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:

Crystal Cooke , Senior Manager of Governance and Talent at the Center for Audit Quality, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. In this episode, Crystal recounts the story of her career starting with a role in internal audit, and then moving into public accounting audit in order to expand the variety of her experience, and then to the AICPA-supported Center for Audit Quality (CAQ). We also discuss the topics of diversity and attaining your certification as well.  Crystal had a wealth of insights to share. If you are… Interested in audit as a potential career choice, or Trying to decide what type of audit role to pursue, or Interested in how decisions are made that affect the audit field as a whole, or Considering whether or not to pursue a certification exam, … then this episode is for you! Other episodes that may interest you include:  Samantha Bowling and Deborah Beams For the career content blog mentioned in this episode, click here. To listen in on our conversation with Crystal Cooke, please use the player below:

We know your time is short during the holidays, so instead of bringing you a full episode, we had just a few items to pass on to you this Christmas Eve 2019. Thank you! First and foremost, thank you so so much for continuing to listen in on our interviews with successful accounting professionals.  It’s hard to believe over 3 years have passed since we first started, and 150+ guests as well!  It’s been fun.  However, it wouldn’t be near as much fun without you – the listener.  Thank you for continuing to come back each week.  We appreciate you. LinkedIn and Facebook While we are on the topic of following the show, make sure you follow us on LinkedIn and/or Facebook as well.  We generally use those two platforms for all our special announcements, so it’s a great way to stay up to date on what’s going on at Where Accountants Go. Our LinkedIn page is:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/where-accountants-go?trk=public_profile_experience-item_result-card_image-click Our Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/whereaccountantsgo/ 99 cent book! And lastly, if you would like to take us up on our special $0.99 cent offer on the Kindle version of our first book, make sure you do so before December 31st.  The book will still be available afterwards, but the price will return to the normal level until we can do another promotion later on. The Kindle version can be found at:  https://www.amazon.com/49-Tips-Successful-Accounting-Career-ebook/dp/B07HHDFWP3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NRMV2P9YMXCT&keywords=49+tips+for+a+successful+accounting+career&qid=1576851476&sprefix=49+tips%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-1 The paperback can be ordered as normal at:  https://www.whereaccountantsgo.com/book/49-tips-for-a-successful-accounting-career/ That’s all for this year.  Please come back in 2020 as we continue to bring you more and more stories of accounting success.  As we always say… there’s more to come.  

Sabine Charles in New York shares her story of starting as a French & Spanish major, to landing in internal audit, to now starting the audit function with a national educational institution!  Plus, Sabine helps others attain the professional certifications they desire through customized, strategic coaching programs.  We discuss all these topics, plus many more career insights, all on this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. If you… Are or have been a “non-traditional student”, having come to accounting later in life, Or are thinking about a career in Internal Audit, Or have had difficulty, or think you will, getting the professional certification you desire, … then this episode is for you! To listen in on our interview with Sabine Charles, please use the player below. Other episodes you may enjoy will include:  Kelly Richmond-Pope and Mansour Farhat For the publication referenced in this episode, “49 Tips For A Successful Accounting Career”, click here. To listen in on this interview with Sabine Charles, please use the player below:

This is a special announcement edition of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast. For many years we have provided tax training for entry-level accountants and those without much tax experience through our live courses.  We are super excited to announce that now that training is available to anyone, anytime, anywhere! If you are an entry-level accountant that wants to learn CPA-firm-level tax skills, this course is for you. If you are an experienced accountant, but without tax background, this course can help you learn CPA-firm-level tax preparation skills as well. If you have had a tax internship or two, but didn’t feel like you learned everything you would like for a strong foundation, this course is for you as well. (Note:  This course is NOT for experienced tax preparers with 2+ years of experience.  It is meant to mirror on-the-job type internship training, so it’s more appropriate for less experienced students.) If you are interested in learning more about the content of our Individual Tax Bootcamp ON—DEMAND, click here:  MGR On-Demand Courses.

Jay Kimelman, Founder of The Digital CPA, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast.  In this episode, we cover Jay’s career starting in industry accounting roles, through owning a nutritional business, and then to starting The Digital CPA and becoming an Ambassador for Xero. “Let’s take Accounting for fun” Jay shares the story of how he became interested in accounting early in the interview.  His uncle was a partner with one of the national accounting firms, so the field was always of interest to him.  He had the opportunity to take accounting in high school and get college credit for the class, so he and a few friends decided to “take it for fun”.  Per Jay, they were the “jokers” in the class, but obviously it worked out well for him.  He later eventually became a CPA, and fast forward a few years and he has founded several accounting-related businesses! The middle years Prior to starting The Digital CPA though, Jay learned more about business and technology integration through a few experiences in industry.  Jobs weren’t as plentiful in those years in our economy, so he got his first few opportunities through referrals.  However, these experiences have proven invaluable as they gave him the opportunity to take systems that were behind the times in private companies and increase efficiencies by implementing more current technology.  In addition, he was able to learn invaluable skills in the area of management along the way. The Digital CPA Around 2011 Jay went full-time in his Digital CPA business.  For over a decade before that he had done work in that area part-time, but the opportunity presented itself to devote all his efforts to that practice for a while and so he decided to go that route.  And it’s been a fun ride!  Jay does many things these days, including continuing to run The Digital CPA there in Orlando.  They focus on e-commerce clients, which is an area Jay has personal experience with.  In addition, he co-founded Bluewire Strategies with Amanda Aguillard in New Orleans.  Bluewire is a company that helps accounting firms integrate cloud technology for better efficiencies.  He also serves as a Xero Ambassador as well.  The mixture of all of these interests ensure that there never is a dull moment.  He truly seems to enjoy his career. If you find this episode interesting, please also check out the following:  Amanda Aguillard and Robin Thieme For the book mentioned in this episode, click here: “49 Tips For A Successful Accounting Career” To listen in on our conversation with Jay Kimelman, please use the player below.

This week we revisit one of our most popular shows from 2018, “How To Pass The CPA Exam – Tips from 5 Newly Certified CPAs”. This episode was popular for many reasons.  First, all the participants were very recently certified at the time of the recording, so the efforts they went through to pass the CPA exam were still very fresh on their minds.  Consequently, the insight they share is invaluable for those looking to pass the CPA exam themselves. Secondly, the insight wasn’t just fresh, it was truthful.  Our newly-certified CPA guests were very transparent about how much time they truly had to devote to studying, as well as what they truly had to give up in their personal lives while pursuing the exam.  The sacrifices were temporary, but they definitely had to give up a few things in order to get their primary goal accomplished. And lastly, the insights our team shared are meaningful because passing the exam and becoming a CPA really does make a difference in your career and your life.  Although there were items that had to be sacrificed, none of our guests had any regrets.  All of them were pleased they made the choice to buckle down and get the exam passed.  CPA certification makes a difference no matter what area of accounting you work in. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did recording it.  And thank you to the guests as well!  We couldn’t do it without you. For additional career-related resources, please check out our publications by clicking here. To listen in on this episode, please use the player below.  

Delene Taylor, CPA and Marketing Director for Deming, Malone, Livesay, & Ostroff in Kentucky joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. The early days… Delene started her career in accounting because of the positive influence from both her mother and father.  Mom had worked in accounting, and Dad worked in systems with IBM.  Consequently, when she entered college she decided to pursue both accounting and computer science.  However, she found out quickly that she didn’t care for coding, and therefore decided to drop the computer science focus. Delene’s first job out of college was with Arthur Andersen.  She was an auditor on some of their larger client engagements.  To her surprise, the audit role wasn’t something she enjoyed as much as she thought she would.  The particular engagements that she worked on were limited in scope, and she felt like she was always a bother to the client being audited.  It wasn’t something that she could see herself doing for long.  Consequently, it became time to look for something new and Delene moved into industry. A preference for people! After a few years in industry, she decided to move back to her home town and figure out what the next step may be.  A family member introduced her to a prominent accounting firm there, and she joined in somewhat of a floater capacity.  Delene basically would help out on whatever project had a need, and eventually this flexibility led to her having the opportunity to work in firm administration, marketing, and recruiting!  Many years later and after a merger, Delene moved on to take the position of Marketing Director with the local firm Deming, Malone, Livesay, & Ostroff (DMLO) in  Louisville, Kentucky, where she has been since 2013. Social enterprises One of the facets that Delene most enjoys about DMLO is the freedom and support of her involvement with social enterprises such PBC’s and B-Corporations.  In fact, DMLO has won philanthropy awards locally four years in a row, having booked 6,300 volunteer hours with their small team of only 90 employees!  They definitely value community service. If you enjoy this episode with Delene Taylor, you will also enjoy our episode with Harriet Helmle. For the publication mentioned in this episode, click here. To listen in on this interview with Delene Taylor, please use the player below:

Adriana Carpenter, the Chief Accounting Officer for Ping Identity, a company in Colorado that just recently went public, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. From finance major to CPA Adriana knew from an early age that the business world appealed to her, and consequently she started out early in an internship with IBM in the Accounts Payable department. However, due to her dislike of that particular internship, she decided to go the finance route in college instead and initially got her Bachelor’s degree in Finance. After a short time in her first financial analyst role though, she realized that she wanted to be closer to the financial reporting process, so with the support of her employer she went back to school to finish a Masters in Accounting, and subsequently became a CPA as well. Narrowing in on her interests After becoming a CPA and continuing her career in industry for a few years, she decided to move on into the Big 4. For almost 12 years, she worked her way up at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) before eventually deciding to move her career back into a leadership role in industry. However, it was during this time at PwC when she found that the technology sector in particular appealed to her. It was also this experience that helped her hone her team management skills. Ringing the bell! For over 10 years now Adriana has been back in industry, this time in the technology sector. For the first five years of that period she worked with an international technology company helping them rebuild their global accounting team. Afterwards though, Adriana had joined a start-up in the identity and access management field (Ping Identity) that recently went public on the NYSE. Adriana had the opportunity to be part of the team that “rang the bell” to open the markets on the trading floor just a month or two ago. She goes into great detail to help us visualize the experience. It really is cool part of her story. I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as we did recording it. Adriana shares many insights that will help you further your career, whether you are just starting out or have many years of experience. There truly are some gems in this interview. If you enjoy this episode with Adriana Carpenter, please check out these episodes as well: Sylvester Sly Johnson and Sarah Elliott For information on the publication mentioned in the interview, please click here. To listen in on this conversation with Adriana Carpenter, please click on the player below.

Kecia Williams Smith, PhD and CPA from the North Carolina area, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. A strong foundation Kecia became interested in accounting and overall business at an early age.  As she was about to enter college, it became apparent to her and her family all the opportunities that existed in accounting at that time, and so she made the choice to pursue the field as her career.  As Kecia describes it, she was a “cookie cutter” accounting major, and started in a typical intern role with Deloitte that later turned into a full-time position.  The next 9 years or so with Deloitte gave her a strong foundation in many areas, and also helped her realize where her passions and strengths were – in the audit quality and risk management arenas. An exciting adventure – early days at the PCAOB She received a recruiting call for the PCAOB  after about 9 years at Deloitte. It was just starting up, and the opportunity was to get in on the ground floor as an inspector.  Given her passion for audit quality, it was an exciting opportunity and she decided to take the risk.  Kecia spent many years with the PCAOB as well and worked her way up into an Associate Director role prior to deciding to go back and check off one of her bucket-list items – attaining her PhD. Shaping the future of accounting Kecia landed her first role as a professor at Virginia Tech after completing her PhD.  It wasn’t long until the opportunity to return to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State came along, and she decided to make the move.  She just recently has assumed the position of Director of their Masters of Accountancy program.  A few of the insights that Kecia shares with regards to being a successful Masters student include: Don’t look at your Masters program as simply more classes. They are meant to strengthen and enhance your critical thinking skills Don’t fall into the trap of “just studying enough.” Work to retain the information you learn as well. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.  You can tell from the audio recording that Kecia has enjoyed every stage in her career, and she is excited about the future as well. Please check out the following related episodes as well:  Kelly Richmond Pope and Mansour Farhat (Click on this link for the publication mentioned in this episode: 49 Tips for Working With A Headhunter, click here.) To listen in on the audio podcast with Kecia Williams Smith, please use the player below:

Brian Kush and Amber Setter of Intend2Lead joined us to discuss strategies for passing the CPA exam on this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. It’s more than just the basic goal… While goal setting is an important part of any passing strategy, our experts Brian and Amber discuss with us the right way to set a goal specific to passing the exam.  Many exam takers will set deadlines and timelines for studying, but it’s important to recognize that every individual’s situation is unique.  What works for one examinee won’t necessarily work for another.  When setting your own personal goals, you need to do more than simply follow a prescribed amount of study time.  You need to take into account what is effective for you personally, and your specific strengths and weaknesses with regards to topics. Visualization Another topic that we get into deeply is the strategy of visualizing what success will look like once you pass.  For many of us, we may have visualized seeing the passing results, but it’s important to go deeper with your visualization.  How will you celebrate passing?   Whom will you tell first?  What will the next day be like for you at work?   Who do you think will be the most happy that you passed?  The more specific you can be in your visualizations of success, the more driven and refreshed you will be as you move towards the goal. Self-care Everyone knows what they need to “give up” or “sacrifice” in order to pass.  We know that there will be trade-offs with respect to how we spend our time.  However, while it’s important to say “no” to many things in order to have the time to prepare, it’s also vital to say “yes” to critical activities as well.  Those activities that are not study related but are still just as critical are those activities that help you feel good about the process and keep you invigorated for the journey.  For some people that may be some family time, or for others it could be physical activity such as going to the gym.  Whatever that item is for you that keeps your thoughts clear and allows you to regain focus, that is just as necessary as following a study regiment.  Yes, you will need to sacrifice some social activities, but don’t cut out so much that your actual study time isn’t effective. I think you will get a tremendous amount of value out of this discussion with Amber and Brian.  They were very generous to spend this much time with us, and I know that it will help many that are pursuing passing the CPA exam. Other episodes you may enjoy include:  Amber Setter and Brian Kush. For the publication mentioned in this episode, click here To find the article by Brian Kush that is mentioned in this episode on the Intend2Lead website, click here

Stefanie Cavanaugh in Austin, Texas, joined us to share her career journey moving from a national accounting firm audit position, to CFO of a small non-profit in only 5 years, to executive-level roles with billion-dollar, publicly-traded companies. It all started in middle school As we began the interview, Stefanie shared that she became interested in accounting at a much earlier age than most.  She had heard that accounting was a good field for women while she was still in middle school, so when she entered high school she not only took the accounting courses, but she also was involved in FBLA and even worked doing bookkeeping on a volunteer basis. Progressing from audit to CFO Her career started as many do, in an auditor position with an accounting firm – Arthur Young in this case.  It was after 5 years with Arthur Young (and then Ernst & Young), that she decided to move into industry.  Her first industry position was the CFO role with a local city symphony.  She much enjoyed the position as she was quickly exposed to all the other areas that are necessary for a small entity to run, such as human resources and IT.  From there, Stefanie decided to change industries and moved into the medical field.  For the last 13+ years she has been in management accounting positions with medical organizations, most of which were undergoing rapid merger and acquisition activity.  Because of that M&A activity, she was fortunate to have her roles continue to grow such that there seems to have never been a dull moment.  Currently she serves as CFO for a rapidly growing medical company advancing the field of less-intrusive surgery. What she’s enjoyed… One of the items I was curious about is what Stefanie enjoyed most about the medical industry.  I understood why she got into that industry, for growth and stability, but I was curious what kept her interested on a daily basis now.  Stefanie very quickly answered that she appreciated being a part of the bigger picture.  Because of the work she performs in the accounting and finance realm, her company is able to continue to make advancements in medical technology and continue to make life better for patients everywhere. I believe the lesson here is that as accountants sometimes we view our role as being too limited.  The reality is that without our oversight of the financial side of an organization, it’s likely nothing else would be successful.  It takes many talents to run a company, and we as accountants play a vital role in the success of any organization. If you enjoy this episode with Stefanie Cavanaugh, please also listen in on: Chris Rosas and Lisa Trefger For the courses mentioned in this episode, please click here.

Anoop Mehta, CPA and President of Science Systems and Applications Incorporated, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Thank you Mr. Miller… As with many of our guests, Anoop became interested in accounting at an early age.  He had many influencers, including his father, but one influencer made a greater impact than you may imagine.  For many accountants, the interest in accounting starts in a high school class.  Anoop’s story is similar, except that he had an extremely dedicated high school accounting instructor.  His teacher, Mr. Miller, not only provided the basic bookkeeping class that many high schools make available, he also allowed students to sign up for a second year of accounting under an independent study program where they could learn about accounting in even more depth.  It was through Mr. Miller’s efforts that Anoop was able to delve deeper into accounting at a much earlier age than normal. Moving up to President This early start in accounting coupled with the influence of his father, also an accountant, solidified his interest in the field.  While completing his education, Anoop took a part-time intern position with one of his father’s clients as their 2nd overall employee.  It was a small business that was just moving out of the owner’s basement into their first office.  By the time he graduated, the company had grown to 20 employees and Anoop was running the office.  Fast forward to today, and through many years of hard work and good fortune the company has grown to over 1000 employees, and Anoop has served as their President since 2015.  The job that started as a part-time internship for a fledgling organization has grown into what many would consider to be the opportunity of a lifetime. The importance of getting involved One of the themes throughout this episode was personal growth.  When Anoop joined SSAI, he was employee number two, and they now have over 1000 employees.  The skills that it takes to grow with an organization at that pace, and to eventually lead it as well, are not all learned in college.  Outside supplemental growth opportunities are necessary in order to keep your interpersonal skills up to par.  For Anoop, many of those external growth opportunities came from being involved with professional organizations such as the CPA Society.  He’s also been active on other non-profit boards, but he definitely attributes some of his growth to his involvement at the Maryland Association of CPAs.  Giving back to the profession by serving in the association is important to him, and it has benefited him personally as well. Other episodes on similar topics that you may enjoy would include:  Paula Gold-Williams and Byron Patrick. For more information on the publication mentioned in this episode, click here. To listen in on this interview with Anoop Mehta, please use the player below:

This is a much shorter episode we produced specifically to highlight the launch of our most recent book:  “49 Tips For Working With A Headhunter”. In this second book, we cover tips for both employers and job seekers.  The purpose in releasing “49 Tips For Working With A Headhunter” was for individuals to understand more about how the industry works from the inside, so that they can get the best results possible no matter which side of the desk they are on. Topics that are covered for job seekers include… The truth about whether or not salary should be discussed How working through a headhunter really works And how to get the best match, among other topics Topics that are covered for employers include… What the fee truly covers and why it really is an investment What to expect in terms of services that should, and perhaps shouldn’t, be provided How to make sure the headhunter really understands what you need And the best part of this episode, is that for listeners that listen to the entire show, we have a special offer at the end!  Please listen to the audio below for a special offer just for our podcast audience.  Or, if you prefer to order from Amazon, please click here. See you next week!  There’s more to come…

Robin Thieme, CPA and owner of KBS CFO in Maryland, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast to discuss her career and building a virtual CFO practice. Always interested in tech Robin starts the interview by sharing with us that she has always, and she means always, been interested in how technology can make life better.  From the time when she was a little girl and played “future house” with her friend, she imagined all the technological advances (translation: gadgets) that may be invented later on to make our lives easier.  It’s no surprise that as she got into her accounting career, she was naturally drawn to learning about how technology could be integrated into accounting processes. Getting the experience Even with the interest in technology, Robin’s career started in a “typical” fashion.  She worked a while in public accounting, and then moved into industry where she gained a lot of the experience she now uses to serve as CFO for several organizations.  Eventually she decided she wanted more control over her time for family reasons, and she started her own virtual CFO practice.  It wasn’t long after that she hired her first team member, and now that team has grown to 12 people in total – including both domestic and international employees. The truth about remote work Since remote work flexibility is such a large discussion in the marketplace today, I took the opportunity to ask Robin about the realities of working remotely, both as a consultant and as an employee.  There are definitely many benefits, but there are also some trade-offs that she mentions as well.  Make sure you listen to the audio interview if remote work is something you are considering either with your employer or as a contractor.  It’s always good to be informed about how something really works by someone that has actually done it before. If you enjoy hearing Robin’s story, make sure you check out these episodes as well:  Joseph Rugger and Carrie Bradshaw. For our publication highlighted in this episode, “Hiring for Accounting: A Comprehensive Guide to Filling Accounting-Related Positions”, please click here. To listen in on this podcast with Robin Thieme, please click on the player below:

Geraldine Carter of She Thinks Big Coaching joined us for this special edition of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast. While our show usually highlights the career paths of successful accountants, or individuals that started in accounting and have went on to blossom that knowledge into new, unique career paths, sometimes we produce a special episode focused on helping accountants with their entrepreneurial endeavors.  This episode is exactly that. For this week’s show, our guest, Geraldine Carter, drills down on the issues that make some accountants’ entrepreneurial dreams turn more into nightmares down the road.  Many of us ultimately would like to have our own practice, but often the freedom we think we are going to achieve doesn’t become a reality.  We end up working for our practice instead of it working for us. In this episode, Geraldine covers many of the pitfalls that a self-employed accountant can encounter, and how to fix those issues so that you can thoroughly enjoy running your practice, and so that it meets all your needs and expectations as well. For more information on Geraldine Carter, please visit her website at: Business Coaching for CPA's & Small Firms | She Thinks Big Coaching If you enjoy this episode with Geraldine, please also check out:  Sarah Elliott and Mariette Martinez To listen to this interview with Geraldine Carter, please use the player below:

Shanikwa Davis of S. Davis Tax Consultants in Braintree, Massachusetts, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Growing up inner city… We start the interview as we do with most, by getting details on Shanikwa’s early career.  Shanikwa started out with an interest in tax due to a fortuitous assignment she had shadowing an executive with an investment company.  However, as her life moved on she had other priorities that necessitated that she focus on providing for her family.  It wasn’t long though and she realized that if she pursued tax as a long-term career choice, she would achieve the life that she wanted for her kids, so she got back into her education and worked towards her master’s degree.  She then eventually attained her CPA. Enrolled Agent too! We discuss this in the interview as well because I found it interesting that Shanikwa is both a CPA and an EA.  As she explains, becoming an Enrolled Agent was a practical move as it allowed her to more quickly represent clients with the Internal Revenue Service.  However, she makes a point in the interview that even though she is now a CPA as well, the EA status is beneficial.  No reciprocity is needed across the US in order to represent a client as an EA with the IRS.  In some cases this may not be true if she only had her CPA certificate.  Therefore, while the CPA certification definitely has it’s advantages, in her case it makes sense to maintain her EA status as well. Lessons learned along the way As we discussed the evolution of Shanikwa’s tax advisory business, we talked a little about the lessons learned along the way.  One of the nuggets of wisdom that she passes on for our listeners is how important it is to learn how to stand your ground in negotiations, particularly for female entrepreneurs.  In Shanikwa’s experience as a woman in business, sometimes you run across clients that are more aggressive about negotiating than you are, and it’s important to remember that the value of your service is the same regardless of how aggressive a negotiator the other party may be.  It sounds like this is a lesson that she’s had several opportunities to learn, but because of that her belief in her value proposition is solid and something that comes more naturally as she has continued to develop her practice. This episode has something for everyone.  Those just starting their careers, those struggling with life issues, and even those later in their careers looking to further develop their own business.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did recording it. Other episodes you may enjoy will include:  Amy Pitter and Mariette Martinez (For our latest book, “49 Tips For Working With A Headhunter”, click here!)

Amber Setter, a CPA turned Professional Certified Coach, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. An easy “A” Although Amber ultimately decided to take her career in a different direction, accounting was something that always seemed to make sense and be easily understandable for her.  She loved the accounting courses she took in her early education, and found them to be “easy A’s” as well!  It wasn’t until she started her career and put in a few busy seasons that she decided perhaps accounting itself wasn’t for her.  She had started to realize that it was the people development and personal interaction side of business that she enjoyed. Write your own job description! Fortunately for Amber at this point, she was working with a rapidly growing accounting firm that was open to the idea of moving her into recruiting.  When she approached them about becoming a campus recruiter, they said if you can define the job in such a way that makes sense, we are onboard.  That was her first venture out of being a full-time tax accountant and into the recruiting and development side of the firm… and it worked out well. Starting her coaching business After spending almost a decade with that one firm, Amber decided it was time to venture out.  Fast forward to today and through a few twists and turns along the way, and she has been able to develop her business in such a way that she spends her time doing what she thoroughly enjoys.  She helps individuals face their fears and progress forward in their development no matter what stage they may be in today.  From staff level individuals, to upper management, Amber seems to have a very thorough understanding of the “Inner Game” that goes on inside our own thoughts. I encourage you to listen to this entire interview.  Regardless of what career stage you may be in, I guarantee you will find value. For other episodes on similar topics, please visit:  Sarah Elliott and Brian Kush For more information on the Courses referred to in the podcast, click here! To listen in on this interview with Amber Setter, CPA turned Professional Certified Coach, please click on the player below:

Kelly Richmond Pope, CPA, Associate Professor at DePaul University, and movie producer (!) joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Straight through to PhD Kelly knew at an early age that she was interested in accounting.  She took an accounting class in high school and just seemed to understand how it worked.  Fast forward a few years and she was obtaining her bachelors, masters, and then doctorate degree all in accounting.  After working a short internship with General Electric and then a couple years with KPMG in forensic accounting, she knew she wanted to go deeper and therefore became a professor. Producing a movie As we discuss in the audio interview, Kelly is the first individual we’ve had on the show that has produced her own movie, and it’s even related to forensics!  “All The Queen’s Horses” is a documentary that tells the story of the largest municipal fraud in history.  In total it was over $50 million dollars, and happened in a town of only about 16,000 people.  The movie took about 5 ½ years in total to research and produce.  Although the movie is widely distributed and easy to find, particularly for a documentary, you can find additional details on it by clicking here. Red Flag Mania As if that wasn’t enough, we also get into talking about Kelly’s latest venture near the end of the program.  She has created a video—based ethics game that falls into the ‘edutainment’ area.  Red Flag Mania is a game that can be utilized in college classes to expose students to ethical issues and help them to develop a deeper understanding of such dilemmas.  You can find out more about Red Flag Mania at https://www.redflagmania.com/. For other shows on forensics that may peak your interest, please check out these episodes:  Michele Heyman and Rubik Yeriazarian To listen in on this interview with Kelly Richmond Pope, please click the player below:

Liz Mason, CPA and founder of High Rock Accounting, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Family of Accountants Liz comes from literally a family full of accountants.  She has several family members that chose accounting as a career; however, her career as an accountant started out much differently than you may think.  Liz is a self-described rebel, and tried a few of the other majors before settling on accounting.  As it turned out though, due to the early influences in her life, accounting was just something that came naturally for her.  She easily passed her classes and subsequently easily passed the CPA exam as well. Created an early ‘bot’ We frequently talk about ‘bots’ in the accounting profession now, but 10 years ago taking a process that was manual and making it automated was a very cutting-edge endeavor.  In Liz’s early years with Grant Thornton while she was still an entry-level staff person, she created an automation that cut down a process that typically took close to a day down to only two hours.  She didn’t realize at the time how valuable it would be for the firm, but it ended up getting her a promotion to work at the national office for Grant Thornton.  She also realized how much interest she had in innovation in accounting, and completed a Masters in Information Management shortly thereafter. High Rock, plus, plus… Liz now runs High Rock Accounting, an accounting firm focused on serving clients better through the use of the latest technology.  I say “plus, plus” because she also has recently launched Rebel Rock, Tackle, and has yet another business set to launch in about a year.  She’s focused, as she says, on “…changing the face of accounting.”  She’s determined to make it a better place for young professionals to not only be able to grow their careers, but also to fit within the rest of their personal and family needs as well. Salsa… After you listen to the podcast, make sure you check out the “Hot Accounts” show on Youtube.  In this video series that Liz and her team put out, they interview interesting individuals with a story to tell, and eat progressively hotter salsa as the show goes on.  Don’t worry though if you don’t have too much time, the shows aren’t all that long.  You can only eat so much hot sauce in one sitting.  😊 Liz was a great guest for the show, and I’m sure you will get tremendous value out of this episode. For other episodes that may interest you, check out:  Byron Patrick and Sarah Elliott To listen in on our interview with Liz Mason of High Rock Accounting, please click on the player below:

Amy Pitter, the President and CEO for the Massachusetts CPA Society, and former Commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. From Law to Tax Amy’s path actually started in law school.  While pursuing her law degree, she found that she frankly didn’t enjoy the subject matter as much as she thought she would.  However, that all changed when she took her tax course.  She so enjoyed the tax subject matter that she went on to add a Masters in Accounting to her JD, and she started her career with one of the Big 8 national accounting firms. Finding her path It turned out that the Big 8 environment wasn’t as good a fit as she had hoped, so decided to look for something different.  Amy spent some time in industry and real estate development, before landing a position with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.  She thoroughly enjoyed her roles with the DOR, and that further propelled her career into the area of taxation authority consulting.  Along the way she handled consulting projects with the Internal Revenue Service and the Australian Taxing Authority, before landing back in the role of Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Diversity & Inclusion “D and I” is a passion for Amy for many reasons, both personal and professional, and she has been a change maker in that area.  She was a leader in creating a program while at the MDOR that encouraged young minorities to pursue an accounting education path with a local community college that eventually would land them an internship and likely a full-time position with the DOR.  Plus, more recently, she has been a driver in the MSCPA participation in the CEO Action Pledge, which encourages CEOs to sign a pledge to actively work on diversity and inclusion issues in their own organizations.  They have had 10 firms commit to being a part of that best practices sharing program so far, and it’s something that is just getting started.  It will be exciting to see the progress that is made as time moves forward. If you enjoy this episode with Amy Pitter, please check out these episodes as well:  Jina Etiennne (D&I) and Bill Cotter (IRS) To listen in on the interview with Amy, please click on the link below:

Kurt Rathmann, founder of ScaleFactor in Austin, Texas, re-joined us for an update show on this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast! Still feels like a start-up I asked this early on in the episode, because I honestly wasn’t sure if “start-up” was still an appropriate term.  However, while they are already in their 6th year of operation, Kurt agrees that the term still very much applies.  With their high-growth, focus on culture, and constant innovation, Kurt says that they definitely still have the start-up type of environment. 5x employee growth When we originally interviewed Kurt, they had just hired their 40th employee, and that was only about 15 months ago.  When we recorded this update though, they had a total of 230 team members including their interns!  Plus, they now are officing in 3 locations with a shuttle that runs every 30 minutes between them in order to remove the barriers that exist due to not being all centrally located.  And this is all while their new 52,000 square foot facility is being built.  They truly have experienced explosive growth since our last interview. Marge continues to grow up One of the other highlights of this interview was that we discussed Marge in greater depth.  Marge is ScaleFactor’s Artificial Intelligence Controller.  She can handle basic tasks such as responding to requests for information like a tax ID number, but also can handle more involved calculations of items such as burn rate and income or expense questions.  And if that isn’t enough to catch your attention, Kurt says their team views Marge as just starting kindergarten.  She continues to learn more and more every day and they feel that they have only begun to touch the surface. If you have any interest in technology in the accounting field, this update on the growth at ScaleFactor and the original episode with Kurt Rathmann will certainly be valuable for you. Other episodes that may interest you include:  Byron Patrick and Donny Shimamoto To listen in to our interview with Kurt Rathmann, please click on the player below:

Chris Hooper from Accodex joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast.  In addition to being one of the most entrepreneurial guests we have had in a while, Chris lives in Adelaide, Australia, which makes him our first international guest for the show! Making money vs. keeping money Chris always had an interest in business, and happened on accounting as a career by necessity.  After starting his own business in the fitness industry, he quickly realized that keeping money wasn’t as easy as making it, and therefore it would be a good idea to become more educated in that area.  It was at that point that a friend introduced him to accounting. Not your “typical” accountant Chris seems to have always been a “people person”.  From his early self-employment days, to his extra-curricular activities in college, and now to building the Accodex network, it’s evident that he enjoys building relationships.  In addition, he definitely enjoys improving on how business is done.  While Chris definitely has the technical abilities that come with a background in accounting, he sees accounting more as the means to the end… an end of creating improvement in business. Just the beginning Something else that was evident in this interview was that even with all the ground that we covered, this is only the beginning.  Chris is 33 years old, and Accodex is only 4 years old.  While they have seen fast success, it’s truly only starting to scratch the surface of what is possible.  In Chris’ words, “…accountants have the ability to change the world…”, and it’s obvious that Chris has that intention for himself and his companies as well. Other entrepreneurial episodes that may interest you include:  Kurt Rathmann of ScaleFactor, and Stephen King of GrowthForce To listen in, please click the player below:

Greg Ogburn, CPA and Co-Executive Director of the Panhandle Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs (TXCPA), joined us to share his career story with us on Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Starting out early Greg’s career started along a traditional path.  Straight out of college he joined one of the Big 8 accounting firms, and a little later moved to a local firm in the Dallas area.  Not long after that he moved to the Santa Fe, New Mexico area, and decided that it was time to venture out on his own.  Around 1991 he started his own accounting practice and grew it to two offices. Amarillo by morning In 2003 Greg moved back to Texas, but this time to Amarillo, which is located in the Texas “Panhandle”.  As he mentions in the interview, he had to start over a bit because not all his clientele followed, but he was fortunate enough to keep many of them… some of which he continues to service today.  Over the years he has been able to structure his work life to give him quite a variety of duties, from the typical accounting services that you would expect a firm to provide, to handling his family real estate business and serving as Co-Executive Director for the Panhandle Chapter of TXCPA. Serving the profession Although he still very much runs the daily business in his accounting practice, he definitely enjoys the activities he is able to participate in as co-executive director of the CPA chapter.  Their particular chapter has about 500 members and serves 19 counties in the northern “panhandle” section of Texas.  His wife serves along with him as the other co-executive director, but Greg admits that he tends to be more involved in the daily activities at this point .  That is actually part of the appeal of structuring the position in this manner, each individual can fill in as needs dictate. In addition to discussing Greg’s career, we also get into a discussion regarding changes in the profession and thoughts on how the certification requirements may change in the future.  This was a fun and interesting episode to record. If you enjoy this episode, make sure you check out these as well:  Matt Malcom and Natasha Schamberger To listen in, please click on the player below:

Don Maranca, originally our guest for episode number 1 (!), rejoined us for this new episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. An Old Friend… Yes, Don was the very first guest on our podcast, and we asked him back to both get an update and to go deeper on a few topics.  In many of our podcast interviews we have a wonderful conversation, but are limited by time in how deep we can go on various topics.  Don’s show was perhaps the most limited since it was our first episode and we were still learning the ropes, so we definitely needed to circle back and get Don’s insights on growing a business and just a general update on his own enterprise as well. Dramatic Growth! Since we last spoke in 2016, Don’s business structure has change dramatically… and in a good way.  What used to comprise 75% of his business, now only comprises 25%, but it didn’t shrink!  Instead, he has added a new coaching service that has grown incredibly since we last talked, and has now become three times larger than the original practice.  Don’s core business still remains consulting on strategy and systems for businesses, but he has been able to stretch that outside of just working with the business owners themselves, and now works with entire leadership teams. Advice for starting up a practice… We get into quite a bit of depth on what you need to know if you are thinking about starting a business of your own.  We cover common items that surprise new business owners – both good and bad.  Don also has valuable insights for us on what it takes to move from the individual that is technically proficient in an area, to becoming the leader of a business handling those services.  There are definitely some skills that are common, but for practically everyone there is also some growth that is imperative.  Don shares so much on this episode that I almost felt guilty… I received the value of a coaching session from merely doing the interview.  If you find value in this episode for yourself, please check out these similar episodes from other prior guest entrepreneurs:  Sarah Elliott and Mariette Martinez To listen in on our follow-up interview with Don Maranca, click on the player below:

Jim Wallace, the CEO of BPM, a top 50 national CPA firm, joined us to share the story of his career, thoughts on diversity and inclusion, and insights into servant leadership on this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Be A Good Father As with all episodes, we began this one by asking how Jim originally chose accounting as a career.  For Jim, it came down to one simple purpose: to be a good father.  As he discusses later in the program, his father was a major positive influence on his life, and he wanted to be the same for his children.  Accounting as a career choice than ensured he would have both the flexibility he needed as well as the dependability that he could make a good living. Becoming CEO All except a very short portion of Jim’s career has been in public accounting.  First with one of the Big 8 firms, then 25 years with Rehmann as they grew to over $100M in revenues, to becoming the CEO of BPM in 2015, which is one of the largest CPA firms in California.  One of the “secrets to success” that Jim cites is the focus on replacing yourself as you continue to grow.  It’s only through being able to replace yourself that you are able to eventually move up.  Doing so prevents you from getting stuck in any one position, and also proves your abilities as a developer of people. Diversity, Inclusion, & Servant Leadership Diversity and inclusion are a focus for Jim as well as the firm he leads.  Through town hall meetings, measuring engagement on surveys and other analytical instruments, and ensuring that active discussions (or even debates) occur when making important decisions, they are fostering an environment that has diversity of thought as well as a place where people feel comfortable to be themselves. Servant leadership is a core philosophy that was ingrained in Jim from his father, who was a CEO as well.  His father always stressed that in order to be successful, focus on helping others instead of yourself.  By helping others achieve what they desire, you naturally will end up becoming the person that you most desire to be. This episode is definitely filled with great insight on important topics for today, as well as life success in general.  I hope you enjoy listening to the show as much as I did recording it. Other episodes that may interest you:  Paula Gold-Williams and Kimberly Ellison-Taylor To listen in on this episode with Jim Wallace, please click on the player below:

Tracy Coenen of Sequence Inc, a Chicago-based forensic accounting specialty firm, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast. Tracy always knew she wanted to be involved with investigations and the criminal justice system.  In fact, early in her life she dreamed of being a Prison Warden!  However, after taking a class in financial crime investigation, she realized that she enjoyed the analysis that comes with such an investigation, and decided to pursue a career investigating financial crimes.  She continued with her Criminology major in school, but also got her MBA with enough hours to sit for the CPA exam.  She passed the exam, spent a short time at Arthur Andersen, then a few years at a small forensic accounting firm, and then decided to launch her own business – Sequence Inc. For the past 20 years, Tracy has operated her company basically as a solo entrepreneur, with the exception of a short time earlier on that she talks about in the interview.  She chooses to keep the firm small from a team standpoint because it allows her to focus on the activities that she most enjoys – digging into the details and doing the investigation itself. Another valuable portion of this episode is our discussion of what it takes to be a good expert witness in trials.  Tracy has well-developed skills in that area, and shares some of her insights into that role in this interview.  It’s definitely something you don’t want to miss. If you enjoy this episode, please also check out:  Kelly Richmond-Pope and Fred Olivares To listen in on this podcast episode with Tracy Coenen, please use the player below:

Joey Havens, Executive Partner with Horne LLP, a large, regional firm with a national footprint, shared his time with us on Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. 35 years! With the exception of the first few years out of college, Joey has spent his entire career with Horne LLP – 35 years at this point!  Although Joey describes himself as a natural introvert, he made partner in only 8 years after joining the firm, and then became the Executive Partner in 2011.  You will definitely pick this up in the interview, but it’s worth mentioning here as well:  Joey is a very humble individual, and therefore a great leader.  He didn’t want to talk too much about himself on the show, but we were able to stretch and get him to share some of the details of his career.  It’s really is a good story. Natural introvert One of the key take-aways for this episode is the discussion of how those of us that are typically introverts can use that to our advantage in the business world.  Joey says it better than I would in his interview, but some of the strengths he points out is that introverts process information well, and we make strong connections.  I think many of us would automatically consider being an introvert a hinderance to moving up, but Joey very effectively nullifies that argument and gives us great pointers on how we can use that to our benefit in serving others. Not soft or easy… Another key discussion we delve into is the fact that technical skills are only a small portion of what it takes to be successful in accounting these days.  There are many other skills that Joey cites as being integral to building your career.  Among those are collaboration, anticipatory skills, critical thinking, and of course communication.  In addition, the ability to accept and learn new technology is going to continue to be important as the profession changes.  It’s interesting… although we tend to think of accounting as a ‘numbers’ field, it truly is still all about serving people. I hope you enjoy this interview with Joey Havens.  He was very gracious to take the time to record it, and I think there is something there for all of us. Other episodes that may interest you:  Lindsay Stevenson and Neha Patel To listen to this interview with Joey Havens, please click on the player below:

Amanda Aguillard, founder of three accounting-related businesses in the New Orleans area, and more importantly a mother of two wonderful children, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Paper Paper Everywhere… Even early in Amanda’s career, she wondered if things could be done differently.  She initially became interested in accounting as a profession while in high school, and even competed in the state rally competitions.  It was a very early interest for her.  However, as she got started in the industry, she realized how paper-oriented accounting work was at the time, and it seems like even at that early age she had a feeling that perhaps the work could be done in a more efficient way.  After later getting her Masters degree in Tax, she worked with Deloitte & Touche for a few years before moving on for a job in industry, and then deciding to take a seven-year break from the industry while she worked in an even more important role – being a mom. Returning On Her Terms As with everyone, life changes, and it became necessary for Amanda to return to the workforce.  However, she didn’t want to sacrifice the time she had enjoyed for so many years with her children, so she decided to take on contract work on her terms and build a business from there.  That business became Aguillard Accounting, and has evolved into a remote, niche practice serving primarily real estate brokers and law firms. Tech, and Two More Businesses! In starting her own practice, she became very knowledgeable in Xero, Quickbooks Online, and other cloud solutions.  This eventually took her into the training space as well, and she formed Elefant (pronounced just like “elephant”) with a partner in order to take this knowledge to the marketplace and help other accountants succeed.  In addition, this work has also blossomed into a 3rd business as well, a white-glove tech consulting practice for larger firms called Bluewire Strategies.  Near the end of the interview I asked Amanda, “With all these businesses, how do you maintain balance in your life?”  She noted that none of it could be done without a tremendous team and partners, both of which she has been blessed with. Amanda’s story is a very interesting one.  Not many people would opt for building a business when faced with the necessity of returning to the workforce after so many years, but that is the option she chose… and it has worked out beautifully for her. Other episodes on similar topics that may interest you are:  Joseph Rugger and Jody Padar To listen to this interview with Amanda Aguillard, click on the player below:

Erin Daiber, founder of Well Balanced Accountants, a coaching business specifically serving the accounting profession, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Anything But Accounting This episode started with a little surprise.  Erin told the story of her early decisions that led her to want to become an accountant in the first place.  Interestingly enough, her earliest career decision was that she wanted to become anything OTHER THAN and accountant!  However, it was a very influential professor in an undergraduate course that told her she would make a good accountant, and that she had a natural talent for it, that convinced her to pursue accounting as a profession. Coaching is Important During the first few years of Erin’s accounting career, she realized how important good managers and mentors were to an individual’s development both in her own experience as well as through what she was seeing in the workplace.  Some managers were exceptional, and some not so much.  Through this experience, she decided to hire a coach to help with decisions about her own career, and eventually decided to pursue the same career path herself – that of a coach.  After just a short time in the coaching business, she niched her business down further to specifically service those in her own profession… accounting.  Now Well Balanced Accountants coaches individuals both looking to pass the CPA exam, as well as those looking to advance in their accounting careers. CPA Exam Coaching CPA exam coaching is only about half of what Well Balanced Accountants does, but we focused quite a bit on that service due to how important it is in the career of an accountant.  Erin offers both online coaching programs, as well as one-on-one solutions.  Most of their clients have struggled with the exam in the past and realize that they need to do something differently, and that is where Erin’s service comes in.  It’s not a review course, and they don’t identify or partner with any one review course (although a review course is a great idea!!).  Instead, they provide the motivation, accountability, and strategy that many examinees need in order to get through the exam successfully. If you have struggled to pass the exam, or perhaps want to make sure you don’t struggle too much and get it out of the way quickly, make sure you check out their services at https://www.wellbalancedaccountants.com/  (and yes, if you mention “Where Accountants Go” and use their services, Erin will help to financially support our show – they appreciate the referrals) I think you will enjoy this episode.  Erin provides much needed services, and she thoroughly enjoys her career. Until next time, have a great week!  There’s more to come… Mark Goldman CPA

Byron Patrick, a CPA whose career has been built in technology, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, a podcast production of Where Accountants Go. Learning Accounting through Monopoly! Byron’s was initially influenced to pursue accounting as a profession like many of us were – by taking a high school level accounting course.   He also tells the story of one of his earliest memories regarding accounting – playing a game of Monopoly and actually creating financial statements as a part of the game.  Through this experience, as well as becoming involved with Future Business Leaders of America, he realized he had a definite interest in the profession. Becoming the IT guy Byron’s career was just starting in the late 1990’s when computer systems were becoming more than just a single machine that was used for basic computations.  Systems were being connected and integrated, and he had a natural talent for being able to troubleshoot office computer issues as well as understand how to structure those early networks.  As he got more and more involved in systems work, it left less time for the core audit work that he had initially been hired for.  Through a transition to a new firm, and that firm recognizing both his talent and their need, he became the full-time IT Director at a regional CPA practice. The Early Cloud Byron’s interest in systems led him to co-found a business called Simplified Innovations where they focused on installing systems in other accounting firms.  Over an 8-year period, they grew the business to be servicing over 650 end users with only four internal staff members.  The infrastructure they built to do this was a predecessor to what we refer to as the cloud in today’s terminology. Botkeeper and The Future After a great run with his own firm, he decided to sell his interest to his partner and move on to new challenges.  Most recently, Byron has joined botkeeper, a fast-growing accounting technology company that just received additional funding from the Google organization.  One of the items you need to make sure you listen closely for in the audio interview is our discussion of what the future accountant looks like from a day-to-day perspective.  Our profession definitely isn’t going away by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact, we are becoming more and more important as businesses need individuals not to just prepare the numbers, but to help interpret them as well.   We are becoming more of the translators, or advisors, that we all strive to be in the first place, as opposed to having to handle the more mundane duties such as data entry and other similar tasks.  It is a great and exciting time to be in the profession. And if that wasn’t enough, we also get into a short discussion of Byron’s CPA tattoo…  that was a first for the show! If you enjoy this episode, make sure you also check out:  Jody Padar and Donny Shimamoto To listen in, please click on the player below:

Becoming a CPA has had a tremendous positive effect on my life and career, both in jobs within the core accounting profession as well as in roles where I didn’t even see a number most days, but rather was working more in support of the profession in people-serving positions.  However, no matter what the position or role was, in all cases being a CPA has been beneficial. I recorded this episode for two reasons.  The most practical reason was that we had scheduling issues with a few of the upcoming guests that left a small window where we wouldn’t have an episode.  However, I think that was truly an opportunity being presented to me to record an episode on this particular topic that’s been on my heart recently. About a month ago I was asked to speak at a university event, and as I pondered what would be an appropriate topic for someone with my background to speak on, the subject of becoming a CPA became the clear choice.  I’ve seen it make a huge difference in my own life, and at the same time I’ve seen the struggles and sacrifices that others have went through in order to pass.  It truly is a major endeavor, but it’s one that pays off for the rest of your career.  After delivering that speech, I found that I still needed to talk about a few more aspects of pursuing the exam and the sacrifices that it takes for most individuals to pass, and this episode came into being. If you are yourself working on becoming a CPA, I hope you find just a little inspiration in this episode to keep on plugging along.  You truly can do it. If you are already a CPA and passed long ago, I think you will find some truth in the thoughts I share. And if you aren’t sure whether or not you want to pursue your CPA certification, or are considering whether or not it’s really worth the effort, PLEASE listen to this episode before you make your decision.  In fact, feel free to reach out to me personally and let’s talk about the decision.  It truly is a career-changing move, and although it’s not for everyone, for most it is a course of action that they are forever happy they chose. Other episodes you may want to check out if you are pursuing the CPA certification include: 107: Mansour Farhat – Saving Accounting Students One YouTube Video At A Time 097: How to Pass the CPA Exam – Tips from Newly Certified CPAs! 060 – Insights on CPA Review Courses from our Panel of CPAs Thank you again for being a part of the Where Accountants Go community.  We just recently passed 100,000 downloads of the podcast, and I am so thankful for all our audience members.  Couldn’t have passed that milestone without you! Have a great week!  There’s more to come… Mark Goldman CPA  

Amy Vetter, author, technologist, and CEO of The B3 Method Institute, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Amy’s earliest influencer regarding accounting was the legacy her grandfather left the family:  He was a CPA.  Her mother talked about her grandfather and how big a part of his life being a CPA was, and it had a dramatic positive influence in her early years.  She saw it as a path for both career safety and security. Launching Into Parenthood and Business Her career started as many do, working a few internships and then joining a national accounting firm – KPMG in her case.  However, after having a difficult pregnancy that resulted in a premature delivery, she decided that she needed additional flexibility and moved on so that she could work from home.  Amy started a bookkeeping service, AV Accounting Services, and attained her QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification. Accounting Tech After about 9 years with her bookkeeping service, she had become well-versed in accounting software solutions and was recruited to work full-time with Intuit.  That started a season in her career where she had the opportunity to not only work with Intuit, but then to move on and work with both Sage and Xero as well.  However, after working for so many years in the technology space, she realized that she wanted to do even more to make life better for accounting professionals.  It was at that point that The B3 Method Institute was born. B3 Business + Balance = Bliss.  Coming from her background in yoga (yes, she owns a yoga studio as well), this is Amy’s formula for happiness and success in both career and life.  She frequently speaks at conferences on the concept of becoming a “cherished advisor”, which is also a term she coined describing the role that we fill when we as accountants are acting at the highest level possible with our clients.  We not only are trusted, but we are cherished for the value we bring.  If you’d like to find out more about both concepts, make sure to check out her book at https://www.amyvetter.com/books. I hope you find value in this episode for not only your career, but your overall outlook on your life as well. For other episodes you may enjoy, please check out Robina Bennion and Mariette Martinez. To listen in, please click on the player below:

Jody Padar, author of “The Radical CPA” publications and founder of New Visions CPA Group, was our guest for this episode of Life In Accounting, a podcast production of Where Accountants Go! Ice Cream and Taxes Jody was influenced to pursue accounting in the same manner as many accountants – she had family in the industry.  Her father had a tax practice, and she helped him out from a very early age.  He knew how to motivate as well… every trip to get the returns processed at Computax meant a trip for ice cream as well!  The reward at the end of the work was a strong influencer early in life, and so accounting was a career interest for Jody from early on. Unfortunate Circumstances Lead to Joy As her career progressed in public accounting during her first few years, she found that she enjoyed and was talented in the tech side of accounting.  She was doing well pursuing a career with CPA firms, when she unfortunately got laid off from a firm due to needing to be out during busy season for the birth of her child.  Obviously this didn’t sit well with Jody, so she became determined to start her own practice and run it in a decidedly different manner.  It’s interesting how life turns out… it was exactly that difficult situation that helped propel her to the success she enjoys today. Life for The Radical CPA Currently Jody spends her time in many endeavors.  She still owns the New Vision CPA Group, but due to having a solid team she has been able to pursue other ventures as well.  She is the author of “The Radical CPA” books, hosts a podcast, and has just joined Botkeeper as an outsourced executive focused on helping them continuing to grow.  She’s definitely busy, but you can tell she thoroughly enjoys the mix and variety.  Her happiness and excitement about her career comes through clearly in this podcast interview.  We had a great time recording it. Other interviews you may enjoy:   Donny Shimamoto and Sandi Smith Leyva To listen in on our interview with Jody Padar, please click on the player below:

Natasha Schamberger, CPA and CEO of the Kansas Society of CPAs, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, a podcast production of Where Accountants Go! Midwest Girl Moves To The Big City! …is pretty much a direct quote from the audio interview in this podcast.  Natasha is from Kansas and attended Kansas State University when pursuing her accounting degree, but upon completion decided she wanted to move the “big city”.  After doing some initial research, she decided that San Diego would fit her best and made the move.  So although she was from the Midwest, the first few years of her career and some of the key relationships actually started out on the West Coast. 3 Month Vacation After getting married, her and husband thought that it was time to move back closer to home.  However, they realized they had a unique opportunity at this point in their lives given that they had few commitments to tie them down, so they took a 3 month hiatus to Italy!  They even considered a permanent move at some point, but settled on the extended visit / vacation instead and eventually came back to the states. Serving the Profession After returning to the US, Natasha accepted a position at AICPA where she served in various capacities for 8 years, and then eventually moved back home to Kansas and joined the state society of CPAs.  We have several interesting conversations during this interview.  One of the more intriguing topics we touch on is the Kansas Society’s efforts to engage with high school students and acquaint them with the accounting profession.  Kansas is committing significant resources to extending their reach into the high schools, which is an effort I believe will benefit both the profession and the students.  With career decisions frequently being made as early as high school, the effort definitely makes sense for our profession.  The earlier we are able to introduce students to the stability, security, and financial benefits that a career in accounting can help them afford, the better it is for all of us. If you enjoy this episode, please make sure you also check out the following:  John Sharbaugh, and Kimberly Ellison-Taylor To listen in on this conversation with Natasha Schamberger, please click on the player below:

Joseph Rugger, a CPA that has been able to structure his work life to be 100% remote, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, a podcast production of Where Accountants Go. Getting Started We start this interview in the same manner as most, with the story of Joseph’s early career.  Joseph started in public accounting, but only stayed for a few years.  As he states, the issue was “99% me, 1% public accounting.”  It just wasn’t the right fit for him.  He was fortunate though in that a friend’s family business needed an accountant, and through that connection he was able to make the move into industry. Predictable, Baby Steps After a few years with the prosthetics business, he decided to approach them about venturing into other interests while still ensuring his job got done.  It started with teaching a couple days at the local university, but then later moved into working remotely a couple days a week.  One of the keys to making the situation work for Joseph was that he outlined how he envisioned getting the job done with this employer, and did so in baby steps.  He did not attempt to go 100% remote all in one move.  It was a long and careful transition to get where he is today. Doing Payroll From The Grand Canyon As you’ll hear in the story, Joseph basically does the same typical accounting tasks that we all would normally do from the office, but he does them from his laptop in remote parts of the world.  This may mean while on a mission trip, or from the bottom floor of the Grand Canyon.  Sometimes (usually) it takes some flexibility and advanced planning to get the internet connection he needs, but that is just part of the advanced preparation.  Other than that, the work is pretty similar to any other accounting role.  One interesting fact that Joseph points out though is that it’s not 100% vacation like many people think it is.  When you are remote, you basically have to be plugged in all the time, so while you have location freedom, it’s that much more important for you to be accessible.  It’s something to think about if you decide to travel the world – that vital conference call could literally be in the middle of the night depending on your time zone.  Even such freedom has a few small trade-offs. This was a wonderful interview with Joseph, and I appreciate that he made the time for it.  When you are 100% remote, practically everything is done through advanced scheduling, so for him to make the time for this interview truly was a gift to our listeners. Other episodes you may enjoy:  Matt Malcolm, and John Garrett. To listen in on this interview, please click the player below:

Tim Gearty, Editor-In-Chief and National Lead Instructor for Becker CPA Review, as well as Managing Partner for Gearty & McIntyre, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, a podcast production of Where Accountants Go. Snow Shoveling Is Hard Work Like most of our episodes, we started off by asking how Tim got into the accounting profession.  And like many guests, it came down to a very practical decision for Tim early in life.  He had experienced other ways of making income as a kid (snow shoveling, a paper route, etc), and realized that many of those required a high amount of physical labor.  That was hard work!    So instead, when a family friend suggested he consider accounting as a potential career choice, he felt it would be a more practical way to make a good living. His career started as many do.  He worked for a short while in industry, and then with Peat Marwick Mitchell, a predecessor to KPMG.  After about 3-4 years in public accounting, he decided to take time off for law school. Becoming an Instructor Almost immediately after deciding to pursue law school, he was invited to become a professor due to an emergency need at the university.  He found that he thoroughly enjoyed teaching, and by the time he was finished with law school he found that it wasn’t necessary for him to return to a full-time accounting role at a national firm.  With both his teaching income as well as accounting work that he had picked up along the way, he was actually better off.  Plus, he loved helping others learn, so continuing along the teaching route just made sense. Present Day Tim now spends his professional efforts in three main areas, as managing partner for their accounting firm, providing CPE for Fortune 100 companies, and in his role with Becker of course.  You can tell from the interview that he is extremely passionate about his work, and he definitely enjoys the variety. We couldn’t end the podcast without getting Tim’s insights on passing the CPA exam as well of course.  Make sure you listen all the way to the end.  Tim shares not only some insights into being successful with the exam, but also some of the pitfalls that candidates can encounter these days. If you find value in this episode, please also check out our episode on “How To Pass the Exam” where we interviewed 5 recently certified CPAs on the techniques they used to ensure they passed. Thank you again for joining us.  To listen in on our interview with Tim Gearty, please click on the player below:

Michelle Garrison, a CFO in the Houston area, joined us for this continuation of our “2nd-career-accountant” series of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast. Michelle’s career started a little differently than most of our guests.  Michelle was actually a very successful electrical engineer in her former career, and as she got further into the details of running her own electrical contracting company, she realized she had a talent for understanding the financial side of the business.  As time went by and the contracting world was becoming more competitive, she decided to move her career in the direction of accounting, completing a Masters degree in Accounting and obtaining a consulting position within the field.  Her consulting work fast-tracked her into many career-building opportunities, and eventually she landed in the role where she is today:  the CFO for a healthcare organization in Houston. If you are a 2nd-career-accountant yourself, or are about to be, you will definitely enjoy this interview.  Also, if you want more insight into how an accounting education can help you be a better overall business advisor, then this show is for you as well. Other episodes you may enjoy will include:  Robin Thieme and Brian Henderson To listen in on this interview with Michelle Garrison, please use the player below:

Mariette Martinez, an EA (Enrolled Agent) from the Los Angeles area, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast! Runs In The Family… Mariette’s initial interest in becoming an accountant stemmed from her family legacy of entrepreneurship.  Through constantly being around her family of entrepreneurs, she realized how important becoming knowledgeable in finance and accounting was to a business owner.  Because of this, although none of her family were accountants by trade, she decided to pursue accounting as a career choice at an early age. Building a Career Like many do, Mariette worked for an accounting firm during her time in college and gained wonderful experience.  After college, she was recruited into one of the national accounting firms and continued to grow professionally.  Becoming a mom changed her life though, and she decided to start her own business instead of continue down the corporate path.  She worked hard to build her own accounting practice, and in a very short time had her own team that handled bookkeeping, accounting, and tax work. Building a Life As she reached what many would clearly recognize as “success”, she realized that she didn’t get as much joy out of her day-to-day work as she had hoped.  She had a thriving business and was doing well financially, but it didn’t bring the enjoyment that she had expected.  One weekend when she was really feeling the lack of joy, she decided to take a few days off and decide what to do about the issue.  She made a decision that only very brave individuals are capable of making:  she totally transformed her business.  She went from a traditional accounting practice model, to more of an educational and financial coaching model.  That was back in 2014, and today she can honestly say that she has been able to return to her normal, joyful self.  You’ll be able to tell from her passion and energy in the audio interview – she truly does enjoy her work. If you find value in this episode for yourself, please check out these other related shows:  Sarah Elliott, Dena Jansen, and Robina Bennion. Please listen in on this interview with Mariette Martinez by clicking on the player below:

Lindsay Stevenson, a CPA, VP of Finance, and consulting firm owner in South Dakota, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Perseverance & Determination We open up the interview with the story of how Lindsay decided to choose accounting as her career path in the first place, and it’s quite an eventful tale.  Lindsay was very open about how early in life she made some bad choices, the consequences of which almost caused her to not pursue a professional career so-to-speak.  However, it was the determination she had to provide a better life for her family that drove her to go back to school and eventually complete her accounting degree. Moving up… Her career developed as many do.  Once she had her degree she started working in public accounting.  She chose the tax side because it required far less travel than audit, and that was better for her family.  She moved up quickly though and did well in public accounting, even though it was a while before she passed the CPA exam.  She did eventually tackle the exam though and became certified.  Not long afterwards, she decided to change directions and go into industry.  She now serves as VP of Finance for a major bank in South Dakota. Changing the Landscape! Late in the program Lindsay shares that she has a brave goal of changing the landscape of the accounting profession for the better.  She has started her consulting practice, Origin Evolution, specifically with this goal in mind.  Her focus is to work with organizations on their culture and how that is lived out in the workplace.  Her firm is still in the early stages of its development, but you can tell she has a true passion for the larger vision that she is working towards. I think you will really, really enjoy this episode.  Lindsay was very open about her story, and it spans such a wide variety of career topics that there is something in there for all of us. Other shows you will enjoy include:  Kimberly Ellison-Taylor and Dena Jansen To listen in on this truly-inspiring episode, please click on the player below:

For this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast, we were joined by the soon-to-transition CEO of United Way of San Antonio & Bexar County, Lyndon Herridge CPA. Roots in the Commercial World Something that may surprise listeners is that while Lyndon is a very passionate about the manner in which United Way serves the community, he definitely didn’t start out his career with the long-term goal of being a leader in the non-profit world!  His career started as many do in accounting, in the tax and audit space with a firm that eventually merged into EY.  He then ventured out into industry and joined a family office for one of the heirs to the King Ranch in Texas.  This was a tremendous opportunity that he thoroughly enjoyed because it gave him the experience of working with many different types of industries due to their wide variety of holdings.  However, he knew that long-term he wanted to do something different with his career… Moving to United Way Another fact that may surprise listeners is that when he was initially approached about joining United Way, Lyndon declined!  It was quite a while later when he realized that one of his friends in Dallas had joined the organization and was so thoroughly enjoying it that he decided he should reconsider.  He joined the United Way with the intentions to stay only a short time, but obviously that worked out much differently as he ended up assuming the CEO role and has now celebrated his 28th year with the organization! Advice for Young Professionals It may also surprise you that Lyndon doesn’t recommend going directly into the non-profit world right after college.  He recommends that you take some time early on in your career to work in the for-profit world.  Per Lyndon, it not only helps you grow, but also benefits your future non-profit employer as well.  Having the understanding of business processes is very valuable even though non-profits work with a different goal in mind.  For more information on United Way, please click here. Other episodes you may enjoy:  Craig Fuller and Bob McAdams To listen in this insightful interview with Lyndon Herridge, please click on the player below: