Life In Accounting - The Where Accountants Go Podcast

Shannon Badger, CPA and Jonathan Badger, CPA of Badger and Badger LLC, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast In this podcast, you will hear the story of two CPAs who ventured out to start their own unique practice. Some may find their path risky as they had two young children (and a third on the way), but the Badgers felt called to do so and that it was definitely the right decision for them. Listen in as Shannon and Jonathan share what went well and the lessons they learned in their first few years. Begin with Vision Shannon and Jonathan tell us that establishing your vision is key. They had a limited vision initially, and they feel like they paid a little bit for it later on. This vision (and financial need) caused them to accept pretty much any client; big clients, small clients, and in a huge variety of industries.  This course of action taught them the importance of honing in on their niche. It’s taken them about 3 years to do so, but they’ve been able to be

Sheila Enriquez JD, CPA, CFF, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast! Education and Early Career Sheila came to the US on a student visa with only $500. Her mentor at Mercy College suggested that she take some accounting courses, pursue a CPA, and work as a graduate assistant in their department.  This initial influence got her started on her journey into the accounting profession. She pursued her MBA and passed the CPA exam after earning a Master’s degree. Her first job in accounting was actually as a fractional CFO (!) with a consulting firm that provided accounting and risk management consulting. Law and Forensics Law was an interest of Sheila’s, and she did well on that part of the CPA exam as well. She began attending Roger Williams University in Rhode Island where she had received a scholarship. While working and attending law school, she found that doing both concurrently benefitted her pursuit of law knowledge. She decided on this route because she e

Sylvester ‘Sly’ Johnson, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. Career Growth After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree from Notre Dame University, Sly went into public accounting as a staff auditor for Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC), which gave him exposure to several industries.  He felt that the public accounting background would give him a good start to later transition into industry, which he did – but only after reaching the Senior Manager level with PwC. After several discussions about a few roles, PepsiCo offered Sly a corporate auditor role in Dallas on a two-to-three-year job rotation plan, which would allow him to learn more about other aspects of their industry. After this he accepted a finance manager role with the Food Systems, which eventually spun off and became Yum Brands. During this time, he became responsible for supply chain and he noticed that many of his peers had their MBAs and thus began pursuing his MBA as well. After completing his MBA

A panel of recently certified CPAs joined us this week for a special episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast to explore a variety of popular CPA examination review courses. Thinking of pursuing the CPA exam? You definitely will want to listen to the insights that our panel shares on several of the popular review programs available in the market. Meet the Panel Bryan Morgan, CPA with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Austin will be sharing his thoughts on the Becker CPA Review.  (Note: Make sure to check out Mark’s first interview with Bryan here: Where Accountants Go podcast archives.) Josefina Castillo, CPA will share her thoughts on the Wiley CPA review course. Michelle Herring, CPA, will share her thoughts on the Rogers CPA Review. Claude Nchanji, CPA, with USAA in San Antonio will share his thoughts on the GLEIM CPA Accounting Review program. Preparation As an added bonus, all of the panelists share their strategies on how best to prepare for the exam as well. Some of the items d

On this week’s Thanksgiving 2017 episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast, we take a moment to thank you and to reflect on a few of this year’s guests who instrumentally give back to the accounting community. Giving Back We are so blessed to have had amazing guests on our show, and this Thanksgiving we encourage you to revisit these five excellent podcasts featuring some amazing community leaders. 029 Bob McAdams: Becoming Managing Partner, Merging a Practice, & United Way!  Bob is a retired partner from BDO who is currently serving as Senior Vice President at the United Way of Bexar County.  Bob additionally has given much back to the profession itself through serving at the state level with both TSCPA and the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy. An excellent Thanksgiving-themed episode is episode 047 Lisa Trefger, CPA – Analytics Where All the Fun Happens. Lisa’s community involvement commitment includes 100 Women Who Care, Dress for Success, and the Women’s Energy Network. In

Belicia Cespedes, the youngest CPA ever, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. Doors and Windows Belicia was home-schooled her whole life. The goal of the education program was learning how to learn. Learning how to self-govern her education helped to prepare her for the CPA exam. After she graduated high school (at the age of 13!), Belicia began taking extra classes. She took a business class, which included some accounting – and she loved it! After taking a year off for fun (taking business classes, playing sports, and so on), Belicia attended Community College, participated in CLEP Testing, and took online classes to prepare for the CPA exam. She graduated from college at 16, and immediately began getting ready to sit. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to specialize in, but she knew the license would open plenty of doors – “and windows”. Tips for Passing the Exam Know your learning style. Belicia took tons of notes and used Wiley CPA Excel. It’s a very co

Carl Chilton, one of the founding partners of Long Chilton, LLC, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast From Accounting to Aviation Carl became interested in accounting as a college sophomore when he took an elementary accounting course. He found that he related to the course and thought it made sense. Carl’s intention was to continue to the next level course, but life – specifically World War II – got in the way. Carl joined the military, rising to the rank of Second Lieutenant and becoming a pilot. He was assigned to a bomber crew and deployed to Europe where he flew many missions. Upon his return, he returned to school and decided to re-take that elementary accounting course, and then take numerous other accounting courses. Back to Accounting After graduating, Carl began teaching at Brownsville Junior College (now Texas Southmost College). During this time, he attained his CPA. Bill Long reached out to Carl and asked Carl to do some part-time work for him.

Valerie Covey, County Commissioner for Williamson County, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast A Chance Conversation Covey shares how a conversation with a high school teacher helped to shape her decision to enter the field of accounting. She went to Schreiner College and enjoyed basketball immensely before transferring and graduating from the University of Texas in Austin. After graduating from the University of Texas and obtaining her CPA, Valerie’s first post-college job was in auditing with Ernst & Whinney (which later became Ernst & Young). Early Career and Life Path During the next six years, Valerie worked her way into a management position. Valerie and her husband Mark then started a family. Valerie stayed home to raise the kids, but kept her CPA license active during this period. The Covey family moved to Georgetown, and in 2003, Valerie took a part-time position with a CPA firm (which quickly turned into a full-time position) working for Tom and L

Ben Simiskey, CFP and CPA/PFS of PLS Advisory was our guest on this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. Where the fun is… As with most interviews, I asked Ben how he ended up pursuing accounting in the first place. His answer was a little different than we typically hear though. Ben started out as an electrical engineering major and it just didn’t seem like the right field for him. However, his college roommate was an accounting major and seemed to be getting many job interviews, along with being invited to several fun professional events. Accounting seemed to be more appealing based on what he was seeing, so he decided to change majors and go into accounting instead. Diversifying his experience Ben started out in a ‘typical’ accounting role – joining Deloitte in their Chicago office as an auditor. As his career progressed though, he realized he had an interest in financial planning. After leaving Deloitte and spending a few years with a consulting firm doing valuations and

Lisa M. Ong from PriceWaterhouseCooper’s Office of Diversity joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting, The Where Accountants Go podcast. Career and so much more We started this interview as we always do – discussing our guest’s career journey from the time they decided to become an accountant up to the present day. However, I got much more than I anticipated with Lisa. We get into some depth on diversity and how it is truly more than just numbers. Lisa recounts the story of how she initially was interested in accounting because it is “the language of business.” She enjoyed learning how businesses worked and therefore audit seemed like it would be a good fit. After interviewing with all of the Big 4 firms, she chose to accept the offer from PwC because she felt it matched her interests the best. Harness the power of wishing out loud Lisa attributes many of the opportunities that she has been fortunate to have to the practice of “wishing out loud”. You’ll need to listen to the audio interview to

Marshall Pitman, Professor at the University of Texas in San Antonio, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast Cold weather & a tough economy Marshall recounts how he got started in the teaching profession and how he made his way to Texas from Illinois where he initially attended college. Suffice it to say that desiring warmer weather, along with a touch economy at the time, as led to accounting students for a few decades now being influenced by Marshall for the better. In a nutshell, Marshall decided to pursue his advanced degrees due to a tough economy at the time, and then later after he was teaching at DePaul University for a while he thought it was becoming time for a warmer climate, which led to him moving to UTSA in South Texas. “What did you see in me” One of my favorite parts of this interview is when Marshall tells the story of a lunch he recently had with a previous student. At one point the former student asked him, “What did you see in me?”  You’ll

Paula Gold-Williams, a CPA and the CEO for CPS Energy, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. From accountant to CEO For those not in south Texas, in order for you to have some perspective on the interview CPS Energy is the electric utility that serves San Antonio and the surrounding area.  The annual budget for 2017 is in excess of $2½ billion.  So naturally, with a CPA being the CEO of such an important organization we had to request an interview. Paula started along a fairly traditional path.  She was influenced to try accounting by her bookkeeping teacher in high school – Mr. Ramirez.  From there she went through school and ended up starting in an audit position with Ernst & Whinney, or EY as it is known today.  Over the years through her diligent effort and by following the philosophy that saying “yes” to opportunities even when there is some ambiguity involved, she has worked her way through the ranks to controller, then CFO, and now CEO at CPS Energy

David Porter, CPA/CMA/CGMA is this week’s guest on Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast! “What’s the toughest major?” As you are going to hear from the audio interview, David has built his career by never shying away from a challenge. In fact, that willingness to accept a challenge started early in his career when deciding what to choose as a major in college. He asked his advisor what the toughest major was in the business school, and accounting was the response… so he chose accounting. Staying curious & helping organizations improve David’s career started along a common path, working at a CPA firm for a few years until moving out into industry. However, by staying curious, asking questions, and offering to help be a part of the solution, he was afforded opportunities to work in adjacent areas in roles such as the VP of Business Process at Cessna, VP Human Resources at Harland Clarke, and shorter-term positions as CFO and CEO at a few venture-capital backed organizations. “Hanging out the shi

Clay Rich, Director of SEC Reporting with the Match Group, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. Creating opportunities Clay started his career with EY working with their aerospace and defense clientele. However, one of the keys to his success comes out pretty early in our interview. That particular book of business wasn’t quite large enough to keep him busy 100% of the time, so he was able to make himself available for other engagements outside of that specialty as well. Saying “yes” to these additional engagements along the way helped Clay to broaden his experience. Making the best of a tough situation When he decided to look for his next opportunity he interviewed for several positions, one of which was a position involving SEC reporting in the oil & gas industry. Although he had little experience in either area, he was able to convince the hiring manager that he had enough related background to be able to figure out what he would need to learn, and that

Joey Tackett, partner with the Big 4 firm Deloitte in Houston, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. Humility & graciousness You will notice several times in this interview that Joey makes reference to his upbringing and how hard his parents worked to give him a good start in life. I mention it several times near the end of the podcast, but it is worth mentioning here as well… Joey is a very gracious and humble individual and it is apparent throughout the interview. He really does appreciate the opportunities that have been presented to him through his years with Deloitte. Path to Partner Joey’s path to partner started with an internship. He interned twice at Deloitte and decided to accept their offer for full-time employment. He spent 5 years in the New Orleans office, and then had the opportunity to join their national office in Connecticut. After a couple years in Connecticut, he returned to Houston and later was admitted as a partner in their audit practice. D

John Clamp, CPA and currently the CFO for Alamo Area Council of Governments, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. The logical career choice… John’s career has been extremely unique, having taken several 'less-traditional' paths… real estate, two terms on the city council, and even sales of aviation fuel!  However, it all started with a very logical career choice. Right at the beginning of the podcast John explains that his decision to pursue accounting was a very simple decision – he had a family and needed a secure living. Accounting was a smart choice. Opportunities in real estate John’s experience in real estate started with the fortuitous chance to work with Robert Callaway, a local real estate developer. Shortly afterwards he was able to get onboard as a real estate accountant at the largest private employer in San Antonio – USAA. After 13 years at USAA, he decided it was time to go out on his own and build a brokerage. City Council & politics We spen

Lisa Trefger, CPA and recently the Director of Business Analytics for Nustar, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. “Where all the fun happens” I invited Lisa on the show for several reasons, one of which was to discuss the field of business analytics in the accounting profession. I think the quote above from Lisa says it all… business analytics is a certainly a technical field, but also a very interesting field in that the numbers tell you a story of what the true drivers are for an organization. It’s a field that Lisa really enjoys and feels blessed to work in. Qualifications Although we discuss many aspects of Lisa’s career on the podcast naturally, I definitely wanted to get into how one may be able to prepare to move into analytics for those that may want to direct their career that way. According to Lisa there are obviously many good paths that can get you there, but a role where you get to see the ‘big picture’ such as in public accounting is very be

Bill Cotter, Special Agent In Charge with the Criminal Investigations division of the Internal Revenue Service, joined us for this week’s exciting episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. Opportunity Bill recounts the story of how he decided to apply with the IRS at the beginning of this episode. In a nutshell, the economy was somewhat tight at the time and a friend suggested that he try the IRS as a possibility. He was accepted into the 'Exam' division, but then quickly had the opportunity to move into criminal investigations. It’s been a whirlwind of variety since then. You’ll have to listen to the details, but it includes tours in Washington DC, New York, and Germany. Master Your Craft I asked Bill about his thoughts on what led to some of his success in moving up within the Service, and just like in most organizations, he credits it to putting in the effort to learn his job to the best of his ability and then coupling that with the effort needed to get the job done well. He also no

Dale Ross, CPA with Ross & Champion CPAs as well as Mayor of Georgetown, Texas, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. Recession proof career As with most interviews I started with how Dale decided to pursue accounting as a career in the first place. Dale recounts the story of how it actually was later in life that he started on his accounting degree – at about age 30. He was looking for a career field that was in high demand, where he could potentially be self-employed, and that was recession proof. He concluded that since tax filing was a necessity of life, he would become a CPA. Building a business It was always Ross’s goal to build a larger business than just a single-owner sole proprietorship, so early on in the 2nd year of his practice he acquired two different firms in order to quickly grow his client base. Ross & Champion currently sits at about 9 employees overall and focuses on the tax side of the business. If you have an interest in acquiring a practice

Debra Seefeld, CPA & Partner with Seefeld & Company in Houston, Texas, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast. 10 years into her career… Debra’s interview has an interesting start in that she worked in industry under a CPA for about 10 years before deciding to pursue her accounting degree. She had great respect for the individual she worked for and therefore became interested in becoming a CPA herself, which was a major investment of time given that she was about 30 years old and had already started her family. The Business of Accounting This term comes up several times throughout our interview. Debra has always been interested in the business of accounting itself, such as how firms operate and why they work the way they do internally. It was this interest that led her to accept a position out of college with a local firm over an offer that she had with one of the Big 4 accounting firms. The decision worked out well for her though. She stayed there for about