066 Licensed to Tax (feat. Adam Markowitz, EA)

Episode 66 | Recorded March 21, 2022

Guest: Adam Markowitz, EA

Hosts: Jason Ackerman and Scott Scarano

Sponsor: Karbon - Karbon firms are connected firms - check em out at https://karbonhq.com/

Join Scott, Jason, and Adam as they talk about tax, branding, software apps, social issues, #TaxTwitter, finding your purpose, and everything in between.  Find out how Adam, a Bachelor of Arts who majored in Music and History ended up in the Tax/Accounting space and why he’s here to stay. It’s about keeping in mind what’s really important to each of us, and finding our purpose.  What’s yours?  For Adam, it’s to help out his local community and really help out those who need it the most.

3 - Dad started the business back in 1993

5 - The best thing that ever happened to me was telling me they couldn't give me an extra buck and 50 an hour.

7 - I was into sports gambling and it was a miserable, miserable crutch for a college kid who thought he knew much more about sports than he did

Shoutout to Mike Rose

8 - You're not paying me because I'm dressed in a suit. You're paying me because I've got a good brain on my shoulders

11 - A writer disguised as an accountant

13 - Having done maybe 20 returns and probably f*cked up half of them, that’s when Adam decided he’s buying into the family business

17 - I'll promise you, the name Markowitz, it ain't going to be in there anywhere. I want this business to be a lot bigger than me and I want this business to live on a lot longer

Shoutout to AJ Campo

21 - How the f*ck do we think we're going to help these people when we don't offer them any help?

Shoutout to Netflix, Adam Project, WeCrashed, Adam Newman, TV+

25 - Does any accountant or tax preparer love themselves on March 21st?

Shoutout to Karbon

28 - Why is Adam using Karbon? It keeps his team on task and its automators are absolutely the secret sauce

29 - Adam and his dad’s only argument in the 15 years they’ve been working together was overpaying him

Shoutout to Jim Costello

32 - #TaxTwitter

Shoutout to Kelly Phillips Erb aka @taxgirl, Jason Staats aka @jstaatscpa, Andrea @andreacpa0, Ed Zollars aka @edzollars, Glen Birnbaum

38 - So what really is an EA?

Shoutout to Drake Software, KanyeTax, EasyACCT

42 - Adam’s horrible confession re: general ledger

Shoutout to Intuit QuickBooks, Xero

44 - By doing the actual manual entry, even though it took more time, I have a lot better understanding about what the client has going on in their business

49 - 2020 was about helping everyone, 2021 was about survival, and 2022 is about the last push of growth

53 - We’re headed to a firm that is going to be less about me and more about the community

57 - What is your purpose?

60 - Adam’s advice? treat the person on the other side of the table like they’re your grandmother