In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast, we speak with Holly Raymond, Senior Vice President of Finance with Upbring.

Public Accounting Life

Holly began her career working in public accounting with one of the Big 4. One of the great things about this type of work is you get to see how companies operate and function from the inside – both the great, and the not so great! Holly calls this the “gypsy lifestyle” because you are working with a new client every other week.

Holly started with Ernst & Young. She loved both the people and the work. It was here that she began falling in love with the cultures of not-for-profits. After several years Holly joined Maxwell, Locke, & Ritter and as a mother, she really enjoyed their flexibility and supporting of not-for-profits.

Not-for-Profit Life

Holly moved to Big Brothers and Big Sisters (BBBS) Central Texas later on as a part-time VP of Finance, and BBBS allowed her to contribute as a leader, but in a part-time role, supporting a mission that she was passionate about. A few years later she moved on to her current organization, Upbring, and she couldn’t be happier! She is the Senior VP of Finance over all facilities… she has a team of 20!

One of the aspects of working at Upbring that Holly loves the most is working with amazing people who are passionate about what they do each and every day.

Surviving Adversity

In another key segment of this interview towards the end, Holly shares a personal story of a health scare she had a few years back and how she made it through successfully on both the personal and career levels. Make sure you listen to this episode all the way to the end. There is much we can learn from Holly’s recollection of that period of her life.

(Related interviews on similar topics:  Dana McCartney from MLR, and Harriet Helme – surviving adversity)

To listen in on this interview with Holly Raymond, please use the player below:

In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast,  David Sweeten, CPA and Eric Arroyo, MBA from Business Brokers of Texas share their expertise on buying and selling accounting firms and businesses in general. We have discussed buying practices as a good way to begin or grow a business a few times before (see below), but today we will get into more details of how the process truly works.

Buying Considerations

Accounting practices are always very valuable, and they will sell. When you have a serious buyer, the sale will happen quickly. When buying a business, make sure to explore these factors:

Age of seller

Accounting and tax software used

Geographical area of the clients

What types of clients to you want

Fees currently being charged

Gross income desired

Why Use a Broker?

The benefit of using a broker like Business Brokers of Texas is they make sure the deal is fair for all parties. A broker is available to add objectivity to the process. The process can take a while sometimes, and the broker effectively serves as the matchmaker between the two parties. They are very experienced at structuring deals. They control all of the issues so you can continue working. They also maintain the confidentiality of the transaction, which is a big benefit. Another consideration is customer retention. If the transition between buyer and seller goes smoothly, you can retain the vast majority of clients (over 90% typically).

 

Other podcasts mentioned in this interview:

Dale Ross, CPA and Mayor of Georgetown

Debra Seefeld, CPA – Building a Practice & Insights on Peer Review,

Derek Schriver of Schriver Carmona – The rest of the story…

Chris Carmona – Building a Firm and the Importance of Family

 

To listen in on this interview with David and Eric, please use the player below:

In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast,  we follow Deborah Beams, CPA through her professional journey from job shadowing with Kathy Kapka, to being a practice fellow, to being a two-time winner on the game show Jeopardy!!

The Variety of Audit

Deborah has always specialized in audit. She enjoys and has learned a great deal by going into the field to visit clients, which allows her to see what different companies are like. Auditors get to observe many different corporate environments and cultures.

Her inventory stories are priceless! From diapers to slot machines to frozen goods, she’s counted them all!

Jeopardy!

The process for qualifying for the game show “Jeopardy” begins with an online test. Based on your score, you will be invited to then audition. The audition consists of another written test and a practice game where you show off your sparkling personality. Deborah had to get through five auditions in order to land a spot on the show.

To be successful, you must be smart, charismatic, and to be honest… a little bit lucky.

Some non-disclosure agreements are required by the game show as well as you would expect. You can tell friends that you will be on Jeopardy, and you can tell them the date of your initial game, but you absolutely cannot discuss your level of success on the show.  It’s important to the producers of Jeopardy that the final results are kept secret until the show has a chance to air.

Being on Jeopardy was the fulfillment of one of Deborah’s life-long dreams. It’s really a great story… and she won twice!

(Other podcasts mentioned in this interview: 015: TSCPA Chair Kathy Kapka – Finding What You Truly Enjoy.)

To listen in on this interview with Deborah Beams, please use the player below:

In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast,  Fred Olivares, CPA started his career in a rather traditional way. He began his career in Internal Auditing, and in Fred’s case, he was employed by a bank. After hearing an FBI Agent speak though, Fred began some career-based soul searching. Was there more to his career than auditing?? Maybe….

Special Agent – Special Requirements

Fred decided to apply with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI. That sounded exciting and he met all the eligibility qualifications.

College degree from an accredited university

United States citizen

Three years of work experience

No history of drug use

Be able to obtain Top Secret Clearance – this clearance is extensive. Your neighbors, friends, and family will all be interviewed.

Once you meet those, you must:

Pass the written examination

Pass the panel interview

The total process can take up to approximately one year.

FBI Work – TV Worthy

Because Fred was a CPA, he was assigned to the white-collar squad. The FBI has several different squads, and CPAs may work on many different investigations. For example, the bombings that took place in Austin in early 2018 – all agents worked on that case.

Fred started in bank fraud with the FBI. This taught him how cases flow through the system. It also taught him how to interview people. He then worked on high-profile and other public corruption cases in San Diego. In McAllen, he worked border corruption and health care fraud. In San Antonio, he worked public corruption cases as well.

For Fred, the challenges were new every morning and it allowed him to develop many friendships.

Want to hear about some of Fred’s true crime cases? Please listen in on this week’s audio interview with Fred Olivares.

To listen in on this interview with Fred Olivares, please use the player below:

In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast,  Pauline Le, CPA shares how her career in public accounting led to a career in the not-for-profit world, which then led to a very fulfilling position with a commercial, for-profit company.

Whatever you do, do it with excellence!

Getting Your Foot in the Door

If you want a career in the not-for-profit world, Pauline’s advice to you is to make sure that you completely understand their mission, vision, and values. Once you understand them, ask yourself if they are something that you are passionate about as well. If the answer is, “yes,” you are well on your way to extraordinary success.

Hiring and Managing Smart

Use all the tools available to you when you are considering bringing a new member onto your team. Don’t stop with simply exploring background, experience, and competency. Take the time to investigate what motivates them and what they themselves need.

Life at Birkman International

Pauline has been with Birkman for over 10 years now. Currently she is the VP of Finance. She adores working at Birkman because it meets so many of her needs:

Passion for learning

Variety

Providing tangible value to the organization’s bottom line

Exposure to different leadership challenges

Making a difference in the world

Being extremely mindful about your thoughts, actions, behavior, and self-reflection can create massive objectivity. Simply powerful!

 

To find out more about Birkman and their business, please visit their site at www.birkman.com

To listen in on this interview with Pauline Le, please use the player below:

In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast,  Kurt Rathmann, CPA and CEO / Founder of ScaleFactor shares with us how his business model, ideology, and management style has created an extremely successful, cutting-edge company that will double in size by next year.

Big Firms? Auditing? How Do They Benefit Future Entrepreneurs?

Kurt started his post-college (Go Longhorns!) career at KPMG. One of the biggest lessons that Kurt has carried away from working with a Big 4 firm was the value of learning how to interact and communicate with a wide variety of people and personalities. He also learned much from his time in auditing, because you get to see so many aspects of the business and thereby learn about overall operations.

Growing a Business

Businesses grow when you have a passion for what you are doing. Research your passion. Find the biggest challenge or problem surrounding your field and come up with solutions. Be the one who comes up with new ideas. And when presenting ideas to customers, remember that presentations are enhanced when you can use a story to illustrate how your solution will positively affect their situation.

Building the Team…

Interestingly, Kurt has found that remote employees don’t work well for ScaleFactor because the arrangement interferes with the synergy of their organization. ScaleFactor thrives in a shared workspace where the creativity and innovation can flow freely. He will be the first to tell you though that it may work for others, it just doesn’t work well for them.

Some additional advice Kurt shares is to make sure you discuss successes with your team, but discuss failures even more. Being able to openly discuss issues helps you to quickly learn from those mistakes and enables everyone to grow from the experience.

Who are ScaleFactor and Xero?

For more information on ScaleFactor, please visit them online at: https://scalefactor.com/

For more information on the Xero software that was discussed in the audio as well, please visit https://www.xero.com/us/

 

To listen in on this interview with Kurt Rathmann, please use the player below:

Have you ever considered what law enforcement and accounting have in common?  Steve Palomino has!

In this podcast, Steve points out the similarities which help us to understand why the FBI and other law enforcement organizations want to hire accountants – and it’s not the math!

In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast, Steve Palomino, shares what these two fields have in common, including technology and ideas for breaking into consulting.

Transitions

After retiring from police work, Steve began working as a staff accountant. In addition to accounting tasks, Steve helped to transition tasks from paper to technology. For Steve, this seemingly small improvement resonated with him. He realized that using and understanding technology would set him apart from others by giving him an additional (and attractive) skill set.

From there, Steve transitioned to working with a large communication firm. His career continued progressing through working for two of the big four national accounting firms as well.

Consulting

Steve then decided to begin consulting. He wrote his business plan and got buy-in from his most important partner… his wife. He enjoys consulting because it is a more project-based line of work, and you get to see projects through to their successful completion. Additionally, you get to meet and work with many diverse people.

Points to Consider

As you consider career options, there is always the route of working for large organizations. With these, you may find security, and for some you may find it too structured. Project work can be interesting, but in cases where the organization has not selected appropriate technology it can be challenging. Self-employment can be fulfilling as well, but it can also bring uncertainty. It is important that you have very strong skills and knowledge in the industry that you want to support.  All career paths have unique advantages.  It’s important to figure out along the way what works best for your own specific needs.  Steve’s consulting business allows him to manage multiple simultaneous projects, which he really enjoys – he likes variety!

Other podcasts referenced in this podcast: Donny Shimamoto, CPA – Tech, BI, AI and Public Speaking!

To listen in on this interview with Steve Palomino, please use the player below:

In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast, Neha Patel, CPA, CISA shares not only how she made partner at Weaver, but how she has led the Women’s Initiative for the entire firm that has (along with the Culture Committee) created a culture that thinks and speaks candidly about ways to create an amazing workplace.

Versatility and Transferability

Neha’s background includes technology audit. Being an Austin Longhorn (University of Texas graduate), the trend at the time was MIS. Neha pursued this as her minor, and she became a rarity because she was an accounting major with a technology background.

Neha is a firm advocate in sharing with others the versatility that comes with a degree in Accounting because of the incredibly transferable skills that accompany it.  Her diverse background allowed her to join Weaver as a manager, which is unusual given that Weaver generally grows their management team from within. She has been with Weaver now for almost a decade.

Traits of Supportive Teams

One of the many things that Neha enjoys about her work at Weaver is the opportunity to work within a supportive culture. Neha has noted that a supportive team begins with you and your ability to accurately know yourself. You must know what you need to be to perform at your best. This also includes recognizing when you are stressed and how to diffuse your own stress effectively.

Supportive teams include intuitive, curious, and transparent leaders who know how to lead conversations, even when they are sensitive or require courage on one or both parties to openly share information. As a leader, surround yourself with the right people and make sure it is a diverse group.

A supportive leader can help to establish a transition plan when work and other items may require a longer, or even an indefinite, transition. Naturally transitioning assignments is most effective when the other team members can pick up work from each other, as needed, and then effectively transfer work back also as needed.

Women’s Initiative

Another role that Neha fills at Weaver is the Chair of the Inspire Program. Weaver noticed about five or six years ago that women start leaving accounting around the manager ranks, and Weaver wanted to learn more about what they could do to retain women. After all, women enter the field at a 50/50 ratio with men. This was very important to Weaver’s culture as well as the profession in general. Make sure to check out the Weaver Inspire video out to learn more! It is fascinating, and as the name indicates, truly inspiring!

Other podcasts referenced in this podcast: Sarah Elliott, CPA, ACC – Daring to Dream

To listen in on this interview with Neha Patel, please use the player below:

In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast,  Donny Shimamoto, CPA, CITP, CGMA shares his career journey, which is unique as it has been heavily focused on technology and business intelligence. Additionally, Donny also reveals what his life is like as a business owner, consultant, and public speaker!

Formal Education

Donny’s track in college was influenced by one of his early supervisors in an internship opportunity. That individual had a double major in Accounting & Management Information Systems and encouraged Donny to look into a similar path.  After college, his first job was with Coopers & Lybrand and the double major paid off in that he worked in a dual track handling jobs in both financial and information technology audit. If after listening to this podcast you find Donny’s career path interesting, consider Donny’s advice… take an accounting information systems course, a database course, and one basic programming course.

A Glimpse Inside of Donny’s World

Donny spends his days removing obstacles for his clients and team, and working to understand his client’s goals for their businesses. This breaks down into a few primary tasks:

Facilitating discovery meetings

Reviewing documents for his clients and his own enterprise

Educating and teaching

Traveling to consult with clients – about 75% of the time!

The Role of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fantastic! When you break it down it is basically automation compiled with a little bit of learning. It is a great analysis tool and pattern detection system. But at the end of the day, you still need an accountant to create the action plan.

Find out more about Donny Shimamoto & his business Intraprise Techknowlogies here: http://www.intraprise.us/

Other podcasts referenced in this podcast: Interview with Sheila Enriquez, JD, CPA, CFF

To listen in on this interview with Donny Shimamoto, please use the player below:

In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast, we speak with Danielle Supkis Cheek , CPA, CFE, CVA. Danielle has been recognized by CPA Practice Advisor on their 40 Under 40 list for four consecutive years, has been the recipient of the AICPA Outstanding Young CPA Award, and was also named twice as one of the Most Powerful Women In Accounting by CPA Practice Advisor.

This podcast is jam-packed with exceptional information including the following:

Risk Management for Firm Owners

When you own a firm, it is prudent to have a practice continuation plan so that your team and their families can still thrive should something happen to you as the owner. Many firms can make “handshake deals” with like firms. If you are unable to find a like firm, you may need to look to a larger firm to step in if it is ever needed. No matter which way you go, make sure that you have a plan in place.

Accounting is for the Cool Kids

Some people think of accounting as dull, but not Danielle! She finds it exciting, which is why she teaches part-time at Rice University. Danielle really enjoys teaching a variety of classes and sharing with students the cool stuff you can do in accounting. She shares with students the emerging technologies and show them how exciting accounting can be. (Not to mention it has a great deal of job security mixed in!)

Entrepreneurial Accelerators

Danielle has taught in four accelerators in Houston, which is becoming a huge start-up community. In Houston, these accelerator programs are usually run through the Universities and the Texas Medical Center. Accounting knowledge is needed with many of these start-up technology companies.

To listen in on this interview with Danielle Supkis Cheek, please use the player below: