Today's Features
MARKETING & SALES

It’s Not Selling, It’s Service

Have you thought about what you’re building?

By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget

Being a successful person according to your own measurement of that, and your own goals and your own standards is different for everyone.

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If you’re comfortable with yourself, it’s very likely that others will be too. If you understand the value that you offer (how you can improve a client’s situation to move them closer toward their personal and professional aspirations), you’re likely to be able to convey that value in front of a prospect.

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FEATURED VIDEO

Carroll: When One Person Can Break the Firm | The Disruptors

Firms built on heroics instead of systems eventually crack.

This is a preview. The complete episode is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

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

Ashley Carroll thinks burnout is a design flaw, not a personal failing.

“I’m a big believer that burnout is a business model flaw,” she says. In response, Carroll created Operations House to help founders reduce burnout and “step out of that role as the provider, the doer, the practitioner, and into an ownership level role.” 

MORE STREAMING: 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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According to Carroll, burnout stems not only from long hours but also from processes that lack four key qualities: reliability, efficiency, integration with existing systems, and psychological safety.

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CHARTS & GRAPHS

2026 Outlook: Why Small Firms, PE Giants, and the Middle Are Headed in Different Directions

A profession splitting in three.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The U.S. accounting profession is no longer moving along a single growth continuum. It is splitting into three distinct economic paths—each governed by a different logic, facing different challenges, and offering different prospects. In 2026, these paths are likely to diverge further.

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At one end, solo and micro-firm accountants are increasingly choosing independence and control over scale. At the other end, large firms backed by private equity are consolidating aggressively in areas where profits are already concentrated. Between them sits the traditional mid-size firm, caught between two models that are pulling the profession apart.

For many mid-size firms, 2026 will force a choice: Grow larger and enter the consolidation race? Or deliberately shrink, specialize, and adopt a more solo-like economic model?

For smaller practices, it means they will find a supportive environment, provided they specialize and price their services intelligently. Large firms will accelerate consolidation and extract scale-driven returns. And mid-size firms will face increasing pressure to choose a direction. READ MORE →

CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Make Distinctive Service a Process

Businesswoman in a meeting with a male colleague smiling at him as they sit at a table discussing paperwork over coffee

What a client service plan can add.

By Domenick J. Esposito
8 Steps to Great

Derived from the understanding that each client has a different set of needs, your firm needs to develop a client service plan that tailors your services to match client needs.

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The client service plan ensures the highest level of quality service by focusing your engagement team on exceeding a client’s expectations.
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FEATURED VIDEO

Whitman: New Firm Deals: Flexibility, Culture, and the Rise of “31 Flavors” | Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

Firms that prioritize, listen, and align position themselves for better long-term outcomes.  

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By Rory Henry CFP®, BFA™
For CPA Trendlines

Phil Whitman, President and CEO of Whitman Advisory, works with hundreds of CPA firms and more than 230 strategic investors across private equity, family offices, wealth management aggregators, and publicly traded consolidators. He sees a profession undergoing unprecedented transformation, and Whitman has a front-row seat.

In this episode of Holistic Guide to Wealth Management, Whitman shares his observations with me from his unique vantage point.  

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Whitman points to 2021 as the inflection point for the profession’s transition. That’s when EisnerAmper became the first major CPA firm to accept private equity (PE) investment, followed shortly by Citrin and Cherry Bekaert. Those deals opened the gates for capital providers and ignited a wave of consolidation across firms of all sizes. The profession hasn’t looked back since. 

Transaction activity has since accelerated, creating unprecedented competition for deals and pushing accounting firm valuations into territory the profession has never seen before.

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OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

The 8 Mega Trends Every CPA Needs to Understand before 2026

What happens to accountants when AI agents run the economy.

By CPA Trendlines Research

For most of the past decade, “digital transformation” meant faster systems, better dashboards, and incremental automation layered on top of human decision-making. By 2026, that framing will no longer hold.

The defining shift now underway is not simply more technology, but who—or what—executes economic activity. Across finance, operations, compliance, and professional services, autonomous systems are moving from support roles into execution roles. Software is no longer just informing decisions. it is initiating them.

MORE on Artificial Intelligence

That transition is reshaping how work is done, how risk is distributed, and how trust is established. It is also quietly repositioning the tax and accounting profession—from recordkeeper and reviewer to certifier of machine-driven outcomes.

CPA Trendlines believes eight mega trends will define 2026—not as isolated developments, but as a converging system change. READ MORE →

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Commitment to Transformation Is Key

Every year, the 2025 Rosenberg MAP Survey asks the industry’s top consultants to share their observations from CPA firms across the country: How do you think the next 12 months will unfold? Trends? Predictions? Other thoughts? Also, how would you assess the last 12 months? Trends? Observations? Struggles?

Trade static succession plans for leadership development ecosystems.

By Angie Grissom
The Rosenberg Survey

As we look ahead, I believe the next 12 months will continue to test our industry’s willingness to evolve. The firms that thrive will be those that move with clarity, courage and commitment to transformation and those that are ready to take the first step even if they are unsure of how to transform. The key is to move.

MORE: The 2025 Rosenberg MAP Survey is available from CPA Trendlines here.

Key predictions include:

  • Reinvention will no longer be optional. Firms must rethink how they work, whom they serve and how they deliver value. This includes segmenting clients, eliminating low-value engagements and designing service models that align with client ROI – not just hours worked. This is rewarding for everyone involved.
  • Talent strategies must evolve. With changing workforce expectations, firms will need to adopt agile leadership models and invest more deeply in career pathing, mentoring and inclusive leadership development. Retention and engagement will hinge on leadership’s ability to connect with people, especially emerging leaders – on a personal and purposeful level. Purpose is key here.

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PRO Member Exclusive

Overcome Your Three Biggest Tech Adoption Fears

Johnston
 Randy Johnston, shareholder, K2 Enterprises, is a nationally recognized educator, consultant and writer with over 40 years of experience in strategic technology planning, accounting software selection, paperless systems and network integration, and business continuity and disaster recovery planning.

Plus seven tech keys to a holistic service model.

By Randy Johnston
The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

In order to provide clients with the holistic service model that we’ve explored throughout our book, you’ll need a technology stack that can keep up.

MORE Rory Henry and The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management
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There are seven important reasons why a holistic service model is particularly beneficial for accounting professionals. Below I’ll explain how having the right technology in place will significantly facilitate your transition from tax preparer/financial historian to trusted holistic advisor.
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CLIENT ACCOUNTING SERVICES

AI’s Already in Your Workflow…| It’s Not Just the Numbers

The question is: Do you know what it’s doing?

This is a preview. The complete episode 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

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

Artificial intelligence has arrived in accounting, but not in the way many expected. It’s not a single app or a single process. It’s everywhere, embedded in workflows, changing how firms scope engagements, price cleanup work, and train their people. 

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In the latest episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, co-hosts Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin explore how AI reshapes the day-to-day work of accounting firms. Their conversation moves beyond theory to real-world examples of how AI is being used in client engagements, what it means for team development, and why critical thinking, not coding, is the skill every firm must cultivate next. 

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ACCOUNTING INFLUENCERS

Being Good at the Job Is No Longer Enough | Accounting Voices

Influence is becoming career insurance for professionals.

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!

Accounting Voices
With Rob Brown

The accounting profession does not suffer from a lack of technical expertise. What it faces instead is a growing relevance gap.

That tension sits at the center of Accounting Voices, the newly launched show formerly known as Accounting Influencers. Episode 1 opens a new season with a sharper focus and a clearer message: competence is assumed, but influence is what now protects careers.

This is not a podcast about tax codes, audit standards, or software features. It is a show about the forces reshaping accounting and finance—and what professionals must do to stay ahead as those forces accelerate.

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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Why Usability Matters So Much in Advisory-CAS

man and woman talking in office while referring to tablet

The four dimensions your advice needs.

By Hitendra Patil
Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide

In the world of advisory services, which is constantly evolving, where time is of the essence, we often emphasize the importance of delivering advice promptly, especially when a business faces pressing decisions. Timeliness undoubtedly plays a critical role in the perceived value of advice. The advice also needs to be relevant.

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But what if your advice is timely and relevant, and still falls flat? More often than not, the culprit is a lack of usability. Advice only delivers value when it can be put into action.

In this article, we unpack the concept of usability, which encompasses clarity, accessibility and contextual fit that turn ideas into action. You will explore what makes advice feel usable to a client, how to avoid common barriers like ambiguity or overload, and how to translate complex insights into simple, strategic steps. Usability does not mean you have to “dumb down” things. It’s about empowering smarter decisions.
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PRO Member Exclusive

What’s the ROI on That Shiny New Thing?

Innovate for the right reasons.

By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud

Depending on your age, you may or may not remember Lotus 1-2-3. It was a hugely popular spreadsheet program back in the ’80s and early ’90s that was eventually taken over by Excel. If we had been “married” to Lotus 1-2-3 at that time, we may have gone out of business because we wouldn’t have been able to react fast enough.

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This is the world of technology today. We have to operate under the mindset that what we’re currently using may or may not be around in five years.
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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Leesley: Your Clients Will Pay More | Gear Up For Growth

Here’s how to label, package, and price the value you already provide.

This is a preview. The complete episode 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!
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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

“With AI, we finally have the tools to free up time for advisory, and clients are asking for it,” says Megan Leesley, director of tax at Dark Horse CPAs, during her appearance on Gear Up for Growth, hosted by Jean Caragher of Capstone Marketing.

“They want more than a tax return. They want strategic guidance, and they’re willing to pay for it.” 

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

More CPA Trendlines videos and podcasts here

Leesley, a member of the Intuit Tax Council, recently presented at DCPA25 on transitioning from compliance to advisory, sharing practical steps to transform a traditional tax practice while increasing revenue, improving client relationships, and enhancing work-life balance. 

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