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Rampe: Build a Roadmap Even When the Road’s Not There | The Disruptors

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Only disciplined planning, accountability, and open communication will cut through the industry’s rapidly thickening fog.

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The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Matt Rampe sees the accounting industry as one “under a lot of pressure to change, and it’s changing very quickly.” The combination of a staffing crisis, retiring baby boomers, AI, private equity, and tax law is creating “the fog,” a period in which the path forward isn’t just unclear; it’s fundamentally unknowable. 

To address “the fog,” his new book, CPA Firm Strategic Planning: Your Roadmap for Long-Term Success, lays out a framework grounded in decades of consulting experience with Rosenberg Associates, combined with research on organizational change, leadership psychology, and what drives team performance. “Strategic planning, in my mind, is the venue by which you analyze and think through those issues, put them up, not just out of reactivity,” Rampe explains. It means “really stepping back and looking at the big picture of the industry and your firm and your situation, and then making choices that you’re aligned with.” 

MORE STREAMING: Chang: Killing SALY, One Agent at a Time | Vanover: 5-Star Firms Don’t Bill by the Hour | Kless: Profit Is a Result. Flourishing Is the Purpose | Whitman: Build Culture on ‘Progress,’ Not Change | Shein: No PE? No M&A? No Problem | Hood and Weber: Time to RISE | Proctor: Turn Dumb Ideas into Brilliant Solutions | Carter-Gray: How 1 Poor Review Strengthened the Firm | Hartman: Upwork to “40 Under 40” in 3 Years |

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According to Rampe’s research, strategic planning fails most often at the execution stage. Nearly two-thirds of respondents reported that “execution fails after the planning meeting.” Firms gather, generate good ideas, identify priorities, and then get pulled into their day-to-day work, and nothing happens. Or they put off strategic planning altogether until some imaginary day when they might have time.  

“One of the insights is you need to spend time working on the business, not just in the business, because the in the business is going to drown you,” Rampe explains. The way you solve that is “not working harder in the business. It’s working, prioritizing, working on the business.” 

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Hansen: No One’s Too Rich for a Backdoor Roth | The Concierge CPA

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Understand the legal tax hack the IRS actually wants you to use.

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The Concierge CPA
With Jackie Meyer
For CPA Trendlines

In a recent edition of the Concierge CPA podcast, host Dr. Jackie Meyer and guest Acen Hansen delivered a detailed, no-nonsense exploration of using the Backdoor Roth IRA and the Mega Backdoor Roth to harness tax-free growth — particularly for high-income earners and those focused on legacy planning.

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Catch Jackie Meyer and other thought leaders on Dec. 10 at Tax Season Readiness: Practical Steps for a Smoother Busy Season |1.5 CPE 

A Backdoor Roth IRA isn’t a special new account — it’s a workaround. As Dr. Meyer, founder of TaxPlanIQ, and Hansen, a wealth advisor for Legacy Wealth Management, explain, it allows people who earn too much to contribute directly to a Roth IRA to still access the benefits of a Roth by first contributing to a traditional IRA (on a non-deductible basis) and then converting it to a Roth IRA.

Once the funds are inside a Roth IRA, they grow tax-free and — assuming account and timing requirements are met — distributions in retirement are tax-free.

For high earners with incomes above IRS thresholds for direct Roth contributions — which, for 2025, prohibit single filers with MAGI above roughly $165,000 and married couples filing jointly above about $246,000 — the Backdoor Roth remains a viable path.

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The “LBD” of Tech: Simplicity & Standardization Still Win | It’s Not Just the Numbers

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“If you don’t have accountability, you can never reach your ambition.” 

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines

If there’s one topic that never gets old in accounting, it’s technology. New apps promise smoother workflows, faster reconciliations, and smarter insights every year. Yet, despite all the innovation, many firms still struggle with the same problem: too many tools, too little strategy. 

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In the latest episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead revisit a metaphor that’s as timeless as it is practical, the “little black dress” of technology. The conversation digs into what every firm owner should understand about building a tech stack that actually fits their ambition, not just their app wish list. 

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5 Ways Accounting Pros Turn Events into Real ROI | Accounting Influencers

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Turn networking, sessions, and follow-up into measurable outcomes—not just time out of the office.

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Accounting Influencers
With Rob Brown

Seventy-six percent of professionals believe in-person conferences offer better networking opportunities than virtual events. But while accountants spend millions each year on registration fees, hotel rooms, and travel, only a fraction walk away with meaningful ROI. According to Rob Brown on Accounting Influencers, the problem isn’t the events—it’s the strategy.

“People go to conferences and just float,” Brown says. “They wander the expo hall, catch a few sessions, grab the swag—and then wonder why nothing changes.” With conferences back at full strength and offering multi-sensory experiences, deeper technical sessions, and richer networking formats, Brown says firms should treat them as strategic business opportunities, not passive learning days.

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Baker: Transformation Economy Will Redefine Accounting | Gear Up For Growth

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Stop “playing small ball,” and reimagine client experiences.

This is a preview. The complete episode is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by Tax Season Readiness: Practical Steps for a Smoother Busy Season  | See Today’s Special Offer

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Is your firm truly ready for tax season—or just hoping to survive it? Join this 90-minute webinar featuring an Accounting ARC Live panel with thought leaders who know what it takes to optimize performance under pressure. 
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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

“A business model describes how you earn revenue when services are given away for free,” said Ron Baker, co-founder of THRESHOLD: A Revelation for the Transformation Economy, during his appearance on Gear Up for Growth, hosted by Jean Caragher of Capstone Marketing.

“That terrifies people, but it’s where the economy is going.” 

More Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | More Gear Up for Growth

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Baker discusses the profession’s next major evolution: the transformation economy, where firms no longer compete on services, scope, or efficiency, but on their ability to change lives.

He argues that CPAs are uniquely positioned to guide clients through lasting financial and personal transformation. CPA value will shift from work performed to life and business outcomes: healthier, wealthier, wiser clients living with meaning.  

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