Learning Objectives

• Identify core steps that strengthen financial readiness for growth capital.
• Apply forecasting methods that support fast and unpredictable startup environments.
• Evaluate investor expectations using clear metrics and aligned internal planning.
• Recognize financial blind spots that limit scaling or delay funding.
• Build finance processes that integrate reporting, technology, and strategic planning.

What does it take for a high-growth startup to build financial systems that attract investors and support true scale? This CPE Episode opens by exploring the real pressures founders face as they move from early traction to serious capital needs. The conversation examines why financial clarity becomes a competitive edge, how unpredictable growth demands stronger planning, and why investors are increasingly focused on readiness rather than ambition. Listeners get an inside look at the common pitfalls around cash flow, forecasting, and market positioning that can derail even promising companies.

The discussion centers on insights from Janelle Gorman, CFO at York IE, whose background in public accounting, corporate finance, M&A, and high-growth advisory shapes a practical view of what scalable finance requires. She explains the mistakes startups make when preparing for funding, the financial metrics leaders must monitor, and the internal structures needed before approaching investors. Her experience highlights how disciplined reporting, aligned operations, and a thoughtful tech stack can strengthen credibility and reduce the chaos that often comes with rapid expansion.

Learning Objectives

• Identify operational drivers behind burnout in professional service firms.
• Analyze leadership behaviors that limit effective delegation and team ownership.
• Differentiate management tasks from true leadership responsibilities in firms.
• Evaluate holistic operating models for improving engagement and performance.
• Assess future leadership expectations facing accounting and advisory firm owners.

What if burnout in accounting firms is not a people problem at all, but an operating system failure? This CPE Episode takes a hard look at why professional service firms keep hitting the same walls around talent, delegation, and leadership, even as workloads and expectations rise. Instead of quick fixes or surface level perks, the conversation centers on how deeper operational design and leadership clarity shape whether firms scale sustainably or slowly grind down their best people.

In this Episode, Chase Damiano joins the conversation to unpack these challenges through the lens of operations and leadership development. Chase has worked across consulting, entrepreneurship, and professional services, bringing experience from Accenture, building a business from scratch, and advising firms through his work at Human at Scale. His focus is practical, helping accounting, tax, and wealth management firms rethink how workflows and decisions get made, and leaders show up when growth creates strain.

Learning Objectives

• Explain why transfer pricing directly affects global tax risk and cash outcomes.
• Compare IRS and OECD transfer pricing frameworks and their core structural differences.
• Identify key compliance challenges under dual IRS and OECD transfer pricing systems.
• Analyze how OECD Pillar Two interacts with existing transfer pricing strategies.
• Evaluate practical steps firms can take to prepare for upcoming global tax changes.

Is transfer pricing just a technical tax exercise, or a strategic lever that can move millions across borders? In a world where global businesses operate under two competing standards, the IRS on one side and the OECD on the other, transfer pricing has become a high-stake balancing act. This Episode digs into why transfer pricing matters now more than ever, how historical policy choices created today’s split frameworks, and what happens when companies misjudge the line between compliance and strategy. From audit exposure to real cash tax outcomes, the discussion grounds abstract rules in practical consequences firms face every day.

Carl Budenski, Tax Partner and Transfer Pricing Leader at Aprio, brings a practitioner’s lens to this complex terrain. Drawing from decades of advising multinational and mid-market companies, he explains how U.S. and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) transfer pricing regimes evolved along different philosophical paths, and why that divergence creates friction for modern businesses. Carl also unpacks how companies document, defend, and sometimes rethink their pricing models when operating across jurisdictions, especially as new global tax initiatives approach.