Accountant's Flight Plan

Business owners are no longer only searching Google for an accountant. They are asking ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity who to hire, then uploading proposals, websites, and LinkedIn profiles and asking the AI whether a firm is the right fit. Ross Simmonds, founder and CEO of the B2B content marketing agency Foundation and founder of Distribution.ai, joins Brannon Poe to explain what this shift means for CPA firm owners.

Ross is the author of the Amazon bestseller Create Once, Distribute Forever and has been ranked by BuzzSumo among the top content marketers in the world. In this episode, he explains generative engine optimization (GEO), the practice of shaping your content so AI platforms recommend your firm. Fewer than 5% of Americans pay for an AI subscription, but business adoption is far higher. That means the business owners your accounting practice serves are already using these tools to make buying decisions.

Traditional SEO still forms the foundation of a strong accounting firm website. GEO adds a new layer built on niche service pages, case studies, awards, community involvement, and content distributed across LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, and podcasts. Ross also explains why these same signals support recruiting, since job candidates now research potential employers through AI before they apply.

The Conversation Covers:

• How business owners use AI to discover, compare, and evaluate CPA firms
• Why a “Who We Serve” page with niche sub-pages helps AI match your firm to the right clients
• How generative engine optimization differs from SEO, and why your firm needs both
• Why employer branding shapes whether candidates find your accounting firm at all
• How to test your AI visibility accurately by logging out before you search
• Why AI-written content needs your own expertise before it goes live

Reputation has always driven growth in public accounting. AI platforms are now one of the places that reputation gets built, and firms that tell their story clearly across channels give both people and AI a reason to recommend them.

This Episode Is For: CPA firm owners curious about how AI search affects client acquisition, accounting firm leaders ready to strengthen their online visibility without hiring an agency, practice owners wondering how to stand out to candidates researching firms through AI, and anyone interested in what generative engine optimization means for the accounting profession.

Q&A Section: 

How are clients finding CPA firms differently today? 

Ross Simmons, founder of Foundation and Distribution.ai, explains that clients are using AI platforms like Claude, ChatGPT, and Perplexity not just to discover accounting firms but to evaluate them. They upload proposals, screenshots, and firm websites and ask the AI directly who they should hire.

What is generative engine optimization and why does it matter for accounting firms? 

Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is the practice of optimizing your content and online presence for AI platforms rather than just Google search. Ross explains that the signals that influence AI recommendations, including YouTube videos, Reddit threads, reviews, and social content, are different from traditional SEO ranking factors.

What should a CPA firm's website include to show up in AI search results? 

Ross recommends creating specific "Who We Serve" landing pages for each client type or industry your firm works with. AI platforms crawl these pages to match your firm to relevant search prompts, so specificity matters more than general descriptions.

How can a CPA firm build visibility without a full-time marketer? 

Ross suggests starting with an SEO audit using a tool like Ahrefs' Let I Do, then using a content distribution platform to spread existing content across LinkedIn, Facebook, and other channels. The goal is to get your story out to more places so AI platforms have more signals to work with.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Welcome and guest introduction: Ross Simmons, founder of Foundation and Distribution.ai

01:14 - How search is shifting from Google to AI and what that means for CPA firms

03:21 - How ChatGPT changed the search experience and why adoption is faster inside businesses than among consumers

07:03 - How the entire buyer's journey has changed: discovery, consideration, and comparison in the AI era

08:57 - Why "Who We Serve" landing pages help LLMs match your firm to the right clients

10:54 - How AI platforms evaluate employer brand: values, culture, community involvement, and awards

15:33 - What GEO is and how it differs from traditional SEO

17:40 - Practical low-lift tools for CPA firms: Ahrefs, MCP connectors, and Distribution.ai

20:17 - Common content mistakes: checking your own AI ranking while logged in, and copy-paste AI content

23:07 - Ross's story: a fantasy football blog, a borrowed suit, and a C-suite meeting in Miami

Download Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/

Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.

*Download now and receive:*
- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template
- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

Many CPA firm owners wait until they're ready to retire to ask who can replace them. Susan Stutzel, CPA, business performance coach, and co-owner of Partners Coach Inc., believes that question should start the day a new hire walks in the door. In this episode of The Accountant's Flight Plan, Brannon Poe and Susan explore how developing leadership and professional skills at every level builds a stronger accounting practice and a smoother path to firm succession.

Susan brings more than 25 years of experience in public accounting, including roles at a top five national firm, a regional firm, a small business, and a Fortune 500 company. She has seen why succession plans stall: owners with no one ready to lean on, managers measured only on chargeable hours, and staff who never hear what the path to partnership looks like. One firm she worked with believed no one wanted to become a partner. Once someone asked, staff and senior managers said they were interested.

Brannon adds the buyer's perspective. Many firm owners contact Poe Group Advisors years before they plan to sell, and that early start pays off. Buyers want great teams and well-run practices, and a lot can be accomplished in a few years. Susan notes that an owner who isn't growing their team becomes the bottleneck, which makes any transition harder.

The Conversation Covers:

• How developing leadership skills early creates successors from within your CPA firm
• Why owners who stop growing their teams become the bottleneck to firm succession
• How one firm learned its staff wanted partnership once someone asked
• Why tying manager bonuses only to chargeable hours slows leadership development
• How AI is changing the way firms train the next generation of accountants
• Why buyers look for strong teams when evaluating an accounting practice

Susan's advice for firm owners planning ahead is a shift in role: move from being the expert in the room to creating more experts in the room. The team you build today shapes the options you have when you're ready to sell.

This Episode Is For...

This episode is for accounting firm owners planning a sale or transition in the next five to ten years, partners ready to identify and develop their successors, owners curious about what buyers look for in a CPA firm, and leaders wondering how to reduce owner dependence before stepping back.

Q&A

When should a CPA firm owner start succession planning?
Susan Stutzel, CPA and co-owner of Partners Coach Inc., recommends starting the day new staff join the firm. Building leadership and business development skills at every level creates successors long before the owner is ready to retire.

Why do buyers care about a CPA firm's team?
Brannon Poe, founder of Poe Group Advisors, notes that buyers want great teams and well-run practices. Firm owners who start preparing several years before a sale have time to strengthen both.

How can firm owners find successors within their own staff?
Susan suggests asking directly. Many staff and senior managers are interested in partnership but never hear about the opportunity. Open conversations about career paths often reveal future leaders already inside the firm.

What makes a CPA firm harder to sell?
When the owner is the bottleneck and no one else can lead client relationships or the team, a transition becomes more difficult. Developing capable leaders reduces owner dependence and makes the firm more attractive to buyers.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Welcome and guest introduction: Susan Stutzel, co-owner of Partners Coach Inc. 
• 02:35 - Why AI can amplify expertise but cannot build trust or lead an effective feedback conversation 
• 04:19 - Professional skills are where knowledge transforms into real impact for clients and colleagues 
• 05:11 - Is technical knowledge being commoditized, and what replaces it as the differentiator? 
• 07:00 - Why managers need to unlearn how they were trained and rethink development entirely 
• 08:34 - Why niche expertise got the profession this far and why it is no longer enough on its own 
• 10:02 - Why Susan refuses to call them soft skills: these are business skills, and they are often the hardest to learn 
• 12:36 - What it means to build a great place to work across hybrid and remote arrangements 
• 15:41 - What firm owners should be communicating to high performers and what staff should be advocating for 
• 16:02 - Case study: no one interested in partnership because the conversations simply were not happening 
• 19:04 - Young firm owners building tech-forward niche practices and outearning traditional partners 
• 23:28 - What courageous leadership looks like when there are no complete answers 
• 25:28 - The Kubler-Ross loss curve and why your team has to work through what you already processed 
• 27:12 - Growing yourself alongside your firm: why the owner who stops growing becomes the bottleneck 
• 29:59 - What Susan wishes more CPA firm owners understood about leadership development 
• 30:27 - The best firms start development at onboarding, not at partner elections 
• 31:14 - The manager shift: running meetings, developing people, and still carrying chargeable hours 
• 34:03 - Don't wait until you want to retire to ask who can replace you 
• 36:20 - Growing a business is a series of letting go, and you have to build the team to be able to let go 
• 36:57 - Where to find Susan: LinkedIn and partnerscoach.com, including a free weekly Monday message for the profession

Download Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/

Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.

*Download now and receive:*
- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template
- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

One CPA firm owner received 11 offers and chose the buyer he liked best. That buyer paid above asking price even after learning the firm's cash flow was lower than reported. Outcomes like that happen when sellers have leverage. In this episode of The Accountant's Flight Plan, Brannon Poe and Morry Brown, Poe Group Advisors' Regional Market Leader for California, look at what matters after price in accounting firm M&A: buyer fit, leverage, and control of the timeline.

About a third of CPA firm owners on Poe Group Advisors webinars say they have received an unsolicited letter of intent. Morry explains why LOI terms are almost always the best they will be, why diligence tends to lower them, and why the exclusivity clause is usually the only binding part of a non-binding LOI. One seller spent six figures in attorney fees on a one-on-one deal that fell apart at the last minute.

A structured process with multiple buyers changes those dynamics. When a buyer backed out of a San Francisco deal in early January, Poe Group Advisors brought in a backup buyer and closed in two weeks, before tax season began. That firm sold for a 10x multiple with 90% cash at close. Brannon and Morry also cover partner alignment, how to define success a year after closing, and why the selling season for CPA firms runs from June through December.

The Conversation Covers:

• Why LOI terms are usually the best they will be, and how diligence tends to lower them
• Why the exclusivity clause is the one binding part of a non-binding LOI
• How a backup buyer closed a San Francisco deal in two weeks after the first buyer backed out
• How a seller with 11 offers got his preferred buyer to pay above ask
• Why defining success a year after closing helps CPA firm owners choose the right buyer
• How clustering buyer conversations creates real momentum and stronger terms

Price matters in any accounting practice sale. But for most CPA firm owners, the deal they feel good about a year later is the one where the buyer fits their clients, their team, and their goals.

This Episode Is For...

This episode is for CPA firm owners who have received an unsolicited offer and are wondering how to evaluate it, partners ready to align on goals before exploring firm succession, and public accounting leaders curious about how multiple buyers change leverage in an accounting firm M&A process. It is also for owners who care deeply about their clients and staff and want a buyer who will take care of both.

Timestamps: 

• 00:00 - The Price Is Right. But Is the Buyer Right?
• 01:30 - Morry Brown's background in equity research and private capital
• 03:00 - Why a third of CPA firm owners have received an unsolicited LOI
• 06:30 - Why most Accounting firm owners care about clients and staff as much as price
• 09:30 - Why LOI terms almost always get negotiated down in diligence
• 10:45 - Six figures in attorney fees on a one-on-one deal that fell apart
• 12:30 - The due diligence deadline red flag in a CPA firm sale
• 14:30 - A lower offer right before Christmas and the sunk cost trap
• 17:00 - How a backup buyer closed a San Francisco CPA firm deal in two weeks
• 22:30 - The exclusivity clause: the binding part of a non-binding LOI
• 27:30 - Aligning partners and defining success before a firm succession process
• 32:00 - A Nashville Accounting practice buyer with a bigger vision
• 36:30 - Why time kills deals and how clustering buyer conversations helps
• 40:30 - 11 offers and a buyer who paid above ask for a Texas cloud firm
• 44:30 - How seller mindset helped drive a 10x multiple with 90% cash at close
• 47:00 - Why August and the June to December window matter for CPA Firm sales
• 50:30 - Separating business risk from legal risk in the purchase agreement

Download Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/

Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.

*Download now and receive:*
- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template
- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

Ed Rivera is a director with BDO Alliance USA, a network of 255 CPA firms and 180 Business Resource Network firms across the country. As an accounting firm owner or practice leader, the question Ed hears most is whether ownership structure determines success. His answer: it does not. Across the public accounting firms he works with, what separates growing practices from stalled ones is leadership alignment, not whether the firm is a traditional partnership, private equity backed, or an ESOP.

In this episode, Ed and Brannon dig into the volume of private equity interest reaching CPA firm owners today, and why treating private equity as one single category misses real differences in holding period and strategy from firm to firm. They also unpack what drives a firm toward merging versus staying independent, and Ed's view that both paths are usually driven by the same underlying pressure: whether the accounting practice can invest in the systems, talent, and technology its clients now expect.

The conversation also covers what alliance membership can unlock for practice management beyond training, from peer roundtables to leadership development pipelines, and why firms that build something their community is proud of tend to have an easier path through firm succession, whether that means a sale, a merger, or staying independent. Ed closes with a simple framework for any accounting firm owner weighing a succession decision: start by asking why the firm was built in the first place, and who it is really built for.

The Conversation Covers

• How firm leadership alignment matters more than ownership structure or capital source
• Why the volume of private equity calls to CPA firms has changed the conversation for accounting firm owners
• How firms decide between merging, selling, or staying independent, and why the early pressures often look the same
• Why joining an alliance for one reason often uncovers value the firm didn't expect
• How asking "why" before a succession decision keeps the process grounded
• Why community identity and pride show up as a real differentiator for public accounting firms

Ed's closing point is a useful one: the firms that build something genuinely attractive, whether they stay independent or eventually partner with someone else, are the ones that focus on the work itself and the clients and communities they serve. The structure follows from that. Getting the structure right first, without clarity on the mission and the people, rarely works in the other direction.

This episode is for accounting firm owners curious about how alliance membership could support their growth strategy, practice management leaders wondering how private equity interest should factor into their long-term plans, and firm owners ready to think through firm succession, whether that means selling, merging, or staying independent. It's also a good listen for anyone exploring what makes a CPA firm attractive to a future buyer or partner.

Timestamps

• 00:00 - Welcome to The Accountant's Flight Plan with guest Ed Rivera
• 01:32 - What the BDO Alliance is and how 255 CPA firms work within it
• 03:10 - What's top of mind for accounting firm owners in 2026
• 05:20 - Why the pace of change in public accounting feels faster than ever
• 06:45 - Why leadership alignment matters more than ownership structure
• 09:15 - Mergers and acquisitions activity across Alliance member firms
• 11:40 - Private equity call volume and why not all PE firms are the same
• 14:05 - What drives a CPA firm to merge versus stay independent
• 16:50 - Culture concerns firm owners raise before a merger or sale
• 18:40 - A firm that joined for training and found unexpected value in roundtables
• 20:30 - How one firm built a stronger leadership bench in three years
• 22:50 - A framework for firm owners weighing sale, merger, or firm succession
• 25:15 - Why community identity shows up in the buildings firms choose to build
• 27:40 - A memorable travel story from earlier in Ed's career
• 30:05 - Book recommendation: The Human Element

Book Recommendation
The Human Element: Overcoming the Resistance That Awaits New Ideas by Loran Nordgren and David Schonthal [Amazon link]

Download Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/

Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.

*Download now and receive:*
- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template
- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

Brannon Poe and Bailey Ball, Chief Growth Officer at Poe Group Advisors, sit down to talk through the questions coming up most often on sales calls with accounting firm owners right now. Bailey brings a recent listing to life: a CPA firm with a large individual tax practice went to market with updated cash flow numbers, drew a wave of private equity interest, and saw its valuation move from the original asking range to double. The buyers driving that competition had access to AI tools that automate simple tax returns, which meant higher margins on the acquired practice and more room to pay for it.

That story sets up a broader conversation about how AI is changing practice management across the accounting profession. Brannon explains why the first CPA firms to adopt these tools are seeing an outsized advantage in valuations, much like early adopters of any new technology, and why the shift from compliance work to advisory and reliance is becoming less optional for public accounting firms as automation takes on more of the routine work. Bailey adds that AI already has practical uses for accounting firm owners beyond tax prep, from workflow automation to sourcing niche buyers for specialized practices.

From there, the two turn to what actually drives owner cash flow in a CPA firm, a core factor in accounting practice valuation. Brannon breaks it down to three categories: client selection, pricing strategy, and team culture. He shares an example of two firm owners who essentially swapped profitability levels after taking over each other's practices, proof that cash flow in an accounting practice has more to do with management than with the business itself. The conversation closes on fit: how buyers read culture and energy in early meetings, and why sellers who focus on finding the right match, not just the highest offer, tend to land better outcomes when they sell their CPA firm.

The Conversation Covers:

• How one CPA firm's valuation doubled after updated cash flow numbers sparked a private equity bidding war
• Why early AI adopters in the accounting profession are seeing outsized profit margins right now
• How the shift from compliance to reliance is becoming necessary for public accounting firms as AI takes on simple returns
• Why client selection, pricing strategy, and team culture are the three biggest drivers of owner cash flow in a CPA firm
• How buyers evaluate accounting firm culture and fit through seller energy in early meetings
• Why aligning on fit before price tends to produce better financial outcomes when selling an accounting practice

Whether the conversation turns to AI, cash flow, or culture, the same idea keeps surfacing for accounting firm owners: the numbers on a firm's books only tell part of the story. How an owner manages the practice, and how well a buyer and seller actually fit, shape the outcome of a CPA firm sale as much as any valuation model can.

This Episode Is For:
CPA firm owners curious about how AI is actually influencing what buyers are willing to pay for an accounting practice, practitioners wondering how much of their firm's profitability comes down to management style versus the business itself, accounting firm owners ready to think beyond price and start evaluating fit when it comes time to sell, and leaders exploring how to build a culture and hiring process that gives their CPA firm a competitive edge in practice management.

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 - Welcome and introducing Bailey Ball, Chief Growth Officer at Poe Group Advisors
• 01:30 - How AI is affecting CPA firm valuations
• 03:00 - The tax practice listing that doubled in value through a bidding war
• 06:15 - Why private equity buyers with AI tax tools paid a premium
• 08:00 - The shift from compliance to reliance in the accounting profession
• 10:15 - Practical AI workflow uses in accounting practice management and M&A
• 12:00 - Why profitability still matters even with low owner hours
• 14:00 - How AI tools can create time back for CPA firm owners
• 15:30 - Why cash flow is more malleable than most firm owners think
• 18:00 - The three biggest drivers of owner cash flow
• 21:00 - Why hiring remains the hardest part of building a CPA firm team
• 23:00 - How a strong culture protects a firm through a bad hire
• 25:00 - What buyers actually look for in team and culture
• 27:30 - Why seller energy and mindset shape buyer perception early on
• 29:30 - The speed dating approach to matching CPA firm buyers and sellers
• 31:30 - Why fit matters more than price in a hot accounting M&A market

Book Recommendations

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe [https://www.amazon.com/London-Falling-Mysterious-Gilded-Familys/dp/0385548532]  

The Unplugged Vacation by Brannon Poe [https://poegroupadvisors.com/unplugged/] 

Download Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/

Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.

*Download now and receive:*
- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template
- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

Private equity has pushed CPA firm valuations higher than anyone expected, and Brannon Poe says the accounting profession still has significant runway left. In this solo episode, Brannon steps away from the usual guest format to share a market update: where private equity stands in accounting M&A, how AI is reshaping which practices are in demand, and what firm owners should understand about valuation before they consider a sale.

Brannon walks through why the accounting industry remains more fragmented than sectors like veterinary, dental, and healthcare, and why that suggests more consolidation is ahead. He explains a shift in buyer demand: as AI absorbs more of the simpler, transactional work, both advisory practices and straightforward individual tax practices are seeing strong interest, while service mixes that once felt safe are being reevaluated.

He also addresses the questions he hears most often. Has private equity permanently changed the profession? Is there a bubble forming? Which firms are not a good fit for a PE sale? Brannon offers grounded, experience-based answers to each, drawing on Poe Group Advisors' work selling CPA firms since 2003.

The conversation moves into what actually makes a transition successful. Brannon argues that fit, cultural alignment, shared vision, and compatible management styles matter more than most sellers expect, and that talking with a wide pool of potential buyers before committing to one leads to better outcomes on both price and terms. He closes with a look at the fundamentals of valuation, why virtual and metro-area firms tend to draw stronger multiples, and why terms often matter more than the headline number.

The Conversation Covers:

• How AI is shifting buyer demand toward advisory work and away from simpler compliance services
• Why the accounting industry still has more consolidation ahead compared to other PE-driven verticals
• How to know if your firm is a good fit for a Private Equity sale versus a traditional buyer
• Why talking with more potential buyers before granting exclusivity leads to a better outcome
• How location and virtual operations expand your buyer pool and strengthen your valuation
• Why the multiple you see in a headline deal rarely tells the full story

This episode is for firm owners curious about how private equity is changing the accounting profession, practitioners wondering how AI will affect the value of their practice, and anyone exploring a future sale who wants to understand what actually drives valuation.

Timestamps: 

• 00:45 - Why this episode is a solo market update instead of a guest interview
• 02:10 - The state of the CPA firm M&A market in August 2026
• 03:40 - Why Accounting Practice valuations keep climbing past projections
• 05:15 - How the accounting industry compares to more consolidated verticals like veterinary and dental
• 07:00 - Why AI is shifting demand toward advisory and Tax Practice work
• 09:20 - Whether Private Equity has permanently changed the Accounting Firm Owner landscape
• 11:45 - Is there a bubble in Accounting Practice valuations
• 13:30 - Which CPA Firms should think twice before selling to Private Equity
• 15:50 - How PE consolidation connects to the Silver Tsunami and Firm Succession
• 18:10 - Why fit matters more than price in a Public Accounting sale
• 20:35 - The hiring-process analogy for finding the right buyer
• 23:00 - A ten-year outlook for the Accounting Practice profession
• 25:20 - Why supply and demand drive CPA Firm valuation
• 27:15 - How location and virtual firms affect your buyer pool
• 29:40 - The most common misconception about Practice Management and firm value
• 31:50 - Why terms matter more than the multiple you see in headlines

Rebekah Brown Olson didn't plan to lead a state CPA society. A single leadership assessment during a firm training session reframed how she saw her own strengths, and thirteen years later she's the CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs, connecting firm leaders across the profession every day. In this conversation, Brannon Poe talks with Rebekah about what's really driving change in accounting right now, and why she believes community, not information, is what separates firms that thrive from firms that struggle.

Rebekah shares an encouraging read on the student pipeline, pointing to strong turnout and impressive second-career candidates at a recent University of Maryland accounting graduation event. She also walks through her theory on where private equity is headed: a barbell shaped profession, with large firms formed through consolidation on one end and a new wave of small, independent firms on the other, as CPAs who leave newly acquired environments choose to build something of their own.

For firm owners thinking about their own exit, Rebekah's advice centers on two habits: treating strategy as something to revisit constantly rather than a plan that sits on a shelf, and involving the people around you early, since real alignment comes from letting your team weigh in on where the firm is headed.

The Conversation Covers:

• How a leadership assessment redirected Rebekah's entire career path
• Why community may be the biggest differentiator for CPA firms over the next decade
• How private equity could reshape the profession into a barbell-shaped structure
• Why small firms are positioned to specialize and move faster than larger competitors
• How involving your team early creates real strategic alignment ahead of a transition
• Why choosing the right private equity partner matters more than the deal itself

Rebekah closes with a story from her college years at Ohio State, working as a football field manager during a live scrimmage, that ties back to the same theme running through the whole conversation: what it looks like when a community shows up for someone.

This Episode Is For:

• Firm owners curious about how community and connection shape long-term success
• Leaders ready to think through a 5 to 10 year exit and succession plan
• Practitioners wondering how private equity might change hiring, retention, and culture
• Anyone interested in how small firms can compete through specialization and speed

Book Recommendation:

• The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It by Dr. Kelly McGonigal Amazon link

Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Brannon Poe intro and podcast welcome 
• 00:14 - Introducing Rebekah Brown Olson, CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs 
• 00:57 - How a quarter-life crisis and a leadership assessment changed Rebekah's career path 
• 01:41 - From CPA firm senior to curriculum developer at the Maryland Association of CPAs 
• 03:12 - Working part time, then full time, then becoming CEO three years ago 
• 04:02 - What Brannon and Rebekah share: burning out of public practice and finding a better fit 
• 04:45 - What Rebekah gets to do now: advocate for the profession and connect people across it 
• 05:06 - The big picture view: what the Maryland Association of CPAs CEO is seeing right now 
• 05:31 - Why getting good at change is the most important capability for any accounting firm 
• 06:00 - Why community is the competitive advantage when complexity and change accelerate 
• 06:34 - Why you can't know everything but you can know a lot of people 
• 07:19 - Recruiting new students: are the numbers moving and what kind of students are coming in 
• 08:15 - Why the pipeline alarm is starting to work and what recent graduation events are showing 
• 08:40 - Accounting as a stable major during economic uncertainty 
• 09:07 - What the new wave of accounting students looks like: different backgrounds, strong leaders 
• 09:30 - Retention: are people staying in the profession better than they used to? 10:01 - The historical reality of planned attrition in CPA firm hiring 
• 10:45 - The move from public to private still happens but may be slowing 
• 11:10 - Brannon's theory on PE-driven salary increases and the poaching risk that comes with it 
• 11:37 - Why starting salaries in accounting need to keep rising to compete for talent 
• 12:00 - How private equity is creating a barbell-shaped profession 
• 12:40 - What the disappearance of the midsize CPA firm looks like and why it matters 
• 13:29 - How small firms can win through specialization and speed on technology 
• 14:25 - What Rebekah would tell a CPA firm owner who is 5 to 10 years from an exit 
• 15:17 - Why a 5 to 10 year plan has to be iterative, not static 
• 15:43 - Involving your team in strategy: why it changes buy-in, retention, and execution 
• 16:08 - The Business Learning Institute and working with small to midsize firms on strategy 
• 16:32 - Why the best insight sometimes comes from the person scheduling client appointments 
• 17:53 - Vision casting as a retention tool: why people stay when they know where the firm is going 
• 18:45 - What happens when someone is not bought in: it's okay, not every culture fits every person 
• 18:56 - What Maryland Association of CPAs members are saying about private equity and succession planning 
• 19:25 - The top-level conversation: are we picking the right PE partners? 
• 20:06 - The case for remaining independent and why different firm models are healthy for the profession 
• 20:50 - What non-decision-makers feel about PE: caution, valid concerns, and fear of change 
• 21:17 - Why settling on a PE buyer too soon is one of the biggest risks in a sale process 
• 21:42 - Why every PE firm is different and why comparative analysis matters more than people realize 
• 22:23 - Football story: handing the ball to Troy Smith and getting tackled by Ted Ginn Jr. 
• 25:17 - What the experience after the tackle taught Rebekah about community showing up for people 
• 26:45 - Book recommendation: "The Upside of Stress" by Dr. Kelly McGonigal

Download Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/

Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.

*Download now and receive:*
- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template
- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

Kristen McGarr has spent over 20 years helping businesses implement CRM systems that actually work. Her core belief is that the future of CRM isn't about more technology, it's about more humanity. For CPA firm owners who have tried a CRM, abandoned it, or never started one at all, that perspective changes the conversation entirely.

Kristen is the founder of Adroit Insights and CRM Growth, a growth strategist, fractional chief revenue officer, and CRM implementation specialist. She works across platforms like Zoho, HubSpot, and ActiveCampaign, and she is known for making complex systems genuinely approachable. In this conversation, she gets specific about the problems she sees most often in accounting firms: systems that are over-configured, features that never get used, and adoption that stalls because the CRM feels like administrative work rather than a growth tool.

The most actionable part of this episode is Kristen's framework for building a pipeline when you have never tracked one before. She calls it the three R's: renewals, referrals, and recent conversations. For renewals, look at one-off projects that could become recurring revenue and clients you haven't heard from yet this year. For referrals, send a simple email during busy season asking for introductions and reviews. For recent conversations, think about who mentioned a challenge you rolled right past without addressing. The irony, as Kristen points out, is that tax season is exactly when firms have the most contact with clients and the most opportunity for all three, even though it feels like the worst possible time.

Kristen's approach strips away the complexity that keeps most firms from ever getting real value out of a CRM. Her advice is consistent throughout: start simple, solve for the 90% of problems you actually have, and build a system that can grow with you rather than one you have to replace in a year.

This episode is for firm owners curious about what a CRM can actually do for their practice when implemented well, leaders wondering how to maintain business development momentum through busy season, practitioners ready to build a pipeline but unsure where to start, and anyone who has tried a CRM before and walked away frustrated.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Brannon Poe intro and podcast welcome 
• 00:14 - Introducing Kristen McGarr, founder of Adroit Insights and CRM Growth 
• 00:57 - Kristen's core belief: the future of CRM is humanity, not more technology 
• 01:17 - Why most CRM implementations fail: adoption and overcomplicated configuration 
• 02:07 - The demo trap: why what you see is rarely the off-the-shelf product 
• 02:47 - Most firms use only 10 to 20% of their CRM's actual functionality 
• 03:03 - Where AI fits into CRM today and why it shouldn't be trusted 100% 
• 03:56 - Signs a CPA firm is ready to scale versus needing to fix its foundation first 
• 04:17 - Why consistency and predictability matter more than fast growth 
• 05:02 - How predictable, even revenue throughout the year affects accounting firm valuation 
• 05:48 - The tax season surge and dip problem and how to create more consistency around it 
• 06:05 - Why business development gets dropped during busy season and how to fix that 
• 06:37 - The growth-ready system: templated outreach that still sounds like you 
• 07:49 - How to automate personalized outreach without doing it manually every time 
• 08:21 - Why spacing out outreach matters more than frequency 
• 08:41 - Turning client education into shareable case study content for prospects 
• 09:17 - The three R's: renewals, referrals, recent conversations 
• 09:36 - Renewals: how to spot recurring revenue opportunities in your existing client base 
• 09:53 - Referrals: why sending referral emails during busy season is low effort, high return 
• 10:26 - Recent conversations: catching the tax planning and advisory needs you rolled past 
• 11:09 - The irony of tax season: it's your busiest time and your biggest pipeline opportunity 
• 11:31 - Why a transactional accounting firm cannot function well without a CRM 
• 11:53 - Kristen's three-part CRM checklist: integrations, reporting, and flexibility 
• 13:06 - Funny story: the vendor lesson that led to building an internal team 
• 14:22 - Why trusting your gut early on a bad vendor fit saves time and money later 
• 14:55 - How building an internal team improved client satisfaction across the firm 
• 15:29 - Why picking technology vendors is especially hard for relationship-focused accountants 
• 15:55 - The value of trusted resources and networks when evaluating new tools 
• 16:11 - Book recommendation: "Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss 
• 17:09 - Where to find Kristen: LinkedIn and CRMgrowth.com

Book Recommendation: 

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

Frank Longobardi started a five-person CPA firm in Hartford, Connecticut on November 1st, 1984, with a first-year revenue goal of $300,000. For the next 23 consecutive years, the firm grew both top and bottom line, every single year. By the time he and his partner decided to merge up, they had built a $14.5 million firm with over 100 people and ten partners.

In this conversation, Frank walks through every phase of that journey with the kind of candor that only comes from having lived it. He talks about the early days of working 3,000-plus hours a year, the moment he realized hating to lose a $400 tax return was holding his firm back, and why he told every partner the same thing: it is not your client, it is the firm's client. He also shares his perspective on the partnership model at scale, why private equity entered accounting, and what the profession's talent structure will look like as AI reshapes the work.

The conversation covers:

• How a five-person startup grew for 23 consecutive years without a single down year
• Why hating to lose any client, even a $400 return, was the biggest early mistake
• How to transfer client relationships to the next generation of partners without losing the client
• Why he told every partner "it is not your account, it is the firm's account" and what shifted when they embraced that
• How the CohnReznick mega merger came together and what it took to lead a $430 million combined firm
• Why the traditional pyramid staffing model is evolving into a diamond shape as AI changes the work
• How private equity entered accounting and what PE firms are actually looking for in acquisitions

Frank's career is a rare example of someone who has seen the profession from every angle: sole proprietor, regional firm leader, mega merger architect, top 25 CEO, and now PE advisor. His perspective on what it takes to build something worth buying, merging, or leading is grounded in 40 years of doing exactly that.

This episode is for firm owners curious about what the path from small firm to large firm leadership actually looks like, leaders wondering how to transfer client relationships without losing them, practitioners thinking about whether merging up makes sense for their next chapter, and anyone interested in how private equity is evaluating and reshaping accounting firms from the inside.

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 - Brannon Poe intro and podcast welcome 
• 00:13 - Introducing Frank Longobardi, former CEO of CohnReznick 
• 00:56 - Why Frank chose accounting: a blue-collar family, a high school course, and the University of Connecticut 
• 01:55 - Frank's career path: regional firm, Big Eight, and starting his own firm in 1984 
• 02:42 - The first business plan: $300K goal, five people, $40K salary each 
• 03:02 - 23 consecutive years of top and bottom line growth at Longobardi and Company 
• 03:27 - Merging into J.H. Cohn in 2007 as their entree into Connecticut 
• 04:33 - Running industry groups and earning a board seat at J.H. Cohn 
• 04:46 - The CohnReznick mega merger of 2012: combining a $240M and $190M firm 
• 05:09 - Becoming a $430 million firm and one of the first mega mergers in the profession 
• 05:43 - Running for sole CEO in 2015 and serving a four-year term with mandatory retirement at 65 
• 06:01 - What the CEO years were really like: navigating the compliance-to-advisory shift and people challenges 
• 07:01 - What Frank learned from wearing every hat at a small firm that big firm leaders never experience 
• 07:27 - Strategic planning, partner coaching, and the reality of 1,500 to 1,600 charge hours a year 
• 08:13 - Managing expectations during busy season: communicating with clients and keeping the team motivated 
• 09:13 - The biggest challenges in growing from startup to $14.5 million 
• 10:35 - Client service intensity and keeping good people for the long term as the two main growth drivers 
• 11:07 - Home-grown partners and the value of developing talent from within the CPA firm 
• 11:57 - The biggest mistake: hating to part ways with any client, including a $400 1040 
• 12:13 - What managing at scale taught Frank about the discipline of bringing in the right accounting clients 
• 12:31 - How difficult clients affect team morale and why post-Covid firms have gotten better at weeding them out 
• 13:14 - Why technical CPAs struggle to let go and why letting go is how firms scale 
• 13:46 - How to transfer client relationships to the next generation: patience, coaching, and making it a two-year process 
• 14:42 - Clients belong to the firm, not the partner: why that mindset shift matters for CPA firm succession 
• 15:27 - How Frank developed next-generation leaders by helping them build on their own strengths 
• 16:17 - The partnership model: what works, what does not, and why 270 partners makes decision-making complex 
• 17:26 - Why accounting has become capital-intensive and what that means for the traditional profit distribution model 
• 18:01 - Retaining 5% of revenue inside the firm: why Frank pushed for it and why partners pushed back 
• 18:35 - Why private equity entered accounting: capital needs, governance limitations, and the cost of M&A 
• 19:25 - How accounting firm M&A economics shifted from deferred retirement payments to cash-heavy PE deals 
• 20:05 - The profession is changing faster than ever: AI, private equity, and what that means for CPA firms 
• 20:28 - Frank's post-retirement path: offshoring advisory, private equity diligence, and board seats 
• 21:03 - Working with an offshoring firm post-Covid and watching augmentation services boom, then normalize 
• 22:32 - The build-operate-transfer model for offshore accounting centers in India and South Africa 
• 23:05 - The most critical principle in offshoring: treat the offshore team like any other office 
• 23:40 - Consulting for private equity firms evaluating accounting acquisitions: 8 to 10 diligence projects 
• 24:34 - Board seats at a PE-backed accounting firm in Rochester and a CAS firm in Salt Lake City 
• 25:02 - What Frank has observed about how private equity grows organizations from the inside 
• 25:34 - AI as the biggest trigger for change in the accounting profession over the next 3 to 5 years 
• 26:08 - How AI will affect assurance, tax, advisory, hiring, and training in CPA firms 
• 26:52 - The shift from a pyramid to a diamond: why mid-level technology and analytics talent will matter most 
• 27:32 - Why AI is creating an opportunity to add more value to clients than ever before 
• 28:25 - Accounting enrollment is increasing for the third year in a row: why that matters 
• 28:50 - Starting salaries need to be competitive with private equity and investment banking to attract top talent 
• 29:33 - Book recommendations: "The One Minute Manager" and "Who Moved My Cheese?" and a note on EOS 
• 30:56 - Living your values as a leader: calling people out when they exhibit them, not just stating them 
• 32:06 - Where to connect with Frank: LinkedIn and [email protected]

The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson  

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson 

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Brian Gray made partner at a top 100 CPA firm, built a career advising billionaires and high-net-worth families on complex tax strategies, and then realized that none of it had made him any happier.

Brian is a tax partner, award-winning CPA, frequent speaker at the USC Tax Institute, and the author of Suck Less, Laugh More. He has had a front-row seat to some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs and noticed a pattern: about 10% of them get the balance right and 90% are still searching. By his early forties, he recognized himself in that pattern. He was helping clients structure their legacies while his own family life was strained, and he had been telling himself that family came first when his actions said otherwise.

This conversation goes deeper than practice management. Brian shares the specific moment that shifted everything, the exercises he used to identify the beliefs running in the background, and how he rebuilt his personal values, his family values, and eventually his firm's values from the ground up. His firm's core value landed on caring, and he and his business partner made the financial commitments to back it up, hiring for capacity and reinvesting in their team even when it meant reducing the bottom line.

The conversation covers:

• Why making partner didn't change anything and how that realization set off a deeper search
• How having a front-row seat to entrepreneurial clients revealed the pattern: financial success rarely equals fulfillment
• Why telling yourself family comes first when your actions say otherwise keeps you stuck
• How writing down seven days of negative and positive emotions reveals the patterns running in the background
• Why he moved "success" from his number one value to number six and replaced it with love
• How his firm landed on caring as its core value and then made the hiring decisions to actually live it
• The warrior and the wizard framework: why achieving eventually needs to give way to mastering your emotions

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 - Brannon Poe intro and podcast welcome 
• 00:13 - Introducing Brian Gray: tax partner, speaker, author of "Suck Less, Laugh More" 
• 00:48 - The gap between financial success and fulfillment: what Brian observed in wealthy clients 
• 01:39 - Asking the question: when is enough, enough? 
• 02:05 - Making partner and realizing it did not solve anything 
• 03:07 - The Olympic gold medal pattern: achieving the goal and wondering what it was all for 
• 03:32 - What the astronauts who went to the moon felt when they came back 
• 04:02 - How alcohol became a way to numb the gap between achievement and meaning 
• 04:51 - What it looks like when high-achieving CPA clients are financially successful but not fulfilled 
• 05:10 - Growing as a way to become more, not just accumulate more 
• 06:12 - The midlife reset: when it arrives, how long it lasts, and what kind of clarity it takes 
• 06:51 - Helping clients structure their legacies while his own life needed restructuring 
• 07:17 - The specific moment of clarity: "my family deserves better than I'm being" 
• 08:21 - Being honest about what really came first: business or family 
• 09:03 - The lies high achievers tell themselves and how the ego protects against discomfort 
• 09:49 - Humility and gratitude as the antidote to self-deception 
• 10:13 - How a core belief like "success equals happiness" gets installed and how to question it 
• 10:55 - Shifting the number one core value from success to love, and what changed 
• 11:17 - The seven-day emotion-tracking exercise from "Suck Less, Laugh More" 
• 11:58 - What the exercise reveals about the emotional patterns running in the background 
• 12:22 - The warrior and the wizard: why the achiever eventually gets tired 
• 12:45 - Why high achievers are especially at risk of the burnout that comes from the warrior pattern 
• 13:07 - Tony Robbins on emotion: you have already felt what you are chasing 
• 13:26 - Why the satisfaction from external achievements lasts days, not months 
• 14:04 - Stated values vs. lived values: how Brian approached this for himself, his family, and his firm 
• 14:39 - Writing down eight family values with his kids in middle school 
• 15:29 - How the firm's leadership team landed on "caring" as the number one company value 
• 16:08 - What it actually means to live the value of caring: hiring for capacity and investing in the team 
• 16:27 - Hiring and client decisions driven by values, not just targets 
• 17:07 - Funny story: parenting teenagers and the wisdom of just saying yes 
• 18:15 - Book recommendation: "Suck Less, Laugh More" by Brian Gray 
• 18:42 - Additional recommendation: "Die with Zero" by Bill Perkins 
• 19:03 - Where to connect with Brian: LinkedIn

Book Recommendations:

Suck Less, Laugh More by Brian Gray 

Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins