CPA Trendlines Podcasts

Context, verified sources, and human review remain essential as teams build AI tools.Innovation InsightsWith Donny Shimamoto and Liz MasonCenter for Accounting TransformationA tax firm can build an AI agent to organize documents, flag missing information, and track unfinished returns. The harder assignment is deciding what that agent should never do on its own. That question drives this episode of Innovation Insights, a Center for Accounting Transformation podcast conversation between hosts Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, and Liz Mason, CPA.As smaller firms experiment with building their own tax tools, the two examine what separates a useful automation from a costly lapse in security, accuracy, or professional responsibility.More Donny ShimamotoShimamoto is founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC and founder and inspiration architect for the Center for Accounting Transformation. Mason is co-founder and CEO of TaxFigure, founder and CEO of High Rock Accounting, a member of Intuit’s Partner Council, a board member of AuditMiner, and CEO and founder of Rebel Rock.Their message gives firms room to experiment, but it also gives that experimentation a clear starting point: Understand the data, the workflow, and the professional obligations before building.

The 2026 Accounting MOVE Project report examines how caregiving affects women’s careers. A newly released MOVE Like This episode explores another part of that conversation: whether women’s own healthcare needs are being heard.MOVE Like ThisWith Bonnie Buol RuszczykFor CPA Trendlines ResearchSupporting women’s careers requires understanding the lives they lead beyond work.That connection comes into focus with the release of the 2026 Accounting MOVE Project report, Caught in the Middle: How Caregiving Pressures Are Reshaping Women's Careers in Public Accounting, which examines how caregiving pressures affect advancement in public accounting. Among participating firms, 47% reported seeing caregiving slow progress toward promotion or partnership, and 76% said the career impact falls mostly on women.MORE MOVE Like This | MORE Caregiving Research | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkReleased alongside the report, this episode of MOVE Like This broadens the discussion to women’s health. Host Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk talks with Michael Annichine, CEO of Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation at the time of the recording, about gaps in medical research, the importance of listening, and what happens when women’s concerns are dismissed.The conversation offers a useful perspective for accounting leaders considering the report’s findings: Understanding what people need is only the beginning. Institutions also have to act on what they learn.Editor’s note: This episode was recorded April 16, 2024. References to the president refer to then-President Joe Biden. Discussion of federal initiatives, research funding, and diversity, equity, and inclusion reflects the context at the time of recording.

Accounting firms may offer flexibility, but outdated expectations and missed opportunities can still push experienced professionals out the door.The DisruptorsWith Liz FarrFor CPA TrendlinesAccounting firms have spent years worrying about the front end of the talent pipeline. Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk wants them to look at the other end as well. Ruszczyk, owner and research lead of the Accounting MOVE Project, led this year's MOVE report, Caught in the Middle: How Caregiving Pressures Are Reshaping Women's Careers in Public Accounting. This new report examines what happens when experienced professionals take on care for children, aging parents, spouses and partners, and whether their firms keep them on the path to leadership.  MORE Disruptors with Liz Farr | CPA Trendlines Streaming Network MORE MOVE Like This | MORE Caregiving Research That question matters because of the disparity in women’s representation in leadership at accounting firms. Firms “tend to be pretty much 50:50 gender parity up until you get to the senior director, almost going to go into partnership,” Ruszczyk says. At MOVE firms, women hold about 42% of partner roles. Across all U.S. firms, that ratio drops to around 34%. For women of color, the drop is even sharper. According to Ruszczyk, about 20% of associates are women of color while only 5% of partners are.   Caregiving isn't the only cause for the disparity, but it is “one of the areas where we’re seeing some leaks spring up,” Ruszczyk explains. While caregiving has always been a part of the lives of accountants – men and women – several converging trends are making this a bigger issue today.

Technical expertise earns credibility, but the ability to delegate, build trust, and guide people through uncertainty determines how far a business can grow. Full show notes hereAccounting VoicesWith Rob BrownAn accounting firm’s biggest bottleneck may sit at the top.The leader who reviews every return, answers every technical question, and makes every consequential decision can appear indispensable. But that dependence raises a difficult question: Who is building the business while its leader is busy checking the work?MORE Accounting Voices with Rob Brown | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming NetworkIn this episode of Accounting Voices, insights from conversations with nearly 50 influential voices in the profession highlight a pressing leadership challenge: Technical excellence is the starting point. Leading an enterprise requires a broader set of skills.The episode calls this tension the “Competency Collision.” The expertise that helps accountants advance does not, by itself, prepare them to build adaptable organizations, develop future leaders, or make difficult decisions about what comes next.READ MORE > > > 

Overlooked client requests and undocumented know-how can distort pricing, strain teams, and limit advisory growth.It's Not Just the NumbersWith Penny Breslin and Damien GreatheadFor CPA TrendlinesMost accounting firm owners could tell you their billable hours down to the decimal. Far fewer could tell you where the other 25% to 30% of their team's time goes.Jeanne Hardy, CEO and founder of the practice management platform Levvy and the CAS firm Creative Business, joins Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin on It's Not Just the Numbers to explain why that invisible work is the real barrier standing between most firms and a healthy advisory practice, and what she built to fix it. MORE Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead | MORE Advisory & Consulting JOIN From Scorekeeper to Strategist CAS Workshop | BUY "It's Not Just the Numbers" Hardy has lived this problem from both sides. She has run a CAS firm for 20 years and built software to solve the gaps she kept hitting inside her own practice. That dual perspective runs through the whole conversation.