Good news: COCPA just extended the early-bird deadline for PEAK: The Colorado Accounting and Finance Summit 2026. You now have until July 15 to lock in early-bird pricing before rates go up.

If you went last year, you already know what PEAK is about. If you didn't, here's your second chance to see what the buzz was about — bigger, sharper, and built for the moment Colorado's accounting and finance professionals are actually in.

The Basics

• Dates: November 11–12, 2026
• Location: Sheraton Denver West, Lakewood, CO
• Early-bird pricing (through July 15): $650 for COCPA members / $845 for nonmembers

Why PEAK, and Why Now

This year's timing is no accident. PEAK 2026 lands just days after the election, which means the economic and tax-policy conversations on stage will be about as current as it gets — not theoretical, not "wait and see," but here's-what-just-happened-and-what-it-means-for-your-clients.

That urgency runs through the whole agenda. AI isn't a buzzword sprinkled into a session title — it's a thread running through the keynotes, the tech tracks, the cybersecurity sessions, and even the ethics conversation. The profession is being asked to figure out, in real time, what AI changes and what it doesn't. PEAK is built around that question.

Keynotes Worth Clearing Your Calendar For

Jen Wilson — Avoid AI Sameness: Delivering Truly Transformative Value to Clients AI tools make it easy to produce something fast. They also make it easy to produce something indistinguishable from what every other firm is producing. Wilson's opening keynote tackles the sameness problem head-on, with a framework for using AI in ways that sharpen your edge instead of sanding it off.

Rich Wobbekind — Economic Update One of Colorado's most popular economists returns by popular demand, and this year's timing makes the session unusually high-stakes: it's happening just days after the election, when the economic picture is shifting in real time.

Randy Crabtree — The Unique CPA, Live Podcast Recording A first for PEAK: Randy Crabtree, host of one of the most-listened-to podcasts in accounting and a repeat name on Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People list, takes the stage for a live recording — with a COCPA member turning the mic on him. Expect an honest conversation about redefining value and building people-first firm cultures.

Craig Stanland — How I Got Caught: A Deep Dive Into an $800K Fraud This is the session people will be talking about at dinner. Stanland walks attendees through exactly how he orchestrated an $800,000 fraud against a Fortune 500 company — the rationalizations, the control weaknesses he exploited, and the warning signs that were visible long before anyone noticed. It's a rare, unfiltered look at fraud from the inside, and a closing session that will change how you look at risk.

What Else Is on the Agenda

PEAK's two days are packed with CPE-eligible breakouts across tracks that actually map to what's changing in the profession right now:

• AI and technology — from practical "real tools, real results" sessions to firm-wide AI workflow strategy, data warehousing, and a deep dive into AI-driven cybersecurity threats and the regulations racing to keep up.
• Tax and compliance — including a timely look at how this year's elections and legislative session are reshaping Colorado tax compliance, plus a general tax update on provisions taking effect in 2026.
• Leadership and firm operations — covering everything from the "sins of delegation" to outcome-based pricing models to eliminating decision fatigue at the firm level.
• Accounting and reporting — a FASB/SEC update and a session on turning financial analysis into insight rather than just numbers.
• Career and culture — sessions on building a career around purpose, finance business partnering, and a "reverse podcast" exploring what it really means to rethink how CPAs operate.

Day one wraps with an opening night reception with exhibitors, and both days include breakfast, lunch, and plenty of built-in time to actually talk to people — not just sit through sessions.

Lock In Your Rate

Early-bird pricing now runs through July 15 — $650 for COCPA members, $845 for nonmembers. After that, the price goes up, so if PEAK is on your radar for November, now's the time to register.

Questions? Reach out to Tiffany Carson at tiffany@cocpa.org.

Register for PEAK 2026