AI

At ENGAGE 2026, a Profession Richer and Less Certain Than Ever

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On the agenda: Consolidation, ethics, AI, and talent.

By CPA Trendlines

The CPA profession arrives at its biggest annual gathering this month, carrying two truths that refuse to sit comfortably together: It has never been worth more money. And it has never been less sure of what it is becoming.

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AICPA and CIMA convene ENGAGE 2026 at the ARIA in Las Vegas, June 8 through 11 and the 10th-anniversary theme — “The Next Wave: A Decade of Possibility Starts Now” — markets the milestone while signaling the unease beneath it.

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Jen Cryder: From Membership Model to Market Maker | Big 4 Transparency

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State societies can evolve into engines of innovation, education, and workforce resilience.

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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

At a time when the accounting profession is undergoing its most rapid transformation in decades, Jen Cryder, CEO of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), is quietly redefining what a state CPA society can (and arguably should) become. 

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In this episode of the Big 4 Transparency Podcast, Cryder joins host Dominic Piscopo to discuss how advocacy, revenue diversification, and technology investment are converging to reshape the future of the CPA profession. 

Cryder, who spent 15 years in public accounting before joining PICPA more than a decade ago, now finds herself at the center of national conversations around licensure reform, continuing professional education (CPE), and the evolving definition of what it means to be a CPA. While state societies have historically focused on a relatively narrow set of services, Cryder argues that the profession’s accelerating rate of change has expanded that mandate dramatically. “For most of our 130-year history, the definition of a CPA was fairly static,” she notes. “In just the last few years, that list of issues has become infinite.” 

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Three Tech Priorities with Rapid ROI

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Build advisory capacity without waiting for outside capital.

By Hitendra Patil

The technology gap between private equity-backed and independent firms is real, and it is also smaller than it appears from the outside.

Here is something I have consistently observed: PE-backed firms invest heavily in technology during their first 18 to 24 months post-acquisition because they have to. They are merging systems from multiple firms, migrating client data and standardizing workflows across a larger organization. That investment is substantial, but a meaningful portion of it solves problems that independent firms do not have, because they were never acquired in the first place.

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The independent firm’s technology challenge is different: deliberate modernization at a pace that does not disrupt client service. That is a more tractable problem than integration at scale, and the firms that treat it as a sequenced project tend to close the gap faster than they expected.
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Make Clients Feel Seen, Heard and Helped

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three magnifying glasses leaning on sidesUse a three-lens model for CAS conversations.

By Hitendra Patil

Many client accounting services professionals are eager to offer “advisory,” but they sometimes struggle to make their conversations truly feel like advice. The tools are available, and the data is clean, yet something still feels a bit off.

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Why? Because most client interactions rely on reactive reporting, when they should be guided by proactive exploration, and that’s the problem. CAS is far more than just about what you say. It’s about how your insights meet your client’s world.
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Make Your Clients Look Forward to Meeting with You

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illustration of the progression of economic value

Every interaction is an opportunity.

By Rory Henry
The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

In tracing the trajectory of economic evolution, each phase represents a profound transformation, often driven by technological advancements. For instance, the Industrial Revolution transformed the U.S. from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing economy that created tangible assets (i.e., finished goods) out of raw materials. In recent decades, the U.S. went through a digital revolution, moving us from a manufacturing economy to a service-based economy that produces intangible assets.

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This shift was emblematic of a broader transition from making tangible goods to delivering intangible services. The service economy burgeoned, with a focus on delivering services, e.g., tax services, financial services and estate planning legal services.

Now, we are in the midst of another paradigm shift. Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming us from a service economy to one based on providing the consumer with experiences and guiding them through life transformations. The AI era is not just about automating routine tasks, but fostering an environment in which we transcend traditional service delivery.
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