RE: Parent Account - Calculated Field
Hi jhendrickson,
Situation 1.
If the field of the Parent Account of Client Engagements 1) is only used to display data and is read-only, 2) it does not need to be a storage field and be edited, and 3) this field in not a column in a view or report, then I would recommend you to display the field through the quick view form.
Please refer to this blog to know how to use the quick view form: https://carldesouza.com/dynamics-crm-quick-view-forms/
Situation 2.
If the Parent Account field needs to be used as a column in a view or report, then we must create a field to store its value, just as you originally thought.
In this case, your solution is correct. We can create a calculated field for the Account entity to display the value of the Parent Account field, and then create a calculated field for the Client Engagements entity to display the calculated field value of the Account entity.
Without coding, this is the best way to go.