AICPA

Jim Metzler: Why the Profession’s Best Are Walking Away from Partnership | Gear Up for Growth

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Firms, not candidates, are to blame for a generation of superstars declining the summons.

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Gear Up for Growth
with Jean Caragher
for CPA Trendlines

Few voices carry more weight on the question of who becomes a partner, and why, than Jim Metzler’s.

So when the former AICPA vice president and longtime mentor to emerging firm leaders says the profession’s top performers are hesitating at the threshold of partnership, firm owners would do well to listen.

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In the new episode of “Gear Up for Growth,” hosted by Jean Caragher of Capstone Marketing, Metzler lays out why – and what separates the firms that keep their stars from the ones that lose them.

“The bigger the superstar in the firm, the more they say, ‘I’m really not sure if I want to be a partner,’” says Jim Metzler, founder of Metzler Advisory Group and author of “The Emerging Partner Playbook: A Complete Guide for Emerging Partners in CPA Firms,” this edition of “Gear Up for Growth,” powered by CPA Trendlines and hosted by Jean Caragher, president of Capstone Marketing. READ MORE →

Mandy Gallagher: Caregiving Isn’t a Side Issue – It’s a Workforce Issue | MOVE Like This

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“Flexibility should be used as a tool for success. It shouldn’t be the exception.” 

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Optimize Profits, Delight Clients, & Build a Top-Value Firm!

MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines Research

In this episode of MOVE Like This, Mandy Gallagher, lead manager of Women’s Initiatives at the AICPA, joins Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk to discuss why caregiving has become such an important conversation in accounting, what firms may misunderstand about caregivers, and how greater flexibility and support could influence retention and leadership pipelines across the profession. Gallagher’s work focuses on advancing women’s initiatives, supporting professional development, and amplifying women’s perspectives throughout the profession.

 

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One reason caregiving is getting more attention now is that it is both more visible and much broader than many people have traditionally assumed. Demographic shifts mean multiple generations are simultaneously balancing careers with responsibilities for children, aging parents, siblings, partners, friends, and others who rely on them. COVID also changed expectations around where and how work can happen. Employees experienced firsthand that they could remain productive while having enough flexibility to pick up a child or take a parent to a medical appointment. As more organizations return to traditional office expectations, those competing demands have become harder to reconcile.

 

The conversation challenges another long-standing assumption: that caregiving is primarily a women-with-young-children issue.

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Mark Koziel: The End of Accounting as We Know It | Gear Up for Growth

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Koziel Calls for a New CPA Firm Model

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Gear Up for Growth
with Jean Caragher
for CPA Trendlines

Mark Koziel is putting the accounting profession on notice: The business model that sustained CPA firms for generations is running out of time.

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“The hours-times-rate model is a death knell for the profession,” says Koziel, CPA, CGMA, president and CEO of the AICPA and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, on Gear Up for Growth, powered by CPA Trendlines and hosted by Jean Caragher, president of Capstone Marketing.

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Gear Up for Growth is tailored specifically for public accounting firms with up to 100 team members looking to expand their practices intelligently and efficiently.

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As artificial intelligence accelerates the automation of tax preparation and compliance work, Koziel says CPA firms must fundamentally rethink how they create—and price—value for clients.

“There’s still value to that tax return,” Koziel says. “It’s just not based on our inputs.” READ MORE →

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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Independent Firms Have a Regulatory Advantage

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three men seated at table in office and talking

Use it to set yourself apart.

By Hitendra Patil

This article covers something I do not hear discussed nearly enough in conversations about how independent firms differentiate themselves. Most of the differentiation conversation focuses on relationship depth, niche expertise and responsiveness. All of that is real, but there is a structural advantage available to independent CPA firms right now that almost none of them are naming to clients, and it is growing in legal and regulatory significance.

Structural independence in the attest function.

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How Private Equity Structures Actually Work

When PE enters an accounting firm, the transaction does not simply add capital to the existing firm. Generally, the acquired firm splits into two separate legal entities:
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