When Marcus Dillon of Dillon Business Advisors first branched out from his career, which included a stint with a Big Four firm, he realized that he had “recreated the monster” that sucked away all his time and energy in his new venture. Because his goal had been to take control of his life by doing things differently as a business owner, he took stock of what had happened and made the adjustments necessary to take the pressure off himself and his employees. This included saying no to old and new clients alike, divorcing the ideas of “work” and “business,” and ensuring his employees, many of whom work part-time, had the ability to properly balance their lives with their work, too. He has continued to utilize that philosophy to build DBA into the success it is today.

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O&S CPAs continues to build on a quarter-century legacy to create a culture that has allowed them to be recognized as a Best Firm to Work For on a national, regional and local basis. Their outside-the-box thinking has allowed them to continue to grow – and sustain that growth – with very little turnover and a firm culture that embraces employee individuality.

Paul Scholz talks about how they have evolved into a stronger employee-centric firm that embraces remote, hybrid or in-office work situations; an understanding that each employee is walking a different path in life and while some may be able to put in 60 hours during busy season, others are lucky to put in 40 – and that's perfectly fine. Paul proves that the ability to ditch a "we've always done it that way" mindset is critical to success in today's ever-changing Public Accounting landscape for firm owners.

What's Your “And?” That's more than just a question, it truly is what fuels you and gives you the passion to do what it is that you do each day of your life. While many people try to be defined by the title on their business card, Corporate Culture Catalyst and Award-Winning Author John Garrett started his career as a Big 4 auditor, but what truly provided fuel for his fire early on was a passion for comedy. John took that passion and has turned it into a full-time career as a consultant, coach, and keynote speaker, helping companies attract and retain talent while building a culture that meets people right where they are while finding out, What's Your “And?”

What happens when a couple of guys who spent time at a traditional public accounting firm get together over a few beers to discuss what frustrates them about their jobs? How about the birth of a new-breed CPA firm, Market Street Partners, that has been recognized in recent years by Accounting Today, Inside Public Accounting and the Chattanooga Times as one of the fastest growing and best CPA firms in the country to work for. Listen to see how Kyle Bryant has built one of today's leading CPA firms by focusing on people and exceptional client service.

After building and selling his fully remote CPA firm in less than four years, Mark Stovel has taken his lessons learned and has spent the last year creating a new project – CPA Firm Accelerator – a consulting firm focused on teaching others how to do the same thing. Mark brings a fresh perspective to many of the challenges facing today's public accounting firm leaders.

Jeff Trapp has built The Tax Planning Pros into one of the new-breed advisory/consulting firms that continue to grow and scoop up market share in the ever-growing tax planning, consulting and advisory space that most traditional CPA firms have failed to capture. With a focus on putting SMBs in the R/E space in a position to limit their tax exposure proactively, while also keeping "crazy" tax season workweeks under 50 hours, Jeff has shown that you can build a high-growth firm while making placing a priority on employees and work-life balance.

The century-old CPA firm partnership model has not changed since, well, the beginning of time –until now! Chase Birky lived through that seriously broken model, and in 2015 took the first step to challenge conventional wisdom and build out a fully distributed workforce through Dark Horse CPAs that puts the power of growth, service delivery, and work-life balance where it should be – in the hands of those that are building the firm.

Originally built as a "traditional" CPA firm, Cohesion Companies, led by Managing Member John Mark Prewitt, has morphed into a leading Business Advisory and Client Accounting Services firm that, oh by the way, also handles complex tax planning, consulting and strategy issues for their clients. This simple flip has contributed to a 150% growth in the last year all while building an employee-focused firm that has somehow had ZERO TURNOVER in that same timeframe.

Links:

Cohesion Business Advisors website

In 2017, Carrie Bradshaw was sitting in a partnership role with a successful, well-establish Austin-based CPA firm. The only problem was that Carrie continued asking herself the question any innovator consistently asks - "Is There A Better Way?" Her answer was a wholehearted YES!

Links:

CD Bradshaw & Associates website

Not Your Father's Bean Counters! This is a perfect way to describe what Tim Petrey and his leadership team have built over the last decade. Based in Youngstown, OH, HD Davis has been recognized several times as one of Accounting Today's Best Firms to Work For in the country and was recently named the #1 Best Firm for Women in the Country.

Links:

HD Davis Website