SPECIAL

How Niches Make Your Firm Stronger

By

hand circling silhouettes in red

Become the only firm that matters to the clients worth keeping.

By Hitendra Patil

Specialization is the single decision that will do more for an independent firm’s long-term position than anything else. I know that is a strong statement. I also know it is the recommendation that gets the most pushback in the room.

MORE by Hitendra Patil
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

The pushback usually sounds like one of three things. “We cannot afford to turn away work right now.” Or: “Our market is too small to specialize.” Or the version I hear most often: “We already serve a fairly focused type of client, we just have not put a name on it.” That last one is usually true, and it is also the starting point for everything.
READ MORE →

Bissett Bullet: Meet the Decision Maker

By

Today’s Bissett Bullet: “If the prospective client you’re meeting with needs to ‘recommend’ your proposal to others, they are not the person who can make the decision.”

By Martin Bissett

In a number of cases in growing our firms, especially in larger businesses, we can sometimes be palmed off with recommenders and not actual decision makers and yet we treat them as if they are. Do not waste time with people who cannot authorize a payment to you.

Today’s To-Do:

Make sure in a new business meeting that you are meeting with at least one of the decision makers in the business. Also, make sure that any meeting that you have with a recommender is based purely on getting a meeting with a buyer next time.

See more Bissett Bullets here

READ MORE →

AI Can Fix Your Workflow—or Break It in Seconds | ARC

By

Deliberate experimentation can unlock value—without creating costly mistakes. 

Sponsored by True Advisor: The Definitive Success Guide for Client Advisory Services by Hitendra Patil |
See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.
The step-by-step operating guide for firms building, pricing, and scaling advisory services that clients value—and pay for.

Accounting ARC
With Liz Mason and Byron Patrick
Center for Accounting Transformation

Artificial intelligence is moving fast—fast enough that even the people experimenting with it daily admit they’re still figuring it out in real time. On the latest episode of Accounting ARC, Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, and Liz Mason, CPA, take listeners inside that reality: a profession eager to unlock AI-driven efficiency, but still learning how to manage the risks that come with it. 

The conversation centers on a deceptively simple idea—just because AI can do something doesn’t mean it should. And in accounting, the consequences of getting that wrong can be immediate. 

MORE Accounting ARC: 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 |

The discussion begins with a practical example: integrating AI tools like Claude into everyday workflows, particularly in systems such as QuickBooks or Excel. 

What makes these tools powerful is also what makes them risky. 

READ MORE →

Why Most Audit Plans Repeat Last Year’s Problems

By

Why planning often reinforces existing constraints – and how to design for a different outcome.

By William Englehaupt

Most audit teams believe they are planning for the future. In reality, they are often replaying the past. This is what many would label as SALY, “same as last year.”

MORE by William Englehaupt
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

As a Prussian general once observed, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” In auditing, that “enemy” is reality: uneven client data, evolving judgment and the rework that becomes visible once work begins. Most plans are not corrections; they are continuations.
READ MORE →

Keep Clients by Expanding Your Services Checklist

By

woman and man smiling and talking in business setting

Six questions to ask.

By August Aquila
MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention

Let’s explore ways to provide additional services to existing clients. Here is a short checklist that will help you obtain additional services for your clients.

MORE by August J. Aquila
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

  1. Other than accounting and tax services, what additional services do you provide to this client? Create a spreadsheet listing the type of service, the fees, the year of service, the engagement leader and the client’s satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5. If your list of additional services is lengthy, you are providing good service to the client. If it is short, continue to the following questions.

READ MORE →