Today's Features
FEATURED VIDEO

Daiber: Use Succession as a Growth Strategy | The Disruptors

Firms that wait until a partner is ready to retire have already waited too long, plus 19 more key takeaways.

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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The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Erin Daiber, founder and CEO of Well Balanced Accountants, keeps seeing the same issue in firm after firm. A partner announces their intention to retire within a year or two, and the firm suddenly realizes no one is ready to take over.  “Firms are not starting that conversation soon enough,” Daiber says.

MORE STREAMING:MORE STREAMING: Cannon: Busy Season is Self-Inflicted | Carroll: When One Person Can Break the Firm |  Rampe: Build a Roadmap Even When the Road’s Not There | 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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“They’re not thinking about succession planning as a strategy,” she explains. Instead of treating succession as an ongoing process, firms see it as simply the point in time when a partner exits the firm. According to Daiber, succession planning should ideally begin with hiring decisions and culture building so that firms can be confident that they won’t lose clients or staff due to uncertainty about what might happen as partners get older.  

When succession planning fails, firms lose key employees before they even reach partnership consideration. “We’re losing them much sooner than that, which creates a big hole in the pipeline,” Daiber notes. She identifies an inability to have difficult conversations as the root cause, particularly when dealing with founders who view the firm as their legacy. 

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SPECIAL

Outlook 2026: Tax Prep Prices Surge and Diverge

Experience, complexity, and scarcity redefine the market

Volume and consulting drive growth: Of the 48% of firms reporting advances, 78% credit more business and 54% credit higher-grade services. Source: NATP

By CPA Trendlines

Tax preparation is getting markedly more expensive in 2026, and not in the slow, incremental way many firms have long assumed they can explain away.

In a widely used pricing model, the National Association of Tax Professionals reports the average base charge for a Form 1040 with Schedules is $236, up from a 2024 average of $162 reported in the same study series. That’s a 45.7% nominal increase in two years for the profession’s signature product, before a single schedule, state filing, or complexity premium is added.

JOIN the Busy Season Barometer survey. Get the results.

MORE TAX and PRICING

The U.S. tax preparation market is not merely more expensive.  It is increasingly stratified, with pricing that clearly distinguishes between complex professional work and the lower tiers of retail and do-it-yourself alternatives.

Across multiple independent pricing measures, certified public accountants and credentialed tax professionals command fees that are substantially higher than the base costs advertised by major retail chains, software platforms, and dwindling government-sponsored free filing options. The result is a world of tax preparation pricing that reflects not only the complexity of engagement but also client expectations, risk management, service delivery models, and clear segmentation of value. READ MORE →

FEATURED VIDEO

Pogosian: What Advisors Miss in Risk Management | The Concierge CPA

A former IRS agent breaks down the red flags, revenue thresholds, and compliance work that advisors can’t ignore.

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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The Concierge CPA
With Jackie Meyer
For CPA Trendlines

The Concierge CPA hosts a deep dive into captive insurance planning this week, as host Dr. Jackie Meyer, CPA, and guest Vardan Pogosian, CPA, unpack both the risk-management foundations and tax-planning implications of small captive insurance companies. The episode clarifies a strategy that many tax professionals find complex or intimidating, with actionable guidance on identifying suitable clients and avoiding compliance risks.

More Jackie Meyer

Captive insurance — typically formed under Internal Revenue Code Section 831(b) — allows businesses to establish their own insurance company to cover risks that may be difficult or costly to insure through commercial carriers. Under the provision, small qualifying captives can elect alternative tax treatment, in which premiums paid into the captive are tax-deductible to the operating business but not immediately recognized as income by the captive. Tax is generally deferred until the captive is dissolved, at which point capital gains tax applies.

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PRO Member Exclusive

AI Can Be Your Ally or Your Competitor

portrait of Davyde Wachell
Wachell
 Davyde “Day” Wachell is the co-founder and CEO of Responsive AI. He studied AI in the SymSys program at Stanford and Film at Columbia. Their innovative thinking drives the company’s success by bridging technology and the arts, leading to a culture of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

Six steps to using it to grow and protect revenue.

By Davyde Wachell
The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Lenin’s quip resonates deeply with any seasoned advice professional. Black Friday, 9/11, the Great Recession and COVID-19 kept us on our toes when it came to the markets and our clients. Big outlier events that disrupt “business as usual” can arise at any moment. These moments can change the lives of our clients, and as a result, the growth and stability of our businesses. Our clients can lose their trust in us in the blink of an eye if we haven’t positioned those clients correctly, or if we do not respond effectively to changes in the market.

MORE Rory Henry and The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management
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How we prepare our business for the unexpected determines our ability to respond to outlier events. How we respond to those events determines how we perform under pressure. Staying competitive isn’t about performing well when the sun is shining; it’s about executing and gaining clarity in the fog of war.
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CLIENT ACCOUNTING SERVICES

Why Most CAS Practices Stall | It’s Not Just the Numbers

…And what the successful ones do differently.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special Offer

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

Client Accounting Services (CAS) has moved well beyond bookkeeping. For firms serious about advisory, CAS is now a fundamentally different operating model, one that demands new roles, new systems, and a far higher level of internal transparency than traditional tax or audit practices ever required. 

In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin draw on more than two decades of shared experience to unpack what actually makes a modern CAS practice work in the real world. Their discussion goes beyond theory and into the structural, cultural, and operational decisions firms must confront if they want CAS to be scalable, profitable, and sustainable . 

MORE Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead | MORE Advisory & Consulting | BUY “It’s Not Just the Numbers”

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Traditional accounting firms are built around specialization and hierarchy: junior and senior accountants, bookkeepers, managers, and partners, each working essentially in isolation on their own client list. That structure works for compliance, but it breaks down in a CAS environment. 

“CAS requires the team to approach the client holistically,” Breslin explains. “You can’t have people operating in silos. Everyone needs to understand the client’s goals, not just their individual task.” 

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ACCOUNTING INFLUENCERS

AI Shows the Weak Faster than It Helps the Strong | Accounting Voices

The Big Four pull ahead by treating AI as a system, not a shortcut.

Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special Offer

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Accounting Voices
With Rob Brown

Artificial intelligence is no longer a side project in accounting. It is the main event.

The largest firms are moving aggressively, clients are asking sharper questions, and expectations around speed, accuracy, and insight continue to rise. In the latest episode of Accounting Voices, the focus shifts past headlines and hype to examine what the Big Four are actually doing with AI—and why their moves matter far beyond the global giants.

Brown does not chase flashy demos or speculative tech. Instead, he breaks down how AI is being operationalized in audit, tax, and advisory work—and how firms without billion-dollar budgets can compete by doing fewer things better.

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OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Outlook 2026: AI, Not Layoffs, Powers PE Valuations

How CPAs are using AI to boost EBITDA multiples.

Ilya and Victor Radzinski, TaxDome co-founders

By CPA Trendlines

Private equity investors are paying higher prices for CPA firms that deploy artificial intelligence to expand capacity, deepen professional benches, and systematize growth—rather than cut headcount.

MORE TaxDome | MORE Private Equity

“If AI were about to replace accountants and advisors, private equity wouldn’t be pouring billions into the sector,” TaxDome founders Ilya and Victor Radzinsky say in a public letter to stakeholders.

As dealmaking accelerates into 2026, the shift helps explain why valuation multiples for accounting firms continue to rise even as automation spreads through tax, audit, and advisory workflows. Private equity sponsors and strategic consolidators have completed hundreds of acquisitions of CPA firms since 2020, often at valuation multiples that would have been rare a decade ago.

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CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Weak Business Models Exposed | Gear Up For Growth

AI accelerates advisory work, but only if firms rethink pricing and risk.
Sponsored by “Radical Pricing: How to Optimize Profits, Delight Customers, and Build a Top-Value Firm” by Jody Padar | See Today’s Special Offer

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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

On this episode of Gear Up for Growth, host Jean Caragher sits down with John Higgins, founder and CEO of Higgins Advisory, to explore how ChatGPT and generative AI are reshaping advisory services, pricing models, and the way CPAs work.

Higgins is blunt about the opportunity—and the risk. “AI and ChatGPT-type tools can become your advisory services assistant,” he says. “They help CPAs communicate better as advisors and focus on what matters most for each client. But you can’t let them turn into a way of giving away your time.”

Gear Up for Growth spotlights the best strategies for smart and effficient growth in today’s competitive landscape. More Gear Up for Growth every Friday here.|  More Capstone Conversations with Jean Caragher every Monday | More Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | More CPA Trendlines videos and podcasts here

For decades, CPAs have been told they need to “become more advisory.” The challenge hasn’t been belief—it’s been execution. Many practitioners equate advisory with answering questions accurately, rather than proactively guiding decisions.

Generative AI changes that equation.

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ACCOUNTING ARC

Small Firms May Have the Biggest Advantage in 2026 | ARC

Less legacy infrastructure could mean faster adoption and outsized opportunity.

Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special Offer

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Accounting ARC
With Liz Mason, Byron Patrick, and Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation

Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!

In their New Year’s episode, the hosts of Accounting ARC do something many industry commentators avoid: they revisit last year’s predictions, mark what proved accurate, and adjust what did not. Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA — founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies and founder and inspiration architect of the Center for Accounting Transformation— joins Liz Mason, CPA, CEO and founder of High Rock Accounting, and Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, CGMA, senior product manager for Karbon, and co-founder and educator for TB Academy, to grade last year’s predictions and discuss what’s to come in 2026.

MORE Accounting ARC: Downgraded: What the DOE Said About Accounting | 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

The episode blends reflective scorekeeping with forward-looking speculation, centering on three forces that continue to reshape accounting: alternative licensure pathways, the pace of AI adoption, and the role of culture in firm competitiveness.

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FEATURED VIDEO

Change Fails in Silence | MOVE Like This

Firms that treat communication as strategy—not admin—move faster, scale smarter, and keep trust intact.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by 4impactdata: Start delivering scalable advisory in weeks–not months: See Today’s Special Offer

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4ImpactData: 10X Your Advisory.
Not Your Headcount

MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines

On this episode of MOVE Like This, host Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk explores a deceptively simple question with Alice Grey Harrison, founder of AGH Consulting: Why do so many firm transformations stall—not because of strategy, but because of communication?

With more than 30 years of experience in strategic communications and change management within the accounting profession, Harrison has seen firms navigate mergers, private equity investments, leadership transitions, system implementations, and cultural shifts.

The difference between momentum and misery, she argues, is rarely technical. It’s human.

MORE MOVE

Her core insight is that culture becomes a growth engine only when people understand how their work connects to the firm’s mission, vision, and values. That clarity unlocks what she calls “discretionary energy”—the extra effort people put in when they believe in the firm’s direction. READ MORE →

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Want to Merge? How to Make Your Accounting Firm More Attractive

https://cpatrendlines.com/2021/11/09/why-its-time-for-an-acquisition/

Plus thirteen questions to ask.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

The smaller firm in a proposed merger should make an objective, realistic assessment as to whether or not merging upward is a good business decision.

MORE by Marc Rosenberg
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Every small firm evaluating the feasibility of merging should consider these questions in as much depth as possible:

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MARKETING & SALES

Follow the Laws of Client Attraction

Whose needs are you focused on?

By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget

Let’s start with two simple definitions to avoid any confusion:

  1. The purpose of marketing is to create the opportunity.
  2. The purpose of business development (sales) is to convert that opportunity into a paying client.

MORE by Martin Bissett
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When we meet with prospective clients – and I say this as someone who has sat in on many hundreds of meetings of this nature – we rarely give potential clients a reason to buy from us that they care about.
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AUDIT & ASSURANCE

Why Repeat Last Year’s Questions? | The Disruptors

SALY isn’t useless—but it shouldn’t be lazy.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.
Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Audit has spent decades digitizing the past—paper binders moved to the cloud, workflows wrapped in prettier software, and manual testing dressed up as “innovation.” According to Jin Chang, that’s not transformation. It’s inertia.

Chang knows because he lived it.

Early in his career as an auditor, he found himself doing exactly what generations before him had done: matching evidence to samples, racing against the clock, and wondering why a four-year degree was being spent on work that machines should have mastered long ago.

MORE STREAMING:MORE STREAMING: Cannon: Busy Season is Self-Inflicted | Carroll: When One Person Can Break the Firm |  Rampe: Build a Roadmap Even When the Road’s Not There | 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 |

GoProCPA.com Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

“Why aren’t computers doing this better and faster?” he remembers thinking.

That question became the seed for Fieldguide—the audit platform Chang says he wished he’d had, powered by AI agents designed to work alongside auditors rather than replace them.

READ MORE →