CPA Trendlines Podcasts

Language, collaboration, and leadership training turned competition into cohesion.The DisruptorsWith Liz FarrWhen Alan Whitman became Baker Tilly's CEO, he was caught between two warring camps. On one side were the legacy partners who had built the organization and “wanted to continue doing things the way that we’ve always done them because we’ve been so successful.” That side was afraid of “losing what they had built.” In the other camp were the new partners who wanted to change “to what they were promised, what they signed on to by becoming part of Baker Tilly.” The newcomers wanted “to move faster and do it differently.”  MORE STREAMING: Shein: No PE? No M&A? No Problem | Hood and Weber: Time to RISE | Proctor: Turn Dumb Ideas into Brilliant Solutions | Carter-Gray: How 1 Poor Review Strengthened the Firm | Hartman: Upwork to “40 Under 40” in 3 Years | Telka: Transform Fear into Fuel | Woodard: Move Past Reports; Deliver Results | As Whitman describes in his new book, “Break the Mold: How to Achieve Transformational Change Scale and Grow Simultaneously, the conflict was resolved over time, one conversation, one small meeting at a time. “It would be more evolution, not revolution,” Whitman says.  Whitman’s book, part memoir and part practical guide, describes his time leading one of the largest accounting firms in the US through a fundamental transformation. “We’re a storied profession, the CPA profession, and we are an incremental type of people,” Whitman explains. The transformation Whitman had in mind needed a different approach, as he says in his previous appearance on The Disruptors. “Break the mold is designing new ways of doing things to achieve results that we don’t think can happen, or don’t even think that are possible.”  

Poe Group Advisors; Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms.Our clients love working with us, and we know you will too! Don’t just take our word for it. Learn more about our client success stories and how we’ve guided buyers and sellers through a smooth transition with their bookkeeping, accounting, and CPA firms. Learn MorePoe Group Advisors is the premier accounting practice intermediary firm in the industry with over 20 years of M&A experience. PGA was founded by Brannon Poe, a CPA with a Big 4 background. Buying or selling a CPA firm is one of life’s most significant ventures for business owners. Qualified buyers looking to buy an accounting firm want to find the right CPA practice for sale, and accounting practice sellers want to find the right buyer. This is where Poe Group Advisors excels time and time again in helping our clients find the right accounting practice sales opportunity. Learn More

The profession's newest partners may be the most vulnerable.MOVE Like ThisWith Bonnie Buol RuszczykFor CPA TrendlinesMOVE Like This host Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk sits down with Sarah Elliott, CPA, co-founder of Intend2Lead, to unpack what conscious leadership looks like in accounting—and why the profession’s newest partners may be the most vulnerable leaders in the firm.Elliott, a former audit partner who left public accounting in 2014 to become an executive coach, argues that real change happens in a precise order: mindset, then skill set, then habits. Her “conscious leader” model centers on leaders who share power, elevate others, and stay curious, even when uncertainty invites fear.“Our best leaders are human-centric first,” Elliott says. “In a world of accelerating tech and change, we have to start with people—always.” MORE MOVE Intend2Lead recently surveyed 110 newly promoted partners (2023–2024). The results spotlight avoidable gaps that push rising leaders toward burnout—or out of public accounting altogether.

Gen Z won't fix your firm culture problem - they'll leave it.Accounting InfluencersWith Rob BrownWhen the youngest professionals in accounting start saying “no,” leaders should start listening.In this episode of Accounting Influencers, the conversation turns to the one thing that could make or break your firm’s future: how you treat your people, specifically, how you treat Gen Z.They’re qualified. They’re confident. And they’ve watched what the generations before them endured—burnout, long hours, micromanagement, and “be grateful you’ve got a job” culture. Their conclusion? “No thanks.” MORE Accounting Influencers with Rob Brown This isn’t softness. It’s a strategy.Gen Z values mental health over martyrdom, meaning over money, and culture over compensation. They’ve seen the toll that toxic leadership takes, and they’re unwilling to sacrifice well-being for tradition.Here, Rob Brown outlines five toxic traits that send young accountants running for the exits.

Poe Group Advisors; Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms.Our clients love working with us, and we know you will too! Don’t just take our word for it. Learn more about our client success stories and how we’ve guided buyers and sellers through a smooth transition with their bookkeeping, accounting, and CPA firms. Learn MorePoe Group Advisors is the premier accounting practice intermediary firm in the industry with over 20 years of M&A experience. PGA was founded by Brannon Poe, a CPA with a Big 4 background. Buying or selling a CPA firm is one of life’s most significant ventures for business owners. Qualified buyers looking to buy an accounting firm want to find the right CPA practice for sale and accounting practice sellers want to find the right buyer. This is where Poe Group Advisors excels time and time again in helping our clients find the right accounting practice sales opportunity. Learn More

Poe Group Advisors; Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms.Our clients love working with us, and we know you will too! Don’t just take our word for it. Learn more about our client success stories and how we’ve guided buyers and sellers through a smooth transition with their bookkeeping, accounting, and CPA firms. Learn MorePoe Group Advisors is the premier accounting practice intermediary firm in the industry with over 20 years of M&A experience. PGA was founded by Brannon Poe, a CPA with a Big 4 background. Buying or selling a CPA firm is one of life’s most significant ventures for business owners. Qualified buyers looking to buy an accounting firm want to find the right CPA practice for sale and accounting practice sellers want to find the right buyer. This is where Poe Group Advisors excels time and time again in helping our clients find the right accounting practice sales opportunity. Learn More

Reserves, credit lines, and leadership pipelines fuel expansionGear Up for GrowthWith Jean CaragherFor CPA Trendlines“Fiercely independent isn’t a strategy, it’s a stance,” says John Geraci, managing partner of LGA CPAs & Advisors. “To truly remain independent, firms must be strategic about how they differentiate themselves, understand the threats posed by private equity, and have the conviction to invest in their people and future leaders.”  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 videos and podcasts here Geraci and Jeff Call, managing partner of Bennett Thrasher, were guests on Gear Up for Growth, hosted by Jean Caragher of Capstone Marketing.  As private equity continues to reshape the accounting profession, both leaders agree on two critical factors for firms choosing to remain self-owned: independence must be intentional, and culture is the ultimate differentiator. 

Poe Group Advisors; Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms.Our clients love working with us, and we know you will too! Don’t just take our word for it. Learn more about our client success stories and how we’ve guided buyers and sellers through a smooth transition with their bookkeeping, accounting, and CPA firms. Learn MorePoe Group Advisors is the premier accounting practice intermediary firm in the industry with over 20 years of M&A experience. PGA was founded by Brannon Poe, a CPA with a Big 4 background. Buying or selling a CPA firm is one of life’s most significant ventures for business owners. Qualified buyers looking to buy an accounting firm want to find the right CPA practice for sale, and accounting practice sellers want to find the right buyer. This is where Poe Group Advisors excels time and time again in helping our clients find the right accounting practice sales opportunity. Learn More

Returns ripple through revenue recognition, inventory, and environmental reporting.Accounting ARCWith Liz Mason, Byron Patrick, and Donny ShimamotoCenter for Accounting TransformationAccounting ARC hosts Liz Mason, CPA; Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, CGMA; and Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, use a YouTube investigation into Amazon’s return ecosystem as a springboard to examine the financial realities behind frictionless refunds. They agree that returns are a strategic cost center that must be engineered into product pricing, platform choice, and tax compliance from the start. MORE Accounting ARC: 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 |Higher return rates are the rule online. U.S. retailers estimated that 16.9% of 2024 sales—about $890 billion—were returned, according to the National Retail Federation and Happy Returns. The cost of reverse logistics, shrinkage, and fraud compounds the hit to gross margin. “If you want the increased revenue from Amazon sales, it’s going to come with increased returns,” Shimamoto says. “You can’t have the reach without the cost.”Fees require granular modeling. Amazon’s seller fees are multilayered. Referral fees commonly range from approximately 8% to 15% by category and are typically accompanied by fulfillment, storage, and program charges. “Owners see the top line and assume they’re making money,” Patrick says. “Reconciling marketplace statements to cash is a jigsaw puzzle—even for CPAs.”

Poe Group Advisors; Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms.Our clients love working with us, and we know you will too! Don’t just take our word for it. Learn more about our client success stories and how we’ve guided buyers and sellers through a smooth transition with their bookkeeping, accounting, and CPA firms. Learn MorePoe Group Advisors is the premier accounting practice intermediary firm in the industry with over 20 years of M&A experience. PGA was founded by Brannon Poe, a CPA with a Big 4 background. Buying or selling a CPA firm is one of life’s most significant ventures for business owners. Qualified buyers looking to buy an accounting firm want to find the right CPA practice for sale and accounting practice sellers want to find the right buyer. This is where Poe Group Advisors excels time and time again in helping our clients find the right accounting practice sales opportunity. Learn More