Qualified Opinions

From Private to IPO: What AI Is Doing to the Audit Profession

CPAClub — Wed, 20 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Navneet Sharma has guided companies through the IPO process roughly 30 times. He is a Partner at KNAV, a global accounting and advisory firm operating across seven countries. He serves on the AICPA Auditing Standards Review Committee, has been recognized with 40 Under 40 honors in both the U.S. and India, and is a Forbes Best in State honoree. He is also one of the few people in this profession willing to say out loud exactly what AI is — and is not — doing on live audit engagements today.

In this episode, Drew Carrick and Chris Vanover dig into two conversations that do not usually share the same room: the behind-the-scenes reality of taking a company public, and what AI-driven audit tools are actually delivering in practice right now.

Topics covered include:

Why being audit-ready does not mean being IPO-ready, and what private companies consistently miss
The timeline disconnect between management, the board, and the audit team
What it feels like to work inside a live IPO process and why one CFO told Navneet he loved it once and will never do it again
Whether the proposed shift to semi-annual public company reporting is good or bad for the profession
The KNAV AI tools currently deployed on real engagements — memo analysis, contract summarization, and vouching automation
The "human in the loop" protocol KNAV built to ensure staff are genuinely engaged with AI output, not just clicking through it
How firms should be rethinking entry-level training now that AI handles what used to teach professional judgment
Where AI audit standards actually stand within the AICPA and PCAOB right now

This episode is CPE eligible on the Earmark app.

Qualified Opinions is a flagship content series from CPA Club, built to inform, challenge, and modernize the conversation around public accounting. New episodes release every first and third Wednesday of the month. Available on YouTube and all major streaming platforms.

Stop Surviving the Grind: How to Actually Thrive in Public Accounting

CPAClub — Wed, 06 May 2026 13:00:00 GMT

The skills that get you into public accounting are not the skills that keep you whole once you're inside. Ellen Sulistio spent a decade at a Big 4 firm and figured out the difference between surviving and actually thriving — then built those principles into an entire organization.

Nobody puts "survived seven busy seasons without losing myself" on their resume. But maybe they should.

In Episode 3 of Qualified Opinions, Drew Carrick (The Rapping CPA) and co-host Chris Vanover sit down with Ellen Sulistio, Senior Vice President at CPA Club. Ellen spent a decade at a Big 4 firm — not just grinding through it, but actually learning how to sustain herself inside it. And then she took those lessons and built them into the culture of an entire organization: four-day work weeks, no billable hour pressure, and real structural choices around wellbeing that aren't just perks on a careers page.

This episode covers the human side of the profession that never makes it into the recruiting pitch:

What it looks like to build a nonlinear career inside Big 4 — from audit to national office learning & development
Why your best performers aren't always your best teachers, and what that costs the people below them
How a PwC senior retreat became a turning point — and what a high energy score in a room of 95% burned-out peers actually signals
The burnout checklist the AICPA released — and what it says about the state of the profession
Why the 4-day work week is structurally incompatible with the billable hour model
How CPA Club eliminated 40–60 hours of manual work per project through automation — and why that's a people decision as much as an efficiency one
Work-life integration vs. work-life balance: the distinction that actually matters
The newly coined concept of "career creep" — and how to stop it before it takes over
Mentorship as transportation: how to get someone from Point A to Point B without defining either one for them
What to say to someone who's two years into the profession and already running on fumes

Earn CPE credit for this episode by taking the quiz on the Earmark app. New episodes every first and third Wednesday of the month.

Qualified Opinions is powered by CPA Club https://cpaclub.cpa/ — transforming accounting firms and professionals to create a better future for the entire industry.

Ellen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esulistio/

Drew's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewcarrick/

Chris' LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisvcpa/

How Important is Audit Quality Actually?

CPAClub — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Audit quality has often been an overlooked part of public accounting firm operations, even though it is one of the most important parts of the profession. When Enron and Arthur Andersen collapsed, and the PCAOB was born, audit quality had a moment in the spotlight. Even with control requirements and standards being put in place, many firms often talked the talk without walking the walk.

Drew Carrick, The Rapping CPA, and host of Qualified Opinions, alongside co-host Chris Vanover, President & Founder of CPAClub, sit down with author of “The Truth About Public Accounting” and the audit partner who wrote the infamous anonymous letter to the PCAOB on audit quality, Bob Conway. They discuss how the PCAOB originated, how audit quality has (necessarily) evolved over time, and why it is now more important than ever to understand the significance of quality audits.

Powered by CPAClub, this episode of Qualified Opinions can be found on-demand on the Earmark app, and is available there for CPE credit. New episodes every first and third Wednesday of each month.

Episode 2: How Important is Audit Quality Actually? (April 14, 2026)

What Will Happen to QC 1000 in 2026?

CPAClub — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Amidst all of the PCAOB leadership changes, the QC 1000 implementation requirement is still set for December 2006 – but there are still a lot of questions around what it will look like when all is said and done.

Drew Carrick, The Rapping CPA, and host of Qualified Opinions, alongside co-host Chris Vanover, President & Founder of CPAClub, sit down with PCAOB Specialist Brian Yujuico, VP of CPAClub, to discuss the fate of QC 1000, the future of the PCAOB, and what firms need to know as they approach this mandatory implementation deadline.

Powered by CPAClub, this very first episode of Qualified Opinions aired live on Earmark, and is available there for CPE credit. New episodes every first and third Wednesday of each month.

Episode 1: What WIll Happen to QC 1000 in 2026? [April 1, 2026)

Welcome to Qualified Opinions

CPAClub — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:01:25 GMT

Qualified Opinions is a flagship content series from CPA Club, built to inform, challenge, and modernize the conversation around public accounting.

Episodes feature relaxed, story‑driven conversations between the hosts and guests who add meaningful perspective—firm leaders, educators, industry voices, and professionals who’ve seen the system from the inside.

Hosted by Drew Carrick (aka The Rapping CPA) alongside Chris Vanover, the show blends real‑world experience, career perspective, and candid discussion on what’s actually happening inside public accounting. Each episode explores the intersection of audit quality, firm culture, career growth, and the business of the profession—with honesty, humor, and practical insight.

Best of all, if you're a CPA, you can earn CPE credit for listening to this episode by heading over to Earmark and completing the quiz!