Complimentary CPE Webinar • 1 NASBA CPE Credit
AI for Accountants:
From Curiosity to Confidence
With Jody Padar & Ben Vickery — cut through the hype and learn which tasks are actually worth handing to AI.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 • Noon – 1:00 PM EDT
Everyone is talking about AI. Vendors promise autonomous “agents” that will run your practice. Headlines promise the end of the accountant. Meanwhile, most firms are still asking a far more practical question:
Which tasks are actually worth using AI for — and what return can we realistically expect in the next 30 to 90 days?
In this complimentary hour, XcelLabs co-founder Jody Padar and AI developer Ben Vickery, creator of Navi by XcelLabs, separate the hype from reality. You’ll see how firms are using AI today to improve client communication, summarize complex tax information, organize client work and save meaningful time — without sacrificing professional judgment.
Complimentary • 1 NASBA CPE Credit • No advance preparation
A Thank-You from The CPA Trendlines Academy
Attend October 7 and Get a $20 Rebate to Cover Claude Cowork During the AI-First Accelerator Series
Wednesday shows you where AI pays. The AI-First Firm Accelerator Series (Wednesdays, October 14, 21 & 28) is where you build it hands-on — and its 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. Register and attend October 7, then enter this code when you register for the Series:
$329 at the full rate after that — the code doesn’t expire
Explore the Accelerator Series →
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.
The Question That Drives ROI
Not “Should We Use AI?” but “Where Does It Pay?”
The firms seeing real returns aren’t automating everything. They’re sorting their work into three buckets — and being honest about which is which.
Hand It to AI
Repetitive, text-heavy work you can review in seconds: first drafts of client emails, meeting recaps, summaries of notices and long documents.Work Side by Side
Research, document analysis and organizing client files — AI does the heavy lifting, you verify the answer before it goes anywhere.Keep It Human
Professional judgment, sign-off and the client conversations where trust is built. This is where your people create the most value.In One Hour
What You’ll Walk Away With
- Where Claude fits alongside ChatGPT, Copilot and other AI tools
- A simple prompt framework that produces more consistent, less generic results
- How to apply AI to real accounting workflows, from client communication to research and document review
- How to protect confidential information while using AI responsibly
- Which work should stay human — and where AI creates the biggest advantage
Program Details
Date & time: Wednesday, October 7, 2026 • Noon – 1:00 PM EDT
Price: Complimentary
CPE Credits: 1
Field of Study: Information Technology
Level: Basic
Delivery Method: Group Internet Based
Prerequisites: None
Advance Preparation: None
Your Presenters
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, and contributes regularly to Accounting Today and CPA Trendlines.
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 and focuses on the practical side of adoption: which tasks are worth handing to AI, how to do it without risking client data, and where human judgment still wins.
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.
