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Breaking Down IBM’s $11 Billion Bet on Confluent
I was looking at IBM’s recent moves and their proposed acquisition of Confluent for $11 billion caught my eye. IBM has been trying to reinvent itself for years. Moving from a legacy IT giant to a modern AI and cloud company. Why spend so much on a data streaming company? It felt like a big…
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The War for Warner Bros: What Happens When a Signed Deal Gets a Hostile Bid?
I was following the news about Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery. It looked like a done deal. Netflix was set to acquire Warner’s valuable studio and streaming assets like HBO and DC Comics. It seemed locked in. Then Paramount showed up with a truckload of cash. This got me thinking. What actually happens when a…
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Are You Paid for Time or Value? AI is Forcing the Question
My bike accident forced me to re-evaluate how I work. With one hand out of commission, my typing speed dropped to near zero. I couldn’t rely on putting in long hours at the keyboard anymore. I had to find a new way to get things done. It forced me to lean heavily on AI. I…
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The UNICAP Trap: Why the New AICPA Survey Has Controllers Worried
I was looking at the new AICPA & CIMA Economic Outlook Survey this morning. One number jumped out at me. Economic optimism among CPAs has cratered. It’s down to just 28%. What’s keeping controllers up at night has changed. For years the top concern was labor shortages. Not anymore. Now the biggest worries are inflation…
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Your Old Risk Playbook Is Obsolete: What Accountants Need to Know for 2026
The accounting industry is currently experiencing a massive wave of consolidation. This isn’t a distant forecast or a temporary blip; it is a fundamental reshaping of firms ranging from the Top 20 down to regional boutiques. In this month’s Everyday CPE recap, we dive into the specific M&A activity that defined November 2025, exploring the heavy influence…
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Stop Wasting Time on DataCamp: How to Get CPA Credit for Tech Skills
There is a massive gap in the professional development market for accountants. On one side, you have incredible platforms like DataCamp, Coursera, and Udemy. They teach you modern skills like Python, SQL, and Power BI. But they have one fatal flaw for CPAs: They rarely offer NASBA-approved CPE credit. On the other side, you have…
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The Small Firm CPE Budget Guide: Unlimited Group Access Under $1,000
We talk to small firm owners constantly. There is a specific pain point that hits firms with 5 to 10 CPAs. You are in the “CPE Dead Zone.” You are too big to just let everyone expense random courses on their personal credit cards—tracking compliance becomes a nightmare. But you are too small to get…
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Your Old Risk Playbook Is Obsolete: What Accountants Need to Know for 2026
I was reading a report from the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors about the risk outlook for 2026. It made a stark conclusion. The greatest threats to our clients and our firms are no longer the ones we’ve spent decades defending against. The era of predictable, siloed risk is over. We’re now in a world…
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Is the Government About to Make the CPA Shortage Worse?
Is the Government About to Make the CPA Shortage Worse? I keep hearing about the CPA pipeline problem. It seems like every week there’s a new article or discussion about it. But a recent proposal from the U.S. Department of Education might be the biggest threat yet. They are proposing to reclassify accounting degrees from “professional” to “non-professional.” At…
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Private Equity Bought My Industry. Here’s What Happened.
I’ve been watching a quiet revolution in my own industry. The world of accounting. It’s not usually a place for high drama. But something big has been happening for the last four years. Private equity firms, armed with billions in capital, are buying up accounting firms. This started as a strange idea. A “great lab experiment.”…
