The INSIDE Public Accounting Podcast

INSIDE Public Accounting
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Business

Welcome to The INSIDE Public Accounting Podcast — a show for accounting firm leaders who want to make smarter, data-driven decisions and stay ahead of industry change. Each episode explores what IPA’s trusted benchmarking data reveals about firm performance, leadership and the future of the profession. From private equity and offshoring to partner compensation and the talent pipeline, we dive into the trends, challenges and innovations shaping public accounting today. Hosted by: Chelsea Summers — Executive Director of IPA and curator of the industry's most respected benchmarking insights Rob Brown — co-founder of the Accounting Influencers Roundtable (AIR) Whether you're leading a Top 100 firm or building the next one, the IPA Podcast is here to spark ideas, share stories and bring context to the numbers.

  1. 4d ago

    Is AI Working for Your Firm? Running the Modern Firm with Donny Shimamoto

    What is AI actually changing inside CPA firms? Chelsea Summers welcomes Donny Shimamoto of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies, who helped design the AI questions for IPA’s 2026 Information Technology Survey. Together, they examine what participating firms report about adoption, investment and results. Only 3.2% describe AI as fully integrated into their operations, while 42.9% report no measurable impact yet from their AI tools. They discuss how firms can define success before a pilot, evaluate vendor claims and put governance in place before purchasing software. Donny also explains why better client service and employee experience belong in the assessment of AI’s value, alongside financial returns. For leaders planning their next investment, the conversation offers a practical starting point: establish where the firm stands, what it wants to change and how it will know whether the investment is working. Earn free CPE with Earmark! Listen, take a short quiz and download your certificate on the IPA channel in the Earmark app: https://www.earmark.app/channels/c5717392-a994-407c-9f27-7f09a08a4b7c

    Is AI Working for Your Firm? Running the Modern Firm with Donny Shimamoto

  2. 6d ago

    Are You Redesigning Work or Just Adding Tools? Running the Modern Firm

    Firms are investing in offshore capacity to expand their teams and technology to improve efficiency. But the value of those investments depends on what happens to the workflow around them, including how work is staffed, handed off, reviewed and delivered. Chelsea Summers and Rob Brown examine the gap between adopting new resources and redesigning the workflow around them. About half of participating firms use offshore FTEs, and 56% of firms already offshoring plan to increase that capacity next year. Yet offshore staff still account for only 2.6% of total personnel across all firms. Chelsea explains why firms can add cost and complexity when technology and offshore teams are treated as separate initiatives. The firms positioned to capture more of the margin benefit redesign how work is staffed, handed off and reviewed, with technology and offshore capacity built around the same process. The episode closes with a practical starting point for firm leaders: choose one workflow this quarter, map it from start to finish and identify whether new technology or offshore capacity actually changes the work. Earn free CPE with Earmark! Listen, take a short quiz and download your certificate on the IPA channel in the Earmark app: https://www.earmark.app/channels/c5717392-a994-407c-9f27-7f09a08a4b7c

    Are You Redesigning Work or Just Adding Tools? Running the Modern Firm

  3. Sep 24

    LIVE Q&A

    Recorded live for the first time, this special Q&A episode of the INSIDE Public Accounting Podcast has a slightly different feel as Rob Brown and Chelsea Summers tackle questions from firm leaders and advisors about some of the biggest issues shaping the profession. Drawing on IPA data and conversations happening across the profession, Rob and Chelsea discuss where independent firms should place their biggest strategic bets, what outside capital can (and can’t) buy and when scale becomes an advantage rather than a distraction. They also dig into the evolving firm operating model, including the role of compliance alongside advisory, moving beyond the billable hour and how firms can embrace AI and offshoring without losing the experiences that develop future leaders. Plus, they explore partner visibility, leadership development, transparency with employees and why succession planning may need to offer more than the traditional path to equity partnership. It’s a wide-ranging conversation about the choices firms are making today and what those decisions could mean for the future of the profession.

  4. Sep 22

    Is Your Talent Strategy Too Reactive? Running the Modern Firm

    Stable turnover does not necessarily mean a firm’s talent strategy is working. Chelsea Summers and Rob Brown examine what sits beneath the profession’s 11.8% staff turnover rate. Nearly 70% of turnover is voluntary, yet firms remain almost twice as likely to conduct exit interviews as stay interviews. Chelsea explains why leaders should ask their strongest mid-level people what could make them leave, what would make them stay and whether the firm’s reward systems recognize the full scope of their work. They also discuss turnover differences by firm size, mentoring programs that work better on paper than in practice, actual PTO use and the limits of using chargeable hours to evaluate performance. A final reminder: Join Chelsea and Rob live on YouTube this Thursday, Sept. 24, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern / 9:30 a.m. Pacific. Click “Notify me,” then leave your question in the comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFmuXWuOqcA Earn free CPE with Earmark! Listen, take a short quiz and download your certificate on the IPA channel in the Earmark app: https://www.earmark.app/channels/c5717392-a994-407c-9f27-7f09a08a4b7c

    Is Your Talent Strategy Too Reactive? Running the Modern Firm

  5. Sep 18

    Rethinking Succession, Part 2: Running the Modern Firm with Ira Rosenbloom

    What can derail a succession plan even when a firm has people who could eventually lead it? In part two of Rob Brown’s conversation with Ira Rosenbloom of Optimum Strategies, they dig into two places succession often gets stuck: the expectations current partners place on their successors and the way partners are compensated. Ira explains why future leaders need room to learn on the job, why partner compensation has to reinforce the firm’s priorities and why staff benefit from understanding the business behind the firm. They also look beyond internal succession. Ira shares when firms should start assessing gaps in their leadership pipeline, why five years of planning is good but 10 is better and how operations and HR professionals can play a larger role in building the next version of the firm. Missed part one? Start there for Ira’s case for beginning the succession process long before retirement. IPA will host a live Q&A on Sept. 24. Rob and Chelsea will answer questions about the 2026 data and the leadership issues explored throughout the series. Set a reminder by clicking “Notify me,” then leave your question in the comments. Earn free CPE with Earmark! Take your learning on the go and earn NASBA-approved CPE just for listening to The INSIDE Public Accounting Podcast. Simply listen, take a short quiz and download your certificate. Start now on the IPA channel in the Earmark app: INSIDE Public Accounting | Earmark CPE.

    Rethinking Succession, Part 2: Running the Modern Firm with Ira Rosenbloom

  6. Sep 17

    Rethinking Succession, Part 1: Running the Modern Firm with Ira Rosenbloom

    What would make the next generation say yes to ownership? In part one of this conversation, Rob Brown talks with CPA firm succession adviser Ira Rosenbloom about why leadership transitions should begin earlier. Ira explains his view that “55 is the new 65”: a time to shift responsibilities, mentor future leaders and begin transferring equity gradually. They also discuss flexibility, investment in firm infrastructure and developing entrepreneurial skills before succession becomes urgent. Part two arrives tomorrow with a closer look at partner alignment and external succession options. IPA will host a live Q&A on Sept. 24. Rob and Chelsea will answer questions about the 2026 data and the leadership issues explored throughout the series. Set a reminder by clicking “Notify me,” then leave your question in the comments. Earn free CPE with Earmark! Take your learning on the go and earn NASBA-approved CPE just for listening to The INSIDE Public Accounting Podcast. Simply listen, take a short quiz and download your certificate. Start now on the IPA channel in the Earmark app: INSIDE Public Accounting | Earmark CPE.

    Rethinking Succession, Part 1: Running the Modern Firm with Ira Rosenbloom

  7. Sep 15

    When the Old Firm Model Stops Working: Running the Modern Firm

    Accounting firms are changing how they staff, price and structure their partnerships. But are those changes working together? In the second episode of Running the Modern Firm, Chelsea Summers and Rob Brown use IPA’s 2026 Practice Management data to examine the operating model behind firm performance. They explore how leverage changes as firms scale, why adding capacity without adjusting pricing can become a treadmill, how offshoring is reshaping traditional productivity measures and why larger firms are building more layered partnership structures. They also look at why firms are concentrating compensation increases on professionals with three to eight years of experience. The larger question: Are firms redesigning their operating models intentionally or adjusting individual pieces as pressure builds? IPA will host a live Q&A on Sept. 24. Chelsea and Rob will answer questions about the 2026 data and the leadership issues explored throughout the series. Set a reminder by clicking “Notify me,” then leave your question in the comments. Purchase the 2026 IPA Practice Management Report here. Earn free CPE with Earmark! Take your learning on the go and earn NASBA-approved CPE just for listening to The INSIDE Public Accounting Podcast. Simply listen, take a short quiz and download your certificate. Start now on the IPA channel in the Earmark app: INSIDE Public Accounting | Earmark CPE.

    When the Old Firm Model Stops Working: Running the Modern Firm

  8. Sep 8

    Running the Modern Firm: The 2026 State of the Profession

    The 2026 IPA Practice Management Report captures a profession facing slower growth but responding with sharper operations. Drawing on responses from 605 North American accounting firms, Chelsea Summers and Rob Brown open Running the Modern Firm, the third series of the season, with a look at the profession’s performance and the strategies shaping it. They discuss why organic and total growth slowed while net income growth accelerated, where revenue is still expanding, how pricing models are shifting, why M&A remains concentrated among large firms and what the latest partner data says about succession. IPA will also host a live Q&A on Sept. 24. Chelsea and Rob will answer questions about the 2026 data and the leadership issues explored throughout the series. Set a reminder by clicking "Notify me," then leave your question in the comments. Purchase the 2026 IPA Practice Management Report here. Earn free CPE with Earmark! Take your learning on the go and earn NASBA-approved CPE just for listening to The INSIDE Public Accounting Podcast. Simply listen, take a short quiz and download your certificate. Start now on the IPA channel in the Earmark app: INSIDE Public Accounting | Earmark CPE.

    Running the Modern Firm: The 2026 State of the Profession
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About

Welcome to The INSIDE Public Accounting Podcast — a show for accounting firm leaders who want to make smarter, data-driven decisions and stay ahead of industry change. Each episode explores what IPA’s trusted benchmarking data reveals about firm performance, leadership and the future of the profession. From private equity and offshoring to partner compensation and the talent pipeline, we dive into the trends, challenges and innovations shaping public accounting today. Hosted by: Chelsea Summers — Executive Director of IPA and curator of the industry's most respected benchmarking insights Rob Brown — co-founder of the Accounting Influencers Roundtable (AIR) Whether you're leading a Top 100 firm or building the next one, the IPA Podcast is here to spark ideas, share stories and bring context to the numbers.

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