Here’s what you’re looking for: Liz Farr

CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Baker: Find True Purpose to End Burnout | The Disruptors

CPAs can help guide four types of client transformation – and break through their own listlessness.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Ron Baker has been pushing accountants to change how they think and how they operate their businesses for decades, starting more than 20 years ago by ditching the timesheet, and followed recently by adopting a subscription approach to services. Now that more than half of CAS firms have abandoned hourly billing, according to the latest CPA.com CAS benchmark survey, it’s time for accountants to move from providing services to guiding transformations.    

CPA TRENDLINES CELEBRATES:The 100th Episode of The Disruptors

MORE STREAMING: Brolin: The W.I.N. Leadership Formula | Gertrudes: How EOS & “Unreasonable Hospitality” Reshaped GrowthLab | Vilms: The Power of People in a Tech-Driven World | Dickerson: From Diagnosis to Disruption | Kapilovich: Treat People Like People | Martha Yasso: From Wall Street to Main Street | Jackie Meyer: Tax Plans in 90 Seconds? Believe It  | Erica Goode: Build a $200K Firm in 15hrs/Week | Randy Crabtree: Live at the Intersection of Passion & Skill |McClelland and Telka: Women Ready to Rewrite the Rules of Accounting | Jacob Schroeder: AI Won’t Replace Accountants—But It Will Reveal Who’s Replaceable | Ditching Corporate America: The Bold Story Behind PBS Accounting’s Rapid Rise | Jean Zick: Happy Team = Happy Clients | Breslin & Greathead: Be a Client Advocate | Dominic Piscopo: Clear Pay=Bargaining Power | Debbie Kilsheimer: Stop Thinking Small |

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Baker’s latest endeavor with co-founder Ed Kless, Threshold, aims to support accountants and other professionals in moving into the transformation economy. Threshold is a membership community where professionals can receive guidance, attend meetings and webinars, and learn from each other.  

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CLIENT ACCOUNTING SERVICES

Gertrudes: How EOS & “Unreasonable Hospitality” Reshaped GrowthLab | The Disruptors

Applying entrepreneurial principles and embracing a culture of extraordinary service, this finance firm is breaking the mold.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour 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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The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Dan Gertrudes doesn’t consider himself an accountant, though he admits, “I’m pretty good at it. I’ve taught it at Brown University.” After more than a decade working in finance in large corporations, Gertrudes began his journey as a firm owner via entrepreneurship through acquisition, or ETA, when he bought a firm in 2014 from a retiring owner.  

CPA TRENDLINES CELEBRATES:The 100th Episode of The Disruptors

MORE STREAMING: Vilms: The Power of People in a Tech-Driven World | Dickerson: From Diagnosis to Disruption | Kapilovich: Treat People Like People | Martha Yasso: From Wall Street to Main Street | Jackie Meyer: Tax Plans in 90 Seconds? Believe It  | Erica Goode: Build a $200K Firm in 15hrs/Week | Randy Crabtree: Live at the Intersection of Passion & Skill |McClelland and Telka: Women Ready to Rewrite the Rules of Accounting | Jacob Schroeder: AI Won’t Replace Accountants—But It Will Reveal Who’s Replaceable | Ditching Corporate America: The Bold Story Behind PBS Accounting’s Rapid Rise | Jean Zick: Happy Team = Happy Clients | Breslin & Greathead: Be a Client Advocate | Dominic Piscopo: Clear Pay=Bargaining Power | Debbie Kilsheimer: Stop Thinking Small |

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Gertrudes positions his firm, GrowthLab, as finance-as-a-service, which means his clients receive ongoing, highly scoped recurring work rather than project work. “We want to be an extension of your management team,” he explains. Besides traditional bookkeeping, his firm provides the full spectrum of financial services: accounting, FP&A, tax, CFO services, and HR. In addition, he is also building STRMS as an AI automation agency.  

In contrast to many legacy firms, Gertrudes operates his firm as a business. “They’re not businesses,” he says about traditional CPA firms. “There’s no engine… You need more than one engine to be a business.” 

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CLIENT ACCOUNTING SERVICES

Vilms: The Power of People in a Tech-Driven World | The Disruptors

Listening, translating, and meeting clients where they are is just as important as adopting the latest tech.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour 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

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Michelle Vilms has a perspective that most small business accountants don’t have: she had a front-row seat to the explosive growth of Staples as it grew from 100 stores to a $15 billion corporation. Today, she brings her mastery of operational accounting to her own firm, Vilms Consulting, and the small business clients with whom she works.  

CPA TRENDLINES CELEBRATES:The 100th Episode of The Disruptors

MORE STREAMING: Dickerson: From Diagnosis to Disruption |Kapilovich: Treat People Like People | Martha Yasso: From Wall Street to Main Street | Jackie Meyer: Tax Plans in 90 Seconds? Believe It  | Erica Goode: Build a $200K Firm in 15hrs/Week | Randy Crabtree: Live at the Intersection of Passion & Skill |McClelland and Telka: Women Ready to Rewrite the Rules of Accounting | Jacob Schroeder: AI Won’t Replace Accountants—But It Will Reveal Who’s Replaceable | Ditching Corporate America: The Bold Story Behind PBS Accounting’s Rapid Rise | Jean Zick: Happy Team = Happy Clients | Breslin & Greathead: Be a Client Advocate | Dominic Piscopo: Clear Pay=Bargaining Power | Debbie Kilsheimer: Stop Thinking Small |

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Vilms’ final position at Staples was director of Marketing and Finance, where she worked with the creative people who were putting together catalogs or ads. “They were numbers persons in their specialty, but they weren’t accounting numbers people,” she explains. “And so just learning to have empathy and explain it to them in the terms that they needed really brought me back to that corporate experience, is how I landed in operational accounting for our firm.” 

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INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Dickerson: From Diagnosis to Disruption | The Disruptors

Legacy firms may value tenure, but firms of the future prioritize impact, innovation, and client fit.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour 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

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

For most CPAs, the road to partner is long and narrow—often paved with decades of grueling hours and delayed ownership. But Aaron Dickerson, founder of Dickerson CPA in Austin, Texas, had no interest in waiting 20 years to earn a seat at the table.

CPA TRENDLINES CELEBRATES:The 100th Episode of The Disruptors

MORE STREAMING: Kapilovich: Treat People Like People | Martha Yasso: From Wall Street to Main Street | Jackie Meyer: Tax Plans in 90 Seconds? Believe It  | Erica Goode: Build a $200K Firm in 15hrs/Week | Randy Crabtree: Live at the Intersection of Passion & Skill |McClelland and Telka: Women Ready to Rewrite the Rules of Accounting | Jacob Schroeder: AI Won’t Replace Accountants—But It Will Reveal Who’s Replaceable | Ditching Corporate America: The Bold Story Behind PBS Accounting’s Rapid Rise | Jean Zick: Happy Team = Happy Clients | Breslin & Greathead: Be a Client Advocate | Dominic Piscopo: Clear Pay=Bargaining Power | Debbie Kilsheimer: Stop Thinking Small |

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“I saw partners who had been there for two decades and were still paying for their equity,” Dickerson recalls of his time at a legacy firm in Ohio. “It just didn’t make sense.

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INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Kapilovich: Treat People Like People | The Disruptors

Accounting must abandon toxic traditions, prioritize people over profits, and rebuild its mentoring culture—or risk losing the next generation entirely.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour 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

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS

 

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Yuri Kapilovich didn’t set out to become #TheFunCPA. It started as a casual hashtag when he shared photos from buses and bikes, but it stuck—especially after a networking event where attendees misread his booth sign and started calling him “The Funk PA.” The nickname became a brand, but it also reflects his deeper mission: bringing humanity and humor back to a profession that’s burning out its best talent.

CPA TRENDLINES CELEBRATES: The 100th Episode of The Disruptors

MORE STREAMING: Martha Yasso: From Wall Street to Main Street | Jackie Meyer: Tax Plans in 90 Seconds? Believe It  | Erica Goode: Build a $200K Firm in 15hrs/Week | Randy Crabtree: Live at the Intersection of Passion & Skill |McClelland and Telka: Women Ready to Rewrite the Rules of Accounting | Jacob Schroeder: AI Won’t Replace Accountants—But It Will Reveal Who’s Replaceable | Ditching Corporate America: The Bold Story Behind PBS Accounting’s Rapid Rise | Jean Zick: Happy Team = Happy Clients | Breslin & Greathead: Be a Client Advocate | Dominic Piscopo: Clear Pay=Bargaining Power | Debbie Kilsheimer: Stop Thinking Small |

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Kapilovich, founder of Kapilovich & Associates, believes the root of accounting’s talent shortage is simple: misplaced priorities. “We, as a profession—especially in the larger firms—have lost sight of the fact that the number one asset we have is our people,” he says. “It’s not the clients.”

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