Celebrating 2025: Woodard’s Wins, Growth and Team Achievements

As we wrap up 2025, it feels like the right time to pause and reflect on what has been a truly meaningful year at Woodard. This year brought growth, innovation, and a lot of behind-the-scenes work that resulted in some incredible outcomes for Woodard, our team and our community.

From industry recognition to major events, new offerings to our members and community, and countless hours spent supporting practices, 2025 gave us a lot to celebrate.  Above all, it was the people behind these efforts whose dedication made it all possible. 

Industry recognition worth celebrating

One of the highlights of the year was seeing Woodard leadership recognized at the industry level.  

Joe Woodard, CEO, was once again named one of Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People, reflecting his continued impact on the profession through thought leadership, education and advocacy for modern accounting practices.  

We also celebrated Deborah Defer, Woodard’s Director of CAS Consulting, who was named a 2026 "Person to Watch" by Accounting Today. Deb’s work continues to shape conversations around advisory services and practice transformation, earning her this well-deserved recognition.  

In addition, Heather Satterley was named one of CPA Practice Advisor’s Most Powerful Women in Accounting, a recognition that spotlights leaders shaping the future of the profession. Heather’s influence, thoughtful leadership and dedication to advancing firms and their teams made this an especially meaningful and celebratory moment this year.  

These recognitions don’t just happen in isolation, though. They reflect years of consistent effort, a commitment to sharing knowledge, and a willingness to lead and support the profession in thoughtful, practical ways.  

Expanding education and resources  

Education and execution continued to be a major focus for Woodard in 2025.  

This year marked the launch of our new CAS Workshop, which provides firms with hands-on guidance and practical tools to build and refine their CAS offerings. In addition, the Practice Advancement Team developed and delivered two new courses and two new execution workshops.   

Behind every course and workshop is a significant amount of planning, testing, and refinement. These offerings are designed to meet firms where they are and help them move forward with clarity and confidence.  

Bringing the community together  

2025 was a strong year for in-person connection and community-building, too.  

We saw continued growth at Scaling New Heights this past year, with the largest show floor and highest accountant attendance in event history. Held in Orlando, Scaling New Heights broke previous Woodard records for both exhibitor participation and overall attendance. The event’s success was the result of thoughtful planning and extensive behind-the-scenes work by the team over the course of the year.  

Our annual Woodard Summit was another highlight, bringing member firms together for focused conversations around practice growth, leadership, and execution. The event continues to provide space for deeper discussion, collaboration, and relationship-building within the Woodard community.  

These events highlight the importance of creating spaces where firms can learn from one another, exchange ideas, and build connections that last well beyond the event itself.  

Supporting CAS growth at scale  

Our CAS Consulting team had a busy year, working closely with multiple firms in the large firm space to help design and implement multiple CAS practices tailored to their needs. In addition to practice design, the team — led by Deborah Defer, supported firms through client-specific engagements, including pricing strategy, complex data migrations, and system transformations, helping firms navigate some of their most challenging advisory work.  

Client Advisory Services (CAS) continues to be the fastest-growing service line in the profession, with top-performing firms generating approximately 20% of their total revenue from CAS. As firms are responding to this shift, assessing and optimizing a CAS practice presents a meaningful opportunity and Woodard continues to support firms at every stage of that journey, from strategy through execution.  

In addition, coaches from the Practice Advancement Team at Woodard have guided hundreds of practice leaders in adopting Woodard’s Ideal Practice Model. This work represents countless conversations, working sessions, and follow-ups, all focused on helping firms build practices that are profitable, scalable, and aligned with their goals.  

A strong year for content and conversations  

Content and community engagement remained a priority for Woodard throughout the year.  

In 2025, we recorded 30 Woodard Report podcast interviews, featuring special guests and conversations relevant to today’s accounting professionals. Joe Woodard also participated as a guest on 16 external podcasts, helping extend Woodard’s reach and contribute to industry-wide discussions.  

On the content side, team members and guest contributors worked together to produce over 200 articles for The Woodard Report in 2025.  

Producing consistent, high-quality content takes a lot of behind-the-scenes work, and this year was a great example of that.  

Sharing knowledge on stages across the industry  

Woodard team members were active speakers throughout 2025, presenting at industry events and sharing insights with firms across the country. These engagements gave our team the opportunity to connect directly with firm leaders, partners, and peers while sharing practical perspectives on CAS, advisory services, technology, leadership, and practice growth.  

Woodard team members spoke at events including N40 Digital Asset Summit, BDO Alliance Evolve, local BDO Alliance Meetings, CPA Academy, rightNOW by RightWorks, Accounting Today Growth Forum, AICPA MAP Group Meeting, Bridging the Gap Conference, Aprio Firm Alliance Conference, Women Who Count Conference, AICPA Sea Island Meeting, and the BDO Virtual CAS Summit. Speakers throughout the year included Joe Woodard, Heather Satterley, Deborah Defer, Chris Hendrix, Brandy Jordan, and Shirley Koss. 

Speaking engagements allow our team to share practical insights on what’s working, where firms are headed, and to connect with peers, partners, and firm leaders across the profession. We’re fortunate to have so many knowledgeable and engaged speakers on our team.  

Welcoming new team members  

This year also brought growth within our own team and Woodard welcomed two new team members: 

• Shirley Koss, Community and Member Success Manager 

• Kara Kennedy, Teamwide Support  

Both roles strengthen how we serve our members and support internal teams, and we’re glad to have them on board.  

Professional development wins worth noting  

We also want to celebrate individual milestones. One standout achievement this year was Kim Petro (Practice Advancement Coach) reaching her goal of becoming a Working Genius certified coach, while also hitting her personal goal of reading one business book per month throughout the year. Wins like these reflect the culture of growth and continuous learning we value at Woodard. 

Brandy Jordan (Catalyst, Operational Excellence) earned her advanced Monday certification at the Monday conference in Brooklyn, wrote multiple articles, appeared as a guest on the She Counts podcast, stepped into presenting and teaching sessions for the Instructor Writer’s Coalition, and spoke at Scaling New Heights.  

Woody, the groundhog, had a great year as well, traveling to several states, meeting accounting professionals across the country, and popping up at Woodard events along the way. He’s clearly ready for another year of adventures.  

Looking ahead  

When we look back on 2025, what stands out most is not just the list of accomplishments, but the collective effort behind them. Every milestone represents teamwork, consistency, and a shared commitment to helping accounting firms grow stronger and more intentional practices.  

As we head into the next year, we’re building on this momentum, refining what works, expanding what's needed, and continuing to support the accounting community in practical, meaningful ways.  

This year was one worth celebrating, and we’re excited to keep building alongside this community in the year ahead.