On The Books

Intuit Connect is almost here (Oct. 26-28 in Las Vegas), and hosts Amanda Thompson and Jessica walk through how to get the most out of the week. They cover the new Intuit Presents roadmap sessions, the expanded booth and theater experience, the return of Brain Dates, and the main stage lineup. They also share a few Vegas food tips. Not making the trip? Tune in as Amanda and Jessica let you know how you can watch the main stage sessions live from your home or office.

In this episode of On the Books, host Jessica McCracken welcomes Kim Blascoe, Lead of Client Advisory Services (CAS) and Advisory Professional Services at CPA.com. Together, they explore the power of curiosity in accounting and how asking better, open-ended questions can elevate technical accountants into trusted advisors. Kim shares her practical, three-stage question framework, offers tips for coaching team members to think differently, and explains how leveraging AI-driven insights can serve as the ultimate launching pad for deeper client conversations.

In this episode of On the Books, host Jessica McCracken welcomes Matthew May, known online as the tech CPA and now head of the client advisory services (CAS) at Sorren to talk about his firm’s year-long journey to move entrenched QuickBook Desktop Clients to QuickBooks Online. Matthew shares the real story behind scaling a firm through rapid M&A, hunting down QuickBooks Desktop files scattered across dozens of systems, consolidating more than 400 realms, and building a client migration plan ahead of the QuickBooks Desktop sunset. He also gets candid about his unglamorous approach to AI, why he treats technology providers as partners instead of vendors, and how his firm learned to simplify big technology decisions for overwhelmed clients.

Chris Ortega has spent more than 20 years in accounting, finance, FP&A, and CFO leadership, including guiding a $150 million, 2,700 person company through an acquisition by SAP. Five years ago he founded Fresh FP&A, a fractional CFO and advisory firm for small and mid sized businesses. In this conversation with Jessica, Chris breaks down why the CFO role has shifted from scorekeeper to strategic partner, how to turn financial data into a story people actually care about, and why trust and emotional intelligence matter more than being the smartest person in the room. He also shares a simple, repeatable habit any finance professional can use to build stronger relationships across the business.

Tailor Hartman, Founder and CEO of Celerity Accounting flips the script this episode, stepping into the host chair to interview Intuit's Simon Williams and Jessica McCracken about where the accounting profession is headed and how Intuit is responding to industry needs.

QuickBooks Online Accountant is sunsetting, and Intuit Accountant Suite is the new home for managing your firm and clients. In this episode, Janelle Fox and Ryall Fox from Intuit's Professional Services team join Jessica to bust the biggest myths about the switch: there's no data migration, no major project plan, and no client-facing disruption. They cover what's actually changing under the hood, the timeline for the rolling move to Accountant Suite (with the ability to switch back through December 1), and what happens after the hard sunset. They also dig into pricing, the Books Close add-on, and how console consolidation works if your firm is operating out of multiple realms.

Most firms think their story is a tagline on the website. Elliott Bastien Morin thinks the story is already there, buried, waiting to be excavated. In this episode, Jessica McCracken flips the mic on a longtime friend of the show (Elliott has been part of the production team since On the Books launched almost two years ago) to talk about the craft of firm storytelling.

In this episode of On the Books, host Jessica McCracken welcomes Jamelan Brown from the Quickbooks Data Communications team to dive into the key findings of Intuit's 2026 Accountant Technology Survey Report. Drawing on insights from over 700 accounting practitioners, the conversation explores the shifting relationship between accountants and technology, highlighted by the growing trend of tech stack fragmentation.

In this episode of On the Books, we share an exclusive Q&A session from the latest quarterly Intuit Connect On virtual event. Intuit leaders Ashley Still (General Manager of the Small Business and Mid-Market Group) and Travis Walter (Chief Sales Officer) sit down to answer top questions submitted by the accounting community. They dive into recent product shifts, pricing updates, the future of QuickBooks Live, and how AI is changing the bookkeeping landscape.

Live from the Intuit Better Together Tour stop in Los Angeles, host Jessica McCracken sits down with Brittany Brown, accounting firm owner, professor, and e-commerce accounting expert.