This week, Yuri is joined by John Fenton – AKA “The CEO Sensei”.

Following a successful 30+Year career as a Managing Partner and CPA in one of the world’s largest accounting and consulting firms, John launched his business in 2013 in executive coaching and consulting to help busy executives be the best leaders they can be.

John sits down with Yuri to talk about the pitfalls of the corporate world and how consistently it will try to bleed into your personal and family life. Additionally, they focus in on how John ‘climbed’ his way to the top and what he learned from a leadership perspective, as well as a peer-to-peer POV.

And as always on The Fun CPA, Yuri explores the accounting world with John to see where it’s failing, and most importantly: where it can be improved and made better.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Introduction

0:36 - Episode beginning

1:04 - Introduction to John and his background

3:40 - The challenges John faced ‘climbing up’

6:47 -“What was the hardest level for you?”

9:02 - Advice for those who get a big promotion?

18:35 - Then vs. now

20:45 - Coaching the generational gap

32:34 - Mixing public accounting and family

40:14 - Episode wrap-up

ABOUT HOST YURI KAPILOVICH

Yuri, aka #thefuncpa, has been in the accounting profession for over 15 years and has seen, first hand, the challenges the profession brings. After seeing that no firm was fitting the bill, Yuri set out to do things his own way with his firm K&A and the journey began with LinkedIn posting at the front end.

Yuri is proud to bring you #thefuncpa podcast highlighting the fun and all the amazing opportunities our profession can bring us all.

Recently, Yuri also launched Mentors Count a community for accountants struggling to find true mentorship in the profession. With tax technical and soft skills we cover it all!

CONNECT WITH YURI KAPILOVICH

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykapilovich/

Website: https://www.thefuncpa.co/

CONNECT WITH JOHN FENTON

Website: https://www.johnjfenton.com/aboutjohn

Welcome back to yet another episode of.. The Fun CPA!

This week, Yuri invites Daniel Steinberg – speaking, communications, marketing extraordinaire and Rabbi..

Daniel combines his comedic and religious background to create an approach that is uniquely him, which is to say, authentic and attention-grabbing.

Daniel joins Yuri to discuss his unusual journey from funny man, to marketer, to Rabbi and how that has informed his current business and outlook on communication. Daniel shares the basics to storytelling, shares some of his biggest flops, drops some tips on self-assessement and much more!

Episode Highlights:
0:00 - Teaser
0:37 - Episode beginning and intro to Daniel
6:15 - Daniel’s time with SNL, what drew him to comedy
12:56 - “How do you recover from a flop?”
16:23 - Public speaking deep dive
23:11 - Storytelling, advice to be a better communicator
27:24 - Self-assessment
32:30 - Authenticity
37:48 - Present day, Daniel’s business, public speaking
47:51 - Episode wrap-up

ABOUT HOST YURI KAPILOVICH

Yuri, aka #thefuncpa, has been in the accounting profession for over 15 years and has seen, first hand, the challenges the profession brings. After seeing that no firm was fitting the bill, Yuri set out to do things his own way with his firm K&A and the journey began with LinkedIn posting at the front end.

Yuri is proud to bring you #thefuncpa podcast highlighting the fun and all the amazing opportunities our profession can bring us all.

Recently, Yuri also launched Mentors Count a community for accountants struggling to find true mentorship in the profession. With tax technical and soft skills we cover it all!

CONNECT WITH YURI KAPILOVICH

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykapilovich/
Website: https://www.thefuncpa.co/

CONNECT WITH DANIEL STEINBERG
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/therealdanielsteinberg/
Website: https://maggidmethod.com/

This week on The Fun CPA, Yuri is joined by Nate Sosa, CPA, MST, Manager of the National Tax Department and Audit Defense Division at Hall CPA – for a deep dive into the “BBB” (a.k.a. the Big Beautiful Bill).

Nate brings his trademark clarity and technical depth as they unpack what this new bill brings to the table for high income earners, home owners, business owners, those in real estate and more.

They also cover some of what’s changing and staying the same with the bill and what you (the tax pro) can do to better serve clients or a business owner trying to navigate the latest policy changes.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Teaser
1:06 - Episode beginning and intro to Nate
4:21 - What’s changed?
6:01 - State and property tax changes (explained)
11:07 - What’s stayed the same
12:36 - Depreciation and the real estate space
17:45 - Tax rates in general
22:22 - If you’re tax planning…
27:09 - Episode wrap-up

ABOUT HOST YURI KAPILOVICH

Yuri, aka #thefuncpa, has been in the accounting profession for over 15 years and has seen, first hand, the challenges the profession brings. After seeing that no firm was fitting the bill, Yuri set out to do things his own way with his firm K&A and the journey began with LinkedIn posting at the front end.

Yuri is proud to bring you #thefuncpa podcast highlighting the fun and all the amazing opportunities our profession can bring us all.

Recently, Yuri also launched Mentors Count a community for accountants struggling to find true mentorship in the profession. With tax technical and soft skills we cover it all!

CONNECT WITH YURI KAPILOVICH

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykapilovich/
Website: https://www.thefuncpa.co/

Mentors Count: https://mentorscount.com/

CONNECT WITH NATE SOSA
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathansosacpa/
Website: https://www.therealestatecpa.com/

Welcome back to yet another episode of.. The Fun CPA!

This week, Yuri is joined by Dominic Piscopo the founder of Big4Transparency.com, a widely used resource for salary transparency in the accounting industry, reaching nearly 250,000 accounting professionals. This data source was developed by Dominic himself, and helps professionals across the industry navigate the job market, pick the right employer and get paid what they’re worth.

Dominic joins Yuri to share what drove him to create such a game-changing tool – and why he felt the need to create more clarity in an industry that is notorious for being slippery on the details of compensation.

Dominic also covers his time as an entrepreneur, the challenges (and benefits) he’s
experienced and the secret sauce behind his slightly unusual, yet potent marketing strategy.

Episode Highlights:
0:00 - Teaser
0:41 - Intro to Dom
2:43 - Dom’s early journey with firms
8:05 - Working on exciting projects
9:55 - The main driver behind going private
12:23 - “Jumping” firms and how it relates to your salary
17:10 - Dom’s take on people “jumping ship”
21:07 - Asking for a raise
27:37 - How Dom is helping increase pay clarity
34:27 - Being an entrepreneur full time
38:14 - Social media
45:41 - Episode wrap-up

ABOUT HOST YURI KAPILOVICH

Yuri, aka #thefuncpa, has been in the accounting profession for over 15 years and has seen, first hand, the challenges the profession brings. After seeing that no firm was fitting the bill, Yuri set out to do things his own way with his firm K&A and the journey began with LinkedIn posting at the front end.

Yuri is proud to bring you #thefuncpa podcast highlighting the fun and all the amazing opportunities our profession can bring us all.

Recently, Yuri also launched Mentors Count a community for accountants struggling to find true mentorship in the profession. With tax technical and soft skills we cover it all!

CONNECT WITH YURI KAPILOVICH

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykapilovich/
Website: https://www.thefuncpa.co/

Mentors Count: https://mentorscount.com/

CONNECT WITH
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dopiscopo/
Website: Big4Transparency.com

Welcome back to yet another episode of.. The Fun CPA!

This week, Yuri is joined by Jonathan Kern. Professor Kern is an instructor at the University of Oklahoma and is single handedly bringing enjoyment and passion to the next generation of accountants.

With the pipeline issue being so prevalent in the industry, it’s important to understand where students are coming from and what we – as professionals – can do to not only entice more to join, but also make sure that those that do are happy with their career choice.

This episode strikes at the very core of that issue, and Professor Kern is on the front lines. Not only does he share his experience in the classroom and what he is seeing with his students, he also describes how he is bringing life to a subject and profession that is historically pretty dry.

Additionally, Jonathan shares his journey and why he got involved in academia in the first place, his view on the industry as a whole, what we can do better and much more!

Episode Highlights:
0:00 - Intro
1:09 - Introduction to Jonathan Kern
4:32 - Jonathan’s experience with a firm
8:14 - “What got you into academia?”
11:42 - How do we make accounting fun?
14:23 - Instilling trust and inspiring the next generation
20:04 - The issue with starting salaries
23:16 - Jonathan’s favorite accounting jingle and breaking down concepts
31:13 - Education and accounting’s pipeline
37:35 - Jonathan’s advice to who’s hesitating on studying accounting
40:18 - Advice to those who feel lost in the profession
46:29 - Episode wrap-up

ABOUT HOST YURI KAPILOVICH
Yuri, aka #thefuncpa, has been in the accounting profession for over 15 years and has seen, first hand, the challenges the profession brings. After seeing that no firm was fitting the bill, Yuri set out to do things his own way with his firm K&A and the journey began with LinkedIn posting at the front end.

Yuri is proud to bring you #thefuncpa podcast highlighting the fun and all the amazing opportunities our profession can bring us all.

CONNECT WITH YURI KAPILOVICH
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykapilovich/
Website: https://www.thefuncpa.co/

CONNECT WITH JONATHAN KERN
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan--kern/
Email: jkern@ou.edu

Welcome back to The Fun CPA Podcast! This week, host Yuri Kapilovich is joined by Scotty Scarano!

Scotty’s journey is nothing shy of incredible from buying out a franchise firm to growing it to over $1M in revenue to fully stepping out of the day-to-day to become an accounting Rapper (That’s right! OKR himself)

After performing at countless accounting conferences and experiencing some of the highest highs, Scotty realized that all the fame and glory meant nothing if he wasn’t spending time with what truly mattered – his family.

The name of the episode is Life’s Chapters because as Scotty went from being an accounting firm owner named Scott, to being Scotty to being OKR, we dive down to what is next and what this journey entails.

This episode is truly one for the books and I am incredibly thankful and blessed to be able to bring you this value-packed episode!

ABOUT HOST YURI KAPILOVICH

Yuri, aka #thefuncpa, has been in the accounting profession for over 15 years and has seen, first hand, the challenges the profession brings. After seeing that no firm was fitting the bill, Yuri set out to do things his own way with his firm K&A and the journey began with LinkedIn posting at the front end.

Yuri is proud to bring you #thefuncpa podcast highlighting the fun and all the amazing opportunities our profession can bring us all.

CONNECT WITH YURI KAPILOVICH

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykapilovich/

Website: https://www.thefuncpa.co/

CONNECT WITH SCOTTY SCARANO

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottscarano/

Welcome back to The Fun CPA Podcast! This week, host Yuri Kapilovich is joined by Tim Petrey!

Tim is the CEO of HD Growth Partners and White Glove Payroll, where he leads with a mission to redefine the accounting industry through empathy, innovation, and community impact.

Starting his journey at HD Growth Partners (formerly HD Davis CPAs) in 2008, Tim took the helm as Managing Partner at just 25 years old. Under his leadership, the firm expanded from a small team to over 70 employees, earning accolades such as Accounting Today's #1 Firm in the Country for Women in 2021 and Karbon’s Breakthrough Firm of the Year in 2024.

In this episode, Tim shares his journey from humble beginnings to leading a transformative firm, offering valuable lessons on leadership, innovation, and the importance of putting people first in business – as well as more technical topics like his experience with merging and what to look for in a partner.

Episode Highlights:
0:00 - Teaser
1:21 - Episode beginning
2:37 - Intro to Tim Petrey
5:58 - How Tim got started
7:17 - Transitioning to running a firm
11:22 - Diving deeper into when Tim took over the firm
14:57 - Making changes right away, scaling
23:30 - Adding partners, growth and the income split
26:58 - Tim’s secret, “merging up”
33:55 - How do you find the right partner?
41:45 - Steps you can take to get your time back
47:14 - At what point should you hire someone?
51:20 - Tim’s advice for the profession as a whole
54:20 - Episode wrap-up

ABOUT HOST YURI KAPILOVICH

Yuri, aka #thefuncpa, has been in the accounting profession for over 15 years and has seen, first hand, the challenges the profession brings. After seeing that no firm was fitting the bill, Yuri set out to do things his own way with his firm K&A and the journey began with LinkedIn posting at the front end.

Yuri is proud to bring you #thefuncpa podcast highlighting the fun and all the amazing opportunities our profession can bring us all.

CONNECT WITH YURI KAPILOVICH
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykapilovich/
Website: https://www.thefuncpa.co/
CONNECT WITH TIM PETREY
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petreycpa/
Website: https://hdgrowthpartners.com/tim-petrey/

Welcome back to The Fun CPA Podcast! This week, host Yuri Kapilovich is joined by two guests – Tom Zehentner, Director of Growth and Product at FinOptimal and the founder of FinOptimal, Jesse Rubenfeld!

Together, Jesse and Tom have a substantial level of insight and experience in the accounting field – specifically in developing software that make posting accruals, keeping up with monthly journal entries, and financial reporting easier than ever for founders, owners, executives and accountants alike.

The fellas join Yuri this week to discuss the future of accounting – more specifically, where automation, AI and apps in general are taking the space. From a business ownership POV, Jesse and Tom also share their views on addressing competition in software development, finding your ‘perfect fit’ and both of their approaches to the vital mixture of personality and brand.

For aspiring coders or those of you working on your own piece of tech, this is a great episode to get a sneak peek into just what it takes to create a successful product – as well as ways that you can disrupt the field at large and contend with tech skepticism.

Episode Highlights:
0:00 - Teaser
0:45 - Episode beginning and introduction to Jesse and Tom
3:59 - Jesse’s experience with LimeWire
7:02 - Tom’s interest in automation
9:31 - Tech skepticism and bad automation
17:13 - “How do you find your ideal client?”
21:40 - “Where do you see tech and accounting taking that next leap?”
27:24 - Deciding what to focus on and addressing the competition
33:52 - Trying out different areas of the profession
41:33 - Jesse’s approach to personality and brand
47:18 - Episode wrap-up, where you can find Tom and Jesse

ABOUT HOST YURI KAPILOVICH

Yuri, aka #thefuncpa, has been in the accounting profession for over 15 years and has seen, first hand, the challenges the profession brings. After seeing that no firm was fitting the bill, Yuri set out to do things his own way with his firm K&A and the journey began with LinkedIn posting at the front end.

Yuri is proud to bring you #thefuncpa podcast highlighting the fun and all the amazing opportunities our profession can bring us all.


CONNECT WITH YURI KAPILOVICH
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykapilovich/
Website: https://www.thefuncpa.co/

CONNECT WITH TOM ZEHENTER
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-zehentner-cpa-a0591b5b/
Website: https://www.finoptimal.com/

CONNECT WITH JESSE RUBENFELD
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesserubenfeld/
Website: https://www.finoptimal.com/