What is the best accounting podcast?

For most accounting and bookkeeping professionals, The Accounting Podcast with Blake Oliver and David Leary is the best single subscription — it is the most consistent weekly source of news and analysis about the profession, and it is willing to be critical of the vendors it covers. If you want firm-building strategy rather than news, The Accounting Leaders Podcast is the stronger choice, and Australian listeners should add Cloud Stories for local technology context.

Are there any Australian accounting podcasts?

Yes. Cloud Stories, hosted by Brisbane-based Heather Smith, is the longest-running Australian show covering accounting apps and cloud technology. The Firm also produces several Australian-led shows covering firm sales, practice growth and advisory services.

What is the best accounting podcast for bookkeepers?

The Ambitious Bookkeeper is built specifically for bookkeepers growing or starting their own practice, with practical material on packaging, pricing and client boundaries. General accounting podcasts tend to treat bookkeeping as a subsection, so a dedicated show will usually be a better use of the hour.

Do accounting podcasts count towards CPD?

Usually only if the podcast is offered as structured CPD by an accredited provider, or if your professional body accepts unstructured learning and you keep your own record. Listening on its own is generally not enough — check your body's rules on unstructured hours and log what you listened to and what you took from it.

Listen · Evergreen guide

The best accounting podcasts — and who each one isn't for

Most "best accounting podcasts" lists rank eighty shows by feed metadata and have clearly listened to none of them. This is a short list with an actual verdict on each — including the part those lists never print, which is who should skip it.

Updated 2 August 2026 — reviewed annually.

How we chose

Still publishing. A show that stopped in 2024 is a back catalogue, not a subscription.
Made for practitioners, not for the vendors who sponsor them.
Has a point of view. Interview shows that never push back are just longer press releases.
Worth the hour. We have listed who each show is not for, because that is usually the more useful half.

The shortlist

The Accounting Podcast

Best for: Keeping up with the profession

Hosted by Blake Oliver and David Leary

The one to subscribe to if you only subscribe to one.

A weekly roundup of accounting news, analysis and interviews, and the closest thing the profession has to a paper of record in audio. Long-running, genuinely independent, and willing to be critical of vendors — which is rarer than it should be in this space.

Not for: US-centric. Australian listeners get the global picture but will need something local alongside it.

The Accounting Leaders Podcast

Best for: Firm strategy and growth

Hosted by Stuart McLeod

The best long-form interviews with people who have actually built firms.

Extended conversations with accounting leaders around the world about how they built what they built. The interview format gives guests room to get past the headline and into the decisions, which is where the useful material is.

Not for: Hosted by Karbon's co-founder, so factor that in on tooling discussions. Not a news show — don't come here for what happened this week.

Cloud Stories

Best for: App stack and Australian context

Hosted by Heather Smith

The most useful Australian voice on accounting technology.

Interviews with the people who build and use accounting and business apps, from a host who has been covering this ecosystem longer than most of the apps have existed. If you are evaluating tools from Australia, this is the closest thing to a local reference.

Not for: App-focused by design. Light on practice management, pricing and people.

The Ambitious Bookkeeper

Best for: Bookkeepers building a business

Hosted by Serena Shoup

The best show for the first three years of running your own book of clients.

Built specifically for bookkeepers and accountants growing or starting their own practice, with actionable tactics rather than general inspiration. Strong on the unglamorous parts — packaging, pricing, and saying no.

Not for: If you already run an established multi-staff firm, most episodes will be below your altitude.

Accounting Best Practices

Best for: Technical depth, in short bursts

Hosted by Steve Bragg

A reference library disguised as a podcast.

Short, dense episodes on specific accounting practices and controls. Unfashionable and completely unconcerned with being entertaining, which is exactly why it has lasted — it is the show you search rather than the one you binge.

Not for: Not a commute show. No news, no guests, no narrative.

AICPA Town Hall

Best for: US regulatory and professional updates

Hosted by AICPA

Essential if US regulation touches your work, skippable if it does not.

Direct-from-the-body updates on professional and regulatory change. The value is authority and timeliness rather than insight — this is the source, not the analysis.

Not for: Almost entirely irrelevant to an Australian-only practice.

Our own shows

Listed separately, and deliberately not ranked against the shortlist above — we're not going to review ourselves. Judge them on their own terms.

Browse everything on our podcast page.

We review this list annually. Subscribe and we'll tell you when something new is worth your commute.

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Common questions

Frequently asked questions

What is the best accounting podcast?: For most accounting and bookkeeping professionals, The Accounting Podcast with Blake Oliver and David Leary is the best single subscription — it is the most consistent weekly source of news and analysis about the profession, and it is willing to be critical of the vendors it covers. If you want firm-building strategy rather than news, The Accounting Leaders Podcast is the stronger choice, and Australian listeners should add Cloud Stories for local technology context.
Are there any Australian accounting podcasts?: Yes. Cloud Stories, hosted by Brisbane-based Heather Smith, is the longest-running Australian show covering accounting apps and cloud technology. The Firm also produces several Australian-led shows covering firm sales, practice growth and advisory services.
What is the best accounting podcast for bookkeepers?: The Ambitious Bookkeeper is built specifically for bookkeepers growing or starting their own practice, with practical material on packaging, pricing and client boundaries. General accounting podcasts tend to treat bookkeeping as a subsection, so a dedicated show will usually be a better use of the hour.
Do accounting podcasts count towards CPD?: Usually only if the podcast is offered as structured CPD by an accredited provider, or if your professional body accepts unstructured learning and you keep your own record. Listening on its own is generally not enough — check your body's rules on unstructured hours and log what you listened to and what you took from it.