The Importance of Consulting with Industry Veteran Kim Blascoe

In this episode of the SALTovation podcast, industry veteran Kim Blascoe. With over three decades of experience, Kim shares her professional journey from owning a tax and accounting practice to leading Whipley's national accounting practice and her current role at CPA.com. Kim sheds light on the importance of mentoring in accounting, the strategy behind merging firms, and how to best support CPA firms in their growth and transformation efforts. Listen as we discuss the challenges CPA firms face today, from technology adoption to talent retention.

Key Takeaways:

• Mentoring and Career Development: Kim finds immense value in mentoring young professionals and guiding their career paths within the accounting industry.
• State and Local Tax Complexity: The episode highlights the intricacies of SALT, particularly how different state regulations impact businesses in a post-pandemic world.
• Digital Transformation: CPA.com’s mission is to support firms through digital transformation, offering tools, education, and consulting to enhance technological adoption and practice growth.
• Specialization and Advisory Services: The importance of moving from generalist to specialist roles within accounting firms to provide high-value advisory services is emphasized.
• Talent and Technology Management: Firms struggle with retaining talent, upskilling employees, and keeping up with rapidly advancing technology, including the integration of AI.

Quotables

• “We hear firms are talking about pulling people back into the office a couple of days a week so that there is that sense of community inside of the firms and a continuing of building culture because it is kind of hard to build culture when you spend all your time on virtual calls." -Kim Blascoe

• “I think all the service offerings that have been added need to have career paths so that individuals feel like they can become partner, and not everybody's desire is, but if the desire is to become partner, that we give them those opportunities in these other areas of service." -Kim Blascoe

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