Nonprofit Resources
Margin for Mission Podcast S1:E1 – The Big Why – Transcript
Ken Tan:
Welcome to Margin for Mission, the CRI CapinCrouse Podcast, where two friends, Ken and Chris, bring you real talk about creating space for what matters most. Because when your organization has financial and operational margin, you can focus on your mission with confidence.
Chris Purnell:
We’re professionals who’ve spent years helping churches, higher education institutions, and other mission-focused nonprofit organizations manage their accounting, tax, compliance, and other challenges. We understand the complexities you face and we’re here to make it simpler.
Ken Tan:
In each episode, we’ll dive into practical insights on leadership, operations, and the everyday challenges of running a nonprofit.
Chris Purnell:
Without the jargon. And we’ll talk about life too. Family, faith, quite a bit of football, and finding balance in a world that rarely slows down.
Ken Tan:
So whether you’re managing budgets, leading teams, or just trying to keep your mission moving forward, you’re in the right place.
Chris Purnell:
This is Margin for Mission. Let’s get started.
Ken Tan:
Happy New Year, Chris.
Chris Purnell:
Ken, it’s a brand new year, 2026. Can you believe it’s …
Ken Tan:
Yeah, we have survived.
Chris Purnell:
In many ways, I cannot. And I feel like as I get older, it’s that thing where you just barely get used to writing that former year on stationary or docs, whatever, and then all of a sudden you’re in the next year and kids are just growing like weeds. Time is passing really fast. So it’s shocking to believe.
Ken Tan:
It’s one of those things where I’ve always been told that they say the days drag on, but the years fly by. And it’s one of those things that I even started thinking about now is like, “This is 2026 now.” But hey, it’s a new year, new us, right? It’s one of those things that you’re talking about new year’s resolutions, talking about all the things you want to do this year, so we are on a drive of full ambition and what better ambition than a podcast, right, Chris?
And that’s one of the things I’m always just so excited about was this fact that when we were asked about the considerations of doing a podcast, we were like, “Well, two accountants,” if you start thinking about that, “CPA, a lawyer, what kind of interesting conversations could we even have as that case?” And that’s where part of it was, I realized at least just one of the things I was thinking about that is where we came from really adds into, I feel like, the passion that we have into what this podcast could really turn into. And so that’s one of the things where I think one of the most important parts for this podcast is that first question is that big why. Remember Simon Sinek always talks about that?
Chris Purnell:
Oh, yeah.
Ken Tan:
The big question is the why we do this. And I feel like maybe the first time you ever do something like this is essentially we pull the curtains back and just kind of lay it out as to why this podcast exists and who we are. And that’s one thing that I’m curious, and I’m sure many of the folks that’ll be listening on this will have that same thing is, “What do you have to bring, Chris? What do you have to bring, Ken?” And I’m excited, at least even first sharing our stories. So Chris, what do you think? Well, tell us your story too.
Chris Purnell:
So first off, speaking of Simon Sinek and Starting with Why, his less famous book, which I think is really important for two people who like to eat a lot, which I’m sure will come up over the course of this podcast, that’s not really the purpose of the podcast, but it will arise, is Leaders Eat Last. Have you read that one, too?
Ken Tan:
Yes.
Chris Purnell:
And just the idea that leaders are supposed to sacrifice and make sure that the people are doing well before they think about themselves. Strong faith-based element there too, whether Simon knows it or not. But yeah, starting with why, so much of where you end up depends on where you start. And when I think about why this podcast, why this podcast in 2026, why another podcast that people can add to their lineup on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever they listen to their podcasts, I think to myself, “Well, we want to be able to encourage people who are in the trenches, who are doing the good work of ministry, who are trying to make sure that their organizations are doing things in a compliant manner, that they’re doing it in a way that is honoring to the various authorities that nonprofit organizations have to answer to around this great Republic of ours. So there’s just so much here that we can lean into.
It’s true, you got a CPA and a lawyer walking into a bar, or into a podcast in this scenario, and what do we bring to the table? Well, my hope is that we bring a little bit of insight from our experience at CapinCrouse and our experiences prior to being at CapinCrouse, which we’ll jump into our backgrounds and that sort of thing. But also that people walk away with a sense of, “I’m not in this alone.”
Ken Tan:
Absolutely.
Chris Purnell:
There’s a power and a sense of encouragement that comes from knowing that, hey, you got two bros on a screen who kind of get it and we’re here for you.
Ken Tan:
Absolutely.
Chris Purnell:
And as we go on this podcast, we want people to interact with us. We want people to send us questions, send us potential discussion topics and my hope is that people will do that, that they’ll jump in and take advantage of that opportunity.
Ken Tan:
I love that. And even just to add to that, because you’re talking about there are thousands of podcasts out there and really, when we were trying to think about this, one of the questions was, what is the purpose of this? And that’s what you said, we want to be for, especially ministry leaders, for church leaders, when it comes to those, essentially for us, when you start thinking about CapinCrouse, our goal is to be empowered professionals, serving those whose outcomes are measured in lives change. And that’s one of the things I think has really allowed us to be so passionate about this, is the fact that we are getting to work side by side with these types of organizations. And the whole fact is because of what we’ve seen and what we want to do, we want to be out there for them knowing that there are folks like us that are able to at least share that you’re not alone, like you just said.
And this is where part of it is, I love the fact that as you start thinking about this, there are tons of accounting podcasts out there, I’m sure, that talk about updates on accounting. That’s not what this is, our goal is just to be practical. Two guys, sharing coffee, you just showed yours, I’m about to show mine right here, and that’s one of those things of just saying, “Look, we just want to have these conversations,” and we want to just be able to just share not just what we have seen, but even be able to outline some of the great speakers that we’re going to have lined up over the next couple of episodes of just saying, “Look, these are folks that have seen what you probably have seen and they were going to give you some insights of what to do, what maybe not to do, but even more so how I see it, folks that are for them.
And this is something I am so passionate about when it comes to this type of topic, because I think especially with all the things we do on a day-to-day basis, I say one of the biggest questions that I end up having when I interact with many leaders is the topic of, what keeps you up at night? And that’s where a lot of those different topics that I know we’ll be highlighting over the next couple of seasons and even episodes, this is the type of question, what keeps you up at night? What are some of the pressing topics? But more so not just, “Oh, what is the accounting update for that?” Or “What does it stand for that?” But more so how can we practically help protect our organization or how can we be aware of certain things so that we can navigate all that uncharted territory that may be the case. But a lot of that even just starts out at the very beginning, that phase one. And that’s one of the things I’m definitely excited about too, Chris.
Chris Purnell:
Yeah. Yeah. So you asked about the very stories that we have and what are we bringing to the table, who are we to the extent that people are interested, if they’re not interested in the biographical details of Chris Purnell and Ken Tan, I guess they can skip ahead, but that’s kind of the nature of this initial episode is, why are we here? Why is this podcast here? So man, where do you even begin? I guess I would start with, my parents were at a party and just looked across the room and saw each other, their eyes locked, the magic-
Ken Tan:
No one was there anymore in the background, right? It was just-
Chris Purnell:
That’s right.
Ken Tan:
And the two spotlights and you hear, “I’m having time of my life.” Yeah, I cannot sing. I’m an accountant, not a singer.
Chris Purnell:
No one puts baby in a corner. No one puts baby in a corner. Yeah, that’s right. So the magic did happen, but flash forward a little bit, so I kind of cut my teeth in ministry by working at a faith-based legal aid organization back in Indianapolis, Indiana, the great Midwest. Indiana is a football state now. We’ll talk more about that, I’m sure. Move aside South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, forget about it.
Ken Tan:
And we just lost half of our subscribers now. But anyway, we’ll keep going.
Chris Purnell:
All kinds of hot takes, man. So back in that stage, I was a really young attorney working with people that were wrestling with poverty and all of the justice issues and access to justice issues that come along with that. I learned a ton, a ton about people. I learned a lot about leadership. And I also learned quite a bit about some of the … How do I put this? The things that make nonprofits head-bangingly frustrating to work in. Usually it relates to just the resource issues, resource deprivation. You’re pinching every penny, trying to make sure that it’s all going to mission. And then back in the 2010s, you had all that stuff regarding overhead and the overhead myth and people saying you shouldn’t spend as much on administrative in general as maybe you are, and so you just felt like the scrutiny was rising.
But even then, it was really helpful for me to think through, how do I maintain healthy accountability with donors and funders and making sure that their dollars are being used in a way that’s honoring to what the initial agreement was and what their desires are. But at the same time, understanding that, man, we do need to go out there and fundraise. We do need someone, and maybe even some ones, who are acting as managers and supervisors and making sure that mission is still getting out the door in a compliant manner. So it was a lot of challenges, a lot of constituents, a lot of faith and trust building knowing that every year was kind of a brand new budget year as far as how we’re going to bring the funds in, all that good stuff.
But I think that I have three takeaways from my time at that faith-based legal aid organization because I was there for 11 years.
Number one, leadership matters. Leadership matters. So I’m sure we’ll get into how do you interact with a board of directors? How do you lead a board? How do you maintain healthy culture at an organization? And these all kind of start to meld together with technical topics that I’m sure we’ll talk through, but leadership is just such a significant thing. Which sounds like a dumb moment, right? Well, yeah, leadership is a big deal. If you’ve got bad leadership, you feel it. If you have good leadership, you may not feel it as much, honestly, because when things are healthy and functioning, it should just kind of act as a background process. You’re just keeping the ship moving. So leadership matters. One could say that everything rises and falls on leadership, that sounds like a totalization sort of statement, but it has a lot of truth to it. So leadership matters.
Number two, getting competent counsel is pivotal. It’s pivotal. I remember when I was eventually the executive director of the legal aid organization, I really wrestled with, how do I go out there and pay for competent counsel, which let’s be honest, it costs real dollars to go out there and get people to come in and give you the guidance you need, right? Whether it’s legal counsel or accounting advice or fill in the blank. But at the same time, I was like, “But there are hundreds of people that we need to serve and I need to go out there and get some staff members to come in and provide competent legal counsel just for the core mission of our organization so that tussle was always a challenge.” And so what would end up happening usually was there was a whole lot of doing my own research, just bootstrapping the thing and going out there and trying to make heads or tails of a really complex landscape. Not a great plan, not a great plan. Competent counsel is really, really key. So that’s the second lesson. Leadership matters, competent counsel, pivotal.
And then last but certainly not least, community is really important. So one of the things I really appreciated about my time at that legal aid organization was I had a group of fellow executive directors and CEOs of other nonprofit organizations, and we would just come together and hang out, share some wisdom. There was a little just complaining sometimes. We’d sit around like, “You won’t believe what my director of development did this time.” Or, “You won’t believe what the staff member did this time.” But usually it would progress to something that was a little bit more helpful and not just, “Let’s just stew together in our own angst.”
And I learned a lot from those other leaders. Hopefully I was able to bring something to the table as well, but having a community of people who are either on the same journey you are or have been a little bit further down the road than you are in your leadership journey, or if you’re a person who is working in the finance office or some other administrative personnel, being able to share notes with other people, which I’m hoping that this podcast can kind of become a little bit like that, where we’re sharing notes with them, there’s a community of people that’s developing, being able to have that around you is really, really key.
So those are my three big takeaways from my time at that organization. I was there for 11 years, five years as the executive director, really loved my time. There’s so many other things I could say about leadership health and the health of an organization, which I’m sure will pop up over our time on this podcast. But by way of just kind of finishing up the biographical details, I was there until 2019, and then in November of 2019, I was having a vocational moment. I knew it was time to move on from that organization because I felt like I’d taken it as far as I could. Succession’s a big deal, succession is huge. And I was like, “Where could I go to help other nonprofit organizations?” I also have a master of divinity and I thought to myself, “Well, maybe I want to work in a church environment and do that full-time.” I was an elder at my church, still am an elder at my current church, and I was also teaching a class at a faith-based university. So I thought to myself, “Well, maybe I want to be a full-time academic.”
Well, wouldn’t you know it? CapinCrouse serves faith-based universities, churches, faith-based nonprofits and so I found a ready home here, and I’ve been here since November of 2019. Loved most minutes of my time at Capin. It’s been a nonstop thrill ride, a wonderful time with wonderful people serving organizations that are very deliberate about their missions. It’s been a true labor of love. So that’s where I am, that’s who I am, but I’m happy to field any questions that Ken Tan might have for me, but I’d also like to learn more about Ken Tan.
Ken Tan:
Oh, I appreciate that too as well, Chris. And it’s just one of those things that I find is just amazing even within CapinCrouse. And this is not meant to be any shameless plug, but just hearing the stories of each of our professionals in terms of what they started at, where they came from and how they ended up at CapinCrouse, and ultimately, it does come back to that missional focus that we have too. And that I think kind of rings similar to myself and my background story. So just for the folks here, just, I guess, sorry from the beginning, I’ll probably surpass, maybe skip the first couple of years of what that was in terms of my parents’ meeting. But I would say I had the opportunity and the blessing of being a pastor’s son. And so despite all my mischief, I made it through.
I went to college first at Georgia Tech, also a football school now. Well, always has been. It just finally resurged, as did myself, I then also went to the University of Virginia, also a football school now as well. And it’s one of those things where I just jokingly say, “I didn’t go there for the sports side. I did go for the academics.” And it was one of those things where I was trying to figure out even myself, what should I do when it comes to future professions? Because even in college, I think a lot of us initially were trying to figure out which major are we going to go and all. And for me, it was one of those things where I was like, “I do like numbers, I do like accounting, is that something that could work for me?” And thankfully, I had an internship at a big four firm, which I ultimately joined as well.
And so my career did actually start out in a large public accounting practice. And it was one of those things where I learned a lot of things for a lot of for profit, large publicly traded companies, which I am so grateful because I have a number of great friends who are still there. And most of all, I met my wife there. So that’s one of the things you’re like, okay, I’m grateful for that piece. Maybe if we get like 5,000 subscribers, I’ll give you even more fun story as to how I met my wife at the firm. I’ll say for work, of course, it’s just one of those things where I think it’ll be funny for folks just to kind of hear how it works out because of course, who’d have thought two accountants would like similar things, right? And here we are, now we’re starting a family.
And that was around the time that my dad, and I’ll tell you this, I think my dad’s going to show up as a lot of the overall themes, even in some of the conversations I have here in terms of what my priorities are. He had asked me at the time, he said, “Son, how are you going to utilize your profession and the skills he’s given you for the kingdom?” And I was like, “Accounting, not really sure what I could do for the kingdom with accounting. I could probably look at bank reconciliations.” And it was one of the things I didn’t think about it, but that’s when at the same time an opportunity came up here in Atlanta to become the controller of a large mission organization. And that was one of my very first stints at interacting with not for-profit accounting. And I’ll tell you, for a lot of us that came from a publicly traded or a for-profit kind of organization, there is some differences in the accounting piece and I have to admit that.
And it was a big learning curve for me, but I did love getting to interact with the people. And I think this is where part of it is just seeing folks that are focused on a particular mission or a vision, it’s so much more night and day in terms of what you see, in terms of the impact when you are on board and you are for something like that. And that’s where part of me was just seeing, being able to be a part of a mission organization allowed me to see that, see the passion that was there. And that’s where part of it was, “Hey, even the accounting side, behind the scenes, I’m here supporting those that are serving others elsewhere.” And that’s one of the things I realized, when you start thinking about it, that we all have different strengths, different skills, and how amazing is it when we get to leverage that in different ways, right?
And I got to do that for my time at that mission organization. At that point, I was helping clean up areas and processes because frankly, who would have thought that even for such a large organization, there’s some needs for improvement, right? And I think this is one of the things that’s been a central theme, even in ministries and nonprofits, that sometimes it’s difficult to change and even that change, it takes a long time. It’s not just changing processes, it’s even changing perspectives and that’s where the relational aspects became another key for me too. I realized, especially in all circumstances, whether it’s professional or personal, relationships matter, and you never know when you actually cross and interact those again, because that actually kind of plays into what ended up being the next parts of my career.
At the point, for me, I would say is, I was looking at what were my options long-term? I could have stayed and potentially been the CFO there. And that’s where part of this is saying, “Is this what I want to do?” At the same time, my heart was kind of saying, “Look, you got to do a lot of fun things during this time of improving processes.” Really, essentially how I’ve always approached it, and that’s what I could do now is I was able to leave an organization better than where I found them. And that’s where part of it is just saying, “Okay, there was something exciting about being able to see the beginnings of where things were, walk through things with people, and then see how we finished and look back and just see all that God has allowed us to do in that case.”
And during that time, I was still trying to figure out, is this where I need to go long-term? I then had the opportunity of going back to that firm that I was at before, and that brought us to the great state of Texas for a period of time. And that’s where-
Chris Purnell:
Great country.
Ken Tan:
Great country. And it’s one of those things that for me, from a career perspective, I probably could have stayed there long term too as well, but it was actually in a position that was not going to be focused on nonprofits. And that’s where part of it was just saying, “Okay, the Lord allowed me to work in the nonprofit mission organization environment for a number of years, am I going to be able to go back to that again in a different perspective or am I just going to stay put here, which is perfectly fine?”
But then of course, this is where part of the conversations, and I think this will help with some of our future episodes is when family for me is another priority, I wanted to decide whether or not should I stay at this current firm for a period of time or should I consider something else? And that’s around the same time I had the conversations with some of my now, how do I say, valuable mentors, not dollar value, but essentially those that have really poured into me who are leaders at our firm. And they took a chance at giving me an opportunity to join CapinCrouse about six going on seven years ago, around the same time as you, right, Chris?
Chris Purnell:
Yeah.
Ken Tan:
And I would say one of the things that they had shared with us was, you can come for the profession, but you stay for the mission. And that’s one of the things that I think really rang true with the folks they got to work with. There are some great smart folks here at our firm, but what’s even better about the fact is that they are passionate about serving organizations who are really changing lives.
When I started thinking about some of my clients there’s an organization that gives people a second chance at being a contributing member of society while still having a biblical based type of curriculum while going through it. And this is essentially saying these are people that had tarnished paths and now they’re able to come back, be able to make a living, and even more so show how much they have been able to be changed by people that were intentional about, through sacrificial giving, helping support these types of programs.
And that’s one of the things I think really rings true with a lot of the clients we get the opportunity to serve is that we get to do something that’s even deeper than just looking at debits and credits. We are working with organizations who across, not just the country, but even across the globe, are encountering different situations that for us, we get to say, “Hey, we have a number of great smart folks at our firm that are for them and are able to help support them.”
Looking back at this, it’s been such a fun type of experience because, you know to start thinking about this, I’m on the consulting side of CapinCrouse and we started our group, go figure, in January of 2020, nothing happened during January 2020.
Chris Purnell:
Great timing.
Ken Tan:
Great timing for us. And by God’s grace, we had grown so much because then we saw that there was a need, there was a gap there that we were able to help support and serve. And in essence, what happened in that case, and this kind of goes into the story of this, is when you serve your clients so well, they will demand that you grow. And that’s one of the things we have seen here is just by leaps and bounds, we have grown because we have seen the need. We have seen what’s been happening there and we’re able to walk it through with them.
And that’s what I think I look forward to when I get to do the interactions with our clients is we get to hear, what is on your heart, what is on your shoulders, what is keeping you up at night? And that’s one of the things that I think has been very different than some of my previous professions, had some great leaders, had some great mentorship from all the different areas I’ve been from my career, but I think something special about CapinCrouse is the fact that we are there not just to listen, but to even be there alongside with them.
And that’s where part of it, I think is, when we start thinking about as accountants, you and I, we’re probably not your typical accountants. And I think that’s why I think we’re going to have fun with this podcast is because of the fact that we could probably talk accounting guidance, “Oh, ASU, 20…” But that’s not what we live for, Chris. I think I can be honest with you on that piece. And I can do a mean audit as a former recovering auditor myself, but my passion is actually working with folks and talking through some of the things that we have seen, also have experienced and be able to share with them too. And I think that’s what really highlights the purpose of this podcast as well.
So that’s me in a nutshell, Chris, and hopefully that gives you some thoughts too. But I think it’s just great that we have the support of our firm to be able to talk about this because you start thinking about the, who is this for? Yeah, sure. It is for CFOs, it is for executive pastors, senior pastors, but it’s also for other folks that just want to have some conversations about just if they have that pursuit and value of wanting to be in a mission service and a mission life, this is probably for us, we’re saying, “Hey, we want to be able to show how it can be, even in a professional setting that we can do this too as well.”
Chris Purnell:
That’s right. That’s right. Man, that’s really good. That’s really good. And I think understanding that the life of a person who is working in a ministry and the day in, day out, the grind and the various things that are just hard about the mission itself, you throw on top of that all the various complexities with regard to state regulations, local regulations, federal regulations, the accounting guidance, holy smokes, there’s just so much more that’s sitting on top of the actual mission itself.
And I think that when you were talking about how we bring a relational capacity to this, that’s hopefully a little bit different and a value add to our clients, it’s great to have both competence and care at the same time. And I think that that’s something that’s really, again, hopefully special and unique, that we really do care about the missions of our clients. We care about the people that work at our client organizations. And this podcast is hopefully an extension of that care and that competence. And we’ll be bringing on some outside competence, as well as whatever competence I have. I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m talking about half the time, but hopefully that’s going to be helpful to folks.
But I really appreciate you talking through, what does it look like for people of faith to bring the skillsets that they have and the talents that have been given to them by God to the table and making sure that they’re exercising in a way that glorifies God.
Ken Tan:
Absolutely.
Chris Purnell:
And I, like you, I resonated with that when I came to Capin, I was not a tax expert. I had a couple of tax classes in law school, which oddly enough for an English and history major, I really appreciated. And I think it was just because it was just off the beaten path and it wasn’t so mushy, like you’re analyzing some piece of literature. It was kind of what I’d call the most pure type of law, even though there’s still some squishiness around the edges, but it was the purest sense of the law that was there. And then flash forward 11 years later and being able to use that again at Capin has been a really cool thing. So that was something that I was thinking about when you were talking about, “Hey, how do I use these skillsets that I’ve accumulated and that I have and numbers?” [inaudible 00:28:30].
Ken Tan:
And that’s a great point too as well about just being able to be that passion, being able to use what we’ve learned before. And one of the things that you were highlighting there on the personal side, who would have thought that accountants can have emotion and personalities too, [inaudible 00:28:44]. That is unheard of, Chris, especially in our profession, right? We have emotions too. When we see a balanced reconciliation, it just brings tears of joy in our eyes, right?
Chris Purnell:
Tears.
Ken Tan:
I’m just kidding in that case. I think I’m super excited about this because of the fact that we’re going to have, not just you and I, I think we’ll have some great conversations, some episodes where it’s just you and I, and I’m just going to do some rapid fire questions on taxes because for many of those that are listening on this, Chris makes taxes interesting. He doesn’t … Did I just have to recap on that piece? You do it in a way that still stays within compliance, but you make those topics sound a lot more interesting than other tax accountants may have in that case.
And this is where I think we have a great lineup of episodes that are going to be coming up. Some of the topics that are going to be coming up, myself, so I’m a certified fraud examiner. And so by default, I serve as the partner on a number of engagements that do require these forensic accounting and situations like that. So we’re going to tell you some real stories that we’ve seen in nonprofits and initial organizations that we have seen and had to essentially do the work to uncover what’s happening there. And so we’ll have a guest speaker that has seen this as well.
We have another topic that’s going to talk about cybersecurity and AI. And I know that AI is probably a recurring topic that you’re hearing day in and [inaudible 00:30:04] out. And it’s one of those things that we want to know and even share in that case as some other folks within our firm that have seen that and see how it’s impacted nonprofits, both good and bad. And even how do we protect about that case too as well?
We’ll talk about things that’s not accounting in nature. One of the things that I think Chris, you and I agree in is culture is a big deal. And we want to make sure that not just having a solid accounting foundation is important, but so is having a solid cultural foundation. It’s one of those things, and the person that we’re thinking about in bringing on, he has said himself that, “Culture is so important, it’s integral.” And it’s part of it that we need to make sure that we’re mindful of not just taking care of just the accounting pieces, but even our people. Because that in itself, especially in an environment where things are unknown, it’s so important to have someone like that that is able to lead and follow and really show the type of culture that’s important. There’s [inaudible 00:31:07]-
Chris Purnell:
Yeah, and to that point, I think that there’s this interesting intersection of what we would see as the more core compliance, the “hard stuff” and the “soft stuff” that’s really important. So culture is usually seen as the woo-woo, really soft, how do you even get there? It seems mystical, almost in the ether. And at the end of the day, as Peter Drucker said, no one less than Peter Drucker said that, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
Ken Tan:
Absolutely.
Chris Purnell:
You can have the best strategy in the world, but at the end of the day, if your people are sort of miserable, if you have a weird tone at the top, whether it’s too harsh or berating or it’s too soft and you’re not holding people accountable, those things will filter down and will affect everything from how people feel about coming into work, to decision making, to making potentially a culture that is ripe for things like fraud and embezzlement and that sort of thing. So it has these downstream impacts. And what I like to say sometimes is when you have good culture, it just kind of runs in the background, like I said at the top, but when you have a bad culture, you know it and you will eventually feel it down the line.
Ken Tan:
Oh, absolutely. Well, again, this is something I am so excited about. And our hope is that for all those listening, our hope is that over time you feel encouraged knowing that there are folks like Chris and myself that are here for you, but also some great folks, not just within our firm, but folks within our network of friends and contacts that are going to be on this podcast to be able to help share some of their insights.
And so you know, just from a practical side, my hope is that you get to subscribe, share, send questions to us too as well. We’ll make sure we start getting that out for you to be able to provide some topics saying, “Oh, Ken, I know you and Chris have talked about fraud, you talked about cybersecurity, you talked about culture, what about work-life balance? What about things like that?” What are some things that could be practical for us just because, even from a ministerial side, pastoral burnout is at an all time high. And so what ways can we help try and find that balance too?
And that’s one of the things that we really want to make sure we’re highlighting are some of those pressing topics too as well. And so again, I am so excited about this podcast. I don’t know about you, Chris. I know we talked about the why we do it, and it’s one of those things that for us, my hope is that these folks that are listening really understand just overall our passion for this. This is something where it’s like, when I was ready to record this episode, it was one of the things where I woke up early, kind of like as if you’re about to go on a field trip kind of thing, when you’re little, you’re like, “Oh, we’re about to get started, it’s something cool.”
Chris Purnell:
You’re amped up.
Ken Tan:
I am so amped up. I didn’t even need an energy drink this morning. I really didn’t even need this coffee right now. It was just by default it was a free coffee and I figured I’d get it. And so that worked out for me. So Chris, any last thoughts too as well?
Chris Purnell:
That’s great. That’s great. Ken, I’m looking forward to the journey. I’m looking forward to providing some, yes, counsel, guidance, but also encouragement. And my suspicion is, given what you mentioned about your relationship with your lovely wife, people will probably have some like, “Hey, can you give us some practical tips on how to meet a spouse at my workplace?” So that might come up.
Ken Tan:
And we kept everything above law and everything like that, as always-
Chris Purnell:
Hey, hey.
Ken Tan:
I just want to make sure you guys know this and that preface. I guess that’s another teaser is one day when we start talking about another thing there.
Chris Purnell:
How do I do this thing? Yeah.
Ken Tan:
Exactly. And for myself, so for those on this podcast, I actually have four boys at home. And it’s one of the things that for me, I know I’m so grateful and blessed to be an accountant, but the two most important roles that I have that I don’t want anyone to ever replace is to be husband to my wife and the father to my kids. And that’s one of the things that I find is so important. And we want to share that in that case that we’ve been able to have that here even at CapinCrouse too. And I think Chris, when we talk about the episode on work-life balance, I think it’ll be very key that you’ll see that from both of us in terms of why we are passionate about being here while still being able to be present with what we need to do unbalancing that life too as well.
Chris Purnell:
That’s right. Amen.
Ken Tan:
Well, awesome, Chris. Man, I cannot wait for the next set of episodes as well. And so for those that are listening, I appreciate y’all hanging out with us and hopefully you are all also looking forward to the next set of episodes we have too as well. So thank you all for joining us.
Chris Purnell:
Yeah. Thanks, Ken. Looking forward to it.
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