67: Why AI Won't Replace Your Team: Scaling New Heights 2026 Recap

Scaling New Heights 2026: Tech Upgrades, Mindset Shifts, and Leading with Heart

In this episode, I share a quick recap of my time at the Scaling New Heights conference in Orlando. I dive right into the sudden Intuit price hikes , why our firm successfully balances both QuickBooks Online and Xero , and what it was like stepping out of my comfort zone to present a 100-minute session. I also talk about the powerful final sessions on vulnerability in leadership and why next year's conference theme is exactly what our industry needs right now.

Key topics

• My honest thoughts on the QBO vs. Xero debate and handling Intuit’s massive new price increase
• Why running a split firm works for us and how it helps clients save money
• Facing the fear of public speaking and nailing a 100-minute presentation
• The massive mindset shift required to move away from tracking billable hours
• Quick hiring hacks to get applicants out of the apps and into real conversations
• Why AI won't replace your team and a sneak peek at next year’s human-focused theme
• The power of vulnerability in leadership and realizing you aren't alone on this journey
• Planning for the future with Sarah and balancing big ideas with realistic processes 

Transcript

Introduction and overview of Scaling New Heights 2026

SPEAKER_00 0:01

I'm Beth Whitworth, race car driving, quilt making, CPA firm-owning, wife, mom, and boss. I'm here to help you build a business you love by sharing all of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the excellent sides of working in this industry. It's not always easy, but after many years, I can finally say it's worth it. Let me guide you on your journey to accounting with confidence. Hi everybody, welcome to another episode of Accounting with Confidence. This is the intro to my daily recap of Scaling New Heights. And I've been back from scaling for less than a week and have had zero time to get this recorded. So I am on my way to a training class to uh learn how to be an instructor for a Lady Sentinel. And I thought I better take this time now that I'm up just a little early and get this recorded. So I went to Scaly New Heights. We were there for about eight days, and we went in early, did some planning. We stayed late and did some planning. That was with Sarah and I. And in between, we had the conference. So we did a charity event for build-a-bike. We attended sessions. There were some great sessions that I attended this year that really got me thinking and a lot of stuff about people, some stuff about marketing, things about being a leader, what's going on with QuickBooks, which is always a hot topic with everyone, including my clients. So it was a great event. I will say that I also had a couple of speaking opportunities. And so I'm going to let you uh listen to my daily recaps, and then I'll jump back on and do a final recap for you. Good morning and welcome to

Conference highlights, networking, and first impressions

SPEAKER_00 2:00

the recap day of for day one. I'm at Scaling New Heights 2026 in Orlando, Florida. I believe this is the third year in a row we've been in Orlando at the Orlando Marriott World Center. So we're kind of familiar with this venue. Sarah and I actually flew in on Friday, kind of all day traveling, but I will tell you that we flew first class. I had points on American Express that I kind of forgot about and never used. And so I was able to book our flights through Amex first class. And that was lovely because we did have a couple of delays. We did have a couple of things where we're sitting on in the plane on the tarmac. But so we got in Friday night and we spent Saturday really starting to work on the quarterly strategic planning. We do strategic planning quarterly, either in person or remote, at least four times a year. And we started this a couple years ago. So it's we kind of have certain planning categories that we want to discuss and things we want to do. And last year we only did it after the conference and came in later, and we didn't feel like we were ready to start the conference. But anyway, so yesterday was day one, and it starts on day one with the practice advancement breakfast. And that is where essentially kind of Joe gives the State of the Union. And this themed conference this year is on AI. And so the theme of the conference is Strange New World. And we've been talking about AI for several years, but in the last six to 10 months, in everything that we see and do as far as accountants and in our practices, we are seeing it more and more and more and more. And

AI in accounting and practical applications

SPEAKER_00 3:49

so it is actually fairly timely that this is the focus of the conference because it really is the kind of the last piece of the puzzle that is essentially saying, get on board and use it in some capacity, or you will be left behind. So we started out with the practice breakfast. We then had some sessions. I think I went to three different sessions. It was a good day. I did one on kind of building your team and 10 things you need to be considering to keep them engaged and high performance. And I went to one on marketing that was more about metrics and it was okay. And then I went to one on onboarding new clients, and that was a workshop, and I got a lot out of it. I haven't taken that many notes in a long time. And it's always good when I'm putting notes down and putting someone else's name next to it. So it's more of a delegation thing. So then opening stage. So the main opening main stage was last night. Kind of, I don't want to say I'm over them because they are well done and it's a good production, but it feels still feels very repetitive to me in a lot of ways. I am much more in tune when they bring on my peers, you know. So you've got your people that in the industry talking to me that are doing what I do rather than the software vendors and the thought leaders, and but that's just me. So instead of going to any socials last night, we took a break, we had dinner, and then we went back to work for two or three hours. So today I'm starting out with getting some homework done for a session I have today and doing some run-throughs on my session, my breakout session that I am presenting tomorrow. So I'm very excited about the session. I need to run through it a couple times and really just kind of take what I saw in the sessions I went to yesterday and take away things that okay, don't do that, do do this. So I'm very excited and I'm going to practice that this morning. And then the exhibition floor opens this morning. So there will be, that's where we have like 140 vendors that are in our space. It's the biggest accounting software vendor show floor in the country. And we go there and we, you know, can talk to the vendors. There's also some sessions and there's some demos, and that's where we have lunch. So that opens today, but I'm going to still focus on getting ready for tomorrow. And I will give you an update tomorrow. All right, everybody, talk to you on day two. All right, today is day two of Scaling New Heights conference. We spent yesterday, which was Monday, I spent it working on preparing for my session today, but there was main stage activity and the exhibit hall opened. So with the exhibit hall, it's the largest floor of accounting software exhibitors, I guess, in the country. Um, there's like 140 of them or something. And Microsoft's here, and it's a good opportunity if you're software hunting, if you are looking to find an alternative to QuickBooks Desktop. There's lots of GL packages, there's lots of AI-driven packages that are kind of putting themselves out there as your digital general ledger. And there's some that have been in the industry for a while. There's some, you know, new and upcoming, but that is definitely a big focus on the floor. So there that opened and that entailed, you know, there being essentially, you know, sessions where you had time to just go talk to the vendors, and that was great. But my big session yesterday uh that I did was on working in your generative AI platform, which we use Claude to create the instructions

Working with Claude and presentation takeaways

SPEAKER_00 7:56

to direct it on how to talk in your voice, and not in a creepy way, but in your brand voice, in your voice as far as how you naturally talk to your clients, how you naturally talk when you're presenting all those things. And shout out to Jan. She ran the session and her tech, no fault of hers, was just not there. So her slide deck she had trouble keeping up. And then once she needed to get in and like demonstrate stuff inside of Claude, she did not have connection, and it was uh, you know, an almost two-hour session, and it was hands-on. So we had homework to do ahead of time on answering a 25 questionnaire that was all about asking you questions about your brand voice and then an ideal client profile and uploading documents that essentially show your voice without AI. So she had, you know, things that we needed to download and copy into Claude and all of these things. And so it was a hands-on session, and there were more than 100 people in the room, and her tech did not support her. And I still got the end result. So that's good because while I am, I would say average techie, I am definitely not the coding, but I do know how to copy and paste. So I am definitely uh excited about that. So when I started doing the homework, it was yesterday morning. I was supposed to do it before I left town and I did not. So what happened there is I worked on it yesterday morning during a time when I was also practicing for my session today. And I started working on it and I got so into it. I'm like, I have to finish this. I have to be prepared for this class. And so that was really great for me to just kind of be excited about something. And I have been definitely not on the leading edge on anything AI. I was probably more of the skeptic and the the one going in kind of cautionary. And recently, like literally in the last two or three months, I've seen other people using it in a way that just makes sense. And for me, things that can save me time that are still me. I mean, it's exactly what I need. So, for example, I use Claude to help me start creating a document that we use with our new hires that's an onboarding document. And it is, you know, there's 30, 60, 90 day expectations. And in the past, I was putting it in Word or Excel and kind of trying to put check boxes on it. And it was just, it was rough for sure. So I dumped that information, jumped the dumped the job description and our client values and our website information and all of these things and what softwares we use. And Claude helped me create these profiles, these 30, 60, 90-day expectations, and formatted it in the things that I don't do inside well inside of anything, as far as putting our logo and our branding colors and checkoff points and dates and sign-off places and and the content was really, really good because I fed it our stuff. So when I started doing that, I was like, okay, I need to embrace more of this. And so getting through that class yesterday was super exciting. So I ended the evening going over to the premium order member social and just kind of chatting there with the coaches and the other people that are premium members, and then met Sarah and Rebecca for ice cream, and then came back and tried to get some sleep. So I'm heading off today for a session here this morning, and then really just getting prepared for my one o'clock session. And I'm excited. I'm very excited. I will let you know how it goes. Good morning, and welcome to the day three recap at Scaling New Heights. So I feel like I've been here for like a month and it's only been maybe five days. But recapping yesterday, which was Tuesday,

QuickBooks, Xero, and the software landscape

SPEAKER_00 12:18

I started with a session in the morning that was QBO versus Xero. And they disappointed me as soon as I walked in because they said that it wasn't going to be like some contest, but it was very interesting and it was so we are a split firm. We do half of our clients in Zero, half of our clients in QBO. We had been looking for an alternative to QBO a couple years ago. And so we ended up connecting with Zero here at Scaling New Heights about two or three years ago, and implemented that. And it gives us an essentially an alternative that is less expensive and has just more ability for people to get into it at less cost. And unfortunately for the poor woman, Alicia Katz Pollock, she's a huge QBO trainer and writer, and she's really good at it. Intuit decided to release a price update overnight, right before her session. They are all significant when they come, it comes from Intuit. And so when they got to the pricing piece, there was no contest. Now, the reasoning that they're putting behind why they need to increase their prices is for all the AI things that they're doing. And uh I don't know. Essentially it was because the people aren't using the AI inside the software, which means that they needed to increase their prices. I didn't really understand that logic, but again, it is such a money grab all the time. And so for our plus subscriptions, I think they were maybe at $95. That's the what we would consider the third tier because we don't use any of their lower subscriptions below essentials, was going from $95 to $140 a month. That is significant. That is significant. If I made that type of jump on my clients for their tax work, I would be called out. So the fact that Intuit still has the market share and also is starting to get some competition is being seen. And I think Zero is really poised to really take control. Now, on the vendor floor, there are lots and lots of AI native GL packages that are new and being uh there's some that have already been established. There's digits, there's puzzle that have been around and have really vetted their stuff in the last couple of years, but there are a lot of new ones. And for us, it feels very much like we don't know who's gonna stick. Zero is the largest global software, it is for GL type work for accounting platforms. They didn't come to the United States until 2012, maybe 28, 2008. I don't know. They've been not been around as long as QBO, but it is still, in my opinion, the most viable platform. I am hearing that people are saying, I don't want to have two different systems inside my firm. I'm too small for that. My argument to that is that we are doing it. And even at our size firm, which is five or six practitioners essentially that are using the platform. And we they get their certifications and they and uh we assign clients in both platforms, and therefore they are able to learn both and get good in both. It also helps us as we're trying to move people out of QBO over to zero. The team already knows how to use zero and they can say, hey, we could do your work in QBO if you're ready to lose this big price tag. So anyway,

Authenticity, leadership, and industry themes

SPEAKER_00 16:11

that was my first session. We then went to the main stage and I sat through that and then I sort of went and prepped and got ready for the fact that I was presenting at one o'clock after lunch, and I'm gonna toot my own horn. I think it went great. I was surprised that it went so great. My way to indicate that it went great is that I had lots of interaction, lots of questions, and lots of people afterwards telling me that I did a great job. Now I am who I am, and so I am the same person. The way I speak to my clients, the way I speak to my team, the way I interact with my friends. I don't really have multiple personas, and I definitely don't have one for when I'm speaking. I tell it like it is. I am honest, I'm authentic, and I just spill it. I don't care if people know uh the size revenue of my firm. I don't care if I'm sharing a price on our individual tax packages, and someone thinks that's too high or too low. I'm just sharing this is what I'm doing. This is what's working for me. And I'm just doing it in the way I do it. I think one of the biggest compliments was one of the my podcast listeners who said, You sound just like you do on your podcast. And I'm like, that's great, because I don't have a stage persona. I don't I don't put on anything where I'm trying to be more professional. I'm not putting on anything where I'm trying to be something that's not me. And I'm authentic. I let them know. First time I've ever done this, be give me feedback, but please be kind. Um, so I haven't seen any of the feedback, but I am excited that it's done. I think it resonated with people, not everyone, because not everyone is to the point that they're really ready to accept the mind shift of not keeping track of time and finding alternative methods of tracking how their team is doing. They are so locked into that model of billable hours and billable time, and how much time can they bill and are they making money per client and all of those things. And some of it, I've just kicked to the wayside. And so, but some people aren't ready for that. Anyway, the day ended with uh the for the conference-wide social um that was out at main stage, main event, something like that, where Bill hosted us and they bussed us over there and they fed us dinner and drinks and games and raffles. And and so I hung out with my conference friends and Sarah, and yeah, so now I'm ready for day four. This is the last day of the conference. I am presenting in the Woodard Theater today. And then um once the conference is over today, um, we're gonna kind of do nothing and then spend tomorrow doing some or spend Thursday, yeah, Thursday doing some strategic planning. So I will check back in with you tomorrow and let you know how I am. Good morning. All right, this is the recap day for day four of Scaling New Heights 2026. And today is a planning day for Sarah and I. So um, no hair, no makeup. I'm just ready to be comfy and get through a lot of just ideas. And for Sarah, she develops all the processes for us. So I'm very excited about that. But a recap of yesterday, I didn't go to anything in the morning. Usually on the day, the last day, they just do one breakfast session. And I skipped that and just started at the main stage. And the main stage, the thing that everybody goes to on the last day is to learn what the theme for next year is going to be. And I'm so glad. So they just usually do these in three chapters, you know, like a trilogy. And so we've had a trilogy of AI, of you know, taming the machines and all these things. And it was very AI focused and very, hey, the the AI is gonna replace your people, we're gonna do all the the grunt work. Well, accountants don't necessarily think that all the things they do are grunt work. Some of us like it. We're processors. I'm not a processor, but all my team is. So the kind of the idea that AI is going to replace my team for me isn't accurate. I want to work with my team. I want my team to be doing what they love. And yes, what they love is going to change, but you know what? It's already changed. A lot of my people learned they're accounting stuff on QuickBooks desktop. Well, we know that that's going to go away. We've already made changes. So the fact that AI is here and here to stay and still making changes, and we'll continue to make changes, and we'll figure out what sticks, and maybe governance will have to come. What happens here is that we want to lean into our people. So, all that to say that the theme for next year was all about people, is what it's supposed to be, which is very exciting for us. I know there will still be some AI content, but the theme is transcending the machines. And everything leading up to them revealing the name was relating to uh AI is never going to have a soul. And that's what the people have. And so, you know, as an industry, we have a soul. So I'm excited about that theme. I will, you know, think about content along those lines as I'm preparing for it and deciding what I'm going to submit to speak. So after that, there was some vendor time. And then um I spoke at Woodward Theater on hiring hacks, on how to

Hiring, vulnerability, and team growth

SPEAKER_00 22:06

why it's important to get out of the hiring apps, get your applicants out of there as soon as possible so that you can actually be talking to the person. So I did um 15, 20 minutes on on that, which is was fine. It was great. And then I finally went and got some lunch. So, but then we ended the day at a final set. Well, we did two. One was on some changes in QuickBooks, but the other, both Sarah and I went to two different ones and left our sessions totally invigorating. So mine was on vulnerability and leadership. And it was with a panel of people that I highly respect. And to hear them speaking about things and feelings and that I also feel makes me feel like I'm not alone. And so Nancy McClellan did a fabulous job of moderating that and eliciting what we really needed to hear. So that was great. And I left there thinking, okay, that that's exactly the feeling I needed is that I'm not alone on this journey. And Sarah went to one that was a panel on team and people. And she met me in the hall and said, Hey, I got a list of stuff that I'm gonna tell you we need to do. And that's great. So I will say that those were the best end of day last session on the last day sessions I have ever been to in the nine years I've been coming. So it was perfect. It was a perfect ending. And then I went and had dinner, took Sarah to dinner, and we joined by our friend Rebecca, and then I went and hung out with everybody for a while at the bar. They play, play some games, and you know, I just got to chat and I really enjoyed talking to some of these people that I one didn't have a lot of time to connect with during the conference, and then two, I won't see them again, probably a lot of them until either next year or November when I go to Woodard Summit. So that's the recap of Scaling New Heights 2026. I did things that I have never done before, like doing a hundred-minute session and getting positive feedback from it. So that was a huge goal of mine, and I'm so glad that I did it. Then it's also kind of energizing to be able to go downstairs and meet Sarah right now and work on some of these ideas that we have seen. She tames me and makes sure that we don't try to implement all the things, and I kind of help her see that we really need to do a whole lot of things. So, but it's exciting. So thanks for listening to another recap of Scaling New Heights. We are coming back here next year at the end of June. So I will plan on making one more episode next year. And then I think we're still here another year after that, but there's been some rumors, and so I think everybody's a little confused on

Closing reflections and future plans

SPEAKER_00 25:00

where we are on the contract here in Orlando. So okay. All right, everybody, thanks for listening. As always, if you want to um send me a message, let me know how you're doing, let me know what conferences you go to. I would love to hear that. And um, you can, where you're listening to this, there's a button that says text Beth. So send me a fan mail. Uh everybody knows now that I love getting fan mails, so that could really make me day. All right, talk to you later. Bye-bye. Okay, so that was my week. I will say that this year was a little different than the last couple of years. The last couple of years have I've had some very major like emotional roller coasters while I was at scaling. And this year was it didn't feel like I had the ups and downs. I was not nervous about presenting, and in fact, I loved it. And so I hope I get good feedback from that. I'm excited to put in some options for next year uh with the new theme. And I will say that the time that Sarah and I spent just working on and talking about what's going on with the firm was just invaluable. I mean, it was one of those things that we're able to step away and we're so, so happy that the team just managed everything for us. And it was so nice. We came back and had a, you know, we both had the weekend where we were trying to catch back up with our family and and home life activities. And then Monday, MJ started and we are so thrilled to have her on the team. It feels like we are now kind of at that point where we're we're complete. You know, we have the the people we need, the right people we need, the personalities we need, and we can all start focusing on what each of our roles are. So I'm very excited about it, but I only had two days in the office, and then I uh spent yesterday in this training class, and I've got today and tomorrow. So I'm gonna jet off to get over to the training facility. It's about 30 miles away, and so I'm I'm just outside of it, sitting here before the class starts. So yeah, I'm I'm excited and I hope you enjoyed the recap. I love doing them because I really like giving you that daily perspective. And so I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll be back with you very soon. Bye-bye. Thanks for listening to another episode of Accounting with Confidence. My hope is that my experiences can help you navigate the realities of owning and operating your business. Please subscribe or follow the podcast on your favorite podcast listening platform so that you never miss an episode. Feel free to leave me a text by using the Send Us a Text message link in the show description and let me know how I'm doing.