Episode 27 — ‘The Tax One’ : Top 20 Accounting Firm Partner Cory Vargo Proves his Worth in the Boardroom

How do you make a show about tax more exciting? That is a low bar, but Paul and Patrick invited Dylan Seals to spice it up. Dylan literally hears every cough, um, and extracurricular story. The audio engineer keeps the Boardroom Buzz out of trouble. It’s interesting to hear what Dylan has picked up that Paul and Patrick have put down.

Straight out of the gate, Cory Vargo isn’t afraid to address the upcoming presidential election’s impact on taxes. How could a change in politics overhaul tax laws and the economy?

But who is Cory? Before WIPFLI became a Top 20 accounting firm, Modern Pest Services CFO, Doug Stevenson, retained Cory Vargo to break a tie between two other tax advisor opinions. What started as a job well done for the Stevenson brothers, has led to Paul involving Cory on several multi-million dollar pest control M&A transactions. It begs to ask the question : Why do PCT Top 100 companies choose to add Cory to their strategic team even after long established tax advisor relationships?

Pop quiz, Hot Shot… Paul shoots a pop quiz in Cory’s direction : “How might a taxing authority say, well, wait second, you've been in business two years. You've got a bunch of customers. You're selling those customers. They're under some sort of contract, but you want us to tax you capital gains. We want to tax you as ordinary income. Can you imagine why that would be the case?“ Does Cory’s answer meet Paul’s experienced expectations?

Creative and tax are two words not often found in the same sentence. How did Cory construct a reorganization to save a seller from paying $2.5 million in taxes?

As the episode guest count increases so has Patrick’s intrigue about CFOs. Patrick asks Cory how adding a fractional CFO adds to the bottom line, and Paul helps clarify controller and CFO roles.

Stock purchase vs asset purchase, and why. Enter Episode 5 star Tony Sfreddo’s Triple S case study. Is your pest control business currently a C-Corp and considering making a S-election? Want to avoid paying punitive fees to the IRS? Listen now.