Three Live Hands-On Sessions • 4.5 NASBA CPE Credits
The AI-First Firm
Accelerator Series
With Jody Padar & Ben Vickery — move beyond AI experimentation and put AI to work across your practice.
Wednesdays, October 14, 21 & 28, 2026 • 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT
Firms today are looking to build systems that capture knowledge, improve consistency and free their people to spend more time where they create the most value: with clients. The AI-First Firm Accelerator is a three-part implementation series for accounting firms that are ready to move beyond AI experimentation and begin putting AI to work across their practice.
Through live demonstrations, hands-on workshops and practical accounting examples, you’ll learn how to build an AI assistant tailored to your firm, connect AI to your existing tools and identify the workflows that are ready for automation. You’ll leave with working AI tools, practical workflows and a clear roadmap for becoming an AI-first firm.
Early Bird
$249
Through midnight, Monday, October 12
$229 with code Cowork20
Standard Rate
$349
Beginning October 13
$329 with code Cowork20
One registration covers all three sessions • 4.5 NASBA CPE Credits based on attendance
A Thank-You from The CPA Trendlines Academy
A $20 Rebate to Cover Claude Cowork During the Series
The hands-on sessions run in Claude Cowork, which requires a paid Claude plan ($20/month for Claude Pro). To offset that cost, The CPA Trendlines Academy will reduce your Series registration fee by $20. Enter this code when you register:
$329 at the full rate after that — the code doesn’t expire
Register with Code Cowork20 →
This rebate is offered solely by The CPA Trendlines Academy as a reduction in the Series registration fee. It is not offered, sponsored or endorsed by Anthropic, the maker of Claude, and does not change your Claude subscription.
From Curiosity to Capability
Three Wednesdays. One Clear Path.
Build Your Firm’s AI Assistant
Wednesday, October 14 • 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT
Most accountants use AI like a search engine. They ask a question, get an answer and start over the next time. But the real power of AI comes when it understands your firm. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll build a Claude Project that reflects your firm’s voice, standards and expertise — an AI assistant that consistently produces work aligned with how your firm communicates and serves clients.
Participants will learn how to:
- Build a Claude Project tailored to their firm’s voice, terminology and standards
- Create reusable instructions that produce more consistent AI responses
- Organize examples, reference materials and guidance so AI becomes more reliable over time
- Develop AI assistants for client communications, tax research and other common accounting workflows
- Understand how firm-specific AI helps capture and scale knowledge across the organization
Connect AI Across Your Firm
Wednesday, October 21 • 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT
AI becomes far more valuable when it understands the context of your work. In this hands-on session, you’ll connect Claude to the tools your firm already uses — email, calendars, cloud storage, meeting notes and accounting applications — so it can answer questions, summarize activity and surface information across your workflow.
Participants will learn how to:
- Connect Claude to email, calendars, cloud storage, meeting notes and other business tools
- Use AI to quickly find information across multiple systems instead of searching manually
- Create practical workflows that summarize client activity, track action items and answer firm-specific questions
- Understand the privacy, security and verification considerations when using connected AI
- Recognize when AI can be trusted to accelerate work and when human review remains essential
Automate Your Firm with AI
Wednesday, October 28 • 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT
Using AI to answer questions is a great start. The real transformation happens when AI begins handling work in the background. You’ll explore how AI can automate repetitive tasks, generate recurring summaries, monitor activity and support your team without someone initiating every interaction — and learn where automation delivers the greatest return, what should remain human-led and when it’s better to buy than build.
Participants will learn how to:
- Understand the difference between using AI interactively and automating work behind the scenes
- Identify repetitive workflows that are good candidates for AI automation
- Evaluate when to build a custom workflow versus purchasing existing software
- Prioritize automation opportunities based on business value, complexity and maintenance
Use code Cowork20 for the Academy’s $20 rebate.
What You’ll Need
- A paid Claude plan — Claude Pro at $20/month is enough (Max, Team and Enterprise also work; the free plan does not). The Academy’s $20 rebate (code Cowork20) offsets this cost during the Series.
- The Claude Desktop app installed on Mac or Windows. The course uses Claude Cowork, which runs only in the desktop app, not a browser.
- Operating system: macOS 11 (Big Sur) or newer, or Windows 10 or newer.
- Open Cowork once before Session 1 — the first launch downloads a component and can take a few minutes.
- Press Win + R, type optionalfeatures and hit Enter
- Check “Virtual Machine Platform” and “Windows Hypervisor Platform”
- Restart, then open Claude Desktop → Cowork
Program Details
Dates & times: Wednesdays, October 14, 21 & 28, 2026 • 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT
Price: Early Bird $249 through midnight Oct. 12, then $349 • Group rate $199/attendee (2 or more)
Academy rebate: Code Cowork20 takes $20 off whichever rate applies (no expiration)
CPE Credits: 4.5 NASBA CPE, based on workshop attendance
Field of Study: Information Technology
Delivery Method: Group Internet Based
Advance Preparation: None
Your Instructors
Jody Padar, CPA — “The Radical CPA”
Jody Padar is one of the accounting profession’s foremost visionaries and pioneers. Co-founder of XcelLabs and a well-known advocate for tech adoption and forward-thinking practice, she has been consistently named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the profession by Accounting Today. Throughout the series, Jody explores how AI is reshaping leadership, advisory and the future of accounting.
Ben Vickery
Ben Vickery is an AI builder and the developer behind Navi by XcelLabs, an AI coaching platform for accountants, and founder of TaxFlow, a tax workflow platform serving accounting firms. He builds AI automation inside CPA firms, from streamlining client communication to automating the repetitive work that eats up a firm’s day, and provides the technical guidance and real-world implementation strategies firms can apply immediately.
About the Sponsor
The CPA Trendlines Academy (Thomas Advisors LLC d/b/a), #170718, is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors via its website at nasbaregistry.org.
