Own Your Firm

Send us Fan Mail Logan Graff’s Origin Story: From UIL Accounting to Launching a Virtual Tax Firm Logan Graff and AJ Zepeda introduce an episode of the Own Your Firm podcast focused on Logan, briefly discuss possibly attending QuickBooks Connect, and joke about doing a live podcast from the beach. Logan shares personal background (living in Austin, married 12 years, three daughters), interests (a 1965 Mustang project, fitness, hiking, mountain biking, making pizza), and that his faith in Christ is central to his life, noting it influenced AJ to speak about it online. Logan explains how he became an accountant through high school accounting classes and UIL competitions, then an internship at Padgett Stradoman (later merged with RSM), and being rejected by Big Four. After being terminated from Padgett, he moved to smaller firms, pursued a partner path, became a tax director at a tiny firm, and ultimately launched his own firm in 2020 by purchasing about 60 clients and starting with roughly 90–100 during COVID. He describes early challenges (income stability, taking the wrong work), later focusing on pricing and client fit, and his current setup: about 130 clients, $250k–$300k revenue, a remote CPA manager, and splitting time across firm, community, and content. His advice to day-one Logan is to worry less, take the right clients, and raise rates faster. 00:00 Welcome Back and AJ Shoutout 00:42 QuickBooks Connect and Beach Plans 01:28 Meet Logan Graff 03:02 Hobbies Fitness and Pizza 05:04 Faith and Speaking Up 06:01 Origin Story Becoming an Accountant 08:48 Early Career Internships and Big Four 11:08 Fired Then Finding the Ownership Path 14:57 Launching the Firm During COVID 17:59 Early Struggles Pricing and Survival Mode 20:07 Graff Tax Co Today Team Clients Revenue 21:37 Advice to Day One Logan and Wrap Up

Send us Fan Mail AJ Zepeda and Logan Graf introduce the new Own Your Firm podcast and begin by sharing AJ’s background. AJ describes himself as a quirky, tattooed accountant, a father of three, churchgoer, HYROX athlete, and Rivian owner. He explains his firm today: a tech-forward, client-focused practice with seven employees, three partners (including a tax partner), about $500K in annual sales, and a mostly virtual setup with an office in Tyler, Texas. AJ recounts stumbling into accounting after leaving electrical engineering, becoming an accounting manager right after college, and learning management through early mistakes. He later worked at Kruze, Acuity (running a crypto practice), and served as COO at Tooth and Coin (dental niche) before launching his current firm with partners, merging books of business and teams. He discusses lessons on pricing, firing clients sooner, month-end close by the 15th, and plans to target construction clients in East Texas. 00:00 Podcast Kickoff 00:46 Meet The Hosts 01:30 AJ Personal Intro 02:32 Fitness And Rivian 04:18 Firm Snapshot Today 05:57 Becoming An Accountant 08:24 Early Career Leadership 11:55 Burnout And Startup Shift 14:59 Path To Firm Ownership 17:44 Launching With Partners 20:45 Lessons And Daily Rhythm 23:31 Owning The Firm 24:08 Next Six Months Goals 24:44 Wrap Up And Mustaches

Send us Fan Mail Own Your Firm: Why We’re Starting This Podcast and What to Expect AJ and Logan announce their new podcast, “Own Your Firm,” created as scheduled “bro time” and a space to discuss how firm owners can build businesses that don’t lead to burnout. They explain the title’s inspiration and aim to help accountants become better business owners, noting industry trends like consolidation, acquisitions, and AI. Planned topics include running firms effectively, bridging CAS and tax perspectives, light current events, listener questions, and pulling discussions from Logan’s accounting firm owner community, Counter, plus possible product/tech reviews and a “random” segment. They share brief personal backgrounds: both are Christian dads with three kids; AJ (32) worked at small and large firms, including niche dental accounting, now owns a firm with partners and does consulting; Logan (35) runs The Graff Tax Co. (founded 2020), creates content, and built Counter to about 280 members. 00:00 Podcast Kickoff 00:49 Why Own Your Firm 02:12 Firms That Dont Own You 04:11 Planned Segments And Reviews 08:27 From Job To Business Owner 12:15 Meet AJ Background Story 16:53 Meet Logan Counter And Firm 19:17 Future Ideas And Wrap Up