Today's Features
FEATURED VIDEO

Carrie Steffen: The Staffing Problem Nobody Talks About | MOVE Like This

The profession talks too much about deadlines and not enough about impact. Students are listening.

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MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines Research

The CPA profession has only itself to blame for a talent shortage.

Firms have spent years talking about the grind of deadlines and busy season, instead of selling the career’s impact, stability, and range of opportunities, according to Carrie Steffen, CEO of the Iowa Society of CPAs.

MORE MOVE Like This | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming Network

In the new episode of MOVE Like This, Steffen tells Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk the profession must rethink its narrative, strengthen cultures of belonging, and bring younger professionals into leadership conversations if it hopes to rebuild the CPA pipeline.

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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

How to Merge Two Solo Accountants

two men standing and shaking hands

A list of 21 issues to consider.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

When considering a merger of sole practitioners, there are numerous critical issues to negotiate. Twenty-one, in fact.

MORE by Marc Rosenberg
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1. Method/system for splitting the profits. Keep in mind that if you devise a system that essentially revolves around making each solo a profit center, as if they still had their own firms, it will tend to discourage the two of you working together as one firm.
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PRICING, FEES & BILLING RATES

Knowledge Has More Value Than Hours

The convergence of trends makes pricing changes imperative.

By Jody Padar
Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA

The speed of change is faster than ever. How are you going to react to it? That’s what I’m really preparing you for – redesigning your entire business model to become a more client-centric advisor. Value-based pricing models are the key component but not the whole story.

MORE by Jody Padar
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Today’s automation, new competitors, staffing challenges and new technologies are conspiring to bring clients more value than they could have enjoyed before. All of it is shifting the way you need to think about your services, what clients value and how you get paid fairly for the expertise you bring to the table.
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MARKETING & SALES

What It Takes to Make It to Partner

senior businessman with five colleagues

Four responses from our expert council.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

The skill in producing financial reports is limited by the quality of the information presented to the CPA by the client. The motivation of the client to influence that financial information comes in many forms, some intentional and some unintentional. Competence comes first in being able to resist pressure and present a true and accurate position of the client’s organization.

MORE by Martin Bissett
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Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But there’s a twist.

Competence doesn’t actually rank highly among the requirements for partners in our study at all.
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OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Deal Tracker: PE Platforms Accelerate the Grab for CPA Firms

Dealflow this year is running three times hotter than year-ago.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The CPA Trendlines PE-CPA Deal Tracker™ logged 31 transactions in January 2026 and 21 in February — a combined 52 deals in the first two months of the year. The comparable figure for January–February 2025 was 16. Year over year, the pace has more than tripled.

MORE Private Equity | PE Deal Tracker Update: Alan Whitman Plants a Flag in the Private Equity Landscape | Jody Padar: The New Playbook Is AI-Powered and Human-Centered | Big 4 Transparency | Jeremy Dubow: Raising the Bar for Talent | Big 4 Transparency | Poe: What P.E. Really Wants from Firms | The Disruptors |

January’s 31-deal total is the highest single-month figure in the tracker’s history, spanning more than 340 transactions dating back to 2016. The prior five Januarys combined — 2021 through 2025 — produced 24 transactions. January 2026 exceeded that five-year total on its own.

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