Seth Fineberg is an accounting industry consultant & Content Strategist. He has been an editor and journalist for over 30 years, the vast majority of which has been spent overseeing the accounting profession’s evolution. To this end, he has served as Technology Editor at Accounting Today and the head of AccountingWEB’s US team. Through his current business, Accountants Forward, he aims to see the accounting profession progress through the creation of quality practical and useful content from vendors, industry organizations and accounting firms themselves. He plays a variety of roles in such content’s creation and execution, be it articles, podcasts, webinars, white papers or even live events. He is also a regular contributor to CPA Trendlines, Karbon Magazine, Insight Magazine, a known speaker at industry events, and an advocate for the advancement of the accounting profession.

Randy Crabtree, co-founder and partner of Tri-Merit Specialty Tax Professionals is a widely followed author, lecturer and podcast host for the accounting profession.

Since 2019, he has hosted the bi-weekly “The Unique CPA,” podcast, which ranks among the world’s 5% most popular programs (Source: Listen Score).

You can find articles from Randy in Accounting Today’s Voices column, the AICPA Tax Adviser, CPA Trendlines, Intuit Accountants TaxPro Center and he is a regular presenter at conferences and virtual training events hosted by national accounting associations, state CPA societies and other industry associations.

In May 2022 Randy was appointed, for a 3-year term, to the Intuit Tax Council.

Prior to starting Tri-Merit, Crabtree was managing partner of a CPA firm in the greater Chicago area. He has more than 30 years of public accounting and tax consulting experience in a wide variety of industries and has worked closely with top executives to help them optimize their tax planning strategies.

I quit my job as a partner at a CPA firm to pursue my goal of disrupting the areas of the profession that don’t make sense. I am a tireless advocate for value vs. time, family initiatives, inclusion & belonging, work / life harmony, and challenging the historical norms the accounting profession clings to. My wife Jen and I have two daughters in college, Sofia and Julia. The four of us enjoy traveling and have set a goal to see all fifty states. I played baseball for 25 years, Jen and I enjoy running – we’ve completed several marathons and a bunch of half marathons, and all four of us love going to Disney.

I am the leader of Aprio Alliance, where future oriented firms convene to discuss challenges and solutions for running their firms. I am also the immediate past Chair of the CTCPA Board of Directors, a 2010 alumnus of the AICPA Leadership Academy, and past member of the Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee and other AICPA / CTCPA task forces & committees. In 2025, Mike received the Jack Brooks Leadership Award from the CTCPA.

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.

Heather Satterley is Director of Education and Media at Woodard, a company committed to empowering accounting professionals. Her career path, strongly rooted in public accounting, has been steered by a deep-seated passion for technology and a calling to help others. A critical part of her work involves designing and automating business processes using advanced technologies, supporting businesses in their journey towards streamlined operations and improved efficiency.

Heather believes in the collective power of community and the transformative outcomes achieved through united efforts. This belief is woven into the fabric of her leadership style and informs her work at every level.

Alongside her role at Woodard, Heather co-hosts The Appy Hour with Liz and Heather, a webinar series designed to clarify the often complex world of technology and apps within the accounting profession. This platform allows Heather to extend her influence, disseminating valuable knowledge and insights that enhance the professional skills of those in her field.

Her contribution to the accounting community extends to the co-creation and production of Appy Hour Camp, a retreat designed to foster relationships and encourage collaboration between accounting professional educators and software developers.

Bob is President of The Visionary Group and one of Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People. He has developed deep relationships with key leaders in accounting firms nationwide and is a frequent speaker on M&A, private equity, remaining independent, and building firm value through organic growth in the accounting profession.

His focus for the last thirty years has been only in the accounting profession. Bob helps firms build value and understand their options. His group is involved in dozens of M&A and private equity transactions annually and they created the “Build to Evolve” (BTE) process for accounting firms. BTE is a structured partnership to help firms develop an independence plan or a transition strategy if independence or an internal succession is not an option.

Bob has extensive experience supporting firms in need of a transition plan, structuring deal frameworks, negotiating M&A transactions and assisting with partner buy-ins and buyouts, and compensation plans. Through Visionary’s BTE process he helps firms analyze and upscale their client base, leverage better pricing structures, address capacity, expand advisory opportunities, and increase firm value.

He was an accountant and has a Bachelor of Science in Finance, and an MBA, both from DePaul University in Chicago.