**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

How can you unlock your full potential at work without first uncovering your blind spots, strengths, passions, and next steps? To answer that question, you must tap into your own wisdom and resourcefulness — as well as the insights and support of those around you.

In today’s ever changing environment of uncertainty and ambiguity, coachability has become an essential skill. During this highly interactive, hands on workshop, participants will explore what it means to be coachable, why it matters, and how embracing feedback, coaching, and mentoring can accelerate both personal and professional growth.

Attendees will examine practical questions such as:
• What is coachability, and why does it matter?
• What does it look like to be truly coachable — or resistant to coaching?
• How can you intentionally seek out and apply the feedback, coaching, and mentoring needed to succeed?

Participants will leave with a personalized coachability plan designed to help them make the most of their conference experience and take meaningful next steps in their careers.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the concept of coachability and explain its importance in navigating uncertainty, professional growth, and workplace performance.
• Identify personal strengths, blind spots, and development opportunities by applying a structured self-reflection process and feedback-seeking techniques.
• Recognize how to create a personalized coachability plan that outlines specific actions for intentionally soliciting, receiving, and implementing coaching, mentoring, and feedback to advance career goals.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

Guiding individuals and families to make informed, confident decisions is essential at every stage of life. This session explores practical strategies for helping elevate clients’ financial acumen—both for themselves and for their children—while navigating evolving personal, financial, and family needs.

Participants will learn how to recognize meaningful planning opportunities across the lifespan, from early childhood through retirement, and how to guide clients in aligning these decisions with their long-term goals. The session will also highlight a range of creative and effective alternatives for achieving family objectives, enabling professionals to offer flexible, client-centered solutions that adapt to changing circumstances. Attendees will leave with actionable insights and tools to support stronger, more empowered decision-making in every phase of life.

In addition to core content, this interactive session provides ample opportunity to ask questions, exchange insights, and share best practices with peers. Participants will leave with actionable tools and a stronger network of ideas to support empowered, family-focused decision-making in every phase of life.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize ways to guide your clients to make the best decisions for themselves and their children at each stage of life.
• Recognize planning opportunities or clients ranging from young adults to retirees.
• Analyze alternative options to help clients achieve personal and family objectives.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

Selling a business is one of the most financially significant events an owner will ever experience — and the tax landscape around that sale can create tremendous opportunity or costly pitfalls. This session equips advisors with the technical insight and practical strategies needed to guide clients confidently through every stage of a business sale.

Presenters will break down the full life cycle of planning around a transaction: how to position a business for a tax-efficient exit, how to model and structure deals to maximize after-tax outcomes, and how to coordinate post-sale planning to preserve and grow the client’s newfound liquidity.

Attendees will learn the essential pre-sale steps:
• entity clean-up,
• reasonable compensation,
• timing considerations,
• Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) qualification,
• state tax ramifications,
• buyer vs. seller priorities, and
• due-diligence readiness,
as well as the tax strategies most commonly overlooked during and after a sale:
• installment planning,
• rollover equity,
• charitable planning,
• trust structures,
• estimated tax management, and
• advanced wealth strategies.

Whether your clients are in the early stages of thinking about a sale or actively working through a transaction, this session provides the framework, tools, and actionable guidance you need to elevate your advisory value and help clients achieve tax-optimized outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess key pre-sale planning steps that influence tax outcomes, including entity structuring, ownership clean-up, compensation planning, and preparation for buyer due diligence.
• Evaluate tax-efficient deal structures—such as asset vs. stock sales, installment arrangements, rollover equity, and QSBS planning—to optimize after-tax proceeds for clients.
• Interpret post-sale income tax strategies including estimated tax management, charitable planning, trust structures, and long-term wealth planning to help clients steward liquidity after a transaction.
• Formulate strategies to guide clients through the full transaction life cycle by integrating business, tax, and financial planning considerations to enhance advisory value and improve client decision-making before, during, and after a business sale.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

THE FOLLOWING PRE-WORK IS REQUIRED BEFORE ATTENDING THE SESSION: 1) Purchase a license for either ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or Google Gemini (note: free versions can be used but will have limitations); 2) bring your laptop to follow along with each use case; and 3) download materials that will be provided to registered workshop attendees via separate email.

This hands-on workshop gives CPAs, CFOs, financial advisors, and tax professionals a practical guide to implementing the power of generative AI into daily work using popular tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot. The session is built for beginners who want a safe, structured starting point, as well as professionals with some AI experience who want to sharpen their skills. You will work directly in these tools on your laptop, learning how to draft better prompts, analyze financial data, create client-ready materials, and streamline common accounting and tax workflows.

Attendees will complete guided exercises designed around real-world professional tasks, including research, documentation, workpaper preparation, financial analysis, and communication. By the end of the workshop, you will understand core AI concepts, know how to evaluate outputs responsibly, and walk away with practical skills to apply immediately. To get the most from the experience, participants should create an account in Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, or ChatGPT before attending—free versions work, though paid subscriptions offer additional features that enhance the exercises.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize opportunities to apply generative AI across professional responsibilities.
• Identify specific generative AI applications in finance, accounting, tax, and client advisory services.
• Distinguish between safe and unsafe practices for using generative AI with confidential information.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

THE FOLLOWING PRE-WORK IS REQUIRED BEFORE ATTENDING THE SESSION: 1) Purchase a license for either ChatGPT, Anthropic Claude, Microsoft Copilot, or Google Gemini (note: free versions can be used but will have limitations); 2) bring your laptop to build along with each use case; and 3) download materials that will be provided to registered workshop attendees via separate email. All examples will be done in Chat GPT or Claude.

It is time to move past chatbots and into AI workflows. This advanced, hands-on workshop focuses on designing and executing agent-based AI systems for complex accounting, finance, and advisory use cases. Rather than one-off prompts, participants will learn how to structure AI as digital team members with defined roles, execution logic, and controls.

Attendees will work in small groups on their laptops to design and test AI agents that perform multi-step tasks such as analysis, documentation, review support, and workflow coordination. Exercises will cover defining agent roles using structured instructions, orchestrating agent execution across tasks, and managing context, permissions, and data boundaries. Examples of integrating agents into existing workflows will be demonstrated.

By the end of the workshop, participants will understand how agentic AI differs from traditional generative AI, how to design repeatable AI-driven workflows, and how to apply appropriate control, review, and risk considerations in AI-assisted work.

This is an advanced session intended for attendees already comfortable using generative AI. No programming experience is required, but familiarity with advanced AI concepts is expected.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how to design and configure agent-based AI workflows by defining agent roles, system instructions, execution logic, and context boundaries.
• Analyze agent execution across workflows to ensure accuracy, consistency, and alignment.
• Apply governance, control, and risk considerations to agentic AI systems.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

In this session, participants will review the basics of the income taxation of estates and trusts, including the distribution system and potential elections available to the fiduciary

Learning Objectives:

• Identify what sections of the Internal Revenue Code govern the income taxation of estates and trusts.
• Distinguish the concepts of distributable net income (DNI), trust accounting income (TAI), taxable income (TI), and why they are important and how they differ from each other.
• Analyze the trust and estate distribution system and how it determines who is taxed and the character of income subject to tax.
• Determine elections that are available to fiduciaries to minimize the tax consequences to estates and trusts and their beneficiaries.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

Selecting the right audit methodology is a high-stakes decision for any firm, yet the process can be overwhelming without real-world insight. Join us for a dynamic, practitioner-led panel where senior leaders, who have recently navigated this journey, will share their candid experiences. This session will not be a presentation from vendors, but instead will be direct accounts of what worked, what didn’t, and what presenters wish they’d known at the start.

Each firm on our panel has selected a different audit methodology or vendor, ensuring a wide range of perspectives across various firm sizes and solutions. Through guided discussion, you’ll get a side-by-side comparison of selection processes, key considerations beyond just cost, and practical tools to apply back at your own firm. Expect an honest look at challenges, return on investment calculations, and essential stakeholder conversations. Attendees will leave with actionable questions to ask vendors and a framework to help define their firm’s unique needs.

This session is designed for any firm with an audit department, whether you’re just starting to explore your options or are ready to make a change. You’ll gain practical insights no matter where you are in the process.

Learning Objectives:

• Compare the critical factors firms should consider when selecting a new audit methodology, including cost, features, support, and stakeholder alignment.
• Analyze real-world experiences to determine common challenges and effective practices during the audit methodology selection process.
• Apply a structured approach for evaluating potential solutions and articulating firm-specific requirements.
• Identify an actionable plan for engaging stakeholders and implementing a new audit methodology within your firm.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

This interactive half‑day workshop equips CPAs with knowledge, tools, and confidence to successfully launch or expand personal financial planning services within their practices. Designed specifically for tax- and planning-oriented professionals, the session highlights why CPAs are uniquely positioned to deliver high‑value financial planning and how integrating these services can strengthen client relationships and create new revenue opportunities.

Topics include pricing models, operational processes, and strategies for integrating planning work smoothly into existing tax workflows. Marketing and growth techniques tailored for CPAs will help participants position their value and uncover planning opportunities among current clients.

The workshop concludes with a practical action plan, empowering participants to take concrete steps toward launching or enhancing their planning services, supported by additional resources from the AICPA PFP section.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key benefits of integrating financial planning services within a CPA practice and how these services enhance client value.
• Distinguish between standalone and integrated financial planning service models.
• Recognize regulatory, licensing, and compliance requirements.
• Identify key elements of practice infrastructure—including pricing models, engagement documentation, and onboarding processes—that support the delivery of planning services.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

This advanced blended learning program prepares experienced CPA financial planners and Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) candidates to apply integrated planning judgment across complex client scenarios. The program consists of four live virtual case workshops followed by a capstone workshop and exam session at ENGAGE 2026.

Each virtual session is a facilitated integration lab focused on a core case study representing a different stage of the planning lifecycle. Participants evaluate competing priorities, sequencing decisions, behavioral influences, and professional tradeoffs while reinforcing the reasoning patterns required for advanced planning.

The ENGAGE capstone session synthesizes the case experience into high-impact judgment anchors and prepares participants for the PFS exam. Rather than re-teaching technical fundamentals, the program emphasizes prioritization, proportional decision-making, and integrated professional reasoning across retirement, estate, risk management, and investment planning.

Participants leave with stronger planning confidence, clearer integration frameworks, and reinforced readiness for both the exam and real-world professional application.
Program structure
Virtual case workshops (live, two hours each)
Tuesday, May 5 — Young Family Case
Tuesday, May 12 — Pre-Retirement Family Case
Tuesday, May 19 — Retired/Elderly Family Case
Tuesday, May 26 — Business Owner/Advanced Planning Case
ENGAGE 2026 Capstone Workshop & Exam
June 8, 2026 | 8:00 AM – 11:30 AM ET
Total instructional time: 10 CPE hours

Learning Objectives:

• Interpret prioritization and sequencing principles to complex client scenarios.
• Evaluate integrated tradeoffs across retirement, estate, investment, and risk planning.
• Interpret case facts using advanced professional judgment.
• Assess behavioral and emotional influences that distort planning decisions.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

Partner compensation and governance are closely connected yet often addressed separately. This session will help firm leaders understand how governance design, decision rights, evaluation processes, and transparency shape partner behavior and compensation outcomes. Participants will focus on how firms can assess whether their governance structures support fairness, accountability, and strategic alignment to drive sustained partner performance and growth.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate how current governance structures influence partner behavior, performance evaluation, and compensation outcomes.
• Evaluate how to apply the right mix of KPIs and behavioral measures to align partner actions with firm strategy.
• Formulate governance-informed approaches to partner evaluation and compensation that promote fairness, transparency, and sustainable growth.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY | PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED**

This session starts with exploring the SOC 2 Privacy category and when to apply it, what controls matter, and how to audit effectively. The second part of the session will navigate HIPAA compliance for CPAs serving healthcare clients, with practical guidance on risk, rules, and remediation.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the AICPA Privacy Criteria , P1–P8, by translating each criterion into audit objectives, control expectations, and evidence requirements for a SOC examination.
• Distinguish privacy roles within an organization as a controller, processor, or joint party, and the resulting implications for scope, responsibilities, and testing.
• Identify privacy control design and operating effectiveness in what auditors test across notice, consent, collection, retention/disposal, access, disclosure, and incident response, and selecting defensible evidence.
• Identify the HIPAA Security Rule requirements and how they overlap with SOC 2 Common Criteria and the AICPA Privacy Criteria, and where additional HIPAA-specific controls or documentation are required beyond SOC reporting.

**INCLUDED IN ALL-ACCESS PASS | IN PERSON ONLY**

Partnership transactions are rarely “just” tax free under §721 and §731—basis adjustments, assumption of liabilities, and §704(c) built-in gains and losses can turn routine contributions, distributions, and redemptions into surprising income and allocation results. In this session, we’ll refresh core mechanics (outside vs. inside basis, §704(b)/§704(c)) and then work through common transaction events: property contributions (including disguised sale risk and liability impacts), property distributions (including §751(b) hot asset and §734(b) considerations), and dry partnership redemptions. We’ll close with practical takeaways under the BBA centralized partnership audit regime, including a discussion of common issues that may arise when a partnership files an administrative adjustment request. You’ll leave the session being able to spot key issues when partners enter and exit partnerships.

Learning Objectives:

• Compute and reconcile a partner’s outside basis, the partnership’s inside basis, and §704(b)/§704(c) capital impacts for common fact patterns—including property contributions, liability shifts, and resulting basis changes.
• Apply the Subchapter K technical rules to identify recognition events and potential traps for the unwary in real-world partnership transactions.
• Describe a partnership’s menu of choices for managing common BBA Administrative Adjustment Request pitfalls and surprises.

As AI and market forces continue to reshape the accounting profession, workforce readiness has become critical. The AICPA is here to help, and in this session, we’ll be seeking your input on the skill needs of the profession at the early‑career level.

This session is part of the AICPA’s Profession Ready Initiative, a holistic effort to identify and develop the skills early‑career CPAs need to succeed as AI and other environmental factors transform the profession. As part of this initiative, the Profession Ready team is conducting a profession‑wide analysis — a robust research effort that engages stakeholders across the profession — and your input is essential.

Collectively, these efforts will provide the profession and its stakeholders with the tools needed to bridge skills gaps, enhance workforce readiness, and strengthen the talent pipeline.

Join AICPA’s Carl Mayes, VP – CPA Candidate Quality & Competency, for this interactive session to hear early research findings and share your perspectives. Your insights and experiences will help shape a profession‑ready CPA workforce.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify early-career professionals’ technical, professional, and technological strengths and skill gaps.
• Recognize the factors impacting the need for talent transformation within the CPA profession.
• Recall the proactive steps underway to prepare early-career CPAs and aspiring CPAs for success in their roles.

Kick off conference week with a live virtual DJ set designed to energize attendees and set the tone for an engaging week ahead.

Learning Objectives:

• NA
• NA

The award-winning AICPA Town Hall Series — the profession’s leading resource for timely updates, real-time analysis, and actionable strategies — takes center stage for the first time as the opening keynote at ENGAGE’s 10-year celebration. Airing live from the conference, this high-impact broadcast will deliver the latest news, expert insights, and practical guidance to help accounting and finance professionals understand and respond to the most pressing issues shaping the profession and drive long-term success.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the most pressing issues and latest news facing the profession.
• Recall the fundamentals of various programs/tax provisions and recent AICPA recommendations.
• Identify the most recent key issues and technical analysis

As artificial intelligence (AI) is being integrated across every industry, leaders are being called on to guide their organizations and clients through this unprecedented change. In this ENGAGE keynote, Clara Shih will share her experiences and discuss how AI is redefining leadership, accountability, and value creation. She’ll explore the evolving role of major corporate functions, the importance of human judgment alongside intelligent technology, and how leaders can build teams that are both technologically capable and deeply trusted.

This session will challenge you to rethink not just how work gets done, but how we can all lead better in the AI era.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize how artificial intelligence is redefining leadership, accountability, and value creation across organizations, including its impact on finance, accounting, and other major corporate functions.
• Recall strategies for integrating human judgment with intelligent technology to build trusted, high‑performing teams and lead more effectively in an AI‑driven business environment.

What happens when Hollywood’s most charismatic entrepreneur meets one of the most respected financial minds in modern retail?

At ENGAGE, Ryan Reynolds and former Costco CFO Richard Galanti take the stage for an unforgettable keynote that blends sharp business insight, real‑world finance strategy, and laugh‑out‑loud storytelling.

Drawing from careers that span global brands, public companies, private ventures, and headline‑making exits, Reynolds and Galanti explore how great businesses are actually built and, just as importantly, how and when they should be let go. From Reynolds’ hands-on approach to investing in brands like Aviation Gin, Mint Mobile, and Wrexham AFC, to Galanti’s decades guiding Costco through disciplined growth and unwavering financial principles, this conversation reveals what sustainable success truly looks like behind the scenes.

Together, they’ll unpack:
• How creative risk and financial rigor can (and must) coexist
• Lessons learned from scaling companies over the long term without losing their soul
• Why simplicity, trust, and culture still matter more than hype

Entertaining, insightful, and refreshingly honest, this keynote offers a rare look at leadership through two very different — but highly compatible — lenses.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how creative risk and financial rigor can, and must, coexist.
• Recognize how to scale companies over a long term without losing their purpose and values.
• Recognize why simplicity, trust, and culture matter more than hype.

In an era of rising global debt and geopolitical uncertainty, central banks are increasingly turning to gold as a reliable store of value—and individual investors are taking notice. This session explores the fundamentals of gold as an investment, addressing common misconceptions and comparing gold to other asset classes. Attendees will gain insights into different methods of gold ownership, tax considerations, and how gold fits into retirement portfolios. Whether you're a seasoned investor or exploring gold for the first time, this session will provide practical knowledge to help you evaluate gold’s role in your long-term financial strategy.

Learning Objectives:

• Compare various ways to invest in gold, including physical holdings, ETFs, mutual funds, and futures.
• Address common objections to gold as an asset class and evaluate its place in a diversified portfolio.
• Identify eligibility requirements for holding physical gold in retirement accounts.
• Understand the tax implications of gold investments in different forms and accounts.

Manual data entry and paper-heavy processes can slow accounting teams and create unnecessary risk of errors. In this session, we’ll look at practical ways automation can help firms capture information from receipts, invoices, and statements more efficiently, improve document organization in the cloud, and support a more paperless workflow across a range of client and accounting system environments.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common points of manual data entry in accounting workflows where automated data capture can reduce processing time and error risk.
• Describe practical steps for implementing cloud-based document management to support a more paperless accounting process.
• Evaluate key considerations for using product-agnostic automation tools across multiple client environments and accounting systems.

Agentic AI is quickly invading professional services, but most audit conversations only focus on narrow use cases such as documentation review and task automation. This session gives CPAs a practical introduction to what agentic AI is, how it differs from traditional AI and rules-based automation, and why differentiation matters in an audit context.

Attendees will explore how agentic AI is supporting broader audit objectives across the entire engagement lifecycle — from planning and risk assessment to identifying unusual transactions and shaping more focused audit findings. The session also examines how these capabilities help auditors move beyond efficiency gains toward deeper business understanding, stronger risk-based judgment, and greater client value.

Learning Objectives:

• Define agentic AI to distinguish it from traditional AI, rules-based automation, and narrow generative AI use cases.
• Explain how agentic AI supports audit activities beyond vouching, including planning, risk assessment, and the development of targeted audit findings.
• Identify practical AI applications to enhance client business understanding, focus auditor inquiries, and improve value creation while maintaining professional judgment.
• Evaluate key considerations, limitations, and safeguards when applying agentic AI in an audit methodology context.

Get a firsthand look at how Blue J’s AI-powered tax research solution delivers defensible tax answers in seconds, easily transforms research into client deliverables, and empowers your team to focus their judgment where it matters most. See why thousands of leading firms choose Blue J.
● Beyond easy to use: Totally intuitive, to make tax research less taxing
● Instant, defensible answers: Powered by primary authoritative content, Tax Notes, and IBFD
● Fits your workflows: To become your team’s go-to choice when tax questions come up
● Built for professional judgment: Less searching, more advising—the way tax work should be

Learning Objectives:

• Demonstrate how to apply AI-powered insights to complex tax questions and regulatory updates.
• Determine how AI-powered tools can be integrated to enhance accuracy, speed, and client service in tax research.

AICPA Members, you're invited to a special AICPA PAC Breakfast featuring insightful commentary and conversation from two of today’s leading political analysts.

Breakfast: $125 per person

VIP Experience: $200 per person (minimum) - Includes breakfast and exclusive “meet & greet” with speakers, photos & AICPA PAC gift.

Contribute online directly at AICPA PAC at ENGAGE

The AICPA PAC is the profession’s political action committee. The PAC raises funds and provides financial assistance to candidates for federal office who actively support the CPA profession. Every cent you personally contribute to the PAC goes directly to help elect pro-business candidates to public office. The AICPA PAC is bipartisan, supporting both Democrats and Republicans.

Grab a cup of coffee (or two) and join us for a wake-up call! The audit profession is facing a new reality: knowing your firm needs AI isn't enough anymore. With 79% recognizing AI's transformational impact but only 14% having visible strategies, the gap isn't about awareness—it's about strategic implementation and scaling. This session moves beyond the "why" of AI in audit to tackle the strategic "how.” Explore how audit firms can responsibly scale broad AI adoption, unlocking workforce capacity, strengthening talent, and building a future‑ready operating model that sustains audit quality and professional standards.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply strategic principles to move AI initiatives from pilot programs to firm-wide deployment while maintaining audit quality and professional standards
• Create a talent multiplier and navigate the human side of AI transformation to address staffing shortages, retention challenges, and time constraints
• Identify effective AI governance strategies for data privacy and security, quality management, and human oversight

Accounting firms today want three things: accurate books, a faster close, and more clients without more headcount. AI promises all three. But for most firms, the promise hasn't been delivered, because the AI being sold to them was never built for accounting.

Everyone wants to close the books faster, and the promise of AI-driven productivity is everywhere. But for accountants, speed is a liability if it comes at the expense of accuracy. If you can't trust the output, you can't sign off on the financials.

In this session, Blake Oliver and Sasha Orloff demonstrate how firms are finally moving from using probabilistic automation by building on a deterministic foundation, where AI agents handle categorization and reconciliation continuously, but every transaction is governed by rules you set, and nothing posts to the GL without your explicit approval. You'll learn the critical difference between bolted-on AI and an AI-native architecture built into the ledger, not on top of it, so every transaction is audit-ready from day one. Using Puzzle as a live case study, see how accountants become the architects and AI becomes the engine, keeping books current in real time and allowing you to catch errors as they happen. Leave with a practical framework to adopt AI that puts you in control and scales your firm's capacity without scaling headcount.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate the structural differences between "bolted-on" AI and agent-native architecture to determine which approach provides the reliability required to deploy at scale.
• Analyze the technical requirements of an "audit-ready" GL to ensure that increased automation speed does not compromise financial accuracy or professional liability.
• Identify how GL-integrated AI agents transition the month-end close from a high-pressure batch process to a real-time review cycle, effectively doubling team productivity.
• Formulate a practical framework for implementing AI agents that reinforces, not replaces, professional judgment, applicable to any firm regardless of the tools currently in use.

Most accounting firms try to grow by adding more — more services, more technology, more people. Over time, growth feels less like momentum and more like complexity: inconsistent client experiences, burned-out leaders, and teams unclear on priorities.

The firms that scale successfully take a different path.

They build a firm playbook.

In this session, based on principles from The Simple Firm, Darren Root explores why a clearly defined firm playbook is the single biggest catalyst for sustainable growth, team alignment, and a consistent client experience.

This session is designed for firm leaders who want to grow intentionally without burning out themselves, their teams, or their clients. You’ll leave with a practical framework for beginning, or refining, your firm’s playbook and a new perspective on what it really takes to build a scalable, modern accounting firm.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize why firms struggle to scale and why growth without a playbook can pose challenges.
• Identify what is included in a modern accounting firm playbook.
• Recognize how playbooks create clarity around roles, decisions, and expectations at every level of a firm.
• Recognize the connection between standardized client service, technology adoption, and operational simplicity.

The next significant technological inflection point is when systems don’t just talk to each other — they act on each other’s behalf.

Small and midmarket accounting firms face the dual pressures of serving more clients and raising service quality without proportionally increasing resources. The answer? Autonomous workflows driven by AI that orchestrate repetitive, multi-step processes based on firm policies and context.

This session will unpack how accounting firms can incorporate autonomous systems with AI — freeing your team for greater scalability and the higher-value advisory work and standardization that comes with it. The session will explore firm strategies and experiences with AI and translate them into actionable steps for your practice. You’ll see how autonomous workflows can standardize services across clients, handle greater complexity, and make scaling your practice not just possible, but sustainable.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze autonomous workflows and how they evolve with automation.
• Recognize how AI workflows can manage increased volume and complexity to deliver more to clients.
• Compare practical examples of AI workflows, such as AI-driven-procure-to-pay and AP/AR workflows that can eliminate bottlenecks and increase efficiency.
• Identify tangible steps for moving your firm from manual and semi-automated work to full autonomy—balancing transparency, control, and trust.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future‑state concept for corporate finance and controllership teams — it is already reshaping how organizations manage data, accelerate insights, and execute core finance processes. From real‑time visibility into performance and cash flow to automating complex revenue recognition and operational workflows, AI is quickly becoming a critical capability for modern finance leaders.

This session explores real‑world applications of AI across finance functions, including reporting, forecasting, revenue recognition, and process automation. Attendees will learn how organizations are using generative AI and advanced analytics to query financial data, improve accuracy and timeliness, and support better decision‑making — while also addressing the governance, access‑control, and data‑security considerations essential to responsible adoption.

The discussion focuses on practical lessons learned, where to start, how to scale AI initiatives, and how finance leaders can balance innovation with strong controls. Participants will leave with actionable ideas and a clearer framework for advancing AI adoption within their finance organizations.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify real-world applications of artificial intelligence being used across corporate finance and controllership functions, including reporting, forecasting, revenue recognition, and process automation.
• Recognize how AI-enabled capabilities can enhance the timeliness and quality of financial insights to support more agile and informed decision-making.
• Recall governance, access control, and data security considerations that finance leaders must address when adopting generative AI and advanced analytics.
• Identify practical next steps for adopting or scaling AI within existing finance workflows while maintaining effective controls and oversight.

The accounting profession is entering a new wave — one defined by momentum, innovation, and opportunity, all grounded in a foundation of trust.

In this AICPA update, Sue Coffey explores how the profession is evolving while staying true to its core principles of independence, integrity, and objectivity. Drawing on current research and real‑world examples, the session highlights progress in key areas, including skills frameworks, accountability around AI, and the profession’s enduring human advantage. Sue will also share updates on leading accounting, auditing, and assurance initiatives shaping the future of the profession.

Through polling, short videos, and guest perspectives, this forward‑looking discussion is designed to leave attendees informed, energized, and confident about what lies ahead — ready to engage, lead, and help shape the next wave, built on trust.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize how integrity, objectivity, and independence create the trust that underpins the activities of the profession, and how we must protect that trust as the profession evolves.
• Recall elements of the profession’s evolving talent pipeline and how it is setting its emerging workforce up for success.
• Recognize how CPA firms are evolving their practices to provide capital for growth, talent and technology.
• Identify how the AICPA is advancing existing and emerging assurance services and how AI is shaping service performance.

Mergers and acquisitions continue to play a significant role in the capital markets, and deal structures continue to evolve, creating new accounting complexities. In this session, participants will explore emerging issues in accounting for business combinations, including the recognition and measurement of intangible assets, valuation of contingent consideration, and other current topics affecting practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate current challenges in applying ASC 805, Business Combinations as a result of new or emerging deal structures.
• Apply the accounting accommodation found in ASU 2014-08, Accounting for Identifiable Intangible Assets in a Business Combination, including determining the scope of this pronouncement.

As the importance of estate tax planning fades, the importance of getting the details right grows. For many years, managing a family’s estate tax liability was an all-encompassing concern. It was prudent to focus on at the time, and complications were considered merely incidental. As the number of families affected by the estate tax decreases, the “little things” can no longer be ignored. This course will focus on mathematics of planning and compliance involved with planning for “gray” divorce, S-corporations, and vacation homes.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate estate planning and the potential for divorce, as well as other considerations for the CPA.
• Assess practical estate planning and tax compliance for S corporation shareholders.
• Formulate the structuring ownership of family vacation homes for efficient taxation and administration.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming investment management, from research and security selection to tax planning, rebalancing, and client communication. But planners often see only the extremes: either black box “AI robo” marketing or discrete AI tips, like “use ChatGPT to summarize earnings calls.”

This session goes deeper. Participants will examine how advisors can incorporate AI into the entire investment process—as a research assistant, portfolio analyst, risk evaluator, tax optimizer, scenario-generator, and client explainer — while maintaining human judgment, fiduciary standards, and compliance controls.

You’ll walk through practical examples you can use immediately, plus governance considerations that ensure AI augments your process safely and intelligently.

Advisors will leave with an actionable roadmap for building an AI-augmented investment process, not just a collection of tools.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify use cases for AI in investment research, including generating summaries of regulatory filings, comparing portfolio products, detecting financial anomalies, and developing structured due‑diligence workflows.
• Recognize AI‑enabled tools that can be applied to portfolio construction and optimization, such as asset‑allocation modeling, factor‑exposure analysis, Monte‑Carlo scenario enhancement, and client‑specific portfolio narrative creation.
• Recall how AI can support tax‑aware investing, including tax‑loss harvesting guidance, identifying cross‑account tax drag, and reviewing client‑specific bond ladder or municipal bond strategies.
• Identify how to leverage AI to improve client communication and education, translating complex investment concepts into plain language, generating personalized materials, visualizing risk or volatility, and enhancing quarterly review conversations.

Every portfolio faces the same inevitable storms: inflation surges, recessionary downturns, deflationary contractions, and the quiet but devastating erosion of sequence-of-returns risk. Yet most clients remain anchored to a traditional 60/40 asset allocation model: a time-test framework with decades of real-world performance behind it. In the other corner stands the All Weather portfolio: a structured approach designed to contribute risk across every economic environment.

Through structured debate, historical analysis, and practical application, attendees will dissect rolling 40-year historical return sequences, discuss where conventional models crack under the weight of sequence-of-returns risk, and equip advisors with a 5.5% sustainable distribution rate framework and the tools to build retirement income plans that can withstand the storms, not just survive them.

Learning Objectives:

• Compare a traditional asset allocation model and an All-Weather portfolio design and the structural characteristics that contribute to long-term portfolio resilience across varying market conditions.
• Identify the four major economic environments—growth, recession, inflation, and deflation—and the specific asset classes historically positioned to perform in each environment.
• Analyze rolling 40-year historical return sequences dating to 1930 and why sequence-of-returns risk represents the primary threat to retirement income sustainability.
• Calculate the 5.5% sustainable distribution rate framework to client retirement income scenarios and the portfolio values necessary to support inflation-adjusted withdrawals across a 30- to 40-year retirement horizon.

This isn’t your typical mergers and acquisitions (M&A) session. This is a candid panel of firm owners who’ve lived M&A. Some sold. Some merged. One walked away from deals altogether. Hear what worked, what went sideways, and what they wish they’d known before signing. Whether you’re exploring growth through acquisition, planning your exit, or skeptical about private equity altogether, this session will give you a front-row seat to the real stories behind the headlines.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate the real-world dynamics of merger and acquisitions decisions, including the practical challenges and opportunities firm owners face when selling, merging, or walking away from deals.
• Identify key lessons form successful and unsuccessful transactions.
• Analyze strategic options for growth or exit and identify questions to ask before agreeing to a deal.

What do tires, fine dining, and CPA firm growth have in common? More than you think. Michelin created demand not by selling products, but by reshaping experiences. The results? More demand, more value, and more sales. Inspired by Michelin’s bold marketing move, this session will unpack how CPA firms can position for growth beyond compliance, create demand for high-value services, and provide an elevated client experience.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize how value positioning can drive firm growth.
• Identify strategies to elevate the client experience, shifting from transactional relationships to trusted advisor.
• Identify opportunities to repackage existing services as high-value offerings.

You’ve heard of IQ. Maybe even EQ. But what about CQ — your “communication quotient”? CQ is your ability to engage effectively across different contexts and with a wide range of individuals by signaling safety, building trust, and creating space for meaningful dialogue. CQ is an essential part of a healthy workplace and helps build high-performing teams.

In this interactive session, we’ll explore communication practices that foster respectful, supportive, and psychologically safe work environments. Using real-world examples and guided discussion, we’ll examine how to demonstrate advocacy from the perspective of those striving to be effective allies and through the varied lived experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals. This dual lens reflects the important truth that people experience workplaces — and support — differently. Participants will learn how to signal allyship and support, how to recognize those signals in others, and how everyday interactions can either strengthen or erode trust. Expect a dynamic, conversation-driven experience with audience participation, reflection, and Q&A.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how a strong Communication Quotient builds trust, psychological safety, and stronger workplace relationships.
• Identify authentic allyship signals, understanding how allyship is both expressed and perceived across varied lived experiences.
• Recognize unconscious assumptions that influence communication and awareness-based strategies you can use to adjust interactions in real time.
• Identify practical communication tools to move from passive intention to active advocacy through everyday conversations.

Firms that lead in advisory have a plan for scale—and they follow it. This session will unpack strategies for delivering consistent, high-quality insights to a growing client base without diluting impact. Explore the operational models, data practices, and communication techniques that allow firms to maintain a personalized client experience at scale. Learn how to balance efficiency and customization through process design and smart technology deployment.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how to structure advisory service tiers that scale without compromising value.
• Recall processes for recurring deliverables, client insights, and review cadences.
• Recognize how to embed consistency into client communications and advisory touchpoints.
• Select techniques for maintaining human connection while leveraging technology for scale.

This dynamic presentation introduces CPAs to an ancient but proven model for designing a career filled with purpose, passion, and impact. Participants will explore how to align their professional paths with four key elements: what they love, what they excel at, what the world needs, and what they can be paid for. Through interactive exercises, real-world examples, and practical strategies, individuals will learn to identify their unique strengths, uncover meaningful opportunities in the accounting field, and overcome common career challenges like burnout or lack of fulfillment. Attendees will leave with a personalized road map to build a rewarding career that balances personal passion with professional success, along with actionable steps to sustain long-term growth and satisfaction in their work.

Learning Objectives:

• identify your unique strengths and abilities and how to apply them to their work.
• Recognize meaningful opportunities in the accounting field.
• Recognize how to overcome common career challenges such as burnout or lack of fulfillment.

This presentation focuses on income tax and wealth transfer tax planning opportunities and potential pitfalls for real estate investors, including key non‑tax considerations and practical obstacles. Participants will explore planning strategies for common asset types and ownership structures used in real estate transactions, primarily through hypothetical fact patterns. Topics addressed include the use of grantor trusts, trustee selection, negative capital accounts, opportunity zone planning, transfers of “promote” (i.e., carried) interests, charitable gifts, and related planning considerations.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze wealth transfer tax opportunities uniquely situated for owners and developers of real property, including a discussion of alternative planning structures.
• Identify income tax planning opportunities for owners and developers of real property and understand the income tax consequences, sometimes involving trade-offs, of wealth transfer tax planning strategies.
• Determine the effects of valuation discounts.
• Analyze non-tax considerations relevant to tax planning strategies — control, cash flow, creditor protection, lender considerations, etc.

A well-structured estate plan relies on properly drafted legal documents that align with planning strategies and comply with tax regulations. This session will provide a comprehensive review of key legal documents used in common estate planning strategies, focusing on compliance with tax requirements, identification of potential tax and non-tax issues, and strategies for mitigating risks. Through in-depth discussion and case studies, we’ll explore best practices for analyzing trust agreements, entity structures, and other planning documents to ensure they achieve the intended objectives while minimizing exposure to unintended consequences.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess key legal documents.
• Interpret tax and non-tax issues.
• Evaluate risk mitigation strategies.

Navigating S corporation rules for estates and trusts can be complex, and missing an election or misinterpreting shareholder eligibility can lead to compliance challenges. This course equips practitioners with essential guidance on S corporation ownership by trusts and estates. You will gain clarity on when and for how long estates and trusts may hold S corporation stock, what qualifies a trust or estate as an eligible shareholder, and the practical considerations surrounding shareholder elections. Real‑world scenarios illustrate how to identify and resolve common issues, such as missed elections or inadvertent terminations, before they escalate.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify eligible estate and trust S corporation shareholders.
• Determine when an S corporation shareholder election is required.
• Analyze the income taxation of a trust or estate S corporation shareholder.
• Identify relief provisions for inadvertent S corporation terminations.

This session will be a high-energy recap of SOC School. This session bridges foundational concepts with real-world application, emphasizing the SOC 1 guide and practical takeaways for practitioners navigating complex client environments.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key requirements and recent updates within the AICPA SOC guidance, including the application of SSAE Nos. 18, 21, and 23, and explain how those requirements affect planning, execution, and reporting decisions in SOC engagements.
• Recognize common SOC 1 and SOC 2 examination challenges and peer review findings to evaluate risks related to system descriptions, control objectives, subservice organizations, and reporting outcomes in complex client environments.
• Select practical decision-making frameworks from SOC School to determine appropriate SOC engagement scope, reporting approach , Type I vs. Type II, , and treatment of subservice organizations in real-world client scenarios.

Gigantic tax legislation in 2025 brought both temporary and permanent opportunities for individual taxpayers. In a fast-paced session, we’ll guide you through the year’s most impactful tax changes, as well as offer planning tips on critical legislation that comes into effect during the 2026/27 year. Two of America’s top update presenters will unveil key strategies for your high-income clients.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how to work with and around new limitations on charitable deductions and overall itemized deductions.
• Identify deferral/exclusion techniques , Opportunity Zones, Farmland Sales, QSBS, for tax planning engagements.
• Recognize the new SALT limitations to make PTET and payment timing decisions.

Stay ahead of the ever evolving landscape of state and local taxation with this concise, high impact session that translates the latest 2025–2026 legislative changes into clear, actionable guidance. You’ll explore emerging nexus standards—examining recent court rulings and statutes that redefine “economic presence” and trigger new filing obligations—while comparing modern apportionment methods like single factor sales and market based sourcing. We’ll also track key conformity dates and “decoupled” OBBBA provisions across major states.

Learning Objectives:

• Determine the ability of a state to tax out-of-state businesses.
• Identify the impact of state taxation on remote employees.
• Identify planning opportunities to minimize the impact of multistate taxation.

Recent tax reform complicates strategies for tax-efficient charitable contributions. Using actual client experiences, this presentation explores practical solutions and innovative ways to help donors evaluate their options and make good decisions about tax-effective giving. During the program, you’ll get an in-depth look at charitable IRA rollovers, legacy IRAs, CRTs, charitable gifts from trusts and estates, donor advised fund distribution requirements, purpose trusts, 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, and “charitable LLCs.”

Learning Objectives:

• Determine the optimal process to help clients understand and implement charitable planning strategies.
• Identify how you can use IRAs, CRTs and non-grantor trusts for tax-efficient charitable planning.
• Analyze the potential benefits and limitations of private foundations, donor advised funds, and charitable LLCs.

Staying current with today’s technology is no longer optional; it’s essential. Tech Update 2026 offers accounting professionals a clear and strategic view of the evolving tech landscape, enabling you to cut through the noise and make informed decisions. This forward-looking session is built for practitioners who want to leverage innovation to enhance client service, boost operational efficiency, and remain competitive.

Explore the most impactful trends in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, automation, and cloud-based ecosystems. Understand how technologies like Microsoft 365 Copilot, generative AI tools, industry-specific SaaS platforms, and blockchain are reshaping the profession. Learn to identify which solutions align with your firm’s goals—and which are just vendor hype.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify emerging technology trends in AI and SaaS that impact the accounting profession.
• Recognize approaches for thinking strategically about technology solutions.
• Distinguish meaningful innovation from vendor hype when evaluating new technologies.
• Recognize key considerations for building a high‑ROI technology roadmap.

As workplaces evolve, attracting and retaining younger team members has become essential for fostering innovation, collaboration, and long-term success. This session takes a deep dive into strategies to create an environment where younger professionals feel valued, supported, and inspired to stay. Key focus areas will include identifying strategies to bring in new team members and encourage long-term growth, recognizing aspects of organizational culture that appeal to younger employees, and tailoring workloads and job roles to meet their needs. Additionally, we will explore how to cultivate a workplace where different perspectives are respected, behaviors that foster a sense of belonging are modeled, and awareness around varying backgrounds and experiences is encouraged. Join us for actionable insights and practical tools to help your organization attract, engage, and retain the next generation of talent.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify strategies to attract and retain talent.
• Recognize cultural aspects of an organization that appeal to younger team members.
• Recall how to tailor workloads and job roles to meet the needs of younger professionals.

This session breaks down the practical implications of Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS) 27 for Client Advisory Services (CAS) practitioners. Attendees will walk away with a clear understanding of when AR-C Section 70, Preparation of Financial Statements, requirements are triggered and when they’re not; how to properly scope and document CAS engagements that include financial statement prep; and why this guidance is a pivotal moment in aligning standards with the realities of CAS.

Learning Objectives:

• Determine when CS100 can be used for CAS engagements.
• Identify how to best implement SSARS 27 and CS 100 in the CAS practice.

Firms don’t lose momentum because of bad decisions; they lose momentum because of misaligned conversations. In this session, Tal Ben Bassat (Anchor) and Brittany Brown (LedgerGurus) will introduce the concept of intentional communication, a practical framework for aligning goals, clarifying expectations, and reducing the noise that holds teams back.

Through a leadership lens, attendees will explore how to speak with purpose, listen for “metadata,” and build communication rituals that create real alignment and accountability across the firm. Whether you lead a team or advise clients, this session will improve how you show up in every conversation.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the concept of Intentional Communication and its role in effective firm leadership.
• Apply structured communication techniques to clarify goals and align expectations before key conversations.
• Use reflective listening and silence as tools to foster trust, engagement, and accountability.
• Apply recurring communication rituals that reinforce clarity, reduce friction, and drive team momentum.

This session discusses recent cases, rulings, and legislative developments affecting estate, gift, and generation‑skipping transfer tax planning. It also examines planning considerations in light of H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA, and other recent tax law changes.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate what changes to the estate, gift and generation-skipping tax laws have been made in the past year.
• Assess planning considerations in light of recent changes to H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA.

New accounting standards and new agenda priorities are on the horizon for the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). During this session, FASB Member Sue Cosper, FASB Vice Chair Hillary Salo, and FASB Supervising Project Manager Jenifer Wyss will focus on what you need to know about recently issued and upcoming accounting standards. The panelists will provide a progress report on the 2025 Invitation to Comment: Agenda Consultation and how the board is addressing issues that were identified by stakeholders. Finally, they will discuss the continued importance of your feedback on the board’s cost-benefit analysis of potential and existing accounting standards.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate recent and upcoming final guidance issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).
• Evaluate FASB’s progress on other priority topics identified by stakeholders during the 2025 agenda consultation.
• Assess progress on other standard-setting activities relevant to investors, preparers, and auditors.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has many use cases in audit, but AI use also brings up valid concerns about data privacy and fidelity, accuracy, and hallucinations. In this session, presenters will discuss the latest AI advances, how to leverage them, and what to watch.

Note: Due to the evolving nature of AI, this session description will be updated to reflect the topical nature most relevant to firms based on AI use cases. This session will include practical application of AI, using use cases, and suggested resources for practitioners. This will be an application-based session based on real use in firms.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify use cases of artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics in audit practices and how AI tools are currently being used to improve audit quality, efficiency, and risk detection.
• Recognize the benefits and limitations for AI to streamline workflows and enhance insights while recognizing issues such as bias, hallucinations, and overreliance on automation.
• Recall best practices and governance models to ensure AI tools are implemented in a way that maintains audit standards, transparency, and professional skepticism.

This session will cover the latest thinking on how to effectively construct multi-asset portfolios for investors with a goal-oriented focus, whether this a retirement, college savings, or other future-expense funding goal that requires an accumulation and decumulation-focused asset allocation. Presenters will discuss how to tailor investment design for individual characteristics and circumstances and review recently emerging trends in the portfolio construction landscape and their potential to help investors more effectively meet their goals.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize principles for constructing portfolios for goal-oriented investors and how portfolio construction principles have evolved to better meet investor needs and preferences.
• Identify recent trends in portfolio construction for goal-oriented investors, the pros and cons of these approaches, and the types of investors for whom these solutions are the most applicable.

The definition of the family office is evolving and professionals in the field have different ways to view the family office. In this session, presenters will discuss what a traditional family office progression typically looks like and typical structures, sizes, and complexities. Participants will explore the important functions of the family office; the rationale, risk mitigation, and opportunities for the family choices; and the importance of an accounting spine and other core functions. Additional topics of discussion will include:
• the family office role in intergenerational communication and development;
• the scale, institutional knowledge, and tax advantages for internalizing functions;
• the costs (upfront and ongoing), staffing, technology, security, and unanticipated difficulties in set-up and maintenance;
• insiders versus outsiders (and family/board governance and time horizons); and
• the type of wealth and the Integration with multiple constituencies.
Join this session to learn about the changing nature and complexities in family office.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess the structure and definition around the term “family office” and the different types of offerings in the marketplace.
• Evaluate the functions that family offices provide, their structures, and business models.
• Predict the operational challenges for the family office space going forward and the sources of opportunity for innovation and service.
• Evaluate the ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) and family office market for the purposes of serving it profitably.

Financial exploitation is now one of the fastest-growing threats facing older adults, and CPAs are uniquely positioned to detect warning signs before the losses become catastrophic. In 2023 alone, Americans filed 880,000 fraud complaints, with losses exceeding $12.5 billion, including $3.4 billion lost by adults older than 60 — an 11% jump from the prior year. And because only one in 25 cases is ever reported, the real exposure is far greater.

In this session, Robert Powell will walk CPAs through the most urgent fraud and scam trends affecting clients today, from AI-enhanced impersonation and “pig butchering” schemes to tech-support fraud, government impersonation, romance scams, and cryptocurrency deception. Drawing on research from the FBI, SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), Wayne State University, and a nationwide adviser survey, Robert will explain who is most at risk, why these schemes are becoming more sophisticated, and the behavioral, cognitive, and financial factors that make older adults vulnerable.

CPAs will learn practical steps they can take immediately, including how to:
• Spot early indicators of diminished financial decision-making and undue influence.
• Use trusted contacts, financial-vulnerability tools, and structured conversations to assess risk.
• Build firmwide processes to verify suspicious transactions, stop fraudulent transfers, and educate clients.
• Incorporate evidence-based screening tools from OlderAdultNestEgg.com to document concerns and protect both clients and practitioners.
• Create ongoing systems — from newsletters to Google scam alerts — that keep clients informed and safer.

Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to strengthen their role as trusted financial gatekeepers and to better safeguard their clients’ wealth, dignity, and financial independence.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize early indicators of diminished financial decision-making and undue influence.
• Select trusted contacts, financial-vulnerability tools, and structured conversations to assess risk.
• Recognize how to build firmwide processes to verify suspicious transactions, stop fraudulent transfers, and educate clients.
• Recall how to incorporate evidence-based screening tools from OlderAdultNestEgg.com to document concerns and protect both clients and practitioners.

Discover how the Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) credential can amplify your impact in SOC and third-party risk engagements. This fireside chat unpacks the credential’s value, pathways to certification, and its strategic role in a tech-driven assurance future.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze how the CITP credential aligns with the evolving role of the modern CPA, including its relevance to data analytics, cybersecurity, emerging technologies, and advisory-focused practices.
• Apply the knowledge and skills reinforced by the CITP credential within your own practice or organization to enhance client value, improve technology-enabled decision-making, and strengthen cross-functional credibility.
• Identify practical use cases where CITP competencies support technology-driven client services, including risk management, systems implementation, and strategic advisory roles.

The 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) introduces substantial changes to U.S. international tax rules, most of which will first apply in the 2026 tax year. This session will provide an overview of the international tax provisions that practitioners need to understand now—including the transition from GILTI to Net CFC Tested Income (NCTI), updates to FDDEI, modifications to foreign tax credit rules, and structural changes such as the reinstatement of Section 958(b)(4) and the permanent look-through rule. The session will also highlight key regulatory developments. The session will further provide practical guidance to help taxpayers of all sizes prepare for the transition, including considerations for modeling, provision work, and future compliance.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the major international tax reforms enacted in H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA, including changes to GILTI/NCTI, FDDEI, and foreign tax credit rules.
• Recognize the implications and timing of structural updates such as the reinstatement of Section 958(b)(4) and the permanent look-through rule.
• Recall recent and anticipated regulatory developments and how they may affect 2025 and 2026 returns.
• Determine transition-year planning approaches to incorporate legislative and regulatory changes into future modeling, reporting, and cross-border tax strategies.

The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has reshaped the tax planning landscape, creating both new opportunities and new challenges for advisors and their clients. In this session, Dr. Riskin will focus on using visuals to better translate a variety of complex planning concepts and enhance client conversations for different client groups, such as young families, young professionals, business owners, and high-income/high-net-worth individuals who are focused on "planning with purpose" by using philanthropic and multi-generational tax planning strategies to reach their immediate and long-term goals.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key provisions of H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA, that significantly alter individual, business, and multi-generational tax planning strategies.
• Determine how visuals can be used to simplify and communicate complex planning concepts for diverse clients ranging from young families and professionals to business owners and high-net-worth individuals.
• Analyze tax-efficient approaches to "planning with purpose," including philanthropic giving, legacy design, and multi-generational wealth transfer strategies under the new rules.
• Determine how to integrate H.R. 1's planning implications into a holistic advisory process that enhances client understanding, engagement, and decision making.

This session zeroes in on the three things firms must get right now: how today’s §174 R&E rules (domestic expensing vs. amortization and foreign amortization) interact with the §41 R&D credit and drive cash-flow and P&L outcomes; what the updated Form 6765 means, especially expanded disclosures and business-component reporting that many filers will encounter beginning with 2026 filings; and why rigorous documentation is non-negotiable. We’ll translate the rules into a practical playbook you can take back to your team: aligning §174 and §41 choices, preparing for the new 6765 requirements, and building claim files (component narratives, QRE tie-outs, and evidence of experimentation) that hold up under scrutiny.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize how current §174 treatment interacts with the §41 credit and affects cash flow and financial statements.
• Identify who is impacted by the new Form 6765 requirements for 2026 filings and summarize what must be reported.
• Recognize the elements of defensible documentation and apply a simple structure for audit-ready files.
• Select a practical cadence for rigorous documentation.

Data Foundations in Power BI: Getting It Right Before the Visuals

Learning Objectives:

• Apply core data-modeling principles in Power BI to build scalable, repeatable reporting structures.
• Analyze how data relationships, star schemas, and field organization improve cross-system connectivity and performance.
• Determine the impact of weak versus strong data foundations on report flexibility, refresh performance, and long-term scalability.

As small to medium-sized accounting firms increasingly rely on digital platforms to manage sensitive financial data, the convergence of cybersecurity and privacy has become a critical concern. Speakers will discuss how these two domains intersect, highlighting the unique challenges and opportunities for accounting businesses.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common security risks associated with handling sensitive financial data.
• Recognize why cybersecurity and privacy have become critical concerns for accounting practitioners.
• Identify how cybersecurity and privacy intersect in protecting firm and client data.
• Recognize the unique cybersecurity and privacy challenges and opportunities facing accounting firms and private organizations.

As AI and market forces reshape the accounting profession, workforce readiness has become a critical priority. This session invites members to help shape the future of the profession by sharing input on the skills early‑career CPAs need to succeed in a rapidly changing environment.

This session is part of the AICPA’s Profession-Ready Initiative, a holistic effort to identify and develop the competencies required as AI and other environmental factors transform the profession. The Initiative team is conducting a profession‑wide analysis, drawing on research and engagement with stakeholders across the profession — and your perspective is essential.

Attendees will hear early research findings and have the opportunity to provide direct feedback that will help bridge skills gaps, enhance workforce readiness, and strengthen the talent pipeline. Join AICPA leaders Carl Mayes, VP of CPA Candidate Quality & Competency, and Mike Decker, VP of CPA Examination & Pipeline, for this interactive lunch‑and‑learn session focused on turning member insight into meaningful change.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify early-career professionals’ technical, professional, and technological strengths and skill gaps.
• Recognize the factors impacting the need for talent transformation within the CPA profession.
• Recall the proactive steps underway to prepare early-career CPAs and aspiring CPAs for success in their roles.

Constant shifts in sales tax create a major opportunity for client advisory services (CAS) firms to expand their advisory role, grow revenue, and deepen client relationships. In this Lunch & Learn session, we’ll explore how firms can turn that complexity into a scalable service offering using modern, AI-powered tools.

Learn how to identify client exposure, streamline multi-state compliance, and deliver high-impact advisory services—without adding headcount. You’ll also gain insight into how automation is reshaping client expectations and opening new paths for growth in both CAS and SALT services.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key sales tax compliance and advisory opportunities within CAS service models
• Analyze how AI-powered automation can improve efficiency and scalability in multi-state sales tax workflows
• Evaluate strategies for integrating sales tax services into existing CAS offerings to drive new revenue streams

The Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) is an add-on firm membership section of the AICPA®. It serves as a strategic resource center, providing exclusive tools and guidance to support the everyday intricacies of running your firm. Our resources are practical, ready to use, and designed to save you time.

This session is an opportunity for current and prospective PCPS members to learn how to maximize the value of their membership. We will also provide an overview of the PCPS Transforming Your Business Model initiative, which features tools designed to help firms not only identify elements of their current business model that may be holding them back but also offering solutions to help them adapt to this changing environment.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain how PCPS tools, resources, and guidance support effective firm management and strategic decision-making for accounting firm owners and leaders.
• Describe key elements of the PCPS Transforming Your Business Model (TYBM) framework and identify common business model constraints affecting accounting firms today.

Tax season is in the rearview mirror — but we're not done talking about it. Join the AICPA's VPs of Tax Policy & Advocacy and Tax & Advisory Services for a lively, member-driven lunch conversation that covers it all: how the filing season really went for firms like yours, the highs and the headaches, what's happening with the IRS, and where the profession is headed. We'll share the latest AICPA member survey data on IRS service levels, then turn it over to you — live polling, open discussion, and real practitioner voices. We'll also dig into how firms are starting to use generative AI and expand into tax and planning advisory services. Come ready to share, react, and help shape what the AICPA does next to support you.

Learning Objectives:

• Summarize key findings from the AICPA's most recent IRS member survey, including trends in service levels and practitioner concerns.
• Reflect on their own tax season experience — wins, pain points, and firm-level challenges — and compare insights with peers through live polling.
• Identify specific resources and support they need from the AICPA to navigate IRS challenges, leverage new technology, and grow their practices.

Do you find it hard to let go of work when the day is done? In this wellness workshop, learn about the health implications of being a self‑proclaimed “workaholic” and the importance of detaching from work to support both mental and physical well‑being. Experience three relaxation techniques designed to help you release the day from your body and mind, recharge during your time away from work, and support healthy nervous system regulation. You’ll leave with practical tools you can begin using each evening to let go, reset, and restore.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the cognitive and physiological effects of chronic work attachment and overwork on professional judgment, accuracy, and decision‑making.
• Recognize early indicators of stress dysregulation that may impair ethical reasoning or increase the risk of professional errors.
• Identify at least three evidence‑based relaxation or nervous‑system regulation techniques to improve focus, resilience, and performance sustainability.

Advisory services represent one of the biggest growth opportunities for accounting firms today, but scaling advisory work consistently requires more than good intentions and spreadsheets. In this session, discover how CCH Axcess Advisor helps firms identify opportunities, structure advisory engagements, and deliver measurable value to clients with confidence.

You will see how a connected, data-driven approach enables firms to move from reactive conversations to proactive, repeatable advisory services. Through a live demonstration, we will show how the right advisory platform supports growth, consistency, and stronger client relationships without adding operational complexity.

Join us to see how CCH Axcess Advisor can serve as the foundation for building, managing, and scaling advisory services across your firm.

By the end of this session, attendees will:
- Understand how to identify and prioritize high‑value advisory opportunities using client and firm data.
- Learn how to operationalize advisory services with scalable workflows and consistent delivery models.
- Explore how technology can support confident advisory conversations that drive client growth and firm profitability.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how to identify and prioritize high‑value advisory opportunities using client and firm data.
• Learn how to operationalize advisory services with scalable workflows and consistent delivery models.
• Explore how technology can support confident advisory conversations that drive client growth and firm profitability.

In today’s rapidly evolving accounting landscape, people-first cultures are becoming essential to attracting, retaining, and advancing talent. This session explores how flexible, thoughtful workplaces — supported by inclusive leadership and intentional mentorship — create environments where individuals can bring their full selves to work and perform at their best. Through insights from organizational change makers with lived experience, attendees will learn how human-centered culture design, equitable systems, and effective mentoring models strengthen team dynamics, deepen belonging, and shape the future of accounting talent.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key elements of people first workplace systems that support both employee well being and high performance.
• Distinguish between alternative mentoring models and how each contributes to talent development.
• Recognize practical strategies for designing flexible, inclusive environments that accommodate diverse work styles, communication preferences, and life circumstances.
• Indicate how leadership tone, psychological safety, and feedback loops impact retention, engagement, and long-term talent growth.

The real power of technology lies in how it transforms your firm. This session explores how firms can leverage cloud-native accounting tools not just to do more, but to do better. This session examines how leading firms are turning transactional efficiency into strategic advantage by integrating advanced functionality like dimensional reporting, AI-driven insights, and open APIs. Attendees will walk away with practical frameworks for evolving their CAS offerings into a value-centric advisory model that fosters client loyalty and scalable growth.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify real-life examples of firms shifting from transactional to transformational services.
• Identify opportunities for workflow automation, API integration, and data insights that support growth.
• Distinguish strategies for positioning your firm as a strategic partner in the client’s business journey.

This session features a panel of diverse professionals who are upending stereotypes about what a “typical” CPA career looks like in public or private accounting. The panelists have forged their own nontraditional paths within accounting and are sharing their experiences to motivate and inspire the next generation. The session will focus on the early-career choices that led the presenters to their current roles; what we could be doing now to help the next generation and spread awareness; as well as potential career trajectories and opportunities for growth for those entering the profession.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify non-traditional career paths available to accounting professionals by examining real-world examples from diverse panelists who have transitioned beyond stereotypical public and private CPA roles.
• Recognize key early-career decisions and skill-building opportunities that influence long-term career trajectory and open doors to innovative or less traditional professional pathways.
• Identify actionable strategies for mentoring, educating, and engaging the next generation of accounting professionals to broaden awareness of the profession’s evolving career possibilities and support their long-term growth.
• Recognize methods for fostering inclusive and future-ready workplace cultures that attract and retain emerging accounting talent while supporting diverse career aspirations.

This session will see the return of one of our highest-rated speakers, John Tousley, CFA from Goldman Sachs. His presentation, “Responsibly Bullish,” will discuss the latest in macroeconomic and market conditions, including the common topics of artificial intelligence (bubbles and the impact on the labor market), recession risk, tariffs, inflation, monetary policy, geopolitics, U.S. mid-terms, valuation, and volatility.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze how to confidently navigate the chronic uncertainty of global capital markets.
• Identify the historical relationships between elections and the markets.
• Determine how to simplify market complexities when communicating with clients.

As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly transforms business operations, CPAs are uniquely positioned to guide clients through responsible and effective AI adoption. This session equips CPAs with the knowledge and language needed to discuss AI opportunities, risks, and best practices with clients across industries.

Attendees will learn how to frame AI as a strategic tool — not just a buzzword — by focusing on its practical applications in finance, accounting, risk management, and decision support. The session will provide a clear overview of key AI use cases, such as automated reconciliation, fraud detection, financial forecasting, and enhanced analytics.

Participants will also explore frameworks for evaluating AI tools, with emphasis on data privacy, governance, and regulatory compliance. The discussion will include talking points for managing client expectations and ethical considerations when recommending AI solutions.

Additionally, CPAs will gain best practices for integrating AI into their own firms’ operations, from enhancing productivity with AI-assisted workflows to ensuring appropriate human oversight. Real-world examples and case studies will be shared to illustrate successful implementations and common pitfalls to avoid.

By the end of this session, CPAs will be prepared to serve as trusted advisors on AI adoption, helping clients and their own organizations harness AI’s potential while safeguarding financial integrity and public trust.

Learning Objectives:

• Recall how to frame AI as a strategic tool for CPAs.
• Identify best practices for integrating AI into your firm.
• Recognize how to incorporate AI into workflows while maintaining appropriate human oversight.
• Recognize how to serve as trusted advisors on AI adoption, helping clients and your own organizations harness AI’s potential while safeguarding financial integrity and public trust.

Despite the fact that Americans hold more nearly $50 trillion in retirement assets, and that those assets often make up a substantial portion of an individual’s net worth, IRAs and other retirement accounts continue to be ignored or insufficiently addressed within many estate plans. Left unaddressed, this planning gap can result in unnecessary taxation, the loss of valuable tax deferral, exposure of assets to “angry” creditors, and other harmful, wealth-sapping effects. The flip side of that coin, however, is that advisors who take proactive steps now to address the unique estate planning issues retirement accounts present can add substantial value for clients, and can effectively position themselves for the veritable tsunami of retirement assets that will be transitioning between generations in the coming years.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain an understanding of post-death payout rules and analyze the planning strategies beneficiaries can use to make the most of their inheritance.
• Learn the key rules that apply when naming a trust as the beneficiary of an IRA.
• Understand how to choose the “best” way for a surviving spouse to handle retirement assets.
• Explore the surprisingly complex interaction of state and Federal laws governing retirement account property rights.

When a business owner passes away, income tax issues extend well beyond the final individual return. As ownership interests transition to an estate or trust, fiduciary income tax considerations quickly come into play while entity‑level income continues. This session examines the fiduciary income tax issues that commonly arise following the death of a shareholder or partner, including income allocation between the decedent and the estate, basis adjustments, income in respect of a decedent (IRD), and entity‑specific considerations for S corporations and partnerships. Participants will leave with practical insights into common pitfalls, planning opportunities, and coordination challenges faced by fiduciaries and their advisors when administering business interests after death.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key fiduciary income tax issues that arise upon the death of a shareholder or partner, including income in respect of descendent (IRD), income allocation, and basis considerations.
• Distinguish between the post-death income tax treatment of corporate stock and partnership interests, including the impact of §754 elections and fiduciary shareholder rules.
• Apply practical planning strategies to minimize fiduciary income tax exposure and avoid common administration mistakes when estates or trusts hold business interests.

Qualifying for the estate tax marital deduction through a Qualified Terminable Interest Property (QTIP) election may appear straightforward, but the election is subject to numerous technical requirements and traps for the unwary. This session examines the QTIP rules in detail, including which property interests qualify, who makes the election and when, how to apply QTIP treatment to an IRA, and methods for curing defective QTIP elections. The discussion also covers recent cases addressing Section 2519, terminations of QTIP trusts, and other common planning and administration challenges.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze who makes the QTIP election and how to make it.
• Determine what type of interests qualify for the QTIP election.
• Analyze how a Clayton QTIP election provides flexibility in determining who benefits from trust assets for which a QTIP election is not made.
• Identify the many planning opportunities that are available with a QTIP election.

The Private Company Council (PCC) helps improve the financial accounting and reporting standards for private companies and evaluates whether private company alternatives to existing generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are necessary. The PCC takes a proactive approach to its mission, engaging with private company stakeholders through various channels and providing important feedback to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to help it develop standards that provide more relevant information to users of private company financial statements.

This interactive, town hall-style forum will provide participants with the opportunity to engage directly with PCC members, FASB members, and FASB staff by providing feedback on the PCC’s current projects and future agenda priorities and discussing potential improvements to financial reporting for private companies.

The panelists will facilitate the discussion by providing an overview of the PCC’s agenda priority process, which ensures its efforts are aligned with the evolving needs of private company stakeholders and are focused on identifying solutions to their most pervasive and impactful financial reporting challenges. They will engage participants in a dialogue on the PCC’s current research projects resulting from previous private company town halls, stakeholder liaison meetings, and other stakeholder discussions, as well as solicit input from participants on future PCC agenda priorities. Panelists will explain how the PCC evaluated and prioritized private company stakeholder feedback provided to the FASB during the board’s 2025 agenda consultation process. Finally, they will highlight how you can share your views with the PCC on an ongoing basis and why your input is critical to its current and future projects.

Learning Objectives:

• Interpret the Private Company Council’s (PCC) agenda priority process.
• Evaluate the PCC’s current projects and its future agenda priorities.
• Assess how the PCC helps the FASB develop standards.

As the audit landscape continues to evolve, firms must adapt by embracing new strategies, technologies, and leadership approaches to stay competitive. This session will provide an in-depth look into the modern audit practice of the future, with a focus on strategic vision and leadership. Attendees will explore how emerging trends such as automation, artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and shifting client expectations are reshaping audit practices. Presenters will also discuss the leadership skills required to guide firms through these transitions, drive innovation, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. With insights on long-term planning and positioning, this session will equip participants with the tools to lead their firms confidently into the future of auditing, ensuring sustainable growth and resilience in an increasingly complex environment.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the future of audit practices and the key drivers of change, including technology, regulatory shifts, and client demands.
• Recognize how creating and leveraging technologies like automation and artificial intelligence can enhance audit quality, efficiency, and insights.
• Distinguish the importance of a client-centric approach and how to adapt audit services to meet evolving client expectations.
• Identify how to future-proof your audit practice, focusing on scalability, innovation, and sustainability in the face of industry disruption.

Join an industry thought leader on FASB ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, and explore continuing areas of difficulty for reporting entities with revenue recognition. Among other items, the session will cover auditing best practices, regulator focus areas, and peer review findings.

Learning Objectives:

• Interpret technical literature and other practice guidance relevant to addressing the topics covered in FASB ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers.
• Evaluate best practices and common pitfalls when applying the principles of FASB ASC 606.
• Assess the various strategies and best practices available for auditing the revenue.

Join William “Bill” Pirolli, a 40-plus year practitioner, firm, and profession leader, as he explores practical, real-world best practices for increasing your firm’s profitability by working smarter, not harder.

In this fast-paced session, Bill will review the seven drivers of profitability, including client selection and dismissal, billing and collection, building client leverage, avoiding scope creep, and more. Learn how deepening your efforts on client service lines and industry concentrations can lead to greater efficiency and profitability.

Bill’s insights into firm profitability comes not only from his years as a practitioner, partner, and his firm administration roles, but also from consulting with many individual firms across the country in his role at Succession Institute as director of firm services. What are the attributes of highly profitable firms? Is your firm a high achiever?

In times of employee and capacity shortages, are you making the right decisions that will maximize client leverage as a “most trusted advisor”? Come join the discussion and learn how to increase firm profitability and assess key insights of the most successful firms.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess key insights into the drivers of today’s most financially successful firms.
• Formulate key takeaways that you can implement in your firms to enhance firm profitability.

Explore the evolving landscape of peer review and quality control in SOC engagements. Learn how to build resilient quality systems, prepare for external inspections, and leverage technology to enhance consistency and reduce risk across your firm.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate peer review and enhanced oversight review by analyzing their structure, purpose, and effectiveness in promoting audit quality.
• Interpret common findings from recent peer reviews and learn how you can prevent these on your next peer review.
• Assess the growing role of technology in a system of quality control.

In the wake of recent tax law changes and extensions, the landscape of entity structuring has shifted dramatically. This session dives into the core principles of entity selection and explores how recent legislative changes have reshaped the tax, liability and growth implications for businesses and their owners. Attendees will gain practical insights into the advantages and pitfalls of common entity types - including sole proprietorships, partnerships, S corporations, C corporations and LLCs - while learning how to align entity choice with strategic business goals. Through real-world examples and case studies, this session will equip practitioners to guide clients in making informed decisions that optimize tax outcomes, protect personal assets, and support long-term growth in today's evolving regulatory environment.

Learning Objectives:

• Determine strategies for advising clients on entity selection and restructuring in response to changing tax laws and evolving business needs.
• Analyze practical scenarios to determine the most advantageous entity structure for clients based on their unique business goals, risk tolerance, and growth plans.
• Identify key tax, liability, and operational considerations when selecting an entity type, including the impact of pass-through taxation, entity-level taxation, and liability protection.
• Identify how recent legislation has altered the relative benefits and drawbacks of different entity structures for business and their owners.

With the IRS's budget and staffing levels in seemingly constant flux, it can be easy to lose track of the current state of IRS enforcement efforts. This session will provide an update on current enforcement trends and recent notable cases, as well as some timely suggestions for working with the IRS during this resource-strapped era.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the IRS's current enforcement priorities.
• Determine the practical effects of recent tax case law.
• Determine which strategies are most likely to success in dealing with today's IRS.

This session reframes education and early wealth planning in light of two meaningful shifts: the continued expansion of 529 plans beyond traditional college funding, and the introduction of Trump Accounts as a way to jump start long-term retirement savings for the next generation.

529 plans are no longer confined to tuition. With expanded uses that now reach into K–12 education, apprenticeships, credentialing programs, and even pathways that can ultimately support retirement funding, these accounts are becoming far more flexible planning tools. At the same time, Trump Accounts introduce a different kind of opportunity. They allow advisors and families to begin building retirement-oriented assets for children and grandchildren at an earlier stage, creating a longer runway for compounding and a new dimension to intergenerational planning.

The discussion centers on how these vehicles should be used together, not in isolation. Advisors will explore how to balance education funding with long-term wealth building, how to avoid overcommitting dollars to one path too early, and how to position these strategies in a way that aligns with family priorities across generations.

Learning Objectives:

• Determine how recent changes have expanded the practical uses of 529 plans beyond traditional college expenses.
• Analyze how Trump Accounts can be used to introduce early-stage retirement planning for children and grandchildren.
• Compare the roles these vehicles play within a broader intergenerational planning strategy.
• Identify when to prioritize flexibility versus long-term compounding when allocating dollars across multiple goals.

This session offers a fresh, energizing perspective on leadership by connecting three core pillars of professional success: conation, leadership, and relationships. In this interactive and thought‑provoking program, attendees will explore how high‑performing individuals and teams can leverage natural instincts (conation), strengthen leadership presence, and build meaningful relationships both inside and outside the workplace.

Accountants and financial professionals are increasingly called on to do more than deliver technical expertise. They must communicate across departments, lead under pressure, and drive results in a people‑centric environment. This session introduces the science of conation and shows how an individual’s instinctive approach to problem‑solving influences leadership style, team dynamics, and professional relationships.

Paired with real‑world leadership strategies and practical relationship‑building tools, the discussion provides takeaways participants can apply immediately in client interactions, team collaborations, and everyday work situations. Attendees will gain insight into how greater self‑awareness and conative strengths can improve decision‑making, reduce burnout, and increase workplace harmony — helping modern finance professionals lead with greater purpose and authenticity.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the core components of conation and how they influence individual decision-making, leadership effectiveness, and interpersonal dynamics in a professional setting.
• Recognize relationship-building strategies that enhance workplace communication, team collaboration, and client engagement.
• Recognize leadership behaviors and conative strengths that can be used to improve self-awareness, reduce friction, and align team roles for optimal performance.

This session will explore the new rules and benefits of the Opportunity Zone (OZ) Program (version 2.0). It will provide planning opportunities for individuals with capital gains and interesting ways to combine the OZ Program with other capital gain management tax rules.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the tax benefits available to clients through the Opportunity Zone program 2.0 and how they differ from benefits available through the Opportunity Zone 1.0.
• Identify rules and requirements for clients investing in the Opportunity Zone program 2.0.
• Analyze risks and due-diligence considerations related to the Opportunity Zone program 2.0.
• Apply the rules of the Opportunity Zone program 2.0 through case studies.

What do you get when you mix a seasoned IRS insider with one of the nation’s top tax writers? A specially brewed “Tea Time” discussion between long-time IRS communications chief Terry Lemons and Forbes columnist Kelly Phillips Erb.

During this chatty and informative session, Lemons and Erb will spill the tea on a fun, wide-ranging session covering everything from insider IRS stories, the latest tax law developments, the state of the media, what really happens in Congress, the best barbeque in the country, and whatever else comes up.

This discussion will feature a unique perspective from Lemons, the former behind-the-scenes guy at the IRS who created the Dirty Dozen tax scams list and launched the agency’s social media program, and Erb, the “Tax girl” famous for her high-profile columns and influential social media work.

Flavoring the conversation will be their different backgrounds and career paths. Lemons began his career as a reporter covering the White House and Congress before joining the IRS and the tax community. Meanwhile, Erb started in tax and law before becoming one of the industry’s top journalists.

Learning Objectives:

• Recall updates and insights on major tax law issues, including H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA.
• Identify how the IRS operates and approaches for dealing with the tax community, Congress, and the media.
• Recognize the operations of the media and Washington that affect tax policy, tax administration and the work of the tax professional community.

One hour. One real accounting problem. One working automation, built live in front of the room.
This is a live-coded build session with no canned demo, no pre-written code, and no safety net. Using Claude Code and the most relevant AI tooling available at the time of the conference, we'll go from a blank screen to a functioning tool, with the audience along for every step: the prompts that work, the ones that don't, the course-corrections in real time, and the moments where the tech does something genuinely surprising. Expect the energy of a cooking show and the stakes of a live performance.
Along the way, you'll see the decisions that matter most. How to scope a problem small enough to ship. When to trust the AI and when to intervene. How to connect to the systems accountants actually use. And what "good enough to use on Monday" really looks like. The specific build will reflect whatever tooling and capabilities are most relevant the week we take the stage, because in this space, six months is a lifetime.
The real takeaway isn't the tool itself. It's an unfiltered, end-to-end look at what a single practitioner with the right AI tools can now build in the time it takes to run a morning stand-up, and a concrete sense of what that shift means for how firms should be thinking about software, staffing, and service delivery in the year ahead.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the current capabilities and limitations of AI coding tools such as Claude Code, including where human judgment and domain expertise remain essential to producing reliable output.
• Apply a repeatable approach to scoping, prompting, and iterating on an AI-built tool, so they can take a workflow problem from idea to working prototype without writing code from scratch.
• Analyze build-versus-buy decisions in a world where AI-native development has dramatically lowered the cost and time required to build custom tools, and determine when building in-house now makes more sense than purchasing commercial software.

The transition from controller or head of financial planning and analysis (FP&A) to CFO is one of the most significant — and often misunderstood — career leaps in the finance profession.

Controllers are trained to protect the system to make sure nothing breaks, every account ties out, and the company stays compliant.

Under pressure, the natural instinct is to dig deeper into the weeds or fix process gaps. That makes you dependable, but it can also make others see you as tactical and too focused on “keeping the books” instead of shaping the bigger picture.

FP&A leaders are trained to analyze, advise, and refine the numbers. Under pressure, the natural instinct is to run another model, explain another variance, or provide more options. That makes you valuable as a partner, but it can also leave others seeing you as an advisor rather than a decision-maker.

This session provides a clear, practical roadmap for finance leaders preparing to step into this expanded sphere of impact. By the end of the session, participants will have a clearer understanding of what differentiates a successful executive candidate and how to bridge that gap with purpose and confidence.

Whether attendees are actively pursuing a CFO role or preparing for future opportunities, this session will equip them with insights and tools to step into the next chapter of their leadership journey with intention and impact.

Learning Objectives:

• Distinguish key differences between the controller, head of FP&A and CFO roles in terms of focus, expectations, and influence.
• Analyze gaps in leadership, strategic thinking, and communication that must be addressed to step confidently into the CFO role.
• Determine a development plan to build the executive presence, cross-functional credibility, and business acumen required of a CFO.

This session focuses on the application of the U.S. tax laws as they relate to identifying a client's foreign versus domestic trust structure, and whether such trust is a grantor or nongrantor trust for U.S. tax purposes. Properly identifying a trust is essential to ensuring that the appropriate IRS forms are filed and failure to do so could lead to various penalties.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize whether your client's entity qualifies as a trust for U.S. tax purposes.
• Identify the appropriate IRS classification for your client's trust to ensure proper compliance with IRS reporting obligations.

The recent introduction of H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA, has significantly reshaped the landscape of expense deductibility for trusts, presenting both challenges and opportunities for tax professionals, trustees, and advisors alike. This presentation delves into the intricate impact of H.R. 1, a law that not only limits deductions but also introduces a web of interrelated calculations and ambiguous provisions that complicate compliance and planning.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key provisions of H.R. 1, including the main changes regarding the deductibility of expenses for trusts.
• Analyze how the limitations imposed by H.R. 1 affect the overall deductibility of expenses for various types of trusts.
• Identify ambiguous aspects of H.R. 1 that may lead to confusion in applying the new rules for trust deductions.
• Evaluate best practices and strategies for ensuring compliance with H.R. 1 while maximizing allowable deductions for trusts.

Technical expertise may get you in the door, but it’s your ability to translate data into compelling stories that moves the business forward. In today’s dynamic environment, financial professionals must go beyond spreadsheets and reports to clearly communicate insights, shape strategy, and drive decisions. This session explores how to craft persuasive financial narratives tailored to executive audiences, operational teams, and stakeholders. Whether you're presenting a forecast, a business case, or performance results, this session will give you the tools to be heard and remembered.

Learning Objectives:

• Determine how to frame your message for impact.
• Identify how to use data to tell a story, and develop the communication and storytelling skills essential for advancing into leadership roles.

This session covers frequently asked A&A questions, as presented by members of the Private Companies Practice Session’s (PCPS) Center for Plain English Accounting (CPEA) in the areas of audit, compilation, and review engagements, with a focus on private company issues. Get answers to technical questions that are impacting practitioners and their clients.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze technical literature and other relevant practice guidance.
• Determine answers to common A&A technical questions in the areas of audit, compilation, and review engagements.
• Identify recent developments related to current A&A issues.

U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) isn’t the best financial reporting framework for all entities. This issue is a common peer review finding when financial statements are prepared in accordance with special purpose frameworks, such as, cash-basis, modified cash-basis, tax basis, and the AICPA’s Financial Reporting Framework for Small- and Medium-Sized Entities (FRF for SMEs). This session will cover the special purpose frameworks that are available, how they differ from GAAP (including recent changes to FRF for SMEs), and the common peer review findings.

Learning Objectives:

• Distinguish the differences between special purpose frameworks.
• Recognize the reporting requirements in AICPA Professional Standards when financial statements are prepared in accordance with a special purpose framework.
• Identify the common peer review findings for special purpose frameworks.
• Recall the recent changes to the AICPA’s Financial Reporting Framework for Small- and Medium-Sized Entities (FRF for SMEs).

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming part of the financial planning conversation — but how reliable is it when building a comprehensive retirement income plan?

In this session, you’ll examine retirement income planning through the lens of seasoned advisors evaluating AI-generated strategies. Rather than focusing on how to use every AI tool, this session focuses on something more critical: understanding where AI gets it right — and where it can lead clients astray.

Using real-world examples and planning scenarios, you’ll see how AI approaches retirement income decisions such as withdrawal strategies, tax efficiency, and risk management — and how those outputs compare to the judgment, nuance, and experience of a professional advisor.

This session is designed to help you identify the technical gaps, hidden assumptions, and blind spots that can arise when clients rely on AI-generated advice. You’ll walk away better equipped to validate, challenge, and improve AI-driven outputs — while reinforcing your role as the trusted expert clients need in an increasingly automated world.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze key considerations in retirement income planning.
• Distinguish differences between AI-generated recommendations and advisor-driven strategies.
• Identify critical gaps and blind spots in AI-generated retirement plans.
• Determine the advisor’s role in an AI-influenced planning environment.

The “sandwich generation” is redefining the future of financial planning, as professionals, firms, and clients alike juggle the competing demands of aging parents, growing children, and complex financial realities. This session explores the latest technology, consulting tools, and evolving resources designed to support caregivers and families in navigating this journey.

This session will help participants examine the challenges from every angle — clients you serve, the firms and teams you lead, and your own lives as professionals — covering critical areas such as retirement and tax planning, estate strategies, and long-term care. Beyond the technical, this session will consider the human side of planning: difficult family conversations, care coordination, and the dynamics that shape decision-making. Attendees will leave with practical insights, out-of-the-box strategies, and a toolkit of emerging solutions to better guide families through the longevity economy.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify emerging tools and technology that support the “sandwich” generation in managing financial, caregiving, and family responsibilities.
• Assess planning strategies across key domains—including retirement, tax, estate, and long‑term care—to better serve clients balancing multigenerational needs.
• Apply practical approaches to the human side of planning, such as facilitating difficult family conversations, navigating care coordination, and addressing complex family dynamics.
• Apply innovative consulting resources and products into firm practices and personal planning to strengthen resilience for clients, teams, and professionals themselves.

As client needs shift from compliance to advisory, many accountants feel stuck — they know the numbers but struggle to lead strategic conversations. This high-energy, interactive session uses foundational improv techniques to build the communication muscles accounting professionals need to thrive in today’s environment.

Through practical exercises, small-group activities, and real-life client scenarios, participants will be able to improve their listening, learn to handle curveballs, and practice having value-driven conversations. No performance is required, just a willingness to grow.

This session is especially powerful for firms developing advisory services or looking to increase team confidence and client trust. Participants in improv workshops consistently report feeling more confident in high-stakes client conversations after applying these techniques.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply foundational improv techniques to strengthen real-time communication, active listening, and responsiveness in client and team conversations.
• Recognize how to build confidence in leading unscripted conversations with curiosity, including handling client objections, unexpected questions, or high-stakes discussions.
• Recall simple, repeatable exercises to improve collaboration, psychological safety, and trust within teams.

Put your SOC knowledge to the test in this fast-paced, interactive gameshow. Compete with peers, tackle real-world scenarios, and walk away with bragging rights and practical insights into SOC guidelines and best practices.

Learning Objectives:

• Use core SOC principles, including foundational guidelines and best practices, when evaluating SOC‑related engagement.
• Apply SOC concepts and insights to real-world scenarios for better operational outcomes.

Every new client is an adrenaline rush, but if it’s a high profile or high-net-worth client, it’s even more exciting— until a dispute arises. Learn why working with the rich and famous may result in expensive and time-consuming claims and hear strategies for reducing the impact on your firm.

Learning Objectives:

• Distinguish what kind of professional liability claims can arise when delivering services to the rich and famous.
• Recognize why claims made against CPAs by the rich and famous can be difficult to defend.
• Identify strategies to help manage those risks.

CPA firms are moving fast with AI, but most are trying to layer it on top of scattered data, inconsistent workflows, and years of workarounds. This session shows how to fix that foundation without turning it into a massive project. You’ll learn how to build a smarter data ecosystem that supports accuracy, efficiency, and practical AI adoption.
We start by looking at the real issues firms are dealing with today. Files live in too many places. Core data like client info, engagement setup, and workpapers isn’t defined the same way across teams. Processes vary by partner. Staff spend too much time looking for information, reworking tasks, and navigating unclear systems. These challenges existed before AI, but AI is now magnifying them.
From there, we introduce a simple framework you can apply immediately. The first layer is data governance, which gives your firm clarity about what data matters, who owns it, and what “good” looks like. The second layer is process quality. When steps, handoffs, and workflows are consistent, you reduce rework and make it possible for automation to perform reliably. The third layer is enablement. With good data and better flow, you can start unlocking real AI gains, such as faster prep work, improved review, and more confidence in final outputs.
You’ll work through a real firm scenario that highlights how governance, process, and automation come together. In small groups, you’ll identify the root cause, define the data owners, outline the process fixes, and consider a small AI win that becomes possible once the foundation is in place. The exercise gives you a practical feel for how this framework works in day-to-day situations.
The session closes with a three-week action plan you can take back to your firm. Week one focuses on choosing one data domain to clean up and assigning ownership. Week two walks through mapping and improving one workflow. Week three offers simple automation or AI ideas that show quick impact without requiring a major investment. This plan is realistic for firms of any size and helps build momentum without overwhelming staff.
You’ll leave with a clearer view of what a smarter data ecosystem looks like and how it supports reliable AI. You’ll also have a practical starting point to begin improving your firm’s data, processes, and decision-making.
By the end of the session, you’ll understand why good data is your firm’s greatest asset, why process consistency matters more than ever, and how small, thoughtful steps can set you up for better AI use and better results for clients and staff.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the three-layer framework for building a smarter data ecosystem — data governance, process quality, and enablement — and how each layer supports accurate, consistent, and AI-ready firm operations.
• Identify common data and workflow issues in a real-world firm scenario, including root causes, data ownership gaps, and process inconsistencies that limit automation.
• Identify key steps in a three-week action plan, including prioritizing one data domain, improving a single workflow, and selecting a small, high-impact automation or AI opportunity.

Join us for a guided exploration of the AICPA ENGAGE exhibit hall, where you'll discover the cutting-edge technologies transforming the accounting profession. This interactive session takes you on a curated journey to select exhibitors showcasing innovative solutions that address today's most pressing accounting challenges.Throughout this 50-minute tour, you'll: - Get hands-on demonstrations of emerging technologies from leading providers - Learn how these tools can streamline your workflow and enhance client services - Engage directly with technology experts to ask questions specific to your practice - Discover integration opportunities between different platforms - Connect with fellow practitioners facing similar technology decisions Our knowledgeable guide will provide context for each stop, helping you understand how these solutions fit into the evolving accounting ecosystem. Whether you're looking to modernize your practice, solve specific operational challenges, or simply stay ahead of technology trends, this guided tour offers valuable insights in an efficient format.Perfect for firm leaders, technology decision-makers, and forward-thinking practitioners seeking practical technology solutions. Limited spots available — reserve your place today!

Learning Objectives:

• Identify emerging technologies that can automate routine accounting tasks and improve practice efficiency.
• Calculate potential technology investments based on ROI metrics, implementation requirements, and integration capabilities with existing systems.
• Apply a practical technology adoption roadmap specific to your firm's size, client base, and service offerings.

We have all heard the hype about AI. But how does it actually work when you are staring down a messy month-end close for 30 different clients?
This rapid-fire, 25-minute Education Lab skips the theory and goes straight to the application. Join Ross from Puzzle for a live, interactive screen-share inside a real General Ledger. He will build an accounting agent in real time, show how the logic works, and demonstrate how agents categorize, reconcile, and flag exceptions inside the close.
You will leave with a clear mental model for how agent-native accounting works in practice: agents handle the work continuously, you review the exceptions, and your firm closes faster without giving up control. Accurate books. At AI speed.

What Attendees Will Experience:
- Live Screen-Share: No slides. We will be live inside the Puzzle General Ledger from minute one.
- Agent Build in Real Time: Ross will show how an accounting agent is defined, built, and deployed inside the close workflow.
- Close Workflow in Action: Attendees will see how agents categorize transactions, reconcile accounts, and flag exceptions for review.
- Clear Operating Model: A practical view of what agent-native accounting looks like when agents handle execution and accountants retain judgment and control.

Learning Objectives:

• Observe how accounting agents automate categorization and reconciliation continuously, replacing manual batch workflows.
• Identify the human review and approval checkpoints that accountants retain when deploying agents across multiple client accounts.
• Apply the agent-era accounting framework (agents handle the work, humans lead the outcome) to evaluate readiness for adoption in their own firm.

Sales tax compliance is often treated as a necessary burden—but firms that approach it differently are turning it into a reliable source of revenue and client value. Join industry leader Marianne Fisher as she breaks down the real-world challenges accounting firms face and how a more strategic, automated approach can change the equation.

In this session, you’ll see how firms are simplifying compliance while building a scalable service offering. You’ll walk away with practical ideas you can apply right away to:

Reduce time spent on manual sales tax work
Lower risk for both your firm and your clients
Expand into sales tax services without adding headcount

You’ll also get a guided look at Avalara’s Managed Returns for Accountants and how it supports firms looking to grow advisory services and strengthen client relationships.

If you’re focused on building a more efficient, profitable practice, this session will give you a clear path to turning sales tax into a dependable, high-value service line.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify opportunities within your current client base to turn sales tax compliance into a scalable, revenue-generating service.
• Distinguish between manual sales tax processes and automated approaches to improve efficiency, reduce risk, and support firm growth.
• Select practical strategies and tools that enable your firm to expand sales tax services without increasing headcount.

AI is reshaping the accounting profession not just at the surface level of tech adoption, but deep into how work gets done and who does it. Firms increasingly need to think beyond point tools and isolated automation toward operating models where AI is woven into the day‑to‑day delivery of audit, advisory, tax, and client services. This session offers a clear, actionable view of what it means to build an AI‑native firm - one where workflows are redesigned for agentic execution and workforce models evolve to match.

Attendees will hear real examples of firms navigating this shift, including how they are reorganizing teams, redefining roles, and governing AI‑powered execution to improve quality, capacity, and client value. Whether your firm is just starting its AI journey or already experimenting with advanced automation, you’ll leave with a practical framework to move from experimentation to sustainable transformation.

Learning Objectives:

• Define what it means to be an AI-native firm and distinguish it from traditional automation strategies.
• Identify key workflow and workforce changes necessary to support AI-powered execution.
• Evaluate governance considerations for responsible and compliant AI adoption in professional services.
• Apply a practical framework to assess and advance their firm's AI maturity and transformation strategy.

We will review the key trends and market dynamics shaping the M&A landscape for small to mid-sized CPA firms. Next, we’ll discuss how these forces influence firm valuation. Finally, we’ll take a deep dive into CPA firms that operate an in-house payroll business—examining how payroll impacts overall valuation and exploring strategies and alternatives to help optimize value.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand key trends and market dynamics shaping the M&A landscape for small to mid-sized CPA firms.
• Understand key forces that influence CPA firm valuation.

The accounting profession is no longer approaching a crossroads; it has already crossed the threshold into a new era. Business as usual is being fundamentally rewritten by a convergence of technological maturity, a shifting talent landscape, and an industry shaped by increasing consolidation and an influx of players. For firms to thrive in the next five years, they must move beyond incremental efficiency and embrace new ways of working. This session explores the five critical shifts that will define the winners of 2030.

Learning Objectives:

• Deconstruct the shifting talent landscape to develop a human-centric workforce strategy and better understand the role of people in tomorrow's industry.
• Analyze the impact of industry consolidation on the traditional firm model and how it is reshaping the competitive landscape for 2030.
• Identify the "technological maturity" milestones required to move beyond basic automation toward true operational transformation.

For years, we’ve treated “transformation” like a technology upgrade. Move to the cloud. Automate more work. Get faster. Get more efficient. That thinking will not get firms to 2030! AI doesn’t improve the traditional firm model — it breaks it. And the firms that survive won’t look like slightly better versions of what we have today. They’ll operate as accounting companies, built around human judgment, embedded AI and advisory that actually drives decisions. This session will challenge some of the most comfortable assumptions our profession is still holding onto, including the idea that adding AI to existing workflows is enough. Come learn how AI is reshaping firm economics, talent models, pricing, client experience and leadership. And why advisory becomes the new operating system. This isn’t a tech talk. It’s a reality check. And it’s a roadmap for firms that want to stay relevant, differentiated and trusted as the business of accounting changes faster than most firms are ready for.

Attendees will walk away understanding:
• Why AI breaks the traditional firm model, and why efficiency won’t save it
• What clients will actually pay for in the future
• How talent, career paths and leadership must change
• What firms must start doing now to build toward 2030

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will learn how AI is reshaping firm economics, talent models, pricing, client experience and leadership.
• Attendees will learn how talent, career paths and leadership must change and what firms must start doing now to build toward 2030.

Examine how a business can use 831(b) micro captives as an alternative risk finance solution for under- and uninsured risks. This presentation discusses the tax and accounting implications of micro captives, investment regulations, the types of fortuitous risks that can be included, domicile options available, how reinsurance is applied, and who is a fit.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the benefits, risks, and opportunities of using a captive to finance an entity’s risks, identify the aspects of a micro-captive, and recognize the types of risks that can be included in the program.
• Identify factors to be considered in evaluating the cost of risk and recognize the various ways in which the costs of financing risks through a captive can be lower than the costs of commercial insurance or self-insurance plans.
• Acknowledge the federal requirements that must be met for a microcaptive to qualify as an insurance company for tax purposes.
• Understand the contribution and distribution requirements of the captive and the administration functions, including required filings.

This session is suitable for firms and individuals involved in addressing SQMS No. 1, ISQM 1, or QC 1000 quality management standards. Firms and individuals can benefit from this session, no matter what stage they're at on their quality management journey.

Firms are getting to grips with what quality management system implementation looks like for their firm and discovering/navigating how their system is evolving through its operation. Focusing on practical areas, this session will address the common pitfalls and issues that firms are facing across their systems of quality management.

Because many firms are making use of manual methods to capture and document their risk assessments, the session will start by discussing some of the common issues surrounding the maintenance and reporting of risk assessment outputs.

The session will then move on to discuss how the risk assessment feeds your monitoring plan. We will also provide insights into where your monitoring plan may be at risk of not achieving its objectives. This part of the session will also discuss some practical actions firms can implement to ensure their monitoring plans succeed.

The final portion of the session will cover some of the core features and benefits technology solutions can provide for firms of all sizes to assist them during their compliance journey.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify possible problems within your existing risk assessment approach before they impact the operation of your system of quality management.
• Analyze the issues firms face when implementing and executing monitoring plans.
• Recall the key benefits technology solutions can provide to firms in operating their system of quality management during 2026 and beyond.

State and local tax (SALT) is no longer just a compliance burden — it’s a strategic opportunity hiding in plain sight. As regulatory complexity intensifies and digital business models expand across jurisdictions, firms and their clients face new risks and new opportunities. This session will break the mold of traditional SALT conversations by exploring forward-looking strategies, technology integrations, and cross-functional approaches that help firms reduce risk, enhance visibility, and even drive growth. From real-time nexus monitoring to automating sales tax remediation across state lines, we’ll reframe SALT as a critical component of future-ready advisory services.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify emerging risks and tax implications stemming from evolving business models such as remote workforces, digital goods, and marketplace facilitators.
• Identify modern SALT technologies and integrations that streamline multi-jurisdictional compliance and reduce audit exposure.
• Apply a strategic lens to SALT conversations to uncover advisory opportunities and better position firms and clients for scalable growth.
• Identify real-life case studies where proactive SALT management improved client satisfaction, increased margins, or enabled market expansion.

Leadership isn’t built in isolation — it’s cultivated through meaningful relationships, intentional networking, and the presence of influential advocates. This session explores how professionals can move beyond transactional connections to build strategic, trust based relationships that support long term growth and leadership advancement.

Participants will learn how to identify and nurture networks aligned with their goals, show up with purpose in relationship building, and develop sponsor relationships that create visibility and open doors to new opportunities. Whether you’re early in your career or stepping into higher levels of leadership, this session offers practical tools to strengthen your influence and position yourself for intentional growth.

Key topics include:
• The difference between mentors, coaches, and sponsors — and why each matters
• Shifting from transactional networking to strategic, purpose driven connections
• Building trust and credibility as the foundation for meaningful relationships
• Identifying high impact relationships aligned with your goals
• Cultivating and sustaining sponsor relationships with authenticity
• Navigating relationship building in hybrid and virtual environments
• Understanding the role of influence and visibility in leadership advancement

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the differences between mentors, sponsors, and other key professional relationships, and their unique roles in leadership development.
• Recognize the characteristics of intentional, strategic networking that support long-term career growth.
• Identify opportunities to build trust and credibility as the foundation for high-impact relationships.
• Recall methods for cultivating and maintaining sponsor relationships with authenticity and purpose.

Generative AI continues to transform how business professionals approach research, writing, analysis, and decision-making. As these tools become more advanced and deeply integrated into platforms like Microsoft 365 Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, and others, mastering prompt engineering has become a core digital skill. This session reveals the proven techniques for crafting effective AI prompts that yield faster, clearer, and more actionable results — whether you’re generating reports, analyzing data, or creating client communications.

Rather than relying on trial and error, participants will learn to structure prompts with precision, effectively leverage context, and understand the nuances of interacting with various AI systems. With intelligent prompting, you’ll unlock higher-quality output and maximize your return on AI investment.

Learning Objectives:

• Recall the four key components of AI prompts.
• Identify good examples of prompts used for tasks based on their context, expectations, and output.
• Recognize at least four types of tasks that generative AI tools can do when prompted correctly.
• Recognize how generative AI can be applied to accounting tasks.

As organizations increasingly integrate AI-powered tools from third-party vendors into their operations, the risks extend far beyond technical vulnerabilities. Ethical considerations, such as bias, transparency, accountability, and data privacy, are now central to responsible AI adoption.

This session equips participants with a framework for evaluating AI tools (such as ISO 42001) not just for functionality, but for ethical integrity. Attendees will learn how to ask the correct questions during vendor onboarding, assess risk across compliance and reputational dimensions, and implement governance strategies that align with organizational values and regulatory expectations. The session will also explore how these considerations impact SOC engagements, both in evaluating vendors included in the report and in assessing third-party tools used by companies to gather and process information for the controls.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the ethical, governance, and risk considerations associated with the use of artificial intelligence, including transparency, bias, accountability, and data integrity.
• Identify the role of CPAs in overseeing AI-enabled systems, including how internal controls, risk management, and governance frameworks can be applied to mitigate AI-related risks.
• Recognize practical oversight questions and indicators CPAs should consider when evaluating AI tools and algorithms within financial, operational, or advisory contexts.

Existing irrevocable trusts often lack the needed flexibility to achieve certain goals. This session will explore why clients are interested in modifying trusts, the mechanics and techniques used to modify trusts as well as the tax and fiduciary concerns associated with modifying trusts.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common reasons why clients want to modify irrevocable trusts.
• Recognize tax considerations in connection with modifying irrevocable trusts.

For closely held and family-owned businesses, succession planning is one of the most important, and most commonly deferred elements of advanced estate planning. A successful transition requires far more than technical tax work. It demands alignment of the owner’s personal goals, business objectives, family dynamics, valuation considerations, and long-term wealth strategy.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key elements of an effective business succession plan and how owner goals, exit timelines, and family or stakeholder dynamics influence the planning process.
• Analyze the tax, valuation, and structural implications of internal versus external succession options.
• Apply advanced estate, gift, and income tax strategies, including sales, gifts, trusts, buy-sell agreements, and hybrid structures to support tax-efficient ownership transitions.
• Identify a practical advisor workflow using checklists, governance considerations, and liquidity planning tools to help clients prepare their businesses for ownership and leadership transition.

A successful negotiation is not a contest or a confrontation — it’s a conversation. The person across the table is a counterpart, not an opponent.

Finance professionals negotiate every day, both internally and externally, yet many lack formal training in what truly drives successful outcomes. This session explores why mindset matters in negotiation, how to prepare effectively by understanding both your objectives and priorities — and those of your counterpart — and how to choose an approach that supports meaningful, sustainable agreements.

Attendees will also learn how to avoid the common trap of treating negotiations as a game of “winning points” rather than achieving real objectives. The session addresses how to evaluate the success of a negotiation, recognizing that success does not always mean getting exactly what you initially wanted. As the saying goes, knowing when to hold, fold, walk away, or run can each represent success, depending on the circumstances.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the importance of preparation in negotiation, including determining your objectives, priorities and stakes for you and your organization.
• Determine how to understand your negotiating counterpart's perspective, objectives and priorities.
• Compare multiple types of negotiation styles and strategies, recognize how to select your approach for each specific negotiation, and which are appropriate for internal vs. external negotiations.
• Identify the importance of adaptability and flexibility as negotiations evolve.

This session will provide an overview of the Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) and projects, including such hot topics as alternative practice structures, artificial intelligence, and harmonization with international ethics standards.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the purpose and purview of the Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC).
• Identify ongoing projects PEEC has undertaken to keep the Code of Professional Conduct fit for purpose.
• Distinguish how new and revised guidance will affect practice.

This session covers frequently asked A&A questions, as presented by members of the Private Companies Practice Section’s (PCPS) Center for Plain English Accounting (CPEA) in the areas of accounting and financial reporting, with a focus on private company issues. Get answers to technical questions that are impacting practitioners and their clients.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze technical literature and other relevant practice guidance.
• Determine answers to common A&A technical questions in the areas of financial reporting and accounting.
• Identify recent developments related to current A&A issues.

CPAs are redefining their roles by providing holistic financial guidance as needs expand beyond traditional tax preparation. With growing complexity in retirement and estate planning, professionals are increasingly asked whether annuities and life insurance can provide effective solutions.

This session explores how these tools can be strategically applied in tax planning, retirement income strategies, and estate preservation. Attendees will gain practical insights into structuring annuity contracts for predictable cash flow, leveraging life insurance for wealth transfer and asset protection, and navigating the regulatory and ethical considerations surrounding these products.

Through practical case studies and actionable frameworks, CPAs will learn how to incorporate annuities and life insurance into comprehensive planning. These strategies not only deliver reliable retirement income but also safeguard assets, support long-term care needs, and ensure efficient estate preservation. By embedding them into broader financial plans, CPAs can help reduce tax burdens, protect wealth across generations, and provide guidance that truly resonates. Participants will leave equipped with strategies they can immediately apply in practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Categorize different types of annuities and life insurance products according to their tax, retirement, and estate planning applications.
• Formulate advanced strategies that integrate annuities and life insurance into comprehensive financial plans for different client scenarios.
• Contrast the benefits and limitations of annuities versus life insurance in addressing longevity risk, asset protection, long-term care, and legacy goals.
• Evaluate case studies to determine the most effective use of annuities and life insurance, with an emphasis on compliance and ethical considerations.

The session will cover the different options available to existing CPA firms or individual CPAs to add financial planning services. The session will include options for the CPA who manages assets as well as the CPA who does planning only.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the options to offer financial planning.
• Identify steps to take within your existing practice.

The CPA profession is experiencing one of the most active, complex, and transformative mergers and acquisitions (M&A) cycles in its history. Private equity, consolidators, and nontraditional investors are reshaping the competitive landscape, while traditional mergers continue to accelerate across all firm sizes. This session will unpack what is happening in today’s market — why the volume is so high, what is driving valuations, and how the entrance of new capital is changing the rules of the game.
But this conversation doesn’t stop with “Who is being acquired?” or “What deal happened last week?” This session will also reframe M&A as a proactive growth strategy — one that every firm can leverage to acquire talent, expand advisory capabilities, gain scale, strengthen independence, and build long-term enterprise value. Rather than viewing M&A only through the lens of sellers, attendees will explore how future-ready firms use M&A to shape their destiny. This is an opportunity to replace fear with insight and replace uncertainty with strategy so leaders can walk away with understanding in both the current market and their paths forward in it.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate the current M&A environment in the CPA profession.
• Interpret the strategic implications of current market activity.
• Assess ways firms of any size can participate as acquirers.
• Evaluate internal readiness factors such as governance, capital, culture, leadership discipline, and integration capability.

Form 1099-DA is new for 2025 along with new basis tracking and identification rules effective starting in 2025. Many digital asset transactions will not be reported on this new form but still have tax consequences taxpayers and their tax advisers need to understand and apply. Legislative changes likely in the 119th Congress will be covered along with questions to ask clients to help identify the tax rules applicable to their digital asset activities.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how to use information on Form 1099-DA and what digital asset tax information is not on a Form 1099-DA.
• Recognize digital asset tax rules relevant to clients.
• Recall key IRS guidance on digital asset taxation and any recent legislation changes in this area.

Having a Written Information Security Plan (WISP) is a legal requirement for tax professionals — but in today’s threat environment, simply checking the box isn’t enough. This session brings together a data breach survivor and an IRS insider for a gripping exploration of what it truly takes to protect your firm from evolving cyber risks.

While templates and boilerplate language may technically satisfy compliance, they often leave firms dangerously exposed — to attackers, regulatory scrutiny, denied insurance claims and reputational damage. Through compelling storytelling, expert guidance and real-world examples, you’ll discover how to:

• Transform your WISP from a static document into a living cybersecurity blueprint
• Create a culture of security accountability across every level of your firm
• Prepare your team to serve as a resilient first line of defense—not a weak link
• Avoid common mistakes that can void cyber liability insurance coverage
• Establish safeguards for secure data sharing with third-party vendors and partners
• Learn more about emerging scams and threats aimed at professionals like you.

This session is ideal for firm owners, compliance officers and security leads who want to operationalize their WISP into a practical, breach-ready strategy. It also equips all professionals — regardless of their role — with a deeper understanding of WISP components and how to integrate them into day-to-day practice

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the intent and core requirements of a federally mandated Written Information Security Plan (WISP), and what makes it effective.
• Identify practical strategies to transform the WISP into an active, daily defense mechanism against common cyber threats.
• Select a real-world risk assessment that includes employee training, phishing awareness and vendor oversight.
• Recognize how to align cybersecurity practices with insurance coverage, vendor contracts, and data-sharing protocols to reduce financial and reputational exposure in the event of a breach.

It’s no secret that the relationship between bookkeepers and CPAs is often tense – but does it need to be that way?

Instead of throwing the financial statements "over the wall”, let’s create common ground by collaborating throughout the year. We’ll learn to leverage technology and build systems to share information at the time it’s most actionable – rather than only at tax-time, when the pressure’s on and it’s too late to address certain types of issues. Highly-skilled and educated bookkeepers can go a long way toward solving the pipeline crisis as well as closing the tax gap.

Be inspired to establish a workflow that effectively communicates a) who is responsible for what; b) whether or not a task is complete; and c) where the source documents can be found. This process (whether internally at a CAS practice or between firms) can replace the proverbial wall between practitioners with a workflow accessible to everyone.

Who wins when we tear down the wall? CPAs, Bookkeepers, and most of all – our clients.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common pain points between bookkeepers and tax professionals that contribute to recurring accounting and tax issues.
• Recognize effective workflow, process, and communication practices that support collaboration between bookkeepers and tax professionals.
• Identify strategies for involving clients appropriately as participants in the accounting and tax process.
• Recognize how leveraging bookkeepers and CAS practitioners can help address the CPA pipeline challenge and reduce workload pressure for tax professionals.

Join us for a guided exploration of the AICPA ENGAGE exhibit hall, where you'll discover the cutting-edge technologies transforming the accounting profession. This interactive session takes you on a curated journey to select exhibitors showcasing innovative solutions that address today's most pressing accounting challenges.Throughout this 50-minute tour, you'll: - Get hands-on demonstrations of emerging technologies from leading providers - Learn how these tools can streamline your workflow and enhance client services - Engage directly with technology experts to ask questions specific to your practice - Discover integration opportunities between different platforms - Connect with fellow practitioners facing similar technology decisions Our knowledgeable guide will provide context for each stop, helping you understand how these solutions fit into the evolving accounting ecosystem. Whether you're looking to modernize your practice, solve specific operational challenges, or simply stay ahead of technology trends, this guided tour offers valuable insights in an efficient format.Perfect for firm leaders, technology decision-makers, and forward-thinking practitioners seeking practical technology solutions. Limited spots available — reserve your place today!

Learning Objectives:

• Identify emerging technologies that can automate routine accounting tasks and improve practice efficiency.
• Calculate potential technology investments based on ROI metrics, implementation requirements, and integration capabilities with existing systems.
• Apply a practical technology adoption roadmap specific to your firm's size, client base, and service offerings.

Neurodiversity is more than a buzzword, and awareness alone isn't enough. As working professionals, our leaders may have a general understanding of topics such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), dyslexia, and sensory processing disorder (SPD). But effective inclusion efforts can't stop at acknowledgment; true progress requires systems that work.

This session goes beyond surface-level understanding to explore what neuro inclusion really looks like in accounting. Led by the founders of OvataCollective, two neurodivergent accounting professionals with lived experience of ADHD, the session blends professional insight with real-world strategies for creating environments where neurodivergent team members can thrive.

Participants will gain perspective on how traditional firm structures, time management norms, and productivity expectations may unintentionally create barriers for neurodivergent individuals. We’ll explore how traits common in ADHD, ASD, and other neurodivergent profiles often show up in accounting workplaces, and how these traits frequently coincide with valuable strengths like hyperfocus, creative problem-solving, and deep pattern recognition.

But this session isn’t just about understanding; it’s about action.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize how traditional accounting systems may unintentionally create barriers for neurodivergent professionals.
• Identify workflow, communication, and policy adjustments that support neuroinclusive practices.
• Distinguish between surface-level awareness efforts and meaningful, systems-based inclusion strategies.
• Select tools and processes that promote retention, productivity, and well-being across diverse neurological profiles.

Leadership is demonstrated in everyday moments — how we communicate, follow through, take ownership, and respond to challenges. This session focuses on how emerging professionals can lead through their presence and actions, even before holding formal authority.

Participants will learn how to build professional credibility, communicate with clarity and confidence, and approach problems proactively to move work forward. Through scenario‑based discussion and reflective prompts, attendees will identify practical ways to demonstrate leadership in their current roles and strengthen the impact they have on their teams and organizations.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how to build credibility and trust through authentic and empathic interactions.
• Recognize persuasive communication strategies that help foster collaboration and drive change.
• Identify key emotional intelligence traits that enhance workplace relationships and leadership presence.
• Recall actionable strategies to inspire others, lead with confidence, and create meaningful impact in organizations.

This session will cover the importance for those with estates under $15 million to have an estate plan. It will also cover key post-mortem tax elections available to small estate owners, including the portability election, along with pertinent federal and state elections and planning when preparing the decedent’s final income tax return and the first return for the estate or trust. Finally, this session will cover the options when the decedent was a partner or shareholder of an S corporation at the time of death.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify why an estate plan is important, including for estates under $15 million.
• Analyze post-mortem elections, including the mechanics of the portability election available for smaller estates.
• Analyze the various federal and state elections and planning opportunities when preparing the decedent's final income tax return and the first tax return for the estate or trust.
• Compare the options and elections to be considered when a decedent was a partner or shareholder in an S corporation.

Many practitioners assume that Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) under Section 1202 is straightforward. In reality, it contains nuanced rules and common misunderstandings.

This session will walk through the key challenges involved in determining whether a corporation qualifies as a qualified small business and highlight the traps that can prevent shareholders from claiming the Section 1202 exclusion. The session will cover both the corporate-level and shareholder-level tests, some of which apply at a single point in time, while others must be satisfied on an ongoing basis.

Participants will also explore how various shareholder transactions can either preserve, enhance, or inadvertently eliminate eligibility for the QSBS exclusion.

Learning Objectives:

• Interpret the detailed requirements a corporation must meet to be considered a Qualified Small Business, including the factors that may jeopardize this status.
• Assess the shareholder-level considerations involved in acquiring, holding, and maintaining QSBS eligibility.

Bridging the Gap: Integrating SOC Findings into Financial Audits (NAA, SOC)

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze SOC engagements, including scope and reporting.
• Identify key areas of SOC reports that can add immediate value to a risk-based approach to financial audits.
• Determine best practices related to incorporating Soc reports into financial audits.

**IN-PERSON ONLY**

During this session, the speakers will discuss the most pertinent day-to-day issues facing tax practitioners. Specifically, this session will cover the following issues:

1. Filing an estate tax return (IRS Form 706) when not required (so as to elect portability of the decedent’s estate tax exemption or make a QTIP election) with Donita Joseph
2. Dealing with missed Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) with Mary Kay Foss
3. IRC Section 645 election challenges with Laura Hinton
4. Important elections for estates and trusts (e.g. IRC Section 663(b) 65-day election, IRC Section 643€(3) election, passing estimated tax payments to beneficiaries) with Stephen Bigge

Learning Objectives:

• Recall why filing IRS Form 706 is needed for portability purposes.
• Recognize when an RMD is missed and the options that are available to correct the missed RMD, including how to report waivers of the excess accumulations penalty.
• Identify why the IRC Section 645 election is important beyond just being able to use a fiscal year for a trust.
• Identify opportunities for making the IRC Section 663, b, “65-day election” to reduce overall income tax.

The finance function is evolving — and so are the skills required to lead it. As automation, AI, and data analytics reshape the role of finance professionals, organizations face growing pressure to develop talent that blends financial expertise with technological fluency, strategic thinking, and strong communication skills.

This session explores what it takes to build a future‑ready finance team, including upskilling strategies, flexible career paths, and leadership development programs designed for the modern workforce. Backed by research and real‑world examples, attendees will gain insights into how to attract, develop, and retain top performers — and how to prepare their teams for what’s next.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key technological, analytical, and leadership capabilities finance professionals need to succeed as automation and AI transform the finance function.
• Determine effective upskilling and reskilling strategies that help finance teams build fluency in data analytics, digital tools, and strategic decision‑making.
• Apply research-backed practices for attracting, developing, and retaining top finance talent to build a future-ready and high-performing finance organization.
• Identify flexible career pathways and talent‑development models that support modern finance professionals and strengthen long‑term team engagement.

This briefing by the chief auditor and chair of the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) will highlight the board’s recent activities, key standard-setting initiatives, and priorities. The presentation will provide insights into current and emerging issues affecting auditing practice and the ASB’s role in maintaining high-quality auditing standards.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify Auditing Standards Board (ASB) activities, as well as proposed and new standards.
• Recognize the impacts of proposed and new standards.

Asset Retirement Obligations (AROs) accounting guidance was originally issued in response to power plant decommissioning, but the guidance has implication well beyond power plants. Today, many lease contracts and statutory guidelines establish asset retirement obligations, which, if not identified, may go unrecognized in the financial statements, causing inaccurate financial reporting, regulatory compliance issues, and lack of confidence in the financial statements. This session will discuss the existence and need of AROs and related disclosures, including complexities, settlements, and auditing challenges.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify when an Asset Retirement Obligation (ARO) exists.
• Determine the initial accounting for recognition of an ARO and related disclosures.
• Distinguish the complexities in subsequent recognition and measurement of an ARO and related disclosures.
• Determine the settlement of AROs and related disclosures.

This session will focus on strategies for maximizing retirement income while minimizing impact on Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) and income tax deductions. Presenters will focus on the alignment of Social Security, Medicare, retirement plan distributions/conversions, and tax deductions into a unified retirement income strategy.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply a holistic approach to the timing of retirement income and plan distributions to protect against longevity risk and minimize impact of income taxes.
• Choose strategies to plan for Medicare Income-Related Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) and deduction phase-outs.
• Analyze case studies showing the effect of various retirement income decisions.

Focusing on High-Net-Worth Investors (HNWIs) and elevating the definition of your ideal client is not a new idea, but, in today’s environment, how do you refine this focus and create greater momentum with wealthier families? Are you pulling the right growth levers to accelerate your business? How are you delivering the advice and solutions needed from these demanding, discerning, and diverse HNWIs? This session will help attendees understand key aspects of working with HNWIs, attracting and maintaining HNWIs, and developing legacy planning strategies.

Learning Objectives:

• Formulate how to attract, serve, and retain high-net-worth (HNW) clients.
• Evaluate the importance of legacy planning and connecting with NextGen investors.
• Assess the key aspects of working with HNW clients and how to re-tool your practice to capture this future opportunity.

If certain clients create too much risk for your firm or drain your time, energy, or profits, then it may be time for them to go. Learn how to evaluate problematic clients and put them on the path to rehabilitation or termination to help reduce risk and make space for those clients that are a better fit for your firm.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify situations where client termination should be considered.
• Recognize practices to terminate clients professionally and in a manner that helps lessen the risk of a retaliatory malpractice claim.
• Select new client opportunities that fit the firm’s risk profile.

You’ve heard that Client Advisory Services (CAS) is the fastest-growing service in the accounting profession, but you may be wondering how to adapt CAS best practices for your small firm while still serving your current clients. This session will focus on how you can define services and right-fit clients, create capacity with staff and technology, and share the CAS opportunity with clients, all with a staff of ten or fewer.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify that the value of Client Advisory Services (CAS) lies in its standardized approach.
• Determine how to create a dedicated that can serve clients at both the transactional and advisory levels.
• Determine a strategy to limit referrals to your identified industry niche and “right-fit” clients.

Analysis of key business provisions of H.R. 1 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act/OBBBA) as well as significant court decisions, federal tax regulations, and IRS rulings of the past year relevant to all types of businesses and entities. Developments covered include new and revised deductions, §174A R&D expensing, the reinstated bonus depreciation landscape, updates to §163(j), interactions with PTET regimes, changes affecting Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ), and refinements to §1202 QSBS. Additional focus is given to new employee benefit considerations, self-employment tax guidance, entity-level planning, and compliance obligations. Throughout the session, due diligence, documentation, and practical planning opportunities are emphasized to help practitioners translate these changes into meaningful guidance for their business clients.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify tax planning and compliance considerations arising from significant federal developments over the past year, including H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA, updates related to deductions, §174A R&D expensing, PTET interactions, §163(j) interest limitations, Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs), and §1202 qualified small business stock (QSBS).
• Identify due diligence and documentation considerations highlighted by recent developments, including issues related to modeling, basis, financial statement impacts, and entity‑level structuring for corporations, partnerships, and S corporations.
• Apply planning strategies that integrate recent legislative, regulatory, and judicial developments into ongoing and multiyear business tax planning, transaction structuring, compensation design, and risk management.

Strategic guide to building a future-proof, AI-enabled infrastructure without drowning in tools or distractions. Explore how do you strike the right balance between a best-of-breed approach and platform consolidation; what’s critical to invest in now—and what can wait.; how should firms think about sequencing their technology investments.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key principles for building future‑proof platforms and solutions.
• Recognize how firms can balance a best‑of‑breed approach with platform consolidation.
• Identify which technology investments are critical now and which can wait.
• Recognize how firms should sequence technology investments for today and the future.

Join us as we play Family Feud with the topic of a reality-based ransomware attack.

Two lucky teams will compete with the audience, including our virtual attendees, to see who is indeed the best at navigating a cyber attack. To start, we will set the stage with a ransomware situation and reveal the details bit by bit. We will walk through what actually happens during an attack, what decisions need to be made, and lessons which are typically learned. Topics covered will include incident response, attorney contact, cyber insurance, forensics and remediation.

Contestants and audience members will have the opportunity to participate and uncover, piece by piece, the elements of an attack and your organization’s response. The goal of this program is for participants to take away a high-level understanding of how incident response works, what to consider, how to prepare, execute on your incident response plan and pattern corporate lessons learned into your overall cybersecurity program.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the basic flow of a cybersecurity incident.
• Identify the key elements of responding to a cybersecurity incident.
• Apply lessons learned from cybersecurity incidents to improve organizational security.

In this lunch‑and‑learn session, attendees will receive an update on current workforce and talent development efforts focused on strengthening the CPA pipeline. Participants will hear about key initiatives underway to raise awareness of the profession, updates to licensure pathways, and approaches for supporting students and candidates throughout their CPA journey, while addressing evolving workforce challenges.

The session also includes interactive table‑top discussions, giving participants the opportunity to share perspectives, engage with peers, and glean key takeaways from fellow attendees.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the current environment and initiatives related to CPA workforce and talent development.
• Compare current understandings of workforce and development challenges with other attendees.

Join Tom Groskopf, technical director of the Center for Plain English Accounting and partner at Barnes Dennig, in rethinking traditional mindsets and approaches to client risk assessments through a new lens that promises more efficient and effective audits. Tom shares insights from his extensive experience in training firms to reimagine risk assessment as a strategic opportunity.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess practical implementation issues related to audit risk assessment approaches.
• Evaluate technical literature and other practice guidance associated with the audit risk assessment standards.

In an era of AI moving at lightning speed, how do accountants keep up and unlock their "AI Brain." This session reveals the insights from the world's only AI Neuroscientist, and lead researcher of the largest GenAI Neuroscience Study in the world to date. You'll hear from Sarah Baldeo, best-selling author and TED Speaker on why the accountant's brain is one of the best positioned to upskill and evolve alongside AI and how to use AI in the "right way" to unlock massive cognitive potential for accounting professionals leading the charge on innovation. As accounting practices continue to evolve in light of everything from quantum computing to NFTs and crypto, one element remains the same, accountants as chief advisors. How can accountant's upgrade their "human algorithm," what is the future of accounting as we look forwards in the next 5-10 years, how can you use AI today in real-time and how to go beyond "content creation" and use generativeAI strategically. This session is a must-attend for any accountant ready to future-proof their approach to AI and gain a competitive edge as CPAs.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply core NeuroAccounting Principles
• Determine GenAI Use Cases for Accounting
• Use GenAI effectively to maximize accuracy and efficiency
• Analyze reconciliations using AI 

Do you often feel drained after extended screen time? Daily technology use can quietly sap your energy and focus. In this session, you’ll learn common symptoms associated with tech overload and explore practical ways to reduce its impact. Participants will gain insight into how to structure intentional tech breaks to support motivation, productivity, and mental clarity. The session also includes experiential practices such as somatic relaxation, eye exercises, breathing techniques, and a guided meditation designed to restore energy and support overall well‑being.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common symptoms of technology‑related fatigue and how prolonged screen exposure can impair cognitive performance, accuracy, and decision‑making.
• Identify structured tech‑break strategies to support sustained motivation, clarity, and effective workload management throughout the workday.

Accounting firms continue to face mounting pressure from compressed deadlines, staffing shortages and rising client expectations. To adapt, many firms are rethinking traditional workflows and AI-enabled tools to improve efficiency and scalability.

In this session, Quinton Buesching will examine common workflow bottlenecks across the tax and accounting industry and explore practical strategies to streamline document collection and reduce manual effort. Attendees will learn how modern workflow and client collaboration platforms - including solutions like ShareFile - support more efficient, secure and consistent service delivery.

Participants will leave with actionable insights to reduce turnaround times, improve team productivity and create capacity for higher-value advisory services.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key inefficiencies in traditional accounting workflows
• Evaluate the role of AI in improving operational efficiency
• Apply best practices for secure document exchange and client collaboration

Audit risk assessment should be more than a checklist exercise. In this live demo, see how MindBridge AI Augmented Risk Assessment helps audit teams move from static, prior-year-driven planning to a more dynamic, data-driven approach. By analyzing 100% of transactions, auditors can identify unusual activities, surface higher-risk areas earlier, and gain deeper insight into trends, balances, and business processes.

This session will show how teams are using AI-augmented risk assessments to strengthen planning, support scoping decisions, improve client inquiries, and better connect identified risks to audit procedures. You’ll also see how MindBridge AI helps auditors go beyond traditional AI use cases like vouching or isolated journal entry testing to support broader audit objectives across planning and risk assessment.

Walk away with practical ideas to make risk assessments more focused, more consistent, and more valuable across the engagement lifecycle.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how data and AI augmented risk assessment can reveal unusual activity and higher-risk areas earlier in the audit process.
• Understand and explain how data-driven insights can improve planning, scoping, and client inquiry.
• Recognize opportunities to move beyond static, prior-year-driven approaches toward a more dynamic and consistent risk assessment process.

As AI tools become more widely available, organizations are increasingly exploring how — and whether — to incorporate them into day‑to‑day work. This session focuses on the practical considerations professionals should evaluate when assessing AI tools, including security risks, adoption readiness, and workflow integration.

Participants will review key security considerations to keep in mind when evaluating new AI tools, identify the factors that support effective and responsible adoption within an organization, and explore the different ways AI can be integrated into existing workflows. Through discussion and live demonstration, the session will highlight how thoughtful tool selection and implementation can support productivity while managing risk.

Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of what to look for when adopting AI tools and how to evaluate where AI best fits within their organization’s processes.

Learning Objectives:

• Recall key security considerations when assessing new AI tools.
• Identify what considerations are required for effective adoption of AI tools in an organization.
• Recognize where AI tools can fit into organizational workflows in different ways.

In smaller and resource-constrained organizations, caregiving is not a theoretical issue — it’s a day-to-day reality. Leaders are often balancing client or stakeholder expectations, limited staffing, seasonal demands, and long-term sustainability, all while supporting professionals who are caring for children, aging parents, partners, or others who depend on them.

Unlike large enterprises, many smaller organizations do not have formal caregiving policies, dedicated HR teams, or extensive benefits infrastructure. Support often shows up through leadership judgment, flexibility, trust, and open conversation rather than written policies. This session explores what caregiving looks like in smaller organizational environments — and how leaders can provide meaningful support without compromising performance, service delivery, or organizational viability.

Panelists will discuss the unique pressures leaders face, the real trade-offs that must be managed, and practical approaches that work in environments with limited resources. The conversation will also address what employees need to understand about advocating for their needs in organizations where flexibility often depends on communication, planning, and mutual trust.

Attendees will leave with realistic strategies, leadership insights, best practices that help organizations retain talent, reduce burnout, and build sustainable workplaces — without requiring large-scale policies or enterprise-level resources.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common caregiving realities in small and mid‑sized organizations, including how caregiving responsibilities affect capacity, scheduling, service delivery, and retention.
• Identify the unique hurdles leaders face when balancing empathy, fairness, operational demands, and organizational sustainability.
• Recognize practical support strategies organizations can implement, such as flexible workload planning, proactive conversations, and trust‑based flexibility.
• Recognize how culture, leadership behavior, and policies can influence whether caregivers feel supported.

In a profession built on precision, pressure, and constant change, finding internal stillness can feel out of reach. In this session, the speaker shares a personal journey — not as a mindfulness expert, but as a business leader, partner, and parent — searching for greater clarity and calm amid competing demands.

What began as casual reading and small experiments gradually reshaped how the speaker leads teams, manages stress, and approaches everyday decisions. Simple practices such as controlling what you can and pausing before reacting evolved into daily habits that support greater presence, patience, and purpose — both at work and at home.

This session isn’t a lecture on theory; it’s a practical, story‑driven exploration of habits that quietly strengthen decision‑making, improve team dynamics, and make leadership more sustainable over time.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize how simple, repeatable mindfulness habits can improve clarity, emotional regulation, and decision‑making in high‑pressure leadership environments.
• Identify practical, experience‑based strategies to lead with greater presence and purpose, strengthen team dynamics and create a more sustainable approach to leadership and personal well‑being.

The last several years have seen a flurry of changes for retirement accounts. These include changes for employers, savers, retirees, and post-mortem beneficiaries. A near constant flow of regulation and guidance to implement changes from Congress provides both clarification and complication. A timely update for practitioners is critical.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify updates in post-mortem IRA distribution regulatory law and guidance.
• Recognize IRA legislative updates and implementation of new statutes.
• Analyze comprehensive themes guiding the wave of change to better plan for the future.

This session will take the attendee beyond the basics and explore the more complex situations that a practitioner may encounter. Among the topics to be discussed are including capital gains in distributable net income (DNI), dealing with the fiduciary income tax deduction under Section 642(c), the income tax issues of funding bequests, how to calculate and allocate DNI on the death of a beneficiary, dealing with estates and trusts holding interests in partnerships and S corporations, and more.

Learning Objectives:

• Interpret how to handle the allocation of distributable net income (DNI) when an estate or trust beneficiary dies.
• Assess how the income from a partnership or S corporation is handled when the estate or trust holds an interest in a partnership or S corporation.
• Evaluate the technicalities of qualifying for a fiduciary income tax charitable deduction.
• Assess how to avoid mistakes when dealing with estates and trusts with complex assets.

As digital assets reshape financial services, SOC auditors must adapt. This session demystifies blockchain auditing, asset verification, and transaction tracing, equipping CPAs with the tools to confidently assess digital asset environments.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify what digital assets are and the types that may be the subjects of an audit report.
• Recognize publicly available tools for auditing existence.
• Recognize basic principles for considering audit objectives when digital assets are involved.
• Recall the unique risks involved with auditing digital assets.

Modern CPAs need more than technical accuracy. They need the ability to turn data into a clear, compelling story. This session builds on the foundation of your Power BI data modeling skills and shows you how to translate numbers into insights that leaders can act on. This session will focus on how to highlight what truly matters, connect financial results to the broader business narrative, and elevate your reporting from informative to influential. Attendees will walk away with practical strategies to communicate financial performance with clarity, confidence, and impact.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze financial data to identify the key drivers and insights that matter most to stakeholders.
• Determine the most effective way to present financial results so decision-makers can quickly understand performance and trends.
• Apply storytelling techniques to enhance clarity, relevance, and impact in financial reporting.

Change rarely fails because of strategy; it fails because of people dynamics leaders underestimate. In this session, global finance executive and author Pascal Kornfuehrer reframes change leadership through the lens of a modern business fable, revealing what truly happens inside teams when transformation begins. Drawing on his international CFO career, post-merger integration leadership, startup advisory work, and forthcoming book, Pascal introduces a practical, story-driven model for leading change when the path ahead is unclear.

Participants will explore why clarity is a leadership responsibility — not an outcome — how trust forms through vulnerability, and why resistance often signals misalignment rather than capability gaps. Through relatable characters and real-world lessons, Pascal offers a refreshing human perspective on transformation that goes far beyond traditional change management frameworks.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify why the change leader themself is the most critical success factor in change initiatives.
• Recognize the most important factors in change initiatives.

The automatic allocation (GST trust) rules under IRC section 2632(c) are among the most complex provisions in the wealth transfer tax system. Since their enactment in 2000, the IRS has issued little guidance, resulting in frequent misapplication of GST exemption both to trusts unlikely to need it and to trusts that likely will. In addition, the rules can produce ambiguous, unwanted, or unexpected results. This presentation examines these issues and discusses practical ways to address them.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify whether automatic allocation applies to a transfer to a trust.
• Identify how and why to elect in or out of automatic allocation.
• Recognize when the IRS may grant relief for a missed GST election and the basic steps to request relief.

Reconciliations remain one of the most critical—but inefficient—activities in accounting operations. Many organizations rely on inconsistent standards, legacy processes, and manual “heroics,” even as reconciliation technology has advanced significantly. The result is increased risk, extended close timelines, and unnecessary audit friction.

This practical, operations focused panel will walk through a modern reconciliation framework that aligns standards, processes, and enabling technology. Attendees will learn how to modernize reconciliation standards and workflows first, then leverage current and emerging reconciliation tools - such as automation, workflow management, and analytics - to strengthen controls, improve audit defensibility, and reduce effort. The session emphasizes how to use technology effectively, not which software to buy, and includes guidance for organizations at different maturity levels.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the core elements of a modern reconciliation standard, including minimum documentation, review expectations, and system implications.
• Apply a practical risk tiering model to determine appropriate reconciliation rigor and guide automation prioritization.
• Choose a standardized reconciliation workflow that improves close predictability and control quality—with or without automation.
• Select operational and system enabled metrics that surface risk, reduce reconciling items, and drive continuous improvement.

This session provides information essential to all peer reviewers and includes an overview of the recent developments and “hot topics” in the Peer Review Program.

Note: This session satisfies the Peer Review Update requirement for team and review captains. Firms subject to Peer Review may benefit from attending this session.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the five Peer Review Program strategic priorities and the current initiatives based on these priorities.
• Identify recent developments and “hot topics” in the Peer Review Program.
• Recall the available resources for Peer Reviewers.

With the issuance of Statement of Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 149, Special Considerations — Audits of Group Financial Statements (Including the Work of Component Auditors), firms face significant changes in how group audits are planned, performed, and documented. This session will highlight the most impactful updates — particularly around risk assessment, component auditor oversight, and coordination—and offer practical guidance to implement the standard effectively.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key provisions and changes introduced in Statement of Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 149, Special Considerations—Audits of Group Financial Statements (Including the Work of Component Auditors), and their impact on audit planning and performance.
• Determine best practices for coordinating and supervising component auditors in compliance with the new standard.

We are witnessing a shift from “crypto speculation” to “digital finance infrastructure.” While the headlines focus on volatile coin prices, the underlying technology is quietly overhauling how money moves and how assets are owned, as well as how the economic system will work. This session looks beyond Bitcoin to the structural changes coming to the accounting and financial planning professions.

In this session, participants will explore how Real World Assets (RWA) — like real estate, private credit, and private equity — are moving onchain to unlock liquidity and create new collateral opportunities. We will examine how stablecoins are modernizing settlement from “T+2” to “T-Instant,” and how artificial intelligence combined with blockchain will eventually allow for hyper-personalized portfolios. Prepare your practice for an era of self-custody, on-chain identity, and 24/7 global markets.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how the advent of Bitcoin changed our idea of money, and what that means for the future of investments.
• Distinguish how traditional investments, real estate, and private credit are moving onchain to increase transparency, liquidity, and collateralization capabilities for clients.
• Analyze how portfolios and opportunities will evolve asset allocation beyond standard mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
• Determine how “on-chain identity,” 24/7 markets, and instant liquidity will change options, financial planning, and money movement.

Asset protection trusts are frequently used in the context of elder care and special needs planning. This session will discuss strategies to address challenging trust tax structures and diverse assets such as IRAs, real estate, annuities, and business interests. Participants will compare available tax opportunities, highlight lurking tax traps, and compare techniques to maintain tax benefits. Optimizing tax basis step up and residential tax exemptions also will be covered.

Robert S. Barnett and Stuart H. Schoenfeld will present an in-depth presentation focusing on the intersection of tax law with elder care and special needs planning. Topics will include:
• how to ensure that the Medicaid trust does not result in adverse tax consequences;
• domicile issues to be considered with elder care planning;
• §1014(a) basis of trust property and protecting the step up upon death;
• potential tax pitfalls of using joint trusts;
• incorporating qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) and credit shelter provisions to a Medicaid protection trust;
• proper drafting for compliance with grantor trust rules;
• elder care planning with annuities;
• taxation of Supplemental Needs Trusts; and
• supplemental Needs Trusts after the Secure Act.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply techniques to ensure compliance with grantor trust rules.
• Identify potential tax pitfalls of using joint trusts.
• Determine how to incorporate estate inclusion, qualified terminable interest property (QTIP), credit shelter, and other estate tax savings techniques into Medicaid planning.
• Analyze elder care planning with annuities and assets with challenging tax structures.

This presentation is designed to assist the participant in assessing the firm’s current partner evaluation and partner compensation processes. It is designed to challenge the participant to identify where the current evaluation and compensation plans reinforce or hinder the firm’s strategy and vision. Pillars to be discussed are growth goals, accountability, team development, profitability, succession planning, and strategic initiative participation. Additional coverage will include compensation committees, closed compensation, and overcoming partner objections to modifications to the evaluation and compensation plans.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the firm’s current partner evaluation and compensation systems to determine how effectively they support the firm’s strategic goals, including growth, accountability, team development, profitability, succession planning, and participation in strategic initiatives.
• Identify and apply practical strategies for improving partner evaluation and compensation models, including the use of Compensation Committees, closed compensation structures, and techniques for addressing partner resistance to change.

This session provides a timely update on recent tax law, regulatory, and administrative developments affecting passthrough entities, including partnerships, S corporations, and LLCs taxed as partnerships. The program focuses on changes impacting tax compliance, partner and shareholder reporting, and planning considerations for closely held businesses and real estate entities. Topics include federal and state updates, evolving interpretations from the IRS and courts, and emerging planning strategies and risk areas relevant to advisers working with passthrough structures. Emphasis is placed on practical application and identifying areas where recent developments may affect filing positions, reporting obligations, and tax planning opportunities.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify recent federal and state tax developments affecting pass‑through entities, including changes related to compliance, reporting, and entity‑level elections.
• Analyze how recent guidance and enforcement trends influence planning opportunities and risk considerations for partnerships and S corporations, particularly in closely held and real estate structures.
• Identify how recent developments may affect pass‑through entity owners, including considerations related to income characterization, deductions, basis, and state‑level taxation.

We all have areas for improvement — so why do we so often avoid talking about them? This session explores the barriers that prevent us from seeking feedback on our own performance and from addressing growth opportunities with others.

Participants will build confidence in engaging in feedback conversations by learning practical strategies for both receiving and delivering meaningful, difference‑making feedback. The session introduces common obstacles to productive feedback, techniques for soliciting and acting on input, and four proven frameworks — complete with suggested language — for navigating challenging conversations.

Attendees will also learn how to clarify ownership and accountability for follow‑up, ensuring feedback leads to real improvement rather than stalled intentions. Join this session to gain practical skills you can apply immediately to support performance growth — for yourself and for others on your team.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify barriers that keep us from addressing areas for improvement.
• Recognize strategies to solicit and action regular feedback on our own performance.
• Recall four frameworks with suggested language to both receive and deliver difference-making feedback.
• Determine an approach to clarify ownership and accountability for follow up on performance improvements.

This session provides a comprehensive review of the myriad of tax and financial issues involved in the administration of a client’s estate, including:
• first steps to take upon learning of a client’s passing;
• coordinating efforts among the financial advisors assisting the family;
• planning for and preparing federal and state estate tax returns, including the federal portability election;
• planning for and preparing federal and state individual income and fiduciary income tax returns, including a review of the various income tax planning issues and elections that arise;
• discussing various financial planning issues that the family faces, including qualified retirement plan distribution options; and
• advising on any generation-skipping income tax elections and issues.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the tax and financial planning issues involved in the administration of a client's estate.
• Determine the tax compliance issues faced in the administration of an estate.
• Identify how the CPA can provide value to the family in the administration of a client's estate.

This seminar equips advisors with practical strategies to navigate the evolving landscape of estate planning following the enactment of H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA. Whether your clients have modest estates or complex, multigenerational wealth, this session will address H.R. 1’s impact on core estate planning principles and provide actionable guidance tailored to a broad range of client needs.
Key topics will include:
• tax law changes affecting estate and charitable planning;
• tailored planning strategies for clients with varying degrees of wealth;
• techniques to maximize basis step-up for income tax purposes; and
• modernizing existing irrevocable trusts given the increased exemption.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the key changes introduced by H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA, particularly relating to core estate planning principles and practices.
• Apply tax law change to estate and charitable planning.
• Determine strategies to maximize basis step-up for income tax purposes.
• Apply best practices to modernize existing irrevocable trusts in line with new exemption amounts.

Forget everything you’ve been told about retirement. The 40-year grind followed by 30 years on a golf course? That’s a 20th-century invention, and it’s quietly dying with the generation that perfected it.

This presentation challenges the narrative we’ve inherited and offers a more sustainable framework for the life you’re actually living: one where student loans, fluctuating housing markets, climate uncertainty, and having no children are closer to the reality; where you value experiences in your 40s as much as security in your 70s; and where your body’s prime years aren’t sacrificed to an arbitrary finish line.

This session will explore the surprising history of how we got sold on the “work-then-stop” model (spoiler: it’s newer than you think), why it’s unsustainable for Millennials and Gen Z, and how extending your earning years across a longer lifespan can actually buy you more freedom, not less. The secret? Strategic financial and career planning that gives you permission to take a sabbatical at 45 instead of waiting until your knees give out.

Through personal narrative and practical frameworks, you’ll discover how to design a career that breathes with space for mini-retirements, location flexibility, and the radical idea that working until 70 might be the best decision you ever make ... if it means truly living during your 50s.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key financial planning tools and liquidity strategies that enable flexibility throughout your career without sacrificing growth.
• Recognize career longevity as a strategic advantage by designing a flexible earnings timeline that prioritizes peak health years over rigid work-stop transition.

Join tax litigator Keri Brown for a discussion of hot topics that the IRS is focusing on in their transfer tax audits and litigation. This session examines current audit, appeals, and litigation trends, including the IRS’s recent focus areas, such as formula clauses, split‑dollar life insurance, QTIP terminations, and penalties. Longstanding issues like section 2036, valuation, and adequate disclosure will be discussed. Recent cases, including Elcan and McDougall, analyze the IRS’s positions, and discuss strategies for effectively positioning clients at the planning stage will be reviewed.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate the IRS’s developing focus areas.
• Assess how to position your client for audit success at the planning level, including how to minimize the effect of a privilege waiver.

Charitable gifting starts with the best intentions. However, all too often the law undermines the tax benefits. This presentation will cover income tax and estate tax issues advisors should be aware for charitable planning. It will also cover specific asset situations.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate unique circumstances in income tax and transfer charitable planning.
• Interpret recent cases and IRS guidance relating to tax planning for charitable gifting.

Climbing the finance leadership ladder today requires more than strong technical skills — it demands strategic career decisions, a compelling personal brand, and a clear understanding of an evolving talent market. With remote work reshaping workplace dynamics, critical skills gaps widening, and generational differences influencing hiring preferences, finance professionals face new challenges in navigating their careers.

In this candid, multi‑perspective panel discussion, industry experts share firsthand insights from all sides of the hiring process. Panelists include a senior finance executive who recently transitioned roles, a recruiter specializing in finance talent, a corporate HR leader overseeing hiring trends, and a mid‑level professional who successfully made a company change.

Together, they will unpack what drives hiring decisions in today’s competitive market, identify the green flags and red flags that make or break candidacies, and explore how organizations are adapting their recruitment strategies. Attendees will gain insider perspectives on the full job search process — from application through offer — and learn how candidates can stand out beyond their résumé.

Whether you’re building a finance team, navigating the hiring process, or considering your next strategic career move, this session offers practical guidance to help you intentionally manage your career and align your trajectory with market demand.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify what finance employers are prioritizing in today's market and how remote work and generational preferences are reshaping what companies value most.
• Recognize how to navigate each stage of the application process and what recruiters and hiring managers are looking for.
• Identify how to position yourself effectively in the market by crafting a compelling professional narrative that resonates with both recruiters and hiring managers.
• Identify how to turn current market challenges into career opportunities and how to position yourself for high-growth areas within finance.

CPAs create and distribute reports for a wide range of purposes and audiences — but how do you ensure those reports comply with SOX control requirements?

As AI continues to transform the reporting landscape, it not only expands available tools but also introduces new considerations for control design and governance. This session explores what makes reporting truly effective, highlights best practices for designing and evaluating reporting controls, and provides an overview of commonly used reporting tools in today’s evolving environment.

Learning Objectives:

• Distinguish between data and information and indicate how to document completeness and accuracy for control purposes.
• Recognize how data governance and master data management impacts financial reporting and how artificial intelligence can be used within control limitations.

Leveraging Controls to Increase Efficiency

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how strategic control reliance can reduce substantive audit work.
• Distinguish how to make an efficient decision when controls are strong and predictable.

This session will include a discussion of current fraud schemes; methods for preventing, detecting and deterring fraud; the influence of artificial intelligence on fraud-related risks; and enabling tools for combatting fraud. The session will also discuss the continued importance of professional skepticism in light of the expanding use of emerging technologies.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify current common fraud schemes and prevention and detection strategies.
• Distinguish fraud-related challenges and risks associated with a client’s use of artificial intelligence (AI), along with the opportunities for leveraging AI to prevent, deter, and detect fraud.
• Identify strategies for testing clients’ use of artificial intelligence.
• Analyze the continued importance of professional skepticism as the use of emerging technologies expands.

Building a tech stack can feel like a full-time job — researching apps, chasing demos, and second-guessing every decision. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, overpay, and still end up with tools no one uses. This session cuts through the noise and helps you focus on the tech that actually works. We’ll show you how to build a simplified, efficient tech stack that supports your firm without running your life.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify at least three common inefficiencies in tech stack selection that lead to overwhelm, overspending, or tool underutilization.
• Identify a simplified tech stack strategy by selecting essential tools aligned with firm needs, minimizing redundancy, and prioritizing ease of adoption.
• Recognize how AI can empower small firms to create bespoke apps and automations that fit their specific use cases.

Join a dynamic panel of SOC veterans as they share candid insights, lessons learned, and bold predictions for the future of SOC reporting. This interactive session invites audience participation and real-time Q&A to spark meaningful dialogue.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify current trends in SOC including common challenges for service auditors and service organizations.
• Analyze the future of the SOC reporting landscape including the near-term impacts of AI incorporation.

This session provides a practical, tax‑focused examination of exit strategies for real estate held in a trade or business. Participants will explore how disposition decisions—such as taxable sales, tax‑deferred exchanges, installment sales, recapitalizations, and partial exits—affect after‑tax proceeds, risk exposure, and long‑term planning outcomes. Emphasis is placed on advanced planning considerations for partnerships and closely held entities, common structuring pitfalls, and the importance of timing and transaction sequencing. The discussion highlights how tax advisers can add value by identifying irreversible decisions early in the exit process and aligning tax strategy with business and ownership objectives.

Learning Objectives:

• Compare the tax consequences of common real estate exit strategies, including outright sales, Section 1031 exchanges, installment sales, and staged transactions, with an emphasis on after-tax proceeds and risk.
• Identify advanced planning issues and potential pitfalls in partnership and entity-level real estate dispositions.
• Apply a structured decision framework to align tax strategy with business objectives, ownership structure, and long-term planning goals.

The taxation of employee compensatory stock options can be quite complex. Proper planning in this area can also be filled with potential traps. This fast-paced session will help you fully understand the different tax rules for the entire alphabet soup of options: RSUs, NQs, ISOs and ESPPs. You’ll also take away detailed examples of how to strategize these transactions with your clients.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the various types of employee equity compensation, including RSUs, NQs, ISOs, and ESPPs.
• Determine the tax treatment of different forms of equity compensation.
• Apply practical planning strategies when advising clients with equity compensation.
• Analyze how equity compensation interacts with qualified small business stock, divorce, or death.

The apps firms rely on are no longer just tools—they're intelligent partners. AI has supercharged the tools we use—and created entirely new categories of applications that didn't exist 12 months ago. From intelligent document analysis to AI-driven client communication to productivity tools that actually learn how you work, the impact on organizations is no longer incremental—it's transformational. In this fast-paced session, our panelists will spotlight standout apps—that are redefining what's possible. This isn't a deep dive; it's a speed run designed to show you where the industry is headed, how organizations are already gaining a competitive edge, and which tools deserve your attention right now. You'll leave with a curated list of apps to explore and real-world use cases.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify and provide an overview of interesting apps that enhance productivity, communication, and training.
• Recognize and be inspired by practical app solutions that address common challenges and improve day-to-day operations.

The shift to remote, hybrid, and offshore work is permanent, with cloud-based operations, virtual collaboration tools, and distributed team management becoming essential for firm competitiveness and talent retention. This session will explore strategies for managing workflows across global and offshore teams, leveraging platforms that enable seamless collaboration regardless of location. Topics include workflow management systems, virtual client service delivery, team collaboration tools, and cybersecurity measures tailored for distributed and offshore operations. Attendees will gain insights into optimizing productivity, maintaining compliance, and fostering engagement in a globally connected workforce.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key technologies that support workflow management and virtual collaboration for distributed and offshore teams.
• Identify strategies to maintain compliance and cybersecurity in cloud-based operations across global environments.
• Identify best practices for fostering engagement and productivity within remote and hybrid teams to enhance talent retention and client service delivery.

As accounting teams become increasingly diverse and globally connected, understanding and navigating cultural differences has become essential to effective collaboration, communication, and client service. This session explores how cultural backgrounds influence work styles, expectations, decision-making, feedback preferences, and team dynamics — and how leaders can intentionally foster an environment where all team members feel respected, heard, and able to contribute fully.

Through practical examples, research-informed insights, and real-world scenarios from the profession, participants will gain tools to build cultural awareness, reduce misunderstanding, and strengthen cross-cultural collaboration within firms and corporate accounting departments. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for creating inclusive, high-performing teams that are better equipped to serve an increasingly diverse marketplace.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common cultural factors that influence workplace behaviors, communication styles, and team expectations.
• Recognize how cultural differences can impact collaboration, conflict, and decision-making within accounting teams.
• Recognize strategies to foster psychological safety, trust, and inclusive communication across culturally diverse teams.
• Distinguish between team processes, norms, and leadership behaviors to determine how well they support cross cultural collaboration and client service.

This session explores a deeply human and refreshingly personal approach to goal‑setting — one that begins with who you are, not just what you want to accomplish. Rather than relying on traditional SMART goals or productivity hacks, Emma Ball shares how choosing a single word to guide her year has shaped her growth as a leader, parent, and creative professional.

Through storytelling and gentle structure, attendees will be invited to reflect on their own personal and professional seasons, identify what they want more of, and create a growth goal that resonates on a deeper level. The session introduces a practical, repeatable method for selecting a “word of the year” aligned with your current chapter of life and work.

Participants will also explore how self‑awareness and emotional intelligence support confident, grounded leadership, and how simple practices — such as reflection, journaling, or personal rituals — can help sustain focus and intention throughout the year.

This session is especially relevant for emerging leaders and values‑driven professionals who want to show up more fully at work without sacrificing their humanity. Heartfelt, engaging, and rooted in real life, it meets attendees where they are — mid‑growth, mid‑shift, or mid‑struggle — and offers a doable, meaningful way to re‑center and move forward with purpose.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key elements of seasonal reflection that support personal and professional growth.
• Recall common practices that help maintain connection to a chosen theme throughout the year.
• Identify ways emotional intelligence and self-awareness support grounded, values-driven leadership and sustained personal growth.

With the new Quality Management Standard (QM-1) having taken effect December 15, 2025, this session provides a timely and practical guide for firms performing attestation services. The content will be drawn from several suggested topics to provide a comprehensive overview. This session will delve into the ongoing process of monitoring and remediation for a firm’s system of quality management, which is required to be performed in 2026. The discussion will cover the requirements for monitoring, how to perform a root cause analysis, evaluating findings, and remediating deficiencies. The importance of proper communication and documentation will also be addressed.

This session will also explore the annual evaluation of a firm’s system of quality management, a requirement of QM Section 10. The session will outline the requirements of this evaluation and the necessary supporting documentation.

Additionally, the session will address the needs of all firms, including sole practitioners, small firms and middle market firms. It will cover how these firms are required to implement QM Section 10 and operate a system of quality management. The session will also discuss the additional requirements in QM Section 20 concerning engagement quality reviews and how these apply specifically to a sole practitioner.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the monitoring component of QM1 and its impact on a firm's risk assessment process.
• Identify how the implementation of QM will impact your firm's peer review.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving from tools that respond to prompts into systems that can plan, reason, and take action across workflows, operating with delegated autonomy inside defined guardrails.

This session focuses on what is actionable today and how firms can position themselves to lead the next wave of intelligent technologies. Participants will leave with a clear framework for evaluating where Agentic AI fits within their firm, how to mitigate risk while accelerating adoption, and how innovative firms can use AI to expand capacity, enhance client value, and begin to reshape their operating model.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize what differentiates agentic AI from generative AI.
• Identify how AI agents can orchestrate multi-step workflows across tax, audit, advisory, and operations.
• Recognize the implications AI can have for governance, risk, security, and compliance for CPA firms.
• Recall practical guidance for piloting agentic solutions without disrupting core systems.

AICPA advocates for good tax policy, including on trust, estate, and gift tax issues. This session will cover the many developments and projects the Technical Resource Panel (TRP) is advocating for in the estate and trust area. Contacts with Treasury, IRS, and Congress are emphasized.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify planning areas and recommendations.
• Recognize estate and gift tax issues that affect your clients.

While many professional advisors know about the basic rules of Roth IRAs, they do not understand the economic and tax intricacies associated with them. Unfortunately, the failure to understand the mathematical fundamentals of Roth IRAs can lead to making disastrous decisions. However, with a good working knowledge of the quantitative “forces” which drive Roth IRA conversions, professional advisors will be able to give cogent, straightforward advice to their clients.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the factors that impact Roth IRA conversions the most.
• Analyze the taxation of Roth IRA conversions and Roth IRA distributions.
• Distinguish other outside factors, such as the estate taxes and post-death elections, which make Roth IRA conversions more effective.
• Choose how to model Roth IRA conversion analysis to make the most prudent decisions.

Like data analytics and other enterprise technologies, AI initiatives cannot be managed by IT alone. AI introduces additional governance, risk, adoption, and ethical considerations that require input from accountants and internal auditors — especially when organizations are evaluating AI projects or deploying technologies with embedded AI.

This session focuses on how accounting and internal audit professionals can add value to AI‑related discussions and decision‑making. Attendees will learn how to help ensure AI risks are appropriately identified and managed, and how to assess return on investment with a broader view of AI’s operational, regulatory, and organizational impact.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the elements of IT governance.
• Identify the elements of a Gen AI governance model.
• Analyze the role of Management Accountants in IT Governance

In this Q&A session, Michael Brand, CPA, CGMA, and member, BMSS Advisors & CPAs, LLC; Mike Cheng, partner, Frazier & Deeter; Michael Manspeaker, audit partner, SEK, CPAs & Advisors; and Michael Westervelt, CPA and National Assurance principal, CLA, will address your A&A inquiries. Moderated by Elizabeth Gantnier, CPA, CGMA, and partner, FORVIS MAZARS, the discussion will highlight current and future standards and address themes of A&A matters covered at Engage.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the latest A&A matters and topics.
• Identify current and future standards.

What if the “Cadillac” health insurance plans that employers tout as premier benefits are actually holding your clients back from building wealth? When clients who are generally healthy and financially stable select health insurance that offers higher coverage than they need, they are doing themselves and their futures a disservice by pre-paying for healthcare they may never use.

The alternative is selecting high-deductible HSA-eligible healthcare plans and then maxing out Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), investing those accounts and saving them to use later in life. Using HSA best practices can enable early retirement, career shifts later in life with less regard for healthcare benefits, or clients to self-fund their own long-term care.

But there is a critical factor missing from this strategy: the need for healthcare financial literacy, what that means, and how it works. This session will not only cover the strategic use of HSAs but also will discuss how to use HSA plans without exposing clients to catastrophic financial risk.

Session participants will learn how healthcare services are priced, why shopping around can make all the difference during accumulation years, and how to help clients manage their health and longevity in a cost-effective way that allows them to let their HSAs build and grow tax-free income throughout their earning years. You’ll leave ready to position HSAs as a wealth-building cornerstone that could add six figures to your clients’ retirement savings.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify which clients are ideal candidates for high-deductible health plan (HDHP)/health savings account (HSA) wealth-building strategies based on health status, financial stability, and risk tolerance.
• Analyze healthcare service pricing to guide clients in making cost-effective medical decisions during accumulation years.
• Calculate the potential retirement savings impact when clients strategically manage healthcare spending and invest HSA contributions.

Our clients want to hold certain investments that the traditional IRA trustee will not hold. This can include digital assets, such as cryptocurrency or nonfungible tokens (NFTs), real estate, or closely held businesses.

What are the requirements for a self-directed IRA (SDIRA)? In this session, participants will identify the assets that can and cannot be held in the SDIRA. Additionally, this session will review tax benefits and common pitfalls of SDIRAs, pros and cons of owning a business or real estate in an SDIRA, and a real-life case study of a movie star who had an SDIRA.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify requirements for self-directed IRAs (SDIRAs).
• Identify assets that can be owned by an SDIRA.
• Determine the tax benefits of SDIRAs.
• Analyze common pitfalls of SDIRAs.

There is a wide array of federal and state-specific tax planning opportunities available to individuals in retirement. While some opportunities might be for the current tax year, others are longer-term in nature. Additionally, tax planning goals can vary by client, where some want to minimize taxes for themselves, while others might want to minimize taxes for their eventual beneficiaries via tax-efficient wealth transfer.

There are no universal tax planning opportunities that apply to all individuals in retirement. But there are nonetheless opportunities that are common among many retired individuals. This session will discuss the common retirement tax planning opportunities for individuals, the mistakes people often make regarding those opportunities, how to avoid those mistakes, and how to correct them (if possible).

The session will focus on the following retirement tax planning opportunities, and common mistakes around them:
• Underpayment penalties and interest
• Required minimum distributions (RMDs)
• Beneficiary designations
• Roth withdrawal rules
• IRA non-deductible “basis” and the pro rata rule on distributions and conversions
• Charitable giving
• Managing modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for purposes of Affordable Care Act (ACA) Premium Tax Credits and/or Medicare Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) surcharges
• State-specific income tax and planning considerations

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the major federal and state-level tax planning opportunities often available to individuals in retirement, and the common mistakes made around those opportunities.
• Recognize how to avoid the common retirement tax planning mistakes, as well as how to rectify the mistakes.

What if you were told that a picture of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich could outperform a $10,000 marketing campaign? Well, it can. And honestly, it makes sense.

In a world full of cookie-cutter captions, AI-generated nonsense, and overpromised return on investment (ROI), the accounting industry is being sold the idea that you can buy your way to influence. Spoiler alert: You can’t, and anyone promising to make you or your firm “go viral” overnight is selling more fantasy than function.

This session is for the firm owners, marketers, and professionals who are curious about using social media the right way, not the loud way. You’ll walk through how to build real traction without outsourcing your personality or emptying your budget. You’ll learn how to:
• Avoid getting scammed by overpriced social “experts” who don’t understand this industry
• Find your voice online without sounding like a try-hard LinkedIn bot
• Use organic content to build connection and trust (and yes, it works)
• Start showing up on socials with what you’ve got, even if it’s just a few hours a month

If you’ve ever wondered whether people care about what you have to say online, they do. You just have to say it like a human. This session will give you the tools, strategy, and confidence to stop overthinking and start connecting with the audience that actually matters to you. Ditch the vanity metrics, buzzwords, and fake polish because, while popularity isn’t for sale, real connection is always here to stay.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common red flags of overpriced or misleading social media marketing offers in the accounting industry.
• Identify the characteristics of organic social media content that builds trust and connection with an audience.
• Distinguish between vanity metrics and meaningful engagement when evaluating social media performance.
• Select practical starting points for creating consistent, authentic social media content with limited time and resources.

Get the inside scoop from SOC 1 and SOC 2 working groups. This session highlights upcoming initiatives, standard updates, and collaborative efforts shaping the future of SOC reporting and third-party risk assurance.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify recent, ongoing, and future initiatives from the SOC 1 and SOC 2 task forces.
• Analyze recent changes to standards and how they affect SOC engagements.

Sales and use tax obligations are evolving faster than many clients can keep up with and they are increasingly turning to their CPAs to flag risks long before an auditor does. Yet for many accounting and consulting professionals, sales tax remains one of the most challenging areas to assess because the rules vary widely between states, change frequently, and can be triggered by even small shifts in a client’s operations. The stakes are high: failing to identify nexus, misapplying exemptions, or overlooking a client’s exposure in a new market can lead to costly assessments, penalties, and unexpected liabilities that undermine both the client relationship and the CPA’s value as a trusted advisor.
This session takes a practical, actionable approach to navigating today’s multistate sales-tax landscape. We’ll break down the most common and costly pitfalls facing clients from unnoticed economic nexus thresholds, to misclassified services, to overlooked digital product taxability, to gaps in exemption certificate management. Even sophisticated clients may not recognize when their business model, product mix, or geographic footprint has triggered new obligations, leaving CPAs in the critical position of asking the right questions at the right time. This session will help you do exactly that.
You’ll learn a clear, CPA-friendly framework for identifying red flags and assessing sales tax risk quickly and confidently. We’ll walk through the core areas where exposure tends to hide: nexus creation through remote employees or inventory; taxability issues involving digital goods or services; multichannel selling complications; drop-shipment challenges; registration and filing inconsistencies; and the real-world audit triggers. The presentation also highlights how small operational changes like outsourcing fulfillment, shifting to subscription models, expanding into marketplaces, or completing mergers and acquisitions can dramatically alter a client’s tax obligations without anyone realizing it.
Beyond technical rules, the session focuses on how CPAs can embed simple but effective sales tax review steps into their existing client processes. You’ll gain practical language for asking the right discovery questions, strategies for minimizing surprises, and insights into when deeper analysis or specialist support may be needed. The goal is not to turn CPAs into sales tax experts, but to equip them with the tools and confidence to identify exposure early, reduce risk proactively, and elevate the value of their client advisory services.
Attendees will receive a sales tax risk checklist designed that can be incorporated into client onboarding, annual planning meetings, SALT reviews, advisory engagements, or internal quality control processes. It offers a structured way to evaluate sales tax risk giving firms a consistent, repeatable method for protecting clients from significant liabilities.
Whether you regularly advise clients on state and local tax or simply want to strengthen your risk identification approach across your broader client base, this session will provide the clarity and tools you need. You’ll leave with a stronger understanding of how sales tax exposure develops, how to spot risks early, and how to guide clients toward compliance with confidence before an auditor forces the issue.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify operational factors that create sales tax nexus and exposure, including business model, product or service mix, and geographic footprint.
• Distinguish common sales tax risk scenarios, such as misclassified services, exemption errors, reseller transactions, and multistate customer activity.
• Recognize a practical framework for identifying sales tax red flags and determining when additional compliance or advisory action may be needed.

Influencers, content creators, and NIL earners represent a rapidly growing client segment that most tax professionals are unprepared to serve. These individuals manage complex, multi-stream revenue models including ad revenue from platforms, brand sponsorships, affiliate marketing, digital product sales, merchandise, and NIL licensing deals. Their unique business structures and the intentional blurring of personal brand with business operations create significant tax compliance challenges and advisory opportunities for practitioners willing to develop specialized expertise in this niche.

This session will provide attendees with practical knowledge to confidently serve these clients. We'll begin by breaking down how influencers, content creators, and NIL earners actually generate income and the reporting complexities they face. You'll learn about entity structure considerations to help you make strategic decisions for these clients and understand the unique factors that apply when working with this demographic.

The session will address the critical challenge of distinguishing legitimate business expenses from personal expenditures in an industry where the line between personal brand and business is intentionally blurred. We'll explore areas of heightened IRS scrutiny for influencers, content creators, and NIL earners. You'll learn documentation standards that protect these clients during audits and understand how hobby loss rules apply when they're building their businesses.

In this session you will see how these tax concepts apply in practice and gain confidence addressing the unique situations these clients present. You will be provided actionable strategies for attracting and retaining influencer, content creator, and NIL clients, and shown pricing models that work for this client type.

Whether you're exploring this niche for the first time or systematizing your existing practice with these clients, you'll leave with practical insights to help you serve this dynamic segment effectively and position your firm as a recognized leader in this lucrative and underserved market.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the unique operational structures and revenue models used by influencers, content creators, and NIL earners.
• Distinguish between personal and business expenses in the influencer, content creator, and NIL space, including areas of increased IRS scrutiny.
• Recognize considerations for positioning your firm to serve influencer, content creator, and NIL clients through tax compliance and advisory services.

In 2026, privacy is no longer just about protecting your credit card—it is about managing the risk to your reputation, your family, and your firm as a critical component of executive cyber hygiene. As AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini become commonplace, the public data you leave online (your "digital footprint") is increasingly used to fuel targeted attacks that can bypass corporate firewalls.

This session skips the technical complexity to provide a practical, non-technical guide to digital self-defense. We will audit your personal exposure the way a bad actor would—looking at data brokers, social media, and AI platforms—and provide a checklist of simple settings to lock them down. Whether you are a partner, a sole practitioner, or simply a privacy-conscious person, you will leave with actionable steps to better secure your digital life and your business.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize how AI tools and attacker research techniques use public information to create targeted fraud and reputation risks.
• Identify the specific components of a digital footprint, including data broker listings and metadata that expose personal information.
• Select appropriate privacy settings to secure personal accounts, mobile devices, and generative AI platforms.
• Identify the relationship between personal digital hygiene and broader security risks to your firm.

This demo showcases how Thomson Reuters enables an end‑to‑end, connected tax workflow—from client data collection through return delivery—using an integrated automation approach. Attendees will see how solutions such as SurePrep, SafeSend, and UltraTax work together as part of the Thomson Reuters Tax Automation Suite to streamline manual steps, reduce risk, and improve efficiency across the entire tax lifecycle by leveraging a unified tax ecosystem.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize what an end‑to‑end tax automation workflow looks like in practice.
• Identify key stages of the tax lifecycle that can be automated and connected.
• Recognize how data flows seamlessly across client intake, preparation, collaboration, and delivery.
• Recognize the value of a unified workflow versus disconnected point solutions.

Tax credit rules are evolving rapidly, as are the tools used to manage compliance — and staying ahead is now essential for organizations seeking to reduce risk, maintain compliance, and maximize value.

Recent legislative changes, including H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA, have materially altered the tax credit landscape. At the same time, automation, generative AI, and emerging agentic AI capabilities are changing how teams track updates, strengthen documentation, and coordinate cross functional execution.

This session cuts through the noise with a practical, business ready approach grounded in real world use cases that support both internal execution and client delivery. Attendees will explore how shifting rules and new technologies intersect — and how to respond with strategies that are sustainable and defensible.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:
• Understand the origins and intent of major tax credit programs, such as the research and development (R&D) credit, that underpin current incentives under H.R. 1
• Interpret recent legislative changes and translate them into practical implications for eligibility, documentation, and audit readiness
• Adapt tax credit strategies as regulations continue to evolve
• Improve cross functional coordination across HR, legal, and finance to identify and capture opportunities consistently
• Explore how generative AI tools can accelerate information gathering and standardize documentation and summaries
• Consider how agentic AI can support multi step workflows by monitoring updates, flagging impacts, and routing actions to appropriate stakeholders

Learning Objectives:

• Recall the origins and intent of major tax credit programs, such as research and development, that shape today’s incentives from H.R. 1.
• Recognize recent legislative changes and translate them into practical implications for tax credit eligibility, documentation, and audit readiness.
• Identify how to adapt your general tax credit strategy as regulations continue to shift.
• Recall how to improve cross-functional coordination across HR, legal, and finance to capture opportunities consistently.

Advances in AI are creating real opportunities for tax, audit and accounting firms to work smarter, serve clients better, and unlock new value — from automating time-consuming tasks to elevating professionals into higher-value advisory roles. In a field where accuracy, accountability, and trust are non-negotiable, understanding the difference between fiduciary-grade AI and general-purpose AI is essential for high-stakes tax work. Through real-world data, industry benchmarks, and a practical adoption framework explored in this session, participants will leave equipped to assess their firm's current AI maturity and take deliberate steps toward a scalable AI strategy.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify AI's real-world applications across tax workflows — including research, return preparation, and advisory services — and evaluate their impact on firm efficiency and resource allocation.
• Evaluate the differences between fiduciary-grade AI and general-purpose AI and assess why fiduciary-grade AI is necessary for high-stakes tax work.
• Apply a structured framework to assess firm's current stage of AI adoption and outline deliberate steps toward a scalable, ROI-driven AI strategy.

Learn how to use the the safest and smartest AI for Audit and Assurance teams.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how AI-powered audit and assurance tools like Ava can streamline key CPA workflows, from risk assessment to evidence gathering.
• Recognize the potential efficiency gains and quality improvements that AI-driven automation introduces to audit and assurance engagements.

To navigate globalization, every business decision-maker weighs economic variables when considering overseas investments or market exposure. But to spot crucial opportunities and manage risk, decision-makers must also understand the political factors and trends changing our world in real-time.

Whether it’s increasingly contentious relations between China and the United States, the war in Ukraine, a more complex regulatory environment in Europe, a newly global focus from India, surges of populism in Latin America, heightened competition in Africa, or dozens of other politically driven trends, political analyst and entrepreneur Ian Bremmer will detail how political risk is creating new sets of business winners and losers.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize how to spot political risk on the horizon and balance it against economic opportunities.
• Identify the opportunities and dangers of multilayered relations between Washington and Beijing.
• Recognize how to identify the broader trends remaking tomorrow’s global balance of power.
• Identify how to process the technological changes now transforming geopolitics.

Join the AICPA’s Executive Vice President – Advocacy Mark G. Peterson for a timely Washington update that breaks down the latest legislative, regulatory, and policy developments impacting the CPA profession and the broader business community.

This session will provide insights into key federal issues, emerging priorities on Capitol Hill, and what advocacy efforts mean for firms and finance leaders in the year ahead. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of what’s happening in Washington and how it may affect their organizations and clients in 2026 and beyond.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key legislative, regulatory, and policy developments in Washington that are most likely to impact the CPA profession and the broader business environment in 2026.
• Analyze how current federal advocacy priorities and actions may influence firms, finance leaders, and their clients, enabling informed planning and decision-making.

If running your firm feels harder than it should, you are not alone. This session breaks down the core building blocks that small firms must get right to thrive in today’s landscape. This session will also dig into smarter processes, intentional organization design, client segmentation, technology that actually reduces workload, and practical ways to build advisory capacity.

Participants will leave with a playbook of ideas, clarity around what to fix first, and confidence to evolve your firm into one that grows sustainably without burning you or your team out.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the essential operational and organizational components required for small accounting firms to operate efficiently in today’s environment.
• Recognize current firm processes to determine where inefficiencies, bottlenecks, or capacity constraints exist.
• Distinguish between client types to develop or refine a client segmentation strategy that improves service delivery and profitability.
• Recognize the principles of intentional organizational design and how to apply them to strengthen team structure, roles, and responsibilities.

Stepping into new and unfamiliar territory is where real development happens. This session explores how to recognize when you’re staying “safe,” reframe discomfort as growth, and intentionally pursue stretch opportunities. Participants will learn practical strategies to build confidence, resilience, and adaptability, unlocking new capabilities and accelerating career progression.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the comfort zone and the growth zone.
• Identify the tools needed to shift mindsets and build confidence.
• Identify the benefits of getting out of your comfort zone.

The filing of estate and gift tax returns is often fraught with complexities. Learn how to navigate the devil in the details from a former IRS Estate and Gift Tax Policy Program manager. This session will also provide an additional practitioner perspective, providing practical advice on elections, obtaining valuations, available deductions, and timing concerns to be aware of in connection with the filing estate and gift tax returns.

Learning Objectives:

• Recall what changes to the IRS estate and gift tax division have occurred over the last year and how those changes impact filers.
• Recognize practical issues about elections, the mechanics of elections, and timing issues.
• Identify what the options are when a mistake is made.

In this session, participants will review hot valuation topics in estate planning.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key aspects of valuation issues of estate planning.
• Determine factors important to gift tax reporting.

Stop fighting yesterday’s battles with tomorrow’s challenges. In an era where traditional forecasting models struggle under market volatility and economic uncertainty, finance leaders need a new playbook. This candid panel brings together three practitioners who have navigated the real‑world journey of transforming their forecasting capabilities, sharing both successes and hard‑earned lessons.

Attendees will hear honest accounts of implementing AI‑driven forecasting, integrating external intelligence, and building more adaptive methodologies. Panelists will discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what they would do differently — from early pilot projects to full implementations, including initiatives that revealed unexpected challenges and required course corrections.

The discussion highlights practical insights for building forecasting frameworks that incorporate industry benchmarks, macroeconomic indicators, and predictive analytics while preserving human judgment. You’ll also learn from real experiences with automated forecasting tools, including which approaches delivered immediate value and which required longer development cycles.

Whether you’re just beginning a forecasting transformation or refining existing models, this session provides realistic perspectives on timelines, resource requirements, and change‑management considerations.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze how to integrate internal data with external intelligence sources to create more robust and responsive forecasting models.
• Identify how to deploy automated forecasting assistants that reduce manual effort, eliminate common biases, and accelerate scenario planning cycles.
• Apply techniques for creating forecasting models that automatically adjust to changing market conditions and business environments without constant manual recalibration.
• Determine how to identify, integrate, and utilize industry benchmarks, macroeconomic data, and market signals to enhance forecast accuracy and relevance.

This session will address the importance of understanding financially significant business processes and their reliance on IT. It will focus on the often overlooked risks and controls associated with the input, interfaces, and output of IT systems and their impact on inherent risk and financial assertions.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the risks and controls within the entire financially significant systems process.
• Recognize the impact of the risks and controls on the audit approach and financial assertions, such as completeness, accuracy, and validity.
• Recognize the if, when, and how controls are tested.

Is your firm subject to peer review? Do you want a better understanding of the types of issues peer reviewers encounter and how they come to their conclusions? Using several case studies, experienced peer reviewers will discuss situations they commonly encounter when determining whether accounting and audit engagements should be considered nonconforming with relevant professional standards and what impact that may have on a firm’s peer review. Join this session for an opportunity to run through real world examples, understand relevant circumstances that affect engagement conformity, and gain a deeper understanding of your peer reviewer’s thought process.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify issues commonly arising during peer review and how to prepare your firm to avoid them.
• Distinguish how the peer review standards impact peer review conclusions.
• Determine possible outcomes to various case studies using peer review standards.

Fee model choice is not just a pricing decision; it is a business strategy decision that shapes service quality, capacity, profitability, and long-term durability. This session compares the primary fee structures used in the registered investment advisor (RIA) space, including assets under management (AUM), hourly, project fees, flat retainers, subscriptions, complexity based pricing, and hybrid approaches. This session will discuss where each model works best, where models and approaches break down, and how to select the right model based on the kind of firm you want to build, from a high-autonomy lifestyle practice to an enterprise scale advisory business.

The session uses real-world client scenarios to illustrate a common problem: AUM is often a poor proxy for workload and responsibility. A household with significant assets can require little ongoing planning, while a high-income household with modest investable assets can create intense planning, tax, and coordination demands. Attendees will learn how to avoid hidden cross subsidies, reduce scope creep, and build pricing that matches the way work actually shows up in an advisory firm.

The presenters will share practical implementation and governance techniques that make alternative fee models sustainable, including service tier design, clearly defined deliverables, decision rules for what is included versus project work, annual fee review cadence, and guardrails that limit fee volatility for clients. The discussion will also address how investment solution access and advanced planning implementation can be aligned to pricing tiers so that client outcomes remain strong while team capacity and margins remain predictable.

Attendees should leave with a clear decision framework they can apply immediately to evaluate their current pricing approach; select an alternative fee structure; and communicate pricing confidently to clients, prospects, and internal teams.

Learning Objectives:

• Differentiate between major registered investment advisor (RIA) fee models—assets under management (AUM), hourly, project, flat retainer, subscription, complexity based, and hybrid—and which models best align with lifestyle practice versus enterprise firm goals.
• Determine common failure modes in non-AUM pricing, including scope creep and cross subsidies, and the service design controls that mitigate them.
• Apply pricing governance practices, including annual review cadence and guardrails on fee changes, to improve predictability and client retention.
• Analyze a client fact pattern, an appropriate pricing approach, and communication framing based on complexity, workload drivers, and firm strategy.

An individual’s total portfolio includes more than just financial assets, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It also includes assets such as human capital and real estate. Unfortunately, a total portfolio also includes a type of soft liability, the net present value of future consumption, for example, a retirement income. For better or worse, this is reality.

The individual’s economic balance sheet can be reflected with the following equation:
Total portfolio = Financial assets + real estate + human capital – liabilities

Rather than optimizing financial assets in isolation — the common Mean-Variance Optimization (MVO) practice—all investors (or their planners and advisors) should consider embracing a total portfolio optimization approach that includes all of the elements of the economic balance sheet. This type of holistic balance sheet optimization is referred to as Net Worth Optimization (NWO) because net worth equals the total portfolio:
Net worth = Financial assets + real estate + human capital – liabilities

This session is ideal for all investors and advisors who are considering a move from MVO to NWO.

Learning Objectives:

• Interpret the key elements of an individual’s economic balance sheet, including human capital and a liability.
• Calculate the net present value of an individual's human capital.
• Contrast how different careers might influence how to model human capital.
• Assess how to extend the traditional Markowitz mean-variance optimization process, also known as Modern Portfolio Theory, to a more holistic economic balance sheet optimization process.

Not all numbers are worth tracking. This session breaks down the key metrics that actually move your firm forward and explains why they matter. Designed for business leadership teams, CEOs, founders, and firm owners, this session will help you focus on the KPIs that influence profitability, performance, and long-term value. Learn how to connect the correct metrics to your strategic goals and use data to drive confident decisions and sustainable growth.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify why selecting the right KPIs is critical to achieving firm profitability, operational effectiveness, and sustainable growth.
• Differentiate between leading and lagging indicators and describe how each influences strategic decision-making.
• Assess how core firm metrics impact long-term firm value, client relationships, and talent management.
• Analyze how aligning KPIs with strategic priorities drives accountability, focus, and organizational momentum.

AI-powered tax research has evolved from an experiment to an essential part of tax practitioners’ workflows. At the same time, this technology is also reshaping the role of those practitioners and the future of their firms. Drawing on fresh data from Blue J and CPA.com‘s 2026 AI Tax Research Outlook Report, this session explores trends in AI-powered tax research adoption, the advantages this technology poses over legacy tools, and how AI-powered tax research is fundamentally transforming the way tax experts work.

Learning Objectives:

• Recall current adoption trends in AI-powered and legacy tax research tools.
• Identify the competitive advantages AI-powered tax research tools are creating for firms.
• Recognize how AI-powered tax research is changing the way tax professionals work and how firms are adapting.

Many firms use Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, or similar AI tools, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. This session explores what comes after the initial AI assistant adoption: how to evolve from basic task support to firm-wide, intelligent workflows.

We'll show how the next generation of AI tools (Copilot Studio agents, Claude Cowork, custom GPTs, and always-on systems like OpenClaw) are making agentic AI accessible to firms of every size, and what it looks like to put them to work safely and securely. We'll go through a scoring exercise on your firm's AI maturity status, and learn what the firms pulling ahead are actually doing differently. 

You will learn about:
- Expanding from AI-optimized tasks to AI-optimized workflows.
- Understanding how agentic AI tools change a firm's AI strategy.
- Recognizing concepts such as context rot and workslop to get better results from AI tools.
- Assessing your firm's AI maturity across People, Process, Technology, and Growth.
- Identifying the guardrails and human-in-the-loop checks needed as AI agents get more sophisticated.

Attendees will leave with new inspiration and ideas to immediately integrate AI deeper inside your firm.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the shift from task-level AI usage to end-to-end, AI-driven workflows at the firm level.
• Recognize how agentic AI tools like Copilot Studio agents, Claude Cowork, and custom GPTs change a firm's AI strategy.
• Identify and apply concepts such as context rot and workslop to improve results from AI tools.
• Identify key indicators of your firm’s AI maturity across People, Process, Technology, and Growth.

Advanced analytics and visualization tools have helped countless audit teams to enhance their risk assessments, increase efficiency in audit execution and deliver more meaningful insights to clients/stakeholders. Success stories from large firms and Fortune 500 companies have been well documented. However, the path to success for smaller organizations can be daunting.

In this session, we will draw on the presenter’s personal experiences and journey from managing large engagement teams supported by the resources of a Big 4 firm to leading smaller (5-10) person Internal Audit departments with limited budgets at both public & private companies. We will discuss practical use cases for leveraging analytics in risk assessments and audits, as well as how to get your program off the ground and on the path to incorporating analytics as a fundamental component of your audit strategy.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common pitfalls, challenges, and keys to success when beginning your analytics journey.
• Apply techniques for identifying key risk indicators (KRIs) and expected outcomes to help build your models.
• Identify strategies for developing and selling an effective business case for investment.
• Identify actionable steps to get your program up and running.

Join us for a virtual wellness workshop to learn practical ways to stay focused and centered throughout the workday using intentional time blocking. We’ll explore common sources of overwhelm, identify your optimal work zones, and discuss how to structure your day to reduce persistent stress and burnout. Have your calendar handy for this interactive session.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common sources of workday overwhelm and how they contribute to decreased accuracy, reduced productivity, and increased burnout risk.
• Identify intentional time‑blocking strategies to structure the workday in ways that enhance efficiency, reduce stress, and support sustained professional performance.
• Recognize individual work patterns to determine optimal focus zones and periods of diminished cognitive performance.

Once your family office has adopted foundational technologies to streamline operations, the next frontier is harnessing predictive and intelligent tools to unlock strategic value. This advanced session explores how forward-thinking family offices are integrating artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and predictive analytics into their core workflows — transforming everything from investment modeling and cash flow forecasting to client reporting and proactive risk mitigation.

Join industry leaders and technologists for a practical, forward-looking discussion on how to evolve from reactive to predictive. You'll gain insights into automating decision-support processes, designing AI-augmented advisory models, and building a digital architecture that enables truly proactive client service. This session is ideal for those ready to elevate operational maturity and drive sustained growth in an increasingly data-driven world.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze opportunities to embed AI, predictive analytics, and intelligent automation within existing family office frameworks to enable proactive decision-making.
• Analyze case examples where family offices have used machine learning and automation to optimize client advisory services and improve financial forecasting accuracy.
• Determine how to create workflows that integrate intelligent technologies to reduce latency in reporting, enhance portfolio oversight, and boost overall operational agility.
• Identify how to create a strategic roadmap for scaling advanced technologies responsibly, balancing innovation with governance, cybersecurity, and ethical considerations.

This session explores the role of forensic accountants within the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from case inception to conviction. Using two real-world case studies, the presenters will demonstrate investigative techniques, internal control weaknesses, and professional responsibilities to enhance fraud detection and prevention.

The first case study is a textbook example of employee embezzlement in a corporate environment, emphasizing the importance of red flag identification and separation of duties.

The second highlights how failures in internal controls can have a recurring impact on nonprofits, as seen in cases where the same individual exploited similar vulnerabilities at multiple organizations.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common types of corporate fraud schemes.
• Recognize key red flags and behavioral indicators.
• Recognize the role of forensic accountants in fraud detection, investigation, and litigation support.

This session will be a debate style session, exploring the pros and cons of a remote, hybrid, and in-person workforce. The panel will showcase and get the audience to consider all sides. Each panelist also will bring helpful tips for how to lead remote, hybrid, or in-person teams.

Learning Objectives:

• Distinguish between hybrid, remote, and in-person staffing approaches, including their key characteristics and operational differences.
• Recognize the advantages and disadvantages of each staffing model as they relate to productivity, collaboration, employee satisfaction, and client service in accounting firms.
• Identify factors that influence which staffing model is best suited for different types of accounting firms, considering firm size, client needs, service offerings, and organizational culture.
• Recall practical steps and best practices for successfully adopting and managing hybrid, remote, or in-person teams, including technology, communication protocols, and workflow adjustments.

As new technology is evaluated to support service lines, firms often struggle with a fundamental question: Should they refine their processes first or implement technology to drive efficiency?

In this session, you will learn insights and hear experiences on balancing process optimization with technology adoption, focused on areas like Client Advisory Services (CAS), where technology is foundational to the service. Attendees will learn how to align their firm’s workflows and tech stack to maximize productivity, improve client outcomes, and avoid common pitfalls, such as implementing technology designed for one service firm wide.

This session will provide a roadmap for firms looking to integrate technology and process seamlessly for long-term success.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the interplay between process and technology and how each impacts efficiency and scalability.
• Identify key considerations for determining whether to optimize processes or implement new technology first.
• Analyze real-world examples of firms that have successfully balanced process improvements with tech adoption.
• Apply best practices for selecting and integrating technology that aligns with firm workflows and client needs.

This overview session will discuss Medicare, including when to enroll (to avoid late enrollment penalties) and how to enroll. Additionally, participants will learn about Medicare Parts A & B and what these Medicare parts cover, what they don't cover, and the options that you have to pick up the pieces that Medicare doesn’t cover.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key components of Medicare parts A, B, C, and D, and distinguish how each part provides coverage.
• Distinguish between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans to determine key differences in coverage, costs, and provider access.

Ever wonder why clients respond to your perfectly logical, well-researched financial advice with, “That won’t work for me”? The answer lies in groundbreaking neuroscience research that won Daniel Kahneman the Nobel Prize in Economics. This eye-opening session reveals how our brains actually make financial decisions — and why traditional advisory approaches often fail to create lasting change.

This 75-minute session reveals the fascinating science behind System 1 and System 2 thinking. Learn why clients get stuck in mindsets and master coaching techniques that bypass mental barriers to active, real transformation. As artificial intelligence (AI) handles more routine tasks, the future belongs to CPAs who guide clients through the complex psychology of money, a uniquely human skill that no algorithm can replicate.

This methodology applies across all advisory contexts, from personal financial planning to wealth management to Fractional CFO services.

Participants of this session should walk away with:
• Understanding the neuroscience behind financial decision-making and client resistance.
• Practical tools to help clients move from “that won't work for me” to “let's try it.”
• Tools for identifying and shifting limited financial mindsets in yourself and your clients.
• Real-world examples of how coaching dramatically improves clients’ outcomes.
• An action plan for transitioning your practice model.

This session is perfect for financial planning and CFO professionals who:
• know AI is disrupting traditional advisory models;
• want to increase their impact;
• see the need to move from number-crunching to a new sustainable model; and
• are ready to see light-bulb moments that truly drive clients to act in their own best interests.

If you are ready for deeper, more impactful client relationships, please join us.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how cognitive biases and brain science impact client financial decisions.
• Apply practical coaching techniques that move clients from resistance to action.
• Apply a structured coaching methodology that transitions client interactions from prescriptive advice-giving to collaborative discovery.
• Apply differentiated advisory service offerings across financial planning, wealth management, and business advisory contexts including Fractional CFO services.

Stay ahead of legal risks with this update from a CPA-focused attorney. Learn about emerging litigation trends, common pitfalls in attest engagements, and how to protect your firm from reputational and financial exposure.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate current litigation trends in public accounting with particular emphasis on attestation engagements.
• Formulate key defensive strategies to incorporate into your firm to stay out of the headlines.

H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as OBBBA compliance continues to evolve, bringing new guidance, practical challenges, and critical deadlines that employers and their advisors cannot afford to miss. This session will focus on the most important upcoming H. R. 1 deadlines, lessons learned from early compliance efforts, and practical planning considerations to help clients stay ahead.

Attendees will gain a clear understanding of what deadlines matter the most, where common pitfalls are emerging, and how to translate H.R. 1 requirements into actionable strategies. The discussion will also highlight practical tips for advising clients, managing risk, and preparing for future developments.

Presented by the Tax Tiger himself, Chris Wittich, this session delivers timely insights with a sharp focus on real world application—cutting through complexity to help practitioners confidently navigate H.R. 1 requirements.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key upcoming H.R. 1 compliance deadlines and related reporting requirements.
• Analyze recent H.R. 1 guidance and lessons learned from early implementation efforts.
• Analyze common compliance risks and operational challenges associated with H.R. 1 requirements.
• Apply practical planning strategies to help clients prepare for H.R. 1 deadlines and ongoing compliance obligations.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess the strategic impact of integrating HR advisory services to drive firm growth and differentiation
• Identify key HR advisory strategies that align with client needs and complement a CAS practice
• Share firm HR advisory success stories/use cases/suggested tech stack to achieve better business results and revenue streams

An esteemed panel of Tax Strategies, Advanced Personal Financial Planning, and Advanced Estate Planning conference committee members will provide attendees with the most current planning strategies to discuss — and immediately implement — with clients.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the most important planning strategies to discuss with your clients given the current state of tax, estate, and personal financial planning.
• Determine the top tax strategies to implement before year end.
• Analyze top planning topics that need to be considered with your clients on an annual basis.

In today’s digital landscape, CPAs are prime targets for cybercriminals due to the sensitive financial and personal data they manage. This session is designed to equip accounting professionals with the knowledge needed to recognize, prevent, and respond to cybersecurity threats that impact their firms and clients.

This session will explore the latest cyber threats affecting the accounting industry, including phishing scams, ransomware attacks, business email compromise (BEC), and data breaches. Participants will learn how these threats evolve, how to identify vulnerabilities in their systems and workflows, and how to implement practical, cost-effective cybersecurity measures.

Beyond technical defenses, this session emphasizes the importance of communication: how to talk to clients about cybersecurity risks, how to respond to incidents, and how to build trust through transparency and proactive planning.

Whether you’re a solo practitioner or part of a larger firm, this session will help you strengthen your cybersecurity posture and become a more resilient, trusted advisor.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize current risks in the cyber landscape and how evolving threats can impact financial reporting, regulatory compliance, and operational resilience across organizations.
• Identify key components of an effective cyber risk management and response framework, including governance, controls, assessments, and third‑party risk considerations relevant to CPA roles.

Succession isn’t a retirement plan — it’s a growth strategy. And yet, most firms treat it like a last-minute handoff. In this deep-dive session, the presenter will help attendees dismantle outdated succession mindsets and reframe it as an intentional, leadership-centered process that fuels talent development, firm relevance, and sustainable growth.

Drawing from real firm case studies, practical frameworks, and decades of hands-on experience, unpack what’s getting in the way of meaningful succession planning and how progressive firms are shifting from reactive to regenerative leadership pipelines.

This isn’t about choosing the next partner. It’s about creating a firm that’s always ready for what’s next.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common barriers that impede effective succession planning in accounting firms.
• Distinguish between formal succession documentation and actual leadership readiness.
• Recognize elements of a future-focused framework to assess leadership pipeline strength and sustainability.