Pipeline Pulse: What’s Really Driving the Profession in 2026?

Host John Randolph launches a new quarterly segment called Pipeline Pulse, pulling back the curtain on what’s actually happening in CPA talent conversations right now, on Episode 88 of CPA Life. Drawing from scores of interviews with accountants quietly exploring their options, he identifies three critical disconnects plaguing firm hiring: Most firms still treat capacity planning like a last-minute scramble instead of a year-round discipline, leaving them perpetually understaffed when resignations hit in January. They’re also selling compensation hard while candidates are buying something entirely different; one senior with 14 years of experience would take a lateral move just to escape the 2,000-billable-hour requirement standing between her and manager. And firms keep saying they want advisory-focused talent while hiring purely for compliance skills, expecting client-facing confidence to materialize without training. The through-line? Recruiting can’t be transactional anymore, because firms get measured by trust and reputation, not résumé counts.

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Transcript: 

Hey everybody. Welcome to another episode of the CPA Life Podcast, the podcast where we spend time digging into a lot of the different issues and challenges that locally owned CPA firm owners, managers, partners, leaders are facing in today’s marketplace surrounding talent, capacity building, cultures where people have the ability to not have to sacrifice their life and their family at the altar of their job. That’s really where we spend a lot of our time at the intersection of people and firm leadership and building people-centric cultures within your organization. And today we’re going to start with a new episode that we’re going to call the “Pipeline Pulse.” Really what it is, it’s an opportunity to dig into what is going on behind the scenes as it pertains to people, as it pertains to building firms that people are attracted to becoming a part of, talking about some of the key drivers that people are talking to us about when we interview them on a consistent, day in and day out basis.

So here’s the first thing that I want people to understand as we’re sitting here talking about this. First of all, this isn’t theory. This isn’t what should be happening. This is what we’re actually seeing right now in the hiring and the talent pipeline across what we refer to as locally owned CPA firms, advisory firms and consulting firms. This is coming from conversations with partners, conversations with managers, conversations with candidates who are quietly exploring, “Hey, what’s next in marketplace for me?” As a firm, we are speaking to anywhere between 25 and 50 people consistently on a weekly basis that are currently working for other local firms, regional firms, national firms, and we’re talking to them about what it is that’s driving them to a point of saying, “Hey, either one, get me out of public accounting, don’t want to be a part of it any longer; or, hey, I love what I do. I just need to do it somewhere else, and here are the things that are important to me from a career perspective that I’m looking for that I’m not getting right now.” So we’re going to talk about three or four of the key issues each quarter that we see constantly bubbling up, that are facing firm owners, firm leaders, and are not being addressed appropriately, or issues that we’re seeing with candidates in regards to their possibilities of making a move in the marketplace.

So here’s the first thing that I want to talk about that we are seeing as a challenge, whenever we’re talking to candidates about types of opportunities they’re looking for, and then we sit and talk to clients, potential clients about what they’re doing in regards to hiring and building organizations that people want to be a part of. First thing is capacity planning is still reactive. That’s something that just blows us away, that blows me away. Because one of the biggest challenges that we see right now is that it’s being treated like a busy season problem instead of a year-round leadership discipline. Most firms are constantly asking, “Hey, how do I get through tax season? How do I get to April 15th, April 16th, without blowing up my staff, without hours exceeding 60, 70, 80 hours on a weekly basis?” What we don’t see firms consistently asking is, “What kind of work do we want to say yes to next year, and who do we need to support that?” 

The issue isn’t always about headcount, it’s really predictability. See, capacity problems aren’t caused by too little staff, they’re caused by unclear priorities. And if you really want to dig into things, where we see the problem occurring more than anything, whenever we talk to clients that are not getting ahead of the curve from a capacity standpoint, where we see the problem is in pricing: the way that leaders are pricing their business in relation to what type of people and how many people do I need to be able to solve the problems that my customers are currently having, or the types of customers that I want to go out and pursue are currently having. If you are not getting on the front end of this from a pricing standpoint, you are not going to be able to build the backend support that you need to build the kind of firm from a headcount perspective that you want to see.

I’ll give you an example of a firm that’s doing some things right: A firm that we are working with, have been working with for two to three years, that recognized coming out of tax season 2025, so April 2025, that they had severely mismanaged—best way to put it—their capacity planning going into the tax season. So what they ended up doing was filling several positions going into the tax season for 2025, felt like they were in a good spot. We talked about things in the middle of tax season, and what they quickly realized was what they didn’t plan for was the potential issue of losing a couple of people early in the tax season. The second thing they didn’t plan on was getting an influx of potential new clients that they picked up in January of 2025, and then also having a little bit more of a workload going through the tax season early in 2025 than they expected. That ended up pushing everybody’s hours to a higher level than really what they want their people to be working.

So we sat down and talked with them coming out of April 15th, 2025, and they were very clear about what their vision was, and that was that they needed to hire at least eight to 10 people to be able to sustain the work that they had this year, but be able to decrease hours to a more manageable people-centric culture and environment that’s what they’re really trying to build. So we set out with them proactively building a candidate pipeline to be able to address that need and fill as many positions as we could before the end of the year. We filled half of those positions going into the fall tax season, put things on hold, and then picked things back up again October 15th. By the end of 2025, we had filled, and/or they had hired on their own, 10 positions. So 10 positions from where they were coming out of in April of 2025. 

We sat down with them early in January. They recognized that they probably still needed to fill another two to three positions just in case they lost some people going into the tax season. They felt being overstaffed was really the answer to the problem that they dealt with last year. So they’ve filled two positions so far in January, we’re looking to get an offer on the table for possibly a third or fourth person before February 15th. So to give you clear numbers, we’re going to be looking at 13 to 14 adds from 2025 tax season to 2026 tax season. That’s a firm that understands that “if we are going to get in front of the capacity issue, if capacity planning is going to be something that is going to be a proactive discipline within leadership in the firm, we are going to have to address it much earlier in the year, we’re going to have to look at where do we want the firm to be, what does headcount look like to get us there, and assuming not only headcount growth, but potential turnover, what is the net add that we’re going to need to do?”

And just enough is no longer the solution in today’s marketplace because you’re always going to have that last minute resignation, especially if you’re a firm that is paying year-end bonuses, stereotypical, people are going to wait until they get the year-end bonus, they’re going to resign in December or January, and then you’re going to find yourself having to fill key critical positions to get you back to where you needed to be, just to stay level. So again, the number one issue that we’re seeing right now that continues to be a problem for a lot of firms is capacity planning is still a reactive issue.

The other thing that we’re seeing is that compensation is still the headline, but it’s not the hook. So let me tell you what I mean by that: Despite what you as a firm owner believe, money is rarely the primary reason that candidates make a move. Let me tell you what we’re not hearing whenever we talk to 25, 30, 40, 50 candidates on a weekly basis. We do not hear, quote, “I do not like the money I’m not making,” or “I need to make more money than what I’m making right now.” Now what we do hear is, “In relation to the hours that I’m working, in relation to the expectation of utilization and realization, I’m not happy with what I make.” But at the end of the day, when they look at what they’re making as a driver for why they’re looking to leave, that is very low on the priority list. Now, don’t get me wrong, that does not mean that people are going to make a move for less money. That does not mean that people are going to take a step back in compensation. What it means is that if you are leaning on your ability to pay market or above market compensation as the driver for people to potentially consider a role with your firm, you’re missing the boat, because here’s what candidates are asking about: “What does growth potential actually look like at that firm? Who do I become if I stay here in three years versus if I go over there for three years? Will I have clarity? Will I have flexibility? Will I have a life?”

I’ll give you a perfect example: We talked to a candidate who is out of a top 25 firm. She’s been there six and a half, almost seven years with the firm. She originally started with a smaller regional firm that was acquired by a national firm that was acquired by another national firm. So she has shown almost eight years of loyalty through two acquisitions and three name changes. Prior to that, she worked for another firm for six years, so she’s got almost 14 total years’ experience. She’s a senior, not a manager. Master’s degree in tax, CPA, passed it on the first sitting. I asked her one very simple question, “Tell me why you’re not a manager.” Because I’ve talked on and off to her for six years. I assumed she’d be a manager by now. “Tell me why you’re not a manager.” Her answer? Real simple. “To become a manager at my firm, I have got to have north of 2,000 billable hours on a yearly basis, and I’m not going to do that.” Her quote exactly, “I do not live to work. I work to live. I’ve got a family. I want to be present for them. I want to be a part of my family’s growth and my kids’ future. And the only way I can do that is I’ve got to put fingerprints on their hearts today.” That’s what’s important to her. 

So she interviewed with a firm on her own where the work hours at that firm are going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 hours a week, 55, 60, 65 hours a week during tax season. Nothing south of 50 hours at all. She’s going to have to be in the office at a minimum three days a week, sometimes four days. And her comment, as we talked about that comparison to where she sits today is, “I might as well stay here and dance with the devil I know because at least here I’ve got 6, 7, 8 years of credibility. If I don’t want to go into the office, I’m okay. They don’t make me go into the office. They know I’m going to get my work done. If I have to take off early to go pick up my children at school, they know that I’m going to get my work done. If I can’t come in until later in the day, because I have a doctor’s appointment, they understand that. I’ve got credibility. I can stay here and I can deal with those crazy hours. They know what I will do, what I won’t do, but I don’t want to stay here and do that. I want to find a place that I can build a future that isn’t going to ask me to continually sacrifice my family at the altar of my job.” 

Compensation is important to her, but it’s not the biggest driver for her. She will make a lateral move for a place that gives her a trajectory of growth that doesn’t ask her to have 2,000 plus billable hours on an annualized basis. So again, if you are at a firm where compensation is what you are selling on a consistent daily basis, you’re missing the mark because that is not what candidates are buying in this marketplace. Compensation, if it was the real issue, your pipeline would already be full with top quality candidates. 

So again, just to recap, the number one thing that we’re consistently seeing is a challenge that firms are still facing is that capacity planning is still a very reactive process for a lot of firm leaders. It’s something that has to be given a lot more proactive attention consistently, at least on a quarterly basis, if not a monthly basis. When you’re looking at what does our hiring pipeline look like, what does our sales pipeline look like, what does delivery look like, what type of people do I see as a part of the firm, and how am I going to make that happen? The second issue that we’re consistently seeing is that compensation is something that firms are leaning into and selling, which is great—everybody wants to be paid competitively. But that’s not the biggest thing that candidates in today’s marketplace are buying. That is still the issue that we’ve got to get past is firm owners and firm leaders have got to understand that you are going to have to build a firm that is more people-centric, that has a clear path of growth, has a clearer path for people to come in and build something for the future.

One of the things that we consistently talk to candidates about when it comes to looking at your future is, we’ll have candidates that we’ll engage with, and one of the things that they’ll constantly say is, “Hey, I don’t know if now’s the right time for me to make a move.” We tell them to do one very simple thing: Take a look at the lives of the—depending on what level they’re at—take a look at the lives of the seniors if they’re a staff, managers if they’re a senior, senior managers if they’re a manager, directors and partners if they’re a senior manager. But take a look at the lives and the quality of life and the hours expectations, the anxiety level, when they’re getting to the office, when they’re leaving the office, all of those things. Take a look at the lives of the people above you on this ladder and ask yourself one very simple question, “Do you aspire to that life? Do you envy that life? Do you want that as your life?” And if the answer is yes, then stay there. Stay there because that is where you need to be long-term to get what it is that you’re looking for. But more times than not, what we hear from candidates, a preponderance of the time is not only no, but hell no. “No, I do not want that life.” 

Well, that life has nothing to do with compensation. That life has nothing to do with how much money they’re making or not making. It has everything to do with work-life balance, has everything to do with quality of life. What am I able to sow into my family versus sow into my job? Do I have anything left in me to sow into my family after I’ve done sowing into my job? After I’ve put in 10, 20 hours consistently, whenever I’m working 60, 70, 80 hours consistently for half the year, do I have anything left in the tank to be able to give to my family? Those are the things that we’re constantly talking to candidates about, not compensation. So those are the two biggest issues that we face. 

The third biggest issue that we face that is a challenge, I believe, on both sides of the equation, both the hiring side and the candidate side, is that too many firms are hiring for yesterday while they’re talking about tomorrow, and let me tell you what I mean by that. We are constantly hearing from firm owners and firm leaders, “We need people that are more advisory-focused. We need people that are more comfortable on the phone, on Zoom calls, on team calls with clients. This is a client-facing role. I need somebody that can engage with customers.” That’s all great, but I got a news flash for you: That’s not a talent that someone walks in the door with consistently. That is a talent that is trained, that is a talent that is developed, that is a talent that is built, and the reality is upskilling internal talent often produces better long-term results than external replacement hiring or external hiring to fill a role that just isn’t being delivered on. 

Now, to do that though, it’s going to require patience, it’s going to require coaching, it’s going to require clear expectations of your current staff and what it’s going to take to get them there. But I promise you, if you invest that time as a leader in your current staff, what’s going to end up happening is you’re going to build people that you can then begin to emulate their skills and their talent with the external people that you’re bringing in. Now, some of those hires that you may be looking at today may be the people you can bring in to help you train that because they have it already, but the reality is you are not dealing with a problem that’s in a vacuum. You’re not dealing with a problem and you’re the only person in the market that’s dealing with the challenge of, “Hey, I need more people to be more advisory-focused. I need my people to be more comfortable interfacing with clients day in and day out.” Every firm is dealing with that. 

So obviously if every firm is dealing with that, then it’s something that is missing in the people in general, not just in your firm. How do you combat that? Training, coaching, mentoring, development. Advisory work requires a different operating system from a mindset perspective, and firms often underestimate how much client-facing confidence, curiosity, and communication skills matter compared to pure technical execution. That doesn’t mean that we need people that can’t execute, and it doesn’t mean that we need people that can’t communicate. What it means is we’ve got to find that happy medium where those people can straddle that fence and can straddle it well, confidently, and comprehensively to be able to deliver for you and your customers the way that you need to have them deliver. But the growing gap between what partners envision advisory to be, and what they’ve structurally enabled their teams to deliver, are consistently two very different things. And the only way to fix that is training, development and building better systems to mentor your people to get there.

The last thing that I want to touch on today is a very simple thought process and mindset that the pipeline isn’t broken, it’s just being used incorrectly. And here’s what I mean by that: Most firms are treating recruiting as a transaction instead of a relationship. It’s going to limit your access to high-quality passive talent if you think it is something that you can turn on and turn off. If you are working with a business development pro, if you’re working with someone that’s teaching and training you or your team on business development or sales or marketing, I’m sure that is something that you are putting a lot of time, energy, effort, and attention into. Even if you are not actively going out trying to build business today, the reality is that you’ve got some type of a mechanism within your firm that is consistently dripping and potentially creating opportunities for new business for you. It may not be at a consistent, heavy flow and may be at a slower pace, but the reality is you’ve got a system in place that is driving new business to your firm at the pace that you want and or need it. 

My question is, are you doing the same thing with talent? Because the reality is in today’s marketplace, you cannot just flip that switch and have people come into your pipeline. You have got to treat this as a relationship-focused business and be able to build relationships and have conversations long before that talent is needed. You see, pipeline health is more accurately measured by trust, it’s measured by engagement, and it’s measured by reputation, than by the numbers of active resumes that you have coming in. You want people, ideally, that want to have conversations with you regardless of whether or not you have an open position, just because they hear about you in the marketplace, they see things that you’re doing in the marketplace. You have an advocate that is speaking to people in the marketplace consistently about who you are, what you do, and how you do it as it pertains to your people. Now that advocate is either somebody internally, or that advocate is somebody externally, but there is somebody that is standing on the mountaintop and making sure in the midst of all of this noise that your firm and your brand is being sold and talked about consistently. 

See, firms that wait until there’s an urgent opening are competing in the most crowded and expensive part of the talent market. You’re competing for people that everybody is talking to, and that is the last place that you want to be. Because leaders who view recruiting as a leadership responsibility, not an HR function, they create stronger and more resilient pipelines that are present and existing long before those needs come.

So those are the biggest things that we’re seeing in today’s marketplace. We want to continue to give you an idea of what it is that you’re going to be seeing in the market, stay ahead of the needs that are there in what we’re now calling on a quarterly basis our Pipeline Pulse. Let us know your thoughts, let us know if you’re seeing the same thing. Subscribe to the podcast on the podcast platform of your choice and let us know what it’s like in your marketplace and what you’re seeing as you continually live out this thing that we call CPA Life.

We hope you enjoyed today’s episode. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcasting app, leave a five star rating and visit our website for links and show notes at CPALifePodcast.com. We’ll see you next time on CPA Life!