Knowing What Counts Podcast

From Small Practice to Industry Leader: The Rise of MP CPAs with Tim Provost

• Tim Provost, CPA • Episode 1

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Meet Tim Provost with MP CPAs

Unlock the secrets behind the incredible rise of MP CPAs as we sit down with partner Tim Provost, who takes us through the firm's transformation from a small practice to a full-service accounting leader. Discover how MP CPAs, originally founded by Rick Moriarty and Jay Primack, has flourished over the past 30 years, expanding its team from 20 to over 50 dedicated professionals. Learn about the extensive range of services they offer, from complex tax solutions to business valuations, while meeting the talented team that makes it all possible, including tax directors Melissa English and Sharon Blazejowski.

Beyond the professional realm, Tim shares a personal glimpse into his life, revealing how he balances his high-powered career with indulging in local culinary delights, raising a puppy, and participating in a men's baseball league. From his initial career as a high school teacher to becoming a key figure at MP CPAs, Tim's journey is filled with insights into the importance of marketing and personal growth. Join us for a conversation that blends expert financial advice with heartfelt personal stories, offering listeners a well-rounded perspective on success and fulfillment.

To learn more about MP CPAs visit:
https://thempgroupcpa.com/
MP CPAs
413-739-1800

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Knowing what Counts podcast, the place where expert guidance meets smart financial decisions. Whether you're a high net worth individual or a thriving business, the experts at MPCPAs are here to help you protect and optimize your wealth. Let's get started, because success begins with knowing what counts.

Speaker 2:

Welcome everyone. I'm Sofia Yvette, co-host and producer here in the studio with Tim Provost. Tim, how's it?

Speaker 3:

going. I'm great, Sophia. How are you?

Speaker 2:

I'm doing great. So, Tim, over the years, you've grown a remarkable following. However, some listeners might not be familiar with your full journey. Let's take it from the top.

Speaker 3:

Could you share a little background about your company and what you do? Yeah, a little background about my company and what I do here. Our company was founded by two founders, rick Moriarty and Jay Premack, just over 30 years ago and started out as Moriarty and Premack, which a lot of our clients still actually know us by. We changed our name since to MPCPAs after the founders were no longer here, and the firm has grown from, since I got here, a little under 20 people to just over 50 people in the 16 years that I've been here. We're a full-service accounting firm. We do audits, compilations, reviews, tax services, consulting, business valuations, estate and gift planning and also have a financial services subsidiary. We have the services that anybody that needs anything we can do it here for them. It's not something that anybody would outgrow and we'd have to go somewhere else for um.

Speaker 3:

We work with individual clients, business clients, mostly clients with complex tax situations. They don't just take the normal person off the street who might just go to hr block. You know we're looking for complex clients with situations that they need to help with and we have a great team of experts here. We have four partners myself, doug Diebald, patrick Leary and Phil Jadier, who have a great variety of experiences over the years. We also have some other great people. You'll hear from our tax directors, melissa English and Sharon Blajewski. Melissa, in addition to auditing, also specializes in employee benefit plans, and Sharon has a niche in working with schools, charter schools and nonprofits. The audit side also has a manager, brooke Williams, who specializes in nonprofits.

Speaker 3:

On the tax side, we have a few directors as well Lisa Bean and Bob Supernot, who've been around for a long time and offer a great wealth of knowledge and experience, and Joe Oliveira, who is a high net worth specialist. We also have some managers that you might hear along the way. We have Tim LaFallon, jeff LeBeau and Matt Barron. Tim also specializes in state tax preparation and planning, and Matt and Jeff specialize with high net worth clients and business returns, and so you'll also hear from some of our seniors along the way.

Speaker 3:

You know a lot of people coming in. We may have some advisors maybe a financial advisor or an attorney to kind of jump in and do a joint podcast with. That I think will have some topics that people will be interested in hearing about. I have been here for 16 years, as I said, and I'm a partner here. I was actually a high school teacher before I came here. I majored in accounting but decided I wanted to try teaching for a little bit and then after that it wasn't something I was going to do for the next 30 years. I ended up back in accounting and I've been here ever since.

Speaker 2:

Well, let's go ahead and switch gears back to you for a second. When you're not busy running your business, what do you do for fun?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, when I'm not busy running my business, which is not a lot of time, but quite a few different taxis out there, so there's definitely some time when you're here a lot, but when outside of that, my wife and I enjoy going out to dinner and trying different restaurants every weekend and we have a new puppy that's eight months old, so definitely a lot of work there.

Speaker 3:

And also I play in the men's baseball league during the spring and summer, when we're not as busy, and I also help run a youth basketball organization during the winter to kind of stay busy as well.

Speaker 2:

Very cool. Now, Tim, I know you're a very busy person and we know marketing is key to any business's success. How do you market your business?

Speaker 3:

Marketing is tricky in the accounting industry. We don't take the normal person off the street so we're not just putting ads out on your local TV or newspaper or whatnot. A lot of our marketing, honestly, is word of mouth. You do a good job with your clients. They refer you to other people, so referrals is a big part of it. We also try to network and connect with different advisors who also share passing clients along that they need assistance with. So financial advisors, attorneys, whatnot. We'll try to stay involved in the community. I'm on the Springfield Chamber of Commerce legislative committee, so getting involved in the chamber or other areas, I think, is where we find the types of clients we're looking for.

Speaker 2:

So, tim, you're a very busy person, in your own words. Why are you doing this?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we're starting the Knowing what Counts podcast as another way to reach out to clients and potential clients. Knowing what counts is our tagline, so that emphasizes knowing more than just the numbers with your accountant. Like any other advisors, an accountant should be someone that's there, walking alongside you in your journey, trying to assist you in what you need along the way. We try to reach out to our clients at least once or twice a year and touch base to see how the year is going. One of the biggest complaints we get from new clients is they never hear from their accountant. So that's something that we definitely emphasize and try to make sure that we're touching base with our clients a few times a year, some even more than that if needed. And I was actually speaking to a client the other day who said I just reached out to him for year end to see how he's doing and he's like funny, you just reached out to me. I just saw a meme that said if you only hear from your accountant in April, then you should fire them. So great that I reached out to him at that time. But it is a good point that we're in a service industry and that's what we're here to do.

Speaker 3:

This podcast is a place that we're hoping to break down the world of accounting in a way that's easy to understand or an individual with complex situations. Hopefully this podcast is going to be something that's helpful for you. Maybe not every topic every week might pertain to a client, but hopefully we can reach a different group of clients that might want to learn more about these types of topics that we're going to go through. Our goal is to offer clear explanations of complex topics, sharing practical tips, discussing how accounting and taxes can impact your decisions and your life. We're hoping to release two podcasts a month and we'll have a variety of experts from our firm and possibly other advisors on to help give people some guidance. If they have more questions, they can reach out to us and we can help them along the way.

Speaker 2:

Love it, Tim. We'll catch you in the next episode. Have a fantastic rest of your day.

Speaker 3:

Thanks you too. Next episode have a fantastic rest of your day.

Speaker 1:

Thanks you too. Thanks for listening to the Knowing what Counts podcast. Ready to optimize your wealth and protect your future, visit the mpgroupcpacom or call 413-739-1800 to connect with our team of experts. Remember, success is about knowing what counts.