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/