The Practice Connection Program

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Registration and Networking

3:30 pm – 3:45 pm
Welcome to The Practice Connection

3:45 pm – 4:45 pm
Clear Decisions, Stronger Teams, Better Results: The Self-Leadership Advantage
Kim Grenier Mintenko

4:45 pm – 5:00 pm
Reflection Moment
What’s Your Top Practice Bottleneck?

5:00 pm – 5:10 pm
Stretch Break

5:10 pm – 5:45 pm
Technology Trends in Accounting Firms
Michael Anderson, MBA, CISSP, ICD.D

5:45 pm – 6:30 pm
Refresh. Connect. Explore.

6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Practice Stories: 10 Minutes. One Lesson. Real Experience

7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Continue the Conversation (Optional)

In people-driven businesses, growth doesn’t just test systems and strategy. It tests the leader.

As firms grow, many owners unknowingly become the bottleneck—not because of a lack of skill or effort, but because the way they make decisions, communicate, delegate, and lead hasn’t evolved at the same pace as their practice. This practical, human-centered session explores how common leadership patterns, such as over-involvement, delayed decisions, reactive communication, and difficulty letting go, can quietly limit team performance and firm growth.

You’ll leave with practical insights to strengthen your leadership, make clearer decisions, and build a stronger, more resilient firm.

Following this session, participants will discuss their biggest practice bottlenecks and exchange ideas with peers before moving into the next conversation.

Take time to enjoy appetizers, connect with fellow attendees, and explore featured experiences throughout the venue.

Whether you’re checking into your room, participating in an interactive experience, meeting someone new, or simply taking a moment to recharge, this relaxed and welcoming environment is designed to help you connect with fellow practitioners before the evening continues.

Some of the best ideas come from hearing how others have tackled similar challenges.

Three practitioners will each share a focused 10-minute Practice Story, highlighting a real experience, lesson learned, or strategy that shaped their firm. A countdown clock keeps each story concise, practical, and focused on the insights that matter most.

The stories are followed by audience Q&A and facilitated roundtable discussions, giving you the opportunity to ask questions, exchange perspectives, and explore how these ideas could apply within your own practice.

8:30 am – 9:00 am
Breakfast and Networking

9:00 am – 10:15 am
Improving Practice Profitability: A Case Study
Jean-Guy Talbot, FCPA, FCGA

10:15 am – 10:30 am
Break

10:30 am – 11:30 am
Growth Strategies for Accounting Firms
Mike McLenehan, CPA, CGA

11:30 am – 12:15 pm
Practice Benchmarking and Practice Health
Jean-Guy Talbot, FCPA, FCGA and Kristine Tubiera

12:15 pm – 1:00 pm
Lunch

1:00 pm – 2:15 pm
What’s Really Driving the Decision?
Tamara Kroeker, IEA Cert., B.Ed/Mus.

2:15 pm –2:30 pm
Break

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Building Your Employee Experience & Future of Work Philosophy
Jane Helbrecht, CPHR

3:30 pm – 3:45 pm
Reflection Moment
What’s one idea you will take back to your practice?

3:45 pm – 4:45 pm
Practice Connection CoLab: Choose Your Experience

4:45 pm – 5:30 pm
Roundtable: Practice Challenges

5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Practice Connection Social

7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Continue the Conversation (Optional)

As a practice owner, your financial statements should do more than report what happened. They should help you make better business decisions.

This practical session explores the key drivers of profitability in an accounting practice and how to use financial information to identify opportunities, evaluate priorities, and make more informed decisions. The concepts are brought to life through a fictional case study based on real-world scenarios, giving you the opportunity to see how different decisions can influence the performance of a practice.

How does your practice compare to others? More importantly, what contributes to a healthy, successful accounting firm today?

This interactive session brings together insights from practitioners, live audience polling, and facilitated discussion to explore the opportunities, challenges, and trends shaping accounting firms today.

Together, we’ll compare perspectives, discuss what practitioners are experiencing in their own firms, and identify practical ideas that can help strengthen your practice. Through shared experiences and meaningful conversation, you’ll gain fresh insights, validate your current approach, and discover new opportunities to consider as your firm continues to grow.

Leadership is shaped by more than strategy, logic, and expertise. Beneath every decision are internal drivers that influence how we respond to pressure, navigate uncertainty, communicate with others, and define success.

This interactive session explores the deeper motivations that shape leadership and decision-making in modern practice. Through guided reflection, journaling, and small-group discussion, participants will examine the patterns, beliefs, and instincts influencing the way they lead, often without realizing it.

The goal isn’t simply to make better decisions. This session invites leaders to slow down long enough to ask deeper questions about what is shaping their choices, reactions, and leadership patterns beneath the surface. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of themselves, greater awareness of how their patterns impact others, and practical insights they can bring back into their leadership and decision-making immediately.

Does your employee experience reflect intention, or has it simply evolved over time?

The most successful firms don’t leave workplace culture to chance. They make intentional decisions about how they lead, support, and engage their teams while adapting to the changing expectations of today’s workforce.

In this engaging keynote, Jane Helbrecht explores the connection between culture, employee experience, and workplace trends. Together, we’ll examine the forces shaping today’s workplace and the guiding principles that help firms build stronger teams, create meaningful employee experiences, and foster a workplace where people want to stay and grow.

Participants will leave with practical ideas and thoughtful questions to help define or strengthen their own philosophy for leading and engaging their people.

Some of the most valuable learning and connections happen outside of formal presentations. Throughout the day, you’ll have opportunities to work alongside fellow practitioners, explore real practice challenges, exchange ideas, and continue conversations in a more collaborative setting.

Practice Connection CoLab
Learning happens in many ways. The Practice Connection CoLab is your opportunity to step away from the formal program and choose how you want to spend your time.

Connect with fellow practitioners, continue a conversation with a speaker, update your professional headshot, explore an experience with one of our partners, or simply grab a refreshment and recharge.

Roundtable: Practice Challenges
Every practice faces challenges, but you don’t have to solve them alone.

Join fellow practitioners for facilitated roundtable conversations focused on the real opportunities and challenges facing today’s firms. Share your experiences, ask questions, and learn from the perspectives of others in a collaborative learning environment.

Leave with practical solutions and ideas to help move your practice forward.

Practice Connection Social
Continue the conversations and connections from the day in a relaxed, engaging setting.

Best Practices Exchange
The most valuable ideas don’t always come from the front of the room. They often come from the practitioners sitting beside you.

Join an interactive exchange where practitioners share practical ideas, lessons learned, and approaches that are making a meaningful difference in their firms. Together, we’ll uncover what’s working, explore different perspectives, and learn directly from one another.

Leave with fresh ideas and practical insights to continue exploring throughout the afternoon.

Implementation Roundtables
The best ideas create value when they’re put into practice.

Building on the conversations from throughout the retreat, join a roundtable focused on turning ideas into action. Discussion topics will be shaped by the conversations and priorities that emerge throughout the retreat, making each session timely, practical, and relevant.

Leave with greater clarity and practical next steps for your practice.

Reflections, Next Steps & Closing
We’ll come back together one final time to reflect on the ideas, conversations, and connections from the past three days. Together, we’ll celebrate key takeaways, look ahead to what’s next, and conclude the Practice Connection.