Most tax and accounting firms are not broken.
They are incomplete.

In this episode of The Growth-Minded Accountant, Lee Reams and Rebekah Barton introduce a simple but powerful framework that explains why so many firms feel harder to run than they should.

Every firm has three layers.

The Work Layer handles compliance and deliverables.

The Team Layer organizes people, tasks, and workflow.

The third layer, the Client Experience Layer, is where most firms struggle, not because they are doing something wrong, but because no one ever taught them to build it.

This is the layer where onboarding happens, communication lives, proposals are signed, payments flow, and clients understand what comes next. It is also the layer clients actually experience.

When this layer is missing, firms become reactive. Bottlenecks feel normal. Advisory gets pushed off. Stress becomes part of the job.

When it is in place, everything changes.

As the accounting profession moves into the AI and advisory age, the firms that invest in the Client Experience Layer are not just reducing friction. They are the firms positioned to lead, with clearer narratives, stronger trust, and more scalable client relationships.

This episode is a foundational conversation for firm owners who want a modern, predictable, and lower-stress practice heading into 2026 and beyond.

🎙️ The Growth-Minded Accountant
Hosted by Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton

As we close out the year, this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant is a little different.

No guest.
No hype.
Just an honest look at what’s coming next for tax and accounting firms.

In this year-end solo episode, Lee Reams II shares his 2026 predictions—not based on headlines or fear-driven narratives, but on patterns he’s seen repeat over the last decade.

The short version:

By 2026, AI will be the standard.
What will separate winning firms from everyone else won’t be technology—it will be relationships.

In this episode, Lee covers:

• Why not using AI will be a problem—but using AI won’t be impressive
• What happens when knowledge and answers become cheap
• Why trust, context, and communication become the real differentiators
• How advisory is moving downmarket, not just upmarket
• Where platform pressure and automation show up first
• Why adoption will be slower than the headlines suggest—and why that’s an opportunity

Lee also reflects on a Forbes article he wrote in 2016 about artificial intelligence and cloud accounting—and why many of those predictions played out almost exactly as expected.

🧠 Read the Forbes article referenced in this episode:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2016/10/11/will-artificial-intelligence-and-cloud-accounting-replace-the-accountants-of-tomorrow/

This episode isn’t about replacing accountants.
It’s about building firms that use automation to free up time—and reinvest it into better relationships.

If you’re thinking about how to position your firm heading into 2026, this conversation is for you.

Happy New Year—and welcome to what’s next.

AI-powered search is fundamentally changing how people discover tax and accounting professionals — and the 2026 tax law reset is about to separate firms that are prepared from those that aren’t.

In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams and Rebekah Barton unpack two major forces converging at the same time:

• Why AI search tools are reducing visibility for generic tax and accounting websites
• How discovery now works when search engines synthesize answers instead of ranking pages
• What the 2026 tax reset means for client expectations, planning demand, and advisory opportunities
• Why narrative, authority, and clarity matter more than templates and keywords
• How firms can transition from compliance-heavy work to higher-value advisory without increasing headcount

This conversation isn’t about chasing trends or fear-based marketing. It’s about understanding how visibility, trust, and firm growth now work — and how growth-minded tax and accounting professionals can position themselves to win heading into 2026.

If you’re a CPA, EA, or tax professional thinking about the future of your firm, this episode will challenge how you think about discovery, positioning, and advisory growth.

Most accountants say the same thing:
“I’m already too busy… why would I need marketing?”

In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, hosts Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton break down the real reason fast-growing firms keep winning—while others unknowingly fall behind:

👉 Being busy today doesn’t keep you remembered tomorrow.
👉 Visibility—not workload—is what protects your firm.
👉 Top of Mind is the moat every accounting firm needs in 2025 and beyond.

Lee and Rebekah explore why so many firm owners misunderstand marketing, the three layers every modern firm runs on, and why the client experience layer now determines trust, retention, and referrals.

They also unpack one of the most overlooked growth levers in the profession:
your custom narrative.

Your positioning, tone, personality, and story don’t just help humans recognize you — they help AI understand you, match you with the right clients, and elevate your visibility across search engines and AI assistants. In today’s world, your narrative is no longer optional branding. It’s infrastructure.

In This Episode:

• Why “I’m too busy” is a dangerous myth
• The three layers of every accounting firm
• What Top of Mind actually means (and what it doesn’t)
• Why referrals come from memory, not talent
• How AI tools decide who to recommend
• Why your custom narrative fuels the AI layer
• What consistency looks like in real firms
• How CountingWorks PRO helps firms stay top of mind automatically

Key Insight:

Firms don’t grow because they shout louder.
They grow because they show up consistently.

Visibility is the moat.
Narrative is the differentiator.
Top of Mind is the advantage.

Stop billing by the hour. Start communicating your value. Step into advisory with confidence.

In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams II sits down with Linda Hunt, founder of SUM Solutions and creator of The Perfect Pricing Formula, to unpack the shift every bookkeeper and accounting professional is facing right now: moving from task-based work to outcome-based advisory — all while navigating the rise of AI.

Together, Lee and Linda dive into:

• Why hourly billing caps your income and erodes your confidence
• How AI tools can become your “unfair advantage” rather than a threat
• What the Minimum Aligned Price is — and why most firms are charging below it
• How to build simple, profitable packages that clients actually understand
• The mindset blocks that sabotage pricing conversations
• How to set boundaries, avoid scope creep, and keep client relationships healthy
• Why positioning and niches matter more than ever in the AI era
• How to use analytics, KPIs, and AI-generated insights to move into advisory — even if you don’t “feel” like an advisor yet

Linda and Lee also break down the emotional side of pricing: the nervous system response, the discomfort, the instinct to over-explain or discount, and how to shift from “task doer” to true strategic partner.

If you're a bookkeeper, accountant, or fractional CFO looking to raise prices, package services, or step confidently into advisory, this conversation delivers practical takeaways you can implement immediately.

Learn More About Linda Hunt & SUM Solutions

Want support with pricing, packaging, or advisory?
👉 Visit: https://www.sumsolutions.com/

Book a Financial Clarity Consult to explore how Linda can help your firm grow.

About The Growth Minded Accountant

Hosted by Lee Reams II, this podcast helps modern accounting firms scale through better pricing, better communication, and better use of AI — without losing the human layer that clients value most.

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review the show. It helps others in the profession find us.

In this episode, Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton break down the impact of Intuit’s new $100M partnership with OpenAI and what it means for the future of the profession. Clients are no longer starting with Google or referrals. They’re starting with AI — and they trust the answer.

We cover:

• Why the compliance-first model is getting compressed
• How AI has become the new referral source
• Why advisory is not just for high-net-worth clients
• The human moat: what AI can’t replace
• The Four Pillars of Trust in the AI era
• How narrative, positioning, and visibility determine who AI recommends

This is not the end of the profession — it’s the end of the old profession.
Advisory-first firms will become the obvious choice. Here’s how to thrive.

AI and automation are changing everything — including how accountants grow.

In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, host Lee Reams II talks with Adam Lean, CEO of The CFO Project, about how technology is helping tax and accounting pros finally scale beyond compliance work and step into lucrative CFO advisory roles.

Adam shares how The CFO Project’s advisors average nearly $2,000 per month per client with 87% retention, using a repeatable system that helps business owners generate positive cash flow — and gives accountants a way to stop trading time for money.

You’ll learn:

• How to productize and scale CFO services
• What separates a true advisor from a fractional CFO
• Why your soft skills (not just technical ones) drive retention
• The simple, nine-step system for delivering consistent results
• And why AI is actually empowering, not replacing, accountants

If you’ve ever wanted to break free from commodity pricing, upsell your best clients, and build recurring advisory revenue — this is your roadmap.

👉 Explore more at thecfoproject.com

AI isn’t killing accounting. It’s reorganizing it.

In this episode, Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton dig into how automation is reshaping the profession... compressing the repetitive, low-value work at the bottom and expanding opportunities at the top where strategy, storytelling, and human relationships live.

This isn’t about fear. It’s about leverage. The smartest firms are using AI to scale faster, deepen client connections, and free up time for higher-value work.

You’ll also hear how CountingWorks PRO is leading the shift with AI-driven systems that personalize client experiences, automate proposals, and help five-person firms perform like twenty.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why the traditional accounting pyramid is flipping and what’s next
• What tasks AI can handle today and where humans still need to lead
• How to “trust but verify” your AI workflows
• The four biggest risks firms need to manage
• Why the next two years are for scale, not survival
• How AI is changing the path for young professionals

Favorite Quotes:

• “AI isn’t replacing people... it’s replacing inefficiency.”
• “AI doesn’t make you less human... it gives you time to be more human.”
• “The real disruption won’t come from AI... it’ll come from the firms who learn how to lead with it.”

Listen if you want to:

• Understand what’s really happening with AI in accounting
• Combine automation and expertise for smarter growth
• Build a modern firm that thrives on change

👉 Learn more: CountingWorks PRO

📩 Subscribe: The Growth Minded Accountant on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

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