Good Neighbor Podcast Live

Your CPA Can Save You From The Expensive Lawyer

• Garfield Bowen & CPA Seth Kamens

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Most people think taxes are a once-a-year chore. We think they’re one of the most powerful levers for building a healthier business—if you get advice before the deadline crunch. Garfield sits down with CPA Seth Kamens of Kamens & Associates to unpack how a service-first mindset turned a one-person startup into a multi-thousand-client practice, and why the real value of a great accountant shows up long before a return is filed.

Seth takes us from big-firm halls to the grit of a ground-up launch, sharing how an early health scare pushed him toward work with more meaning. He breaks down the line between compliance and advisory work, clarifying where DIY tax software is perfectly fine and where it can quietly cost you—think entity selection, retirement plan design, stock options, and timing of purchases or payments. We dig into reputation in fiduciary work, the discipline of fast, clear communication, and the practical systems that make small firms feel accessible while still delivering big-firm technical depth.

For entrepreneurs and solopreneurs priced out of national firms yet underserved by mom-and-pop shops, this conversation offers a roadmap: treat your CPA like a year-round advisor, not a form processor. Seth shares why contacting your accountant during slow periods can open better options, reduce stress, and create measurable savings. We also explore his entrepreneurial side—ideas for an educational show with his market-researcher wife, the realities of time and family, and upcoming services designed to meet clients where they are.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re leaving money on the table or waiting too long to ask for help, this is your nudge to get proactive. Listen, share with a business owner who needs it, and subscribe to get more candid conversations that help you run smarter. If you enjoyed this, leave a review and tell us the one tax question you want answered next.

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Garfield Bowen.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Good Neighbor Podcast Live. Are you in need of a CPA firm? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Seth Kaman with Kamen and Associates. Seth, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02:

Doing great, Garfield. Thanks so much for having us on, for having me on.

SPEAKER_01:

Listen, we're excited to learn to learn all about you and your practice. Tell us about your business.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I started it about 13 years ago when I was living in New York City. I had worked at big firms both in the CPA and the financial planning world: Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, J. H. Cohen, and never felt really connected to doing the kind of work that I wanted to do. And after, you know, after kind of an eye-opening experience of sickness in 2010, I decided when I had the opportunity that I was going to try and start something myself. So in 2011, 2012, around that time, I took a shot and started a started a business from scratch. Emailed everyone I knew on Facebook, LinkedIn, personalized. It took about a month. And from there, I started this practice, which has grown from maybe 20 clients my first year, 30 clients my first year, to we're over, I think 2,500 now. From one employee, which was me, to about 20, 25 employees. We're based in northern New Jersey. As I got married to a Jersey girl, I'm from New Jersey. I had two kids. He moved out to the suburbs. And I ended up partnering with someone I grew up with in North Jersey. And we are the two the two equity partners in this firm that have that has grown and continues to grow for a variety of reasons. What's the secret? The secret is real, well, it's a lot. My father is a retired attorney, sole practitioner. And the first thing he taught me when I started, when I was we were discussing starting my practice, he's always been a mentor for me, was the importance of customer service. And especially in an industry where people are not, no, most people don't look at CPAs as value. They look at us as a cost center. So if we're going to be a cost center, the one thing you want is you want to make sure that they're as comfortable as possible. You want to provide the best service that you can. And when I was at these bigger firms, and my partner who was at bigger firms, what we saw was a scare, was a lack of ability or wanting from the professionals to the clients, to the customers. So we kind of built a model a little differently than other firms have, where we've really concentrated on providing a service, providing a product, obviously, giving as the clients have gotten bigger and more sophisticated, there's more value that we can give. But everything still comes back to service. When you're a service provider, I was talking to you about this before. We don't worry as much about social media because I have 50 people who could give me a positive review. And because of what I do, and I'm, for all intents and purposes, a fiduciary, a trust and advisor to these people, one negative review, and all anyone's going to look at is what is a negative review? Because I'm dealing with people's money. So we've tried really hard, and it's been harder as we've grown to really maintain that model of better service than you're getting at a bigger firm, and more technical than you're getting at a smaller. And that's because of that, and because of a scarcity of what of where our niche is niche really lies, we've been able to grow this thing both organically and through purchases pretty significantly over uh my partner Mark came in full-time with me in 2016 over the last eight, nine years.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and share with you before I too have an um accounting background. I don't have the CPA title, but I work for a CPA firm for a number of years, and I tell everybody that either you're gonna have a good CPA/slash accountant or you're gonna have an expensive lawyer. Because they'll save you from getting in a lot of headaches, they'll guide you and guide you in the right direction. Well, what are some of the myths and misconception of the industry?

SPEAKER_02:

Um a bunch. The the biggest myth is you can go on turbo tax and do the same thing, you know, and and bring out, and there'll be the same product is one. You can go, which look, if you're a W-2 that makes$100,000 a year and you have$12 of interest from Bank of America, then it's true. There's no value add that we can provide. The practicality is our industry in some ways is commoditized and in some ways is not. A tax return is typically a tax return. Look, there are different states, there are variations of difficulty, obviously. But the real value for a good CPA firm, and I'm not just talking about ours, I'm talking about ones that I work with, ones that I deal with professionally, is you're advising clients. You're giving, are you in the right entity structure? Do you have the right retirement plan? Are you taking into account the timing on year, timing of the year to make payments or to buy things? Things along those lines can significantly, significantly impact the bottom line. If you're talking to your accountant once a year for 20 minutes when they give you, you know, a tax return, you can't anticipate, you can't expect there to be a massive value because you're you're we're just regurgitating what you're giving us. So it's more important, it's the importance is actually working with them, especially if you're a business self-employed or have stock options at a company. It's it's our job to explain things. And even if you don't like the result, it allows you to understand there's a thought process and understand why things are happening. So you can either be better prepared for at a later point, or you can um, or hopefully the CPA will have some ideas to alleviate some of the financial stress going forward.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we work with a lot of business owners, and um, I I know you being a CPA and just sitting where you're sitting, you know, you have a wealth of of knowledge. And I I I know you're also very knowledgeable in the sports around that. But have you ever thought about doing your own maybe an educational podcast?

SPEAKER_02:

Um I have it's funny you mentioned that. Um my years ago, my wife, girlfriend, now wife, also runs a runs a company. That's how we got together and or for got together for good, and she runs a market research firm and she is does quantitative analysis and market based in market and branding, and she's a professor. She's way above my league. And what we had talked about was it would be an interesting way to um to run some kind of podcast, some kind of TV show, you know, on a weekly basis or monthly basis of how you know I can run the back end, the finance, the accounting, the operational, she runs the marketing, the strategy, things along those lines. Because we come from two very different backgrounds, but it's rare that there's kind that you kind of have the continuity of two people who you know who can work can run this together. And we thought that would really be a great idea. Um the problem, well, not the problem, but we ended up having kids.

SPEAKER_01:

And both busy say no more, say no more.

SPEAKER_02:

We got it. Both businesses have grown significantly over the last seven, eight, nine years. So the time he we joke about it, and she's giving up, I believe she's giving up her professorship at the end of the semester after 15 years. So it's something we've discussed, it's something that's been discussed with me because I enjoy doing this. As I've told you, I I host a sports podcast in my spare time. And I, the idea of talking not only about CPA, but more about entrepreneurship, because the two go hand in hand, and we deal a lot with entrepreneurs and so what I call the solopreneurs who aren't getting the right advice from the mom and pop and can't go to an Anshin or an Eisner or because the price point doesn't make any sense. So the problem is finding time, just like anything else. I have two young kids, I like being with them. I have, you know, I run this firm. There's things we're doing with the firm. We're gonna be, you know, adding additional services over the next two to four months. So I would love, I love it in theory. I also don't know if I could do it on a weekly. I don't know the time frame where I could do it. Like on a weekly basis, I don't know if there's enough material. On a monthly basis, I don't know if it would become relevant.

SPEAKER_01:

Seth, we're we're we're about out of time, but um I I want to listen to listeners with one thing. If there's one thing they should remember about commons and associates, well, what would that one thing be?

SPEAKER_02:

The one thing I would say is reach whether it's our whether you have interest in our firm or any other, whoever your CPA is, don't be afraid to reach out to them. When you have a sizable practice, we can't reach out to everybody individually. It's just it's not possible. If you have questions or you have issues, it is so much more important to reach out to people um during, you know, when the issue arises because if I someone comes back to me at the end of you know, February, March in the middle of busy season, I don't have the time to give to them because I'm working 70 hours a week. And it may be beyond the time frame where I can offer advice, which could be helpful. I know other CPAs feel the same way. Reach out to us in downtimes, and because we are an advisor to you guys or to to everybody. And if you don't use us in that vicinity in that capacity, then pretty much you're not taking advantage of someone who probably or a firm that probably has a decent knowledge in what your and where your question lies.

SPEAKER_01:

I remember years ago when I was studying for the CPA exam, whenever it said a CPA did that, that meant that was a good accountant. You know, uh my listeners here has one word on their lips right now. That's how. How can we get more information on common and associates, Cayman and Associates?

SPEAKER_02:

That's fine. The easiest way is uh you can go on my LinkedIn, which is Seth Kaman's name's right below, just friend me or whatever, link to me and send me questions, or you can go on the website, which is Kaman's K-A-M-E-N-S-C-P-A.com, and you reach out through there. All our contact information is there. And um, you know, typically if there's interest in retalking to us or reaching out to us or retaining us, I'm happy to have a five, 10, 15-minute conversation just to see what the situation lies. So you can get you can be advised correctly. Whether you decide we are the right firm or not, you're at least kind of going in a d you're you're going in the right direction.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, Seth, we really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your firm the very best moving forward.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you. I appreciate the time, Garfield.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnplive.com. That's gnplive.com or call eight seven seven nine three four three three zero two.