PAY & COMPENSATION

Jeremy Dubow: Raising the Bar for Talent | Big 4 Transparency

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Why equity is the new standard for talent retention.

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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

Jeremy Dubow, CEO and co-founder of Chicago-based, private-equity-backed Prosperity Partners, explains how entrepreneurship in accounting has shifted from demand-driven to capacity-constrained, and why transparent equity programs are becoming the new standard for talent retention.

MORE Dominic Piscopo | MORE Private Equity | MORE Pay & Compensation

Dubow joins Dominic Piscopo on Big 4 Transparency to discuss how accounting-firm entrepreneurship and the operating model required to scale have changed since he co-founded NDH in 2003. NDH later sold to private equity and rebranded as Prosperity Partners, which Dubow described as a case study in how firms are adapting to labor constraints, expanding client complexity, and rising expectations around technology and talent strategy.

Quotables
“The demand for accounting services is greater than it ever has been. The challenge is providing the service at a high level in a labor-constrained environment.”
“AI in and of itself is not right now the solution to solve all our problems. Using automation and offshoring gives us the operational leverage to create that capacity.”
“I recognize that my people are being attempted to be poached every single day of the year.”
“Why have a stock price if you don’t disclose what it is?”
“‘’If I worked that 80-hour week, you should too.’ Well, guess what? That doesn’t work anymore.”

Dubow argues the profession has shifted from a demand constraint to a capacity constraint. Client needs continue to expand, but firms increasingly struggle to staff and deliver services proactively at scale.

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Busy Season 2026: IRS Problems, Staffing Issues and Client Wrangling Emerge as Top Pressures

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IRS dysfunction replaces OBBBA as top concern.

On the front lines (clockwise from top left): Woodard, Dienhart, Volk, Stitely, Tejero, Brady, Svihla.

By CPA Trendlines

Join the survey. Get the results.

With only a week to go before the opening of filing season 2026, tax practitioners are focusing on IRS dysfunction as their biggest potential problem this year

And no wonder. The agency was already chronically underfunded, buried under a mountain of overdue paperwork, and crippled by ancient computer systems when it lost 25% of its workforce in early 2025.

JOIN the Busy Season Barometer survey here.

MORE TAX, PRICING, and THE 2026 OUTLOOK

Today 63% of tax professionals say a beleaguered IRS poses the single biggest risk to this year’s tax season, up from 54% just a couple of months ago, according to the CPA Trendlines Busy Season Barometer.

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Outlook 2026: The Painful Paradigm Shift in Staff Pay and Hiring

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Pivoting with the Paradigm: Staff salaries are rising sharply even as job growth plateaus.

New jobs data signal fundamental pivot for accounting firms.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The year 2026 may be long remembered as the paradigm-shifting moment when accounting firms were forced to pivot everything from their business models to their budgets.

MORE Outlook 2026, Pay, Hiring

The reason: Salary and pay increases are accelerating even as hiring momentum stalls.

Going into 2026, labor costs have been cleaved from labor supply. The new, structurally higher staffing line is forcing firms to rewrite their budgets as well as business models.

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Outlook 2026: Can Tax & Accounting Payrolls Keep Surging to New Highs?

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Record High: Tax and accounting industry hits 1,163,600 jobs, an annualized growth rate of 2%, and a new all-time high.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The full tax and accounting industry—which includes accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services—has hit a new record high with 1,163,600 jobs, representing an annualized growth rate of 2%, which is measurably stronger than the year-over-year 1.23% gain, according to new data examined by CPA Trendlines. But a choppy economy and political volatility have accountants and observers alike wondering if the trends can continue in 2026

MORE Staffing and Pay Trends

CPA offices managed to add 1,700 jobs over the past year, keeping the segment on a slow but positive trajectory. Employment at offices of certified public accountants is holding steady at 544,300 positions, matching the month-before figure. The revision from the previous estimate of 544,600 marks a modest 0.06% downgrade. The year-over-year trend improved slightly to 0.3%, up from 0.2% in the prior report. READ MORE →

Starting Salaries in Accounting Must Rise

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Every year, the 2025 Rosenberg MAP Survey asks the industry’s top consultants to share their observations from CPA firms across the country: How do you think the next 12 months will unfold? Trends? Predictions? Other thoughts? Also, how would you assess the last 12 months? Trends? Observations? Struggles?

Plans for succession and capital are critical.

By Kristen Rampe
 The Rosenberg Survey

Over the next year, more firms will feel comfortable with their position in the marketplace. Either because they have completed or are in the process of a transaction, or because they determined their best option was to continue as they have been (with ongoing improvements, of course). This is unlikely to reduce the hourly calls from private equity investors just yet but will make the decision on what to do with all those calls easier.

MORE: The 2025 Rosenberg MAP Survey is available from CPA Trendlines here.

I am hopeful that, as an industry, we will continue to increase staff starting salaries. Looking at today’s economics of adult life, which many young accounting professionals are interested in, such as buying a home or starting a family, the current pay rates are insufficient. We can make the changes necessary here to continue to support communities, employees and the profession of accounting.
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