGAGE 2026 at the ARIA in Las Vegas, June 8 through 11 and the 10th-anniversary theme — “The Next Wave: A Decade of Possibility Starts Now” — markets the milestone while signaling the unease beneath it.