Is the U.S. heading toward a financial cliff? In this eye-opening episode, Blake and David unpack the Government Accountability Office's sobering projection that federal debt will double the size of the economy by 2047. While exploring recent DOGE initiatives and IRS layoffs, they examine whether drastic government spending cuts are inevitable—and necessary.

Meanwhile, Virginia and Tennessee join the growing movement to reform CPA licensure requirements by offering pathways that don't require 150 credit hours. Could these changes be the key to increasing diversity more effectively than corporate DEI programs?

You'll also discover why the $400 million PCAOB budget might be on the chopping block, how AI research tools like Perplexity Deep Research are revolutionizing tax research, and get the latest update on the ever-shifting BOI reporting deadlines. Whether you lean left, right, or stay strictly in the debits and credits, this episode offers practical insights for navigating the changing professional landscape.

Sponsors
OnPay - http://accountingpodcast.promo/onpay
CPA.com - http://accountingpodcast.promo/cpa
Bluevine - http://accountingpodcast.promo/bluevine (Bluevine is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking Services provided by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC.)

Chapters

(02:16) - Apologies and Clarifications
(04:37) - IRS Layoffs and Government Spending
(05:32) - Live Stream Interactions and Sponsorships
(06:47) - Federal Debt and Fiscal Health
(16:58) - BOI Reporting Deadline Extension
(19:05) - Deloitte's DEI Changes
(23:26) - CPA Licensure Pathways
(28:37) - DOGE Dividend Proposal
(33:14) - Social Security and Medicare Funding Challenges
(35:40) - Impact of IRS Layoffs
(38:13) - Audit Rates and Tax Compliance
(42:16) - Regulatory Burdens and Economic Growth
(51:50) - PCAOB and Audit Quality
(59:54) - AI in Tax Research
(01:05:38) - Listener Engagement and Final Thoughts

Show Notes

GAO-24-106987, The Nation's Fiscal Health

https://www.gao.gov/assets/d24106987.pdf

Corporate Transparency Act Enforcement Injunction Stayed, FinCEN Extends the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Deadline to March 21, 2025, and Announces Intention to Revise the Reporting Rule

https://www.sidley.com/en/insights/newsupdates/2025/02/corporate-transparency-act-enforcement-injunction-stayed

Trump Demands Apple Ditch DEI After It Rejects Proposal: Here Are All The Companies Cutting Diversity Programs

https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/02/26/trump-demands-apple-ditch-dei-after-it-rejects-proposal-here-are-all-the-companies-cutting-diversity-programs/

Breaking down Virginia's new CPA requirements: What you need to know

https://www.blakeoliver.com/blog/breaking-down-virginias-new-cpa-requirements-what-you-need-to-know

Virginia General Assembly passes legislation widening pathways to CPA licensure effective Jan. 1, 2026

https://boa.virginia.gov/2025/02/virginia-general-assembly-passes-legislation-widening-pathways-to-cpa-licensure-effective-jan-1-2026/

Bridging the Gap: New CPA Licensure Legislation To Address the CPA Shortage

https://www.tscpa.com/news/1490-bridging-the-gap-new-cpa-licensure-legislation-to-address-the-cpa-shortage

$5,000 DOGE check? Trump backs idea to send some savings to Americans

https://www.fox9.com/news/5000-doge-dividend-check-trump-backs-savings-americans

IRS plans to lay off 7,000 probationary workers beginning Thursday, AP source says

https://apnews.com/article/irs-layoffs-trump-elon-musk-doge-df2b3c8d53ff9f2d276c8b29f8004dde

AICPA CEO Mark Koziel on the Future of Accounting Under the Trump Administration

https://www.nysscpa.org/news/publications/the-trusted-professional/article/aicpa-ceo-mark-koziel-on-the-future-of-accounting-under-the-trump-administration-021225

Perplexity Unveils Deep Research: AI-Powered Tool for Advanced Analysis

https://www.infoq.com/news/2025/02/perplexity-deep-research/

TaxGPT Raises $4.6M to Build the First AI Tax Co-Pilot for Accounting and Tax Firms

https://www.taxgpt.com/blog/taxgpt-raises-4-6m-to-build-the-first-ai-tax-co-pilot-for-accounting-and-tax-firms

DeepSeek on par with GPT, Claude, Llama for accounting

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/deepseek-on-par-with-gpt-claude-llama-for-accounting

Secure your Intuit Account and prevent lockout with extra verification methods

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/security-risk/verify-account-multi-factor-authentication/L2Xp0GNiT_US_en_US

Need CPE?

Get CPE for listening to podcasts with Earmark: https://earmarkcpe.com
Subscribe to the Earmark Podcast: https://podcast.earmarkcpe.com

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening and the great reviews! We appreciate you! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Find us on Facebook and Instagram. If you like what you hear, please do us a favor and write a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser. Call us and ...

IRS Layoffs, BOI Is Back, PCAOB Under Threat

The Accounting Podcast