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Gear Up for Growth

Ellison-Taylor: Small Firms’ Fix for Talent Crisis | Gear Up For Growth

They’re not leaving the firm. They’re leaving you.

Originally published Jan. 10, 2025.
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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

What’s driving talent out of accounting firms? According to Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA, CITP, CISA, everything from outdated leadership to untold success stories is pushing promising professionals away. In this episode of Gear Up for Growth, powered by CPA Trendlines, host Jean Caragher sits down with the powerhouse behind KET Solutions to explore how the profession can—and must—change to attract and retain the next generation.

Gear Up for Growth spotlights the best strategies for smart and efficient growth in today’s competitive landscape. More Gear Up for Growth | More Capstone Conversations with Jean Caragher | 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

Ellison-Taylor, former chair of both the AICPA and the Maryland Association of CPAs, started her journey into accounting as a third grader inspired by a career-day presentation. That spark led to decades of leadership—and now, a mission to transform the narrative around what it means to be a CPA.

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ACCOUNTING VOICES

How Accounting Leaders Build Influence Without a Big Four Resume | Accounting Influencers

…And the 8 emerging leadership paths that can help you rise to the top…


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Accounting Influencers
With Rob Brown

In the world of accounting, influence is no longer the exclusive domain of Big Four alumni or Ivy League pedigrees. Each December, Accounting Today releases its Top 100 Most Influential People list, highlighting leaders who shape the profession. The surprising truth behind many of these selections? Over 70% started from modest beginnings, without elite credentials, but with a clear strategy for building career capital.

In a recent episode of the Accounting Influencers Podcast, host Rob Brown delves into the evolving landscape of leadership in accounting. “This isn’t about popularity or vanity metrics,” Brown says. “It’s about curating influence—the kind that drives innovation, fosters relevance, and moves the profession forward.”

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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

77 No-Brainer Opportunities in Small Business Advisory

The Checklist of Checklists Quick-Start Guide

man in glasses looking at document held by woman

You can take action starting today.

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

This list is a guide to jog additional thought about a client’s business. I have done all of these, and, at some point, I started making a list to help me remember. I also used it to help staff choose a few items each time they performed services for a client as a value-added benefit to the client.

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The listing can also be used a guide for a separate engagement. Either way, the emphasis should be to provide information to the client about their business that the client does not already consider, focus in on or know about.
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PRICING, FEES & BILLING RATES

How Automation Boosts Staffing

And four ways it pushes the paradigm shift.

By Jody Padar
Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA

When you have three people in your firm, each doing things their own way, you won’t be able to standardize until you get them all on the same page. Technology makes it easy to do that.

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Technology is spurring innovation and driving automation – and that’s reshaping the future of accounting. Automation is simply using technology to complete tasks that are typically done by humans, and it will help you standardize by providing:
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ACCOUNTING ARC

The Feedback Mistake That Costs You Your Best People | ARC

Intent, tone and delivery matter just as much as the message itself. 

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Originally published Feb. 5, 2026
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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!

One poorly handled conversation can undo months—or years—of trust. In this episode of Accounting ARC, Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, and Liz Mason, CPA, unpack why difficult feedback often fails, how leaders can communicate with greater intention, and what separates constructive coaching from conversations that send employees looking for another job.

The conversation starts with a story familiar to anyone who has ever hovered over the “Send” button on a difficult message.

MORE Accounting ARC: Is Your Boss Really the Problem? | Most Accountants Are Missing This AI Shift | AI Can Fix Your Workflow—or Break It in Seconds | 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 |

Mason, founder and CEO of High Rock Accounting, recalls proposing a conference talk with a deliberately provocative title — a reminder that most professionals feel the tension between holding the line and keeping the peace. The point, she says, is not to sanitize reality. It is to learn how to hold people accountable without turning it into a personal attack.

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