Where Accountants Go - The Accounting Careers Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

It's hard to believe, but after a little over 5 years and 240+ episodes, we are going to be shutting down the podcast... at least for now. The journey of starting from zero and building the collection of interviews one-by-one over this 5 year time period has been incredibly fun and humbling.  I've been so grateful for all the guests that said 'yes' to being on the program.  And I've been even more grateful for you, the listeners, who continue to show up and download the shows every week.  It truly has been an amazing experience. I think we have proven our purpose - that you truly can do practically anything when you start with a background in accounting, and so I'm comfortable that we can discontinue the show for now. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us if we can be of any assistance to you with your own career journey going forward though.  We are always happy to help in any way that we can. Thank you for listening!  :)  

Professor Mansour Farhat, a previous guest on our show, came back for this episode of Where Accountants Go to tell us about a new offering he has helped make available for accounting students. If you weren’t already aware of Mansour from his 1900+ Youtube videos on accounting topics, you definitely should go back in our archives to episode 107 where we delve even more in-depth into how he got started in the Youtube world (107: Mansour Farhat – Saving Accounting Students One YouTube Video At A Time | MGR Accounting Recruiters (mgrar.com)). Professor Farhat started producing accounting educational videos simply because he was very busy teaching classes at two different schools at one point.  He started his Youtube channel as a way to be more efficient with his time, and it ended up being a resource that is now used by accounting students all over the globe.  After a friend called his attention to how popular the channel had become, he decided to greatly expand it and make it even more searchable.  Fast forward a little bit, and Mansour now has over 1900 videos online, and produces supplemental material to be used in conjunction with popular CPA review courses as well! The new offering we talk about in this episode though is that of helping students that need to meet the 150 hour credit requirement for the CPA exam get those credits in a more economical and efficient manner.  Mansour co-founded an organization called CPACredits.com that allows students to take courses online, in about half the time, and at a very economical rate in order to get the ten to thirty extra credits they may need to sit for the CPA exam.  While this would benefit just about anyone looking to meet that requirement, I believe that it will be a game-changer for those individuals that didn’t get the hours earlier in life, and now feel that they can’t due to complications with returning to school.  For those people already several years into their careers and family lives, this could be the solution that allows them to get certified. For more information on CPACredits.com or Mansour’s other video offerings, please click on the links in the text above. To listen to this interview with Mansour Farhat, please use the player below:

Announcement!  We are not gone, just taking a couple weeks off to recover from Covid. Join us again on August 31st when we release our next guest accountant interview.  You will enjoy this one - all about digital transformation! In the meantime, if you haven't seen our Classes section and upcoming Excel and Tax courses, check out www.mgrar.com/classes See you in 2 weeks! Mark  

Ryan Lazanis, the Founder of Future Firm Inc. in Canada, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Ryan’s career journey started as many do.  His father was a strong influence in his life, and being an entrepreneur himself, he caused Ryan to naturally have an interest in business and accounting.  However, after a few years in the accounting world, Ryan realized that he enjoyed the accounting business, but not necessarily how other firms performed the work.  It was at that point that he decided to form his own firm built on the idea that accounting could be done 100% in the cloud. That would be quite enough for an interesting story, but Ryan’s journey didn’t end there.  Yes, he formed and built an accounting firm that was 100% cloud-based called Xen Accounting, but then he was fortunate enough to be approached many times about selling the practice.  Eventually he sold to another entity in 2018 that had similar values regarding maintaining their cloud-focused structure. Ryan now owns and runs Future Firm, a Canadian-based company focused on making life better for accountants at other firms by guiding them down the path of becoming cloud-based. If you operate an accounting practice, otherwise work in public accounting, or are considering moving into that space, you will find loads of value in this episode. For more information on Ryan Lazanis and Future Firm, visit www.futurefirm.co Other episodes you will enjoy include:   Joseph Rugger and Jay Kimelman To listen in on this interview with Ryan Lazanis of Future Firm, please use the player below.

Geni Whitehouse, CPA, small business consultant, author, keynote speaker, and really a comedian (!), joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. You are really going to find happiness in this episode.  We start by talking about Geni’s early career as a tax accountant, and even during that part of the interview you can hear the joy in her voice.  We quickly moved into how her career transitioned into the software training and sales business, and then eventually into keynote speaking, training, and small business consulting. After you listen to this podcast, make sure you check out Geni’s website as well for her TEDx talk video, and a link to her book – “How To Make a Boring Subject Interesting:  52 Ways Even A Nerd Can Be Heard”.  I think you will find loads of value in her own resources, as well as the podcast interview of course. Other episodes you may enjoy:  Byron Patrick and Amanda Aguillard. To leave us feedback on our show, or even just ask a question, please click here. To listen in on this episode with Geni Whitehouse, please use the player below.

Wayne Richard, the Chief Operating Officer and a Partner at Bean Ninjas, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. In this episode, Wayne shares how his career started with major corporations in industry such as IBM and HP. He spent many years “climbing the corporate ladder” with Hewlett Packard, until an unfortunate turn of events caused a downsizing and restructuring in his department. However, it ended up not being as unfortunate as many would expect. It was exactly this catalyst that launched him full-time into the world he loves: working with small businesses. Wayne now serves as a Partner and the COO of Bean Ninjas, the company he merged his prior business into, and he fully enjoys his career. If you are curious about the business model of working with remote clients, or even looking for that type of accounting service yourself, make sure you listen to this episode. Wayne is a very humble individual, but you can tell that he is definitely passionate about their services and the flexibility the business model gives him. With 5 kids, flexibility is vital! Other episodes you may enjoy will include: Joseph Rugger and Matt Malcolm To leave us feedback through our audio recorder, please click here. To listen in on this episode with Wayne Richard of Bean Ninjas, please use the player below:

David Cieslak, a CPA and frequent presenter on technology in the accounting world, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. In this interview, we start with David’s early career as a staff accountant with Price Waterhouse, and then move into how he ventured into a partnership with previous colleagues and built an accounting practice.  Along the way as they built that practice, he realized that his true interest was in how technology could help companies run more efficiently, so they further developed that aspect of their offerings.  Fast forward 20+ years, and through a couple mergers David now serves as the Chief Cloud Officer for RKL eSolutions, a larger company that they merged with a few years ago.  In addition, for years he has been a speaker on various technology topics and very deservedly earned the nickname “Inspector Gadget”! You will thoroughly enjoy this story if you… Have an interest in how your accounting background can fast track you into a career involving the latest business technologies, or Have thought about how you could build your own company doing what you most enjoy. David was very open and generous with his insights in this episode.  I’m sure you will enjoy it. Other podcasts that may interest you will include:  Kurt Rathmann and Stephen King. To leave us feedback as mentioned in this episode, please click here. To listen in on this interview with David Cieslak, please use the player below.

Dana Garnett, CPA turned mediator, speaker, and conflict strategist, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Listen in as Dana shares her career journey with us… Starting from a solid foundation with one of the major accounting firms, To 12 years with the multi-national Coca-Cola Company, Through her many roles with Coca-Cola, including several overseas, To taking an “early—out” package and eventually transitioning into her business now, The Mindful Strategy, a mediation and conflict resolution service If you have ever considered what opportunities may arise from a career with a global organization, or conversely are interested in how your accounting background can have benefit in other small business areas, this episode is for you. Other episodes that will interest you include:  Shanikwa Davis and Sandy Smith Leyva For publications that can help you in your career, make sure you visit our Books section. To listen in on this episode with Dana Garnett, please use the player below.

Bridget Kaigler, an accomplished state & local tax expert in the Louisiana area that is also making a difference in the area of helping emerging leaders grow, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. In this interview, we cover how Bridget’s career journey… Started later than you may expect as she was a “non-traditional student”, needed to work to support herself early in life, To how she turned to accounting as a way to provide a better life for her young son and herself, To her entry into the SALT (state and local tax) field happened by accident, but was a blessing as well, Up through her creation of Bringing Leadership Back LLC, an entity she formed to help aspiring leaders grow their leadership skills This is a truly inspiring story, and I hope you take the time to listen to the whole interview.  Bridget worked hard to get where she is, with the help of a few friends of course.  But now she is working hard to help others grow as well.  You may even want to listen twice!  😊 Other episodes you may enjoy on similar topics will include:  Shanikwa Davis and Amanda Aguillard For other publications that can help you in your career, click here. To listen in on this episode with Bridget Kaigler, please use the player below:

Bethany Eggleston, a CPA whose career journey took her into the field of project management, shares her insights on the similarities and differences between the two fields on this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. In this interview, we will cover Bethany’s early years as she became interested in accounting due to a familial influence, and then how her career started with one of the Big 4 firms in an audit position.  We’ll also cover her transition into a position in industry with a publicly-traded organization, and then her eventual move into project management within the energy sector. Bethany also covers… How project management and audit require some of the same skill-sets, What she finds fascinating and enjoys each day about her role in project management, and How getting involved in professional associations such as the CPA Society in your area can help you stay connected and move along faster in your career This episode is packed with insights, and you’ll get a little project management education along the way as well!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did recording it. Other episodes you may enjoy include:  Joey Tackett and Paula Gold-Williams To find the publication mentioned in this episode (“49 Tips for Working With A Headhunter”), click here. Please use the player below to listen in on this informative interview with Bethany Eggleston: