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Client Advisory Services Summit 2026 IN PERSON

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Thursday, November 12, 2026

General Session

General Session

General Session

Most conversations about client advisory services focus on the mechanics: workflows, pricing, tech stacks. This session steps back to ask why the shift toward advisory matters in the first place, and what it actually changes for the client on the other side of it.

Advisory work only earns its place when it changes something real for the business being served: better decisions, more clarity, or a different kind of relationship with their numbers. This session looks at that shift from the client's perspective: why it matters more than the tools or pricing model built around it, and what makes the work worth doing well.

General Session

Breakout Session

As CAS practices grow, the technology supporting them can either create capacity or become a barrier to scale. This session will explore how firms can intentionally build a modern CAS tech stack that supports efficient workflows, stronger collaboration, and higher-value client service. Attendees will examine how integrated tools and AI-driven automation can streamline work, where cybersecurity and data protection should factor into technology decisions, and how to evaluate whether current systems are keeping pace with the practice. The session will provide a practical framework for assessing and modernizing the CAS tech stack to improve efficiency, support growth, and position the firm for what comes next.

State and local tax issues increasingly intersect with the day-to-day work of CAS professionals, creating both compliance risks and opportunities to provide greater value to clients. This session will examine key SALT developments and considerations through a CAS lens, focusing on what advisory professionals need to recognize as they support growing and evolving businesses. Topics will include sales and use tax, nexus and multistate activity, payroll and remote-work considerations, and other emerging state and local tax issues. Attendees will learn how to identify potential SALT exposure, ask the right questions, and recognize when an issue should be elevated to a tax specialist, helping clients address risks before they become costly problems.

General Session

General Session

Building and managing a CAS practice rarely goes exactly according to plan. This candid panel brings together CAS professionals to share real-world experiences, challenges, missteps, and lessons learned along the way. Through an open conversation, panelists will discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what they would do differently today.

General Session

General Session

A strong CAS relationship starts well before the first deliverable. This session will explore how firms can build an effective onboarding process that sets expectations, builds trust, and creates a foundation for long-term success. Attendees will examine practical approaches for maintaining engagement, adapting to evolving client needs, and strengthening relationships over time. The session will also address when a client is no longer aligned with the firm’s goals or service model and how to transition that relationship professionally. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for creating a consistent client experience that supports both client satisfaction and a scalable CAS practice.

General Session

Breakout Session

As client advisory services continue to evolve, technical expertise alone is no longer enough. Successful CAS professionals must also communicate effectively, think strategically, leverage technology, and help clients turn financial information into informed decisions.

This session explores the skills that contribute to success in today's CAS environment and practical approaches firms can use to develop accounting and finance talent into advisory-minded professionals. Through practical examples and interactive discussion, participants will examine how client expectations are changing, the challenges firms face in developing advisory-minded professionals, and strategies for building communication, leadership, and advisory skills across their teams.

AI tools can create significant efficiencies in a CAS practice, but using them with client information introduces compliance considerations that firms may not have fully addressed. This session will examine how IRC Section 7216 and Circular 230 apply when incorporating AI into client service workflows, with a practical focus on consent, disclosure, and the handling of client data. Attendees will explore common AI use cases, where compliance risks can arise, and what firms should consider before client information is entered into an AI platform. The session will provide a practical framework for evaluating AI tools and workflows so CAS teams can take advantage of emerging technology while maintaining appropriate safeguards and meeting their professional obligations

General Session

General Session

Firms don’t always need to build an entirely new service line to become more advisory. This session will focus on recognizing advisory opportunities within the work firms are already doing and identifying the moments where a different conversation can create more value for clients. We’ll also walk through a simple framework for formalizing the offer and share a practical approach for integrating advisory into your existing workflows and client relationships. Attendees will leave with a framework they can adapt to move from identifying advisory opportunities to actually implementing them, without overhauling their firm in the process.

General Session

General Session

The old rules of accounting burnout no longer apply. While traditional public accounting burnout was driven by raw, seasonal hour spikes, modern CAS faces a different challenge: the relentless, recurring monthly treadmill. Between continuous close cycles, tech-stack change fatigue, and constant digital noise, today’s CAS professionals aren’t just tired—they’re cognitively fragmented and too frazzled to fix it.

In this powerful closing keynote, former CAS firm owner Lynnette Oss Connell reframes burnout from an industry inevitability into an organizational design opportunity. Together, we’ll explore the foundational truth that combatting burnout is both an Inside Job (individual responsibility and stress management) and an Outside Job (leadership structures, intentional boundaries, and operational design). 

Designed specifically for firm leaders—with insights every team member can use—this session moves past generic wellness advice and delivers practical strategies to transform your department’s culture. You’ll discover how to lead by example without sacrificing your own productivity, coach your team through constant change as a collaborative effort, and navigate compassionate boundaries with struggling staff. Leave the summit inspired and equipped with practical tools to cultivate a resilient team culture where personal accountability and firm leadership work hand in hand.

General Session

General Session