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Accounting ARC
With Liz Mason, Byron Patrick, and Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation

In a profession that’s long celebrated overwork as a rite of passage, the Accounting ARC podcast team flips the script. 

In a recent episode, hosts Liz Mason, CPA; Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA; and Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, CGMA, unpack the art—and science—of setting boundaries in the accounting profession. Their message: Boundaries aren’t barriers to productivity. They’re a foundation for it. 

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“Burnout is essentially professional depression,” says Mason, CEO of High Rock Accounting. “When you’re constantly triggered and overwhelmed, it’s likely because your personal boundaries are being violated—and you haven’t defined or communicated them.” 

The trio tackles misconceptions head-on. While social media has sparked a “boundary backlash” culture—where some workers interpret boundaries as blanket refusals—they caution that healthy boundaries aren’t a free pass to underperform.