Firms that translate AI-driven data into clear insight will lead the next era of advisory.

By Rory Henry CFP®, BFA™
For CPA Trendlines

Few people have been able to bridge the gap between emerging technology and the accounting profession the way Dr. Sean Stein Smith does. A CPA, researcher, Forbes contributor, and professor at Lehman College, Stein Smith serves on the advisory board of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance and has spent more than a decade helping practitioners make sense of blockchain, crypto, and artificial intelligence.

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• MORE Dr. Sean Stein Smith | Crypto Tax Planning – Beyond the Basics & What Practitioners Need to Know Going Forward | Dec. 11, 12:30 p.m. ET | On-Demand

And CPAs can no longer afford to ignore it.

Poor onboarding frustrates clients, burns out staff, and kills profitability.

It's Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines

Winning the client is exciting—but in Client Accounting Services (CAS), that’s just the opening act. The real work, and the real success, depends on what happens immediately after a prospect says “yes.”

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In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead make the case that onboarding is one of the most overlooked, underdeveloped, and business-critical functions in CAS firms today.

“Too many firms have no clue what actually happens when a client walks in the door,” Breslin says. “You sold the work, but what happens next? What experience does the client have? And what does your team do first?”

Two-thirds of current firm leaders risk being obsolete within three years.

Accounting Influencers
With Rob Brown

A stark warning is shaking the accounting profession: 65% of current firm partners will be considered “digitally obsolete” within three years. The unsettling part? Private equity (PE) investors are not planning to retrain them—they are preparing to replace them.

• MORE Accounting Influencers with Rob Brown

On the latest episode of the Accounting Influencers Podcast, host Rob Brown uncovers how private equity–backed firms are redrawing the profession’s leadership map. The digital divide is no longer theoretical. It is already defining who will lead the future of accounting and who will be pushed aside.