Busy Season 2026: Chaos Looms as DOGE Cuts and OBBBA Changes Collide
Downsizing, backlogs, and confusion become national policy.
By CPA Trendlines
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POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
The IRS in 2026: Quiet Backlogs, Harder Fixes, and Late Guidance
Less capacity, more obligation
By CPA Trendlines Research
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Downgraded: What the DOE Said About Accounting | ARC
A new definition of “professional degree” limits loan access for accounting students and raises fresh alarms about equity, access, and pipeline.
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Accounting ARC
With Liz Mason, Byron Patrick, and Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation
When the U.S. Department of Education released its negotiated language for implementing the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act’s graduate loan reforms, most accountants probably did not expect to see their field at the center of a political storm.
But in draft rules tied to the law, accounting master’s programs are not classified as “professional degree” programs for purposes of federal student loan caps.
MORE Accounting ARC: Savage: Using Your License as a Megaphone | Baker: Interpreting Pricing Psychology | Don’t Get Fired by Your Own Automation | What Amazon Doesn’t Tell You | Royalties, Residuals, and Reality Checks | ARC-SLC | Free Speech Is a Right; Respect Is a Responsibility | Cash Bags, Casinos & Audits: How First Jobs Shape Us | Gen Z Redefines Careers | Bootleggers, Baptitsts & CPAs: Rethinking Licensure | CPA Firm Ownership Under Fire | Walking Violation: When Showing Your CPA Gets You in Trouble | Audit Bags to TikTok Tags, Gen Z Talks Success | Students Challenge Accounting’s Traditional Career Path | True Grit: Recognizing Struggles That Shape Our Successes |More Admins, Fewer Students, No Plan | What Career Advice Gets Wrong for Gen Z – And How to Fix It | Your Identity is Not a Liability | Burnout, Be Gone: Accounting Needs a Boundary Breakthrough
That classification matters. Under the new structure, beginning in July 2026, graduate students may borrow up to $20,500 per year, with a $100,000 lifetime cap, while “professional students” are allowed up to $50,000 annually and $200,000 total. Medicine and law make the professional list. Accounting does not. Neither do nursing, education, architecture, social work, nor several other fields that traditionally are seen as high-skill professions.
In this episode of Accounting ARC, co-hosts Liz Mason, CPA; Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP; and Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, unpack what that reclassification could mean for the accounting pipeline—and for how the profession sees itself.
Savage: Use Your License as a Megaphone | ARC – SLC
Small acts of involvement add up to big wins for the profession and the public.
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Accounting ARC – Student-Led Conversations
With Arpan Grewal
Center for Accounting Transformation
Advocacy often appears on television as protest marches, campaign rallies, or contentious debates. But in a recent Accounting ARC – Student-Led Conversations episode, host Arpan Grewal and guest ZeNai Savage, CPA, recast advocacy as something more grounded and accessible: a series of everyday decisions about when to speak up, who to invite in, and how to use professional skills for public good.
MORE Accounting ARC: Baker: Interpreting Pricing Psychology | Don’t Get Fired by Your Own Automation | What Amazon Doesn’t Tell You | Royalties, Residuals, and Reality Checks | ARC-SLC | Free Speech Is a Right; Respect Is a Responsibility | Cash Bags, Casinos & Audits: How First Jobs Shape Us | Gen Z Redefines Careers | Bootleggers, Baptitsts & CPAs: Rethinking Licensure | CPA Firm Ownership Under Fire | Walking Violation: When Showing Your CPA Gets You in Trouble | Audit Bags to TikTok Tags, Gen Z Talks Success | Students Challenge Accounting’s Traditional Career Path | True Grit: Recognizing Struggles That Shape Our Successes |More Admins, Fewer Students, No Plan | What Career Advice Gets Wrong for Gen Z – And How to Fix It | Your Identity is Not a Liability | Burnout, Be Gone: Accounting Needs a Boundary Breakthrough
Savage is not a typical accountant. She is the founder of The Savage Advantage, a consulting firm that provides outsourced controller work, budget development, governance support, and board training to nonprofits and civic organizations. She also writes and speaks through Blurred Lines, a personal platform built on the belief that people do not have to separate their faith, professional life, and community service into neat compartments.
For Grewal, a Gen Z student leader, Savage’s path offers a concrete example of how young professionals can blend technical careers with civic engagement.
Shutdown Shockwaves: How Accountants Keep the Government’s Books From Crashing | ARC
Decode the financial fallout—where payables stall, nonprofits scramble, and the IRS slows to a crawl.
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Accounting ARC
With Liz Mason, Byron Patrick, and Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation
When the federal government shuts down, headlines focus on politics. But behind every furlough and frozen budget lies a deeper story—one told through accounting cycles, payroll ledgers, and cash flow reports.
In the latest episode of Accounting ARC, hosts Liz Mason, CPA; Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, CGMA; and Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, break down what really happens when appropriations stall and the business of government grinds to a halt.
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“This is the kind of thing accountants think about,” Mason says at the start of the episode. “What’s the actual technical answer? What does a shutdown mean for accounts payable, for payroll, for the IRS? What’s really happening behind the scenes?”
Their discussion reveals a complex web of accounting impacts—from unpaid invoices and delayed reimbursements to frozen nonprofit grants and confused taxpayers.