Accounting must abandon toxic traditions, prioritize people over profits, and rebuild its mentoring culture—or risk losing the next generation entirely.

The Disruptors

With Liz Farr

Yuri Kapilovich didn’t set out to become #TheFunCPA. It started as a casual hashtag when he shared photos from buses and bikes, but it stuck—especially after a networking event where attendees misread his booth sign and started calling him “The Funk PA.” The nickname became a brand, but it also reflects his deeper mission: bringing humanity and humor back to a profession that’s burning out its best talent.

Kapilovich, founder of Kapilovich & Associates, believes the root of accounting’s talent shortage is simple: misplaced priorities. “We, as a profession—especially in the larger firms—have lost sight of the fact that the number one asset we have is our people,” he says. “It’s not the clients.”

When firms put clients ahead of staff, the result is a toxic cycle: long hours, low pay, and outdated leadership practices that make accounting look like a dead-end career. “Why would I do accounting,” Kapilovich asks, “when I can do finance or computer science and make six figures right out of school?”