Accounting for the U.S. Iran War

What do tariffs, war, AI agents, and a collapsed accounting startup have in common? This week, Blake and David connect the dots between rising economic pressure and rapid tech change. They break down the lopsided cost of drone warfare, small businesses getting crushed by tariffs, AI tools handling tax and bookkeeping tasks, and new details on Botkeeper’s collapse. You’ll hear what these shifts could mean for accountants, firms, and the future of the profession.SponsorsUNC - http://accountingpodcast.promo/uncOnPay - http://accountingpodcast.promo/onpayCloud Accountant Staffing - http://accountingpodcast.promo/casChapters(01:27) - Sponsor Break UNC (02:46) - War Costs and Drones (08:58) - GPT 5.4 for Accountants (11:13) - AI Agent Files City Tax (15:23) - Claude Skill for Tax Prep (17:11) - Sponsor Break OnPay (18:55) - Gemini Makes Theme Music (22:33) - Uber CEO AI Clone (24:22) - Botkeeper Collapse Follow Up (31:13) - QuickBooks Integration Doubts (31:53) - Cloud Accountant Staffing Spot (32:59) - KPMG Earnings Leak Theory (37:23) - Zapier AI Guardrails (39:43) - 401k Hardship Withdrawals Rise (43:02) - Tariff Refunds and AI Lawsuits (46:27) - Trump v Trump IRS Lawsuit (48:43) - IRS Union Contract Termination (50:01) - Direct File Act Returns (51:56) - Meta 16B Tax Fight (54:33) - Trump Accounts Auto Enrollment (56:13) - Accounting Degrees Loan Limits (57:39) - CPE App and Sign Off  Show NotesIran's Drones Cost a Fraction of the U.S. Weapons Shooting Them Down https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/business/iran-drones-us-weapons-cost.html Introducing GPT-5.4 https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-5-4/ Breaking Up with TurboTax: How I Used Claude to File My Taxes for Free https://kachess.dev/taxes/ai/personal-finance/2026/02/27/breaking-up-with-turbotax.html Show HN: Claude Skill to Do Your Taxes https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47277164 Enrico Palmerino Explains Botkeeper's Fall https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/enrico-palmerino-explains-botkeepers-fall Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi Has an AI Clone https://www.fastcompany.com/91500087/uber-ceo-dara-khosrowshahi-has-an-ai-clone KPMG-Audited Companies Are Trading Strangely on Polymarket https://eventwaves.substack.com/p/kpmg-audited-companies-are-trading Zapier Updates: AI Guardrails & Governance Controls https://zapier.com/blog/february-2026-product-updates/ Record Numbers of Workers Are Raiding Their 401(k) Savings https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/retirement/401k-hardship-withdrawals-record-vanguard-2025 For Some Small Businesses, a Tariff Refund Isn't Worth the Pain of Pursuing It https://finance.yahoo.com/news/small-businesses-tariff-refund-isnt-worth-pain-pursuing-it.html Trump's IRS Lawsuit Offers Lessons on Privacy and Legal Process https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights-and-commentary/trumps-irs-lawsuit-offers-lessons-on-privacy-and-legal-process Democrats Unveil Bill to Resurrect Direct File https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/democrats-unveil-bill-to-resurrect-direct-file I.R.S. Tactics Against Meta Open a New Front in the Corporate Tax Fight https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/business/irs-meta-tax-ireland.html IRS Should Open Trump Accounts for Eligible Children Automatically, AICPA Says https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2026/feb/irs-should-open-trump-accounts-for-eligible-children-automatically-aicpa-says/ NASBA Urges U.S. Department of Education to Restore "Professional" Status for Accounting Degreeshttps://nasba.org/blog/2026/03/05/status-for-accounting-degrees/Need CPE?Get CPE for listening to podcasts with Earmark: https://earmarkcpe.comSubscribe to the Earmark Podcast: https://podcast.earmarkcpe.comGet in TouchThanks for listening and the great reviews! We appreciate you! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Find us on Facebook and Instagram. If you like what you hear, please do us a favor and write a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser. Call us and leave a voicemail; maybe we'll play it on the show. DIAL (202) 695-1040.SponsorshipsAre you interested in sponsoring The Accounting Podcast? For details, read the prospectus.Need Accounting Conference Info? Check out our new website - accountingconferences.comLimited edition shirts, stickers, and other necessitiesTeePublic Store: http://cloudacctpod.link/merch