AWEB Live Summit’s Will Baker on Tech and Change

As AccountingWEB gears up to host its first AWEB Live Summit this May in San Diego, AccountingWEB Senior Editor Carrie Stemke sat down with Will Baker, marketing and CPA experience director at Once Accounting Technologies, to discuss why he’s excited to be speaking at the Summit. Baker will be hosting two sessions: “Understanding & Solving the Capacity Problem” and “How Technology Broke Public Accounting (Updated for 2022),” the latter of which he will be co-hosting with his father, CPA and Once Accounting CEO Ford Baker. Watch the interview here. 

In this interview, Will Baker explains he wanted to join AWEB Live Summit because AccountingWEB has been a fantastic partner over the years, giving him a platform to spread awareness about his firm. He says he was eager to return the favor and get involved, particularly because of the all-star lineup of speakers who will be at the Summit. Plus, he says, Paradise Point in San Diego is a beautiful location, so the Summit will also provide an opportunity to take a little vacation.

Baker says both of his sessions will focus on the challenges CPA firms often face when working with client data, which is Once Accounting’s “bread and butter.” The goal is to communicate to accountants and CPAs that the power to improve workflow already exists within their firm; it just requires the right ideas and follow-through. The process can be repetitive, but change requires you to look beyond that process, he says. Baker hopes his sessions will encourage creative thinking because innovation is crucial across the industry today.

Baker says his session on the “capacity problem” will look beyond the issue of a lack of people in the industry. So much time is spent on hiring and recruiting, he says, and what is needed is some outside-the-box thinking. Bringing in younger staff is essential not only to solving the capacity issue, but also to keeping the industry alive, he says. A succession plan is key, and firms must have a plan for passing the torch to the next generation of accountants.

“Youth are likely to be more interested in looking to a new way of doing things,” Baker says.

Accountants tend to look at capacity as a two-sided issue, but in reality, the trend for the industry is an influx of new work. Even if a firm brings in more people, more work will continue to come in.

Baker says AWEB Live Summit will be a great place for accounting professionals to open up a dialogue to learn from colleagues and be heard on important issues.

Want to hear Will Baker speak live and in-person? Join us in San Diego, California, May 9-12, 2022, for AccountingWEB Live Summit, a brand-new in-person conference and networking event for accounting professionals. 

Hear from many experts in the industry on the future of accounting, discover new fintech for the digital age, and attend CPE accredited sessions to move your business forward. After two years of lockdown, you can spend time meeting like-minded professionals discussing tips, tricks, and the challenges you face at breakfast briefings, networking lunches, and an unforgettable off-site dinner event. Learn more at https://www.accountingweblivesummit.com