Tax Manager

Schock joins Aprio as insurance tax partner. Aprio appoints Brad Schock as insurance tax partner. Schock is based in Cleveland, Ohio, and works remotely. The appointment took effect in August 2026. Schock joins from EY, where the role was lead for global compliance and reporting within Americas captive insurance services, held from October 2022. Earlier positions include head of tax at Root, vice president and director of tax at National General Insurance, and senior manager for insurance tax at KPMG. Schock co-founded National Tax Credit Exchange, serving as chief financial officer from December 2019 to December 2020, and held assistant vice president roles at Mesirow Financial and Near North Insurance Brokerage earlier in a career in insurance and tax dating from 2000. Aprio is a business advisory and accounting firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 1952 and operating under the Aprio, LLP and Aprio Advisory Group, LLC brands. The firm serves clients in more than 50 countries and runs an insurance practice covering audit, tax, transaction advisory and unclaimed property compliance for insurers.

Aprio invests in national brand campaign as firm continues rapid growth. Friday, August 7th, 2026 Aprio, the 20th largest business advisory and accounting firm in the U.S., is launching a new brand awareness campaign in partnership with Marketing Architects. The campaign debuts in the Washington, D.C. market and represents the next phase of Aprio's brand investment as the firm continues its rapid expansion. As Aprio expands its geographic footprint and broadens its capabilities to build the firm of the future, leadership is investing in greater brand visibility across strategic markets. The new campaign is designed to introduce more business leaders to Aprio's Account for Anything(TM) brand platform and strengthen awareness among the founders, owners, executives, and family enterprises the firm serves. "Aprio's growth has fundamentally changed our scale, our capabilities, and the impact we can deliver for clients," said Cheri Husney, Chief Growth Officer at Aprio. "We've brought together exceptional professionals and deep experience from across the U.S., creating one of the strongest audit, tax, advisory, wealth and legal platforms in the profession. This campaign reflects who Aprio is today and introduces more business leaders to a firm built to help them Account for Anything(TM) today and tomorrow." Marketing Architects developed and produced a Connected TV commercial that brings Aprio's Account for Anything(TM) message to life for business owners and executives. The campaign will run across streaming platforms in Aprio's priority growth markets. "Aprio's growth story is one of the most compelling in the accounting and advisory profession today," said Nicole Nye, Vice President, Strategic Growth at Marketing Architects. "This campaign extends the firm's visibility in strategic markets and connects the Account for Anything(TM) message with the business leaders Aprio is built to serve." The Washington, D.C. launch marks the beginning of a broader brand-building effort designed to support Aprio's continued expansion and long-term growth strategy.

Aprio and Fieldguide's agentic AI: A thoughtful step forward for audit, or just another tool? Aprio and Fieldguide are co-building role-specific AI agents for audit, embedding AICPA and PCAOB compliance directly into the workflow. This article examines the promise and the pitfalls of agentic AI in accounting, and how tools like FastStatement fit into a balanced, human-centred approach to financial reporting. It's August 2026, and the accounting profession is once again at a crossroads. This time, the buzzword is "agentic AI" - systems that don't just assist but act autonomously within defined guardrails. The recent announcement from Aprio, the 20th largest business advisory firm in the U.S., and Fieldguide, a leading transformation partner for audit, is a case in point. They're co-developing role-specific AI agents that span the full audit lifecycle, from planning and risk assessment through to financial statement preparation. On the surface, this sounds marvellous. Who wouldn't want AI to handle the drudgery of data validation and documentation? But as someone who has spent years teaching and writing about the history of accounting technology, I find myself both intrigued and cautious. Let's break down what this collaboration actually means - and where a tool like FastStatement fits into the picture. The promise of agentic AI in audit. Aprio's collaboration with Fieldguide isn't just another press release about "leveraging AI." It's a serious, methodical effort. According to the announcement, every workflow is built to comply with AICPA, PCAOB, and GAAS standards. Aprio's own audit methodology shapes how each agent is designed, and human oversight at every stage produces conclusions that meet the profession's highest requirements for judgment, accountability, and integrity. "Great audit work has always been about the relationship between our practitioners' judgment and our clients' business realities. Our work with Fieldguide is designed to deepen that relationship." - Michael Lange, Partner and Audit Practice Group Leader at Aprio This is the right sentiment. The goal is not to replace auditors but to free them up for higher-value work: interpreting results, guiding clients on complex issues, and advising on what's next. Richard Kopelman, CEO of Aprio, put it succinctly: "By building AI around our own methodology, we are freeing our professionals to do what they do best: be the trusted advisor to our clients." This is part of Aprio's $300 million, five-year investment in AI and automation. That's a staggering sum, but it reflects a genuine commitment to rethinking how audit work gets done. But here's the catch. Let's be honest: agentic AI in audit is still nascent. The idea of an AI agent that can autonomously plan an audit, assess risk, and prepare financial statements is ambitious. It requires not only robust technology but also a deep understanding of professional standards - and a willingness to trust the machine. I've seen too many "transformative" technologies in accounting that ended up creating more work than they saved. Remember the early days of cloud-based accounting? The promise was seamless collaboration; the reality was months of data migration and training. The same could happen here if firms rush to implement agentic AI without first ensuring their data is clean, their processes are standardised, and their people are ready. Where FastStatement fits in. This is where I see a clear role for more focused, purpose-built tools. While Aprio and Fieldguide are building a comprehensive audit platform, many accounting firms - especially mid-sized and smaller practices - don't need a full suite of agentic agents. They need a reliable, compliant way to generate financial statements from trial balances. That's exactly what FastStatement does. It's an AI financial statement generator that automates the preparation of compliant reports with perfect formatting in minutes. No need to build your own AI agents from scratch. No need for a $300 million investment. Just upload your trial balance and let the AI handle the formatting, the cross-referencing, and the compliance checks. Think of it this way: Aprio is building a custom sports car from the ground up. FastStatement is a reliable, fuel-efficient sedan that gets you where you need to go today. Both have their place, but not every firm needs to be a pioneer. The human element: still non-negotiable. One thing I appreciate about the Aprio-Fieldguide announcement is the emphasis on human oversight. The press release states that "human oversight at every stage produces conclusions that meet the profession's highest requirements for judgment, accountability, and integrity." This is not just lip service; it's a recognition that audit is fundamentally a human activity. Accounting has always been about more than numbers. It's about context, judgment, and trust. An AI can prepare a perfect set of financial statements, but it cannot understand the nuances of a client's business, the pressures they face, or the ethical implications of a particular accounting treatment. That's where the professional comes in. A balanced view. On the one hand, I'm excited about the potential of agentic AI to reduce the burden of routine tasks. On the other hand, I worry about the risk of over-reliance. What happens when an AI agent makes a subtle error that goes unnoticed because everyone assumes the system is infallible? The history of technology is littered with examples of automation bias - from autopilot errors in aviation to algorithmic trading disasters in finance. Accountants must remain vigilant. The best approach is to use AI as a powerful assistant, not as a replacement for professional judgment. Tools like FastStatement are designed with this philosophy in mind: they automate the mechanical parts of financial statement preparation while leaving the critical thinking to the accountant. What this means for the profession. The Aprio-Fieldguide collaboration is a significant milestone. It shows that large firms are willing to invest heavily in AI and that the technology is mature enough to be embedded in core audit workflows. But it also raises important questions: * How will smaller firms compete if they can't afford similar investments? * What happens to the role of the junior auditor when AI handles data validation and documentation? * How do FastStatement ensure that AI systems are transparent and auditable themselves? These are not trivial concerns. The accounting profession has always prided itself on its rigour and its commitment to professional standards. As FastStatement integrate more AI into its workflows, FastStatement must ensure that those standards are not compromised. Final thoughts. I'll leave you with this: the future of audit is not about choosing between humans and AI. It's about finding the right balance. Aprio and Fieldguide are taking a thoughtful, methodical approach to building agentic AI. That's commendable. But for most firms, the practical path forward involves adopting proven, focused tools that solve specific problems - like generating compliant financial statements quickly and accurately. If you're looking to streamline your financial statement preparation without overhauling your entire audit process, I'd encourage you to take a look at FastStatement. It's a pragmatic solution for a real-world problem. Ready to automate your financial statements? Join thousands of accounting professionals who save 10+ hours per report with FastStatement.