Real Firms is Rebecca Driscoll, CPA, and Charlie Barmore, CPA, CFE, CVA, figuring out what the accounting firm of the future actually looks like.
Charlie explores the frontier of AI in accounting: new models, tools, agents, workflows, and things accountants can do now that weren’t practical before.
Rebecca looks at how the work is organized, whether the systems fit, and how client expectations and owner decisions affect the business. That includes the human work of holding boundaries, changing prices, and making good decisions even when they feel uncomfortable.
Better firms require both better systems and braver decisions.
On the podcast, we test ideas and question old assumptions, connecting what technology can do with how a firm actually operates. We also work together to help firms implement AI, starting with their processes, documentation, tech stack, team roles, and capacity.
Real Firms sits at the intersection of The Collaboration Room and AI Lab for Accountants. AI Lab explores what’s becoming possible. TCR focuses on the realities of running the firm. Real Firms is where those two conversations meet.
Rebecca built and sold a CPA firm and now writes and speaks about why firms are harder to run than they need to be. Her work connects operations, organization, technology, client behavior, and owner decisions, with a focus on how those pieces can work better together.
Charlie runs a Georgia practice and experiments with AI, new models, tools, agents, and accounting workflows. He brings the builder’s perspective: what can we do now, and how does it hold up in real work?