A Top Technology Initiative Article
By Randy Johnston – November 2025
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the culture globally in many ways. While public practice accountants were considered “essential critical infrastructure and services,” with the majority continuing to work in the office, various organizations adopted remote work at levels never before seen. Accelerating the change was the widespread use of mobile devices and meeting services like GoTo, Zoom, and Teams.
When lockdowns were ending, people returned to meetings and conferences with vengeance, but most were just glad to see each other and didn’t conduct much business. That has clearly changed over the last couple of years, as sales targets were missed and vendors had to sell more aggressively.
Enter the conference season of 2025. From the spring to fall, events have had record attendance, and significant announcements have been reserved for and made at various events. We are blessed with the pleasure of being and invited attendee and speaker at:
- CES
- Acumatica Summit
- NetSuite Partner Summit
- The AICPA AI Summit
- BDO Conference
- AICPA Large firm networking group meeting
- CCH Large Firm User Group meeting
- AICPA Engage
- The CPAmerica Technology Roundtable
- Scaling New Heights
- The IL Society SUMMIT
- Zoho Accountants Day
- IMA Heartland Conference
- QX Accelerate
- The 8th AICPA Blockchain Symposium
- The CCH User Conference in San Diego,
- The Thomson Reuters Synergy conference in Orlando
- Various state society conferences including the AL annual members’ meeting, VA A&A conference, the TN Technology conference, Colorado PEAK, MA MAP, and many, many more.
We heard firsthand from many of you who were listening to podcasts and webinars where I was a guest, reading my columns, and listening to our weekly podcast, the Accounting Technology Lab. Brian Tankersley, my fellow podcaster on the Accounting Technology Lab, and I have frequently recorded live and interviewed influencers at various events this year. Since we are so fortunate to attend so many events live and speak directly with attendees about their experiences at the event, at their businesses or firms, and in their community, I believe we have gained a sense of what is happening in the U.S. and Canadian markets.
Is It Worth the Money and Time?
Absolutely. While many of these events are expensive, some are quite intimate and visionary, while others are significant sales events. You must choose wisely. For one major vendor’s event this year, I repeatedly heard it was a waste of time and money, and that they would never be back. On the other hand, both Wolters Kluwer and Thomson Reuters have run large-scale, quality conferences for decades.
If you use either of those platforms, having someone from your firm attend is a must. The CCH User Conference will be in Orlando, October 26-28, 2026, at the Ritz Carlton/JW Marriott, and Thomson Reuters Synergy will be at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, November 16-19, 2026.
Major themes and learnings from each conference are covered in our podcasts and on LinkedIn, but here are a few highlights for each of the major conferences.
- Wolters Kluwer/CCH User Conference
- Launch of CCH Axcess Expert AI
- Introduced as a transformative AI platform for tax, audit, firm management, and advisory services
- Marks the beginning of the “Agentic Era,” where AI agents orchestrate workflows and deliver strategic value
- Five AI Agents introduced by Cathy Rowe and Brian Diffin
- Keynote by Jason Marx (CEO, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting)
- Emphasized the shift from automation to orchestration
- Advocated for responsible AI, secure digital cores, and continuous reinvention
- Positioned agentic AI as a driver of competitive advantage and elevated client service
- Launch of CCH Axcess Expert AI
- Thomson Reuters Synergy
- Innovations are being delivered now, including Ready to Advise, Ready to Review, and other CoCounsel initiatives. You can learn more about those here.Watch for an article on these products soon.
- The 45th Synergy event had 271 sessions with 1600+ attendees from all 50 states. My NMGI (Network Management Group, Inc.) team was there, including Tyler Korb and Brian Simmelink. I spoke with many vendors in “the Neighborhood” and tried to visit each one. Colleague Brian Tankersley, CPA, CITP, CGMA, did some video interviews on the floor.
- I attended sessions on end-to-end tax workflow, covering SafeSend, SurePrep, UltraTax CS 2025, and Ready to Review. Louie Calvin did a fine job of covering GoFileRoom and FirmFlow upgrades.
- We enjoyed our interview with Elizabeth Beastrom, Kevin Merlini, Kirat Sekhon, and David Wong, which will appear in a future CPA Practice Advisor Accounting Technology Lab.
- Not to mention the roundtables and Universal Orlando Resort experience, this was a fine week in Orlando. I hope you will attend next year at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Las Vegas.
- Intuit Connect
- Intuit Intelligence – A new AI-powered system of intelligence that unifies business data and delivers instant, accurate answers to business questions
- Automated task completion (e.g., “Run my payroll”). Actionable insights via AI agents and human experts across accounting, tax, payroll, and customer management
- Intuit Accountant Suite – A new AI-native solution tailored for accountants, designed to streamline workflows and enhance advisory services
- Intuit Enterprise Suite Enhancements – Upgrades to the ERP platform for mid-market firms, focusing on automation, real-time insights, and scalability
- Major themes and announcements
- AI + Human Intelligence: The convergence of technology and people to drive firm efficiency and client service
- Firm Transformation: Strategies for scaling, managing talent, and expanding service lines
- Client Advisory Services: Enhancing relationships through strategic planning and financial insights
- Leadership Development: Sessions on coaching, feedback, and building innovative cultures
- Intuit acquired midmarket HR software platform GoCo and tech from Seattle marketing startup Relevvo.
Yes, I know you might think that being at an event might lead you to believe I will treat that vendor and their products more favorably. Possibly, but au contraire! We learn from attendees about their real experiences with the product and support. Most importantly, we understand how they are treated and what they plan to do in the future.
Additionally, I enjoy listening to attendees’ reactions during both keynote and breakout sessions. You hear how the content landed and whether it “rang true” or sounded false. I learned, through appropriate comments and side conversations, some critical knowledge for recommendations on practice management, document management, portals, workflow, tax, audit, and CAS (Client Accounting Services) this event season.
However, even with my best efforts, it isn’t easy to convey the impact, importance, and insights of talking to peers, company executives, and product managers. I’ve become pretty astute at hearing the spin when I’m being played. However, you can’t turn off all sales pitches, because there are notable improvements for your practice possible IF you take the initiative.
AI Is Here to Stay
As I conveyed in my columns earlier in the year about AI Agents, this year became an avalanche of Agentic AI announcements at both the CCH User Conference and Thomson Reuters Synergy, in addition to the various (25+) vendors who announced Agentic AI in their products. We discussed those in a podcast on September 19 titled Agentic AI Update. We’re encouraging you to select a Large Language Model (LLM), Generative AI (GenAI), frontier platform like Copilot 365, Claude, OpenAI ChatGPT, or Gemini, and focus on that for your firm after you have an AI policy in place. Next, you’ll find opportunities where AI has been added to products that you already use, like Checkpoint Edge with CoCounsel or Wolters Kluwer Answer Connect. Beyond that, you are likely to find new tools that are using AI extensively, like Black Ore Tax Autopilot, Filed, Magnetic, and many other products in my August column, Not So Secret Agents.
You’ll have to invest in change management and training for you and your team as outlined in last month’s column, “Calm Change Management in a Hectic World.” I have lived by the rule that good CPE (Continuing Professional Education) should deliver 1 or 2 actionable items per hour and not be a sales pitch like many free CPE events are. While I prefer practical advice to theoretical or feel-good content, I sometimes deliver a bit of both myself. On the other hand, I consider delivering hard-hitting facts in this era of fake AI, false sales claims, and deflating inflated expectations my core mission. I don’t like to be buffaloed or misled by sales pitches, and I know you don’t have the time or money to waste by following one of my recommendations and not getting value.
So, What Should You Do?
Reflect on how you spend your training time and CPE dollars. Taking watered-down digital drivel online may satisfy your CPE requirements, but it doesn’t do much to advance your firm or yourself. The rate of change in the profession is stunning, and I’ve been using professional technology for a long time, writing my first AI in LISP in 1975. I was working with firms even before that. Many of my peers and associates are reflecting on their first time in the profession and seeking a new challenge or a lighter workload.
Those challenges are easy to find today. Further, tools that can lighten your workload are also available today. Are you going to ride the plane to a great destination and have a smooth landing to be greeted warmly, or are you going to avoid dealing with your clients as much as possible, trying to “make it to retirement?” Most professionals I know got into the profession because they loved accounting and helping clients.
It is hard to sustain passion for a profession over a long career. If you need a new spark, I believe there is jet fuel or nitrous oxide that can radically enhance performance without more effort. Efficiency and effectiveness are part of the latest tools. But you must take the time to meet, greet, and appreciate the new players in the game!
Thanks for reading CPA Practice Advisor!
Subscribe Already registered? Log In
Need more information? Read the FAQs
