Paul Meissner of 5Ways Group Chartered Accountants, the “From The Trenches” podcast, and Freedom Mentoring, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, The Accounting Careers Podcast.

Paul is actually our second guest from Australia, but this time from the Melbourne area.  A previous guest, Ryan Lazanis, recommended we contact Paul for the show and we definitely weren’t disappointed.  Not only is Paul quite a character, he has structured his professional life to integrate into exactly the work / life balance he was looking for.  He is able to spend the time that he desires with his family, plus he is able to work on his golf swing quite a bit!  In a nutshell, he spends about two-and-a-half days in his accounting practice, and then spends the rest of his time on personal endeavors, other business interests (the podcast, mentoring, etc), and golf.  

170:  Paul Meissner – What Does Freedom Mean To You?

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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!  :)


244:  The Finale

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:

243:  Mansour Farhat – Continuing To Make Life Easier for Accounting Students

Hitendra Patil of AccountantsWorld, who also frequently appears on the list of the Top 100 Most Influential People In Accounting, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

We like to cover a variety of career topics for accounting professionals on this show, and entrepreneurship-done-well is definitely one of them.  In this episode, Hitendra discusses the concept of how to become an “Accountaneur”.  This particular term, which Hitendra has trademarked, encompasses the idea of not just being a self-employed accountant, but being successful in the endeavor from both the earnings standpoint and the desired lifestyle perspective.  You will need to listen to the audio interview for a complete definition, but a large part of what Hitendra discusses is how to evolve past simply being a client’s chosen accountant, and going further to learn their business and the nuances of how they become successful.  This allows the Accountaneur to become more of the trusted advisor that we all aspire to be.  It really is a good discussion we have in this approximate 1-hour episode.

For other episodes you may enjoy, check out:  John Garrett and Lindsay Stevenson

To listen to this episode with Hitendra Patil, please use the player below:

242:  Hitendra Patil – Becoming An Accountaneur ™

Lee Frederiksen of Hinge joined us for this week’s episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

Lee’s team approached us with this topic, and we were very excited to have the discussion.  “The Great Resignation” is a phenomenon affecting the entire labor market, and the accounting profession is no exception.  The market was already tight in terms of the number of accountants available versus the number of job opportunities, but with opportunities increasing and some individuals choosing to exit the labor market by choice, the number of open jobs within our field has skyrocketed.  It’s a peculiar situation, and although it has its advantages, there are also some dangers as well.

In this episode, we will discuss the situation from both the employer’s perspective and the job seeker’s perspective, because there are opportunities and dangers on both sides.  It’s rare that we get to interview a behavioral psychologist on our program, so this was a real treat.  And the topic we discussed is definitely on the cutting edge of current events.

For other episodes you may enjoy, check out:  Carl Peterson and Terrell Turner

To listen to this episode with Lee Frederiksen of Hinge, please use the player below:

241:  Lee Frederiksen – Discussing The Great Resignation

Jennifer Todling, Partner with EY, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

When we scheduled this episode, we knew it was going to be a story of a successful, progressive accounting career as Jennifer had been with EY approaching 18 years and is a partner with the firm.  However, we didn’t realize all the additional value that this interview would bring!

In addition to discussing her progression to partner over the years, we also discuss a few other pleasant surprises in her journey.  One additional item of value was the discussion of her short departure from EY to pursue a Fellow position with the SEC.  Jennifer spent about 3 years on the regulatory side, which was both an enjoyable experience and something that helped build her skill-set for when she later returned to EY.

We also discuss how she had to go remote for personal reasons very early in her career.  That may not seem like a big deal now, but this was prior to Zoom, Teams, and all the other tools we use now to do remote work.  The process was much more paper intensive, so she wasn’t sure it was even possible in the beginning.  However, due to the support from a few leaders at the firm, they were able to make it work and her progression with EY continued.  It really is an interesting part of the interview.  Make sure you listen to this one all the way through.

For other episodes you may enjoy, check out:  How To Advance to Partner, and Samantha Bowling’s interview.

To listen in on this interview with Jennifer Todling, please use the player below:

170: Paul Meissner – What Does Freedom Mean To You?

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