For those of you who are not familiar with Klout, it is a fairly popular way to measure your influence online. You basically link all your social accounts to Klout and it will spit out a number out of 100, that tells you how "influential you are". The exact algorithm is not known but it takes a combination of the number of followers as well as the amount of interaction and engagement you get from your followers. 

So who are these influential people under the search term of accountants? 

Please note, I didn't include corporate brand accounts such as Ernst and Young and KPMG for this list.

5. Kelly Phillips Erb

     Twitter: @taxgirl

With almost 50k followers (when this was written) Kelly is a mom, writer, tax lawyer, coffee drinker, baker (and thus, by necessity a runner) - not a sleeper. Some of her major achievements include being a former Forbes editor and top search result in the Bing social bar. Not a pure accountant but TAX is a huge topic in the accounting world.

Kelly comes in at 5th place with a Klout score of 60.

4. Rick Telberg

     Twitter: @CPA_Trendlines

His 26k+ followers enjoy Rick's live links to breaking news for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Rick is the CEO of CPA Trendlines Research, where he provides tax, accounting, and finance research through its online platform. He's also highly regarded for his marketing, business, and publications expertise.

Rick is tied for 3rd and 4th place with a Klout score of 62.

3. Jody Padar

     Twitter: @JodyPadarCPA

This radical CPA is the author behind Botkeeper for Dummies, as well as holding various CPA and CPA consulting positions. She is the CEO & Principal of New Vision CPA Group and is widely respected and admired by her 12.5k Twitter followers. 

Jody is tied with Rick with a Klout score of 62

2. Bill Sheridan

     Twitter: @BillSheridan

With 10k followers, Bill was one of accounting's most influential people in 2016. His followers account on him for sum CPA guidance. He is the Chief Communications Officer,  of the Maryland Association of CPAs and is always active on Twitter, updating followers with important accounting news. 

Bill comes in at 2nd place with a Klout score of 63.

1. Tom Hood

     Twitter: @tomhood

Tom Hood, also known as @tomhood is a CEO trying to make sense of a changing & complex world, technology, learning, leadership & social business CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs. His 15k Twitter followers don't feel undervalued with all of the insight he provides.  

Tom comes in first place with a Klout score of 64.

If you are curious about what your Klout score is you can head over to klout.com and link your social accounts. The more accounts you link the higher your score may be. Stay tuned for my next article where I will share some techniques these influencers have used to build their influence.

To get cracking on your social media, don't forget to join our January blog challenge by blogging. To create a new blog post simply use this create new article link when you are logged in.  

Editor's Update 17/11/2020:
Since this article was published, Klout, the popular social scoring tool has closed its doors. Lithium Technologies, the company that created Klout, said the platform "as a standalone service is not aligned" with its long-term strategy. For people still interested in social influence, there are some new tools on the market today. See the FAQ section below for more information.