Jimmy Robinson, CPA, CGMA, the national chair of the AICPA Dealership Conference, and his co-presenter and co-worker Jesse Stopnitzky joined the JofA podcast to preview discussion points of their conference session later this month.

Their expertise is industry-specific, but some of the topics are applicable to a broader audience. Robinson, a former dealership CFO, shared the key traits of strong finance leadership, and Stopnitzky offered advice for better succession planning.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• The aspect of M&A deals that is, to Stopnitzky, more art than science.
• How merger activity has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Robinson’s list of the key traits of strong finance leaders.
• Why succession planning involves far more than naming a successor.
• Disruptive events and key shifts in the automotive industry.

Sarah Ference, CPA, an author of the JofA’s Professional Liability Spotlight column, returns to the JofA podcast to discuss recent column topics and the advice CPAs can gain from them. In particular, Ference details some of the risks for CPA firms engaging in mergers and acquisitions, the subject of a recent two-part series.

The articles discussed in this episode are:

n June: “Form 1065: Pay Attention or Pay Up.”

n July: “Professional Liability Risk Stemming From CPA Firm Acquisitions: Part 1.”

n August: “Professional Liability Risk Stemming From CPA Firm Acquisitions: Part 2.”

n September: “Start Risk Management With Employee Onboarding.”

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Why CPA firms should pay close attention to recent changes in tax compliance for partnerships.
• A summary of the two-part article on professional liability risk related to CPA firm acquisitions.
• The importance of cultural alignment in firm acquisitions.
• What “tail coverage” is and why it’s essential for post-transaction protection.
• How a strong onboarding process can serve to mitigate some risks for firms — and why that topic is timely this month.

In her professional career, Annette Nellen, Esq., CPA, CGMA, cannot recall a time when there was more misinformation in the realm of taxes than today, as practitioners wade through H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

She believes an overreliance on artificial intelligence tools in analyzing the budget law is one reason.

“You still have to review it,” said Nellen, a past chair of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee. “These AI tools — they’re tools. We're still the thinkers. We’re the responsible party involved here.”

In this JofA podcast episode, Nellen mentioned several provisions of note in H.R. 1, including those where guidance is still needed. She also mentioned the value of the National Tax Conference in November — where new tax provisions will be a central topic in sessions and individual conversations.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• · Some previously temporary tax provisions that are now permanent.
• · New tax provisions of note to Nellen.
• · A selection of provisions for which guidance or technical corrections may be needed.
• · IRS rulings and tax-related court cases Nellen has been following.
• · The response of one website creator when Nellen told the creator that some dot-gov sites are not properly updated.