Issue #41 - Erin Pohan is Breaking All the Rules of Accounting
Plus: how 2,400 firm leaders & operators found calm and AI's algorithm becomes questionable.
Welcome to "Get Work Done," where we discuss the complexities of efficiently running accounting and bookkeeping firms. Brought to you by Financial Cents and delivered to your inbox every 2 weeks.
Small Change, Big Results
Inside WorkflowCon 2025: How 2,400 Firm leaders & Operators Found Calm
First of all, a standing ovation to y’all who made it to WorkflowCon 2025.
On Nov 12 & 13, 2025, 2,400 accounting and bookkeeping professionals logged in for one reason: they were tired.
Tired of racing against deadlines with broken workflows, of feeling guilty every time they opened their inbox, and pretending that being busy was the same thing as being successful.
WorkflowCon 2025 was built around a simple, uncomfortable question. What if the problem is not that accounting firms need to work harder, but their workflows were never designed to handle the reality they are operating in today?
Clear the Chaos. Find Your Calm was not just a tagline, but a filter for every keynote, every panel, every Workflow Champions Live session, and every conversation in chat. This is what actually happened over those two days, what people learned, and why it matters now that everyone has gone back to their client work and deadlines.
Community 🫶
Akadian by Margie Remmers-Davis
This is a community and a platform that empowers accounting professionals with hands-on education, innovative learning tools, and a supportive community to bridge the gap between theory and on-the-job experience.
Over 20,000 students have used the Akadian Accounting course library to study for and pass the QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor exam and become experts in the bookkeeping field.
If you're looking to become a better bookkeeper and accounting professional, their courses will help you before, during, and after your certification journey.
The National Association of Enrolled Agents
The NAEA is a community for tax practitioners from aspiring enrolled agents to experts with decades of experience. They advance the professional tax practice through leadership, management, community, and ethics.
What makes them stand out is the collective belief that tax work can evolve. They question outdated standards, push for stronger representation, and create learning environments where practitioners sharpen their judgment rather than rely on random facts.
H🔥t today
Artificial Intelligence Has a trust Problem
We've all agreed that AI is here to stay, and it's essential to incorporate it into the work we do, right?
Then it begets this question: Can we trust the algorithms at the core of artificial intelligence’s ability to learn and solve problems?
According to the Journal of Accountancy, this question is becoming increasingly pertinent as businesses rely more heavily on artificial intelligence (AI) to automate tasks such as talent recruitment, market trend prediction, and cybersecurity assessment. But what if businesses could seek an independent third-party assessment of their AI software that can assure the efficacy of their controls?
Robert Seamans, professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, suggested that so-called “AI auditors” could fill this emerging role.
CPAs aren’t the only professionals who could perform these “AI audits.” However, CPAs adhere to professional standards designed to instill trust in the results of assurance engagements, whether to provide confidence to investors that a company’s financial records are accurate and fair or to assure banks that a company complies with loan covenants.
1,400 IRS employees receive layoff notices, adding to staff losses
The IRS sent layoff notices to almost 1,400 employees, adding to the losses at the agency where 25% of staff had left as of May, according to a court document filed earlier this week in a lawsuit brought by unions against the federal government.
The layoffs are in addition to a workforce reduction of about 25% as of May through some sort of incentive program, such as deferred resignation, according to a report released in July by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
The report stated that 25,386 employees had departed as of May through some sort of incentive program, such as a deferred resignation. Another 294 employees received RIF notices but had not been terminated because of a court injunction, as was the case for 3,023 probationary employees. These employees continued to work at the IRS unless they chose to separate or were terminated for reasons other than those stated in the report, it said.
Swipe this workflow template
Swipe this Client Year-End Document Request List Template by Abhijeet Sangani
Get more templates from firm owners like you in our community template library.
Meme
Relatable?😆
If you missed WorkflowCon 2025, you can catch the replays here.
Firm Spotl💡ght
How Pedante and Company Made Work Visible Enough to Fix Problems Before They Spread
Since 2018, Pedante and Company has built strong relationships with businesses across Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, and Philadelphia counties.
For over 22 years, Jenna Rodriguez has worked alongside the firm’s owner, building a successful career and cultivating deep relationships within the local business community.
When the firm’s owner decided it was time to retire, Jenna knew she would have to answer a critical business question: How does the team maintain operational consistency, hand off work seamlessly, and ensure the firm continues delivering the same, if not better, quality of client service?
Events
📍Digital CPA 2025 - Dec.7 - 11 (Washington D.C)
Digital CPA (DCPA) is an annual accounting conference that has been held for over a decade. CPA.com, formed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), organizes the event, which is for accountants interested in creating a better future for the profession.
The conference will provide you with the opportunity to gain professional insights from industry leaders that will shape your thinking. You should also attend if you are into client advisory services or want to offer this service.
📍 Ensuring Success 2025 - Dec. 10 - 11 (Virtual)
Ensuring Success is an annual virtual accounting/tax conference organized by the CPA Practice Advisor at the end of the year.
It is designed to help professionals in the accounting and tax industry learn and earn CPE credits before the end of the year. The free event, which is live-streamed for two days, features an impressive lineup of accounting and tax industry leaders and experts sharing insights on topics like practice management, taxes, accounting technology, and more.
Noteworthy
Erin Pohan on Building an Accounting Firm With Boundaries, Balance, and Boldness
Sometimes, we like to think that Accounting has rules. Unspoken ones.
Keep it serious and play it safe. Don’t be too loud or too bold.
It was only when Erin started her own firm, Upkeeping, that she realized she no longer needed permission to be herself. “I’m a little cheeky. I think I’m fun. But for years, I kept that part of me separate. I didn’t think it belonged in accounting.” But everything changed the moment she started showing up as herself on LinkedIn, in client calls, in community spaces. “You can be anyone you want to be in this industry,” she said. “Your people will find you.”
She was at QuickBooks Connect, in a ballroom full of accountants dancing to Pitbull and Daddy Yankee. “I’m Puerto Rican,” she laughed. “I saw them dancing and thought, wait, we’re allowed to have fun? We can do both?”
She left that night with a new idea: what if there were more spaces where accountants could just be real?
Here's How You Can Build Your Accounting Firm's Tech Stack
The cost of operating in manual systems or disconnected apps is becoming too high, but a well-integrated tech stack helps you avoid spending valuable time on manual tasks.
It minimizes, if not eliminates, tasks like manual data entry, bank feeds, and client reminders to enable your team to focus on understanding and applying their accounting expertise to clients’ financial situations.
Building that kind of tech stack requires clarity on what problem each tool solves, how it integrates with the rest of your workflow, and how it supports the outcomes you want to see in the next few years, not just right now.
To start, assess your firm's pain points and needs. This is a good place to ask your team members where they are struggling and where client complaints are coming from.
Sometimes, you don’t need to buy a tool for a problem. Maybe a task needs to be eliminated or delegated to someone with better capacity to handle it.
What Are Your Thoughts?
Share your POV in the comments.
You can also join the FC Reddit community here.
Until Next Time,
