Dominic Piscopo, CPA, the founder of Big 4 Transparency and host of the Big 4 Transparency Podcast, is on a mission to bring salary transparency to the accounting profession. He created Big 4 Transparency just over 4 years ago, which has since amassed a crowd-sourced database of over 20,000 records and has become the place over 300,000 accounting professionals go for compensation data. Over the last few years, he’s been working directly with firms ranging from 10 person firms all the way to the Big 4, providing them with the most granular, timely and easy to use benchmarking solution on the accounting market.

The dataset that Big 4 Transparency has amassed can drive insights on what is happening in the accounting industry, and has been used in many analyses in the industry, including the real data on employee job satisfaction and hours worked at private equity backed firms compared to the rest of the industry.

Tom Koehler is a seasoned leader with over two decades of experience in technology and professional services, bringing a rare combination of deep technical expertise and strategic business acumen that helps clients create sustainable competitive advantages through advanced technology adoption. He excels in digital transformation strategy, M&A, carve-outs, and product internationalization, complemented by expertise in governance, risk, compliance, and cybersecurity.

At the intersection of technology and business, Tom possesses a distinctive profile that enables professional services firms to leverage cutting-edge technologies, from AI and automation to advanced analytics, transforming them into market differentiators. His extensive experience in professional services portfolio strategies and scaling companies reflects his deep commitment to understanding each client’s unique challenges and aspirations.

By immersing himself in clients’ business contexts and partnering closely with their leadership teams, Tom translates complex technological capabilities into tailored solutions that directly address the specific operational and strategic needs of accounting and consulting firms.

Daniel Hood has been editor-in-chief of Accounting Today since 2011; he joined Accounting Today as managing editor in 1998. A graduate of Georgetown University, he has also served as a business editor for the New York Daily News, and as a production editor for The Wall Street Journal Europe. He is the author of five novels and a guidebook to New York City.

Phil specializes in CPA Firm Growth. Whether succession planning, M&A, talent acquisition, business advisory services or practice management consulting, firms of all sizes, from sole practitioners to top 10 global firms rely on him.

Phil has grown Whitman Transition Advisors to be the single largest advisory organization for CPA firms in the Nation. The depth and breadth of CPA firm leadership expertise by the Whitman Transition Team is unparalleled. With greater than 1,000 merger and acquisition transactions and consulting engagements, there is nothing the Team hasn’t seen.

Phil has expanded his CPA firm relationships and now helps small, medium, and large CPA firms help their clients. Through the C Suite IMPACT LLC group of companies, Whitman as Chairman, offers everything from Fractional CFO, Back-office Client Accounting Resources, Business Intelligence, and Deal Making, this includes buy-side, sell-side and capital raising, Whitman partners with the CPA firms and creates additional bottom-line revenue for the firms without them adding one new client or one new staff person.

Whitman has been a featured speaker for various state societies of CPAs, international CPA firm associations as well as a presenter for CCHs annual user conference. For over 25 years he has advised firms throughout North America.

When not focusing on strengthening existing business relationships Whitman enjoys connecting and building new relationships and prides himself on being a professional connector. Whitman has been married to Mia, his wife, for 33 years and enjoys time with his three adult sons, one an accountant, another a pilot, and the youngest a techie.

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.

Koltin Consulting Group, Inc. is a Chicago-based consulting firm that specializes in working with professional and financial services firms in the areas of practice growth, practice management, human capital, and mergers and acquisitions.

Highly sought for his ability to engage and inspire audiences, Allan enjoys delivering keynote professional services industry. His passion is facilitating strategic planning retreats for firm strategy, governance, profitability, compensation, growth, human capital, succession, and mergers and acquisitions.

For the last twenty-six years, Allan has been named by Accounting Today as one of the Top profession. Since 2023, he has been listed as the “Second Most Influential” in the Business’s list of Notable M&A Dealmakers. For the past twenty-three years, Allan was voted Consultants in the “Annual Survey of Firms” conducted by INSIDE Public Accounting. For the Practice Advisor as one of the Top 25 Thought Leaders in the profession and, in 2016, they of Fame. Allan was one of the first to be inducted into the Accounting Marketing Hall of Fame (AAM).

A nationally recognized speaker and industry analyst, he has appeared on CNN, WGN and Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, 

Previously, Allan was the CEO of PDI Global, which was the largest provider of marketing sold PDI Global to H&R Block in 1998, buying it back in 2008, and then selling it to Thomson partner in the Chicago-based CPA firm of FERS, where he served as leader of the Investment well as the Executive Committee.

Wayne Berson, CEO of BDO, was quoted as saying the following about Allan, “I liken him to a Scott Boras, whom players seek out. If we want to do a deal, in most cases the firm is working with Allan already.”

Jeffrey Weiner, CEO and Chairman of Marcum, was quoted as saying the following about Allan, shadchan in the profession.”

Marc Rosenberg, a leading consultant and author to the CPA industry, was also quoted as saying, “If there were an election of the most highly visible, sought-after consultant to CPA firms, Koltin would be the hands-down winner.”