March 18, 2025 • 32 mins
Randy continues his focus on community in accounting with Yuri Kapilovich on Episode 203 of The Unique CPA. Also known as #TheFunCPA, Yuri shares his mission to redefine accounting, making it more dynamic and engaging through his social media content, networking events, and YouTube series. Discussing his journey of building a full-service accounting firm with a focus on work-life balance, Yuri explains how he maintains a limited work schedule while providing high-value services to his clients. Yuri’s continuing efforts to create unique and enjoyable networking events are just one of the many ways that he contributes to the accounting community.
Get the full show notes and more resources at TheUniqueCPA.com
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the uniqueCPA with your host Randy Crabtree.
Today we continue our series ofepisodes on the power of community in the accounting profession.
We'll explore how strong connectionslead to healthier, more fulfilled
professionals, and together create asupportive network that enriches everyone.
The Unique CPA is broughtto you by Tri-Merit, the specialty tax professionals.
(00:24):
Today our guest is Yuri Kapilovich.
Yuri, and I got it right.
I was concerned.
I wouldn't say the nameright, but Yuri Kapilovich.
Yuri AKA.
The fun CPA is on a mission to showcasethe exciting side of accounting,
proving, and I love this, proving thatthis profession is anything but boring.
Through his LinkedIn content NetworkingEvents podcast and YouTube series, Yuri is inspiring accountants to break from
(00:47):
the old school stereotypes and embracea more dynamic and engaging future.
This is pretty cool, and when he is notshaking things up in the industry, he's running a full service accounting firm.
Yuri, welcome to The Unique CPA a.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
That was a really good introduction andto be honest, I learned a little bit about myself on that one, so, so thanks.
(01:10):
Well, that's nice.
Yeah.
I, and you and I talked about this beforeyou and I, but I've been actually the
last few episodes asking Che PT to help mewrite intros and it does an amazing job.
Yeah.
I mean, that is you, inmy mind, that is you.
I assume you felt thatencapsulates what you do.
Yeah, yeah.
In my mind, that was me.
So I feel like it was, and it was likea nice twist to it, like, you know, really wor really well worded version.
(01:34):
So yeah, I'm into it.
Yeah,
I was actually, I was talking with Logang Graff about this yesterday 'cause he was on the show and he said the same thing.
He said, yeah, Che GPT, the one thingit does great is writing intros.
Yeah.
And I completely agree.
So now I just gave up my secretthat I don't write the intros myself other than I get it all.
But, but yeah, I did editit quite a bit actually.
(01:54):
So I'm gonna take credit for this.
Yes,
you should.
My friend chat helped, but that's it.
Alright, let's get into this.
You and I, what We've been incontact for a couple years now.
We've actually had a couple of falsestarts on recording this episode, so I'm glad we were able to get it in today.
We met in person, what wasit for the first time last?
May.
Yeah.
(02:14):
Is that the AccountingToday Firm growth form?
Yes.
Yep.
That was awesome.
And you got up and sang didn't you?
Or rap?
I did, I did.
That's right.
You were, I saw you, I saw youover there in the, in the crowd jamming out to my, to my song.
Yeah.
Well that's part of the whole fun CPA itis just getting, getting out there and having a good time, which is awesome.
And I'll give you credit for that.
'cause I've done the, I thinkkaraoke twice and there was a karaoke party, which was a lot of fun.
(02:41):
Yeah.
What song?
I'm trying to remember.
'cause the last time I did it waswith Scott Scarano and I think it was a Red Hot Chili Peppers song.
We were in Austin, Texas.
Cool.
And I'm a little concerned he has avideo of it, but the video's never surfaced, so that's a good thing.
So let's, let's get into this whole,the fun CPAI love that moniker.
(03:02):
Thank you.
That name you.
And so, where did this come from?
How did this come about?
Where the reputation, obviously you arefun and that is part of it, but you know.
Where did it come from and why do youthink it's needed in the profession?
Yeah.
You know, it's funny, everythingthat I do across, like literally
everything is unplanned, is randomand has no like goals to it, right?
(03:28):
It's kind of like just adjust as you go.
And the fun CPA is no different.
I started posting in September of2021 on LinkedIn and when I was
posting, I was posting, you know,well at first it was my bus thoughts.
So I was on a bus literallydriving to the city for an hour.
Yeah.
And in the morning I was just keepingmyself entertained and like, and I was just posting the things that I did
(03:49):
not like about the profession, tryingto give people staff some hope and trying to give 'em some guidance for,
you know, one of the things I used topost about is, you know, how to, for
example, how to look good to managers,how to do that feedback request.
How about those kind.
Struggled with my career.
So that was bus thoughtsas the posting evolved.
(04:11):
Eventually one day I just started ridingthe fun CPA, like while I was riding my bike or while I was doing this.
It was just something random.
The fun cpa.
The fun cpa, and then the, the ahamoment to it was probably, it was September, 2022, and I decided to
reach out to these people that dothese high-end like rich people toys.
(04:33):
A conference or event.
And basically it was a two day event inan airport where they had private jets,
private helicopters, a bunch of differentstuff like private flying lessons.
Uh uh, it was obviously aroundaviation a lot, but I just reached out to the organizer.
I said, Hey, would youguys have like a CPA there?
Because that weird, you know, andthey were like, never had that
(04:54):
before, but we're gonna give youa discount on the booth price.
500 bucks.
I was mind blown.
Yeah.
Like, okay, 500 bucks.
I don't care.
I wasn't really making that much moneyat the time, but I was like, I'll spend it 'cause it's cool and different.
And I had a sign made, like it went allin on the fun CPA thing and I made a sign.
And the aha moment was whenpeople walk by, look at the sign and go, is it the funk?
(05:19):
What?
What does that say?
Because it literally does not translate.
Like nobody can even process the fund.
CPA exists.
So that's when I knew, I was like, thisis if you questioning something and so.
Events and all this other stuff,YouTube and all this other stuff that kind of just generate outta that.
(05:39):
But it was by no means planned.
And to this day, I don't know what I'mdoing with it other than consistently trying to show that you can have fun.
Well, I, I can vouch for that and Ihave no problem with this not having a game plan going into anything.
'cause with the, the podcast, I don'tnormally, but we do send a pre-interview,
a sheet out and, and your responseto what you wanna talk about was.
(06:00):
No specific topic, opento a freeform chat.
So I guess that kind of ties in withwhat you were just saying there.
So
I'm consistent on all fronts.
Randy, I, I, I, I have nothing,you know, I, I like to just chat.
Yep.
Right?
Agree.
Have a good time.
And I feel like a lot of times, likeif you have a specific thing you wanna talk about, then you may end
(06:21):
up missing out on just something thatwould've came up that provides value.
I'm just all abouthonestly, bringing value.
The profession.
Yep.
In whatever way possible.
And I agree completely with that.
I had, and I don't know when it was,but it was one of my first, you know, 10, 15 episodes I recorded of The
Unique CPA a I went in with this wholepreconceived idea of this is what
(06:41):
we're gonna talk about, and then I.We totally went a different direction.
It was one of the most, I think, impactfulconversations that, that I had early on in the podcast, but that made me realize
I shouldn't go in with what I think thisdiscussion is gonna be because I'm not the important person on this podcast.
It's the guest and they're gonna havesomething to talk about that they're passionate about, that they love.
(07:02):
And so, yeah, you and I completelyare on board with that same concept.
Yeah.
And you were on my show also, and,and I think we had honestly, no, no offense to anybody else that was on
my, my show, but I will tell you it wasthe best recording, the best podcast.
I, from a topic of conversationand, and the fact that I feel like you and I are very similar.
Yes.
Just maybe like a generationapart, you know, I, I'm older
(07:25):
when you say, no, no, no.
You know,
you got more hair than me, so it's fine.
Yeah.
Regard it.
It's definitely interestingand unique because there's not a lot of fun CPAs out there.
Yep.
Yep.
It's, I like that.
I like, you know, I have a friend,Kristen Keats, who wants to bring the
joy to account, and I mean, you havepeople with these type of things.
(07:47):
I love seeing that.
And let's get into that, you know?
Yeah.
Even though we don't have a game plan.
You do.
We did talk about, in the introthat you wanna break free from the old school stereotypes and.
Embrace a more dynamicand engaging future.
So that is kind of things I talk abouttoo is this, we do have this misconception of what this profession is like.
(08:08):
Now.
There is reality issues we needto change too, but there is also a the perception is wrong.
What do you think the biggestmisconceptions that people have about
accountants and, you know, how do youthink we can change that narrative?
I think the biggest misconception aboutaccountants is that, well, we're boring.
Everybody is boring.
Right.
The other misconception is that,oh, we do a sit in the room in the
(08:30):
house or in the office, never leaveand and work crazy hours and park.
True.
But doesn't have to be that way.
And the other thing is, is just that,you know, in tax season, we don't exist.
Right.
And I think those three thingsare very important to me to change the perception on.
Yep.
Because it's possible.
Oh, it's definitelypossible when you're in the.
(08:52):
It seems impossible when you're in thesebig firms where all they do is push
hours, mandate, these stupid billablehours that don't make any sense.
You know, we can certainly get into that.
Yep, yep.
But that's a whole different line.
But you know, you're in there andyou're feeling like it's hopeless.
And I think the other issue isbecause people are feeling that way.
Students and folks that wanna beaccountants are discouraged from that.
(09:16):
All you have to do nowadays ishop on this website called Reddit.
Click, you know, subredditaccounting, and you're bound to never come into this profession.
Yeah.
And that is the unfortunatepart that I just hope and, and, and try to flip the script on.
Yep.
The truth is when people are init, yes, the hours are terrible.
(09:38):
In the big firms, the cultureis toxic and 95% of the firms have been at, it's the truth.
But when you go out on your own.
And certainly there are also otherfirms out there that are great.
That are a good place to be and youcould have a good time and actually show your personality in accounting.
(09:59):
Yep.
Let's highlight, I actually wanna go backto that event you did with the planes and all that, but let me do that in a minute.
Sure.
Let's highlight one of the things you justsaid, the hours in these billable hours that are, you know, because with you, when
you and I talked last time, I think, andyou know, correct me if I'm wrong, but.
The hours you put in are significantlylower than most people think when you're coming into accounting.
(10:20):
Why don't you tell us about how youlook at that from an hour standpoint?
Yeah.
Interestingly enough, again, notplanned, not intentional, but honestly speaking, it's all the time that I have.
Right?
So I worked backwards as I wasbuilding my firm, first thing I did was I, I got into contracting and I
just started contracting 20 hours aweek so I could keep the lights on.
(10:42):
Mm-hmm.
It was giving me four to six.
In tax season, almost 10, that's an insaneamount of money for 20 hours a week or you know, sometimes a little more, right?
But it was great, you know, and theother 20 hours when I was not, you
know, doing the contracting, I wasjust building the firm in my own way.
I was saying no to clients, no, no, topotential clients that didn't fit my ideal client profile, which is value first.
(11:06):
So the end goal for me was importantfrom the start and the end goal was.
I don't wanna work.
I, I don't want to ever work more than50 hours a week ever again in my life.
Not interested.
Yep.
How do, how do I get there?
How do I get to working less than40 hours a week during tax season by taking on high value clients?
High paying clients, peoplethat respect your time and, and
(11:27):
yourself and your expertise andworking backwards from there.
So right now though, you know,my son, so I have two kids.
My son goes to school, you know, aroundlike eight o'clock, and my daughter goes to school around nine o'clock.
And then I prioritize going to the gym.
So after I drop off my daughter9, 9 30, I get into the gym.
I finish up around 10 30 andthat's when I start my day.
(11:48):
So now we've got 10 30 and my son'sbus comes back around 3 15, 3 30.
That's my day.
So unless I give up something,either I may, you know, obviously there's days I don't go to the gym.
Those days I have a little bit more time.
But typically my, I work between three anda half to five hours a day, sometimes six.
And so to get there and toget the client's work done.
(12:10):
I mean, at this pointwe're on February 19th.
I don't take on anymore clients right now.
Yep,
that's it.
You know, that's where I'm at.
I don't make millions ofdollars, but That's okay.
I make a decent living, make a good money.
I posted my financialsback a couple months ago.
And you know, I think itdefinitely shook up the profession a little bit in that regard.
But to show off that Ihave the free time, right?
I have the ability to be flexibleand I have the ability to go do whatever, pick up my son, go
(12:33):
with him to wherever because, youknow, extracurriculars and such.
So that's what's important to me.
I'm not saying that's for everyone,but that's what I'm here to show.
Yep.
And show that it could be done.
And you're not, you're doing significantwork on your backyard right now, so I know the money's coming in.
Yeah, well it's going out as well.
Yeah.
It's coming in and going right out.
(12:54):
Yeah.
Hey, tax season and, and all my clientsare just shoveling this money right into.
Literally into the ground,but that's a different story.
Yeah.
So now let's go back to thatevent that you did the $500.
Yeah.
And again, not planned.
You just did it.
No.
Did that really jumpstart?
Did you get clients out of thator did it just help mindset for you of how you wanted to do this?
(13:17):
What did, what was theoutcome of that event for you?
The outcome.
I'm trying to remember.
I, I didn't get any clients.
I got like two or three potential,like referrals that I still speak to every once in a while.
One of them was a big client probably,but it would've been $60,000 in fees.
I'm not so sure I would've takenthem on even if they said yes.
Right.
But they were very closeto wanting to work with me.
(13:39):
But I was fairly, he hesitantbecause sometimes saying no is, is, is better overall.
You don't wanna put all youreggs into a 60,000 client, right.
And it might be too complicatedand it might be worse than
better, but at the time, this waslike about a year into my firm.
Lemme tell you man, that's60,000 at the time sounded great.
Oh yeah.
But I think in, in retrospect, it's agood thing he didn't end up choosing, he ended up going with a bigger firm.
(14:03):
Yeah.
But that was one of the peoplethat, that was a very wealthy and that guy was very wealthy.
And so it was cool to go at thatevent, but to go back premise.
And the point of going that eventwas not to get clients, honestly.
It literally was Whoa.
That's a cool event.
It's gonna be fun.
I love airplanes.
I'm a very big into aviationand like that kind of stuff.
And, and, and I've taken a fewflight lessons myself and in general.
(14:24):
And so I was like, you know what?
I just wanna go to this thing.
Yeah.
Like, I feel like it's cool to just go.
And so I just signed up and Ipaid this 500 bucks and then I was like, all right, cool.
And then my wife was like, you needlike stuff for your booth and stuff.
And I was like, right.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, all right.
Yeah.
I should probably think about that togo, this is how, this is how I operate.
(14:48):
You know, I have these grandideas, and then I'm like, right, I gotta execute them now.
So then, yeah, we, I bought a table.
Some stools and people to sit around.
I bought a bought bunch of champagneand rose and stuff like that,
was pouring it out for people, sopeople were coming by for that.
I had chips, like snacks and stuff likethat, and then I just walked around and just met people and yeah, I mean,
(15:08):
like I said, I didn't get any clientsout of it, but I got, I just got to have a good time and do something that.
Most CPAs would never imagine doing.
It was the fun
factor.
It was the fun factor for me,which pretty much dictates.
I feel like most of what I dolike, it's like, is it fun for me?
Am I gonna enjoy it?
Right Then I'm gonna do it.
Yep.
Well, let's go back then again to thefirm now 'cause we got your hours.
Yep.
(15:28):
10 30 to three 15.
Unless you're not working out,then maybe there's some more time.
Yes.
Is that consistent all year long?
Is tech using any different?
Consistent all year long.
Alright.
I gotta adjust.
I, I really think that in thenext, probably next week I gotta
start going a little earlier tothe gym and figuring that out.
But my wife works full-time, so Igotta, you know, a lot of times I
gotta get the kids ready and I gottaget, do all that stuff before nine.
(15:51):
Yep.
So my time is, is very limited andI don't feel like waking up at five
30 to go work out, to come backin time to do all the kid stuff.
So I gotta figure it out.
But for now, yeah.
That's the schedule still.
Okay.
And then the other thing you saidearlier was talking about value and value first, and that that was the most
important thing when you're looking at,you know, or one of the important things when you're bringing on new clients.
(16:14):
So define what you mean by that.
How's value play intoyou working with clients?
So, I mean, I think the waythat it ends up shaking out, I have a very high minimum fee.
It's $2,000 for any tax return.
That's even if it's just a very simple W2.
Yeah.
Typically speaking, I have found thatdrives the, the people who don't,
(16:36):
who are looking for just somebodyto prepare the return and be out.
Obviously that's gonnadrive them away immediately.
Nobody is gonna be paying a$2,000 for a W2 only tax return.
Yep.
Like this is reality.
Right.
So then who are you bringing on?
You're bringing on probably businessowners, which is who I, you know, who
I seek to work with and people whomaybe saw my content and maybe think.
(16:57):
They just wanna be associated withsomeone who, you know, is more high-end,
is more, you know, handholding in somesenses and derive value from that.
So that's the high level.
By doing that, I, I'mable to be more selective.
I'm able to pick specifically,like, say business owners is, is who most often comes my way with that.
And then meeting with them quarterly,discussing their, their financials and, and, and having that ability to actually.
(17:24):
Be somebody that they could just reachout to versus many other CPAs who are just unreachable, who are so busy, swamped with
thousand of clients and don't have anytime to actually service differentiator.
That's the value that I, but to get there.
The fees have to be high enoughfor people to see the value.
Yep.
That's a, a important thing too, becausewhat you just mentioned, you're meeting with them quarterly, you're looking
(17:45):
at things, you're not surprised byanything, you know what's happening.
And so when tax season does comearound, you're prepared already.
Yeah.
Because you, you already know the answers.
You don't have to co file atax return and be surprised.
I assume that's not one way thatyou're able to, you know, spread out
the seasonality of this business andreduce the hours during tax season.
(18:06):
In some senses, yes.
I mean, the quarterly clients, the onlything we do is we just meet quarterly.
Okay.
And a lot of the times the filing andtax work still happens in tax season.
Yep.
The only difference is because the feesare higher, I don't have as many clients.
Right, right.
So that's really how I madeit, able to control it.
So right now I'm hovering arounda hundred clients or so, 120.
Subtotal returns is probably aboutone 50, give or take around 150.
(18:29):
Some clients have businesses,whatever it's, yep.
And then on average, my fee is, likeI said, around $2,000, give or take.
So that's how I'm able to get up to,you know, the 200, mid 200 range on
my own and still work these hoursand still get everything done.
Okay.
And I assume nothing you do isgonna be based on hourly billing based on that conversation earlier?
(18:51):
Yeah, no, everything isflat fee value based.
So my like tax only if somebodydoesn't wanna do the quarterly Yeah.
It starts at 2000 for any tax return.
The quarterly billing clientstart at 6,000, so 1500 a quarter,
and then my monthly clients arestarted on a thousand a month.
And so, yeah.
And that, that incorporates, youknow, basically, like I said, and I, and, and my whole goal is.
(19:15):
I don't want to sendyou any other invoice.
That's what I tell my clientsall the time, like, you know, potential clients, right?
When we sign, when westart working together.
If it's 1500 a quarter, you're notgetting anything else from me, right?
Invoice wise, unless it's somethingway out of scope, like, you know, due diligence or something like that.
Yes.
Whatever it is, what we talk about itahead of time, but that's the whole goal.
(19:35):
The whole point is.
No surprises.
High value.
When they pay that 1500 a quarter,we schedule the meeting and now
they're getting that feeling thatthey got something for their money.
Yep.
And it forces the conversation.
Okay.
And then I wanna, I wanna moveon, but I'm, I'm intrigued right now, so I can't help myself.
I gotta ask more questions.
Do it
(19:55):
with your client base ofthat 150 returns or whatever.
Is there a concentration in a certainindustry or a certain, you know, way we can define your client base?
Yeah, the only, I don'thave a niche right now.
Yeah.
But I would say if there was likea, my only criteria is 5 million and below in gross revenue.
Okay.
That's a niche to me.
(20:16):
So, yeah, to me it's also a niche.
It's not the niche of uh uh, astereotypical niche like real estate or blah, blah, blah.
Right.
But the reason why I 5 millionor below is complexity.
Okay.
Anytime anybody that's making lessthan 5 million gross is typically speaking in one or two states.
They're typically not complicated,maybe service-based businesses or
whatever it is, minimal amount of,obviously no, no accrual issues.
(20:39):
Mostly cash-based, you know, taxpayers.
'cause they're under the 5million and that's really the, the goal I found in my career.
At the moment, they go over 5 million.
You really can't make $10 million in one.
Geographical region most of the time.
Yep.
You gotta, you know, and then you get totalk about 15, 20 states not interested.
Right.
Because, you know, the complexityaround that is just not for me.
(21:00):
Oh yeah.
As we grew, when we first started,I was doing our tax return and once I started realizing we have a lot of
states we need to file on, that's it,it made no sense for me anymore, and it's not something I was doing anyways.
So yes, it, that's been, I don't know.
We're going on 10 years now since I.
Yeah.
Than any we work, but I honestly,we, I, we probably filing in 30 plus dates, I'm guessing maybe more.
(21:25):
I'm assuming so.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a mess.
That is a mess.
It's a lot
of work.
I don't wanna, and again, I know how todo it in theory, but I don't want to.
Yep.
Because that's just.
Too much work.
It's not fun.
No, it's not fun.
Exactly.
It's not fun.
Alright, well let's pivot 'causeI, I'm just, I, I could talk about
your firm and how you do it all daylong 'cause it just intrigues me.
(21:46):
But I also wanna talk about thecommunity aspect of the profession, because that's a big thing for you.
You know, simple things like going toconferences, but in addition you've
got your LinkedIn content, you've gotthe, you've done networking events.
Let's get into the things thatyou've done and then, you know.
I guess, yeah, let's talk about that.
Explain the things you do aroundnetworking or community building.
(22:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So once again, guess what?
Zero attention and zero plans.
One, it started two, two years ago now.
2023 tax season.
I'm sitting there right aroundthis time and I was procrastinating
doing my work and I'm sittingthere and I'm going, you know what?
I'm like, it'll be reallycool to do a networking event.
Like my own in a fun way that isn'tyour stereotypical one where you just wanna leave as soon as you get there.
(22:32):
Because I've been to networking eventsand all I wanted to do was go home.
Yeah.
The moment I got there, Iwas like, I wanna be here.
So I'm like, how do we make it fun?
How do we make it different and unique?
And then I, I started reaching out.
I had a, I belonged to a boat club,so I reached out to the boat club owner right next to that boat club.
There's a little bar that'son sand and has fire pits.
(22:53):
And again, right by the marina.
Right next to that, there'sa barbecue truck, so I just called up those three people.
I said, you know the, the marina owner?
I was like, Hey, can you puttwo boats on the water for me?
I want to have the attendees go outin groups of six or seven on there.
It's like an icebreaker,just a little tour.
It was like probably 10,15 minute little boat ride.
(23:13):
Then they come back.
Now they get to have a littlebit of a forced conversation.
Right.
That's different.
Then I had the, I have a DJ that doeslike my house parties and stuff like that.
So he like had him come out.
He was, you know, we weretrying to be on a budget here and and that was a ton of fun.
So we had nice music going and then, andthen we had the bar, which had open bar.
That was a lot of fun on thesand with the fire pits going.
(23:36):
I mean, it was great.
And then the unlimited barbecue was cool.
So all that, putting that together,I was like, this is gonna be fun.
And I rolled that out andthen, you know, we had about 50 people and ended up showing up.
But I learned a lot about, you know,events and one of the things that this
little unplanned and random idea thatcame about cost me $4,000 out of pocket.
Yep.
(23:56):
Just for that event.
And the next three events were less.
I'm doing, I'm getting better.
Yep.
And not coming out of pocket as much,but you know, it's not everybody's like, why are you doing them?
And as usual, my answer is I have no idea.
I just do it because I believe,and I want people to have a good time in, in networking events.
(24:16):
Yep.
And who's coming to the events?
Is it accountants or is itclients or is it a combination or?
Initially and to this day, like, I mean,I'm hoping that as this builds up and grows and people start realizing that I'm
actually doing networking events here andlike the fun and you know, and, and the brand grows, I'll get more accountants.
The initial goal was more accounts.
The initial goal was.
(24:36):
Let's just get people who are.
Who are fun, who identify as fun.
Mm-hmm.
Accountants, you know, fun CPAs, butare just sitting there and hating their lives and get them out together,
you know, like-minded individualsto really, you know, stick together and, and make good relationships.
But then I realized real estateprofessionals were coming out to this, attorneys were coming out to this.
(25:00):
I had doctors coming out to, tothat physical therapists teachers.
So really, you know, it was kind oflike running the gamut of random people.
But again, it was just people,just whoever was feeling it, I guess ended up coming out.
'cause I needed more, more attendees.
The funniest thing.
I think we talked about this before.
In my mind I was like, this is amazing.
I like put togetherthis really cool event.
(25:21):
Like I'm gonna roll it out on Eventbriteand I'm gonna get so many signups, I'm gonna have to end it early.
Like I, you know, I'mgonna have to cut it off.
And, and my cutoff was 75 people.
'cause I was like, you know, anythingmore than that And really as you near a hundred, it becomes too overwhelming.
Yep.
Less real, authentic connections and.
Ended up barely getting 50 andI was pulling teeth on every single one of them to come.
(25:44):
Yep.
And I was like, okay,well that didn't work.
And the next three events were the same.
But the problem I think now in retrospectis I roll out the invites to late, like if there's a month left, the event.
Man, it's hard.
Yes.
Like it's hard to get people.
That's why it'll be like, I'llroll it out and then I'll have to go get everybody to come.
Well, here's the deal with events.
(26:06):
People don't sign up till the last minute.
That's just the way it is.
So Yeah, it is.
Yeah, as you know, we run a, aconference bridging the Gap, and I'll be there first two year.
Well, and I'm looking forward to that.
The first two years it was, oh,everybody waited till the last
second to sign up, and so thenyou're freaking out the whole time.
We're really fortunate.
(26:27):
This year.
We're five months away right now.
Yeah.
And a month ago, so six monthsbefore the conference, we already
had a third of the registrations wehad all of last year, which Nice.
Last year at that same time we hadabout 1%, I think we're at 70 people
registered right now and and the sametime last year we were probably less than.
(26:49):
Five people registered, so Wow.
It's a timing thing too.
Once you go around, once people seeit, once people get, you get, and you gather reputation going, once
you get that reputation going, yeah,then they start to get more excited.
And honestly, everybody I talkto now is like, oh yeah, no, I wanna get to your event.
I wanna be there.
Yeah.
And so once that happens, you'll see it.
So
Yeah.
And that's okay.
(27:09):
And, but, but the other thingis, is then on my, after my second event, I got a sponsor.
Oh.
So the first event.
I had a sponsor, but they backedout last minute, so that's why ate $4,500 or whatever it was that hurt.
So I'm trying to notremember that anymore.
But then after that, I got a sponsor.
But my thing with sponsors is when I havea sponsor, I'm so focused on bringing
value to them and making sure that theright people are there that they want.
(27:32):
Yep.
Now I'm like, okay, well Idon't know who's coming to this.
I want accountants.
Like, you know, tax Domewas one of my sponsors.
Yeah.
Which was amazing.
And they really didn't expect much,but I was still, even though they
didn't expect much, I'm still like,I wanna bring more people to them.
Oh yeah.
To make it worthwhile.
For them to come out.
And so I'm very focused on that.
And so when I don't see people signingup it, you know, it was tough, but, so yeah, hopefully, well that's your value
(27:55):
mindset.
You know, you wannaprovide value to them and
it carries through everything.
So if there was anything that'sconsistent that is planned is
value, but val, but value is inthe eye, the beholder, and I think.
That's the challenge, right?
Yep.
Well, you're building thecommunity, that's for sure.
I wonder, I I, I, I have this impressionthat, not that there's any plans, because I know we don't plan ahead of time, but
(28:18):
maybe the fun CPA will actually be acommunity of accountants down the road.
You know, like I said, Ijust talked to Logan Graff.
Yesterday and he's gothis counter community.
You got Jason Staats with Realize yougot Ryan Lazanis with [Future Firm].
Kellie Parks has Calmwaters and all there.
I can keep going, lots of communities outthere, but that's because they're needed and because they bring so much value Yes.
(28:44):
To the people that become members of it.
So I wouldn't be surprised ifwhether it's in your mind or not that that may be, come it.
I got a feeling it is in your mind.
So that might be be coming out.
Well.
So Yuri.
I really appreciate this conversation.
Just seeing how you are breaking themold and changing and bringing the reputation up of the profession and
showing you don't have to work 80 hoursa week and showing that you can bill more than your mind thinks you can
(29:08):
bill, because we have that mindset that,you know, we're only worth so much.
And then the creatingcommunity, it's all great stuff.
So just before we wrap up, anythingyou wanted to add on our discussion?
Yeah, I think the, when you just saidabout our minds blocking us, about our minds telling us that we're not
worth, I think the issue with ourprofession is that especially when somebody's starting a firm or you
(29:34):
know, wants to go out on their own,they have this vision of how everybody
else is doing it, and they have thisvision that it's a race to the bottom.
Like this is my biggest frustrationwith a profession at the moment.
Aside from the not andall that there people out.
The race to the bottom is killer.
And it makes you as a practitioner Yep.
Want to follow suit.
(29:54):
Yep.
To get more clients to,you know, whatever it is.
Somebody out there I can guaranteeyou is doing the same thing that I'm
doing, is providing the same value, butthey're charging 200, $300 a tax return.
Yep.
Because they want to get more clientsin the door, or you know, it's just an hour, it's just half an hour.
It's just this, you know, therace to the bottom has to stop.
(30:15):
And I think we need to valueourselves more as a profession.
Yep.
Great advice to tie intothat, valuing ourselves more.
I, I, I know you've done a good job ofthat from a standpoint of the hours you work and what's the most important to you.
And, and work is important, butthere's a lot, you got a lot of time to do a lot of other things.
So what are those outside of work,passionate things you love doing?
(30:36):
Yeah.
I mean I, I love boating.
Yeah.
I love spending time, you know, spendingtime with my family and, and being able to, in the summertime here, go into the
pool, you know, my son comes home and hopin there and, and just have the free time.
I'm very passionate about my free time.
Yep.
I think that, to me is moreimportant than anything else.
I think a lot of people are focused onthis retirement concept, and I'll enjoy my
(30:58):
money at retirement, but I'm like, I wantto enjoy it now, because you never know.
And so that I think issuper important to me too.
That.
That's funny the way you said that becausethat's a mindset that I had always had.
I said, Hey, I'm gonna enjoy it now,especially when I'm younger too.
Yeah.
And at 62 I still feelyoung and I get out and
good.
My wife and I did a four and a halfmile hike with about a thousand
(31:22):
foot elevation change yesterday,which was a nice exercise.
Awesome.
I'm getting out.
But yeah, I always had that mindset of.
You know, why wait till you'reretired to enjoy things.
Let's do it now and, and if I workan extra year because I spent more money now, or less time now, whatever.
Or two years or three years, yeah.
But yeah, I think that's a perfect mindsetand a perfect way to, to end this episode.
(31:43):
So before we do thatthough, one last question.
People wanna find out more about thefun CPA or the things you're doing, where's best places for them to look?
LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is where I live.
Just Yuri Calovich over there on LinkedIn.
Gimme a follow and you know, feelfree to shoot me a DM or just watch
the, you know, engage with the contentor just keep posting fun stuff.
(32:05):
Yep.
That's what I try to do.
And congratulations, you said yourname correctly, so that's nice.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I, I, I had a lot of experienceapproximately three, six years.
Alright, well here, thishas been a lot of fun.
Thanks again for being on The Unique CPA A
alright.
Thank you for having me.
Randy.
Thank you for joining ustoday on the unique CPA.
(32:29):
You can find the show notes fortoday's episode and learn more about Tri-Merit at TheUniqueCPA.com.
Remember to subscribe andleave a five star rating on your favorite podcasting app.
And join us next time for more expertiseand insights on The Unique CPA.
Hey,
(32:49):
professional productions.net.
Hello, and welcome to the uniqueCPA with your host Randy Crabtree.
Today we continue our series ofepisodes on the power of community in the accounting profession.
We'll explore how strong connectionslead to healthier, more fulfilled
professionals, and together create asupportive network that enriches everyone.
The Unique CPA is broughtto you by Tri-Merit, the specialty tax professionals.
(00:24):
Today our guest is Yuri Kapilovich.
Yuri, and I got it right.
I was concerned.
I wouldn't say the nameright, but Yuri Kapilovich.
Yuri AKA.
The fun CPA is on a mission to showcasethe exciting side of accounting,
proving, and I love this, proving thatthis profession is anything but boring.
Through his LinkedIn content NetworkingEvents podcast and YouTube series, Yuri is inspiring accountants to break from
(00:47):
the old school stereotypes and embracea more dynamic and engaging future.
This is pretty cool, and when he is notshaking things up in the industry, he's running a full service accounting firm.
Yuri, welcome to The Unique CPA a.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
That was a really good introduction andto be honest, I learned a little bit about myself on that one, so, so thanks.
(01:10):
Well, that's nice.
Yeah.
I, and you and I talked about this beforeyou and I, but I've been actually the
last few episodes asking Che PT to help mewrite intros and it does an amazing job.
Yeah.
I mean, that is you, inmy mind, that is you.
I assume you felt thatencapsulates what you do.
Yeah, yeah.
In my mind, that was me.
So I feel like it was, and it was likea nice twist to it, like, you know, really wor really well worded version.
(01:34):
So yeah, I'm into it.
Yeah,
I was actually, I was talking with Logang Graff about this yesterday 'cause he was on the show and he said the same thing.
He said, yeah, Che GPT, the one thingit does great is writing intros.
Yeah.
And I completely agree.
So now I just gave up my secretthat I don't write the intros myself other than I get it all.
But, but yeah, I did editit quite a bit actually.
(01:54):
So I'm gonna take credit for this.
Yes,
you should.
My friend chat helped, but that's it.
Alright, let's get into this.
You and I, what We've been incontact for a couple years now.
We've actually had a couple of falsestarts on recording this episode, so I'm glad we were able to get it in today.
We met in person, what wasit for the first time last?
May.
Yeah.
(02:14):
Is that the AccountingToday Firm growth form?
Yes.
Yep.
That was awesome.
And you got up and sang didn't you?
Or rap?
I did, I did.
That's right.
You were, I saw you, I saw youover there in the, in the crowd jamming out to my, to my song.
Yeah.
Well that's part of the whole fun CPA itis just getting, getting out there and having a good time, which is awesome.
And I'll give you credit for that.
'cause I've done the, I thinkkaraoke twice and there was a karaoke party, which was a lot of fun.
(02:41):
Yeah.
What song?
I'm trying to remember.
'cause the last time I did it waswith Scott Scarano and I think it was a Red Hot Chili Peppers song.
We were in Austin, Texas.
Cool.
And I'm a little concerned he has avideo of it, but the video's never surfaced, so that's a good thing.
So let's, let's get into this whole,the fun CPAI love that moniker.
(03:02):
Thank you.
That name you.
And so, where did this come from?
How did this come about?
Where the reputation, obviously you arefun and that is part of it, but you know.
Where did it come from and why do youthink it's needed in the profession?
Yeah.
You know, it's funny, everythingthat I do across, like literally
everything is unplanned, is randomand has no like goals to it, right?
(03:28):
It's kind of like just adjust as you go.
And the fun CPA is no different.
I started posting in September of2021 on LinkedIn and when I was
posting, I was posting, you know,well at first it was my bus thoughts.
So I was on a bus literallydriving to the city for an hour.
Yeah.
And in the morning I was just keepingmyself entertained and like, and I was just posting the things that I did
(03:49):
not like about the profession, tryingto give people staff some hope and trying to give 'em some guidance for,
you know, one of the things I used topost about is, you know, how to, for
example, how to look good to managers,how to do that feedback request.
How about those kind.
Struggled with my career.
So that was bus thoughtsas the posting evolved.
(04:11):
Eventually one day I just started ridingthe fun CPA, like while I was riding my bike or while I was doing this.
It was just something random.
The fun cpa.
The fun cpa, and then the, the ahamoment to it was probably, it was September, 2022, and I decided to
reach out to these people that dothese high-end like rich people toys.
(04:33):
A conference or event.
And basically it was a two day event inan airport where they had private jets,
private helicopters, a bunch of differentstuff like private flying lessons.
Uh uh, it was obviously aroundaviation a lot, but I just reached out to the organizer.
I said, Hey, would youguys have like a CPA there?
Because that weird, you know, andthey were like, never had that
(04:54):
before, but we're gonna give youa discount on the booth price.
500 bucks.
I was mind blown.
Yeah.
Like, okay, 500 bucks.
I don't care.
I wasn't really making that much moneyat the time, but I was like, I'll spend it 'cause it's cool and different.
And I had a sign made, like it went allin on the fun CPA thing and I made a sign.
And the aha moment was whenpeople walk by, look at the sign and go, is it the funk?
(05:19):
What?
What does that say?
Because it literally does not translate.
Like nobody can even process the fund.
CPA exists.
So that's when I knew, I was like, thisis if you questioning something and so.
Events and all this other stuff,YouTube and all this other stuff that kind of just generate outta that.
(05:39):
But it was by no means planned.
And to this day, I don't know what I'mdoing with it other than consistently trying to show that you can have fun.
Well, I, I can vouch for that and Ihave no problem with this not having a game plan going into anything.
'cause with the, the podcast, I don'tnormally, but we do send a pre-interview,
a sheet out and, and your responseto what you wanna talk about was.
(06:00):
No specific topic, opento a freeform chat.
So I guess that kind of ties in withwhat you were just saying there.
So
I'm consistent on all fronts.
Randy, I, I, I, I have nothing,you know, I, I like to just chat.
Yep.
Right?
Agree.
Have a good time.
And I feel like a lot of times, likeif you have a specific thing you wanna talk about, then you may end
(06:21):
up missing out on just something thatwould've came up that provides value.
I'm just all abouthonestly, bringing value.
The profession.
Yep.
In whatever way possible.
And I agree completely with that.
I had, and I don't know when it was,but it was one of my first, you know, 10, 15 episodes I recorded of The
Unique CPA a I went in with this wholepreconceived idea of this is what
(06:41):
we're gonna talk about, and then I.We totally went a different direction.
It was one of the most, I think, impactfulconversations that, that I had early on in the podcast, but that made me realize
I shouldn't go in with what I think thisdiscussion is gonna be because I'm not the important person on this podcast.
It's the guest and they're gonna havesomething to talk about that they're passionate about, that they love.
(07:02):
And so, yeah, you and I completelyare on board with that same concept.
Yeah.
And you were on my show also, and,and I think we had honestly, no, no offense to anybody else that was on
my, my show, but I will tell you it wasthe best recording, the best podcast.
I, from a topic of conversationand, and the fact that I feel like you and I are very similar.
Yes.
Just maybe like a generationapart, you know, I, I'm older
(07:25):
when you say, no, no, no.
You know,
you got more hair than me, so it's fine.
Yeah.
Regard it.
It's definitely interestingand unique because there's not a lot of fun CPAs out there.
Yep.
Yep.
It's, I like that.
I like, you know, I have a friend,Kristen Keats, who wants to bring the
joy to account, and I mean, you havepeople with these type of things.
(07:47):
I love seeing that.
And let's get into that, you know?
Yeah.
Even though we don't have a game plan.
You do.
We did talk about, in the introthat you wanna break free from the old school stereotypes and.
Embrace a more dynamicand engaging future.
So that is kind of things I talk abouttoo is this, we do have this misconception of what this profession is like.
(08:08):
Now.
There is reality issues we needto change too, but there is also a the perception is wrong.
What do you think the biggestmisconceptions that people have about
accountants and, you know, how do youthink we can change that narrative?
I think the biggest misconception aboutaccountants is that, well, we're boring.
Everybody is boring.
Right.
The other misconception is that,oh, we do a sit in the room in the
(08:30):
house or in the office, never leaveand and work crazy hours and park.
True.
But doesn't have to be that way.
And the other thing is, is just that,you know, in tax season, we don't exist.
Right.
And I think those three thingsare very important to me to change the perception on.
Yep.
Because it's possible.
Oh, it's definitelypossible when you're in the.
(08:52):
It seems impossible when you're in thesebig firms where all they do is push
hours, mandate, these stupid billablehours that don't make any sense.
You know, we can certainly get into that.
Yep, yep.
But that's a whole different line.
But you know, you're in there andyou're feeling like it's hopeless.
And I think the other issue isbecause people are feeling that way.
Students and folks that wanna beaccountants are discouraged from that.
(09:16):
All you have to do nowadays ishop on this website called Reddit.
Click, you know, subredditaccounting, and you're bound to never come into this profession.
Yeah.
And that is the unfortunatepart that I just hope and, and, and try to flip the script on.
Yep.
The truth is when people are init, yes, the hours are terrible.
(09:38):
In the big firms, the cultureis toxic and 95% of the firms have been at, it's the truth.
But when you go out on your own.
And certainly there are also otherfirms out there that are great.
That are a good place to be and youcould have a good time and actually show your personality in accounting.
(09:59):
Yep.
Let's highlight, I actually wanna go backto that event you did with the planes and all that, but let me do that in a minute.
Sure.
Let's highlight one of the things you justsaid, the hours in these billable hours that are, you know, because with you, when
you and I talked last time, I think, andyou know, correct me if I'm wrong, but.
The hours you put in are significantlylower than most people think when you're coming into accounting.
(10:20):
Why don't you tell us about how youlook at that from an hour standpoint?
Yeah.
Interestingly enough, again, notplanned, not intentional, but honestly speaking, it's all the time that I have.
Right?
So I worked backwards as I wasbuilding my firm, first thing I did was I, I got into contracting and I
just started contracting 20 hours aweek so I could keep the lights on.
(10:42):
Mm-hmm.
It was giving me four to six.
In tax season, almost 10, that's an insaneamount of money for 20 hours a week or you know, sometimes a little more, right?
But it was great, you know, and theother 20 hours when I was not, you
know, doing the contracting, I wasjust building the firm in my own way.
I was saying no to clients, no, no, topotential clients that didn't fit my ideal client profile, which is value first.
(11:06):
So the end goal for me was importantfrom the start and the end goal was.
I don't wanna work.
I, I don't want to ever work more than50 hours a week ever again in my life.
Not interested.
Yep.
How do, how do I get there?
How do I get to working less than40 hours a week during tax season by taking on high value clients?
High paying clients, peoplethat respect your time and, and
(11:27):
yourself and your expertise andworking backwards from there.
So right now though, you know,my son, so I have two kids.
My son goes to school, you know, aroundlike eight o'clock, and my daughter goes to school around nine o'clock.
And then I prioritize going to the gym.
So after I drop off my daughter9, 9 30, I get into the gym.
I finish up around 10 30 andthat's when I start my day.
(11:48):
So now we've got 10 30 and my son'sbus comes back around 3 15, 3 30.
That's my day.
So unless I give up something,either I may, you know, obviously there's days I don't go to the gym.
Those days I have a little bit more time.
But typically my, I work between three anda half to five hours a day, sometimes six.
And so to get there and toget the client's work done.
(12:10):
I mean, at this pointwe're on February 19th.
I don't take on anymore clients right now.
Yep,
that's it.
You know, that's where I'm at.
I don't make millions ofdollars, but That's okay.
I make a decent living, make a good money.
I posted my financialsback a couple months ago.
And you know, I think itdefinitely shook up the profession a little bit in that regard.
But to show off that Ihave the free time, right?
I have the ability to be flexibleand I have the ability to go do whatever, pick up my son, go
(12:33):
with him to wherever because, youknow, extracurriculars and such.
So that's what's important to me.
I'm not saying that's for everyone,but that's what I'm here to show.
Yep.
And show that it could be done.
And you're not, you're doing significantwork on your backyard right now, so I know the money's coming in.
Yeah, well it's going out as well.
Yeah.
It's coming in and going right out.
(12:54):
Yeah.
Hey, tax season and, and all my clientsare just shoveling this money right into.
Literally into the ground,but that's a different story.
Yeah.
So now let's go back to thatevent that you did the $500.
Yeah.
And again, not planned.
You just did it.
No.
Did that really jumpstart?
Did you get clients out of thator did it just help mindset for you of how you wanted to do this?
(13:17):
What did, what was theoutcome of that event for you?
The outcome.
I'm trying to remember.
I, I didn't get any clients.
I got like two or three potential,like referrals that I still speak to every once in a while.
One of them was a big client probably,but it would've been $60,000 in fees.
I'm not so sure I would've takenthem on even if they said yes.
Right.
But they were very closeto wanting to work with me.
(13:39):
But I was fairly, he hesitantbecause sometimes saying no is, is, is better overall.
You don't wanna put all youreggs into a 60,000 client, right.
And it might be too complicatedand it might be worse than
better, but at the time, this waslike about a year into my firm.
Lemme tell you man, that's60,000 at the time sounded great.
Oh yeah.
But I think in, in retrospect, it's agood thing he didn't end up choosing, he ended up going with a bigger firm.
(14:03):
Yeah.
But that was one of the peoplethat, that was a very wealthy and that guy was very wealthy.
And so it was cool to go at thatevent, but to go back premise.
And the point of going that eventwas not to get clients, honestly.
It literally was Whoa.
That's a cool event.
It's gonna be fun.
I love airplanes.
I'm a very big into aviationand like that kind of stuff.
And, and, and I've taken a fewflight lessons myself and in general.
(14:24):
And so I was like, you know what?
I just wanna go to this thing.
Yeah.
Like, I feel like it's cool to just go.
And so I just signed up and Ipaid this 500 bucks and then I was like, all right, cool.
And then my wife was like, you needlike stuff for your booth and stuff.
And I was like, right.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, all right.
Yeah.
I should probably think about that togo, this is how, this is how I operate.
(14:48):
You know, I have these grandideas, and then I'm like, right, I gotta execute them now.
So then, yeah, we, I bought a table.
Some stools and people to sit around.
I bought a bought bunch of champagneand rose and stuff like that,
was pouring it out for people, sopeople were coming by for that.
I had chips, like snacks and stuff likethat, and then I just walked around and just met people and yeah, I mean,
(15:08):
like I said, I didn't get any clientsout of it, but I got, I just got to have a good time and do something that.
Most CPAs would never imagine doing.
It was the fun
factor.
It was the fun factor for me,which pretty much dictates.
I feel like most of what I dolike, it's like, is it fun for me?
Am I gonna enjoy it?
Right Then I'm gonna do it.
Yep.
Well, let's go back then again to thefirm now 'cause we got your hours.
Yep.
(15:28):
10 30 to three 15.
Unless you're not working out,then maybe there's some more time.
Yes.
Is that consistent all year long?
Is tech using any different?
Consistent all year long.
Alright.
I gotta adjust.
I, I really think that in thenext, probably next week I gotta
start going a little earlier tothe gym and figuring that out.
But my wife works full-time, so Igotta, you know, a lot of times I
gotta get the kids ready and I gottaget, do all that stuff before nine.
(15:51):
Yep.
So my time is, is very limited andI don't feel like waking up at five
30 to go work out, to come backin time to do all the kid stuff.
So I gotta figure it out.
But for now, yeah.
That's the schedule still.
Okay.
And then the other thing you saidearlier was talking about value and value first, and that that was the most
important thing when you're looking at,you know, or one of the important things when you're bringing on new clients.
(16:14):
So define what you mean by that.
How's value play intoyou working with clients?
So, I mean, I think the waythat it ends up shaking out, I have a very high minimum fee.
It's $2,000 for any tax return.
That's even if it's just a very simple W2.
Yeah.
Typically speaking, I have found thatdrives the, the people who don't,
(16:36):
who are looking for just somebodyto prepare the return and be out.
Obviously that's gonnadrive them away immediately.
Nobody is gonna be paying a$2,000 for a W2 only tax return.
Yep.
Like this is reality.
Right.
So then who are you bringing on?
You're bringing on probably businessowners, which is who I, you know, who
I seek to work with and people whomaybe saw my content and maybe think.
(16:57):
They just wanna be associated withsomeone who, you know, is more high-end,
is more, you know, handholding in somesenses and derive value from that.
So that's the high level.
By doing that, I, I'mable to be more selective.
I'm able to pick specifically,like, say business owners is, is who most often comes my way with that.
And then meeting with them quarterly,discussing their, their financials and, and, and having that ability to actually.
(17:24):
Be somebody that they could just reachout to versus many other CPAs who are just unreachable, who are so busy, swamped with
thousand of clients and don't have anytime to actually service differentiator.
That's the value that I, but to get there.
The fees have to be high enoughfor people to see the value.
Yep.
That's a, a important thing too, becausewhat you just mentioned, you're meeting with them quarterly, you're looking
(17:45):
at things, you're not surprised byanything, you know what's happening.
And so when tax season does comearound, you're prepared already.
Yeah.
Because you, you already know the answers.
You don't have to co file atax return and be surprised.
I assume that's not one way thatyou're able to, you know, spread out
the seasonality of this business andreduce the hours during tax season.
(18:06):
In some senses, yes.
I mean, the quarterly clients, the onlything we do is we just meet quarterly.
Okay.
And a lot of the times the filing andtax work still happens in tax season.
Yep.
The only difference is because the feesare higher, I don't have as many clients.
Right, right.
So that's really how I madeit, able to control it.
So right now I'm hovering arounda hundred clients or so, 120.
Subtotal returns is probably aboutone 50, give or take around 150.
(18:29):
Some clients have businesses,whatever it's, yep.
And then on average, my fee is, likeI said, around $2,000, give or take.
So that's how I'm able to get up to,you know, the 200, mid 200 range on
my own and still work these hoursand still get everything done.
Okay.
And I assume nothing you do isgonna be based on hourly billing based on that conversation earlier?
(18:51):
Yeah, no, everything isflat fee value based.
So my like tax only if somebodydoesn't wanna do the quarterly Yeah.
It starts at 2000 for any tax return.
The quarterly billing clientstart at 6,000, so 1500 a quarter,
and then my monthly clients arestarted on a thousand a month.
And so, yeah.
And that, that incorporates, youknow, basically, like I said, and I, and, and my whole goal is.
(19:15):
I don't want to sendyou any other invoice.
That's what I tell my clientsall the time, like, you know, potential clients, right?
When we sign, when westart working together.
If it's 1500 a quarter, you're notgetting anything else from me, right?
Invoice wise, unless it's somethingway out of scope, like, you know, due diligence or something like that.
Yes.
Whatever it is, what we talk about itahead of time, but that's the whole goal.
(19:35):
The whole point is.
No surprises.
High value.
When they pay that 1500 a quarter,we schedule the meeting and now
they're getting that feeling thatthey got something for their money.
Yep.
And it forces the conversation.
Okay.
And then I wanna, I wanna moveon, but I'm, I'm intrigued right now, so I can't help myself.
I gotta ask more questions.
Do it
(19:55):
with your client base ofthat 150 returns or whatever.
Is there a concentration in a certainindustry or a certain, you know, way we can define your client base?
Yeah, the only, I don'thave a niche right now.
Yeah.
But I would say if there was likea, my only criteria is 5 million and below in gross revenue.
Okay.
That's a niche to me.
(20:16):
So, yeah, to me it's also a niche.
It's not the niche of uh uh, astereotypical niche like real estate or blah, blah, blah.
Right.
But the reason why I 5 millionor below is complexity.
Okay.
Anytime anybody that's making lessthan 5 million gross is typically speaking in one or two states.
They're typically not complicated,maybe service-based businesses or
whatever it is, minimal amount of,obviously no, no accrual issues.
(20:39):
Mostly cash-based, you know, taxpayers.
'cause they're under the 5million and that's really the, the goal I found in my career.
At the moment, they go over 5 million.
You really can't make $10 million in one.
Geographical region most of the time.
Yep.
You gotta, you know, and then you get totalk about 15, 20 states not interested.
Right.
Because, you know, the complexityaround that is just not for me.
(21:00):
Oh yeah.
As we grew, when we first started,I was doing our tax return and once I started realizing we have a lot of
states we need to file on, that's it,it made no sense for me anymore, and it's not something I was doing anyways.
So yes, it, that's been, I don't know.
We're going on 10 years now since I.
Yeah.
Than any we work, but I honestly,we, I, we probably filing in 30 plus dates, I'm guessing maybe more.
(21:25):
I'm assuming so.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a mess.
That is a mess.
It's a lot
of work.
I don't wanna, and again, I know how todo it in theory, but I don't want to.
Yep.
Because that's just.
Too much work.
It's not fun.
No, it's not fun.
Exactly.
It's not fun.
Alright, well let's pivot 'causeI, I'm just, I, I could talk about
your firm and how you do it all daylong 'cause it just intrigues me.
(21:46):
But I also wanna talk about thecommunity aspect of the profession, because that's a big thing for you.
You know, simple things like going toconferences, but in addition you've
got your LinkedIn content, you've gotthe, you've done networking events.
Let's get into the things thatyou've done and then, you know.
I guess, yeah, let's talk about that.
Explain the things you do aroundnetworking or community building.
(22:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So once again, guess what?
Zero attention and zero plans.
One, it started two, two years ago now.
2023 tax season.
I'm sitting there right aroundthis time and I was procrastinating
doing my work and I'm sittingthere and I'm going, you know what?
I'm like, it'll be reallycool to do a networking event.
Like my own in a fun way that isn'tyour stereotypical one where you just wanna leave as soon as you get there.
(22:32):
Because I've been to networking eventsand all I wanted to do was go home.
Yeah.
The moment I got there, Iwas like, I wanna be here.
So I'm like, how do we make it fun?
How do we make it different and unique?
And then I, I started reaching out.
I had a, I belonged to a boat club,so I reached out to the boat club owner right next to that boat club.
There's a little bar that'son sand and has fire pits.
(22:53):
And again, right by the marina.
Right next to that, there'sa barbecue truck, so I just called up those three people.
I said, you know the, the marina owner?
I was like, Hey, can you puttwo boats on the water for me?
I want to have the attendees go outin groups of six or seven on there.
It's like an icebreaker,just a little tour.
It was like probably 10,15 minute little boat ride.
(23:13):
Then they come back.
Now they get to have a littlebit of a forced conversation.
Right.
That's different.
Then I had the, I have a DJ that doeslike my house parties and stuff like that.
So he like had him come out.
He was, you know, we weretrying to be on a budget here and and that was a ton of fun.
So we had nice music going and then, andthen we had the bar, which had open bar.
That was a lot of fun on thesand with the fire pits going.
(23:36):
I mean, it was great.
And then the unlimited barbecue was cool.
So all that, putting that together,I was like, this is gonna be fun.
And I rolled that out andthen, you know, we had about 50 people and ended up showing up.
But I learned a lot about, you know,events and one of the things that this
little unplanned and random idea thatcame about cost me $4,000 out of pocket.
Yep.
(23:56):
Just for that event.
And the next three events were less.
I'm doing, I'm getting better.
Yep.
And not coming out of pocket as much,but you know, it's not everybody's like, why are you doing them?
And as usual, my answer is I have no idea.
I just do it because I believe,and I want people to have a good time in, in networking events.
(24:16):
Yep.
And who's coming to the events?
Is it accountants or is itclients or is it a combination or?
Initially and to this day, like, I mean,I'm hoping that as this builds up and grows and people start realizing that I'm
actually doing networking events here andlike the fun and you know, and, and the brand grows, I'll get more accountants.
The initial goal was more accounts.
The initial goal was.
(24:36):
Let's just get people who are.
Who are fun, who identify as fun.
Mm-hmm.
Accountants, you know, fun CPAs, butare just sitting there and hating their lives and get them out together,
you know, like-minded individualsto really, you know, stick together and, and make good relationships.
But then I realized real estateprofessionals were coming out to this, attorneys were coming out to this.
(25:00):
I had doctors coming out to, tothat physical therapists teachers.
So really, you know, it was kind oflike running the gamut of random people.
But again, it was just people,just whoever was feeling it, I guess ended up coming out.
'cause I needed more, more attendees.
The funniest thing.
I think we talked about this before.
In my mind I was like, this is amazing.
I like put togetherthis really cool event.
(25:21):
Like I'm gonna roll it out on Eventbriteand I'm gonna get so many signups, I'm gonna have to end it early.
Like I, you know, I'mgonna have to cut it off.
And, and my cutoff was 75 people.
'cause I was like, you know, anythingmore than that And really as you near a hundred, it becomes too overwhelming.
Yep.
Less real, authentic connections and.
Ended up barely getting 50 andI was pulling teeth on every single one of them to come.
(25:44):
Yep.
And I was like, okay,well that didn't work.
And the next three events were the same.
But the problem I think now in retrospectis I roll out the invites to late, like if there's a month left, the event.
Man, it's hard.
Yes.
Like it's hard to get people.
That's why it'll be like, I'llroll it out and then I'll have to go get everybody to come.
Well, here's the deal with events.
(26:06):
People don't sign up till the last minute.
That's just the way it is.
So Yeah, it is.
Yeah, as you know, we run a, aconference bridging the Gap, and I'll be there first two year.
Well, and I'm looking forward to that.
The first two years it was, oh,everybody waited till the last
second to sign up, and so thenyou're freaking out the whole time.
We're really fortunate.
(26:27):
This year.
We're five months away right now.
Yeah.
And a month ago, so six monthsbefore the conference, we already
had a third of the registrations wehad all of last year, which Nice.
Last year at that same time we hadabout 1%, I think we're at 70 people
registered right now and and the sametime last year we were probably less than.
(26:49):
Five people registered, so Wow.
It's a timing thing too.
Once you go around, once people seeit, once people get, you get, and you gather reputation going, once
you get that reputation going, yeah,then they start to get more excited.
And honestly, everybody I talkto now is like, oh yeah, no, I wanna get to your event.
I wanna be there.
Yeah.
And so once that happens, you'll see it.
So
Yeah.
And that's okay.
(27:09):
And, but, but the other thingis, is then on my, after my second event, I got a sponsor.
Oh.
So the first event.
I had a sponsor, but they backedout last minute, so that's why ate $4,500 or whatever it was that hurt.
So I'm trying to notremember that anymore.
But then after that, I got a sponsor.
But my thing with sponsors is when I havea sponsor, I'm so focused on bringing
value to them and making sure that theright people are there that they want.
(27:32):
Yep.
Now I'm like, okay, well Idon't know who's coming to this.
I want accountants.
Like, you know, tax Domewas one of my sponsors.
Yeah.
Which was amazing.
And they really didn't expect much,but I was still, even though they
didn't expect much, I'm still like,I wanna bring more people to them.
Oh yeah.
To make it worthwhile.
For them to come out.
And so I'm very focused on that.
And so when I don't see people signingup it, you know, it was tough, but, so yeah, hopefully, well that's your value
(27:55):
mindset.
You know, you wannaprovide value to them and
it carries through everything.
So if there was anything that'sconsistent that is planned is
value, but val, but value is inthe eye, the beholder, and I think.
That's the challenge, right?
Yep.
Well, you're building thecommunity, that's for sure.
I wonder, I I, I, I have this impressionthat, not that there's any plans, because I know we don't plan ahead of time, but
(28:18):
maybe the fun CPA will actually be acommunity of accountants down the road.
You know, like I said, Ijust talked to Logan Graff.
Yesterday and he's gothis counter community.
You got Jason Staats with Realize yougot Ryan Lazanis with [Future Firm].
Kellie Parks has Calmwaters and all there.
I can keep going, lots of communities outthere, but that's because they're needed and because they bring so much value Yes.
(28:44):
To the people that become members of it.
So I wouldn't be surprised ifwhether it's in your mind or not that that may be, come it.
I got a feeling it is in your mind.
So that might be be coming out.
Well.
So Yuri.
I really appreciate this conversation.
Just seeing how you are breaking themold and changing and bringing the reputation up of the profession and
showing you don't have to work 80 hoursa week and showing that you can bill more than your mind thinks you can
(29:08):
bill, because we have that mindset that,you know, we're only worth so much.
And then the creatingcommunity, it's all great stuff.
So just before we wrap up, anythingyou wanted to add on our discussion?
Yeah, I think the, when you just saidabout our minds blocking us, about our minds telling us that we're not
worth, I think the issue with ourprofession is that especially when somebody's starting a firm or you
(29:34):
know, wants to go out on their own,they have this vision of how everybody
else is doing it, and they have thisvision that it's a race to the bottom.
Like this is my biggest frustrationwith a profession at the moment.
Aside from the not andall that there people out.
The race to the bottom is killer.
And it makes you as a practitioner Yep.
Want to follow suit.
(29:54):
Yep.
To get more clients to,you know, whatever it is.
Somebody out there I can guaranteeyou is doing the same thing that I'm
doing, is providing the same value, butthey're charging 200, $300 a tax return.
Yep.
Because they want to get more clientsin the door, or you know, it's just an hour, it's just half an hour.
It's just this, you know, therace to the bottom has to stop.
(30:15):
And I think we need to valueourselves more as a profession.
Yep.
Great advice to tie intothat, valuing ourselves more.
I, I, I know you've done a good job ofthat from a standpoint of the hours you work and what's the most important to you.
And, and work is important, butthere's a lot, you got a lot of time to do a lot of other things.
So what are those outside of work,passionate things you love doing?
(30:36):
Yeah.
I mean I, I love boating.
Yeah.
I love spending time, you know, spendingtime with my family and, and being able to, in the summertime here, go into the
pool, you know, my son comes home and hopin there and, and just have the free time.
I'm very passionate about my free time.
Yep.
I think that, to me is moreimportant than anything else.
I think a lot of people are focused onthis retirement concept, and I'll enjoy my
(30:58):
money at retirement, but I'm like, I wantto enjoy it now, because you never know.
And so that I think issuper important to me too.
That.
That's funny the way you said that becausethat's a mindset that I had always had.
I said, Hey, I'm gonna enjoy it now,especially when I'm younger too.
Yeah.
And at 62 I still feelyoung and I get out and
good.
My wife and I did a four and a halfmile hike with about a thousand
(31:22):
foot elevation change yesterday,which was a nice exercise.
Awesome.
I'm getting out.
But yeah, I always had that mindset of.
You know, why wait till you'reretired to enjoy things.
Let's do it now and, and if I workan extra year because I spent more money now, or less time now, whatever.
Or two years or three years, yeah.
But yeah, I think that's a perfect mindsetand a perfect way to, to end this episode.
(31:43):
So before we do thatthough, one last question.
People wanna find out more about thefun CPA or the things you're doing, where's best places for them to look?
LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is where I live.
Just Yuri Calovich over there on LinkedIn.
Gimme a follow and you know, feelfree to shoot me a DM or just watch
the, you know, engage with the contentor just keep posting fun stuff.
(32:05):
Yep.
That's what I try to do.
And congratulations, you said yourname correctly, so that's nice.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I, I, I had a lot of experienceapproximately three, six years.
Alright, well here, thishas been a lot of fun.
Thanks again for being on The Unique CPA A
alright.
Thank you for having me.
Randy.
Thank you for joining ustoday on the unique CPA.
(32:29):
You can find the show notes fortoday's episode and learn more about Tri-Merit at TheUniqueCPA.com.
Remember to subscribe andleave a five star rating on your favorite podcasting app.
And join us next time for more expertiseand insights on The Unique CPA.
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(32:49):
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