Where Accountants Go - The Accounting Careers Podcast

Robert Nordlander, a former Senior Special Agent in the Criminal Investigations area of the Internal Revenue Service, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

In this episode, we discuss what originally drew Robert into law enforcement, how he ended up landing the position with the IRS, and some key cases he worked on during his tenure with the Service.  We also discuss the podcast he created last year (“Fraud Fighter Podcast”) and how he has learned so much about the commercial side of forensics through that very same effort.

If you are interested in forensic accounting, law enforcement, or even starting your own specialty consulting company of any kind, you will find value in this episode.  Robert was very generous and open in discussing his career.  You definitely will have many take-aways from this interview.

If you enjoy this episode, please also check out:  Bill Cotter , Felicia Farrar, and Fred Olivares

To listen in on this episode with Robert Nordlander, please use the player below:

For this week’s episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast, we have a short CareerTalk mini-episode for you covering an important concept specifically for those entering the job market.  Whether for a student internship, your first professional job, or even if you are simply looking for something new, the idea we cover in this show will be beneficial.

With the Covid shelter-in-place situation going on for over a year, it was easy to get into the habit of not getting out, and to being somewhat closed off from other professionals.  However, with many areas starting to open back up, it’s important to continue to build, or in some cases re-establish, those important professional relationships.

In this short episode, we talk about networking and the importance of it going forward.

(Disclaimer:  If you are in an area that has not opened up, it’s important to be cautious of course.  This episode is meant for those in geographical areas where professional association meetings and other business events are starting to become live / in-person activities again.)

To listen in on this episode, please use the player below:

Ryan Lazanis, the Founder of Future Firm and a previous guest on our show, re-joined us this week for a more in-depth discussion of how to build a modern accounting practice that is both scalable and something that fits the life you want to lead.

Ryan started his career in a typical staff accountant role like many of us do, and even tried both public accounting and industry like many of us as well.  However, after only a few years and while he was still in his 20’s, he decided to build his own accounting practice, but in a way that fit the lifestyle  he wanted to lead – something with more work/life balance than we generally picture in public accounting.

At about the 5 year mark, he had been approached so much about potentially selling his practice that he had to seriously consider that option.  After much soul-searching, he decided to go ahead and sell the firm and pursue another passion of his… helping other firm owners build a practice for themselves that fit their own specific dreams.

Future Firm, Ryan’s current endeavor, helps firm owners build and scale a modern firm that meets their financial needs, but doesn’t wear them out in the process.  He focuses on technology and subscription-based offerings in order to help the owners more easily manage their workload and thus their practice.

If you have any interest in building a firm, or if you have built a firm and would like it to be a little more lifestyle-friendly for you and your team, you will really enjoy this episode.

To find out more about Ryan’s offerings, please visit…

For other episodes you may enjoy, check out:  Ryan Lazanis interview #1 and Ron Baker

To listen in on this discussion with Ryan Lazanis, please use the player below:

Julio Gonzalez, the founder of Engineered Tax Services, joined us from Florida for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

We find our guests for the show from many sources, but in this case we just noticed some intriguing content online and decided to delve deeper and find out more.  Julio Gonzalez’ early career took him into the specialized tax field, and that opportunity and knowledge base eventually led to him starting his own specialty practice and building it into an organization of several hundred people.  Engineered Tax Services now helps accounting firms and their clients in the areas of cost segregation, R&D tax credits, energy credits, and much more.  In addition, the company also has other offerings focused on helping the CPA firms they work with improve various aspects of their own practices.

If building a niche specialty interests you, or simply building a complex organization over time is something you aspire to do, this episode will be of great value.  We were fortunate that Julio spent the time to record this.  I’m sure you will enjoy the episode.

For information on Julio’s company, visit Engineered Tax Services | Where Engineering & Accounting Come Together.

For other episodes you will enjoy, check out:  Brannon Poe and Chris Rosas

To listen in on this interview with Julio Gonzalez of Engineered Tax Services, please use the player below:

Amanda “Jo” Erven of Audit.Consulting.Education.,LLC, in the Denver area joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

Jo started her career in public accounting, but quickly moved into internal audit after only a short time.  She knew that she wanted to go deeper into helping one organization than typically possible in public accounting, so the internal audit route ended up being better for her.  And she did very well!  Over not too many years she found herself in the role of Internal Audit Director with a financial organization and enjoyed a tremendous amount of satisfaction by working to make internal audit more of a “crossing guard” function instead of a “bad cop” role (to use her own description).

Eventually though, Jo decided that she wanted to go broader and help even more organizations achieve the same value-added approach to internal audit, and that is when she formed her company.  The name of the company is “Audit.Consulting.Education.,LLC”, and she helps companies with their internal audit strategies, teaches continuing education and university courses, and also does a variety of consulting in the areas of risk and policy development.

Make sure you listen all the way to the end of this episode though.  Jo shares some valuable insights for younger accountants as well regarding how to tell if the organization you work for, or will work for, is a good fit for your own personal values.  That advice is sure to help you find better matches for yourself in your own personal career journey.

If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to also check out:  Kelly Richmond Pope and Kathy Kapka

To listen in on this episode with Amanda “Jo” Erven, please use the player below:

David Peters, a CPA in the Richmond, Virginia area, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers podcast.  David’s career is an excellent example of how when you start with a background in accounting, you can go almost any direction you would like, or even many if you prefer!

David was an unlikely accountant per se, in that he never had an interest in accounting early in life.  It wasn’t until he decided against his first choice of career paths (Theology), that his father suggested that he may excel in Accounting and that it was a solid choice for stability reasons.  Although he obviously continues to live out his faith in his life overall, as it turns out many of his strengths have fit well into building a very successful career in the accounting and finance realm.

Fast forward to today, and David does tax work, consulting, and financial advising work for his clients.  In addition, he teaches at both the university level and as a continuing education instructor for CPA Societies and a few for-profit CE providers.  He truly has a tremendous amount of variety in his career, and you can tell that he thoroughly enjoys it.

To find out more about David’s podcast “Accountable”, visit ‎Accountable on Apple Podcasts

Or for information on the educational courses offered through David’s company, visit Peters Professional Education

For other podcast you will enjoy, try… Tracie Miller-Nobles and Anjali Jariwali

To listen to this interview with David Peters, please use the player below:

Diane Yetter, the Founder of the Sales Tax Institute, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.  If you aspire to be the true subject matter expert in your field, whatever that may be, you will really enjoy this particular episode.

Diane’s specialization started much differently than you may imagine.  She didn’t start out to specialize in the sales tax area, but rather became very knowledgeable & skilled in it due to automation projects she participated in very early in her career.  Those projects involved improving systems around the accounting for sales tax, and consequently she became a true subject matter expert in a relatively short period of time.  During her work in the field, she also became involved in training teams on these items, and realized how much she enjoyed the training aspect.  It was because of that realization that she decided to strike out on her own and form the Sales Tax Institute in 1996, an organization that handles both training & implementations in the sales tax systems field.

For those that enjoy stories of building and re-building businesses, Diane’s story will be enjoyable for you as well.  She has made many changes back and forth over the years in her business, as most do, so there is tremendous learning value in that portion of the interview as well.  It’s a great story of building a business by seeing a need in the marketplace, and filling it.

For other episodes you may enjoy, check out:

For more information on Diane Yetter, visit any of the following links:

To listen in on this interview with Diane Yetter, please use the player below:

Stephen Westbrook, a CPA that has served a few non-profits as their CEO, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

Steve’s career started as many do.  He initially worked for a couple accounting firms, and then moved on to one of his audit clients.  In this case however, it was with a small non-profit that had recently lost their CFO.  Steve approached them about the opportunity because the purpose of the organization was a great match for his own interests, and suddenly he had his first opportunity in industry – at the CFO level!

Fast forward over a decade and a few other positions in both the non-profit and for-profit world, and he once again was presented with an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.  That opportunity was to be the Chief Executive Officer of a gospel rescue mission that served the homeless and hungry.  This was an area that Steve had always cared about, so it was a natural fit for him to move into this role.  Steve has been with ECM, or Erie City Mission, since 2016, and the organization has over 500 employees, operates both a men’s and women’s shelter, and distributes over 130,000 meals per year.  It’s a role that is fulfilling from both the career and personal standpoint.  And on top of it, he is able to serve additional organizations as a contract or fractional CFO on the side as his schedule permits.  He has the best of both worlds.

If you want to find out more about ECM, please visit Erie City Mission | Erie, PA.

Steve’s consulting company can be found at www.westbrookinnovative.com

For other episodes you may enjoy, check out 123: From the Commercial World to Local United Way CEO – Lyndon Herridge CPA | MGR Accounting Recruiters (mgrar.com) or 112: New Year Special – Revisiting Our Conversation With Harriet Helmle, CPA and Founder of SA Youth Literacy | MGR Accounting Recruiters (mgrar.com)

To listen in on this interview with Stephen Westbrook, please use the player below:

As a part of our “2nd-career accountant” series, Brian Goldbard in the Dallas, Texas, area joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

Brian enjoys a successful career in private equity accounting now, and has done very well in just a few years, but prior to that he spent 17 years in television production believe it or not!  In this continuation of our 2nd-career series, we delve into the different positions that Brian held, from cameraman to production manager, and how he ultimately made the decision to exit the field in hopes of finding something that better fit his long-term aspirations.

One very important step Brian took that you can’t miss is that he invested in himself.  Instead of simply looking for a new job, he decided to increase his skill set by going back to college and ultimately getting his accounting degree.  It wasn’t long after that when he completed his CPA as well, which has only helped to continue his success in the profession.  I admire that he not only took action, but made a long-term investment in himself… and much later in life than many.

If you enjoy this episode, please also check out:  Brian Henderson and Bill Fumetti

To listen to this episode with Brian Goldbard, please use the player below:

Gale Crosley, a CPA that has spent the majority of her career in sales, marketing, and product development, and now advises the nation’s top accounting firms on such issues, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

Gale’s career has definitely turned out differently than her original master plan, but as we discuss near the end of the interview, it’s turned out much better than she ever could have dreamed.

Gale started her career with the plan to become a partner in an accounting firm, as many young students do.  However, after spending just a few years in two of the national firms, she decided to look elsewhere to continue her career… perhaps in industry.  She ended up interviewing with IBM, but found that they had no accounting opportunities in their local office.  Their local office only had a sales team, and so they tried to recruit her for that.  Sales was never something Gale had thought about, so she quickly turned down the opportunity and continued to look.  It wasn’t until they came back several times trying to recruit her that she decided to give it a chance and signed on for a special new program IBM was launching.  That was the start of a 12 year period with IBM, and also the start of her real world education in sales, marketing, and product development.

After her experience with IBM, as well as a few technology start-ups, she decided that she definitely wanted to have her own business, but not necessarily in the same space (technology).  After much market research, and cross-referencing that with her strengths in sales and marketing, she landed on the specialty of consulting with accounting firms on their market strategies, and now serves some of the largest accounting firms around.

This episode is not only a story of business growth, but also of finding your natural talent and using that to shape a career.  Gale is definitely a subject matter expert in her field, and you can tell she thoroughly enjoys it as well.

For more information on Crosley Company, visit them at Home – Crosley and Company (crosleycompany.com)

For Gale’s book on CPA firm success, click here – Amazon.com: At the Crossroads: The Remarkable CPA Firm that Nearly Crashed, then Soared (0884918221111): CPA, Gale Crosley, Stover, Debbie: Books

Other episodes you may enjoy will include:  Ron Baker and Sarah Elliott

To listen in on this episode with Gale Crosley, please use the player below: