How to Choose the Right CPA in 2026: Blake Oliver on AI, Private Equity, and Better Tax Advice
Welcome back to the SlashTax podcast where we help high income earners, investors, and business owners understand the strategies, incentives, and tax advantaged opportunities that can legally reduce tax burden and build long term wealth. I'm your host, Heidi Henderson. And today, we're diving into a conversation that every taxpayer should hear if they are evaluating their CPA or a new CPA. My guest is Blake Oliver. He is a CPA, but not your traditional CPA.
Speaker 1:He started in public accounting, moved into firm leadership, and then took a bold turn towards technology, education, and marketing. He's now the host of the accounting podcast and the founder of EarBark CPE, which is a platform that lets accountants earn free NASBA approved CPE just by listening to relevant and practical podcast content. What I love about Blake's journey is that he sits at the intersection of accounting, technology, and client experience, and he understands what firms are struggling with. So he sees what clients are asking for, and he's uniquely positioned to explain how taxpayers can navigate a really changing industry and then find the right accounting partner that may fit their particular needs. So today, we're gonna talk a little about Blake's path from CPE to now a startup entrepreneur, what's changing inside the accounting profession and how that's impacting you as a taxpayer or business owner, how you as a client can better evaluate how to find a CPA or evaluate your relationship with your existing CPA, what great advisory firms look like and how that's changing in the industry, and how technology is shaping the relationship between taxpayers and CPAs.
Speaker 1:If you've ever wondered whether you're getting proactive advice or whether your CPA is keeping up with the times or how to choose a firm that really can help you slash your tax bill, stay with us. This episode's packed with some great little nuggets of information. And with that, Blake, welcome to the show. Hi, Blake. Thank you so much for being here today, and I'm so excited to kinda dive into your star your story, how you started your career in accounting, and then now this big shift.
Speaker 1:You are doing this podcast, and you've got your mark and all these different things that I'd love to dive in today. But, but let's start first. Like like, tell my listeners a little bit about your story.
Speaker 2:Well, thanks, Heidi. Great to be with you and to see you and talk to you. I am a I'm a CPA, but I didn't start out in accounting. I my first career was music. I was a music major in college.
Speaker 2:I played the cello. Okay. And, yeah, a lot of people don't know this. I I I was very serious about the cello. I I was the principal cellist in my youth orchestra Sacramento, California.
Speaker 2:I performed with the San Francisco youth symphony. I went to music festivals like Aspen and Meadowmount as a high school and college student. I I studied cello at Northwestern University, which has a really great music program. And I thought I was gonna be in an orchestra or maybe play in a chamber music group. And then I graduated, and it was the great recession.
Speaker 2:Graduated right into it all. And, you know, music is one of those things that tends to be budgeted for last, both in film, TV, and events. And I'm from California. That's what I wanted to do was film and television. And so I had to find something else.
Speaker 2:And I couldn't get a job at Barnes and Noble. Got a job at Starbucks. Wow. And, so I was making coffees for, like, the, agents at CAA behind the Beverly Hilton. And I realized this is not for me.
Speaker 2:I'm not gonna I don't wanna do this the rest of my life. And I started, bookkeeping and tutoring. I was tutoring kids in, like, SAT, and the bookkeeper at the company I was at quit. And I talked my way into his job. And I had no idea how to do it, really.
Speaker 2:But I had, you know, skill with tech, and I always liked sound equipment, recording equipment. So I thought I can figure this out, and I did. And, you know, started doing QuickBooks, consulting, doing bookkeeping eventually. I mean, that led me down the path to accounting, basically. I got hooked.
Speaker 1:So Kind of interesting. I mean, as we see the shift in the industry, there's this talk about a lot of people retiring and then not very many people really wanting to graduate and come into the accounting space. Yeah. I mean, diving right into that, I actually want to get back to a couple of questions on your story. But diving right into that, you were kind of sucked in similar, actually.
Speaker 1:I did not start in accounting. I actually started in marketing and then ended up coming full circle into a master's degree in tax and accounting and coming to that space kind of through the backdoor, I guess. But why do you think that tends to be the case and what we're seeing in the industry with fewer people graduating and coming into this
Speaker 2:this industry? Well, it's historically perceived as boring and, not interesting. And I guess, you know, I don't blame them. Every generation wants to do something creative and exciting. And that's what I wanted to do.
Speaker 2:I thought life as a musician would be great. And I think one thing that we're doing a disservice with our our young people, one disservice we're doing them is that they don't really get to see the reality of what it means to say, be a, musician. And it's very different than studying it in school, and that's what I discovered. And on the other hand, accounting, which has this boring, stereotype associated with it, is actually one of the most interesting professions you can join because there's so much variety. There are very few professions where you can do, like, the huge variety of of different types of work with the same license and the same degree.
Speaker 2:You know, medicine, you get you end up going into, like, a very specific practice often, right, specialty, and that's where you are for your whole career. Whereas with accounting, you can do audit, you can do tax, you can do valuation work, you can do cost segregation work, you can do whatever it is, you know, CFO, controller, anything. So for me, it was it was it was really interesting. I I went into accounting because of flexibility, good pay, interesting work. And then I meet all these accountants who have, like, always wanted to be accountants, and they're like, the pay is not good enough.
Speaker 2:I have no flexibility. I hate my work, and I'm so confused by this. Yeah. And I think it's just the, it's really just the way these, like, accounting firms, traditional accounting firms, big accounting firms are set up. They're just set up to, like, work you to the bone and grind you out, and they're what's poisoning the profession.
Speaker 2:And if we could, you know, if we could improve those work environments Mhmm. Then we could make accounting a really great place to work.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's huge. I mean, that's that's a profound insight right there. And I think that trickles to client service, which I really want to get into for the sake of our clients that are asking for guidance on who they should be working with and what to be looking for with a CPA partner. But before we get there, you then shifted from accounting, and now you've kind of moved more into, like, technology and innovation.
Speaker 1:You're podcasting, and you've built Earmark. Talk a little bit about that process and and how you ended up there.
Speaker 2:Well, the podcast how did the podcast get started? It was an it was a newsletter. I was I was doing a weekly email newsletter, and I sort of built up, like, some subscribers. And the podcast just grew out of that. I thought, could I do an audio version of this?
Speaker 2:And I've always been interested in, you know, recording, and it comes out of my music background. And podcasting was sort of, like, becoming trendy, and this was, like, ten years ago. Yep. And so I just started doing it, and it was just me and my friend David Leary, who's my cohost on the show. Show is called the accounting podcast.
Speaker 2:And we would get on every week, and we would just talk about what had happened in the profession. Just he me and him. And, you know, for years, it was, like, a 100 people would listen. And then it just started to take off, and now it's, you know, four or 5,000 people download
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:An episode in thirty days. And that's not like a crazy amount by popular podcast standards. Right? There's podcasts that get millions of downloads. But in our niche Mhmm.
Speaker 2:In accounting, it's the biggest one. And it reaches a lot of people in state societies and in influential roles and just a broad swath of the profession, and we're able to influence change at the grassroots level in our profession in a way that's not been possible before.
Speaker 1:That is so cool, and that was exactly what I wanted to ask you. What type of influence do you think that has had on the industry since you've started doing this?
Speaker 2:Well so I've been told that a big reason that the one hundred and fifty hour rule for CPA licensure has changed is because of our advocacy and bringing attention to it on the podcast. And I don't know. I I I think there's a lot of people behind the scenes who at state societies and boards of accountancy that made that happen. Mhmm. And I hesitate to take any credit for it because all we did was talk about it.
Speaker 2:But I think what we did do is we provided an alternative narrative to what was being spread at the national organization level, the state society level. Accounting's heavily regulated. It is traditionally a top down type of system. And we provided a an independent voice, and we were able to counter the narrative. There were all these people who have, you know, been at the top of the accounting profession for decades.
Speaker 2:Barry Melanson is the key one. He was running the AICPA since he was in his thirties, and he retired finally in his I mean, thirty years later, in his sixties, I think. Yeah. And he was a huge advocate for the increase in the education requirement for CPAs add another year of education, and he steadfastly refused to acknowledge that it created a huge talent pipeline problem because it made accounting more expensive than other business majors and reduced the number of CPAs.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:And as we started to get into this talent crunch with accounting, he wouldn't make the change. He wouldn't admit it was a mistake. Wow. But we were we were able to unite people, farther down in the system who could work together so that as soon as he left, within a year, basically, half the states had moved to change the rules.
Speaker 1:Wow. That's amazing. Yeah. That's crazy. I mean, that's that's pretty cool to see a direct impact.
Speaker 1:You know? And I heard you guys talk about it. I've seen that change. For for my listeners who are probably mostly not CPAs, talk a little bit, like, really high level. What are the requirements to become a CPA?
Speaker 1:What were they, and where is it moving to now?
Speaker 2:So the original requirement before this rule passed decades ago was you just needed a bachelor's degree in accounting Mhmm. With an accounting concentration
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:To take the CPA exam. Very simple. Yep. And there was a surplus of CPAs in the eighties and the nineties, and so the states decided to raise the education requirement to add another year. And the original plan was to have it be a master's degree, but that got watered down into simply one year of education, and it could be anything.
Speaker 2:And so you got this strange situation where you have students like me who are career changers that are just taking random courses in any topic in order to get a hundred and fifty semester hours of education, which is equivalent to five years. So, basically, they added more education, but they didn't do it in a way that actually increased quality. It just increased cost and time. And so what happens when you do that? When you make something more expensive, demand goes down.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And it was just it was just dumb. It was just stupid. And nobody was out there saying that it was dumb and stupid until we started doing that. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And, it helped other people realize they're not alone. That, like so what is the lesson for your listeners who are not if you're not an accountant, why do you care about this? Well, I think what it says is that you can create a community around a podcast, around a YouTube channel, around video and audio online. And you can inspire change in your profession or in your industry, and you can provide an alternative voice to the entrenched associations that may not be acting in the best interest of your industry or profession.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I mean, it really is so profound to have the platforms that we have now that are public platforms. And podcasting now, know, there's a bazillion podcasts. It seems like everybody has a podcast. But what's interesting is, like, the resources that become available to people, the knowledge, the technology, the education, and especially as you get really segmented into an area that is very specific for topics or for clients or industries, it really can be impactful.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. It's it's like there are people out there searching for information. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:They're looking for experts and or they're just looking for help. And if you are out there giving information as a trusted source on YouTube in particular, I think YouTube is the place to be whether you have a podcast or not. Mhmm. They will find you because search engines and now AI is giving preference to real people, not AI generated content. And it's still very difficult to generate authentic video content with AI.
Speaker 2:It's very easy to detect. And so the search engines are pointing people toward the experts who are putting video online.
Speaker 1:And Really good. Interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You can make yourself into an expert Mhmm. And drive leads to your business very affordably now. I mean, I'm I'm doing this interview right now with a $90 microphone
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And a webcam that was less than, I don't know, $200. So we're looking at a few $100, and that's all you need in a laptop. So
Speaker 1:Yep. It's amazing. Yeah. You just start recording. It's been amazing as we've really started to branch more into providing a lot more meaningful content through video, which is very new for us in the last year.
Speaker 1:And it's unbelievable, the feedback we've gotten and the reach and the value that it is creating for our clients. Really, helps us as well because it's just helping educate. So it's helping it it helps us help them in essence. Yeah. It comes full circle.
Speaker 1:So
Speaker 2:And in the past, we would say, no. Don't give away your knowledge for free like that. Yep. Because you're undercutting yourself. You should people should pay for that.
Speaker 2:But what we found is that the more we give away, the more people want to pay. And it's because you can give them the knowledge, but actually using that knowledge, like implementing it in their specific situation is difficult. And that's the value that we create in our business is we take the knowledge and we apply it.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So that's how I think everybody should view themselves, whether you're a professional or a business that provides a service or a product.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:It's about it's about applying that knowledge, not hoarding it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yep. Ben, that was a pitfall that we struggled with for a while. You know, we've been in business for twenty five years, and that was It was like, well, everything we do, our competitors go out and just replicate. So it's like, we're just sort of opening up the tailcoat and saying, oh, look, come on in and take everything.
Speaker 1:But what we found is that it ends up getting That happens anyway. And so we might as well put it out there and just make sure that we have control of our own data, what other people take and copy and regurgitate, whatever. But you just continue to focus on good quality and and be the expert. But okay. So shifting gears a little bit to, like, where we're seeing the industry 10 trends.
Speaker 1:I mean, you have a front row seat to industry trends. You guys are doing this accounting podcast or seeing what's happening. I I think it's incredible that they changed that hundred and fifty hour rule to make it a little easier for people to begin to come into the accounting profession. What major shifts are happening inside accounting firms that taxpayers should be aware of? And I and I preface that question with the fact that, you know, I see it from this other side.
Speaker 1:We work with a ton of accounting firms. We're sort of like, you know, this specialist working between our clients, the taxpayer, and the CPA, working together as a team to capture a lot of these incentives. But we continually hear so many of the same arguments, the struggles with CPAs that are keeping up to speed with all of these changes, that are doing more of the advisory and kind of coaching or consulting their clients and people saying, I don't know what to do, or what we're seeing with the industry with people aging out and acquisitions through private equity. We see that in a lot of industries, but the accounting industry is a massive one. So, I mean, there's all kinds of stuff there, but peeling it back, what are you seeing with industry trends and how this is really going to affect taxpayers and and how we can kinda help them understand why they're experiencing some of the pain points that they're feeling?
Speaker 2:Well, the big challenge, and I'm sure that there will be lots of people listening who will have experienced this, is, like you said, CPA is getting older and retiring. The average CPA is now in their sixties Mhmm. Is my understanding. And that's pretty darn close to retirement age, if not past it. And so taxpayers are getting notices from their CPA who did their tax return for years saying, hey.
Speaker 2:I'm done. And it might be in, like, October or November or December, even January when they decide I'm done because they've just had enough and they burn out. And then suddenly, you've gotta find a new one. And a lot of times, there isn't somebody to take over the firm because the shortage that we have experienced has been going on for a long time. And so those manager level folks who would become partners, that's a very thin group.
Speaker 2:There's not enough of us. The millennials are just like, there aren't a lot of millennials that entered accounting. Not enough.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So we've got this this this shortage of CPAs that are ready to take over firms, and the firms have not done a great job of creating succession plans. And like you said, a lot of them are taking private equity money to fund their retirements, and private equity is not interested in making more partners because private equity is the partner now. Private equity is taking the profits. So what are we gonna do? And I think what's going to happen is that we're gonna find we're gonna find more automated solutions for a lot of the work that has historically been done by accountants, especially tax returns.
Speaker 2:There are so many software companies now working on automated ways to, like, ingest soft ingest documents and do corporate tax returns. That's where they're going next. Right? So TurboTax, H and R Block, they've they've conquered personal taxes for most Americans. Like, they're doing the vast majority of personal tax returns now.
Speaker 2:And most CPAs I know don't even wanna do personal taxes Yep. Because it's just not efficient to compete with humans against the software. So they're gonna go after the corporate small business tax returns. So I think more and more, you will see people, you know, using those kinda tools or new ones based on AI to do it. You know, when it comes to bookkeeping, that sort of thing that you might rely on your account for, we're seeing these automated solutions, AI solutions that can do categorization, reconciliation of cash basis financials, which is what most small businesses need.
Speaker 2:Yep. And so I think the other change is going to be fewer big firms and more small firms that specialize. So, like, what I would be working on now is is trying to find, like, a small CPA firm that specializes in my type of business. Mhmm. So if I'm in real estate, find somebody who just does real estate and has a small firm.
Speaker 2:Or if I'm in, I don't know, consumer products, find a firm that specializes in that and does that, you're gonna have a lot more, you're gonna be better taken care of
Speaker 1:Yeah. Most likely. That's funny because that is exactly what I've been seeing. And it seems like they are mostly newer firms with a younger generation that's starting their own firm. They're sort of breaking the mold of that older, what I call like the law firm style CPA firm, you know, like a little bit more sophisticated from a technology standpoint, capable of working remotely from anywhere.
Speaker 1:They're not, you know, so, honed in on, you know, we service this city or this region. It seems like billing is shifting with how they're actually charging for services. That was always one thing that I've always struggled with, like billable hours. Yep. It was always like, okay.
Speaker 1:Sure. I'll be your CPA. I'll prepare your tax return. You have no clue what the bill is gonna be, but at some point along the line, they're gonna send you an invoice. And it's like, woah.
Speaker 1:Okay. That was unexpected because it's just based on the hours it took presumably. Is that something that you're seeing systematically change or no?
Speaker 2:Well, the definitely the smaller firms.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Like and so, basically, if you're a manager now, you have two paths. You can go for partner or you can start your own firm. And I think we're seeing more and more managers start their own firms because private equity is eating up the ownership share in the accounting firm, the traditional ones, so there's not as much equity to go around anyway. Yeah. And they wanna work remotely, and they wanna work flexibly and not work in an office.
Speaker 2:And, you know, I think any of us who have that freedom appreciate it too. So that's what's happening. And they are able to compete with larger firms because and they're gonna be able to compete even more because we have these AI tools now that help us do research very quickly. And that makes me, as a CPA who's a bit of a generalist Mhmm. And who focuses on accounting rather than tax or audit.
Speaker 2:That makes me very dangerous to a traditional firm because traditionally, knowledge was very siloed in the profession. You could go find it, but you'd have to, like, read somebody in deep in somebody's research library, spend a lot of time learning a particular section of the tax code. You you would dive deep to the point where, right, we had people who, all I do as an accountant is value this type of business maybe in a particular industry, and that's your whole career. Well, you had to do that because the knowledge of how to do those valuations in that particular industry was really hard to come by. And you had to apprentice with somebody essentially to learn it.
Speaker 2:It wasn't written down, really. Well, now with AI research tools, I can go learn about a particular industry, and I can even ask it to help me create, you know, the the template, the the the the valuation. And and if I'm smart, and I can question what the AI is doing and correct it and learn, I can basically learn how to do things very quickly. So I don't need to have hundreds of partners who all specialize in tiny little things to refer work to. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Because I can handle it. If I specialize in a particular industry, I can I can be like the in house CFO? Yeah. So that is what I would be looking for is look for that accountant who wants to be your CFO for your business and do it fractionally and be the quarterback in terms of, you know, if they don't do the tax return, find the person who is. Or if they don't, you know, do this, they'll they'll basically handle your the financial side of your business for you.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. This is something that, like, small businesses can get now. Yeah. Fractional fractional financial manager for your firm. And if I had a firm, at this point you know, I sold mine years ago, but if I had my firm, that's what I would wanna be doing is I is because that's really rewarding.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Absolutely. So Yeah. That's interesting. Do you think AI is gonna replace or significantly I don't I I mean, I guess we could ask the question, do we think AI is going to replace accounting?
Speaker 1:The professor You
Speaker 2:know, it's it's so I look at what happened when the electronic spreadsheet was released, which was in the early eighties. I think it was 1983 that Microsoft Excel, the first version came out. So 1983 was really I mean, we had spreadsheets before that. Right? Lotus, VisiCalc, but Excel was the one that really put a personal computer on every desk.
Speaker 2:What happened? There were 2,000,000 bookkeepers employed in The US. And, basically, that was the peak, was that year. And from that year until about now, it declined from 2,000,000 to 1,000,000. So the number of bookkeepers declined by half because we're no longer writing by hand on spreadsheets, actual pieces of paper spread out on the table and and doing the calculations.
Speaker 2:We're doing it with computers. Mhmm. There used to be armies of those people working in firms. So at the same time, the number of accounting jobs rose and then plateaued.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:At the same time, the number of financial planning and analysis or financial analyst roles skyrocketed. It went from almost nothing to millions because they were now able to analyze and play with the spreadsheets. Okay. So that's the historical trend on this previous technological development. What does it mean with AI?
Speaker 2:I think that we're gonna see the same trend applied to accounting. So we will still have accountants, but we'll probably have half as many. But those half as many will be doing a lot more. Bookkeepers today do a lot more than they used to for a business. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Same way accountants are gonna do a lot more for a business. There'll just be fewer of us. And there will be some new job that we don't have a name for yet, because I don't think anybody really knew what a financial analyst was in the eighties necessarily. And we will that will develop and grow millions of jobs. We just don't know what it is because
Speaker 1:We just don't know what that looks like.
Speaker 2:Yeah. We're gonna take this new tool called AI, and we're gonna figure out how to do amazing things with it. So
Speaker 1:Well and it's interesting because to your point about, you know, aging out and then having kind of a pipeline issue in the accounting space, one of the struggles has been is that I think that there's significantly more demand right now than there is supply as it stands. Right. So AI hopefully will solve more of that rather than replacing people. I think it's going to help lighten the workload and provide, in my, you know, I mean, crystal ball, seems like it would create better client service. If people are freed up from doing more of like the completing the boxes and filling out
Speaker 2:a
Speaker 1:form to being able to be more of, to your point, the analyst and the coach and the strategic thinker behind the knowledge that we have in accounting or tax or tax code or all these things, that there's a huge opportunity there in terms of of a freeing up our accounting people to be more in that relational space.
Speaker 2:Yes. Yeah. And there was an MIT Stanford study published this year specifically that looked at AI on accounting firms. Like, what does it enable? And the researchers found, surveying hundreds of firms, that firms that used AI today to automate classifying transactions, reconciling the books, those accountants in those firms are able to work with 55% more clients.
Speaker 2:Wow. So you could look at that as I'm gonna work with more clients. Like, I'm gonna take my client load from 10 to 15, or I'm going to spend 55% more time with my existing clients.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Give them more attention. So it backs up what you're saying there. We are gonna be able to be more helpful. Spend more time with clients. It's less, give me your stuff.
Speaker 2:I do your return. I give it back to you. Yep. And it's more I'm a big fan of the weekly call.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So firms that are doing outsourced CFO work, schedule a weekly call with your client, and that's the time that the CEO or the COO has to work on the books, talk about who we're gonna hire, plan for the future. You do that on a weekly basis, and you can really stay on top of the, like, financial issues in the business so that they don't become problems.
Speaker 1:Right. Well, I've and I've talked with multiple clients who have said that they have reached out to their CPAs to have an annual call to talk about planning and structure and strategy and what they need to do before the end of the year and have been told, I'm sorry. We don't have capacity for that.
Speaker 2:Right. Because they're full up doing tax returns.
Speaker 1:Yep. Yeah. Throughout the whole year.
Speaker 2:Throughout the whole year, that's all they do.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. What what do you see with this strange split? I feel like something's happening between a CPA firm versus, like, tax strategists.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Yeah. It's it's a totally different view of the role. Mhmm. So these firms that are strategizing, that are doing advisory work, that are that are helping their clients with more than just a tax return, they're viewing themselves as that CFO, that controller, that finance director.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. And they're filling that role fractionally, remotely for these small businesses that couldn't otherwise afford to hire a CFO. Yeah. And when you do that, you have to be willing to handle whatever comes your
Speaker 1:way. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And it requires a totally different outlook, and you need to spend a lot of time with your clients. And the firms that move to that model love it because they can have fewer clients. Yep. You don't have to do thousands of tax returns. You can work with maybe a few 100 clients Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Or a few dozen even and give them a lot of attention and help. And so that's that's the model that I like. I I just I feel like I'd be much happier doing that than just churning through tax returns Yeah. You know, all day long.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I was gonna say that because I think that when when you really look at how most people tick, even though, you know, there's the jokes about accountants being highly introverted and wanting to hide behind the computer. I think most of us tick by feeling useful and feel rewarded by having those meaningful conversations and feeling like they are making an impact and helping people and their clients. So this is kind of where I'm viewing AI in general when look at it in all platforms and all industries, that in a sense, it's going to free us up from doing much more of those tedious, manual, repetitive tasks and allow us to reconnect again at a different, deeper social level that, I mean, if we really wanna dig in, this is like the whole social dilemma thing, you know, of realizing that maybe we all need to be a little bit more socially connected.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah. Yeah. We don't we don't spend enough time with people.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Especially, especially when we're remote. That's the one disadvantage of remote work is that it can be very isolating even when you're on calls with people. Zoom just doesn't feel the same as in person. Yep. So Yep.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Me for me, I need to get out of the house and go see people in my profession in person, ideally, you know, once a month or every other month or something. Yep. Otherwise, yeah, it gets a little weird. And I don't maybe that's the root of some of the the challenges we've been having in our society recently is that it's just people are behind their computers and their phones, and they don't they, like, they lose empathy.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And and we get disconnected.
Speaker 1:The weird thing is, like, I mean, I I work at home and it becomes really comfortable. Yeah. And and then you're like, I'm good with this. Oh, yeah. This is great.
Speaker 1:Why why do I need to go out and have why do I have to fly somewhere? Why do I have to go meet with someone? This is great. I can balance it. But yeah, when we really look at innately as human beings, I think it's more of that connectedness.
Speaker 1:So it'll be really fascinating to see if the industry begins as a whole to shift more towards that closer sort of kinetic relationship between client and advisor. And it's interesting. I guess we'll see. I feel like we're constantly in this scientific study. But what would you say if you you know, think put yourself in the shoes of a taxpayer who is feeling a little bit stuck and unclear of, like, what they should do, whether they have a CPA that they've worked with.
Speaker 1:I have a lot of people who work with the CPA that their parents worked with, who's been in the practice for thirty plus years. They're retiring or they just feel like they've outgrown that person. Now they really don't know where to go or what to do in terms of how to find help and how to find a firm or partner that can really work closely with them? You know, what what would your advice be to someone in that position?
Speaker 2:My advice is look for the accountants who are active in your industry groups. There are. There should be some. Like, an example would be if you're a restaurateur Mhmm. Chris Maxey has a firm called Prefix Accounting
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:In Chicago. I think he's in the Chicago area. And all he does is work with restaurants, and he's a former chef. Wouldn't you wanna have that guy as your accountant? So look for or or let's say you're a musician.
Speaker 2:Look for an accountant like me who was a musician who understands you and now does accounting.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And they can be a little tricky to find. Right? It's harder. You're gonna have to do some research, but we exist. And, just even a Google search, you can find, you know, accountants who specialize in breweries, accountants who specialize in nonprofits.
Speaker 2:Yep. There's an entire a very large firm that just does nonprofits called your part time controller. So they exist. And, yeah, that's that's what I would that's what I'd recommend doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I think that's great. I mean, I I found the same to be true, and we try to connect people to those types of specialists. We do a look oversold with a lot of real estate investors. And we're seeing more and more really specific real estate focused firms because it is so unique.
Speaker 1:The complexities of investing in real estate is its own that's its own ecosphere. And, you know, I've got certain CPAs who are real estate investors themselves. So they are actively managing their own properties and investments. So they come alongside their clients and are able to really work together collaboratively. So I love that advice.
Speaker 1:I think you're spot on with that, with that focus. So, going forward, where where do you see, your path?
Speaker 2:Well, now I'm a startup founder. So pod podcaster, and that's that funds my adventure in startups. So I have the earmark app Mhmm. Which gives accountants their continuing professional education credits for listening to podcasts. Cool.
Speaker 2:Which is very different than the past when you had to go to an in person seminar or watch a webinar. Now you can listen to a podcast. It's on your phone. That's the future of education. So that's growing.
Speaker 2:People want that. That's doing well. And I don't know. Maybe someday we'll expand to other professions, other industries that have a CPE or a CE requirement and just make it easier. And we're using AI to do it.
Speaker 2:That's what keeps our costs really low. We actually have no humans who create the courses. Wow. I've created an AI workflow. Took me, like, a year to build it over time.
Speaker 2:Right? I did it myself by hand, and then I automated each piece along the way. And so the AI takes a transcript of a podcast episode and turns that into course, a course that meets all the requirements for the profession. And it does the first draft. And then I have CPAs who review the drafts and approve them and tweak them as necessary, because AI is not perfect.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But that saves us three to four hours per course, which is, like, hundreds of dollars. Mhmm. And it enables us to be the lowest cost provider in our space while also having the most courses Yeah. Of any provider in our space.
Speaker 2:We're putting out a 100 new ones every month. So that's the power of AI is automating what used to be a manual process so that you can either increase your margins or you can lower your price and compete on volume. And our goal is to take over the accounting profession. You know, we've got 25,000 users signed up now, but that could be 250,000 very easily. So that's our goal.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:So Really cool. Well, that's exciting. Well, I wish you the best of luck, and I have no doubts that you guys are gonna just take that all the way. I've been working with you for a few years, and it's just been fantastic. Your podcast is amazing, and I appreciate the insights you share.
Speaker 1:I have a lot of accountants that listen, but I have a lot of taxpayers as well. And I know this is a little different conversation, but it's really about how the changes in the accounting industry are going to impact and are impacting business owners and investors and kind of how they need to navigate some of these changes. So I think it's important to share some of the insights you have about the industry so we can all understand what's happening behind the doors. And so thank you very, very much. Where are some, resources or what's the best way for people to connect with you?
Speaker 2:So if you're interested in trying Earmark, you can go to earmark.app in your web browser, or you can get the free Earmark app on the App Store. And if you wanna follow me personally, my website is blakeoliver.com. And if you're an accountant, I just wrote a book about how to build a sustainable firm. It's based on my experience and the experience of many firm owners I've interviewed in my podcasts. And that's at blakeoliver.com/book.
Speaker 1:Nice. Perfect. Okay. Well, I will add all of those in the show notes so everyone has access and can connect with you whichever way is best for everyone. But with that, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 1:It's been awesome. I love the conversation, and I really am grateful for you joining us today.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Heidi.
Speaker 1:Blake, thank you so much for sharing your journey and your insights into where you think the accounting profession is headed. For all of you listening, I hope the conversation helps you think a little differently about what you should expect from your CPA and then how to advocate for yourself as a taxpayer and how to choose an adviser that can help you build real wealth through smarter planning and really segmented or specific knowledge that pertains to your business. Before we wrap up, a quick thank you to our sponsor, Engineered Tax Services. For twenty five years, ETS has partnered with taxpayers and CPA firms nationwide to deliver specialized services like cost segregation, R and D credits, and energy incentives. Their engineering driven approach to tax strategy helps clients capture every deduction and incentive available under the law.
Speaker 1:You'll find a link in the show notes if you wanna learn more. If you enjoyed this episode, would you please share and follow SlashTax? Leave us a review and share it with someone who wants to take control of their situation and find the right partner to strategize with. I'm Heidi Henderson. Until next time, stay informed, stay strategic, and keep slashing that tax bill.