Founder
Breakaway Bookkeeping & Advising
Kristen Keats, CPA, is a tech-forward former tax firm owner with more than 25 years of hands-on experience building, scaling, and modernizing accounting practices. She is the former owner of Sherwood Tax & Accounting, founder of Breakaway Bookkeeping & Advising, and co-founder of Cadencia, an outsource staffing agency based in Guadalajara, Mexico and currently serves in an advisory role at Accrual (we can leave this last part off if it detracts).
Kristen has led firm growth, implemented technology systems, built remote teams, and successfully transitioned her practice, giving her a practical perspective on what actually works inside today’s accounting firms.
She serves on the Advisory Board for the Accounting Today Firm Growth Forum and on the Accountant Advisory Board for ADP.
Kristen speaks on firm growth, advisory services, staffing strategy, and technology adoption, with a focus on helping firms operate more efficiently while delivering better client experiences. Her mission is simple: Bring Joy to Accounting.
In the past five years, Kristen Keats and Martin Moll have founded, invested in, or purchased six companies. They experienced a successful 7-figure exit and their current portfolio of companies gross over $10MM annually. This is their story of how they turned a 25 year friendship into a fruitful business partnership. Get ready to laugh, cry and learn how to harness the power of partnership for yourself.
What you’ll learn:
In this panel discussion, CPA firm leaders and experts examine how to build and sustain a tech-forward firm through disciplined technology selection, integration, and adoption across the organization. Panelists will share practical, real-world examples of how firms are modernizing core systems, improving operational workflows, and driving staff adoption to support efficiency, scalability, and advisory growth. Attendees will gain applied insights they can use to evaluate their own technology environment and make informed decisions that support long-term firm performance.