Accounting
Art of Accounting: I practice what I preach
Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.
I write about what I did that was successful. It is my way of giving back to the CPA profession that has been great for me. I grew, as did my firm, my staff, my clients and everyone associated with my partners and me. I take great pride in the growth I burgeon. Some of what I did might seem nutsy, but I had my sights set on building a business and that required leveraging my partners and myself. And that took an investment that sometimes seemed unconventional. Here are three stories of some things I did:
Story 1: I always felt that the best way of training someone was for them to correct their own errors, no matter what! I figured that if they did, they would never make that type of error again, and they would also try to reduce future errors to avoid any inconveniences caused by having to fix them.
One time when I had my NYC practice, it was tax season and I called a staff person around 3:00. I told him he had to come to the office that night to fix an error on a tax return he prepared. I told him I wanted to get it out that night, it was going to be delivered by a taxi that night, and he had to fix it before 8:00. He lived in Queens and went to a client in Long Island. That was like a “vacation day” since he could easily drive to the client and also be home for an early dinner, with no overtime that night. He was a little put out, but he knew he had to come back. He called me a few minutes afterward and asked if he could drive to the office rather than take the subway, would we pay the parking, and I said we would. Also, we paid overtime, so he would get paid for the time fixing the return, but not for the travel time. When he got into the office, I showed him the tax return where he had to fix the zip code which he had wrong. That was the only error and, if looks could kill, I would have been dead at that very moment. He said nothing, fixed it and left.
I told this story about a dozen years ago at a CPE program and that staff person was sitting in the front row. He called out that it was him and remembered how angry he was at me. He also said that “because of that, I never made a mistake on a name or address ever again.” He also now had his own very successful practice. I didn’t remember who it was, but he reminded me. Question: If the reviewer fixed the zip code, how many future similar errors do you think he would have made?
Story 2: The first book I wrote was titled Successful Tax Planning. It was for businesspeople and was very successful. I decided I wanted to publish a professional edition to be sold to accountants and hired a law school student to add citations and references. He seemed like a go-getter, having previously worked part-time on a political campaign. I wanted to set a serious tone with him and also show him this was thoughtful research work, even though we were CPAs and not attorneys. At that time the Tax Code added Section 465. I held up a paperback copy of the Code, opened it to Section 465 and pointed to the word “interest.” I told him I needed a definition of that word and that we would meet in three days to discuss what he came up with. He looked at me like I was crazy, but when we met, he told me he did not have a clue.
My purpose was to show him that nothing in taxes and tax planning was simple or obvious and to get him to understand that I needed him to be very thorough, disciplined and exact, that maybe he didn’t know everything and perhaps I would be able to teach him something.
This project was never completed, getting pushed aside by more urgent or important projects and possibly by my losing interest in becoming a “book publisher.” However, he migrated into tax preparation and planning and some review work. We offered him a permanent job when he graduated law school and he stayed a few years, leaving for a “better opportunity” and ending up in his own tax practice. He built a substantial practice with one of his sons, also an attorney, who is now running it while he is pleasantly clipping coupons on a Florida beach.
My first “exercise” was my investment to get him on board with “my way of doing things.” It worked, and he did great work for us for the time he was with us.
Story 3: Sometimes when you meet a job applicant, there is a spark that shines through, and you just know this is the right person for you. That happened with a young woman we were interviewing. We hired her and sometime during the first week she was working on a humongous aged accounts receivable schedule. She completed it very well, but there was an error of, if I remember correctly, 11 cents in its being balanced perfectly. This was in the early days of computerized spreadsheets. I told her I needed it balanced exactly. She spent a couple of days on it and eventually got it to balance. I explained to her that the 11 cents wasn’t a concern or material. In fact it was completely immaterial, but I wanted her to learn that whatever she worked on had to balance. All she was doing was taking some numbers from one place and reproducing them in another place and there was no reason for them not to match.
That was my investment to teach her to be careful, work deliberately and that speed was not more important than error-free work. She worked for us for 10 years until she left for a job in private accounting close to her home and her three children. She was single when she started working for us.
There are many more stories, but I particularly like these as I am still in touch with these three people. Each story was costly at the time, but that became an investment that paid great dividends. I recommend taking the long view with your practice and to not miss any opportunity to train a staff person properly. My partners and I practiced what we preached, and we had a very successful practice. These ideas are being continued by us through Withum.
Do not hesitate to contact me at
Jody Padar, an author and speaker known as “The Radical CPA,” and Katie Tolin, a growth strategist for CPAs, together launched a training and technology platform called XcelLabs.
XcelLabs provides solutions to help accountants use artificial technology fluently and strategically. The Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs and CPA Crossings joined with Padar and Tolin as strategic partners and investors.
“To reinvent the profession, we must start by training the professional who can then transform their firms,” Padar said in a statement. “By equipping people with data and insights that help them see things differently, they can provide better advice to their clients and firm.”
The platform includes XcelLabs Academy, a series of educational online courses on the basics of AI, being a better advisor, leadership and practice management; Navi, a proprietary tool that uses AI to help accountants turn unstructured data like emails, phone calls and meetings into insights; and training and consulting services. These offerings are currently in beta testing.
“Accountants know they need to be more advisory, but not everyone can figure out how to do it,” Tolin said in a statement. “Couple that with the fact that AI will be doing a lot of the lower-level work accountants do today, and we need to create that next level advisor now. By showing accountants how to unlock patterns in their actions and turn client conversations into emotionally intelligent advice, we can create the accounting professional of the future.”
“AI is transforming how CPAs work, and XcelLabs is focused on helping the profession evolve with it,” PICPA CEO Jennifer Cryder said in a statement. “At PICPA, we’re proud to support a mission that aligns so closely with ours: empowering firms to use AI not just for efficiency, but to drive growth, value and long-term relevance.”
The accountant the world urgently needs has evolved far beyond the traditional role we recognized just a few years ago.
The transformation of the accounting profession is not merely an anticipated change; it is a pressing reality that is currently shaping business decisions, academic programs and the expected contributions of professionals. Yet, in many areas, accounting education stubbornly clings to outdated, overly technical models that fail to connect with the actual demands of the market. We must confront a critical question: If we continue to train accountants solely to file tax reports, are we truly equipping them for the challenges of today’s world?
This shift in mindset extends beyond individual countries or educational systems; it is a global movement. The recent announcement of the
The CIMA/CGMA proposal for 2026 is not just a curriculum update; it is a powerful manifesto. This new program positions analytical thinking, strategic business partnering and technology application at the core of accounting education. It unequivocally highlights sustainability, aligning with IFRS S1 and S2, and expands the accountant’s responsibilities beyond mere numbers to encompass conscious leadership, environmental impact and corporate governance.
The current changes in the accounting profession underscore an urgent shift in expectations from both educators and employers. Today, companies of all sizes and industries demand accountants who can do far more than interpret balance sheets. They expect professionals who grasp the deeper context behind the numbers, identify inconsistencies, anticipate potential issues before they escalate into losses, and act decisively as a bridge between data and decision making.
To meet these expectations, a radical mindset shift is essential. There are firms still operating on autopilot, mindlessly repeating tasks with minimal critical analysis. Likewise, many academic programs continue to treat accounting as purely a technical discipline, disregarding the vital elements of reflection, strategy and behavioral insight. This outdated approach creates a significant mismatch. While the world forges ahead, parts of the accounting profession remain stuck in the past.
The consequences of this shift are already becoming evident. The demand for compliance, transparency and sustainability now applies not only to large corporations but also to small and mid-sized businesses. Many of these organizations rely on professionals ill-equipped to drive the necessary changes, putting both business performance and the reputation of the profession at risk.
The positive news is that accountants who are ready to thrive in this new era do not necessarily need additional degrees. What they truly need is a commitment to awareness, a dedication to continuous learning, and the courage to step beyond their comfort zones. The future of accounting is here, and it is firmly rooted in analytical, strategic and human-oriented perspectives. The 2026 curriculum is a clear indication of the changes underway. Those who fail to think critically and holistically will be left behind.
In contrast, accountants who see the big picture, understand the ripple effects of their decisions, and actively contribute to the financial and ethical health of organizations will undeniably remain indispensable, anywhere in the world.
Congressional Republicans are siding with Donald Trump in the messy divorce between the president and Elon Musk, an optimistic sign for eventual passage of a tax cut bill at the root of the two billionaires’ public feud.
Lawmakers are largely taking their cues from Trump and sticking by the $3 trillion bill at the center of the White House’s economic agenda. Musk, the biggest political donor of the 2024 cycle, has threatened to help primary anyone who votes for the legislation, but lawmakers are betting that staying in the president’s good graces is the safer path to political survival.
“The tax bill is not in jeopardy. We are going to deliver on that,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Friday.
“I’ll tell you what — do not doubt, don’t second guess and do not challenge the President of the United States Donald Trump,” he added. “He is the leader of the party. He’s the most consequential political figure of our time.”
A fight between Trump and Musk exploded into public view this week. The sparring started with the tech titan calling the president’s tax bill a “disgusting abomination,” but quickly escalated to more personal attacks and Trump threatening to cancel all federal contracts and subsidies to Musk’s companies, such as Tesla Inc. and SpaceX which have benefitted from government ties.
Republicans on Capitol Hill, who had — until recently — publicly embraced Musk, said they weren’t swayed by the billionaire’s criticism that the bill cost too much. Lawmakers have refuted official estimates of the package, saying that the tax cuts for households, small businesses and politically important groups — including hospitality and hourly workers — will generate enough economic growth to offset the price tag.
“I don’t tell my friend Elon, I don’t argue with him about how to build rockets, and I wish he wouldn’t argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it,” Johnson told CNBC earlier Friday.
House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington told reporters that House lawmakers are focused on working with the Senate as it revises the bill to make sure the legislation has the political support in both chambers to make it to Trump’s desk for his signature.
“We move past the drama and we get the substance of what is needed to make the modest improvements that can be made,” he said.
House fiscal hawks said that they hadn’t changed their prior positions on the legislation based on Musk’s statements. They also said they agree with GOP leaders that there will be other chances to make further spending cuts outside the tax bill.
Representative Tom McClintock, a fiscal conservative, said “the bill will pass because it has to pass,” adding that both Musk and Trump needed to calm down. “They both need to take a nap,” he said.
Even some of the House bill’s most vociferous critics appeared resigned to its passage. Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, who voted against the House version, predicted that despite Musk’s objections, the Senate will make only small changes.
“The speaker is right about one thing. This barely passed the House. If they muck with it too much in the Senate, it may not pass the House again,” he said.
Trump is pressuring lawmakers to move at breakneck speed to pass the tax-cut bill, demanding they vote on the bill before the July 4 holiday. The president has been quick to blast critics of the bill — including calling Senator Rand Paul
As the legislation worked its way through the House last month, Trump took to social media to criticize holdouts and invited undecided members to the White House to compel them to support the package. It passed by one vote.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune — who is planning to unveil his chamber’s version of the bill as soon as next week — said his timeline is unmoved by Musk.
“We are already pretty far down the trail,” he said.
Job market is ‘trash’ right now, career coach says — here’s why
UK’s FCA teams up with Nvidia to let banks experiment with AI
Donald Trump’s new travel ban is coming into effect
New 2023 K-1 instructions stir the CAMT pot for partnerships and corporations
The Essential Practice of Bank and Credit Card Statement Reconciliation
Are American progressives making themselves sad?
-
Blog Post1 week agoCommon Bookkeeping Challenges and Solutions for Small Businesses
-
Economics1 week agoWhy the president must not be lexicographer-in-chief
-
Finance1 week agoThis is why Jamie Dimon is so gloomy on the economy
-
Personal Finance1 week agoU.S. birth rate drop outpaces policy response, raising future concerns
-
Economics1 week agoGerman inflation May 2025
-
Accounting1 week agoSteinhoff fraud trial moved to South Africa’s high court
-
Personal Finance7 days agoWhat the national debt, deficit mean for your money
-
Personal Finance1 week agoHow to save on summer travel in 2025