We’re back from Atlanta and still catching up on email, sleep and everything that somehow piles up while you’re at a conference.
But it was worth it.
A big thank you to CPAmerica for another great event. We always enjoy getting time with this group because it feels less like a traditional conference and more like catching up with people we genuinely like being around.
It was great seeing so many PracticeERP customers, familiar faces and friends, and meeting a lot of new people along the way.
We also had a fantastic dinner with customers and prospects at The Southern Gentleman. The food did not disappoint, and neither did the conversation. There is something nice about getting away from the booth, sitting around a table and just talking. No presentation. No agenda. No one asking if the HDMI cable works. Just a good dinner with good people.
We also have to give a huge thank you to our PracticeERP team for making the trip, working the booth, talking with firms, answering questions and keeping the energy up all week. Conference weeks are long, and this crew made it fun.
And yes, Atlanta also reminded us that apparently 7:30 AM is considered a perfectly reasonable time to give a presentation.
Let’s Talk About AI…But Maybe Not the Way You Think
One of the highlights of the week was getting to present on what it really means to become an AI-ready CPA firm.
Everyone is talking about AI right now.
ChatGPT. Copilot. Claude. Agents. Automation. Whatever new thing was announced five minutes ago.
But we wanted to back the conversation up a little.
Before you ask what AI tool your firm should buy, there is a better question:
Is your firm actually ready for it?
Because AI can only work with the information, processes and context you give it.
One line from the session seemed to land particularly well:
AI doesn’t fix bad data. It just lets you use bad data faster.
Not exactly the most glamorous AI message, but probably one of the most important.
The Good News: You Probably Already Have the Data
Most firms we talk to are not suffering from a lack of information.
They have plenty of it.
Client information. Engagements. Budgets. Workflow. Staffing. Time. WIP. Billing. AR. Revenue. Margin.
The problem is that all of that information tends to live in different places.
So when a partner wants to know how a client or engagement is doing, somebody checks workflow. Somebody else checks time. Another person looks at billing. Someone pulls AR.
And eventually someone sends a Teams message asking, “Does anybody know what’s going on with this client?”
The information is there. It just isn’t always connected.
Then, of course, there’s Excel.
There is always Excel.
Sometimes five spreadsheets.
Sometimes one spreadsheet that only Susan knows how to use and everyone is quietly hoping Susan never retires.
That is really where the conversation about ERP gets interesting.
We are not saying every firm needs one giant system that does absolutely everything.
We are saying firms need a trusted operational backbone where the important pieces can come together.
That is where ERP can play a much bigger role than simply being the accounting system.
AI Is Not the Goal
This was another big theme of our session.
The goal is not to see how much AI you can cram into your firm.
The goal is to give your people better information and more time to do work that actually matters.
Managers should not spend hours hunting for information.
Partners should not have to piece together five reports before a client call.
Your best people should not be burning time updating spreadsheets and manually assembling status reports.
That time is better spent coaching staff, advising clients and making decisions.
That is where the real opportunity starts.
First, get the data connected.
Then use it to surface insight.
Then use those insights to help people take action.
And eventually, yes, agents can start helping with some of the work.
The problem is when firms want to skip straight to the agent part while everything underneath it is still disconnected.
That is a little like putting a self-driving system in a car with three flat tires.
Cool technology. Still not going very far.
You Don’t Need a Giant AI Strategy
One of our favorite parts of the session was talking about where firms can actually start.
And the answer is surprisingly simple.
Pick one problem.
Maybe you want to know which engagements are getting too close to budget.
Maybe you want to identify completed work that is still sitting in WIP.
Maybe you want to know which clients have aged receivables while your team is still actively doing work for them.
Start there.
Figure out what information you need to answer the question. Make sure everyone agrees on what the data means. Connect it. Test it.
Then see where AI can help.
You will probably learn more from solving one real problem in 90 days than you will from spending a year building a 47-page AI strategy nobody opens again.
Thanks, CPAmerica
To everyone who stopped by our booth, came to our session, had dinner with us, challenged us with a question or just stopped over to catch up, thank you.
These events remind us why we enjoy working with CPA firms so much.
There is a lot changing in the profession right now, and there is no shortage of technology being thrown at firms.
But the firms that will get the most value from AI probably will not be the ones that buy the most tools.
They will be the firms that know where their data lives, trust it, understand their processes and give their people the right information at the right time.
Which brings us back to the thought we left everyone with in Atlanta:
Before your firm can become AI-first, it has to become data-ready.
Thanks for a great week, CPAmerica.
And thanks to our PracticeERP team for making Atlanta another good one.
