Transforming: Tales of Business Evolution

Many small accounting firms may not have heard much about digital assets beyond bitcoin and the FTX bankruptcy, but accountants have two big reasons to learn more about the topic. First, the acceptance of digital assets as payment has steadily grown among accounting firms and especially their clients. Second, cyberattacks are increasingly targeting digital assets. The combination of these trends means that even small firms should learn about digital assets, gain an understanding of the cybersecurity threats, and be prepared to discuss safeguards with clients. In this episode of the Small Firm Philosophy podcast, produced by the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) in partnership with the Journal of Accountancy podcast, JofA host Neil Amato discusses digital assets and cybersecurity with Steve Ursillo, CPA/CITP, CGMA, a partner in the Risk & Accounting Advisory Group at Cherry Bekaert and the firm's national leader of information assurance and cybersecurity. Ursillo explains the threat landscape and offers advice on the safeguards that organizations should have in place. Things you will learn in this podcast Why digital assets are enticing to hackers. The reputational effect of suffering a cyberattack. Common attack vectors related to digital assets. Ursillo's specific advice on the importance of protecting mobile phones. An explanation of cold and hot wallets. The importance of applying certain information security frameworks. A transcript of the conversation is available on journalofaccountancy.com. Related resources PCPS Cybersecurity Checklist Q&A: Two cyberattacks CPA firms should fear AICPA’s Auditing Blockchain & Digital Assets webpage

  Orumé Hays, CPA, CGMA, didn’t exactly follow a traditional path to owning an accounting practice. From Africa to the Big Apple, she blazed a trail all her own. Raised in Nigeria, Hays moved to Miami with a college degree in sociology and anthropology and a budding career in modeling and acting. Her pursuit of Hollywood stardom peaked with a couple of appearances in the 1996 movie “The Birdcage”. She then discovered a new passion. Trading in the silver screen for spreadsheets, Hays embarked on a new journey as an accountant. Pursuing education and experience, she built her accounting career and then launched her own firm in New York City. Today, Hays CPA provides tax and client advisory services (CAS) to small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. And Hays has emerged as a star in her chosen profession. So how does someone go from modeling and acting to being named among the 25 most powerful women in accounting? What lessons has Hays learned owning an accounting firm as an immigrant, black woman in the United States? Hays answers those questions in the latest installment of the Small Firm Philosophy podcast, produced by the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section in partnership with the Journal of Accountancy podcast. The chair of the PCPS Executive Committee and also an adjunct college professor, Hays also offers insights into the pipeline and other challenges confronting small firms.   Resources mentioned 2023 PCPS Busy Season Fun Calendar 2022 PCPS CPA Firm Top Issues Survey   Things you will learn in this podcast How and why Hays transitioned from modeling and acting to accounting The key and ongoing role of education in Hays’ life and career What Hays sees as the top issues facing small accounting firms. What she has learned about college students during her years as an adjunct accounting professor What CPAs can do to help bolster the recruitment of students into accounting careers    

The CPA’s guide to technology (and tech gifts) There are few, if any, people in the accounting space who know more about technology than Inspector Gadget. No, not the cartoon character with the go-go arms from the 1980s. The man wearing the trench coat in this case is David Cieslak, CPA.CITP, CGMA, executive vice president and chief cloud officer for RKL eSolutions and a popular speaker whose Inspector Gadget keynote session has been a highlight of accounting conferences for many years. If you want to be clued in to what’s going on with technology, both in accounting and with consumer products, Cieslak is the man to talk to. So that’s what we do in the latest episode of the Small Firm Philosophy podcast, produced in partnership with the Journal of Accountancy podcast Topics covered in the conversation include: The three steps accounting firms can take to make the most of their technology spending. Why CPAs should not wait too long to update their laptops and desktops What true cloud is and what to look for in cloud-based applications What tech products could be great holiday gifts for CPAs to give or receive. SFP episode referenced “The payoffs of RPA for one accounting firm”   Products mentioned CPE through podcasts: Earmark, lumiQ Apple IPad Pro Apple Watch, Apple Watch Ultra, Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Google Pixel Watch Amazon Echo This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), the home of small firms. To learn more about PCPS, email pcps@aicpa.org and schedule a free webtour. Note: If your podcast app does not hyperlink to resources, visit https://aicpasmallfirm.libsyn.com to access show notes with direct links.  

It's the holidays, that special time of the year when children wish for their dream gift and CPAs pray that the looming busy season won't be another nightmare.  Rabecca Eunis, CPA, knows the feeling. As a new accountant working for her father’s firm, Eunis learned to dread and despise tax season. The mad, miserable dash to Tax Day was so stressful that Eunis launched her own practice vowing that her team wouldn’t suffer the way she did. Fun, she believed, should be a key part of busy season. Eunis put her new approach into practice, and it paid off for both her and, eventually, her father.  How did she make busy season less stressful and more fun? And how did that benefit her father as well as her firm? Eunis explains all in this episode of the Small Firm Philosophy podcast, produced by the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section in partnership with the Journal of Accountancy podcast. Things you will learn in this podcast Avoidable practices that make busy season harder than it needs to be Ways to preserve as much family and free time as possible for team members Tips for injecting fun into the most taxing time of the year What bowling in the dark is and how it applied to busy season The impacts of these policies on staff productivity and firm growth. Reference mentioned PCPS busy season fun calendar

Ghosts, goblins and ghouls aren't the only scary things to watch out for this Halloween season. Hackers and criminal organizations are up to their old tricks -- and some new ones -- in their tireless efforts to breach your cyberdefenses and treat themselves to your computer networks and data.   So what kinds of spooky schemes are haunting CPA firms? And what can practitioners do to protect themselves and their clients? The Small Firm Philosophy podcast addressed those questions with Sarah Ference, CPA, a risk control director at CNA, the underwriter of the AICPA's professional liability insurance program.  Ference advises firms of all sizes on how they can manage their professional liability risk. In this episode, she identifies two cyberthreats being seen more often in accounting firm cyber-insurance claims and discusses ways firms can lower their risk of being victimized.  The Small Firm Philosophy podcast is produced by the AICPA's Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS). PCPS members can see an edited transript at https://www.aicpa.org/news/article/q-and-a-2-cyberattacks-cpa-firms-should-fear.  This episode of SFP provides information, rather than advice or opinion. It is accurate to the best of the author’s knowledge as of the publish date. This article should not be viewed as a substitute for recommendations of a retained professional. Such consultation is recommended in applying this material in any particular factual situations. Examples are for illustrative purposes only and not intended to establish any standards of care, serve as legal advice, intended to constitute a contract, or acknowledge any given factual situation is covered under any CNA insurance policy. The relevant insurance policy provides actual terms, coverages, amounts, conditions, and exclusions for an insured.  

Launching an advisory firm after 20 years in public accounting requires courage, confidence and commitment. It also helps to get some business coaching and to focus on changing customer needs. Those are some of the lessons Zack Ryan, CPA, shares in this episode of the Small Firm Philosophy podcast. The founder of Value Forward Advisory explains how meeting regularly with business owners on a fixed-fee basis has relieved workload congestion and produced much improved revenue and profit per client.   Resources from this episode Starting Your CPA Practice – Planning Checklist “On Your Own! How to Start Your Own CPA Firm (note: links to Amazon.com) Client acceptance evaluation tool To learn more about Ryan, connect with him on LinkedIn. This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), the home of small firms. To learn more about PCPS, check out our membership information or sign up for a free web tour. Note: If your podcast app does not hyperlink to resources, visit https://aicpasmallfirm.libsyn.com to access show notes with direct links.

Terrence Putney, CPA, managing director with Whitman Transition Advisors, is among the top advisers on accounting firm mergers nationwide. Over his 44-year career, Putney has been involved with hundreds of accounting firm M&A deals and also co-written more than 20 articles on succession-related issues for the Journal of Accountancy. In this episode of Small Firm Philosophy, Putney addresses succession and related M&A issues including:  Three trends besides succession that are driving accounting firm M&A Is the current firm M&A market favoring buyers or sellers? What small firm partners should be doing today so they can retire in a few years. What a two-stage deal is and why it’s well suited for solo practitioners and small firms. Resources mentioned in the conversation: The JofA “Succession Series”. JofA article on “The Culture Test” in accounting firm mergers JofA article on “A two-stage solution to succession procrastination”. PCPS and Succession Institute 2020 Succession Planning Survey results, analysis and resources Click on the link to contact Terry. This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), the home of small firms. To learn more about PCPS, check out our membership information or sign up for a free web tour. Note: If your podcast app does not hyperlink to resources, visit https://aicpasmallfirm.libsyn.com to access show notes with direct links.

The Private Companies Practice Section’s National Management of an Accounting Practice (MAP) Survey gathers key metrics from thousands of U.S. firms of all sizes. In this episode of the Small Firm Philosophy podcast, Steven Bankler, CPA, shares how he and his small firm break down the survey results to build a better practice. Resources mentioned in this episode: National MAP Survey To learn more about Steven, please visit bankler.com.   This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), the home of small firms. To learn more about PCPS, check out our membership information or sign up for a free web tour. Note: If your podcast app does not hyperlink to resources, visit https://aicpasmallfirm.libsyn.com to access show notes with direct links.

Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, has been a buzzword in the accounting profession for several years. Despite that, many practitioners don’t have a great grasp of what RPA is and what it can do for accountants. Wesley Hartman has spent much of the past eight years developing RPA solutions for midsize firm Kirsch Kohn Bridge (KKB), where he serves as director of technology. In this episode of the Small Firm Philosophy podcast, produced in partnership with the Journal of Accountancy podcast, Hartman shares how he has used RPA, how RPA can help accounting firms address key pain points, and why he and his firm are so bullish on the technology they have launched an RPA startup.   This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), the home of small firms. To learn more about PCPS, email pcps@aicpa.org and schedule a free webtour. Click on the links to learn more about KKB or Automata or to contact Wesley.  You can access an edited transcript of this episode on the JofA website.  Resources mentioned in the conversation: AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE Conference Note: If your podcast app does not hyperlink to resources, visit https://aicpasmallfirm.libsyn.com to access show notes with direct links.

CPA firms and the clients they serve often view the world through a different lens. Tom Hood, the AICPA’s executive vice president of business engagement and growth, recently had the rare opportunity to engage both groups. In this episode of the Small Firm Philosophy podcast, Hood explores the common challenges – and shared solutions -- that CFOs and CPA face. Resources mentioned in this episode: Top Issues Survey Business Learning Institute ENGAGE 2023 CAS 2.0 AICPA Town Hall To learn more about Tom, follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter. This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), the home of small firms. To learn more about PCPS, email pcps@aicpa.org and schedule a free webtour. Note: If your podcast app does not hyperlink to resources, visit https://aicpasmallfirm.libsyn.com to access show notes with direct links.