Rob (00:09)

Welcome to the Inside Public Accounting podcast. I'm Brown, your host, long-time interviewer and your guide with Chelsea Summers who's coming up in a moment to guide and shape the accounting profession by shining a light on some of the amazing people in there. Chelsea, welcome.

Chelsea (00:34)

Hi, I'm executive director of Inside Public Accounting and each week we're going to go beyond the rankings and reports to have some honest strategic conversations about where the profession is headed and how firm leaders can stay ahead of the curve.

Rob (00:48)

Chelsea you and I have been hosting these episodes together because there's been a lot with your surveys coming out that we've commented on. We've got a lot of questions from our audience that are building up a lot but sometimes it's a privilege isn't it to bring on a guest that knows a lot more than you and I. So we're thrilled today to have Lexy Kessler, Chair of ACPA, partner at Aprio. ⁓

Lexy you and I have spent some time together before but it's lovely to to get your perspective on this. We know you've been at the forefront of the professions evolution for many years now leading at firm level shining a light even at association level and now you're helping to shape its future through one of the most ambitious initiatives the 2040 project. Chelsea this excites you I know.

Chelsea (01:27)

Yeah, if you've been following the headlines or struggling with pipeline challenges yourself, you'll know the profession is really at a crossroads and Lexy is helping to lead the charge toward a reimagined future that's more adaptive and inclusive and prepared for the massive ships ahead.

Rob (01:42)

Lexy we're going to set this up a little bit more but let's have a quick hello from you and tell us how your day is going so far.

Lexy (01:48)

Well, hello everybody. My day is going great considering it's a Monday, at least when we're taping this. Yeah, no, it's beautiful summer day. Excited to be here and one of my favorite topics now is talking about this Rise 2040 and just about the profession in general. get very energized by it.

Rob (02:04)

Well, you've been such

an advocate for the profession of many years. So we are going to talk about this 2040 project. What it means for firms of all sizes, how we solve the growing talent gap, why upskilling isn't just a buzzword. Lexi, I know that's one of the key things you talk about is the upskilling initiative. And it's a strategic imperative. We're going to dive into AI as well, Chelsea, aren't we? And what it means to be a CPA and how firms can attract the next generation of

Chelsea (02:29)

Yeah, this is to be a big conversation with some big implications and one that couldn't come at a better time. So if you're a managing partner, HR director, or rising leader, grab a notebook. I think Lexy's about to give us some really good insights.

Rob (02:42)

She is, she's dripping with wisdom. So let's jump in, Lexy. The 2040 project tells a little bit about it and particularly what inspired it and what you're aiming to do with it.

Lexy (02:53)

Sure, so this is actually an initiative that isn't new, but yet it is, know, what it's been for today. So over the years, there's been different reports and projects that have been done about looking forward so many years into the future of our profession. And the one that was done most recently was back in 2010, 2011. It was called Horizons 2025. Well, it's 2025. So that's expired now.

Rob (03:16)

That

came around quick, didn't it?

Lexy (03:18)

It did, it did. And I will tell you what's fascinating though is before we started this exercise, it was also looking to see how

How accurate was it back then, right? But as far as what the future was going to be, it was surprisingly quite on point with what we were going be. So that was really comforting to know, okay, at least this is something that is truly, I think, a guiding principle for us. Now, what's different about this one is because of the American Institute CPAs and the SEMA merger creating the association, this is a global holistic gathering of data, insights, thoughts,

ideas into a report that's about public accounting as well as management accounting. So it's not just public accounting this time. So it's really exciting and it's the some of our Leadership Academy graduates have been trained like Train the Trainer program to go out into their state societies and different organizations to gather go through an exercise of brainstorming and and pulling together these thoughts and ideas and it's also

gathering it from our entire ecosystem, whether it be regulators, business and industry, public accounting, state societies, really gathering from the ecosystem to get that holistic view, like I said earlier, about what we're looking at. We are seeing things, believe it or not, starting to percolate together. I don't want to sway anybody in any direction on it, but it's been exciting. We just did it at Major Firms, which is a conference for like the top 75 firms in the United States below the big four, and getting the CEOs

and other key executives insights into this as well.

Rob (04:55)

Well,

we are open to be swayed. Definitely, you're definitely an advocate for the accounting profession. I know Chelsea's got a question for you on this, but I am keen to ask, when we look at 2040, that's 15 years away. It's very difficult and COVID taught us this, that we can't say what's best practice or what's going to happen next year, let alone in 15 years. So what makes you so optimistic that you can make any kind of predictions or any kind of vision for 15 years from now, Lexy?

Lexy (05:24)

So I would say that we're using 15 years so that people don't focus on three years in the near term to really take a step back and think more broadly. I completely agree with you. We'll see what it's like in five years. It may be five years, we've hit the 15 years and it's time to refresh. But the idea behind this also is with the technology that we have today that we did not have 15 years ago, this can really be an evergreen project that can continue to be updated. And so we'll see where it morphs into, you know what I mean? But we're really looking to

Create a mindset of thinking that way Not so much that we know it's it's going to change so fast. There's things we have no idea will happen, right? And that could impact us. So it's really more to broaden the thinking

Rob (06:05)

Yeah, I love the global perspective. We're an international show here at the Inside Public Accounting podcast. So Chelsea, I know you're really excited about this.

Chelsea (06:13)

Yeah, I like what

you said about reimagining this often, something that can change from being like a 15-year project to something that really people are more embracing the changes and knowing that this year will look different than next year, that will look different than five years, and everything is a constant evolution. So changing really those mindsets to be.

we're constantly forecasting forward because things are constantly changing and embracing that and that's a positive, not a scary change.

Lexy (06:42)

That's exactly right. And I'll tell you one of the themes that I'm pulling out of it, it's not specifically stated in here, but it's really embedded in all the thoughts, is that change management is really here to stay. That's a skill set for our future. It's a skill set for today. Just how do you, and I've always considered myself an advocate for change, but this is even challenging for me. And if you're not, then that's even harder. it takes energy to change.

lot to change and people get tapped out with everything else going on in our world, else going on in our environments, our businesses, our organizations. So it's really trying to figure out how we can hone in on it and help with it and we're not alone. We're all together as a profession working towards this and helping each other with it.

Rob (07:32)

just mindful of the quote if you think change is hard try not changing.

Lexy (07:37)

Yes, that's exactly right. And the other interesting question that we started this exercise, which I love, it was, there's another thing I had been to, it was actually a Jeff Bezos interview, so give him the credit, but nobody's asking him the question of what's not going to change in 10 years. Equally as important. So having that context around what is going to change. Very insightful.

Rob (07:58)

I'm thinking too about the accountants that are around right now. Say 25 to 40 years old. Let's put that 15 year age gap on the map there. In 15 years time, those 40 year olds are gonna be 55 Lexi and they're gonna be the partners, the leaders, the managing partners. The average age of a partner is about 45, 50, 55, isn't it? And we know there's this whole swathe of CPAs that are heading retirement age right now. So we're putting this timeframe now as empowering

educating the leaders of the future that are going to be running the accounting profession and saying here's what's coming up.

Lexy (08:35)

Yes, and I think today's world, some of those leaders are going to be younger, actually. I don't think that they're going to be what historically they have been. just don't see it. I think that that's going to change. I don't have data to support that. I just feel it changing. I see it in our organization and so on. And I don't think our organization is unique from that perspective.

Chelsea (08:56)

Why do

you pass up the data to back that up and the average age of a partner and a managing partner are both increasing year after year? I was just looking at that this morning and it is continuing to decrease every year. So I think your spot.

Lexy (09:10)

on.

Okay, good, good. And I think that if somebody's going to new roles, say they become a CFO or they do an acquisition or something and they need to be thinking differently about what they do, to be able to have a resource to go and just to refocus you, what are the things I should be paying attention to? What are the trends that we're seeing? Some of the things that we know, we've enlisted the help of Dan Burrows, who's an amazing futurist about disruption and his

what's called hard trends and soft trends and hard trends are those that we know in fact will be happening, right? So there's three hard trends, technology, regulation and demographics. We know those things are going to change. So how can we prepare for what could we do we'd be doing about it to be different.

Rob (09:55)

It's fascinating about the disruptors. Change or be changed is the message here. And double entry bookkeeping has been the same for thousands of centuries hasn't it? And the accountants are not known for their ability to pivot on a dime and change tends to be quite glacial. It is driven a lot by regulation. A cynical accountant once said to me, as accountants we don't do anything unless it's required by law. We don't change anything unless it's mandated by the regulations. But Chelsea, we go through the numbers don't we? We look at the trends and we're both fascinated.

by the big disruptors on the horizon and Chelsea I know you wanted to ask Lexy about this and how the profession's preparing for it.

Chelsea (10:31)

Yeah, and you talked a little bit about those hard trends, but what are the disruptors that you're seeing on the horizon? And do you think the profession is doing enough?

Lexy (10:40)

for those? think that the profession is catching up and I feel like we're starting to get to where we've caught up with the snowball and this is an opportunity for us to get ahead of it. I really do feel like that. When you go and talk, when we had, we did this exercise at the AICPA council meeting as well as the SEMA council meeting.

and we go around the room and nobody is on their phones. Everybody's in conversation. Everybody's engaged in it. They said the feedback that we got is we wanted more time to be able to provide more feedback. So I do feel like we're ready as a profession. We're just ready to move on. We're ready to leave the past behind us and let's talk about the future. Let's get ready. And I guess that's where I was thinking about was younger folks now. do see, you see a transition happening in firms. You see a transition happening in academia.

So maybe the curriculum's the same, how it's being taught is changing. So I think that it's, I do think that that pivot, Chelsea's already happening. I'm not sure I answered your question. I might have digressed a little bit here, but.

Chelsea (11:41)

That's great pivot because one of the other things we wanted to talk about was really talent development. Do you think at the educational and academia level is enough being done to really draw students into the accounting profession and if it's not what other things do you think we could continue working on?

Lexy (11:58)

Yeah, I think that there's improvement. need to continue to improve. We've seen two semesters where we've had double digit increases in enrollment and accounting, which is step in the right direction, right? We need to keep on going, but we've definitely seen that. Now we need to keep them, majored in accounting, and then get them to become a CPA or CGMA, and then we need to keep them in that profession. So this is the first step of many. When we were doing the National Pipeline Advisory Group, we called them leakage points. And what I just mentioned, each of those were leakage points.

things. There was 529 legislation that just passed in the recent tax bill, HR1 I think it's called. Now not the big beautiful bill, but it's actually got a title now.

And that has funding for 529 plans that can open up using those funds for CPA exams, CPA courses, which is a huge push forward. And there is, there's been distractions, but there's definitely bipartisan support for STEM, accounting to get STEM funding so that we can start to educate K through 12. So that will get that piece going. Center for Auto Quality did a recent survey in the, I would call it late spring, the results came out, where it was asking about students. And I think it was some, I wish I had the numbers

in front of me, it was around 60, 70%, maybe even 75 % of students that were surveyed that said that they were having somebody that was in the profession come and speak to them had an influence on their decision about accounting. So really getting to the classrooms and I'm just scratching the surface on being able to do that.

And to have students come up to you and say that are business majors, I had no idea that's what accounting was about. I might think about it now. If you get two at each visit, it just starts to build, right? And if we're all getting out, getting on advisory boards for our universities, getting out speaking with students, it really does make a difference. They've told us it makes a difference.

Rob (13:50)

What's coming out here Lexy is who's responsible for the brand of accounting. Everybody admits we can tell a better story. We can big it up a little bit more maybe make it more sexy however you want to put that but the consistent answer comes back that if anyone's going to fly a flag for accounting it's the governing bodies it's the professional associations and state society. So in your professional role in that way

what is happening at AI CPA, CGMA level, to make the CPA career choice a much simpler one.

Lexy (14:24)

So we're working with the university's academia. The ⁓ NPAC had their six initiatives that came out, and there is actually a timeline that's prioritizing that, that AICP and other stakeholders are working on, each area specifically. So those are in progress and happening. I will push back a little bit, Rob, on that comment though. I think every single one of us has a role in this.

Rob (14:46)

That's the right answer.

Lexy (14:47)

get

up and we can we can buy Super Bowl ads for the accounting profession until you go over to Uncle Joe's or Aunt Helen's house for Thanksgiving dinner and they're a CPA and they're complaining about taxis and they're complaining about whatever that they'd be like oh maybe I don't want to do it then. So I do think that every single one of us has a role in how we talk about what we do.

changing the words that we use, celebrating the successes. People don't realize CPAs, CGMAs, we make a difference. And why are we talking about making a difference? So it's an whole ecosystem, Rob, and I agree that we as governing bodies have a responsibility to do something about it through Leadership Academy, through state societies, or going out to high schools and pulling firms in with programs and really engaging individuals to go into the high schools within.

of the state. So there are things that are happening, but it's going to take a village to do it. And we've had how many decades, Rob, of it being nose to the grindstone, and you can't think for air. I just think that...

Even myself, you know, my husband the other day said, yeah, we're accountants. I know we're CPAs as well. I celebrate that you're a CPA. You can't be saying that.

Rob (16:05)

Part of the problem,

Chelsea, you talk to accountants all the time, is this proximity bias. It's that CPAs get so close to what they do on a daily basis. They see it as quite mundane. They don't see it as remarkable. They don't see it as life changing in the way that we do. So they don't tell a good story. It is the day to day. It's business as usual, isn't it? And Chelsea, need to, well, we're always encouraging them, aren't we, to tell a better story.

Chelsea (16:32)

Yeah, and I think in today's world, there's even more of a risk, but there's also even more of an upside. If you look at things like Instagram or TikTok and you search for accounting and you see the day in the life of a 20 something young accountant, I mean, I there's so many opportunities there to do exactly what you're suggesting and present accounting in a positive light. But then there's so many risks of when it's those 15 hour days during accounting season or during tax season, and that's what they're showing on TikToks. that's what the young people

looking at that thing maybe I don't want to do that it's not just he's a Joe and Helen's house it's

Lexy (17:06)

Agree, agree, firms need to step up and make a difference and some firms have and some firms haven't. You know, but we've got work to do there and we just continue working and talking. You know, as leadership changes over and realizes that we need to, we're part of the problem. We absolutely are part of the problem. Exactly.

Rob (17:27)

But it's that kind of honesty as well Lexy that's really appreciated because no one seems to be owning it. Some people don't admit they've got a problem so we're all responsible in a way.

Lexy (17:36)

You think

about Mark Koziel always says that you know when I had the opportunity to speak with him like we invented the term busy.

Rob (17:45)

We did.

Lexy (17:47)

You

know, mean, attorneys, people on Wall Street, they work crazy hours, some even crazier. But it's a sexy profession. Right? So. ⁓

We need to glamorize it, if that's what it is, and talk about making a difference. helping a client through this complex transaction that they're selling their business, it's completely different world to them. And when they sell it for an excess of a billion dollars for 30 people, that's making a difference in the life of somebody. A lot of people. And we need to share those stories. And we're just not used to doing that.

Rob (18:25)

Well, you're on the record, Lexi, as talking about skills a lot, ongoing skill development, the skills of yesterday don't serve us for the world of tomorrow. talk about the expectations of how accounting professionals are changing and the skills that they need to stay relevant and competitive.

Lexy (18:41)

Yeah,

I think that one of the skills that we need to get students to graduate, regardless of what they're going to be doing, up to faster is understanding the data that does come from technology. Is it right or wrong? So, and I use this example of, of when I was in high school, I don't remember when I was, but when I was growing up, we got our first handheld calculator. That was a really big deal, know, inside of the house.

But that didn't change that I still needed to know when I put in 2 plus 2 that that equals around 4. It doesn't equal 10. So there's concepts we and we need to be focusing on those concepts as opposed to the detail of what it is because technology is going to do that for us, right? Technology is going to be our partner. AI is going to be our partner. It is not by any means or stretch of the imagination going to replace us. Excel did not replace us. The computer did not replace

If anything, it enhanced what we can do and really has turned a CPA and CGMA into being an advisor. So you've got into a cash flow crunch. Okay, well, here's what it is. Here's where we are. Well, that's great. So what's the story behind it? How do we prevent it? That's what people want to know now. Right?

Rob (19:53)

And that's how the roles changed isn't it? What we expected of accountants 10 years ago is different to what we expect now.

Lexy (19:59)

different. When

I look at what I did when I started out of college, you know, as a newbie, the work that I was doing compared today, it doesn't even resemble it, right? So it's getting students when they graduate up to speed faster and the critical thinking and really turning to an advisor and realizing that this profession has built a platform for centuries, I would argue, of being trusted.

Right? And that's a gift when you're going into a profession to have that and to be able to just continue to build off of it.

Chelsea (20:34)

It sounds like the role of, especially an entry level accountant to mid level with the technology has gone from data entry and really that manual, like you said, number crunching to problem solving and most storytelling, like understanding the story, what the numbers are saying and being able to relay that back to the clients. those are skills that the up and coming...

Generation needs to be able to Yes, right alongside that AI and to utilize it for good

Lexy (21:03)

and get to faster.

That's right.

That's right. That's right. Because A, I can't tell you the story. You can't. You can try. And maybe one day it will. But then we'll be doing something else.

Chelsea (21:12)

Great, you can try it.

then we'll

jump to the next level and end up providing more value for clients.

Rob (21:23)

That's right.

The other opportunity for accountants, feel, Lexy, is around the problem solving and storytelling. But businesses are run by humans, and humans are complex, emotional creatures. And AI can't handle that. It's a very logic-driven thing. So accountants that can deal with the mess and the emotions and the values and the personal side of things, that's presumably going to be a critical skill for the next few years.

Lexy (21:51)

I completely agree. think that one of the things that helped me to be successful over my career, in hindsight, didn't know it at the time, I just enjoyed it, there was these classes that I took for electives called American Studies, which is a study of, at the time it was American, like cultures, subcultures, why people do what they do, and traditions and things like that. And I was just very interested in it. And because of that interest, think that when I

I met a client and heard a story, I would ask more about that story because I was interested in it. It's people skills, right? So I think that to the extent, you for students, they should be looking to do something that's people oriented. And we think it's all about technology, but it's not. It's...

There's still so much more. Like I was just seeing on the news that brick and mortar is starting to come back a little bit because people want to be able to touch and feel and see what they're buying now. They're getting tired of the whole, now probably redefined brick and mortar, needed to change, but still the concept, you know?

Rob (22:50)

We'll be going back to cash next Lexi won't So let's just summarize this in terms of the critical skills that CPAs are going to need going forward. People skills it's a very broad term but yeah that ability to relate personally to people, tell better stories, critical thinking we've talked about, commercial awareness, anything else to add to that list Lexy or perhaps Chelsea you'd have a suggestion there on what's going to be required?

Lexy (22:52)

No, I don't think so.

I think it goes back to the change management I talked earlier. People need to be comfortable pivoting quickly and adapting quickly and being comfortable being proactive versus reactive. I think those are going to be critical.

Chelsea (23:27)

Yeah, I completely agree and I think with that, getting away from how we've always done it, same as last year mindset, into really out of the box thinking and how can we reimagine this process, this project, this way we've always done business for the future and to make it better for the staff, for the clients, for the firm as a whole.

Lexy (23:49)

completely agree. And technology is giving us those tools to be able to do those things that then allow us to be able to do the fun stuff.

Rob (23:58)

And on the technology, we're not expecting the CPAs of the future to be geeks and coders, but they've got to be much more comfortable with technology, haven't they? It's got to be more than turning a computer on and off and sending an email, which is what the accountants of yesteryear have maybe put the limit at. So thankfully the generation coming through, are digital natives, Lexy. they're grown up with this stuff and it should be easy. Let's say personal leadership and vision. Chelsea, I know this really excites you as a topic. What can we ask Lexi?

about this.

Chelsea (24:28)

things I'm really curious about and I'm sure listeners are too is what in the accounting profession is giving you

Lexy (24:35)

right now. I think.

I think that what's giving me hope is I am seeing a shift in the mindset of we have challenges to we have opportunities. And you can feel it in the rooms, in the conferences, in speaking to people. And I think that everybody from COVID to a disruptive change in administration, I'm not saying for or against by any means, just that there's disruption that's happening. And it happens with every administration. This one's just a little bit more disruptive.

the uncertainty, right? People are like, enough. We need to figure out how to move on. And you can feel that starting to happen.

that the foot might be going back on the accelerator a little bit. Not to the floor yet, but it's definitely not on the brakes. So that gives me a lot of hope and optimism. And I was just with Mark at the California State Society CPAs event at the end of July speaking, and it was a profession opportunities update that we were giving, and there were 60 students in attendance.

and to see a high school student that was there excited about accounting and wanting to know more. And it just energizes you. It makes you hopeful. And the future is bright. I've seen it. It's just really exciting.

Rob (25:55)

You've got your crystal ball out there, Lexy. I love that. But we need people like you with that hope, with the light in your eyes and the passion with which you talk about it. And Mark Koziel is another one. He's very bold. He's courageous. He calls it how he sees it. I've met him a number of times and he's that kind of guy. So we're in good hands. But as you hinted earlier, we've all got to play our part here. We've all got a vested interest. We're all a stakeholder.

Lexy (25:59)

I really believe it, Rob. I really do.

Rob (26:24)

We've got a very engaged audience, Lexy, just to finish off. If you could give one piece of advice to the next generation of CPAs coming through, or even the firm leaders that are in situ right now, to navigate the world of disruption that is already coming at us, what would that be?

Lexy (26:42)

I think it's for students, it's get to know the person sitting next to you in class. Get to know them because they're going to be future relationships for you. It's going to be hard to realize that because you see them in the bars when you go out. Trust me, they will be your future relationships. To those that are in organizations, get outside of the walls of your firm. Get out. Volunteer. Show up.

you will learn so much from this profession and it will more than what you can give to it. Like I keep trying to give and I keep getting so much more back as an individual from a personal growth perspective from from the leadership lessons. What I've learned and I've gotten back but I do think that that show up as a profession we need there's a lot of change happening in profession with with new pathways coming in.

We've got potential regulation issues in different states coming in. There's a lot that's happening in our profession right now. We need people to show up and engage and you won't be disappointed. It's the best thing I ever did.

Rob (27:43)

Chelsea, I want to ask you that question in a minute as well. What advice you would give to the next generation, but I'm going to throw in my contribution here. It's to develop your voice, develop your personal brand, develop some authority, some credibility, some influence, whatever that means, because we are all ambassadors at the brand of accounting. And if we're going to drive change and push through initiatives and adopt new technology and deal with the new world, we've got to sell that to our team, to our clients, to ourselves.

So work on your personal brand and how you show up for things and your network as well because what people say about you is your personal brand in many ways. So I'd say be more intentional with that. It doesn't mean putting things on LinkedIn and creating content all the time but be more comfortable on video and putting your thoughts out there and your commentary. Before I ask Chelsea, Lexy you would echo that I'm sure.

Lexy (28:34)

I echo that. I'm firm believer in personal brand. I've used LinkedIn. I share stories, I share the journeys, I share where I'm going, I'm sure about what we're talking about. It's not technical. It could be, I'm not that person, but we need that too.

Rob (28:48)

You're vulnerable

with it as well. You'll share the bad stuff on you, the failures and the lows.

Lexy (28:54)

That's right. That's right.

Rob (28:56)

Chelsea, little bit of wisdom from you on this question because I know you think deeply about it.

Chelsea (29:00)

Yeah, I think my advice would be for the up and coming leadership or the new to the accounting profession. There's a big push right now to say no, not to say yes to everything and I'm very against that. think you don't learn and you don't make connections if you don't say yes. So try to say yes to every phone call, every...

coffee, every, can I pick your brain on something? Lexy, I think you said it earlier, you're trying to get, but you're getting so much back. think those relationships that we build by taking the calls that don't seem to make sense, but then you get on the phone and you're like, why have we never met? This is incredible. I think there's a lot of value in that. And I think sometimes people like to be busy and forget to make the time to do those things that are growing themselves.

Lexy (29:45)

Yeah, and there's places that you can just block your calendar for to do that, but I know I drove people crazy in my office. One of my phrases was, you never know. You never know.

Rob (29:57)

Well,

Alexa Kessler, it's been a joy having you join us today and a privilege. You've got such a vision, your energy, deep commitment to the future of accounting. It's clear that the work you're doing is with the 2040 project so forward thinking it's out there but it's absolutely critical Chelsea isn't it?

Chelsea (30:15)

Absolutely. Whether tackling the pipeline challenges or rethinking what CPA really means or helping professionals to upskill in the face of all this transformation, I this conversation has been a really great reminder that the change is happening fast and that leadership is now matters more

Rob (30:34)

Yeah and Lexy great town to be in accounting right?

Lexy (30:38)

Absolutely it is.

Rob (30:40)

Come on, well, if you're

listening and wondering what your firm can do, let's start with the questions Lexi raised today. What are you doing to invest in your skills, invest in your people? How are you communicating the value of the CPA profession? And are you ready for the world we're going to be living in in 2040, not just the one we knew in 2010?

Chelsea (31:00)

Thanks again, Lexi, for joining us. And thank you to our listeners for tuning in to the Inside Public Accounting podcast. Be sure to follow the show, share this episode with your team, give them all of Lexy's great insights, and let us know what topics you want to explore next.

Rob (31:14)

Indeed and next week we're going to be back talking about how firms are outsourcing and offshoring what's driving it what's changing the operations what it means for you and your team until then on behalf of Chelsea Lexy myself stay curious stay ahead we'll be giving you more stories of the numbers and the personalities behind the firms next time.