U.S. accounting is changing fast. Offshoring, AI, and private equity are reshaping careers in real time.

Mario Castro joins me to pull back the curtain on what firms won’t say out loud: hollowed training pipelines, billable-hour games, delayed start dates, and why the partner “cruise ship” may never come back to the dock for seniors and MDs.

We also cover some paths that do work – well as Mario’s journey to accounting and how his career has evolved from those beginnings.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Teaser

0:55 - Meet Mario

3:12 - The difficulty of the ‘first venture’

6:58 - What made Mario go out on his own

12:01 - Offshoring

18:24 - How do we fix hollowed-out pipelines?

27:45 - Mario’s take on billable hours

33:53 - Work stress and the grind starting out

40:12 - The realities of moving to tax (and your own firm)

41:24 - Mario’s take on private equity

50:52 - Why forward-thinking boutiques can win

51:30 - Closing thoughts and 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 MARIO CASTRO

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

Website: https://castrocpas.com/

From “BDO to builder” to launching a platform for entrepreneurial CPAs.

Marcus Rien joins Yuri to unpack public vs. private realities, the 150/120 debate, and why the profession’s future depends on changing the narrative and the model.

We get into his journey, the creation of Waves CPAs—a marketplace + back office for CPAs who want flexibility and ownership—and how PE roll-ups, AI, and small-city growth are reshaping opportunities.

Marcus also shares the story behind his motto “Belief Inspires Success” and how this mentality levels up CPAs and non-CPAs alike.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Introduction

0:35 - Episode beginning, meet Marcus

10:24 - Moving from public to private

13:23 - Marcus’ take on the talent shortage

18:20 - Lack of ‘direct ROI’

19:58 - A more flexible path

28:26 - Is there a tax component to ‘Waves’?

31:03 - Client and talent distribution and how ‘PE’ factors in

35:20 - Belief inspires success

40:54 - More about Marcus (and more about ‘Waves’)

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 MARCUS RIEN

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-rien/

Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-rien/

In today's episode we do a deep dive into buying and selling accounting firms with Daniel Talbott

Daniel is the owner of RightExit helping firms sell and helping buyers find the right match when it comes to their firm purchase.

If you are considering starting your accounting entrepreneurship journey and are not sure if you should buy an accounting firm this is the episode for you where we cover so much about the journey

✅How to value an accounting firm?

✅What it takes to buy a firm?

✅Which SBA programs are out there?

✅Should I build a firm or should I buy a firm?

✅So much more