Program provides business model design, resources and thought leadership content to meet growing client demand

NEW YORK (September 12, 2023) – CPA.com, the business and technology subsidiary of the AICPA, and Good.Lab, a leading provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) software and consulting services, today announced a new ESG practice development program that will enable accounting firms to respond to growing client demand for ESG advisory services. The program launched with an initial cohort of five firms from the AICPA Major Firms Group who are receiving high-quality educational content, hands-on training, enablement tools and timely insights developed by CPA.com and Good.Lab.

CPA.com, as it has done with other practice areas like client advisory services (CAS), is spearheading efforts to support firms with strategy and business model design around ESG. Approximately 86% of S&P 500 organizations already issue some kind of ESG-related report¹ and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Proposed Rules to Enhance and Standardize Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors² will hasten the requests for and standardization of ESG information.

The increase in customer and supply chain expectations is creating a new frontier in ESG measurement and reporting, and middle market, private organizations will need to address heightened ESG expectations from customers, employees and investors. While some of the new or proposed rules and regulations have a singular focus on climate change issues, others address sustainability more broadly, but all require that businesses address ESG with the same metrics-based rigor as is applied to financial reporting.

"We're excited to build on our partnership with CPA.com, as we continue to deliver on our vision of an end-to-end ESG solution for midmarket companies,” said Andries Verschelden, co-founder & CEO, Good.Lab. “Accountants are becoming the trusted advisor for ESG and with the advent of global disclosure standards from the International Sustainability Standards Board we expect demand for ESG services from accounting firms to further accelerate. This program will enable CPAs to not only perform ESG data assurance, but also meaningfully expand their practices to advise on ESG strategy, reporting and disclosure, performance data measurement and related tax and technical services.”

Good.Lab was a participant in the 2022 AICPA and CPA.com Startup Accelerator program and has extensive experience in developing and implementing the sustainability programs at Fortune 500 companies, and its work integrating ESG factors into the business strategies and operations of midsize clients across multiple industries. Training and enablement will focus on building a revenue-generating practice and defining service offerings, sales approach, revenue model, how to engage with existing clients on the topic, and client delivery tools.

“The increasing market demand for ESG services is providing significant opportunities for the accounting profession,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO, CPA.com. “Similar to programs we have rolled out with firms in other practice areas like CAS, we know there is more to driving large scale adoption than simply identifying the right technology solution. Technology is a key component; however, business model strategy, training and awareness are just as critical to firm success. We partnered with Good.Lab, a trusted ESG expert, to develop a holistic program to accelerate firm’s expansion of services into the category.”

The ESG Practice Development Program builds on CPA.com’s ongoing support to help firms understand the ESG landscape and embrace the opportunities it presents for the profession. Additional initiatives and resources include:

• An ESG-focused cohort was part of the 2022 AICPA and CPA.com Startup Accelerator to support the development of ESG technology tools for the profession.
• Second annual AICPA and CPA.com ESG Symposium on Sept. 13 will bring together top ESG leaders to exchange ideas and discuss the accounting profession’s critical role within the ESG category.
• Special report: ESG drivers & evolving strategies
• AICPA & CIMA ESG Resource Center

A second cohort of firms for the program is planned for late fall. For more information, visit cpa.com/esg.

About CPA.com
CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the U.S., with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners. A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

¹https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4227934
²https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-46

CPA.com and Biz2Credit update Portal to better position accounting firms to provide financing advisory services and help small businesses access capital via premier government-backed loan program.

NEW YORK, NY (September 11, 2023) – CPA.com and Biz2Credit have updated the CPA Business Funding Portal, a cloud-based platform that helps accounting firms secure financing on behalf of their clients, to reflect the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s new lending regulations announced on Aug. 10, 2023. With this update, accounting firms will be even better positioned to deliver financing advisory services and help their clients access much needed capital more quickly and easily during a time when small businesses are experiencing a credit crunch.

“The SBA has modernized its rules to encourage more businesses to access the financing available through the SBA loans. We have enhanced the CPA Business Funding Portal to reflect the changes to SBA’s regulations and continue our commitment to streamline the financing process for accountants and their clients,” said Rohit Arora, CEO and co-founder of Biz2Credit.

Accounting firms are already taking a leading role in supporting the rollout of the SBA’s intended expansion of the signature SBA 7(a) loan program. The CPA Business Funding Portal plays the role of facilitator, enabling clients, firms and lenders to collaborate seamlessly online to get loan applications approved.

“Our accountant knew that ever since we bought our business, we wanted to grow it to a couple more locations,” said Billy Deavor, owner of Black Velvet Coffee in Fresno, California. “He has guided us towards a financial path that is making this possible. Thanks to the CPA.com-Biz2Credit platform, it was pretty simple and straightforward.”

“With economic uncertainty and rising interest rates, small and midsize businesses are looking to their accounting firms to help them manage cash flow and secure the financing they need to achieve sustainable business growth,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “With these new updates to the CPA Business Funding Portal, firms will be even better positioned to offer financing advisory, a growing area of opportunity in client advisory services (CAS) practices.”

New SBA Lending Updates to CPA Business Funding Portal

Here are some of the new features of the CPA Business Funding Portal that contribute to a streamlined SBA loan application process:

FASTER ELIGIBILITY CHECKS on SBA LOAN SUBMISSIONS

Accountants can now effectively assess their clients' eligibility for SBA-backed loans using the CPA Business Funding Portal, aligning seamlessly with recent rule changes from the SBA. To reduce the burden on lenders and simplify operations, SBA will conduct eligibility determination on SBA loans through new technology. SBA’s aim is to ensure that lenders can focus on their customers and expand capacity to increase lending -- especially small-dollar lending. In the same way, the CPA Business Funding Portal provides this capacity to accounting firms and CPAs. When submitting business details through the Portal, including the key eligibility checks that SBA now requires, it will verify SBA loan eligibility automatically and provide feedback to the accounting firm in case their client is ineligible. This saves time by offering an easy-to-fill online form for key borrower eligibility questions that populate the SBA Form 1919. It ensures compliance with eligibility criteria, setting the stage for quick and successful loan applications.

SIMPLIFIED COLLATERAL and AFFILIATION REQUIREMENTS

The updates to the Portal also empower accountants to effortlessly handle the sometimes complex affiliation and loan collateralization rules that the SBA program requires.

With the SBA’s new guidelines, loans of $50,000 or less will not require collateral, but personal guarantees still apply. The Portal makes it easy for accounting firms to use these new collateral requirements and append all necessary collateral documentation when submitting SBA loan applications to Biz2Credit’s partner lenders.

As the SBA has simplified affiliation requirements, more business owners are gaining approval. The subjective “control” requirement on affiliation for all business loan programs is now removed and program rules now focus instead on affiliation through ownership.

The CPA Business Funding Portal enables an all-digital process, led by the small business owner’s trusted advisor, which meets the latest SBA affiliation standards. The Portal’s online SBA loan workflows are all designed to make it easy for an accountant to support their client.

Accountants are already efficiently completing loan applications on behalf of their clients thanks to the platform provided by Biz2Credit and CPA.com. Through the streamlined workflow of the CPA Business Funding Portal, accountants can navigate the application process on behalf of their clients, offering support and expedited lending decisions for all involved.

To learn more about the CPA Business Funding Portal, visit www.cpa.com/business-funding. You can also watch the latest on-demand webinar, Empowering your SMB clients with new advisory opportunities.

About CPA.com
CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus. Its core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners. A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About Biz2Credit
Founded in 2007, Biz2Credit has arranged more than $7 billion in small business financing. The company is expanding its industry leading Biz2X technology in custom digital platform solutions for banks and other financial institutions, investors, and service providers. Visit www.biz2credit.com or Twitter @Biz2Credit, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Rapid technological advancement and innovation present an enormous opportunity for the accounting profession to reimagine its role as trusted business advisors, and the Digital CPA (DCPA) conference connects CPAs and firm leaders with insights, business model strategies and tools to transform their practices to maximize the opportunity.

DCPA 2023, hosted by CPA.com and the AICPA & CIMA, will take place at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas Dec. 3-6, 2023. Virtual attendance options are also available.

The theme of this year’s conference is Inspire. Connect. Accelerate. The agenda has expanded to include a track focused on audit transformation, adding to an event which has already become the profession’s leading resource for client advisory services (CAS) content. The three-day program also includes sessions on practice and talent management, emerging technologies and new service line opportunities.

Featured keynote speakers will frame the focus of the conference and help paint a macro view of today’s operating environment. They include:

• Pascal Finette, an innovation expert and futurist with nearly three decades of experience in the tech industry, will discuss the impact generative AI will have on the accounting profession and lead an experiential-roundtable exercise where attendees can map out their own artificial intelligence use cases.
• Cassie Kozyrkov, chief decision scientist at Google, will explore how to safely and effectively use data and artificial intelligence to drive transformative decision-making.
• Dr. Jim Johnson, a distinguished professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, will demonstrate how shifting demographics are creating major changes in the business world and how to navigate their effects to recruit and retain top talent.
• Okorie Ramsey, chair of the AICPA and Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and Lindsay Stevenson, chief transformation officer, BPM, will join the AICPA Town Hall panel discussion, airing live from DCPA.

The conference will also feature special addresses from Barry C. Melancon, CEO of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing AICPA & CIMA, who will provide a professional issues update and Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, who will give his annual state-of-the-union on the Digital CPA landscape, including insights from practitioners and leaders at the forefront of today’s transformational business climate.

Attendees will also have the chance to participate in several roundtable discussions with peers and like-minded professionals to discuss real world challenges and opportunities.

"We are entering another major paradigm shift in firm and client capabilities with generative AI. As we approach Digital CPA, there is tremendous interest from both the firm and vendor community around the overall opportunity and impact.” said Asgeirsson. “As we have done with cloud computing over the past decade, the Digital CPA community will play a defining leadership role in developing the strategies and plans on how best to leverage AI for the accounting profession. This will definitely be a DCPA not to miss.”

The event, which sold out in 2021 and 2022, moved to the ARIA in 2023 to allow for expanded content and accommodate growing on-site attendance. This year’s conference is expected to set new records for both live and virtual attendance. Practitioners who register before Sept. 30 can save with early-bird pricing and discounted registration fees.

Visit digitalcpa.com for more details on the event and access to on-demand and live webcasts aimed at continuing the conversation beyond DCPA, including the upcoming session “Generative AI, The Great Equalizer,” Oct. 24 at 2 p.m. ET.

Media access: Reporters who would like press credentials to attend the event can contact Sonia Bauer, Sonia.Bauer@hq.cpa.com. Online access to sessions is also available.

About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.

A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and AICPA & CIMA

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), representing AICPA & CIMA, advances the global accounting and finance profession through its work on behalf of 698,000 AICPA and CIMA members, students and engaged professionals in 188 countries and territories. Together, we are the worldwide leader on public and management accounting issues through advocacy, support for the CPA license and specialized credentials, professional education and thought leadership. We build trust by empowering our members and engaged professionals with the knowledge and opportunities to be leaders in broadening prosperity for a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, not-for-profit organizations, and federal, state and local governments. It also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination and builds the pipeline of future talent for the public accounting profession.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the world’s leading and largest professional body of management accountants. CIMA works closely with employers and sponsors leading-edge research, constantly updating its professional qualification and professional experience requirements to ensure it remains the employer’s choice when recruiting financially trained business leaders.

(AICPA and CPA.com invite early-stage companies to apply by Nov. 30)

NEW YORK (Aug. 2, 2023) – The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and CPA.com are seeking applicants for the 2024 Startup Accelerator program, which promotes the growth of early-stage companies to help advance the accounting and finance ecosystem. Recognizing the profound impact that artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to have on the accounting and finance profession, this year’s program is exclusively targeting companies that are leveraging the technology within their solutions.

The program is open to pre-Series A startups worldwide, offering successful participants invaluable insights from subject matter experts, executives, firms and financial leaders across the profession. Senior leaders from the AICPA and CPA.com, along with the program’s advisory board members, will provide strategic intelligence and business acumen bolstered by their diverse backgrounds and complementary skills in entrepreneurship, startup tech companies, accounting and finance. Additionally, selected companies will receive a $25,000 grant.

“Being part of the 2023 Accelerator program has been a game-changer for Audit Sight,” said T.C. Whittaker, CEO and co-founder of Audit Sight, a participant in the 2023 program. “The program's advanced training, access to accounting thought leaders and influencers and participation in AICPA and CPA.com's marquee conferences have made a significant impact on our company. Any entrepreneur focused on building new solutions in the accounting space should consider applying for this program.”

Applications for the 2024 accelerator program will be accepted through Nov. 30, 2023. The 2024 cohort will be showcased next summer at AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE the largest U.S.-based conference for CPAs. Later in the year, they will also be featured at the CPA.com Digital CPA Conference.

“We expect AI to have a transformative impact on the accounting profession,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO, CPA.com. “As part of our efforts to support firms with the knowledge, resources and solutions to navigate this rapid change, we are excited to focus the 2024 Startup Accelerator around the technology innovators that are integrating AI in practical ways to meet the most pressing needs of the profession and deliver more value for clients.”

To be eligible for consideration, companies must meet the following criteria:

• Focus on accounting, tax, fintech, regulatory technology or educational solutions
• Leverage artificial intelligence in their solution
• Have a working product with active users
• Be at seed or pre-Series A stage (with some exceptions)

For questions about the program, please contact Vendela Hale at vendela.hale@hq.cpa.com. CPA.com and the AICPA are also hosting a webinar Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. with the startup companies representing the 2023 cohort to discuss emerging technologies and the impact on the accounting profession.

To apply for the 2024 cohort, please visit the accelerator program page at www.accelerator.cpa.com.

About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.
A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and AICPA & CIMA
The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), representing AICPA & CIMA, advances the global accounting and finance profession through its work on behalf of 698,000 AICPA and CIMA members, students and engaged professionals in 188 countries and territories. Together, we are the worldwide leader on public and management accounting issues through advocacy, support for the CPA license and specialized credentials, professional education and thought leadership. We build trust by empowering our members and engaged professionals with the knowledge and opportunities to be leaders in broadening prosperity for a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, not-for-profit organizations, and federal, state and local governments. It also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination and builds the pipeline of future talent for the public accounting profession.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the world’s leading and largest professional body of management accountants. CIMA works closely with employers and sponsors leading-edge research, constantly updating its professional qualification and professional experience requirements to ensure it remains the employer’s choice when recruiting financially trained business leaders.

The path to real, sustained growth in accounting firms runs directly through advisory-level relationships. One low-hurdle opportunity that firms can embrace to start quickly making the shift into CAS is expense and spend management advisory.

https://www.accountingtoday.com/opinion/spend-management-an-approachable-cas-opportunity