Here’s what you’re looking for: Dominic Piscopo

CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Blake and Pryor: From a $550,000 Tax Bill to Near Zero | Big 4 Transparency

Integrated planning, not heroics, creates life-changing outcomes for clients.

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Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!
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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

What happens when you fuse a CPA firm with a wealth advisory under one roof and design the operations from a blank page? In this two-guest episode of the Big 4 Transparency, host Dominic Piscopo sits down with Owen Pryor and Steve Blake, managing and senior managing advisors at Evans May Advisory, the sister firm to Evans May Wealth Advisory. Their premise is simple and radical: serve the client with unreasonable hospitality, align wealth and tax strategy, and deliver family-office convenience to high-net-worth families and growing owner-operated businesses. 

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Pryor and Blake describe a system built on proactive data sharing (with client consents in place) so the firm, not the client, chases documents, coordinates advisors, and executes. The impact shows up in small, high-leverage wins (e-paying taxes and killing paper vouchers, physically banking clients’ mailed checks twice a week, fully recording receivables) and in headline outcomes (structuring a family-farm sale from an estimated $550,000 tax bill to near $0 through planning; spotting missed depreciation and back-catching via Form 3115; introducing lesser-known international strategies like ICDIS where relevant). The result is relief for clients and measurable ROI that converts conversations into scope. 

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CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Gallegos: HR1 Is Signed; the Advisory Clock Is Ticking | Big 4 Transparency

Break down the new law, the unanswered questions, and why waiting for certainty is a strategic mistake.

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Get free gits, exclusive access, and more! Get more! Go PRO! 
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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

What does it take to turn dense tax law into business wins? In this episode of the Big 4 Transparency, host Dominic Piscopo sits down with Mark Gallegos, tax partner at Porte Brown, to explore how a self-described “tax geek” became an eminence engine by teaching, writing, and speaking across the country while translating the new HR1 legislation into clear moves for clients. 

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Gallegos serves on the AICPA Strategic Tax Reform Advisory Group (“strike force”), where volunteer experts parse bills, surface practitioner pain points, and help shape the letters and asks that go to Treasury, IRS, and Capitol Hill. That inside track, pressure-testing interpretations with national peers, feeds his day job: delivering 50,000-foot explanations that prompt the most valuable question in professional services: “What should we do next?” 

Gallegos and Piscopo dive into HR1’s planning levers. 

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FEATURED VIDEO

Green: Why Clients Quit You | Big 4 Transparency

The number one complaint isn’t pricing. It’s confusion.

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Poe Group Advisors consistently excels in helping our clients find the right accounting practice sales opportunity.
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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

For many business owners, finding the right accountant feels like an impossible task. You’re trusting someone with your finances, your future, and sometimes even your peace of mind. But in an industry dominated by word-of-mouth and vague Google listings, Sam’s List has emerged as a game-changing alternative: a review-based directory for CPAs, bookkeepers, fractional CFOs, and financial advisors, designed to make trust and transparency easier for everyone. 

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In this episode of Big 4 Transparency, host Dominic Piscopo speaks with co-founder Kimi Green, who shares the wild story of how the viral idea from entrepreneur Sam Parr (of My First Million) turned into a thriving lead-generation platform – and how she found herself leading it with no prior experience in accounting. “I despised accounting,” Green laughs. “I didn’t even ask follow-up questions when someone told me they were a CPA.” 

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FEATURED VIDEO

Maksymiw: Kick the “Should” Out of Your Career | Big 4 Transparency

“Being efficient got me more work, not more money. So I left.” 

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by Poe Group Advisors: Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms. See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS
Poe Group Advisors consistently excels in helping our clients find the right accounting practice sales opportunity.
.

Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

When Mike Maksymiw first joined the Big 4 Transparency podcast, listeners were struck by his candor, clarity, and willingness to challenge the profession’s long-standing norms. Now, as host Dominic Piscopo welcomes him back as the show’s first repeat guest, Maksymiw brings even more insight—this time shaped by Aprio’s rapid growth, his own unconventional career path, and a message for accountants who feel stuck in roles that no longer fit.

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Maksymiw currently serves as executive director of the Aprio Firm Alliance, a national network of nearly 100 firms that share resources, expertise, and support across specialties and geographies. And—thanks to Aprio’s recent acquisition of the PS Plus Alliance from RSM—the Alliance has nearly doubled in size.

“It broadens how we can go find answers,” he explains. “Now there are a hundred people you can ask, and maybe fifty have done what you’re trying to do. Maybe there are seven different ways to make it work.”

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FEATURED VIDEO

Pinkus: Scaling a Remote Powerhouse | Big 4 Transparency

“We didn’t plan to build a 100-person firm. We just wanted to work for ourselves.” 

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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Is your firm truly ready for tax season—or just hoping to survive it? Join this 90-minute webinar featuring an Accounting ARC Live panel with thought leaders who know what it takes to optimize performance under pressure. 

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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

What does it take to build one of Canada’s fastest-growing cloud accounting firms? In this episode of the Big 4 Transparency, host Dominic Piscopo sits down with Mike Pinkus, co-founder of ConnectCPA and host of the Growth Tales podcast, to unpack the bootstrapped, contrarian story behind ConnectCPA’s rise to over 100 staff and a fully remote, recurring revenue model long before it was trendy. 

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Founded in 2014 by Pinkus and co-founder Lior Zehtser, ConnectCPA was born from a desire for more autonomy – both personally and professionally. “We just wanted to work for ourselves,” Pinkus says. “Everything else was a byproduct.” Yet within a few years, they found themselves leading a national, cloud-native firm with a deep bench of accounting, tax, and finance professionals serving scaling businesses across North America. READ MORE →

CLIENT ACCOUNTING SERVICES

Studley: Navigating the Adult Industry Accounting Niche | Big 4 Transparency

“You can write off lingerie?” Learn how one accountant built a judgment-free firm for the adult industry. 

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by Poe Group Advisors: Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms. See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS
Poe Group Advisors consistently excels in helping our clients find the right accounting practice sales opportunity.
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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

When Katherine Studley posted a short TikTok in 2021 with the line “Boobs aren’t a write-off,” she wasn’t trying to build a firm – she was trying to prove a point. Now, the founder of The Only Consultant and Prisma Tax is one of the most in-demand accountants for adult industry professionals across North America, having helped thousands of creators, dancers, and sex workers file taxes, get compliant, and navigate financial systems that too often shut them out. 

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In this episode of Big 4 Transparency, host Dominic Piscopo speaks with Studley about how she carved out one of the most unusual and underserved niches in accounting and scaled it to a fully remote, growing firm with a waitlist and a social following that fuels constant inbound interest. Studley’s journey started after leaving the CPA firm grind, working in coffee shops, and being recruited into a government intelligence role. But it was a viral conversation during the pandemic that unlocked a huge market: OnlyFans creators and exotic dancers who were suddenly earning six figures with no idea how to file taxes or whom to trust to help them. 

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PAY & COMPENSATION

The $100,000 H-1B Shock: What It Means for Accounting Talent

What changes, what doesn’t, for thousands of jobs in accounting.

In tax and audit in 2024, increases in salary bands were far from evenly distributed.

By Dominic Piscopo

I just consumed hours of H-1B visa content, so you don’t have to. Here are my findings.

Accounting isn’t the heaviest H-1B user (That’s IT & Tech.), but the profession still relies on international grads in audit, tax, advisory, and increasingly data and automation roles. In 2024, USCIS approved around 400k H-1Bs overall, with 2% to 3% of those in categories that could include accounting. So, while other industries are far more reliant on this program, there may still be thousands of roles in accounting. READ MORE →

FEATURED VIDEO

Goode: The $180K, 15-Hour Workweek | Big 4 Transparency

Ruthless efficiency, process-first thinking, and a bold rejection of traditional models help build her “life-first” firm.

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

On The Big 4 Transparency Podcast, host Dominic Piscopo sat down with Erica Goode, founder of a solo accounting practice that generated over $180,000 in profit in 2024, all while working just 15 hours a week. Her secret? Ruthless efficiency, process-first thinking, and a bold rejection of traditional scaling models. 

Goode’s path wasn’t planned. After leaving a corporate finance role to care for her two young kids, she took on one client with just two hours a week to spare.

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As her children’s school hours expanded, so did her firm – but never beyond her self-imposed 15-hour weekly cap. “My business grew as fast as my kids did,” she quipped. Every new client required a new process improvement, creating a flywheel of efficiency and discipline. 

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FEATURED VIDEO

Petrey: Ditch Old Models for Good | Big 4 Transparency

“You can’t ask people to act like partners and then treat them like employees.” 

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

In an industry marked by incremental change and cautious tradition, Tim Petrey, managing partner at HD Growth Partners, is going all-in on a radical reimagining of what an accounting firm can be. Speaking on the Big 4 Transparency Podcast, Petrey shares how his firm has abandoned the tired trappings of the old model – mandatory billable hours, rigid promotion timelines, and siloed service delivery – in favor of a more dynamic, entrepreneurial approach.

And he isn’t just talking about change, he’s living it. 

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The episode dives deep into how HD Growth Partners embraces a consulting-first approach, using accounting services as a wedge rather than a foundation. The firm encourages team members, even juniors, to build one-on-one relationships with clients. Petrey believes the best learning happens on the job, with mentorship layered into real-world client work. This, he argues, is what keeps staff engaged and clients loyal. 

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FEATURED VIDEO

Ruparel: Boost Productivity by 3X | Big 4 Transparency

Equity pathways, training, and culture—not payouts—will determine which firms thrive in the PE era.

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Sponsored by “It’s NOT Just the Numbers: How to Move Beyond the Numbers and Deliver REAL Value for Your Clients.”
by Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead. See Today’s Special Offer

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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

Brace yourself: Revenue per employee is projected to grow 2.7 times over the next decade, while 87% of the workforce will have less than 10 years of experience by 2035.

That dual pressure, Nishaad Ruparel, president of private equity-backed Ascend, tells Dom Piscopo in today’s episode of Big4 Transparency, demands a rethinking of ownership, training, and culture across the profession. And it’s why the most progressive firms are not grabbing payouts—they’re betting on equity pathways, people-first strategy, and selective centralization to compete in the PE era.

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“These firms are looking at their clients and saying, ‘I’ve served this market for 50 years – how do I keep doing that in a way that’s synonymous with excellence?’” Ruparel explains. “Then they look at their people, at their deep bench, and ask how they can secure their future. And they realize: the cost of independence is rising fast.” 

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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

May: Build a CAS-Fueled Powerhouse | Big 4 Transparency

“CAS gets stronger as tech gets better. The market’s expanding, not shrinking.” 

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by “It’s NOT Just the Numbers: How to Move Beyond the Numbers and Deliver REAL Value for Your Clients.”
by Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead. See Today’s Special Offer

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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

In this episode of Big 4 Transparency, Matthew May, former co-founder of Acuity and now CAS Leader at Sorren, pulls back the curtain on one of the most significant private equity-driven rollups in the accounting profession. Speaking with host Dominic Piscopo, May details how Acuity, alongside other firms, became part of a growing national platform backed by DFW Capital, and why he believes Client Accounting Services (CAS) will soon eclipse audit. 

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The seeds of the Sorren platform were planted in a BDO Alliance roundtable where six firms fantasized about joining forces. That vision crystallized when DFW Capital, with a thesis to invest $100M in the space, entered the picture. From there, May and his partners at Acuity ran a rigorous process, engaging investment bankers to evaluate 250 potential paths, leading to 11 indications of interest (IOIs), seven in-person meetings, and five formal offers. The decision to join Sorren wasn’t about cashing out – it was about autonomy, cultural fit, and the chance to help shape a future-focused firm from the ground up. 

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FEATURED VIDEO

Dillon: A Sustainable, No-Debt Path to Firm Expansion | Big 4 Transparency

Acquisition isn’t assimilation—it’s alignment.

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Sponsored by “It’s NOT Just the Numbers: How to Move Beyond the Numbers and Deliver REAL Value for Your Clients.”
by Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead. See Today’s Special Offer

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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

On the latest episode of The Big 4 Transparency Podcast, Marcus Dillon, founder and president of Dillon Business Advisors, offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the art of accounting firm acquisitions and what happens after the deal closes. Having completed 15 M&A transactions, Dillon has quietly built a hybrid growth model that blends strategic purchasing with equally strategic divestitures, helping him scale while staying lean and focused. 

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Dilon’s approach flips conventional acquisition thinking on its head. Rather than simply absorbing the full book of business, Dillon’s team audits each client against their firm’s service model and values, and often sells off the clients who don’t fit. “We apply the 80/20 rule early in the due diligence phase,” he explains. “Twenty percent of the clients typically generate 80 percent of the revenue, and the rest are often where the frustration lies.” That filtering strategy, he says, allows for faster onboarding, better client service, and less internal chaos

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FEATURED VIDEO

Longobardi: Governance, Growth, & the PE Playbook | Big 4 Transparency

“I had to learn to be a political animal.”

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by “It’s NOT Just the Numbers: How to Move Beyond the Numbers and Deliver REAL Value for Your Clients.”
by Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead. See Today’s Special Offer

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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

In a candid conversation on the Big 4 Transparency show, former CohnReznick CEO Frank Longobardi offers a sweeping view of the accounting industry’s transformation, advocating for private equity investment as a necessary catalyst for modernization. Speaking with host Dominic Piscopo, Longobardi explains how traditional partnership structures have often hindered strategic decision-making, especially in large firms where a board of ten or more can slow progress. “You’ve got people on the board at different ages, different objectives, and different disciplines,” he says. “A smaller circle with clear strategic goals allows partners to do what they do best: serve clients and lead people.” 

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Longobardi also highlights how the profession’s talent model is out of step with the expectations of today’s workforce.

“You hire a top student and tell them they’ll make partner in 16 years,” he notes. “Meanwhile, their friends in finance are seeing returns now—when they’re raising kids and buying houses.”

Private equity, Longobardi argues, can address this by offering earlier equity opportunities and aligning incentives across generations. “We need to make accounting a profession of choice again,” he says, pointing to declining enrollment in accounting programs and the deterrent of the fifth-year requirement for CPA licensure. 

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