627 How Accountants Can Build A Personal Brand in 2026 [The best thing you can do for your career (and firm)]

🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://www.rlz.io/ 📩 Want a simple way to keep up with accounting firm and AI? I break it down every week in my newsletter: https://www.jasononfirms.com/newsletter ☎️ Leave me a voicemail at (1)516-980-4968! 📧 Email me! jason@jasononfirms.com In this episode, I make the case that your personal brand may become your greatest career insurance policy in an AI-first world. I explain why most accountants remain professionally invisible, how the internet has fundamentally changed the way opportunities are created, and why becoming known for something incredibly specific can unlock a level of leverage that wasn’t possible a decade ago. I also roast a real accounting firm that’s grown through acquisitions, share my thoughts on seasonal tax firms, niche positioning, and staffing, and answer Mailbag questions about building AI apps, AI security, accounting firm acquisitions, practice management software, automation, and what the future looks like if AI can do the accounting work for us. 🔥 Here’s that Roast-My-Firm intake form: https://airtable.com/appZ7dtNz3oaTWWZT/shrybn5166E9t12ag📚 A curated list of the apps I actually use and recommend: https://www.jasononfirms.com/apps 💰 Today's Sponsors Soraban: https://www.soraban.com/ MakersHub: https://makershub.com/get-started?utm\_source=podcast&utm\_medium=partner&utm\_campaign=jasonstaats Canopy: getcanopy.com/jason Schedule a demo to see for yourself, and receive a $75 gift card after your demo Verito: https://verito.com/jason?utm\_campaign=42071442-Jason&utm\_source=Podcast&utm\_medium=Podcast&utm\_content=show-notes // Chapters: 00:00 - Why Personal Branding Matters More Than Ever 01:37 - Welcome to the Podcast 02:03 - Stop Being Professionally Invisible 04:12 - The Real Meaning of Personal Branding 06:01 - Why Visibility Creates Opportunity 07:44 - Finding a Game You Can Win 10:02 - Why Specificity Beats Reach 12:09 - Finding Your Unique Voice 13:06 - Turning Content Into Opportunity 17:09 - Will AI Make Personal Brands More Valuable? 20:00 - Escaping the Hour-for-Dollar Trap 22:04 - The Easiest Way to Stand Out 23:56 - Roast a Firm 24:42 - The Story Behind This Firm 29:49 - The Challenge of Buying Other Firms' Leftovers 35:08 - Choosing Between Seasonal and Year-Round Work 36:03 - Finding Seasonal Tax Talent 39:08 - Going Deeper Into Your Niche 41:59 - Mailbag 42:34 - Building AI Apps Inside Your Firm 48:00 - Buying an Accounting Firm 50:20 - Replacing Sage Intacct 52:03 - Building Your Own AI Reconciliation Tool 53:22 - Is Claude Cowork Secure? 54:42 - Can Instead Replace Traditional Tax Software? 57:14 - Specialized AI Agents vs Claude 1:00:00 - Do You Really Need More Automation? 1:01:54 - Choosing Between Canopy and TaxDome 1:04:20 - What Happens When AI Can Do Everything? 1:05:56 - Closing Thoughts 🗣️ Continue the discussion on social! X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa