The Top 3 Lessons from The Big 4 Transparency Podcast

Listening to podcasts and interviews is a little bit like panning for gold. Episodes are 30 minutes long and you’ll usually get a few key takeaways, but it’s a time consuming process. Well in case you haven’t heard, a few months back I launched The Big 4 Transparency podcast, and I’ve found there to be quite a few golden nuggets to take away. I’ve compiled some key learnings from the podcast for you.

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Lesson 1: There is way more variety in firms out there than you think. If you think accounting is not for you, you may just have not found the right fit yet.

In this takeaway, I’m talking both about the specializations of firms and the types of cultures you can sign yourself up for.

In terms of specializations, some firms like Tri-Merit focus on serving other firms and handle R&D and ERC tax credits for their clients - choosing to work somewhere like that would allow you to dig deeply into technical areas and eliminate the need for traditional client relationships.

Another example is CMH Advisors, where they offer both accounting and wealth advisory services. Opting for a firm with a split of services like this could allow you to explore wealth management while having a more holistic approach to managing your clients’ affairs. You can get more variety in the services you offer.

From a culture perspective, some uniquenesses I’ve seen have been in Brandon Hall’s firm where staff of all levels are truly empowered to take on business development activities from a really early point in their careers. Many of them have built significant social media followings they’ll be able to benefit from for the rest of their careers.

Finally, Roman Villard’s firm, Full Send Finance takes a different approach to branding. They align themselves with the branding of extreme sports, younger demographics, and distance themselves from the kind of old dusty image people have of accounting firms. This means they end up working with a totally different set of clients than the typical firm.

Lesson 2: Work-life balance does exist in public accounting

In an interview with Scotty Scarano, he shared how he currently only spends a few hours a week maintaining the firm he built. Sure he put in the hours in the early years, but eventually he implemented systems and processes where he could mostly remove himself from firm operations. I found this particularly interesting because the upside that is often discussed in public accounting is the prospect of incredibly high earning potential as a partner - but for many, the lifestyle is simply not appealing. You should know that other avenues exist.

Logan Graf also shared a detailed breakdown of his hours with his very early accounting firm and how he manages to continue growing his practice without doubling down on hours. He achieves it mainly through pricing and is beginning to scale up with hired help while keeping his hours reasonable.

Promoting a greater work-life balance for staff was a common thread with the firm owners I interviewed. If you’re considering leaving public accounting following a bad firm experience, just know that there are great options out there - small and medium firms with owners who chose to start their firms to do things differently.

Lesson 3: Starting your own firm might be far more achievable, and far more lucrative than you think

Most firm owners I interview have shared their origin stories and where they are now - after chatting with so many of them, I’ve realized it is more attainable and often requires less of a leap than I initially thought.

Brandon Hall started off by answering tax questions on internet forums and built up a following who really trusted and valued his advice. He eventually parlayed that into his own firm which is now doing nearly $10M in annual revenue.

Scotty Scarano got a ton of business through directories from rapidly growing software providers like Gusto and Xero. His firm is doing roughly $2M in annual revenue.

Logan Graf and Jaimie Nichols have gotten large amounts of business through Twitter and referrals from other firms who find themselves short staffed and at capacity. Logan has shared that in his 3rd year of firm operations his firm profits are over $200,000 annually.

The newsletter referral contest for busy season is over, congrats to Phoebe on the new Casio calculator watch! But the referral program absolutely lives on, and with just a few referrals I’ll spot you a few coffees to fuel your work!

I will continue to share lessons learned from the podcast every few months, but if you are interested in learning more about the discussions being had at senior levels in firms, career advice, and the stories of people who have had amazing and successful careers in the industry, I hope you give the podcast a listen. There are currently 13 episodes live and new episodes being released weekly. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have the caliber of guests I’ve had on so far and have some great interviews lined up that I can’t wait to share.