The six-figure CPA working under 40 hours

Accounting can be fun, and Yuri Kapilovich, CPA, is here to prove it. Known online as #thefunCPA, Yuri has built a solo firm that meets his lifestyle goals, not a multimillion-dollar revenue goal. And believe it or not, this perspective began while working at a Big 4 firm in Miami that showed him how the right culture directly impacts how enjoyable work can be.

—Interview by Lauren Ward, edited by Bianca Prieto

Tell us about your professional journey in accounting and how you launched your own firm. 

My accounting journey spans about 15 years, starting with some turbulence, initially with an offer that got pushed back a year in 2010. That forced me to get my master’s while interning. After an internship at RSM McGladrey and CBIZ, I started my first truly full-time job at EY Miami (I moved there to be closer to my girlfriend, now my wife, who was going to school). 

Those years in Miami truly shaped me because that experience at a Big 4 with some of the best people in the profession really stood out to me. That office, while being a Big 4, had a very fun vibe where everyone was collaborative, and this really made me enjoy those first four formidable years. 

After that, we moved back to New Jersey, and I started my firm after working at a firm for 1.5 years. I switched because I just couldn't find the best place to call home and make partner at. That was always the goal, but it just seemed like I could not find that in any firm that I worked at, so after four more firms, I launched my own firm, started posting on LinkedIn and started (completely unintentionally) building a brand that grew to be #thefunCPA. And now here we are!

Accounting has traditionally been viewed as a fairly conservative profession. How do you bring your personality into your practice without sacrificing credibility?

Such a great question here, especially that last part about sacrificing credibility. I think that a lot of the time we tell ourselves that we cannot just be ourselves because of this, that and the other. We worry about how it is perceived when, in reality, people want to talk to people with personalities. People crave social interaction and having a relationship with someone who isn't just all about the business and nothing else.

Simply put, I do not know how to be anything else other than personable because that is just me. If a prospective client isn't a fan, that usually means we won't be a good fit.

You talk about building a lifestyle firm rather than scaling while working 90 hours/week. What were the first concrete decisions you made to align your business with that philosophy?

I want to be very clear that nothing I did in the early days was very intentional to get here. For me, I was supposed to buy out an accounting practice for $100K, which would have jump-started my firm ownership journey, but that deal fell through five days after giving notice. So to course correct, I ended up picking up a contracting gig for $75 an hour and 20 to 30 hours a week (depending on the time of year).

What this did was give me income to float through and not feel like I have to pick up each and every client that comes across my "desk." This gave me the flexibility to pick and choose who I wanted to work with, and that is how I was able to build a firm with high-paying clients who valued my time. I slowly built up the book of business while having the contracting gig and not stressing about pure income, just about the right fit. As we speak today, I only have 87 clients and, in 2026, I will gross $320K while never working over 40 hours a week.

 Tax season chaos is often seen as unavoidable in the industry. What boundaries have you intentionally put in place to protect your time and family?

My main boundary is making sure I never work over 40 hours a week. That is my north star because I want to be there for my family and because the schedule just shakes out that way. Having the right fit clients means that they understand this and are respectful of my time.

No one is yelling, no one is demanding and everyone understands that their work will get done in due time. Sometimes there are friction points, and I evaluate whether that friction point is something that means disengagement or something we can talk through. This has, of course, happened over the years because nothing is ever perfect.

For firm owners (or aspiring ones) who equate success with constant expansion, what would you say about redefining success on your own terms?

I am never one to claim that one way is better than another. Everyone has their path, and if someone seeks to scale and get to $10M in revenue, I have nothing but respect for that grind. I talk to firm owners constantly, and I know that the grind to get there is real. The hours that need to be put in on the front-end to build systems, processes, workflows and teams to get to a place where the owner isn't working in the business takes grit and so much hard, hard work. 

For me, personally, that isn't the goal. My goal is to build a firm around my lifestyle and not work crazy hours. So to answer the question, I think every firm owner, as they start their journey, needs to look inward to what is important to them. If they are driven to build teams, create scale and become the next regional or midsize firm, they should go full steam ahead. But what is SUPER important to me is that people reading this don't go chasing a dream that isn't theirs because someone on LinkedIn said that this is how it should be.

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The Net Gains is curated and written by Lauren Ward and edited by Bianca Prieto.