Advocacy Team
CPA SUMMIT | December 4 & 11, 2026 (VIRTUAL half-days)

Preparing Maryland CPAs for 2027

Two virtual half-days. Up to 10+ hours of CPE. Complimentary for MACPA members.

For 125 years, MACPA has brought CPAs and finance professionals together, building a community that helps them navigate change and learn from one another.

CPA Summit brings together industry leaders who work closely with accounting and finance teams every day. Their perspective gives members a practical look at the trends, challenges, and technologies shaping the profession, including what they are seeing across firms and organizations, what is changing fastest, and what CPAs should be preparing for next.

We'll dive into the trends transforming the profession, including topics such as:

  • Talent acquisition & retention
  • How to be an effective and inspiring leader
  • Game-changing impacts of emerging technologies like AI
  • Examining recent issues affecting the profession and possible solutions
  • Complexities of today’s regulatory environment
  • Finding support and inspiration in the peer community to help our profession thrive

CPA Summit Working Schedule

(click on each day to see the agenda)

DAY 1, Dec. 4

CPA Summit Day 1 | December 4, 2026

TimeSession Title / DescriptionPresenter
8:00 a.m. – 8:05 a.m.Welcome to Day 1Rebekah Olson, CEO, MACPA
8:05 a.m. – 8:50 a.m.125 Years Forward: Honoring Our Legacy, Shaping What’s Next- Rebekah Olson, CEO, MACPA
- Savedra Scott, Chair, MACPA Board of Directors
- Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, Chair, MACPA Foundation Board
8:50 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.The Price Works. Does the Rest of the Deal? How to Protect Your Team, Clients, and Legacy When Choosing a Buyer

Selling an accounting firm is about more than achieving an acceptable purchase price. This session explores how sellers can evaluate buyer fit before negotiations and deal mechanics begin to dominate the process. Attendees will learn what to consider when protecting their team, clients, culture, and legacy, as well as how to assess a buyer’s vision, communication, and ability to follow through. The goal is to help firm owners choose a transaction they will feel good about after the deal closes.
Brannon Poe, Founder, Poe Group Advisors
9:20 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.Coming soon!Marble.AI
9:50 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.Break
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.AI Is Changing the Risk Game: Opportunities, Compliance, and What’s Ahead

AI adoption is accelerating. Cyber insurers are tightening requirements and denying claims. Regulators are increasing expectations around protection, notification, and cyber incident reporting. The risk landscape for CPA firms has changed, and many leaders do not yet realize how vulnerable their firms may be.

In this fast-paced session, cybersecurity expert Scott Hagizadegan explains the shifts happening now, and what CPA firm leaders should understand to help safeguard their firms, clients, and operations as they head into 2027.
Scott Hagizadegan, Founder & CEO, Shield IT Networks, Inc.
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.Coming soon!TaxDome
11:00 a.m. – 11:10 a.m.Break
11:10 a.m. – 11:40 a.m.The Security Gaps Hiding in Plain Sight: What CPA Firms Should Look for Before 2027

Your firm may have strong security tools in place and still have gaps you don't know about. As firms add AI tools, cloud apps and new vendors, those gaps are showing up in more places. This session takes a practical look at the blind spots hiding in everyday technology and processes, from untested backups and outdated access permissions to unmanaged AI use and third-party access. Attendees will learn where to look, how to prioritize what they find and what questions to ask before those gaps become bigger problems.
Shannon Kaiser, General Manager, Summit HQ
11:40 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.Agentic Workflow Automation: The Accounting Workflows AI Is Transforming NextJay Harden, Partner Consultant, Ramp
12:10 p.m. – 12:40 p.m.Coming soon!Robert Albertini, Senior Risk Advisor, Aon
12:40 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.Day 1 Closing / Wrap-UpRebekah Olson, CEO, MACPA

CPA Summit Day 1 | December 4, 2026

TimeSession Title / DescriptionPresenter
8:00 a.m. – 8:05 a.m.Welcome to Day 1Rebekah Olson, CEO, MACPA
8:05 a.m. – 8:50 a.m.125 Years Forward: Honoring Our Legacy, Shaping What’s Next- Rebekah Olson, CEO, MACPA
- Savedra Scott, Chair, MACPA Board of Directors
- Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, Chair, MACPA Foundation Board
8:50 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.The Price Works. Does the Rest of the Deal? How to Protect Your Team, Clients, and Legacy When Choosing a Buyer

Selling an accounting firm is about more than achieving an acceptable purchase price. This session explores how sellers can evaluate buyer fit before negotiations and deal mechanics begin to dominate the process. Attendees will learn what to consider when protecting their team, clients, culture, and legacy, as well as how to assess a buyer’s vision, communication, and ability to follow through. The goal is to help firm owners choose a transaction they will feel good about after the deal closes.
Brannon Poe, Founder, Poe Group Advisors
9:20 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.Coming soon!Marble.AI
9:50 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.Break
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.AI Is Changing the Risk Game: Opportunities, Compliance, and What’s Ahead

AI adoption is accelerating. Cyber insurers are tightening requirements and denying claims. Regulators are increasing expectations around protection, notification, and cyber incident reporting. The risk landscape for CPA firms has changed, and many leaders do not yet realize how vulnerable their firms may be.

In this fast-paced session, cybersecurity expert Scott Hagizadegan explains the shifts happening now, and what CPA firm leaders should understand to help safeguard their firms, clients, and operations as they head into 2027.
Scott Hagizadegan, Founder & CEO, Shield IT Networks, Inc.
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.Coming soon!TaxDome
11:00 a.m. – 11:10 a.m.Break
11:10 a.m. – 11:40 a.m.The Security Gaps Hiding in Plain Sight: What CPA Firms Should Look for Before 2027

Your firm may have strong security tools in place and still have gaps you don't know about. As firms add AI tools, cloud apps and new vendors, those gaps are showing up in more places. This session takes a practical look at the blind spots hiding in everyday technology and processes, from untested backups and outdated access permissions to unmanaged AI use and third-party access. Attendees will learn where to look, how to prioritize what they find and what questions to ask before those gaps become bigger problems.
Shannon Kaiser, General Manager, Summit HQ
11:40 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.Agentic Workflow Automation: The Accounting Workflows AI Is Transforming NextJay Harden, Partner Consultant, Ramp
12:10 p.m. – 12:40 p.m.Coming soon!Robert Albertini, Senior Risk Advisor, Aon
12:40 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.Day 1 Closing / Wrap-UpRebekah Olson, CEO, MACPA

DAY 2, Dec. 11

CPA Summit Day 2 | December 11, 2026

TimeSession Title / DescriptionPresenter
8:00 a.m. – 8:05 a.m.Welcome to Day 2Rebekah Olson, CEO, MACPA
8:05 a.m. – 8:35 a.m.How the Other Side Thinks…

Drawing on 25 years of investigating fraud and cybercrime as a police detective and his current work as a CISO to financial and accounting firms, Luke Kiely takes attendees inside how cybercriminals actually think, who they target, and why. Using real cases he has personally worked, including a ransomware negotiation and a supplier-account compromise that cost one firm eight months to recover from, this session moves past hacker stereotypes and vendor fear tactics to focus on what genuinely drives risk in a professional services firm.
Luke Kiely, Founder & Chief Security Officer, ComplyWise
8:35 a.m. – 9:05 a.m.Grow Your Advisory Practice with AI: Turn Workforce Data into Client InsightHeather Sperduto, Vice President, Sales Operations, ADP
9:05 a.m. – 9:35 a.m.AI Raised the Stakes. Is Your Compliance Program Ready? Cybersecurity, Risk, and Insurance Realities for CPA Firms Heading Into 2027

Compliance isn't going away just because you'd rather not think about it.
In this session, Luke, a former cybercrime investigator, will talk through what the laws require, what insurance companies look for after a breach, how AI is impacting the lanscape, and how strong cybersecurity practices naturally produce the compliance firms need — instead of the other way around.


You'll walk away with a clear, practical picture of what compliance looks like, and how to get there.
Luke Kiely, Chief Security Officer, SmartVault
9:35 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.Break
9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.Get Started with AI Accounting Agents

Firm owners know advisory work is valuable, but compliance deadlines use up capacity, and advisory work ends up running through the owner alone. On AI, most practitioners have sat through keynotes and product demos without seeing anything specific enough to use in their own practice.

This session walks through a ready-made AI accounting agent, running on demonstration data, that pulls a client's financials, surfaces KPIs and notable changes, and drafts talking points ahead of a client meeting. Attendees see how the agent is set up, what instructions drive it, and how to schedule it to run automatically, so they can adapt it rather than build from scratch.
Logan Kieller, Growth Lead, Kick
10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.Who (or What) Should Do the Work? Building the Right Mix of US Staff, Offshore Talent, and AIConner Bland, Owner, Cloud Accountant Staffing
10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.What Law Firms Know About Getting Paid That CPA Firms Don't

After this session, participants will be able to identify the billing and collection practices law firms use to get paid faster, and evaluate which of those practices can be applied to their own firm's accounts receivable process.
Alfredo Garza, Enterprise Sales Director, 8am CPACharge
11:15 a.m. – 11:25 a.m.Break
11:25 a.m. – 11:55 a.m.Coming soon!OPEN
11:55 a.m. – 12:25 p.m.Coming soon!OPEN
12:25 p.m. – 12:55 p.m.Coming soon!OPEN
12:55 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.CPA Summit Closing / Wrap-UpRebekah Olson, CEO, MACPA

CPA Summit Day 2 | December 11, 2026

TimeSession Title / DescriptionPresenter
8:00 a.m. – 8:05 a.m.Welcome to Day 2Rebekah Olson, CEO, MACPA
8:05 a.m. – 8:35 a.m.How the Other Side Thinks…

Drawing on 25 years of investigating fraud and cybercrime as a police detective and his current work as a CISO to financial and accounting firms, Luke Kiely takes attendees inside how cybercriminals actually think, who they target, and why. Using real cases he has personally worked, including a ransomware negotiation and a supplier-account compromise that cost one firm eight months to recover from, this session moves past hacker stereotypes and vendor fear tactics to focus on what genuinely drives risk in a professional services firm.
Luke Kiely, Founder & Chief Security Officer, ComplyWise
8:35 a.m. – 9:05 a.m.Grow Your Advisory Practice with AI: Turn Workforce Data into Client InsightHeather Sperduto, Vice President, Sales Operations, ADP
9:05 a.m. – 9:35 a.m.AI Raised the Stakes. Is Your Compliance Program Ready? Cybersecurity, Risk, and Insurance Realities for CPA Firms Heading Into 2027

Compliance isn't going away just because you'd rather not think about it.
In this session, Luke, a former cybercrime investigator, will talk through what the laws require, what insurance companies look for after a breach, how AI is impacting the lanscape, and how strong cybersecurity practices naturally produce the compliance firms need — instead of the other way around.


You'll walk away with a clear, practical picture of what compliance looks like, and how to get there.
Luke Kiely, Chief Security Officer, SmartVault
9:35 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.Break
9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.Get Started with AI Accounting Agents

Firm owners know advisory work is valuable, but compliance deadlines use up capacity, and advisory work ends up running through the owner alone. On AI, most practitioners have sat through keynotes and product demos without seeing anything specific enough to use in their own practice.

This session walks through a ready-made AI accounting agent, running on demonstration data, that pulls a client's financials, surfaces KPIs and notable changes, and drafts talking points ahead of a client meeting. Attendees see how the agent is set up, what instructions drive it, and how to schedule it to run automatically, so they can adapt it rather than build from scratch.
Logan Kieller, Growth Lead, Kick
10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.Who (or What) Should Do the Work? Building the Right Mix of US Staff, Offshore Talent, and AIConner Bland, Owner, Cloud Accountant Staffing
10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.What Law Firms Know About Getting Paid That CPA Firms Don't

After this session, participants will be able to identify the billing and collection practices law firms use to get paid faster, and evaluate which of those practices can be applied to their own firm's accounts receivable process.
Alfredo Garza, Enterprise Sales Director, 8am CPACharge
11:15 a.m. – 11:25 a.m.Break
11:25 a.m. – 11:55 a.m.Coming soon!OPEN
11:55 a.m. – 12:25 p.m.Coming soon!OPEN
12:25 p.m. – 12:55 p.m.Coming soon!OPEN
12:55 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.CPA Summit Closing / Wrap-UpRebekah Olson, CEO, MACPA

Watch Previous CPA Summit Sessions

Curious about CPA Summit? Take a look back at last year's sessions to get a feel for the insights, energy, and expertise this event delivers.

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