Today's Features
ACCOUNTING INFLUENCERS

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

Influence is becoming career insurance for professionals.

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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.

MORE by Hitendra Patil
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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.

MORE by Jody Grunden
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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.

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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

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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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ABOUT US

We’re Honored

Thank you, and Congratulations to the CPA Trendlines community of influencers.

By CPA Trendlines Research

CPA Trendlines Research extends its congratulations and appreciation to the 39 authors, creators, contributors, collaborators and guests who appear in this year’s edition of the Top 100 Most Influential People by Accounting Today.

“We’re very grateful to the brilliant thought leaders and changemakers who make CPA Trendlines what it is,” says CPA Trendlines founder and CEO Rick Telberg.

Accounting Today calls CPA Trendlines “a platform for a wide range of diverse voices to share exciting new ideas through articles, podcasts, videos and books, while also offering useful research data and practical intelligence on the critical issues facing the profession to an audience of more than half a million accountants.” And terms Telberg “one of the great impresarios of accounting.”

Among this year’s Top 100, including the new names to watch:

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GROWTH STRATEGIES

Maximize Impact with Tiered Service Packages

illustration of three tiers of service offeringWhat are your competitive advantages?

By Jackie Meyer

We have shifted your mindset and model: you’re focusing on advisory value and pricing for ROI. Now, let’s get practical about structuring your services in a way that attracts the right clients, maximizes value per client and simplifies your operations. Enter tiered service packages.

MORE: Eight Steps to ROI Pricing | Shift Your Value Proposition from Compliance to Advisory | How Niches Lead to Growth | Vision vs. Mission, and Why You Need One | Ten Questions to Check Your Entrepreneurship | More Revenue in Fewer Hours
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Offering your services in tiered packages (rather than ad-hoc or one-size-fits-all) can be a game-changer. It provides clarity for clients, helps you avoid scope creep and increases your revenue by capturing different levels of client needs.

At Meyer Tax Consulting (my firm), we developed a structured tiered approach, which I’ll use as an example. You can model your own tiers similarly, customized to your niche and strengths.
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ABOUT US

Bissett Bullet: Expertise Is Too Valuable to be Given Away for Free

Today’s Bissett Bullet: “When we can listen to our prospective client’s issues without giving away all the answers in our replies, we’ve got a chance of winning work.”

By Martin Bissett

It’s one of the hardest things to do in a professional selling situation. We want to oust the current accountant, we want to explain why we are a better choice and we want to demonstrate that we can solve their problems, but loyalty is a demanding mistress.

In the same way that our proposal should include the “what” not the “how,” we must appreciate that when we tell our prospective clients how to go about fixing their issues before we have their signature on a payment plan, we’re simply encouraging them to go back to their existing accountants and save themselves the pain of change.

Today’s To-Do:

Practice advising the prospective client “what” can be done to help them but not “how.”

See more Bissett Bullets here

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ACCOUNTING ARC

Downgraded: What the DOE Said About Accounting | ARC

A new definition of “professional degree” limits loan access for accounting students and raises fresh alarms about equity, access, and pipeline. 

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

When the U.S. Department of Education released its negotiated language for implementing the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act’s graduate loan reforms, most accountants probably did not expect to see their field at the center of a political storm. 

But in draft rules tied to the law, accounting master’s programs are not classified as “professional degree” programs for purposes of federal student loan caps.  

MORE Accounting ARC: 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 | CPA Firm Ownership Under Fire | Walking Violation: When Showing Your CPA Gets You in Trouble | Audit Bags to TikTok Tags, Gen Z Talks Success | Students Challenge Accounting’s Traditional Career Path | True Grit: Recognizing Struggles That Shape Our Successes |More Admins, Fewer Students, No Plan | What Career Advice Gets Wrong for Gen Z – And How to Fix It | Your Identity is Not a Liability | Burnout, Be Gone: Accounting Needs a Boundary Breakthrough

That classification matters. Under the new structure, beginning in July 2026, graduate students may borrow up to $20,500 per year, with a $100,000 lifetime cap, while “professional students” are allowed up to $50,000 annually and $200,000 total. Medicine and law make the professional list. Accounting does not. Neither do nursing, education, architecture, social work, nor several other fields that traditionally are seen as high-skill professions. 

In this episode of Accounting ARC, co-hosts Liz Mason, CPA; Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP; and Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, unpack what that reclassification could mean for the accounting pipeline—and for how the profession sees itself. 

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MARKETING & SALES

Eleven Marketing Strategies for Smaller Firms

woman holding eyeglasses and looking at laptop screen

Including the five stages of an inbound marketing funnel.

By August Aquila
MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention

Small firm owners know they need to market, but they don’t always know which marketing activities they need to focus on. Here are 11 strategies for increasing your client base that are easy to implement.

MORE by August J. Aquila
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1. Get Known in the Marketplace

Before you start marketing, you need to answer these two questions:

  • Who are you?
  • What do you offer?

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PRICING, FEES & BILLING RATES

Some Clients Just Don’t Fit

businesswoman smiling at two clients, man and woman

Your team has to talk to them every day.

By Jody Padar
Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA

A friend who owned a business services firm in the marketing industry once told me he would rather face waterboarding than resign a hard-won client. However, even he cast a big one aside after his key employee returned from a client meeting in tears. Some things just can’t be tolerated. Your job is to determine where the line should be and to make the decision before a bad client has the chance to negatively affect your company.

MORE by Jody Padar
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A client’s fit with your firm is every bit as important as their behavior and payment practices. After you adopt a new client-centric, value-based business model, some clients won’t fit in. Some will want to stick with the transactional model of the billable hour. They may not be comfortable with your new direction. Some clients may not even want to pay for your smallest service bundle despite the enhanced service levels it includes.
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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Help Not-For-Profits Avoid Fraud

Five ways to reassure both regulators and donors.

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

Again and again, stories appear in newspapers about abuse and misuse of funds in not-for-profit organizations. In many cases, these frauds have been schemes that have been going on for numerous years.

MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
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The frauds are usually carried out by long-serving employees who earned reputation and trust that resulted in relaxation of controls or oversight. Many times, this provides temptation and ample opportunity to commit and sustain fraudulent activity over long periods paired with a reduction in the “fear” of being caught!
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FEATURED VIDEO

Green: Why Clients Quit You | Big 4 Transparency

The number one complaint isn’t pricing. It’s confusion.

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by Poe Group Advisors: Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms. See Today’s Special Offer

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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

For many business owners, finding the right accountant feels like an impossible task. You’re trusting someone with your finances, your future, and sometimes even your peace of mind. But in an industry dominated by word-of-mouth and vague Google listings, Sam’s List has emerged as a game-changing alternative: a review-based directory for CPAs, bookkeepers, fractional CFOs, and financial advisors, designed to make trust and transparency easier for everyone. 

MORE Dominic Piscopo | MORE Private Equity | MORE Pay & Compensation

In this episode of Big 4 Transparency, host Dominic Piscopo speaks with co-founder Kimi Green, who shares the wild story of how the viral idea from entrepreneur Sam Parr (of My First Million) turned into a thriving lead-generation platform – and how she found herself leading it with no prior experience in accounting. “I despised accounting,” Green laughs. “I didn’t even ask follow-up questions when someone told me they were a CPA.” 

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OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Four Strategic Fronts for Accounting Firms

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?

For some, independence is a strategic choice.

By Gary Thomson
 The Rosenberg Survey

The next 12 months will see independent-minded firms pressing harder on four strategic fronts – clarifying their five-year vision, defining the priorities to get there, calculating the cost, and determining where the capital will come from. These questions will keep the mergers and acquisitions market hot, as some firms pursue scale or stability through deals while strong, well-capitalized players step into market gaps left by consolidation.

MORE: The 2025 Rosenberg MAP Survey is available from CPA Trendlines here.
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Artificial intelligence and automation will move from experiments to deliberate deployment, with clear expectations for efficiency, insight and safeguards. Outsourcing will remain a growth lever, but firms will also invest more heavily in their people – expanding career opportunities, developing leaders and using culture as a talent magnet.
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