Accounting Influencers

In this episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown discusses key predictions for the accounting profession in 2026 based on insights from 48 industry leaders. The conversation covers themes of automation, revenue shifts from compliance to advisory, the integration of AI in accounting practices, talent sustainability, and the ongoing trend of consolidation within the industry. The episode emphasizes the need for firms to adapt to rapid changes and prepare for future challenges, particularly during busy seasons.TakeawaysThe month-end close process will be automated by 2026.Audits will be completed in under five hours.Advisory revenue is set to surpass compliance revenue.Firms will budget for AI as they do for headcount.AI will become the first staff accountant in firms.50% of firms will use AI assistance systematically.Consolidation in the industry will intensify.Busy seasons will continue to be challenging for firms.Change is inevitable in the accounting profession.Firms must stay relevant and adapt to new trends

In this episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown discusses the evolving landscape of leadership in the accounting profession. He emphasizes that technical excellence is no longer sufficient for leaders, who must now embrace emotional literacy, adaptability, and strategic thinking to navigate the complexities of modern business. The conversation highlights the importance of trustworthiness, effective people management, and the need for leaders to develop AI skills to stay relevant in a rapidly changing environment.TakeawaysTechnical excellence is the price of entry for accountants.Leaders must transition from technical experts to enterprise leaders.Emotional literacy is crucial for effective leadership.Change management differs from change leadership.Delegation is essential to prevent burnout.Trustworthiness cannot be automated and is vital for leadership.Every firm member will need AI operator skills by 2026.Strategic heresy involves letting go of outdated practices.Leaders should view their firms as products

In this episode of Accounting Voices, we continue our Reflections 2025 series with a different kind of question:What moment actually changed how leaders think about the accounting profession?Across 48 conversations, a clear pattern emerged.2025 became the year the profession was forced to look in the mirror — and many leaders didn’t like what they saw.This episode explores the assumptions that quietly collapsed:The idea that technical excellence alone is enough to surviveThe belief that only accountants can run accounting firmsThe illusion that private equity is a guaranteed exitThe comfort of reactive advisory instead of proactive leadershipAnd the dangerous gap between AI experimentation and governanceFrom the Deloitte Australia AI scandal, to the rise of non-accountant COOs, to push-button data migrations eliminating long-accepted friction, this conversation maps the strategic fault lines now defining the profession.You’ll hear insights from leaders including:Alice Grey Harrison on the irony of firms faili

In this episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown shares the most honest reflections yet from 48 industry leaders, partners, and practitioners. After asking one tough question, “What disappointed you in 2025?”, a clear pattern emerged.The problem wasn’t a lack of technology.It wasn’t AI.And it wasn’t ambition.It was execution.From shiny new tools layered onto broken processes, to decision paralysis, vendor overpromising, outdated partner models, and firms mistaking activity for progress, this episode breaks down why the profession feels stuck despite unprecedented opportunity.You’ll hear powerful metaphors, sharp warnings, and uncomfortable truths about why agreement without action is holding firms back, and why courage, not more tools, is now the missing ingredient.If you’re a firm leader, partner, or professional navigating change, this episode will challenge how you think about technology, strategy, talent, and accountability.You can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/rStqAfRmxDUCome and join our A

In this powerful episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown reveals the findings from an ambitious project: interviewing 48 senior leaders across the accounting profession and asking them the same five questions about the year that changed everything.This episode focuses on Question 1: What defined 2025? And the answer is uncomfortable but critical: 2025 was not a year of progress. It was a year of separation.You’ll hear how:AI stopped being “innovation” and became baseline infrastructure.Private equity permanently changed the profession’s operating model.Legacy processes collided with modern technology.Talent pressure exposed broken cultures and outdated firm models.The profession entered a deep identity crisis.The “velocity gap” between firms is now a serious threat.You can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/01w0gDWxE6ECome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━

In this episode, Rob Brown discusses the evolving landscape of accounting firms, emphasizing the importance of understanding the type of firm one wants to become amidst rapid changes driven by technology and market dynamics. He highlights five key signals affecting leadership and firm relevance, including the discomfort surrounding AI, the challenges of the partnership model, and the pressures faced by mid-tier firms. Brown offers takeaways for current and aspiring leaders, focusing on the need for clarity, interpretation of information, and the importance of relevance over tenure in leadership roles.You can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/WhG5gORGVCsCome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive presence, influence and credibility both

In this episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown discusses the critical choices accounting firms must make as they navigate the evolving landscape of the profession. He emphasizes the importance of making intentional decisions regarding automation, client relationships, and specialization, highlighting the trade-offs that come with each choice. The conversation explores the four dominant strategic positions firms can adopt and the implications of these choices for their future success.You can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/42pAfXia5LwFuture Accounting Firm Models 2026 | The Strategic Trade-Offs Leaders Must FaceCome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive presence, influence and credibility both internally and externally. Host Rob Bro

2026 is not a reset year for accounting firms.It is a sorting year.In this episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown explains why the accounting profession is splitting and why firms will be forced to choose a direction.Four fault lines are reshaping the profession:1. How firms adopt AI2. How client expectations are changing3. Whether the next generation wants ownership4. Which business models survive consolidationSome firms will gain clarity, margin and confidence. Others will stay busy and quietly fall behind. This episode is not about tools. It is about direction.You can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/240ZreNQrT4Come and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive presence, influence and credibility both internally and externally. Host Rob

In this episode, Rob Brown reflects on the significant changes and challenges faced in the accounting and finance sectors over the past year. He discusses the impact of private equity, AI, and shifting workplace dynamics on professionals' mental health and job satisfaction. Rob emphasizes the importance of recognizing these changes, reassessing career paths, and building personal brands to ensure stability and relevance in the evolving job market. He encourages listeners to reflect on their experiences and consider what they want to carry forward into the next year.TakeawaysThis year has brought unprecedented change in the workplace.Mental health and job satisfaction are crucial for professionals.Many are questioning if their current career aligns with their expectations.Stability comes from personal skills and relationships, not just employers.Silence in the workplace can lead to irrelevance.It's acceptable to seek more from your career without being ungrateful.Accounting offers diverse career paths and oppo

In the final part of this mini series Rob Brown explains how professionals and leaders should act when firm change is officially announced. From mergers to ownership shifts this episode shows why coping with uncertainty is now a career defining skill.Key takeawaysChange tests behaviourClarity builds trustVisibility creates securityAdaptation wins careersYou can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/YnwCVRqWdO0Come and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive presence, influence and credibility both internally and externally. Host Rob Brown delivers insights to help professionals strengthen their personal brand, stay informed about industry changes and navigate disruptive forces affecting accounting business models and trends. Check out the show

Accounting firms send signals long before announcing mergers restructures leadership changes or new ownership. In this episode Rob Brown explains the early warning signs that professionals notice first and how to read them so you stay informed relevant and secure during uncertainty.KEY TAKEAWAYS Leaders change language before they change structure Partner behaviour reveals direction Hiring patterns predict strategy Tech spend is the earliest indicator Visibility protects your career during uncertaintyYou can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/WXUNtQOLv0MCome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive presence, influence and credibility both internally and externally. Host Rob Brown delivers insights to help professionals strengthen the

Accounting firms everywhere are changing. Private equity takeovers. Mergers. Leadership shifts. Advisory growth. Partner exits. New models. Staff feel unstable confused and worried. In this episode Rob Brown explains why firms feel unpredictable right now and what you can do to stay relevant visible and secure during this major transition.KEY TAKEAWAYS Firms are changing for real structural reasons Instability does not mean your career is at risk Visibility matters during uncertainty Relevance beats hierarchy Your future is shaped by your choices not your firmYou can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/SnBcdEEnLMUCome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive presence, influence and credibility both internally and externally. Host Rob

Public accounting is intense and many professionals are questioning whether they should stay. In this episode Rob Brown breaks down the real reasons people want to leave public accounting and the key differences between the profession and the environment. You will learn how to assess burnout learning and the future of your career. This episode gives you a clear framework for deciding whether to stay in public accounting or move into industry or finance with confidence.KEY TAKEAWAYS Public accounting and accounting are not the same Leaving public accounting is not leaving the profession Burnout and boredom need different responses Environment shapes success more than technical skill Accounting remains a strong and flexible career pathYou can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/XM1-bQtUG-kCome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Vo

In this pivotal episode Rob Brown explains the truth about the future of accounting.From AI disruption to collapsing entry level pathways to the rise of visibility and influence, this episode is a wake up call for accountants who want to stay relevant. Learn how to build fluency, clarity and credibility in a changing profession.Key Takeaways* Visibility is the new career advantage* AI replaces tasks not trust* Younger accountants want clarity not grind culture* Standing out is safer than blending in* Judgment communication and influence are the futureYou can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/63zyKUFQEFcCome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive presence, influence and credibility both internally and externally. Host Rob Brown delivers

In the final episode of the Big Four AI mini-series, Rob Brown explains how to stay credible and competitive as AI reshapes accounting. Learn why visibility is credibility, how to become the translator between humans and machines, and how to build fluency that turns fear into confidence.Key TakeawaysReputation now comes from visibility and proof of thinking.You don’t need to code to stay relevant — you need to converse with technology.Judgment and communication define career security in the AI age.Fluency beats fear; clarity beats complexity.You can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/wdhpvc7-IwACome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive presence, influence and credibility both internally and externally. Host Rob Brown delivers insights

In this episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown breaks down what the Big Four are doing with AI and how smaller firms can use those ideas to stay credible and competitive. Learn how to publish an AI policy, choose the right use cases, train for judgment and build trust through visibility.Key Takeaways - Smaller firms can borrow Big Four discipline without their budgets.Transparency and training build trust faster than tech.Choose three AI use cases and master them.Judgment is the new career currency.You can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/nVsif9cry_oCome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive presence, influence and credibility both internally and externally. Host Rob Brown delivers insights to help professionals strengthen their per

AI has moved from pilots to playbooks. In this episode Rob Brown breaks down the Big Four AI race and turns it into a practical plan for firms of any size. Learn where automation is helping, where human judgment must stay in charge, and how to build a simple policy clients will trust. You will leave with four moves to compete without the hype.Key Takeaways- AI is the main event in audit, tax and advisory- Leaders treat AI like a system with policy and training- Accountability rises with automation not the other way round- Mid tier firms can win with focus and transparency- Pick three use cases, publish a policy, train for judgmentYou can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/_-b3fCu-9c8Come and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive presence,

Artificial Intelligence is creating a talent shock in accounting. Firms are hiring fewer graduates while demand for advisory skills skyrockets. AI is doing the routine work, leaving humans to handle judgment, strategy and communication. Rob Brown breaks down what this means for firm leaders, finance professionals and the next generation of accountants. He shares the mindset and actions needed to stay visible, valuable and employable in an AI-driven profession.Key Takeaways -*AI is reducing entry level roles but increasing demand for strategic and advisory skills*Big Four firms are cutting graduate intake and retraining senior staff for AI driven workflows*The career ladder is changing and critical thinking and communication now matter more than repetition*Corporate finance teams are creating new roles in analytics and governance to replace routine tasks*Visibility and curiosity are now career insurance in the AI eraLeaders must turn fear into fluency and guide teams through technological changeCome and join o

Artificial intelligence is transforming accounting but not always for the better. Rob Brown explores real-world AI controversies that have shaken trust in the profession. From Deloitte’s fabricated government report and Google Bard’s false scandals to Xero’s chatbot misfires these stories reveal the danger of blind automation.You will learn how to audit your AI use verify data and lead with transparency in an age where machines make confident mistakes.Key Takeaways- AI can create confident mistakes that destroy credibility- Big Four firms have already learned costly lessons- Vendors are still testing AI in public- Every firm needs clear AI policies and human review- Transparency and judgment are non-negotiable for trustCome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voicesThe Accounting Voices Podcast serves accounting firm leaders, managers and partners looking to build their executive pre

In this episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown discusses the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the accounting profession. He emphasizes that AI is not a threat to jobs but rather to specific tasks, urging professionals to adapt and embrace AI to remain relevant. The conversation covers the slow adoption of AI in accounting firms, the implications for workforce dynamics, and the necessity for leadership to engage with AI strategically. Brown also provides practical steps for accountants to integrate AI into their work and enhance their careers.Takeaways - AI is changing how accounting firms operate and compete.Professionals who master AI will thrive in the future.Most accounting firms are slow to adopt AI technologies.Early adopters of AI in accounting are seeing significant benefits.AI can free up time for accountants to focus on advisory roles.The big four accounting firms are heavily investing in AI.AI is reshaping entry-level roles in accounting.Human judgment remains a critical adv