Blogs

📢 You're Invited: Complete the CPAFMA Technology Survey — Then Join Us for the Results Webinar!

By Janie Henderson posted 9 days ago
📢 You're Invited: Complete the CPAFMA Technology Survey — Then Join Us for the Results Webinar! Looking for guidance on which technologies your firm should prioritize in the coming year? CPAFMA is conducting an important survey to better understand the tools member firms are currently using—and to help shape future webinar topics and Connections Community discussions. ⏱ Time Commitment: Less than 30 minutes 📅 Survey Deadline: December 8, 2025 By participating, you’ll play a direct role in influencing the resources and conversations that support firms across the profession. Participation Perks As a thank-you for completing the ...

AICPA 2025 National Management of an Accounting Practice (MAP) Benchmarking Survey Results – Trends and Opportunities for Firms

By Janie Henderson posted 9 days ago
Upcoming Webinar: AICPA 2025 MAP Survey Results – What the Trends Mean for Your Firm I’m looking forward to the upcoming session “AICPA 2025 National Management of an Accounting Practice (MAP) Benchmarking Survey Results – Trends and Opportunities for Firms” taking place on Tuesday, December 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM ET . Presented by Erin Hartman, CPA , this webinar will provide an in-depth review of the latest AICPA/PCPS MAP Survey findings—one of the most widely referenced benchmarking tools for accounting firms. This session is ideal for firm leaders, managers, and anyone involved in strategic planning or practice management. It’s a basic-level, 1 CPE ...

Firm Management Webinar Series

By Janie Henderson posted 30 days ago
Join CPAFMA for a dynamic 4-part webinar series focused on key aspects of firm management tailored for CPA firm leaders and managers. Each session explores essential skills and strategies to help you lead more effectively, drive accountability, and foster a productive team environment. The next installment of this series is Change Management Essentials for Firm Managers on November 12th at 1:00 pm ET. Read more and register at this link.

October Firm Member Roundtable

By Janie Henderson posted 09-30-2025
Please register to join us for a Firm Management discussion - for firm members only - on Zoom followed by breakout rooms by firm size. Register here. Review Community Guidelines here .

Open Call for Board Nominations

By Janie Henderson posted 08-25-2025
Open Call for Board Nominations! Fill out this form by September 2nd.

September Firm Member Roundtable

By Janie Henderson posted 08-25-2025
Please register to join us for an HR discussion - for firm members only - on Zoom followed by breakout rooms by firm size. Register here. Review Community Guidelines here .

CPAFMA Seeks Candidates for the Board of Directors

By CPAFMA HQ posted 08-01-2025
CPAFMA is looking for leaders to serve as members of the Board of Directors. Such leaders should: • Have a vision for CPAFMA • Support and embody the values and mission of CPAFMA in elevating the profession • Be willing to invest the extra time necessary to serve CPAFMA • Demonstrate prior service and contribution to CPAFMA and the profession • Be supported in this service to CPAFMA by their firm Application Deadline September 2. Click here for application CPAFMA 2026 Nomination Application .

August Firm Member Roundtable

By Kate McLean posted 07-23-2025
Please register to join us for an HR discussion - for firm members only - on Zoom followed by breakout rooms by firm size. Register here. Review Community Guidelines here .

HR Webinar Series

By Kate McLean posted 06-17-2025
2025 HR Series June 24, 2025 1:00pm - September 9, 2025 2:00pm ET Location Information: Zoom Entire Series - Register for the entire series $80 Members | Free PAFM | $160 Non-Members (buy two, get one free) Single Webinar $40 Members | Free PAFM | $80 Non-Members Join us for a three-part CPAFMA HR Webinar Series , featuring presenters Sandra Wiley (Boomer Consulting), Tamera Loerzel (ConvergenceCoaching), and Amy Boston (threology). Each high-impact, one-hour session will dive into essential HR topics like hiring strategies , recruitment best practices , and emerging 2025 workforce trends —all designed ...

June Firm Member Roundtable

By Kate McLean posted 06-02-2025
Register to Join Us for the June Roundtable Firm Members: Please register to join us for a full membership discussion on Zoom followed by breakout rooms by firm size. Sandra Wiley, Boomer Consulting, will moderate the HR trends and topics discussion.

CPAFMA Announces DeBora and Goodwin to Board

By CPAFMA HQ posted 01-09-2025
Press Release [LEXINGTON, Ky., Jan. 9, 2025] CPA Firm Management Association, leading the management of CPA firms by empowering and equipping them to succeed, announces the addition of two board members. CPAFMA welcomes Karen DeBora and Tammy Goodwin. Karen DeBora, PAFM, brings over 25 years of experience in accounting client services to her role as the Director of CPA Operations and Administration at Aldrich CPAs + Advisors LLP. In 2019, Karen was honored with her firm’s Stephen M. Tatone Servant Leadership Award, recognizing her unwavering dedication to her team, clients, and community. A CPAFMA member since 2019, she has actively contributed to the ...

CPAFMA 2025 Member Town Hall

By CPAFMA HQ posted 12-20-2024
A virtual member meeting led by our 2025 Board Chair, Kris Latchaw. Register to join us and welcome the new board members and learn more about the strategic plan, upcoming CONNECTIONS, Webinars and more. Register to add to your calendar here!

2025 CPAFMA Technology Survey Findings Released

By CPAFMA HQ posted 12-19-2024
The CPA Firm Management Association recently concluded the 2025 IT Survey designed to identify the technology that member firms are using and the trends impacting their accounting firms in the year ahead. The survey was conducted between November 22 and December 12, 2024, with 180 firms participating*. Survey participants covered the full gamut of CPAFMA’s membership with 17% being in firms >100 members, 21% being between 50-99 personnel, 27% between 24-49 members, and 35% being <25 personnel having a dedicated firm manager. Findings hinted towards member firms being impacted by the increases in merger and private equity activity which Roman provided ...

Call for Committee Interest

By Kate McLean posted 12-16-2024
CPAFMA is excited to announce our 2025 call for committees, and we invite interested members to join us. This is a unique chance to contribute to our organization's goals and make a meaningful impact within our industry. Firm members and vendor/consultant members are encouraged to apply. Applications due January 10, 2025. We are seeking committee members for: Connections Committee Membership Committee Programs Committee Apply Today!

Remembering Don Scholl

By CPAFMA HQ posted 04-02-2024
CPAFMA is saddened to announce the passing of one of its founding members, Donald Scholl. Don created the Association for Accounting Administration in 1984, along with industry consultants Clifford Brownstein and Gene Cohen, and served as its first president from 1984-1986. He continued to serve the Association as an Advisory Board Member through his retirement in 2009, setting up what would become today’s CPAFMA. Don is especially remembered for his strategic planning consulting which included advising hundreds of today’s leading CPA firms via his Management for Results (MFR) and Predictive Index (PI) programs. He was highly regarded as a retreat facilitator ...

CPAFMA Announces Raines and Tonkowich to Board

By CPAFMA HQ posted 01-19-2024
CPA Firm Management Association, leading the management of CPA firms by empowering and equipping them to success, today announces the addition of two board members. CPAFMA welcomes Jeremy Raines and Jon Tonkowich. Jeremy Raines has over 15 years’ worth of experience in a variety of high-growth industries working in business operations management, five and a half years’ worth of experience serving as Director of Operations for CPA firms. He previously spent four and a half years working at Dean Dorton based out of Lexington, Kentucky, serving as their Director of Firm Operations, and currently works for Whitlesey Advising based out of Hartford, Connecticut, ...

2024 CPAFMA Technology Survey Findings Released

By CPAFMA HQ posted 01-02-2024
The CPA Firm Management Association recently concluded the 2024 IT Survey designed to identify the technology that member firms are using and the trends impacting their accounting firms in the year ahead. The survey was conducted between November 28 and December 12, 2023, with 140 firms participating*. The survey is representative of CPAFMA membership with 91% having 10 personnel or more and 40% (56 firms) having multiple offices. Two survey respondents were 100% virtual, which was a new finding in the survey. Click here to look at the findings and benchmark your firm. Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP, PAFM is the Director of Firm Technology Strategy for Rightworks ...

WISP Required! Key Components in Your Firm’s Written Information Security Plan*

By CPAFMA HQ posted 06-13-2023
While the FTC Safeguards rule designed to protect financial and PII (personally identifiable information) has been around for decades, as of June 9, 2023, compliance of various components including a WISP became mandatory! While primarily targeted at companies maintaining more than 5,000 client records (think tax returns), certain safeguard components are required for firms with less than 5,000 records such as the use of multi-factor authentication, encryption of data, and secure disposal of Information. Also, with financial and criminal penalties imposed for “knowingly or inadvertently” disclosing taxpayer data, the IRS has issued additional guidance on key ...

Hybrid is Here to Stay: How to be Successful

By CPAFMA HQ posted 12-17-2022
What does ‘hybrid’ mean? No one thought this would happen—the embrace of hybrid operations. As hybrid operations transform the meaning of the office changes, and professionals are interacting with the office in new ways. For example, 69% of financial services companies expect to allow up to 60% of their staff to work remotely at least one day per week after the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, only 29% of financial services companies would allow such. [i] The workplace of today is dynamic and will continue to evolve as companies embrace and optimize the hybrid work model. In 2023, financial services firms are looking for a future that balances remote ...

How to Nurture Office Culture in the New Hybrid World

By CPAFMA HQ posted 12-17-2022
Since the pandemic hit, many accounting and advisory firms have had to rapidly pivot to a new way of working. Let’s be clear, firm professionals want to work from home (WFH). 1 in 3 remote workers say they would seek new employment if they were required to return to the office. While there was ample skepticism at first, and a short transition period to get used to a new mode of operating, firms and employees made remote work successful. Financial services executives said that 95% or more of their office workers switched to working from home during the crisis and, by and large, they maintained or improved productivity. Similarly, 79% of the employers surveyed ...