The Bookkeeping Industry Is Being Rewritten Right Now.
This Is the Program That Puts You on the Right Side of It.
"I actually started my journey with a different company, but once I found Akadian, that's who I continue to come back to; they helped me prepare for anything."
— Christopher Doughty, Akadian StudentCancel any time · No long-term commitment required
Basic Bookkeeping Is Disappearing.
Advisory Bookkeeping Is Exploding.
AI tools are automating transaction categorization, bank reconciliations, and standard financial reporting. Overseas bookkeepers are undercutting rates that were already dropping. And business owners are increasingly treating bookkeeping as an expense to eliminate, not a service to invest in.
"Is anyone using Claude for bookkeeping and tax work? I'd love to replace the $750/month expense for our construction company."
— Claude AI Community, Facebook group post
"Build Your Own AI Accountant"
— YouTube video title with hundreds of thousands of views
A 2025 industry report on AI job displacement named basic bookkeeping one of the highest-risk professions in the country, with "high automation risk through 2028" and "continued decline through 2030."
This is not speculation. It is already happening.
But here is the part most people miss, and it changes everything:
While basic bookkeeping is shrinking, Client Advisory Services is the fastest-growing service area in all of public accounting.
Not growing a little. Not growing steadily. Growing at a pace that is outstripping every other service line in the profession — and has been for years.
The AICPA and CPA.com have been tracking this in their CAS Benchmark Survey, and the numbers are striking:
17% median CAS revenue growth in 2023 over 2022 alone
61% increase in median annual CAS revenue since the prior survey period
CAS practices are projecting their revenue to double over the next three years, with a 99% median growth rate forecast
75% of accounting firms reported growth in their CAS practices in Caseware's 2024 State of Accounting Firms Trends Report, with 26% describing that growth as "significant"
80% of firms offering advisory services say CAS delivers "superior revenue growth" compared to traditional compliance work
This is not a niche trend. This is a structural shift in what the profession is becoming, and it has been accelerating with double-digit growth rates every year since 2017.
The firms and practitioners growing the fastest right now are not doing more bookkeeping. They are doing less bookkeeping and more advising.
Your Clients Don't Want a Bookkeeper.
They want someone who can help them run their business better.
A Gusto study found that 44% of business owners are willing to pay their accountants or bookkeepers 10 to 20% more for financial and people advisory services. And 76% of business owners who receive regular financial advice say it directly improves their competitiveness.
Every business owner you work with is lying awake at night asking the same six questions. They are not thinking about reconciliations. They are not thinking about chart of accounts.
They are thinking about:
"Why is my cash flow so tight even though my sales are up?"
"Can I afford to hire another person? Buy new equipment? Take a real vacation?"
"What numbers should I actually be paying attention to?"
"Which of my services is actually making me money, and which ones are quietly bleeding me dry?"
"What do I need to fix before tax season?"
"How much should I be paying myself?"
AI can categorize a transaction. AI can reconcile a bank statement.
AI cannot sit across from a business owner and say: "Here's what this means for your business. Here's what I'd do about it if I were you."
The Complete Pathway From Bookkeeping Fundamentals to Certified Elite Advisor
CAS Academy is not a single course. It is not a one-time certification. It is a complete professional development pathway — structured, sequential, and built around the only model that works in today's industry.
Powered by ClickStudy™
Akadian's proprietary learn-by-doing methodology combines conceptual instruction with simulated QBO practice environments, real-world transaction work, and structured skill tracking. You are not watching someone else do the work. You are doing it yourself, in realistic scenarios that mirror actual client situations, until it becomes second nature.
Every level builds on the last
Sequential curriculum that compounds your expertise
Every certification unlocks the next
Milestone credentials that prove genuine mastery
BooksMatch integration
Your verified skills displayed to CPAs and business owners actively searching
What You'll Know and Be Able to Do at Every Level
Level 1: Certified CAS Accounting Associate
The foundation that most bookkeeping training skips entirely.
- Entity-aware transaction categorization
- Revenue recognition & accrual accounting
- Payroll, assets, equity, advisory concepts
- CPA/EA handoff protocols
- 46-question essay-only capstone exam
"Debits and Credits FINALLY CLICKED for me! Understanding how transactions are either debited or credited like graphing an equation made much more sense."
— Keisha Hunte
Level 2: Certified Applied CAS Accounting Associate
Where knowing becomes doing, at speed and under realistic conditions.
- Full year of simulated QBO transactions
- Invoicing, bill pay, receivables, expenses
- Bank feed processing & payroll entries
- Fixed assets, sales tax, inventory
- Monthly reconciliations & financial reports
"Akadian has been amazing for learning the actual accounting AND the buttons to push lol."
— Amy Molthan
Level 3: Certified CAS Accounting Professional
Where you stop processing transactions and start delivering transformation.
- Professional QBO Cleanup — spotting & fixing errors
- Payroll & sales tax issue resolution
- Monthly reporting & cash reserve planning
- Expense benchmarking & cash flow visibility
- Service profitability analysis & growth metrics
"This is the level where clients stop seeing you as an expense and start seeing you as something they cannot afford to lose."
— From the CAS Academy curriculum
Level 4: Certified Elite CAS Accounting Professional
The highest credential in CAS. There is no higher standard.
- Requires Level 3 certification
- Two full QBO cleanup projects on actual client files
- Each project reviewed by two certified peers
- Two peer reviews of other professionals' work
- Real client conditions, real accountability
"This is not a badge you purchase. It is a credential you earn."
— AkadianEvery certification comes with a Credly digital badge.
Verifiable. Shareable. Recognizable to the CPAs, employers, and business owners you want to work with. Not a completion certificate — a milestone credential, earned at your specific level of demonstrated expertise.
Here's What You Get When You Join CAS Academy Today
The Core Academy
Value: $6,000- Complete CAS Academy dashboard with personalized learning path, progress tracker, and experience dashboard
- Full course library across all four certification levels, organized into a structured, sequenced pathway
- Simulated QBO practice environments powered by ClickStudy™ — learn by doing, not just watching
- Qualify for all four milestone certifications, from CAS Accounting Associate through Certified Elite
- Essay-only assessment that verifies genuine mastery, not just course completion
- Credly digital badges for every milestone — verifiable credentials you can add to LinkedIn and BooksMatch immediately
- Full BooksMatch integration with your verified skills displayed to CPAs and business owners actively looking for credentialed bookkeepers
The Bonuses
Value: $2,000+The Special Situations Library Bonus 1
A growing collection of real-world troubleshooting guides for the edge cases, curveballs, and 'I've never seen this before' scenarios that the standard curriculum doesn't cover.
Open Office Hours with a 30 Year Bookkeeper and Enrolled Agent Bonus 2
Live, real-time guidance as you apply your new skills with actual clients. Not pre-recorded. Not a chatbot. A real tax professional on a live call.
Akadian Study Hall Bonus 3
Structured implementation sessions that help students complete training 3× faster than self-paced learners, with built-in accountability.
Private Student Community Bonus 4
Access to a network of serious bookkeeping professionals at every stage of the CAS pathway, sharing wins, troubleshooting challenges, and building lasting careers.
Intuit Certification Companion Courses Bonus 5
Companion courses designed to help you pass Intuit's ProAdvisor Level 1, Level 2, Payroll, and Bookkeeper certifications — inserted at exactly the right moment.
What Happens When People Actually Do This
"I just watched the 'Master Debits And Credits Once And For All' video and I have to say it is absolutely the BEST explanation of debits and credits I have ever heard. It is crystal clear now. Once again, Akadian saves the day!!!"
— Nafeesah Hines"I remember struggling to grasp the concepts of debits/credits/T accounts when I was pursuing my Accounting Degree many years ago. Your breakdown is SO simple; the entire concept clicked with me right away!"
— Matthew Detrick"Years ago when I worked in QB, I pushed buttons and said a prayer! Now I know how to check to make sure it all worked behind the scenes. SO IMPORTANT!"
— Corrie Schirmer"Things are coming together and this provides a level of confidence I was not expecting."
— Dorothy (Dolly) Starr"I knew co-mingling was not a good business practice but I did not realize it could put personal assets at risk. I now have a better strategy to stress the importance of this to clients."
— Tammy Ingalsbe"I have great ideas but did not know how to get started with bookkeeping because it is a new skill and world altogether. Now I can work around this model."
— Janet Badia"I just had a call with a potential client. She said she is ready. I need to write up an engagement letter. My first official client!"
— Becky"I got a lead from Intuit QuickBooks ProAdvisor search. My first! She reached out earlier today. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. Thank you!!!"
— Anonymous Community Member"Went to a tax auditor's office, ended up with one year's worth of bank reconciliations to do for one of his clients."
— Petina Steele"I will never not appreciate Margie's honesty, not trying to sell us the big dream of being a millionaire sitting on the beach drinking mojitos with zero work."
— Lindsey Roberts"Study hall is the best. It's more than just business owners doing their work; we've become a family too. It's what starts my day."
— Shari"This is what I enjoy the most; not only are we learning what we need to know now. We're learning what the future will bring, and Margie is preparing us for what is to come."
— RonWe Would Rather Have the Right Students Than the Most Students.
- You're a bookkeeper who is serious about staying relevant, not hoping AI somehow doesn't apply to you
- You're tired of competing on price and want to compete on expertise instead
- You want credentials that actually prove your skills to clients, CPAs, and employers — not just course completion certificates
- You want to understand accounting at a deep level, not just know which buttons to click
- You are willing to do the work, knowing that real mastery creates real, lasting rewards
- You're looking for the 'passive income on the beach' version of bookkeeping — that is not what we teach because it is not real
- You buy courses without finishing them and expect this one to be different without changing your approach
- You want shortcuts to credentials that don't require genuine understanding
Join CAS Academy Today
Everything included:
- Complete CAS Academy dashboard & learning path
- Full course library — all 4 certification levels
- Simulated QBO practice (ClickStudy™)
- 4 milestone Credly digital badges
- Essay-only mastery assessments
- BooksMatch profile integration
- Special Situations Library
- Open Office Hours with a 30 Year Bookkeeper and Enrolled Agent
- Akadian Study Hall (3× faster completion)
- Private Student Community
- Intuit Certification Companion Courses
Total combined value: $8,000+
Your $197/month membership gives you full access to everything in CAS Academy for as long as you remain a member.
Everything You Need to Know
It's especially well-suited for beginners, because you'll build the right foundation from the start, rather than having to undo years of 'just push the buttons' training later. Level 1 is specifically designed to take someone from foundational concepts to genuine understanding, step by step. About 40% of successful Akadian students started with no prior bookkeeping experience.
Almost certainly. Most experienced bookkeepers have real gaps in understanding why things work the way they do, because the training available has historically focused on the software, not the accounting underneath it, or theoretical instead of practical. We are the only ones that bring these things together — in a fun, engaging, and easily digestible way.
Completely self-paced. You log in when you can, resume exactly where you left off, and move at whatever pace fits your life. One student finished a full course in 3 days while 'balancing illness, kids, work, sports.' Others take it week by week and use Study Hall sessions to stay on track. The program meets you where you are.
Most programs still teach the old model: learn the software, get a certificate, find clients. That model is what AI is replacing. CAS Academy is built for where the industry is actually going: structured around deep accounting understanding, hands-on simulated QBO practice, advisory communication skills, and verified milestone credentials — not just completion certificates.
You have multiple layers of support. Kadi, our AI-powered support assistant, is available 24/7 via the Need Help button. If Kadi can't resolve your issue, it's escalated to a live team member who will respond within 24 hours. You also have Study Hall sessions, Open Office Hours with an enrolled agent, and the private community. You will never go without the support you need.
Courses you've already purchased remain fully accessible for life; nothing goes away.
Yes. CAS Academy is a month-to-month subscription and you can cancel at any time. Please be advised that unless you purchase lifetime access to the CAS tracks within CAS Academy, cancelling your subscription will mean you lose all of your progress and data, but you'll keep any certifications earned.
The Only Question Is Which Side
Will You Land On?
Basic bookkeeping is dead. Advisory bookkeeping (CAS) is exploding. The bookkeepers who will still be here — and thriving — in five years are the ones who make the transition now.
CAS Academy is the most complete, most rigorous, most forward-built bookkeeping education program available. Built by the team that has trained 40,000+ bookkeepers. Landed on the Inc. 5000 at #200.
"Everything included. Four certifications. Simulated hands-on QBO training. Real verified credentials. A community that genuinely has your back."
— Margie Remmers Davis, Founder & CEO, Akadian · Inc. 5000 #200 · 40,000+ Bookkeepers TrainedCancel any time · No long-term commitment