This episode of the JofA podcast explores Accounting Opportunities Experience month, a growing nationwide program to inspire students to pursue accounting careers.

Liz Burkhalter, the AICPA's vice president–CPA Pipeline, shares how CPAs and volunteers are working to reach 50,000 students through classroom visits and events. She also mentioned resources that can help listeners who want to volunteer.

n Specific CPA Pipeline resources for student outreach

n This Way To CPA home page

n Burkhalter's June appearance on the JofA podcast

n The Next Stop: CPA podcast

Scott Spiegel, CPA/CITP, CGMA, the chief operating officer of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, discusses his return to Rutgers University and why real-world stories can expose students to the diverse opportunities in the profession.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• The history and growth of Accounting Opportunities Experience month.
• Burkhalter's summary of participation numbers last year and goals for this year.
• Resources for accountants interested in speaking to students.
• Spiegel's motivation for making campus visits.
• The common questions and misconceptions he hears when talking to students.
• The importance of in-person outreach and storytelling.

Andrea Millar, CPA/PFS, thought she knew what really mattered. Getting good grades in school and going above and beyond at work were part of her being. But she came to the realization that work was consuming her life, at the expense of other things she cared about.

Millar wrote about that experience, and some of the changes she made to create a more fulfilling life, in a recent JofA article. She also joined the JofA podcast to discuss the topic.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• An explanation of how work can "unconsciously" take over our lives.
• Understanding the "default state" of being and how it can explain why we might overwork.
• How a shift to the "experiencing stage" allows us to align time and energy differently.
• Why Millar stresses self-awareness as an important first step of changing habits.
• The award that Millar's article won in a recent media and publishing competition.

Withum partner Brian Lovett, CPA, CGMA, J.D., is the guest on this week's episode of the Journal of Accountancy podcast. Lovett is scheduled to speak at the AICPA Construction & Real Estate Conference in December on industry-specific impacts of new tax provisions in H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

He joined the podcast to preview some of those topics and explain the main way he separates fact from fiction when it comes to the details of H.R. 1 provisions.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• What real estate professionals and advisers should know about the expansion of Sec. 179.
• The PDF on Lovett's computer desktop that is "the one that matters."
• The topic that is "one of the things we're waiting on most" related to IRS guidance.
• One real-estate-related provision that could be easily misunderstood.
• The PTET SALT deduction's effect on real estate companies.