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Ian Vacin shared thisKicking off Advisory Amplified in Minneapolis today with Aider Karbon's Twyla Verhelst, CPA speaking about AI to amplify the human. Always love listening and learning from Twyla Verhelst, CPA.
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Ian Vacin shared thisDay 2 of the #ScalingWithPurpose live workshop in Dallas with Jason M. Blumer, CPA and I is underway. We are working through Accountability Charts, Team Structure Capacity Charts, Leadership, Delegation, and Operational Management Rhythms. Thanks again to Thriveal and Karbon for the sponsorship and support!
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Ian Vacin shared thisJason M. Blumer, CPA and I kick off the first #ScaleWithPurpose live workshop later tonight here in Dallas. 2.5 days of education, exercises and firm building with our first cohort. We are super excited to welcome everyone. Key word for the workshop, book, and firms is "with" as firms are powered by and with human capital. Appreciate both Karbon and Thriveal sponsorship and supporting the workshop!
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Ian Vacin shared thisThe Karbon team is growing and we're looking for people who want to have meaningful impact with a team that actually enjoys working together. At Karbon, we’re building something special. Not just great software (we’re #1 on G2 for 20 quarters in a row), but a culture where people are supported, challenged, and given real opportunities to grow. It’s fast-paced, collaborative, and full of smart people who care. If you’re someone who likes solving real problems, working closely with customers, and being part of a team that’s scaling with intention, then apply here to join our implementation team, either full-time or even in part-time contractor positions. Our open roles (see in the comments below) sit right at the intersection of people, process, and technology. It’s a chance to make a tangible difference every day while building skills that will accelerate your career. We’re remote, we’re global, and we’re just getting started. Come join the Karbon Team!
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Ian Vacin shared thisExcited to have Jason M. Blumer, CPA from Thriveal and myself from Karbon featured and interviewed by Liz Farr on CPA Trendlines in respect to our Scale with Purpose book. We covered a lot of the concepts in-depth from the first half of the book. I loved how Liz really digs in deep on a few of the concepts. Check out the full interview at: https://lnkd.in/eQUvukg3Blumer, Vacin: What Only 5% of Firms Get Right | Disruptors - CPA TrendlinesBlumer, Vacin: What Only 5% of Firms Get Right | Disruptors - CPA Trendlines
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Ian Vacin shared thisThis week, we launched Karbon's newest report: The Future of Client Trust in the Age of AI. This report dives deep into what 350 small business owners actually think about their accountant, their trust in the relationship, and where AI fits into it. The headline finding is that TRUST is the foundation for deciding which accountant they work with. Client advocacy sits at a +49 Net Promoter Score, which is on par with some of the most admired brands globally. This is a must read for the accounting profession. It’s proof of what your clients truly value, what they’re actually paying for and would happily pay more for, and it gives you a clear answer to hold onto as AI changes more of the work. At the end of the day, the relationship is the thing they remember, and the relationship is the thing they’ll describe when asked about their accountant. Grab your copy via the link in the comments.
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Ian Vacin shared thisIt was a pleasure talking with Frank A. Tumminello in conjunction with the recent release of the FileForms integration with Karbon. We discussed the impact of PE and AI on the profession and the importance of compliance (and advisory) with client relationships. Check out our chat in the comments.Ian Vacin shared thisBig news for every accounting firm running on Karbon. FileForms now integrates directly with Karbon. Entity compliance — annual reports, registered agent, formations, foreign qualifications — now lives inside the practice management system your team is already in every day. No more bolting compliance onto a spreadsheet and hoping someone remembers the deadlines. Here's the thing: we did not ship an integration just because it's technically possible. It has to actually make firms and their clients better off. So before we launched, I sat down with Ian Vacin, co-founder of Karbon, and pressure-tested exactly that. The conversation went somewhere I didn't expect. We started on workflow — one system instead of four, no more re-keying entity data across different documents, different email boxes, different logins. But Ian pushed it further, to firm valuation. When compliance stops being a twice-a-year fire drill and becomes a visible, managed, recurring service line — it doesn't just reduce risk. It changes what the firm is worth. Predictable revenue. Cleaner data. A defensible reason clients stay. That's the part most firm leaders aren't thinking about yet. And it's the reason this partnership matters more than a typical "we integrated with X" announcement. If your firm runs on Karbon and compliance still feels like the thing nobody owns — this is for you. Full 28-minute conversation with Ian is in the comments. Worth the watch if you're thinking about where your firm's value actually comes from. And if you want to see the integration live, I'll walk you through it. Link's in the comments too. #Karbon #CPA #AccountingFirms #Compliance #PracticeManagement #FirmValuation #FileForms
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Ian Vacin shared thisHave you read our book, Scale with Purpose? It's a resource guide for scaling a service firm. Jason M. Blumer, CPA, my coauthor from Karbon, and I are putting the book's teaching into practice in a live workshop September 21 - 23, 2026 in Dallas, TX. The early bird discount ends this week on June 30th, and the tickets are 33% off for just 40 service firm owners that are scaling (almost half of the tickets are already taken). This is not a slide deck teaching moment, it's a workshop to build these efforts in your own firm. Comment RESOURCES and I'll send you the link to the spreadsheet resources online that you can start using now!
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Ian Vacin shared thisAfter spending the last few weeks at AICPA Engage and Scaling New Heights, I heard attendees say: "We know we should be doing more advisory. We just can't get out of the weeds." In many cases, the weeds are payroll. Not because payroll is poorly run. Because the operational model around it hasn't changed. Data still has to be chased. Entry is typically happening twice. Deadlines may live in a separate system from everything else. The result is a team that's fully capable of advising clients on compensation strategy, cash flow, and workforce planning, but too consumed by coordination to do it. This isn't a skills problem. It's a workflow problem. And workflow problems have solutions. This Thursday, Karbon's Joe Carufe and Gusto's Colleen Oates are sitting down with two firm leaders who are further down this road: Melissa K. Diaz, CPA, CRO at High Rock Accounting, and Melissa Stout, Founder of Milestone Business Solutions Inc. We'll talk about how they made the transition from payroll execution to payroll-anchored advisory, and walk through what the Karbon + Gusto integration actually looks like in a live client workflow. Removing the data chase changes what your team is capable of doing. If you're running payroll services today and wondering whether advisory is realistic for your firm, this is webinar you shouldn't miss. Join us: Thursday, June 25 | 10:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM CT Registration link in the comments.
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Ian Vacin liked thisIan Vacin liked thisLast week I had the honor and the privilege of attending and presenting at Advisory Amplified in Raleigh and Nashville. PHX people! We are going to be there next Tuesday. Come hangout with me. I had a lot of fun presenting the opening keynote (thank you Twyla Verhelst, CPA and Karbon for the opportunity). I loved the panel conversations we had about tax technology (thank you TaxFigure for sponsoring)! I enjoyed my time with Madeline Reeves and the Fearless Foundry team, Tony Proctor, EA, Lynnette Oss Connell, Valerie Heckman, ❤️🖤💚Nayo Carter-Gray, EA MBA, 🌟Sherrell T. Martin, Enya Spicer, Ian Vacin, Jacob Schroeder, CPA, Kelly Gonsalves, Nancy McClelland CPA, MAFM, and more. I appreciated my conversation and time with Jeff Drew post event. Our academic debates always bring me joy. I forgot to take pictures. Please friends, add your pictures below!! And call me out if I missed tagging you. Friday I will be in Boulder. Next week in Phoenix and Seattle. Join us! Use code TAXFIGURE for 20% off. https://lnkd.in/dZQBtJxJ
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Ian Vacin liked thisIan Vacin liked this“We know we need to be leveraging AI, but where do we even start?” is a question Karbon CEO Mary Delaney hears often. After speaking with Bridgepoint Alliance CEO Daniel Astrachan and drawing on his experience evaluating dozens of firm acquisitions, it’s become clear that Mary and Dan have both been working around the same insight 👇 The ROI from AI is measurable today, and success can be mapped in three distinct phases: 1️⃣ Start with what’s in front of you 2️⃣ Build the foundation 3️⃣ Unlock the intelligence layer Swipe through or dive into each phase here: https://lnkd.in/eUvZ2vbG
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Ian Vacin liked thisIan Vacin liked thisStanfordTax and Karbon work best when you integrate them! Check out how to put them in action!
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Ian Vacin liked thisIan Vacin liked thisHeaded to SanFran for Gusto Next! I get to share the incredible things Ben Curtis, CPA and the Good Measure team has built with AI. We spent the last nine months learning from the best in the space and applying real value to our firm and to our clients. - Overhauled our Website that is Ai Crawl friendly with the help of a very👌 Agent - Coded our own metrics dashboard/app that shows profitability, trends, and AI insights - Built our "second brain" and GitHub repository for our many Anthropic Claude Skillz - Created a pricing and proposal agent to speed up our sales process - Launched numerous outbound agents targeting our ideal client - Weaseled our way into AI beta programs with the world's best software players But it's more than just what we built... it's what we LEARNED and what mistakes we made along the way and how we envisioned the team to learn AI, and why we felt it was important to invest early vs sitting back and watching. Excited to be on stage with Jason Staats, CPA Tyler Otto 👀 MBA and Echo Zhong. Hope to see you there!
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Ian Vacin liked thisIan Vacin liked thisHuge thanks to Karbon for inviting me along to the Accounting Excellence Awards last night. Fabulous venue and clearly our industry is doing some great things for the future. Thanks Simon Kisitu and Kundai Denga for hosting me. #ae26
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Ian Vacin liked thisIan Vacin liked thisGrove Tax now integrates directly with Intuit ProConnect Tax. It's live, and it's available exclusively on Grove. 🤝 Too many tax products are closing themselves off. The ProConnect team is doing the opposite, and they're setting the standard for what an open, firm-first platform looks like. Huge thanks to them for partnering with us. What it means for firms: → Connect ProConnect to Grove in minutes → Import your 1040 clients and their prior-year returns → Start the season with checklists built from last year's return Having led product for Lacerte and ProConnect at Intuit, I know how much it matters when your tools work together. This is what that looks like. And we're just getting started: Grove AI Return Prep for ProConnect is coming soon. Link in the comments 👇 #TaxPros #AccountingTech #ProConnect #Intuit
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Ian Vacin liked thisIan Vacin liked thisHalfway through the tour with Advisory Amplified 2026. You're next: 📍 Boulder, CO - October 2 📍 Phoenix, AZ - October 6 📍 Seattle, WA - October 9 If you're at any of these stops, don't miss out and get your ticket with code 'KARBON' 🙌 https://lnkd.in/gphmnukD One day. 100 accounting leaders. Tangible takeaways on building an advisory practice. From cashflow conversations to unlocking capacity in your team. Plus CPE credits. Aider Spotlight Reporting 3motion OnPay Relay COUNT BILL 🔴 Vinyl StanfordTax TaxFigure Cloud Accountant Staffing Expensify Kick TeamUp #AdvisoryAmplified #AdvisoryAmplified2026 #AdvisoryAccounting #AccountingCommunity #FutureOfAccounting
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Ian Vacin liked thisIan Vacin liked thisNASHVILLE. YOU ROCKED. Stop two of the 2026 Advisory Amplified tour is in the books, and this room BROUGHT it. To everyone who came: thank you for making Nashville what it was. You didn't just show up. You showed OUT. 🤘 And a big thank you to our Hometown Host, Nashville Roadies, Emcee and Podcast Host: 🌟Sherrell T. Martin, Kelly Gonsalves, Jacob Schroeder, CPA, Felicia Tanzi, Tony Proctor, EA, Randy Crabtree, CPA, Hope Brown, MSA, Lynnette Oss Connell, Martin Kamenski, and Nancy McClelland CPA, MAFM Next up: MINNEAPOLIS 🎸 If watching this made you feel a little FOMO, there's still time to grab a seat at one of our remaining stops → https://lnkd.in/gGsU3638 See you on the road 🤘 #AdvisoryAmplified #AdvisoryAmplified2026 #AdvisoryAccounting #AccountingCommunity #FutureOfAccounting
Experience & Education
Licenses & Certifications
Volunteer Experience
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Varsity & JV girls softball head coach (and assistant tennis coach)
Irvington High School
- Present 3 years 9 months
Education
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Board member, head coach, umpire, scheduler and player agent
Warm Springs Little League
- Present 13 years 2 months
Children
Since 2013, I have been a head coach and manager for 10 years coaching baseball teams from T-ball through Juniors levels. Since 2018, I have been a board member for the league with responsibilities including league scheduler, plate umpire, player agent and Chief Player Agent.
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Outdoor Coordinator
BSA TROOP 152
- Present 6 years 2 months
Children
I support the Boys Scouts of America (BSA) boys (Troop 152) and girls (Troop 2152) in the capacity of Outdoor Coordinator. I research, recommend, book and ensure success of all outdoor activities for the troops.
Patents
Projects
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Karbon Practice Excellence Creator/Researcher/Lecturer at Karbon (2017 - present)
Researched, created, iterated, analyzed and taught the Karbon Practice Excellence methodology, assessment, survey and bi-annual results for Karbon. The Practice Excellence is now considered a core assessment tool by accounting firms across the globe and one of the only long-standing assessment and research vehicles focused on the profession providing valuable insights to accountants and vendors that serve them.
Learn more at:
- Methodology:…Researched, created, iterated, analyzed and taught the Karbon Practice Excellence methodology, assessment, survey and bi-annual results for Karbon. The Practice Excellence is now considered a core assessment tool by accounting firms across the globe and one of the only long-standing assessment and research vehicles focused on the profession providing valuable insights to accountants and vendors that serve them.
Learn more at:
- Methodology: karbonhq.com/resources/the-making-of-the-karbon-practice-excellence-scorecard/
- Assessment & survey: https://karbonhq.typeform.com/to/Nrd8E7
- Recent results: karbonhq.com/resources/2022-practice-excellence-report/ -
Karbon Academy Creator/Lecturer at Karbon (2018-2019)
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Built and taught a 4 course, 24 lecture series (plus 24 discussion sessions) that provided ~50 paying accountants a customized, accountant-specific MBA education covering practice strategy, efficiency, growth and management. The Karbon Academy generated over $50k, resulted in over 50 hours of recorded lectures, garnered a 78 NPS score, included 12 industry thought leaders as co-lecturers, and became the foundation for Karbon's rich content at https://karbonhq.com/resources/
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Accounting & Small Business Industry Segmentation at Xero (2014-2015)
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From years of experience serving the accounting profession, developed a comprehensive segmentation of both the small business and accounting markets that are used throughout many tech companies that serve the accounting profession today. That segmentation has been used (and still used) at Xero and Karbon, to teach employees on how to understand the audiences they serve and provide a method to quickly identify, understand and take action with their prospects and/or customers.
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Rotational Development Program (RDP) Curriculum and Teacher at Intuit (2004-2007)
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As the first Rotational Development Program (RDP) pilot member at the post-grad school level, developed Intuit's undergraduate RDP program including the curriculum, mentorship, rotations, and placement that resulted in a dozen or so undergraduates per year joining Intuit and participating in a multi-year development program that generated many of the future leaders at Intuit and in the tech industry.
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GMAT Lecturer at Kaplan, Inc. (2002)
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Spent a summer teaching classes of ~20 students for GMAT prep prior to attending graduate school myself.
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Industrial Engineering Lecturer at University of California, Berkeley (2000-2001)
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Taught “Visual Basic Programming for Engineers” for two school years at the University of California, Berkeley Industrial Engineering department with a focus on industrial engineering and algorithmic programming. It included an extended lecture and lab.
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Industrial Engineering Researcher at University of California, Berkeley (1997-1998)
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Researched the possibilities of arbitrage in financial markets for Professor Adler at the University of California, Berkeley Industrial Engineering department.
Honors & Awards
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Amazon #1 Best Selling Book (Services Industry)
Amazon.com
Within the first week, Amazon recognized "Scale with Purpose: The Service Entrepreneur's Guide to Intentional Growth" as a #1 Best Seller in the Services Industry category, a top 20 Best Seller in the Human Resources & Personnel Management category, and a top 100 Best Seller in the Entrepreneurship category. Learn more at: https://www.amazon.com/Scale-Purpose-Service-Entrepreneurs-Intentional/dp/1774585634
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2016 20 Under 40 Professional Superstars
CPA Practice Advisor
CPA Practice Advisor recognizes 20 Under 40 Superstars (helping shape the profession from the outside), who are young leaders helping advance the profession through their roles in technology, education, consulting and firm development.
http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/note/12258099/ian-vacin-mba-mem-2016-20-under-40-superstars-honoree -
2013 Marketers That Matter™ Award (Global Integration | Small Company category)
The Sage Group (in partnership with the Wall Street Journal)
Launched by The Sage Group and sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, the Marketers That Matter award recognizes the leading Bay Area marketers that are on the forefront.
The Marketers That Matter award recognizes exceptional marketers who are transforming consumer engagement, utilizing big data, and impacting product definition by implementing creative and successful marketing strategies and tactics to create measurable results. Finalists included senior marketers from some of the Bay…Launched by The Sage Group and sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, the Marketers That Matter award recognizes the leading Bay Area marketers that are on the forefront.
The Marketers That Matter award recognizes exceptional marketers who are transforming consumer engagement, utilizing big data, and impacting product definition by implementing creative and successful marketing strategies and tactics to create measurable results. Finalists included senior marketers from some of the Bay Area's most well-known brands alongside marketers from fast-growing, up-and-coming companies that span a number of industries.
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/sage-group-reveal-winners-first-annual-marketers-that-matter-award-sponsored-the-wall-1783412.htm
Languages
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English
Native or bilingual proficiency
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Spanish
Limited working proficiency
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Hindi
Elementary proficiency
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