In the News: October 23, 2026

This week’s In the News includes new AI tools for accounting and finance, tax updates, workplace trends, and more. We’re also sharing a new The Woodard Report Podcast episode on leadership and planning in the AI era, along with new articles on AI assurance, team structure, and working with a spouse in an accounting practice.

What’s happening at Woodard

Navigating the AI Revolution: Leadership, Growth, and Planning (The Woodard Report Podcast)

In episode 193 of The Woodard Report Podcast, Joe Woodard and Heather Day discuss changing job expectations, the pace of AI development, leadership, and planning for the year ahead. The conversation looks at how practice leaders can support team members as roles change and make intentional decisions about AI adoption and growth. Read more...

AICPA and AIUC Introduce New AI Assurance Program (The Woodard Report)

The AICPA and Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC) have introduced a joint assurance offering that combines SOC 2 reporting with the AIUC-1 standard for AI systems. The program addresses areas including data privacy, security, safety, reliability, and accountability while creating a new assurance opportunity for CPAs as more businesses adopt AI. Read more...

Working With My Spouse: Different Styles, Shared Success (The Woodard Report)

Debra Kilsheimer shares lessons from working alongside her husband and business partner, including how different working styles can become an advantage rather than a source of conflict. The article looks at communication, trust, and recognizing the strengths each person brings to the relationship and the business. Read more...

How to Restructure Your Team When AI Is Doing the Number Crunching (The Woodard Report)

As AI takes on more routine accounting work, not every team member will want to move into a client-facing advisory role. Allie Nolan looks at how practices can restructure roles around different types of judgment and skills, giving team members opportunities that better align with the work they do well. Read more...

Tax updates

IRS Finalizes Rules for Paying Taxes Via Credit and Debit Cards (Accounting Today)

Treasury and the IRS finalized regulations allowing the IRS to directly accept tax payments by credit or debit card rather than requiring taxpayers to be connected to a third-party processor. Read more...

Intuit Launches Credit Karma Tax: Free Federal Filing With Faster Refunds, Expanding Its Daily AI-Powered Financial Assistance (Intuit)

Intuit launched Credit Karma Tax with free federal filing and a flat $15 fee per state return, regardless of tax complexity. The service includes AI-powered filing assistance, accuracy checks, and options designed to help users receive and manage refunds through Credit Karma. Read more...

Technology and AI updates

Dext Rolls Out AI Connector (CPA Practice Advisor)

Dext introduced AI Connector, allowing accounting and bookkeeping practices to access practice data through Claude, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot using plain-language questions. Read more...

Xero and Bookkeeper360 Partner on Custom Integration for SMBs (CPA Practice Advisor)

Xero and Bookkeeper360 launched a custom integration that brings accounting and payment capabilities into Bookkeeper360’s existing platform. The embedded solution includes accounts payable and accounts receivable capabilities powered by Melio and allows Bookkeeper360 to deliver the experience under its own brand. Read more...

BILL Unveils New Agentic Capabilities for Finance Teams (CPA Practice Advisor)

BILL announced new AI capabilities designed to support finance teams with payment risk, financial questions, onboarding, and document organization. The updates include risk intelligence, centralized control of AI, ability to chat with BILL in plain language, external MCP and AI-assisted onboarding. Read more...

Kantata Touts GenBI Solution for Professional Services Firms (CPA Practice Advisor)

Kantata introduced Expertise Insights, a generative business intelligence tool that allows professional services teams to ask questions about business data using natural language. The system can turn those questions into interactive dashboards, giving leaders another way to analyze performance and make decisions using current data. Read more...

Deel Launches AI Lab and LLMs (CPA Practice Advisor)

Deel launched Emet, an AI research lab for model evaluation and training, along with its Pangaea family of large language models. The company says the benchmarks are designed to show where AI performs well in payroll and global work questions and where human expertise is still needed. Read more...

Accounting profession and workplace trends

More Accountants Say AI Is Profession’s Biggest Ethical Challenge (CPA Practice Advisor)

A new Association of Chartered Certified Accountants survey found that 61% of respondents now identify AI use as the profession’s leading ethical challenge, up from 32% in 2024. Concerns include overreliance on AI, verification, confidentiality, reduced human judgment, accountability, and inadequate oversight. Read more...

CEO Confidence Falls for Third Straight Quarter (CPA Practice Advisor)

Confidence among small and midsize business CEOs fell for a third consecutive quarter, according to Vistage’s Q3 2026 CEO Confidence Index. While 62% still expect revenue growth and half plan to expand their workforce, rising costs, interest rates, and economic uncertainty continue to weigh on expectations for the year ahead. Read more...

Privacy and security

Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion After Court Finds 43 Million Privacy Violations (The Hacker News)

A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties related to more than 43 million violations of the state’s unfair practices law. The case stems from the Cambridge Analytica data scandal and allegations about representations Facebook made regarding users’ control over personal data. Read more...