Becker Accounting Podcasts

AI isn’t just changing accounting workflows—it’s changing what clients need most from their advisors. As part of a five-part series, Heather Esposito joins us to reframe the fear of “being replaced” into a powerful question: what makes you irreplaceably human? She shares why anxiety shuts down good decision-making, how accountants can shift from having all the answers to navigating uncertainty wit...

In this episode of a five-part series, Chris Mitchell and leadership coach Heather Esposito unpack why technical excellence alone isn’t enough—and how “relationship is the container for the product.” They explore the difference between being likable and being trusted, why professional distance can be fear-based, and how real advisory work requires psychological safety, vulnerability, and strong bo...

Heather Esposito, founder of Movora Strategies, joins us as part of a five-part series to explain why accountants are wired for a “compliance mindset”—certainty, patterns, fast answers—and why today’s uncertainty demands an “advisory mindset” rooted in curiosity, presence, and better questions. She and host Chris Mitchell explore how identity, stress, and workplace rewards keep us stuck, and how h...

Most firms train their people to be trusted advisors — and then wonder why nothing changes. Heather Esposito joins us as part of a five-part series to unpack the gap between learning in a room and doing in the real world. She dives into the neuroscience of habit, why your environment controls your behavior more than any training ever will, and how to finally measure ROI on development. If you're s...

In this episode of Tax News Now, Mark Gallegos and his guest, Chris Wittich, Partner at Boyum, discuss key lessons learned from navigating the PPP and ERC landscape as well as the evolving role of CPAs as trusted advisors beyond traditional compliance work. The episode also explores the future of the profession through the lens of AI integration, talent retention, work-life balance, and the critic...

Clients may ask for answers—but in today’s uncertain, fast-changing environment, they’re often looking for something more: a calm, credible guide. As part of a five-part series, host Chris Mitchell interviews Heather Esposito - CPA, ICF-credentialed coach, and founder of Movora Strategies - on how accountants can shift from “problem-solver” to trusted advisor. Heather shares how to navigate comple...

Heather Esposito’s career path is anything but linear: from special education to earning six Mary Kay career cars (including the Pink Cadillac), rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, and rising into leadership development at major companies—before returning to accounting, earning her CPA later in life, and launching two businesses. In this interview, she shares how curiosity, resilience, and lifelon...

Veteran CPA and former healthcare CFO Melvin Alexander joins host Chris Mitchell to unpack what makes healthcare finance uniquely challenging—and surprisingly mission-driven. They dive into how reimbursement really works, why consolidation keeps reshaping hospitals, and how labor, inflation, and technology pressures are squeezing margins. Melvin also explains what “complex accounting events” look...

In this episode of Tax News Now, Mark Gallegos and his guest, Brandon Lagarde of Eisner Advisory Group LLC, explore the rapidly evolving tax landscape surrounding two major money-in-sports trends: the explosion of legalized sports gambling and the rise of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) income for college athletes. The discussion covers key compliance issues practitioners need to understand, inclu...

AI isn’t just a tech upgrade—it’s rewriting budgets, internal controls, and even how long leadership has to make decisions. In this episode, Dr. Sean Stein Smith breaks down what’s changed fast, why traditional GAAP reporting struggles with AI’s intangible commitments, and how investors and executives alike can cut through hype by focusing on cash flow and footnotes. Join us for a practical, finan...

What does a Big 4-trained CPA have in common with stilt-walkers and viral baseball? Dr. Tim Naddy breaks down how he went from public accounting to academia, entrepreneurship, and ultimately CFO of the Savannah Bananas—where games are full-blown shows and every decision is filtered through a “does this make it better for the fan?” mindset. He also discusses trusted-advisor skills, why creatives ne...

Thinking about leaving a traditional finance or accounting role? Britt Clark joins host Mike Potenza to explain how he went from earning his CPA a decade into his career to becoming a corporate controller to leading FP&A at Aflac—then making the leap into fractional CFO work. He breaks down how he landed his first clients, why relationships beat cold marketing, and how to set boundaries so the...

In this episode of Tax News Now, Mark Gallegos and his guest, Terry Lemons, Public Relations Director at Frost Law and former Communications and Liaison Chief at the Internal Revenue Service, takes listeners inside the IRS, exploring how the agency is structured, how it operates, and what really happens when major tax legislation gets passed and implemented. Topics covered include the IRS's intern...

This episode is a true case study of a cannabis operator that looked “buttoned up” on paper—SOPs, cameras, and compliance staff—until regulators showed up. What began as a routine, anonymous mold complaint escalated when inspectors found predated sanitation logs and started pulling supporting records. The deeper they looked, the more control gaps surfaced: no documented monthly inventory counts, f...

What if the biggest risk in your firm isn’t a technical accounting issue—but a quiet licensing and mobility misstep you didn’t know you were making? In this episode, CPA QualityPro CEO Lindsay Patterson shares how she went from journalism to the AICPA, earned her CPA while working full-time and raising kids, and then built a platform to help firms stay compliant across 55 jurisdictions. You’ll hea...

Rescheduling could be the biggest tax shake-up the cannabis industry has ever seen—but the hype may be ahead of the facts. In this interview, CPA Bruce Andersen explains what President Trump’s recent executive order actually does (and doesn’t do), why 280E relief isn’t immediate, and how operators should plan spending, depreciation, and estimated payments while the industry waits for agencies—and...

In this episode of Balancing the Future, marketing leader Toi Eshun shares how purpose-led organizations can build trust, sharpen their identity, and inspire action through strategic branding. She breaks down the “science” of marketing—psychology, data, and audience insight—alongside the creative craft of messaging and visuals. Using examples from nonprofit work and the accounting profession, Toi...

In this episode Mark Gallegos, Tax Partner at Porte Brown, and his guest, Mark “Coach” Mirsky of Aprio, LLP, discuss Mark’s career path towards becoming a trusted advisor known for a coaching-first mindset. The conversation then goes deep on partnerships and other flow-through entities: why they’re so often misunderstood, the common compliance red flags, and how advisors can add real value by thin...

Former Ole Miss offensive lineman Christopher Cola shares how football shaped his career in accounting and beyond. He discusses how lessons from the trenches—preparation, teamwork, and consistency—carried him through public accounting, the CPA Exam, and a wide-ranging business career. Today, he teaches, writes, and advises student-athletes navigating NIL and financial literacy. Cola connects “doin...

In this foundational interview, Clint Hangebrauck—Managing Director of Enterprise Risk Management and Internal Audit at the NCAA— offers a behind-the-scenes look at how college sports are protected as sports betting grows nationwide. He explains why prop bets heighten integrity and athlete well-being risks, how the NCAA partners on education and monitoring, and what’s being done to address harassm...

Brian Williams, CEO and founder of Perspectivity, joins host Chris Mitchell to share how childhood labels and the Silicon Valley grind shaped his mission to create authentic change. He recounts battling “head trash,” walking away from tech’s 24/7 culture for family, and the white-knuckle leap into entrepreneurship. Williams breaks down the power of perspective, the four F’s—faith, family, finance,...

In this episode Mark Gallegos, Tax Partner at Porte Brown, and his guest, Andrew Leonard, focus on practical international tax awareness for CPAs, emphasizing how cross-border issues often surface unexpectedly through foreign investments, gifts, or life events. They highlight core compliance and penalty risks (including information reporting), how to ask better client questions to uncover exposure...

Host Mike Potenza sits down with Kathy Johnson, who shares her story of parlaying a high-school accounting class into a dynamic 25-year career. Growing up in small-town Texas, she rose from newspaper bookkeeper to VP of FP&A before reinventing herself as a forensic accountant and expert witness with JS Held, LLC and educator. As past chair of CalCPA and an AICPA judiciary instructor, Johnson c...

In this episode of Balancing the Future, host Chris Mitchell sits down with Edmund Green—once a homeless Philadelphia teen, now founder and CEO of Parlinum Consulting. Green recounts how library days, the Air Force, night-school accounting classes and mentors propelled him from inner-city uncertainty to Big Eight partner and entrepreneurial risk-management authority. He shares candid lessons on re...

Mark Koziel, president and CEO of the AICPA, joins host Mike Potenza to break down the state of the profession, including alternate pathways to licensure, the RISE 2040 vision, and how AI will reshape work while creating assurance and controls opportunities. They tackle offshoring, ESG’s evolving rules, CPA mobility and title usage, talent and inclusion, and career advice for students—from critica...