Earmark Podcast | Earn Free Accounting CPE

What really happens after private equity buys your CPA firm? ParkerGale partner Devin Mathews joins Blake to unpack why partners cheer while staff chafe, how PE drives returns (bill rates, utilization, acquisitions), and what managers should demand: a clear value‑creation plan and a path to upside. They also dig into AI’s true impact—raising the ceiling, squeezing entry‑level work—and why this might be your cue to start an...

AI won’t replace accountants—but AI-enabled firms will outcompete them. Blake Oliver sits down with Thomson Reuters’ Elizabeth Beastrom and Kirat Sekhon to map the end-to-end tax workflow, from document intake and auto-population (SurePrep) to delivery and e-sign (SafeSend), and into year-round advisory with CoCounsel and Ready to Advise. Learn how to “kill the questionnaire,” free staff from data entry, build an open tech...

You open Excel daily, but are you using AI to make it work for you? While 58% of professionals have tried AI, only 17% use it regularly—a missed opportunity. Join CPA Kyle Ashcraft in this hands-on webinar to learn vibe coding—a no-programming approach using Cursor AI to automate repetitive Excel tasks. Watch Kyle transform messy spreadsheets, organize GL data, and reconcile transactions with simple AI prompts while keepin...

Are you auditing at the speed of risk? Richard Chambers—50-year internal audit veteran and AuditBoard advisor—joins Blake to map the path forward. Hear why AI now ranks as risk #1, how to build continuous risk monitoring, and what “independence, not isolation” means for the three-lines model. Learn where CAEs should start with AI (risk assessment, analysis, reporting), how to audit culture and AI governance, and how to ear...

Live from Boston on the final stop of the Advisory Amplified tour, Blake sits down with James Erving from Fathom and Chris Macksey from Prix Fixe Accounting to explore what advisory services really mean beyond bookkeeping and compliance. Chris shares how his firm requires advisory for all restaurant clients, using industry expertise and operational metrics to guide decisions on everything from menu pricing to expansion tim...

On the fifth stop of the Advisory Amplified tour in Atlanta, Blake sits down with Lisa Gilreath of Acuity and Valerie Heckman of OnPay to discuss what empathetic leadership actually looks like in an industry notorious for long hours and tight deadlines. The conversation covers everything from recognizing when team members are struggling to handling toxic high performers, with real talk about building slack into capacity pl...

Live from Austin on the Advisory Amplified tour, Blake sits down with Madeline Reeves of Fearless Foundry and Wesley McDonald of Relay to explore what it truly means to be a renegade in accounting: firms that lead clients to somewhere new rather than settle for "the way things have always been done." The conversation explores why top firms aren't afraid to say no to the wrong clients, how transparency in compensation and c...

Blake sits down with Mary Delaney, CEO of Karbon, and Kenji Kuramoto, co-founder of Acuity, to explore how standardizing workflows can unlock growth without sacrificing the artistry of advisory work. They discuss Karbon's acquisition of Aider, the power of time studies to identify automation opportunities, and why getting senior advisors to embrace process requires framing workflow as empowerment rather than micromanagemen...

Most accounting firms are dramatically underpricing their services, but the fear of losing clients keeps them stuck. Marie Greene and Ryan Embry join Blake for a live conversation in LA about spotting underpricing, having the repricing conversation, and why your worst clients are often the most price-insensitive. Plus, a live role-play demonstration of how to navigate a difficult pricing conversation.

Chapters
Sign up to...

Recorded live in Seattle at the first stop of the Advisory Amplified tour, Blake sits down with Madeline Reeves (Fearless Foundry) and Lynette O'Connell (Burnout Bestie) to discuss the hard truths about burnout in accounting. Madeline shares how losing half her agency's revenue in 30 days forced her to stop trying to be likable and start building the business she actually wanted, while Lynette explains why nobody was comin...

Can an AI‑native general ledger really automate the monthly close without losing control? Blake talks with Digits CEO Jeff Seibert about an “autonomous GL” built on a vector graph model, AI agents that research unknown transactions and auto‑reconcile to pixel‑matched statements, and human‑in‑the‑loop safeguards. Learn where Digits fits best today, how to pilot it with clients, price AI‑powered CAS, and keep trust with audi...

Still running every meeting and answering every Slack ping? Blake Oliver talks with Chase Damiano of Human at Scale about escaping founder bottlenecks. Learn a six-part delegation framework (responsibility, purpose, success, process, resources, decisions), turn 1:1s into leadership labs, build a team responsibility inventory and a delegation roadmap, and see why great prompts mirror great delegation. Leave with practical s...

Why do so many accounting firms struggle to bridge the gap between their stated values and actual workplace culture? In this episode, Blake Oliver sits down with Erin Daiber, founder of Well Balanced Accountants, to explore how firms can move beyond culture theory to real operational change. You'll discover why "we've always done it this way" thinking kills retention, learn specific strategies for showing appreciation with...

What should you tell clients when tariffs increase and hiring slows? Blake Oliver discusses with Gusto senior economist Nicholas Tremper the effects on small businesses of high tariffs, reduced job growth, and a tighter labor market influenced by immigration policy. Find out how advising on cash flow and employee benefits can help your clients identify opportunities in a post-pandemic startup boom driven by artificial inte...

Please note: This episode was recorded before changes were made to the Big Beautiful Bill, which eliminated the removal of the PCAOB.

What happens when AI agents start doing your journal entries and reconciliations? Mike Whitmire, founder and CEO of Floqast, explains why accounting AI is fundamentally different from other business applications—and why auditability creates unique challenges that many companies will struggle ...

What happens when a homeless 21-year-old musician transforms into a financial leader negotiating $20 billion deals at Google? Devon Coombs shares his remarkable journey from living in his car after his recording studio failed to becoming an ASC 606 revenue recognition expert who helped shape multibillion-dollar cloud contracts. You'll discover how he leveraged technical accounting expertise to leapfrog traditional career p...

Small businesses offering 401(k) plans see 40% lower employee turnover in the first year, yet only 10% receive benefits guidance from their accountants. Justin Kurn explains how Dark Horse CPAs identifies the right triggers, such as growing staff or high turnover, to initiate benefits conversations. Meanwhile, Julia Miller from Gusto breaks down how accountants can help clients navigate the cost and complexity of offering ...

What if the foundation of financial accounting is fundamentally flawed? Tom Selling, author of The Accounting Onion blog, argues that historical cost accounting creates a "truth in labeling problem" that allows management to manipulate earnings while failing to capture economic reality. Through compelling examples from oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, and subscription businesses, he explains why value creation often occurs ye...

What happens when Congress votes to eliminate the watchdog that's overseen public company audits for two decades? In this episode, Blake Oliver sits down with three leading accounting academics—Maureen McNichols from Stanford, Nemit Shroff from MIT, and Daniel Aobdia from Penn State—to examine the research behind the PCAOB's effectiveness and what elimination could mean for audit quality. You'll discover why companies with...