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From preventing burnout to scaling on your own terms, this week’s newsletter is packed with takeaways from real-life firm owners who are changing the way accountants do business. Get a fresh perspective on bundling services, taking a vacation to purposefully see where problems arise at work and getting your branding right for a juicy revenue boost.
But first, check out the cringe-worthy results of a new report on freelance service providers: accounting has one of the biggest gender pay gaps of any industry.
Bookkeepers Binge
Employment trends: Gen Z accountants prefer structured attendance and care about your ESG reputation
Scalable pricing: How one firm’s tax and compliance bundles helped increase revenue
Leadership check: Wondering if your firm can run without you? Take off for 5 days to see what breaks
Clarity is key: Consistent branding across platforms can increase your revenue by 23%. Get clear by answering these four questions.
Great expectations: It may take several years to get there, but accountants expect AI to tackle client queries and identify advisory opportunities in the future.
Sponsored by Canopy
Still chasing clients for documents? Your AI should be doing that
Most AI in accounting just answers questions or makes suggestions. Meanwhile, your team is still spending hours manually chasing clients for documents, nudging for signatures and checking task statuses.
On June 25th, we are hosting a practical session to show you what AI looks like when it actually handles the administrative "work around the work."
Date: June 25, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Perk: 1 FREE CPE Credit
Here is a quick snapshot of what we’re breaking down live:
Exactly where and how Canopy embeds AI across its entire software suite to automate document extraction, billing and CRM management.
Why general-purpose AI models hit a context wall with firm data, and how native execution fixes the gap safely.
How to leverage human-in-the-loop review queues so your team can deploy AI automation with zero accuracy anxiety.
If you want to see how to make it easier to manage the firm and keep everything tied to the client in one place, you won't want to miss this.
Upward Trajectory
Pick a boundary, any boundary
Preventing burnout is key for any accounting professional, but especially for solo firm owners. Angel Zhen, CPA, shares four strategies he used to not only grow his firm to $600,000 in annual revenue, but also to take off 12 weeks each year. The first non-negotiable? Setting client boundaries. Zhen says he doesn’t start client work until they upload their prior-year tax returns, which helps filter out unresponsive leads.
He also shares how to build a searchable online presence and guide prospective clients through a conversation that leans on value, not pricing. Finally, Zhen recommends explaining the “why” behind your advice so your clients actually listen.
Why this matters: Many small firm owners assume long hours and constant availability are unavoidable, but Zhen's approach proves otherwise. Setting hard intake requirements filters out unresponsive clients before they drain your capacity, and building an online presence that leads with value means better clients find you first. (Journal of Accountancy)
Industry Shares
What a small, AI-forward firm looks like IRL
Instead of hiring more bookkeepers to help scale his business, John Eiduk, CPA, CFP, decided to upgrade legacy tools with modern resources to improve automations. The decision stemmed from coordination fatigue as his firm grew and he increasingly spent his time managing accounts, clients and bookkeepers. Sound familiar?
To pilot the switch, Eiduk and his team tested out AI-native accounting platforms on his own firm. Once a quality workflow process was in place, he was able to shift his role to focus on exception management and oversight.
Why this matters: Your knee-jerk reaction to growth may be adding staff, but that can create new management headaches that end up limiting your scalability. Eiduk’s experience highlights an alternative path: using AI to reduce coordination burden and free up owner capacity. (CPA Practice Advisor)
The News
The Bottom Line
Beef up your cybersecurity
As a firm owner, it’s crucial to be the primary driver of your business’s security efforts. While the obvious threat may be staff entering confidential client information into AI, protect your firm against other emerging issues as well. One new type of scam is deepfake threats for urgent payments. To counteract these impersonations, create verification steps for you and your staff before authorizing any payments.
Another red flag event? Staff departures. Implement protocols to terminate access whenever an employee leaves so they can’t continue to log into your systems.
Why this matters: Cybersecurity threats are evolving faster than many small firms’ internal controls, and a single lapse can have devastating effects. By proactively addressing risks like deepfake payment scams and former employee access, firm owners can reduce vulnerabilities before they become costly incidents. (TechTarget)
Poll
How much time do you take off each year?
Thanks for reading this week's edition! You can reach the newsletter team at [email protected]. We enjoy hearing from you.
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The Net Gains is written and curated by Lauren Ward and edited by Bianca Prieto.
