Bissett Bullet: Meet the Decision Maker
Today’s Bissett Bullet: “If the prospective client you’re meeting with needs to ‘recommend’ your proposal to others, they are not the person who can make the decision.”
By Martin Bissett
Today's Features
AI Can Fix Your Workflow—or Break It in Seconds | ARC
Deliberate experimentation can unlock value—without creating costly mistakes.
Sponsored by True Advisor: The Definitive Success Guide for Client Advisory Services by Hitendra Patil |
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Accounting ARC
With Liz Mason and Byron Patrick
Center for Accounting Transformation
Artificial intelligence is moving fast—fast enough that even the people experimenting with it daily admit they’re still figuring it out in real time. On the latest episode of Accounting ARC, Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, and Liz Mason, CPA, take listeners inside that reality: a profession eager to unlock AI-driven efficiency, but still learning how to manage the risks that come with it.
The conversation centers on a deceptively simple idea—just because AI can do something doesn’t mean it should. And in accounting, the consequences of getting that wrong can be immediate.
MORE Accounting ARC: Efficiency Is the Wrong Goal for AI | Accounting’s Hidden Talent Risk: The Sandwich Generation | Built Fast. Sold Faster. Broken Later? The Truth About Accounting Tech | Recognize When You Need to Recharge Before You Burn Out | Valuing More Than the Balance Sheet | Accounting’s “Untalked-About” Frontier | Why Happiness is Hard-Fought for High Achievers | The Fastest Way to Lose Talent Is “Dick Leadership” | Post-Holiday Fatigue Isn’t a Failure; It’s a Signal | OCR, Research Bots & Meeting Assistants: What Actually Helps Now | Return Season is the New Stress Test | Small Firms May Have the Biggest Advantage in 2026 | Downgraded: What the DOE Said About Accounting |
The discussion begins with a practical example: integrating AI tools like Claude into everyday workflows, particularly in systems such as QuickBooks or Excel.
What makes these tools powerful is also what makes them risky.
Why Most Audit Plans Repeat Last Year’s Problems
Why planning often reinforces existing constraints – and how to design for a different outcome.
By William Englehaupt
Most audit teams believe they are planning for the future. In reality, they are often replaying the past. This is what many would label as SALY, “same as last year.”
MORE by William Englehaupt
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.
As a Prussian general once observed, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” In auditing, that “enemy” is reality: uneven client data, evolving judgment and the rework that becomes visible once work begins. Most plans are not corrections; they are continuations.
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Keep Clients by Expanding Your Services Checklist
Six questions to ask.
By August Aquila
MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention
Let’s explore ways to provide additional services to existing clients. Here is a short checklist that will help you obtain additional services for your clients.
MORE by August J. Aquila
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- Other than accounting and tax services, what additional services do you provide to this client? Create a spreadsheet listing the type of service, the fees, the year of service, the engagement leader and the client’s satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5. If your list of additional services is lengthy, you are providing good service to the client. If it is short, continue to the following questions.
Why CPAs Quit Public Accounting
Ten reasons, including bosses.
By Ed Mendlowitz
Call Me Before You Do Anything: The Art of Accounting
As I have written about CPAs who leave public accounting, there has been widespread interest. There is a lot more to say so I’ll address many of those questions.
MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
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General Comment
Generally speaking, many bosses do not listen to staff concerns. At many firms, there is a lack of serious mentoring and little help for staff people in managing their careers. In many practices, there is an appearance of a lack of growth, or if there is growth, then staff people are often left behind. In most instances, these problems are exacerbated by staff people not being clear about what they want. They are hesitant to speak up, share their concerns with their bosses or venture beyond their comfort zone. Both are culpable, but I place greater blame on the bosses, who should know better.
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