The Accounting Podcast

What does it mean when Big Four partners can be demoted—and AI still gets 1 in 5 accounting tasks wrong? Blake and David unpack KPMG’s audit partner cuts, EY and KPMG’s quiet partner demotions in the UK, PwC’s return-to-office push, and why firms like Decimal are rethinking tech-driven bookkeeping. They also debate AI’s limits in accounting, explore the future of CPE after a surprising Nasba warning, and explain what these shifts mean for accountants building their careers.


Chapters

• (00:00) - TAP 485
• (01:47) - Bookkeeping Market Shakeup
• (02:38) - Decimal Pivots to Franchising
• (05:31) - AI Accuracy Reality Check
• (07:57) - Inventory Counts Still Human
• (10:28) - H&R Block Goes Year Round
• (11:55) - AI CEO Experiments and Limits
• (16:34) - Earmark Sponsor and NASBA Letter
• (21:37) - Context and CPE Reform Debate
• (26:11) - CPE Checkbox Culture
• (28:11) - Fixing CPE With AI
• (32:07) - Live Chat and Teams CPE
• (34:37) - Sponsor OnPay Break
• (35:51) - Big Four Partner Cuts
• (41:27) - AI Predicts Misstatements
• (43:31) - Sponsor Fishbowl Break
• (44:55) - Where Accountants Are Missing
• (48:39) - 150 Hour Rule Changes
• (49:19) - Wrap Up and Thanks

 

The Best AI Model Still Fails 1 in 5 Accounting Tasks

DualEntry AI Accounting Benchmark (Claude Opus 4.7 Results)

The Least Glamorous Side of Accounting That Still Can't Be Automated

Decimal Sells Its Accounting Firm to Franchise the Operating System Behind It

Collective Acquires Open Ledger to Accelerate All-in-One Financial Solution for Solopreneurs

H&R Block Wants to Be More Than a Tax Company

An AI Agent Takes Over a Store and Orders Too Many Candles

Customers Bank CEO Uses AI Clone on Earnings Call, Signs OpenAI Deal

KPMG Lays Off 10% of US Audit Partners

KPMG and EY Demote Partners in End of Job-for-Life Model in UK

PwC Tells Remote Tax Staff to Get Their Butts Into the Office

PwC Pays $166 Million to Settle HK Evergrande Audit Probe

Predicting Material Misstatements Using Machine Learning (Phys.org summary)

Is Your State Running Low on Accountants? (Sam's List Accountant Shortage Index)

Kentucky Passes CPA Licensure Modernization Bill

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The full transcript for this episode is available by clicking on the Transcript tab at the top of this page