Where Accountants Go - The Accounting Careers Podcast

Ann Margaret Johnston, a CPA in Georgia with a unique niche for her practice in professional poker players (!), joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

As with many guests, Ann Margaret was referred by a former guest of the show, and actually one of her former employers – Ben Loggins.  When Ben contacted us and asked if we wanted to interview the CPA for professional poker stars, we couldn’t refuse!

Even Ann Margaret’s early career was filled with ‘hussle’.  She’s worked hard to get to where she is today, and definitely took some risks along the way.  Ann Margaret originally got into accounting simply due to a job opportunity becoming available after she decided against pre-law as a major.  However, she quickly started to work on her accounting education over the next 9 years, going to school in the evenings.  After working at a few firms, and then unfortunately being caught in a layoff, she decided to start taking on clients of her own, and eventually parlayed that into a winning hand – her own accounting practice.

Along the way though, she recognized that there was an opportunity to combine her newly acquired love of poker with her career to form an exciting and much-needed niche: the niche of helping professional poker players handle their taxes.  And you will be able to tell quickly in this episode that it’s a specialty that she thoroughly enjoys.  A specialty is always a good idea, but when you thoroughly enjoy that specific arena yourself, it makes for a wonderful career choice.  Ann Margaret genuinely enjoys being able to help this very specific section of the marketplace.

If you enjoy this episode, please also check out:  Ben Loggins & CPAOnFire Josh Bauerle.

Also, to find Ann Margaret’s book, please click here.

To listen in on this episode with Ann Margaret Johnston, please use the player below.

Bill Von Fumetti, a CPA and the owner of Booming Bookkeeping Business, joined us for this special “2nd-career” edition of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

Had we not already decided to call these our “2nd career” series, we would probably have to do something different since accounting was Bill’s 4th or 5th career choice depending on how you count them!  Bill worked in many different areas before finally landing on accounting as his career of choice.  He started out in database development actually, then moved on into an entrepreneurial calendar production business, then to a role as a personal/business assistant, and then he even managed a gym!  All along the way though he realized the importance of understanding accounting and business, and that is ultimately what led him to decide that accounting would be an excellent way to settle down with a long-term fruitful career.

Fast forward to today and Bill operates his own practice, and also helps other accountants and bookkeepers attract the clients they want through his Booming Bookkeeping Business company.  If you want to learn more about that, please make sure to check them out online as well.  He’s definitely very passionate about our profession, and I’m sure he would have some valuable advice for anyone looking to build a similar accounting/bookkeeping career.

For other episodes you may enjoy, please check out:  Brannon Poe and Chris Hervochon

To listen in on this episode with Bill Von Fumetti, please use the player below.

Brian Henderson in the Austin area joined us for this “2nd career” edition of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers podcast.  This is one of our “second career” episodes meaning that the guest started in a different career first, and then migrated later on into accounting.  For Brian, it was professional baseball!

Brian’s boyhood dream was to play professional baseball, and unlike many though, he actually did get the opportunity to do so.  Although he was cut from his freshman team in high school, he continued to work at it, played college baseball, and eventually was able to get drafted to play professionally – which came with a signing bonus and two additional years of college scholarships for his post-baseball life.  Brian played for six to seven seasons, spending part of the time as a Durham Bull (reference the Kevin Costner movie), and was on a triple A team.

How does this relate to accounting though???  We will get to that now…

Many of the lessons Brian learned during his baseball days have served him well in accounting.  First was the lesson of persistence.  Had he not stuck it out in those early years, he never would have had the opportunity to play professionally later on.  This carried over to the determination he needed to return to school and finish his degree, hoping for a career that was a little easier from a physical standpoint.  Also, the people skills he developed during that time served him well for getting his first real accounting position… a position he basically got through networking.  And lastly, all kidding aside, he learned to “embrace the suck” (a quote from Brian), which definitely helped him through the time preparing for the CPA exam.  I think that’s something most of us will understand.  😊

This episode was a lot of fun to record.  I think you will really enjoy Brian’s story.

If you do enjoy this particular episode, make sure you check out:  Chris Hervochon and Geni Whitehouse

To listen in on this interview with Brian Henderson, please use the player below:

For this episode, we actually revisit an idea from a very recent guest – Chris Hervochon.

Due to very bad weather conditions in Texas, we got behind on recording episodes.  However, as luck would have it, there was a concept that Chris had shared in his recent episode with us that made for a good CareerTalk mini-episode.  It was great timing for sure!

In this mini-show, we talk about the value of ‘learning what good looks like’, or setting yourself up for opportunities that will do just that.  It was a very small portion of the previous show, but Chris mentioned it a couple times and I thought it was an important concept to delve deeper into in this additional broadcast.

We will return next week with another full episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast, but in the  meantime, please listen in on a few thoughts I had on this very important concept that Chris Hervochon shared:  learning what good looks like.

Have a great week!

Maxene Bardwell, a highly-accomplished professional in the field of Internal Audit from the Maryland area, joined us for this week’s episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers podcast.  If you have ever considered moving your own career in the direction of audit, or internal audit specifically, this episode will be extremely valuable for you.

Maxene’s career started in a role that she actually didn’t even realize was internal audit when she accepted it.  It was titled Risk Analyst, and was in the financial institution industry.  However, she quickly realized as she got into the job that it was an audit role at its core, and it ended up being a great career path for her.  After 24 years in the field now, she is the Associate Inspector General for a major water utility in the Northeast.

Another interesting facet of this episode is that we talk about the six, yes six (!), certifications that Maxene holds.  She became a CPA first, but then as she got deeper into the field of audit and as the field continued to adapt over the years, she continued to attain additional certifications that have helped her to continue to show excellence and capability across many aspects of the work.  Luckily, as we find out in this episode, much of the continuing education is cross-applicable.  😊

This episode truly has much value for anyone looking into audit as a possible career path.

If you enjoy this episode, please also listen in on these episodes as well:  Samantha Bowling and Amy Barrett

To listen to this interview with Maxene Bardwell, please use the player below:

Chris Hervochon, a CPA in South Carolina that has developed a niche business in the area of providing accounting services for marketing agencies and creatives, joined us this week for Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

In addition to having a thorough discussion of the benefits of having a specialty, we also talk for a while about Chris’ experience as a professional golfer for a short time right before beginning his accounting career.  Right as he was graduating, he decided to pursue his other passion for a while and see how that worked out.  Although he is happy that he gave the field of professional golfing a chance, it ended up being a little more difficult to make a living than he preferred, so he returned to his originally chosen major – Accounting.

We spend most of the second half of this interview discussing Chris’ accounting practice and the specialty he’s developed in a relatively short period of time.  It really is a worthwhile discussion to listen to for anyone considering striking out on their own at some point.  Niches truly do make sense, and Chris does a great job of verbalizing why.

For other episodes you may enjoy, please check out:  CPAonFire Josh Bauerle and Amanda Aguillard

To listen to this interview with Chris Hervochon, please use the player below:

Carl Peterson, the VP of Small Firm Interests with AICPA, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers podcast.  In this episode, we cover Carl’s not-quite-traditional start to his career, his many years of successfully running his own practice with his wife whom is also a CPA, and his eventual transition into the Small Firm Interests role at AICPA.  There definitely is much variety in this episode.

If you…

… then this episode will have value for you.

Carl’s interview is packed with great insight into what it means to work in a small firm, and what some of the unexpected advantages are.  In addition, he admittedly didn’t work as hard in his early college days as he should have, and therefore had to job hunt more than the typical accounting major.  However, there are great insights to be had from that part of the story as well.  You certainly will both enjoy and learn something from this particular interview.

If you do enjoy this interview, please also check out:  Josh Bauerle and Marcus Dillon

Also, for other career-related advice, please check out our book “49 Tips For A Successful Accounting Career” on Amazon.

To listen in on this interview with Carl Peterson, please use the player below.

In this special episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast, we pieced together five interviews with five distinguished accounting firm partners in order to bring you a special resource.

Our guests came from firms ranging in size from boutique, niche local firms, to multi-office firms, to a Big 4 firm as well.  The partners that generously donated their time for this endeavor were:

We discuss how to move up to partner, what they learned about being a partner that they didn’t realize before, who may not enjoy being a partner in an accounting firm, and other general insights into what being a partner in a CPA firm truly means.  This is sure to be one of our more timeless resources as far as our podcast goes.

This show is definitely longer than others, but that’s because there wasn’t really much we could cut.  All of the information the five partners shared was key to the overall purpose of the show.  We hope you both enjoy the show and get much value from the information they were willing to share.

If you do enjoy this particular episode, please also check out:  How To Pass The CPA Exam

To listen to this conglomerate show with five CPA firm partners, please use the player below:

Tasha Fox, a CPA that was recently recognized by CPA Practice Advisor on the list of Most Powerful Women in Accounting, joined us for this week’s episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

This was a first for our show in that we have never had an accounting executive from a Native American tribe on our program, so we took the opportunity to delve a little deeper into the actual accounting processes and structures in hopes of gaining a little bit of an understanding of accounting in a tribal organization.  Tasha was very generous with her time and explanations of how the tribe operates from an accounting standpoint, so you will not only enjoy hearing the interview, but you will get an education as well!  This really was a valuable interview from several standpoints.

If you enjoy this interview, make sure to also check out our conversation with:  Sarah Elliott and Kimberly Ellison-Taylor

To listen in on this interview with Tasha Fox from the Osage Nation, please use the player below:

Carolyn Smith, Senior Partner with C3 Financial Partners in Texas, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast.

Carolyn’s career started as many do… in public accounting.  And in fact, she spent the first 30 years of her career with the same accounting firm, minus a one-year detour into industry.  During that time, she developed expertise in helping business owners exit their businesses through a variety of scenarios.  However, one of the scenarios that sometimes happen particularly caused her to be emotionally attached to her work, the scenario of a business transfer due to a death.  After many years working through these transitions, Carolyn decided to try to get on the front-side of these tragedies by going into the field of planning around the insurance that is needed.  She got her life insurance license, and later on her CAP certification (Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy), and now helps family businesses plan for the possibility of the passing on of a key member of their team, as well as how to plan for giving that they may want to do from a legacy perspective.  This really is an interesting episode.

If you enjoy this episode, please also check out:  Harriet Helmle

To listen to this interview with Carolyn Smith, please use the player below: