PAY & COMPENSATION

Retention Doesn’t Mean Keeping Everyone Forever

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It’s OK if some people don’t work out.

By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud

There’s a common misnomer when it comes to retention and keeping people on the team. Retention doesn’t mean keeping every single person on your team forever.

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Not only do you want to get the right people on the bus, but you also want to get those people into the right seats. We want Summit CPA to be a great place to work, and we want great people to be working here. However, we realize it may not be the right place for every person.
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How to Fix the Broken Education Systems | Accounting Influencers

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“The classroom is no longer a pipeline for work-ready professionals.”

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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Accounting Influencers
With Rob Brown

Today’s accounting leaders are facing an alarming truth: the next generation of recruits may be the least “work-ready” in decades.

They know their algebra, their Shakespeare, and their chemistry formulas—but not how to introduce themselves in a job interview, meet a deadline, or handle feedback. That’s the provocative premise explored in the latest episode of Accounting Influencers Podcast, where host Rob Brown tackles the widening gap between what schools teach and what firms need.

“The classroom is no longer a pipeline for work-ready professionals,” Brown warns. “And accounting firms are starting to feel the pain.”

Brown, a former high school math teacher, speaks from experience. He spent years coaching students to pass tests—not preparing them for the real world. “The curriculum is built for exams, not for the workplace,” he says. “No one’s teaching children how to build trust, handle tough feedback, or develop emotional intelligence.”

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Elliott: Embrace the ‘Dimension of Possible’ | MOVE Like This

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The profession’s newest partners may be the most vulnerable.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines

MOVE Like This host Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk sits down with Sarah Elliott, CPA, co-founder of Intend2Lead, to unpack what conscious leadership looks like in accounting—and why the profession’s newest partners may be the most vulnerable leaders in the firm.

Elliott, a former audit partner who left public accounting in 2014 to become an executive coach, argues that real change happens in a precise order: mindset, then skill set, then habits. Her “conscious leader” model centers on leaders who share power, elevate others, and stay curious, even when uncertainty invites fear.

“Our best leaders are human-centric first,” Elliott says. “In a world of accelerating tech and change, we have to start with people—always.”

MORE MOVE

Intend2Lead recently surveyed 110 newly promoted partners (2023–2024). The results spotlight avoidable gaps that push rising leaders toward burnout—or out of public accounting altogether.
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Toxic Partners Kill Your Firm’s Future | Accounting Influencers

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Gen Z won’t fix your firm culture problem – they’ll leave it.

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by Poe Group Advisors: Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms. See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.

Sponsored by Poe Group Advisors: Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms. See Today’s Special Offer

Accounting Influencers
With Rob Brown

When the youngest professionals in accounting start saying “no,” leaders should start listening.

In this episode of Accounting Influencers, the conversation turns to the one thing that could make or break your firm’s future: how you treat your people, specifically, how you treat Gen Z.

They’re qualified. They’re confident. And they’ve watched what the generations before them endured—burnout, long hours, micromanagement, and “be grateful you’ve got a job” culture. Their conclusion? “No thanks.”

This isn’t softness. It’s a strategy.

Gen Z values mental health over martyrdom, meaning over money, and culture over compensation. They’ve seen the toll that toxic leadership takes, and they’re unwilling to sacrifice well-being for tradition.

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