today's features
busy season management

busy season 2026: how ready are you? it depends

the answers track firm size and practice focus.

on the front lines (clockwise from top left): winke, sosinski, d’angelo, parent, kaplow, gehring

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

across the profession, accountants heading into the 2026 busy season are not sounding alarms, nor are they celebrating breakthroughs. instead, they are settling into a steady, almost restrained confidence.

join the busy season barometer survey here.

more tax, pricing, and the 2026 outlook

the latest busy season barometer reveals that firms’ sense of readiness bears a striking resemblance to where they stood a year ago. for some, this signals resilience. for others, it signals stagnation. the portrait that emerges is a profession caught between incremental improvements and persistent operational friction.

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advisory & consulting

outlook 2026: accountants brace for a rough economy

expect strong demand for tax planning, business advisory and bookkeeping cleanup work. 

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer indicates that tax and accounting leaders anticipate growth in their own firms, even as they prepare for anxious business clients, persistent inflation, and a policy environment that keeps planning on edge.

more busy season and 2026 outlook

busy season barometer: join the survey. get the results

about half of all accountants in the survey are bracing for a deteriorating economy, with a third expecting rosier scenarios, for a net negative 17.2 percentage points. for small and mid-sized businesses, accountants are at a negative 9.3 points.

closer to home, they’re more confident, with a positive (barely) 1.7 points for their own clients and a whopping 57.5 points for their own firms.

tax and accounting professionals describe small and mid-sized business owners as navigating an economy that appears strong on paper but is treacherous in reality. they face higher prices, higher borrowing costs, and less room for error. read more →

charts & graphs

outlook 2026: the painful paradigm shift in staff pay and hiring

pivoting with the paradigm: staff salaries are rising sharply even as job growth plateaus.

new jobs data signal fundamental pivot for accounting firms.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the year 2026 may be long remembered as the paradigm-shifting moment when accounting firms were forced to pivot everything from their business models to their budgets.

more outlook 2026, pay, hiring

the reason: salary and pay increases are accelerating even as hiring momentum stalls.

going into 2026, labor costs have been cleaved from labor supply. the new, structurally higher staffing line is forcing firms to rewrite their budgets as well as business models.

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cornerstone

outlook 2026: agentic ai reaches the tipping point in tax and accounting firms

ai-powered firms are closing books faster, reallocating staff time to higher-value work, and widening the competitive gap with slower adopters.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
cornerstone report

as artificial intelligence transitions from a buzzword to a business imperative, cpa firms across the u.s. are quietly beginning to deploy generative ai assistants, machine learning tools, and “agentic” ai platforms to automate audits, prepare taxes, and provide financial insights.

with the astonishing surge in ai adoption, firm leaders say we’ve reached a tipping point where those not investing in ai risk being left behind.

more 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 cornerstone reports

in this cornerstone report, accounting firms show how they are leveraging ai to transform their operations, the benefits and challenges they are encountering, and what it all means for the future of the profession, including:

  • why ai adoption in cpa firms has hit a tipping point
  • how agentic ai is transforming tax, audit, and advisory work
  • the real productivity, roi, and revenue gains firms are reporting
  • what ai means for staffing, skills, and firm economics
  • the risks, governance challenges, and regulatory implications ahead
  • how firm leaders can deploy ai without falling behind

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pro member exclusive

the cpa pe playbook: private equity 2026 outlook & strategy guide

pro member download here
[pro members-only bonus]

the definitive guide to private equity’s transformation of the cpa profession

exclusively for pro members only, here

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by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the accounting profession is changing faster than at any time in its modern history—and private equity is driving the shift. more than $30 billion in new capital has entered cpa firms since 2020, igniting a powerful wave of consolidation, modernization, and strategic reinvention. firms that once relied on incremental growth and traditional partnership structures are now operating as high-performance platforms built for scale, technology adoption, and national reach.

the cpa pe playbook is the most comprehensive analysis available today on this historic transformation.

if you want to know where the profession is heading, how pe-backed firms are competing, and what it will take to thrive in the next decade, this is the report you need.

exclusively for pro members only

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cornerstone

pe deal tracker: 147 deals build $200 billion in new value

the surge: 105 deals in 2025 alone.

100 deals a year: the new normal?

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
cornerstone report

private equity-backed and pe-adjacent deals start the new year on a roll, with dozens of new combinations racing to year-end closes, driven by some of the biggest rollup platforms.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research is adding 29 newly captured deals to the tracker, lifting the total to 147 deals since 2020 with more than $10 billion in new funding. the continuation of transactions into early 2026 suggests that 2025 was not a peak but a new normal, with deal flow stabilizing at a higher level than in the pre-2020 period.

more cornerstone reports | more private equity

to submit updates, additions, or additional information, contact 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 here

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 estimates that today’s private-equity-driven revenue multiples imply an aggregate enterprise value of more than $400 billion for the top 500 cpa firm sector as a whole — a valuation reset of more than $200 billion. read more →

charts & graphs

how private equity created $200 billion in new riches for cpas

the math is simple, even if the implications are not.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

for decades, the value of a cpa firm was constrained by one simple fact: partners had to buy each other out with their own money. that reality imposed discipline, but it also capped valuation. firms were priced to be affordable, not aspirational.

that changed when private equity arrived.

more private equity

over the past five years, private equity funding has fundamentally altered how cpa firms are valued — not by changing what firms do, but by changing how the market prices scale, recurring revenue and growth potential. the result has been a sharp, uneven reset in firm values, with some practices worth 2 to 4 times what similar firms would have commanded just a few years earlier.

before private equity entered the market, the top 500 cpa firms, which generate roughly $146 billion in annual net revenue, would have been valued at roughly $170 billion using traditional pricing norms. applying today’s private-equity-driven revenue multiples implies a total enterprise value of more than $400 billion — a valuation reset of more than $200 billion without any change in underlying revenue. even the smallest firms may rise with the tide. the 500th largest firm runs about $6 million a year.

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accounting influencers

visibility is the new accounting authority | accounting voices

reputation now grows through clarity and communication, not tenure.

sponsored by the balanced millionaire: the advisor edition by dr. jackie meyer | see today’s special offer
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build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!

accounting voices
with rob brown

after two episodes dissecting the big four’s ai arms race, the final chapter of the mini-series turns the lens inward. this episode of accounting voices makes the case that staying competitive in an automated profession has less to do with budgets and bots — and everything to do with judgment, visibility, and trust.

ai has changed what clients and employers value. hours and output no longer differentiate. clarity, confidence, and credibility do.

in accounting, reputation once followed hierarchy. today, it follows visibility.

when a client, prospect, or employer searches your name, they are not just checking credentials. they are looking for proof of thinking. insight. perspective. signals that you understand what the numbers mean — and when they should be questioned.

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pro member exclusive

want better clients? raise your rates

portrait of loren fogelman
fogelman
 loren fogelman, founder of business success solution, is an expert in pricing strategy and sales for accounting firms. a sought-after keynote speaker, she is continually listed among america’s top-ranked business coaches.

your fees send a message about your firm.

by loren fogelman
the holistic guide to wealth management

setting your fees appropriately is one of the primary challenges that accounting professionals face. according to mckinsey, 80 to 90 percent of services are priced too low. throughout my career, i too have found that most firm owners don’t know how much to charge for their services – and too often they undercharge.

more rory henry and the holistic guide to wealth management
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

many firm owners tell me that setting fees can feel like tiptoeing through a pricing minefield. and pricing shouldn’t be taken lightly. this is especially true for wealth management services. the prices you set today will impact your firm’s profit margin as well as your growth for years to come.
read more →

pro member exclusive

use workflow apps to pump up profits

you’ve been reinventing the wheel. why?

by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud

as a business grows, it becomes necessary to systemize the processes in order to increase the team’s efficiency and deliver a consistent experience for clients.

more by jody grunden
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

one of the challenges that comes with creating systems can be getting every team member on board with the process you want to put in place. for example, joe may have one way of doing things, while karen does them another way and susie yet another.

creating a system will likely require all of them to make some changes in their own day-to-day workflows.
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featured video

jan lewis: workforce development is the next cpa imperative | gear up for growth

training and growth—not just recruitment—will determine the profession’s future.

this is a preview. the complete episode 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

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build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!
.

gear up for growth
with jean caragher
for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

when jan lewis, vice chair of the american institute of cpas (aicpa), says, “the world is a complicated place, and who better than a cpa to help cut through the noise?” she’s not offering a slogan. she’s issuing a call to action.

more jean caragher here | get her best-selling handbook, the 90-day marketing plan for cpa firms, here | more gear up for growth

more 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 videos and podcasts here

in a wide-ranging and refreshingly candid conversation with host jean caragher on gear up for growth, lewis makes the case that this moment—right now—is one of the most consequential and opportunity-rich periods the cpa profession has ever faced.

read more →

growth strategies

twelve ways to use chatgpt today

embrace artificial intelligence in your accounting practice.

by jackie meyer
the balanced millionaire: advisor edition

in today’s rapidly evolving landscape, technologies like artificial intelligence (ai), natural language processing (nlp) and advanced large language models (llms, the brains behind tools like chatgpt) are no longer futuristic concepts – they’re here now, and they’re incredibly powerful. integrating ai into your tech stack can revolutionize your practice, freeing up time, enhancing client service, and providing insights that would be hard to get manually.

more by jackie meyer
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it might sound a bit abstract or even hype-y, so let’s break it down in practical terms for an accounting and tax advisory firm.

what are ai, nlp and llms?

  • artificial intelligence: ai is a broad term for machines or software that mimic human intelligence processes. this includes learning from data (so they improve over time), reasoning to make decisions or predictions, and self-correcting when they get things wrong. in practice, ai can be as simple as an email spam filter (which “learns” what spam looks like by example), or as complex as an autonomous vehicle. in our context, think of ai as tools that can analyze data or perform tasks in a humanlike way – but at computer speed and scale.

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2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: look to the future

today’s bissett bullet: “in writing a proposal for a potential client, it serves us to remember that they want us to help them create history more than record it.”

by martin bissett

because we are so used to providing compliance work, we are used to looking in the rear-view mirror. our prospective client, however, wants to look out of the windshield to where we are going. so, let us make sure that our proposals represent a forward-looking view more than they do a historical-looking view. the prospective client takes the recording of the past as a given. they want to know where they are going with us in charge.

today’s to-do:

today the action point is this. before a meeting with a prospective client, make sure that our agenda is future-focused, not historically focused.

see more bissett bullets here

read more →

accounting arc

ocr, research bots and meeting assistants: what actually helps this year | arc

firms use ai, planning, and “hope” to make tax season more manageable.

sponsored by the balanced millionaire: the advisor edition by dr. jackie meyer | see today’s special offer

subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google/youtube, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music, audible, player fm, audacy, rss.

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!

as firms head into tax season, the hosts of accounting arc make a case for lowering the temperature — and the workload — with practical tech choices, proactive planning and a stronger focus on people.

more accounting arc: return season is the new stress test | small firms may have the biggest advantage in 2026 | downgraded: what the doe said about accounting | savage: using your license as a megaphone |  baker: interpreting pricing psychology | don’t get fired by your own automation | what amazon doesn’t tell you | 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

in a special tax season readiness episode, donny shimamoto, cpa.citp, cgma; joins co-hosts liz mason, cpa; and byron patrick, cpa.citp, cgma; to preview new tax platform research, spotlight emerging ai tools and talk candidly about what helps teams sustain momentum from january through april.

shimamoto, founder and managing director of intraprisetechknowlogies llc and founder and inspiration architect for the center for accounting transformation, sets the tone early. he says he intentionally avoids calling it “busy season,” noting that practitioners tell him the upcoming cycle may feel lighter than the past few years. the conversation that follows keeps returning to the same core question: what, specifically, helps firms reduce friction before deadlines hit?

read more →

marketing & sales

sixteen marketing activities to try

maybe you can help a client at the same time.

by august aquila
max: maximize productivity, profitability and client retention

just in case you have run out of marketing ideas, what follows is a laundry list of activities for your consideration. any marketing activity you undertake needs to start with an understanding of your market, and then develop the activity around those needs. marketing is about getting in front of your targets so that they can see how much you can help them.

more by august j. aquila
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

create your activities around this concept: “i will provide my clients and prospects with valuable information in order to help them determine that i (or my firm) can best solve their problems and satisfy their needs.”
read more →

featured video

epp and schrock: firms that listen keep their people | move like this

paychecks and perks are no longer enough to retain talent.

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 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research podcasts anywhere: apple, google/youtube, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music, audible, player fm, audacy, rss.
build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!

move like this
with bonnie buol ruszczyk
for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

in this episode of?move like this, bonnie buol ruszczyk sits down with? kristi epp, a tax partner, and amber schrock, an advisory partner and las vegas market leader at frazier & deeter, will explore how the accounting profession is evolving and how firm leaders can better support their people. both guests share their career journeys and how they found long-term professional homes at the firm, emphasizing mentorship, growth opportunities, and a culture that values people as much as performance. 

more move

epp and schrock note that the past five years, particularly the post-covid period, have fundamentally reshaped accounting. remote work, automation, and regulatory complexity are now the norm, while consolidation and private equity activity are accelerating change across the profession. frazier & deeter’s recent growth initiatives, including acquisitions, reflect this shifting landscape and the need for firms to think differently about scale, talent, and integration.  read more →

charts & graphs

gallup: accountants still trusted, but on thinning ice

new honesty and ethics ratings place accountants near historic lows.

accountants rank seventh out of 21 professions measured by gallup, trailing all healthcare professions and teachers, and clustering near other mid-tier trust occupations. source: gallup, december 2025.
accountants rank seventh out of 21 professions measured by gallup, trailing all healthcare professions and teachers, and clustering near other mid-tier trust occupations.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

accountants remain among the more trusted professions in american life — but barely, and increasingly precariously.

in gallup’s newest honesty and ethics of professions survey, only 35% of americans rate accountants’ honesty and ethical standards as “very high” or “high.” that places the profession in the middle tier of public esteem and, according to gallup, statistically close to its lowest point since the polling series began in 1976.

more accounting industry buoyed by positive image | gallup: accountants recover pre-enron reputations | gallup: accountants ‘top-rated’ for honesty, ethics | gallup: accountants’ reputations unsullied by financial debacles | are cpas fretting too much? | gallup: accounting reputation in recovery | accounting’s reputation hits 14-year high

the new poll comes with a broader warning label: americans’ ethics ratings have fallen across many occupations, and the average across gallup’s core set of professions has slid to a historic low. accountants are not isolated — but they are exposed. their work is built on trust, and their public standing appears to be eroding at the exact moment the profession is asking clients and regulators to accept more complex roles for cpas, including ai-enabled advisory services, outsourced finance, and expanded assurance responsibilities.

read more →

mergers & acquisitions

nineteen things to expect when merging up

smaller firms should be prepared.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

the degree to which merger terms are negotiable is often determined by the relative size of the two firms.

more by marc rosenberg
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

generally, the larger the gap in firm size between buyer and seller, the fewer the items are open to negotiation. this can be illustrated by the following chart:
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