Stewart Spiers: What Local Firms Can Do that the Big 4 Can’t | Big 4 Transparency
Faster, Leaner, Closer to the Client, and Two Hours to an Engagement Letter
Big 4 Transparency
With Dominic Piscopo, CPA
CAS
Geof Brown: The Three Things You Can’t Ignore | Gear Up for Growth
Illinois CPA Society CEO lays out the three big challenges.
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.
Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines
“What got you to this point is not going to be what gets your firm to its next major milestone,” says Geoffrey Brown, president and CEO of the Illinois CPA Society.
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 Streaming Network here
“Be flexible. Be nimble,” he tells Jean Caragher in this episode of Gear Up for Growth. “Surround yourself with the right people and take advantage of opportunities that help you lead into the future.” READ MORE →
New Report Finds Many CAS Firms Stymied by Technology Limitations
New report finds outdated systems are limiting growth.
From CPA Trendlines
Sponsored by Ace Cloud Hosting
The PE Takeover: Audit Problem? What Audit Problem?
1,000 Deals Show Where PE Money in Accounting Really Goes.
By CPA Trendlines
Private equity’s expansion into accounting is widely framed as a takeover of public company audits. But new data shows that’s only a myth.
MORE Private Equity | The 7.6x Machine: How Grassroots Firms Are Taking Private Equity for a Ride | Deal Tracker: PE Platforms Accelerate the Grab for CPA Firms | With Apax Sale, CohnReznick Starts Building a National Platform | Unicorns and Funerals: From the Demise of Botkeeper to the Rise of Basis AI | Jeremy Dubow: Raising the Bar for Talent | Big 4 Transparency | Twelve Great Reasons to Merge In a Smaller Accounting Firm
A close look at almost 1,000 PE deals over the last 10 years shows only about 10% involve firms with assurance practices. The reason is as clear as it is simple: The vast majority of PE and PE-backed deals are for firms too small to play in the audit business.
Why Most CAS Practices Stall | It’s Not Just the Numbers
…And what the successful ones do differently.
This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, 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.
It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines
Client Accounting Services (CAS) has moved well beyond bookkeeping. For firms serious about advisory, CAS is now a fundamentally different operating model, one that demands new roles, new systems, and a far higher level of internal transparency than traditional tax or audit practices ever required.
In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin draw on more than two decades of shared experience to unpack what actually makes a modern CAS practice work in the real world. Their discussion goes beyond theory and into the structural, cultural, and operational decisions firms must confront if they want CAS to be scalable, profitable, and sustainable .
MORE Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead | MORE Advisory & Consulting | BUY “It’s Not Just the Numbers”
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.
Traditional accounting firms are built around specialization and hierarchy: junior and senior accountants, bookkeepers, managers, and partners, each working essentially in isolation on their own client list. That structure works for compliance, but it breaks down in a CAS environment.
“CAS requires the team to approach the client holistically,” Breslin explains. “You can’t have people operating in silos. Everyone needs to understand the client’s goals, not just their individual task.”