Why Community Matters in Accounting: Lessons from Erin Pohan and Wave Seattle

Transcript

Canopy Host (00:05) Welcome to another episode of Canopy Practice Success. Today on the show, I’m thrilled to welcome Erin Pohan, a seasoned accounting innovator who has spent over 20 years in public, private, nonprofit, and educational accounting. Erin is the founder of Upkeeping LLC, where she’s on a mission to make accounting more human, more usable, and more empowering for entrepreneurs. She’s also the creative force behind Wave Seattle—which stands for Women in Accounting, Finance, Visionaries, and Entrepreneurs—a conference built around community, authentic connection, and celebrating the unique journeys of women in accounting. Thanks for coming on the podcast, Erin.

Erin Pohan (00:44) Thank you for having me, this is so exciting!

Canopy Host (00:47) Seriously, this is my favorite part of my job. I love talking to people in the space and seeing all the unique takes on how everyone is choosing to help shape the industry. You have a very unique background relative to anyone else we’ve had on the podcast. With 20 years of experience, maybe give us a rundown of what has taken you to the space you’re in now with both Upkeeping and Wave Seattle.

Erin Pohan (01:14) I feel like I’ve been in a lot of different facets of the industry. I started originally in a Walmart accounting office in Virginia, working to balance a huge Walmart Supercenter to the penny every night. That was my first taste of what accounting could look like. I was going to school at a community college, originally for marketing. Then, as I was working at Walmart and took my Accounting 101 course, I felt a calling and realized I was the only one in my class enjoying what I was doing.

I switched over to accounting and got a job at a local Marine Corps base as an assistant manager, helping behind the scenes with the bookkeeping. It was a very legacy, old-school system—we were putting sales receipts in numerical order and matching credit card slips manually every day. I met a Marine there and got married, and we have lived in 10 places since that day, which was 15 years ago now. Becoming a military spouse was a challenge for my career, but it also opened the door for me to move from private accounting to public accounting, where I worked at CPA firms across the country.

Canopy Host (02:50) Which I feel is the opposite of what most people do.

Erin Pohan (02:53) Yeah, I know. I used to feel like there was something wrong with my career for not going “Big Four” or having the traditional four-year college experience with an internship. I look back now and everything I did was exactly what I needed to do. I was able to use that experience to build what I have now. I’m so grateful, even if it is very non-traditional.

Canopy Host (03:22) If there are any younger listeners out there: there’s no one way to do anything. Accounting is being reshaped every day. On a recent episode, I physically raised my hand when a guest said, “Nobody wants to start an accounting firm.” I was like, “I do!” But I also see it from a different angle. I see wonderful opportunities and innovation. For younger individuals, the space is ripe with new paths and the ability to shake things up.

Erin Pohan (04:04) Even in my public CPA firm experience, I started as a receptionist while obtaining my bachelor’s, and it was still very manual. We prided ourselves on “going electronic” by scanning things and saving them onto computers backed up on a server. So much has changed from that time to now. There is so much opportunity.

Canopy Host (04:34) I interrupted your summary! You went into public accounting and you’ve been all over the world as a military spouse.

Erin Pohan (04:41) Yes, a military spouse. Being a military spouse comes with a lot of moves, and it was discouraging for a long time. I remember a duty station in Yuma, Arizona—where no one goes, people just drive through it. I was baking cookies and drinking mimosas at 9:00 AM because, in my mind, I was unemployable. Why would anyone want to hire someone they know will only be there for a short time? That was around 2011 or 2012.

Canopy Host (05:21) A lot has changed since then in terms of remote work.

Erin Pohan (05:31) Exactly. Then I saw an ad in the newspaper looking for a receptionist at a CPA firm. I told myself, “This is my foot in the door.” I just needed to sell them on the fact that I would give them my all for the three years they’d have me. They were lovely. It was a four-partner firm, and it really solidified my love for accounting. I grew within that firm as I finished my bachelor’s, leaving as a staff accountant when we moved to Japan.

In Japan, I knew there wouldn’t be a traditional accounting career opportunity, so I volunteered with a nonprofit to keep my experience going. That’s also where I found a unique opportunity in the educational sector. I found an organization that supports educated military spouses who are ready to work from anywhere. I worked with publishers and universities to create curriculum, test banks, and supplemental information, which is a huge part of Upkeeping now.

Canopy Host (07:11) So, online courses essentially?

Erin Pohan (07:14) Yes and no. I created online graduate courses for universities, but we also worked with world-renowned textbook publishers to update their materials.

Canopy Host (07:25) What a varied experience. And you found a way every time. That leads right into the thing you are most passionate about today: community building. I’m connecting some dots here, but I have a feeling you’re so big on community because you had to leave yours so often.

Erin Pohan (07:56) That’s exactly right. It actually started before I was a military spouse. I grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, right next to Cleveland. I loved my community; I could walk to school and my best friends lived right around the corner. Halfway through high school, we moved to Northern Virginia to a graduating class of 800 students. It was terrible. I ate lunch in the bathroom for the first month of junior year. It was hard to be uprooted like that.

When I became a military spouse, I knew it was going to happen over and over again, but this time I had a choice. I didn’t have to sit in the bathroom and hide. I knew other people were in the same boat. I didn’t know how long I would have them in my life, so I had to make the most of it. I carried that into the solopreneur firm I started in 2021. I knew I didn’t want to do it alone, and I didn’t have to. Last year, I decided I needed to help others find their people, too.

Canopy Host (09:41) And that’s when you did Wave Seattle. What a beautiful story. We don’t go through this life alone. I see that drive in accountants who love serving their clients, but you have an exponential drive to put humans first. From there, the business opportunities and success follow.

Erin Pohan (10:07) I honestly think there will always be hard days, especially when you’re an entrepreneur running your own firm. If you don’t have people to go through those days with, you increase your risk of leaning into failure and giving up.

Canopy Host (10:41) I’ve heard that the U.S. is experiencing a loneliness epidemic. It’s easy to lead an insular life. In 2011, you felt unemployable because there wasn’t an online component. Now, we’re on the opposite end—everything is so digital that we don’t have to have physical human interaction. With an organization like WAVE, you seem motivated to make sure people don’t forget that connection and know they aren’t alone.

Erin Pohan (11:41) We had a panel at our first Wave Seattle event this past May, and one of the topics was loneliness within the firm. One attendee was brave enough to share her story of feeling very alone running her firm. Every single person in that room resonated with her. That was the moment I knew what we’re doing is so important. It’s about more than a one-day event; it’s about finding common links and staying in relation with each other.

Canopy Host (12:31) Leadership is lonely, particularly when you’re an entrepreneurial leader wearing many hats. It’s hard to ask for help, and even if you delegate, your team might not know what you’re going through. What do you recommend we do to solve this, since we are more remote than ever?

Erin Pohan (13:12) On a macro level, start showing up to industry conferences just to be immersed with your people. Hearing the words “balance sheet” and “reconcile” makes me feel like I’m with my people. On a daily level, find an online community. I’m part of several: Ask a CPA, Aligned Accountants, Counter, Realize, Futurefirm, Ask a Bookkeeper, and Ambitious Bookkeeper. Join the conversations or virtual events they host.

I also listen to many accounting podcasts because it feels like having coworkers in the other room. Their conversation fills the silence. Finally, find a peer group for a weekly check-in or mastermind call to grow together.

Canopy Host (15:09) As someone who wants to do that, does it happen organically? How do you find your “accounting soulmates” for a weekly call?

Erin Pohan (15:32) As you become more visible, you open yourself up to those opportunities. Some communities, like Counter, facilitate connections. I’ve been in a mastermind with three other men since June, and it’s been great. I feel very supported.

Canopy Host (16:12) Talk to us about how you started Wave Seattle.

Erin Pohan (16:28) It started because I went to “Bridging the Gap” in 2024, put on by Randy Crabtree. It focused on community and building a firm with the right boundaries. I came back to Seattle and didn’t want to wait another year for that experience. I put it out there to see if people would come.

We did a smaller-scale evening event with three women speakers. I called it our “golf course conversations.” The idea is that men have great conversations and make business deals on the golf course, and women often miss out. Even on a meeting call, women sometimes feel like they’re joining a conversation that started midway through.

Canopy Host (17:35) I feel that even at my children’s soccer games. I’ll hear two dads talking business and I want to be part of it. I’m eager to participate, but in my community, there’s a lack of those opportunities. I find it hard to step out for networking in the evening because my time is stretched thin between work and family. But I know I’d feel more “fed” if I could have those conversations.

Erin Pohan (18:50) It is harder for us as women because we wear so many hats. That’s why Wave Seattle works—it’s an intentional choice. Women from 10 different states and Canada came last year, and the same trend is happening for 2026. We’re already almost halfway sold out. It’s an intentional way to have those “golf course conversations” when it’s hard to do so on a random Wednesday night.

Canopy Host (20:08) I think the world works better when women support men and men support women. Your event is “Women in Accounting,” but do you have men show up?

Erin Pohan (20:39) Yes! We have “witnesses” in the room. This past year, our sponsors included men who were wonderful supporters. If a man wants to attend, I welcome them.

Canopy Host (21:12) They need to. We need members of the majority to be allies. One of the men at WAVE this past May said he was very encouraged because men in his circles don’t share openly about struggles like loneliness. That was special.

Canopy Host (22:17) Talk to us about Upkeeping, because you’ve built that in a unique way to serve women in the space.

Erin Pohan (22:53) I started Upkeeping in 2021 rather accidentally. I fell for a $27 Facebook ad for a bookkeeping workshop by Serena Shoup. As I was doing it, I realized, “Oh, I’m building a firm.” I got a name, a website, and a client on Upwork. Within months, I had five clients. By December, I had $40K in revenue. That course taught me the tech stack and engagement letters—the business side of accounting. Knowing accounting and running an accounting business are two separate things.

Canopy Host (24:23) They are very separate things. So, you started as a solopreneur?

Erin Pohan (24:53) For the first six months. Then I hired a friend with QuickBooks experience who had kids in the same school as mine. We went into a co-working space, and I started offloading tasks. I later converted her to an employee and took on an intern from a local university. She’s now on board working on her degree. We also hired another part-time mom. We’re now a team of four. Everyone works about 10 hours a week, and it’s working really well for our 50 clients.

Canopy Host (26:17) That’s impressive for those hours.

Erin Pohan (26:21) I’m working on offloading more of my own hours and making a strategic hire next month. People often look to me for how to run their firm, and I’m honest about the fact that I’m still figuring it out and trying to grow responsibly. I’m open about building in public. I’ve been working with an operations specialist to develop this next role to take more off my plate so I can focus on being an entrepreneur. I’ll be sharing that journey—the ups and the downs—on LinkedIn.

Canopy Host (28:12) What will this hire look like?

Erin Pohan (28:21) The role is about 75% technical and 25% leadership. They will take things off my plate, act as a reviewer for the team’s work, and implement changes. We are tech-forward, so we need someone for change management.

Canopy Host (29:31) I love that you’re hiring a “change management” operator. To close us out, I’ve got rapid-fire questions. What’s more important: mentorship or peer support?

Erin Pohan (30:05) I would argue peer support, because peer support is a form of mentorship. If we’re figuring it out together, that’s powerful. I look to my weekly mastermind peers first when I have questions.

Canopy Host (30:53) What advice would you give to those just entering the accounting industry?

Erin Pohan (31:01) Show up. We want to know you and hear your voice. I know there’s imposter syndrome, but build authentically as “you” in public. Go on LinkedIn, follow accountants who are sharing their voices, and you’ll find an amazing community.

Canopy Host (31:34) Thank you so much for answering those, Erin. How can people get involved?

Erin Pohan (31:41) I’m most active on LinkedIn as Erin Pohan. We also have waveseattle.com for the event on May 15, 2026. I’d love to connect!

Canopy Host (32:03) Thanks again! I’ll be following along on LinkedIn to see how the changes go.

Erin Pohan (32:10) Thank you.