Halie Creps, CPA, chair of the AICPA Auditing Standards Board, joined the JofA podcast to discuss the ASB's refreshed 2026–2030 strategic plan and its focus on responsiveness, collaboration, and technology.

She also explained why taking part in AICPA committees and boards is important to her and mentioned the link that members can visit to explore volunteer opportunities.

Creps highlighted current projects, including proposed updates to attestation standards, sustainability assurance, confirmations, and fraud. She also explained how practitioner feedback and international standard‑setting influence the board's work.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Why Creps said that serving on the Auditing Standards Board helps make her a better auditor.
• A mention of the numerous types of volunteer opportunities for members.
• How the ASB's 2026–2030 strategic plan reflects stakeholder feedback.
• What proposed changes to attestation standards could mean for practitioners.
• How sustainability assurance fits into the ASB's broader standards framework.
• The status of and comment deadlines for exposure drafts on confirmations and fraud.
• How technology and global collaboration are shaping future audit standards.

System and Organization Controls (SOC) reports are examinations performed by CPAs in accordance with the AICPA's Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements to evaluate the controls over customer data that service organizations such as cloud providers or payroll processors have in place. SOC reports provide independent assurance to the service organization's customers, aka user entities, that those controls are suitably designed and operating effectively.

The entrance of technology vendors into the realm of SOC reporting has created some efficiencies, but it also has led to promises of "fast and easy" SOC reports that have raised credibility concerns in the marketplace.

In this episode of the Journal of Accountancy podcast, Amy Pawlicki, the AICPA's vice president–Assurance & Advisory Innovation, discusses recent developments affecting SOC engagements. The conversation also highlights what CPAs, service organizations, and report users should watch for to protect trust in SOC reporting.

Other resources mentioned in the episode include:

• A JofA article on ethics risks related to SOC tool providers.
• The AICPA's SOC landing page.
• Ethics Staff Insights: Business Arrangements With SOC Tool Providers.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• What SOC reporting is — and why a SOC 2 report is not a certification.
• How a technology trend is threatening SOC credibility.
• The ethical risks related to SOC reporting tool vendors.
• The peer review and the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct requirements for CPAs performing SOC work.
• Where to find AICPA resources for firms, service organizations, and users.

Starting a CPA firm can be both exciting and daunting, with financial, operational, and personal risks along the way. In this Journal of Accountancy podcast episode, Michael Meihaus, CPA, founder of Meihaus CPA, shares what he learned after launching his practice. Alvin Fennell, vice president and senior risk adviser at Aon, adds a risk-management perspective on what new firm owners must plan for from day one.

Together, they discuss practical steps, common blind spots, and how CPAs can balance growth with protection.

They reference an e-book created jointly by Aon and the AICPA. The e-book's first chapter is unlocked, and readers can access subsequent chapters by supplying their email address.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• The market opportunity that was one factor in a CPA deciding to launch a firm.
• What Meihaus meant when he said "your strengths and weaknesses are enhanced" as a firm owner.
• Some of the many business questions new firm owners should answer early.
• Why starting a firm can, according to Fennell, put CPAs in "a vulnerable spot."
• Risk-management considerations, including billing practices, engagement letters, and insurance coverage.

Younger generations are rethinking retirement — considering more flexibility and well-timed breaks over a traditional model of holding a job until a certain age and then stopping work.

Kelley Long, CPA/PFS, joined the Journal of Accountancy podcast to discuss how modern financial planning is changing. She also explains how health savings accounts can support career flexibility and reduce reliance on employer‑sponsored health insurance later in life.

Long will explore these topics further in June at AICPA ENGAGE, the profession's biggest conference. She is presenting sessions focused on retirement and on health care financial literacy on June 10 in Las Vegas.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• A preview of Kelley Long's ENGAGE sessions and a related JofA article.
• The factors that are leading younger generations to approach retirement differently.
• How "mini‑retirements" can fit into long‑term career and financial planning.
• How Long's trip to South America crystallized her views on timing and retirement.
• The role of social connections in cognitive health.
• Some ways that health savings accounts can support career changes or time off.
• How potentially being overinsured can affect financial planning.

Small CPA firms play a critical role in the accounting profession, and new tools are helping them compete, innovate, and grow. In this episode of the JofA podcast, Stephanie Otero, CPA, the AICPA's vice president–Small Firm Advocate, discusses why small firms matter, how AI and automation are leveling the playing field, and where innovation thrives in smaller practices.

She references real-world examples and previews the PCPS Small Firm Success Series, a free, CPE-eligible webcast series for AICPA members.

The conversation also looks ahead to ENGAGE in Las Vegas and the ways AICPA resources and communities help small firm practitioners realize they do not have to go it alone.

Related resources:

• Private Companies Practice Section firm membership.
• Resources for small firms.
• Transforming Your Business Model resources.
• April 20 PCPS Overview Session.
• Article on small firms' use of AI and automation.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• The importance of small CPA firms to the profession and why Otero is passionate about advocating for such firms.
• How AI and automation can help small firms compete with larger organizations.
• Practical examples of practitioners using technology to build capacity.
• AICPA resources can help small firm leaders connect and grow.

Sarah Ference, CPA, a risk control director at CNA, joins the Journal of Accountancy podcast to discuss recent topics of the JofA's Professional Liability Spotlight column.

The conversation covers lessons learned from claims involving bankrupt clients, the importance of strong and consistent documentation, and the particular risks associated with serving high-net-worth or high-profile clients.

The episode also highlights the April column on writing effective engagement letters for client advisory services.

The articles discussed in the episode:

• January: "Don't Let a Bankrupt Client Bankrupt You."
• February: "Tell a Story With Your Documentation."
• March: "Luxury Liabilities: Serving High-Net-Worth Clients."
• April: "Tips for Writing CAS Engagement Letters."

What you'll learn from this episode:

• The reasons CPA firms can be drawn into litigation when clients face bankruptcy.
• How strong client acceptance and continuance practices can help firms identify and manage higher‑risk engagements before problems arise.
• Why documentation acts as a firm's voice in a professional liability claim — and how gaps or inconsistencies can weaken defense of a claim.
• Why Ference has been told that "celebrities and CPA firms don't mix."
• What makes high‑net‑worth and celebrity clients higher risk and why firms should avoid relaxing standard risk management protocols for them.
• Why for engagement letters related to CAS, Ference said: "The devil is really in the details of that engagement letter."

Wassia Kamon, CPA, returned as a guest on the Journal of Accountancy podcast to preview her sessions at the CFO Conference and ENGAGE.

Kamon also discussed the growing expectations placed on today's CFOs and how those expectations helped shape one of her conference sessions. Kamon also reflected on how launching her podcast, The Diary of a CFO, has expanded her network and grown her knowledge.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Kamon's summary of her session with Paul Young at the CFO Conference in April.
• Why she says her podcast "is almost like a business card."
• The importance of a true reset and how a reset is different from rest.
• What she's most looking forward to at ENGAGE in June.
• Why sessions related to artificial intelligence will be particularly relevant this year.

David Stone, CPA, CFE, MBA, is the author of the most recent FVS Eye on Fraud report.

In this episode, Stone, senior manager–Financial Services Practice Group at BerryDunn, shares insights from the report, which focuses on internal and external fraud risks facing financial institutions. Stone explains how long‑standing schemes — from misuse of dormant accounts to persistent check‑fraud activity — continue to evolve even as institutions strengthen their controls.

Stone, a graduate of the AICPA Leadership Academy, also describes emerging, technology‑driven threats such as deepfakes, more sophisticated ransomware, and the potential impact of quantum computing on systems once considered secure.

Previous Eye on Fraud-focused episodes:

February 2026

July 2025

March 2025

What you'll learn from this episode:

• David Stone's explanation of perhaps the first recorded case of bank fraud.
• Defining internal and external fraud, both of which are focus areas in the March Eye on Fraud report.
• Why dormant accounts offer opportunities for fraudsters.
• The fraud stat that "astounded" Stone.
• How deepfakes and enhanced ransomware tactics are reshaping the threat landscape for financial institutions.
• What quantum computing could mean for the future of fraud prevention.

Two AICPA tax experts from the Washington, D.C., office joined the JofA podcast to discuss a recent Government Accountability Office report on paid tax return preparers and why its findings matter during a busy filing season.

Melanie Lauridsen, vice president–Tax Policy & Advocacy, and Todd Sloves, director–Congressional & Political Affairs, break down bipartisan legislation in Congress — including the TAS Act — and explain how its provisions could strengthen oversight and modernize IRS processes. The conversation also highlights the SAFE Act and its aim to simplify the task of filing extensions for taxpayers and practitioners.

The Q&A also outlines where broad consensus exists in the tax community and why this moment could be pivotal for long‑awaited tax administration reforms.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• What the statistics in a GAO report on paid tax return preparers show.
• How minimum professional standards could strengthen IRS oversight, and why the AICPA supports establishing competency and regulatory guardrails for all preparers.
• Provisions in the TAS Act recently introduced in the Senate, including reforms shaped by bipartisan work and those aimed at improving taxpayer service.
• Lauridsen's explanation of how the SAFE Act would simplify filing extensions, reducing the need for complex estimates.
• A reminder of the particulars of the "mailbox rule."
• The factors Sloves cites in his belief that the discussed legislation has a path to passage.

Optimism among U.S. CPA decision-makers in February improved when compared with the outlook in November, but overall sentiment remains guarded. That's one conversation topic in the latest Journal of Accountancy podcast episode.

In the episode, Ken Witt, CPA, CGMA, associate director–Management Accounting Research & Development for the AICPA and CIMA, break down the sentiment about the domestic economy, the global economy, and respondents' companies.

The discussion also touches on top challenges, hiring plans, and recession expectations.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• The increase in own‑company optimism from the previous quarter.
• The reasons that both optimists and pessimists cite for their views.
• The "dance" that inflation and domestic economic conditions have done on the survey's list of top challenges.
• Projected revenue and profit growth in the coming 12 months.

At several points over the past six years, employee retention has ebbed and flowed. In part, workforce trends have been tied to the COVID-19 pandemic hastening the predominance of remote and hybrid work. And, more recently, economic uncertainty has contributed to employee sentiment.

On this episode of the Journal of Accountancy podcast, two Robert Half executives discuss general hiring trends and the outlook for accounting and finance roles. Additionally, they examine the dynamics of promoting from within versus hiring externally.

And, in case you missed it, news dropped on publication day that even a Hollywood director might have found interesting: ENGAGE keynote speakers were announced.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Why nearly 40% of employees say they plan to look for a new job in 2026 and how that compares with recent trends such as "the big stay."
• Some of the factors employees are considering in their decision to find work elsewhere.
• Steve Saah's reminder that the demand for accounting and finance professionals remains strong even as hiring managers say it's becoming more challenging to find skilled candidates.
• Kathy Burton's explanation for why companies should move away from thinking about "diminishing" skillsets.
• The importance of upskilling and reskilling and why "courageous curiosity" is a valued trait.