“We own our businesses. They shouldn’t own us.”
Walter Kinney, CPA and partner at PorterKinney, shared that simple reminder near the end of his conversation with Byron Martin, CEO at Teknologize. It captured one of the biggest lessons he has learned during more than a decade as a business owner.
Building a better business is not only about increasing revenue or getting more work done. It is about surrounding yourself with the right people, building a culture of trust, developing stronger client relationships, and using technology to create greater capacity.
For Walter, the goal is a business that performs well without consuming the life of the person who built it.
Here are some of the lessons that stood out.
Walter is candid about how PorterKinney’s hiring process has evolved. In the early years, the firm might post a position, interview someone once or twice, and then make a decision.
That approach did not always lead to the right fit.
“It’s much harder to let somebody go than to never let the wrong person in the door,” Walter explained.
Now, candidates submit a short video with their application before anyone even looks at a resume. It sounds like a small filter, but it does a lot of work: applicants who skip it usually didn't read the job posting closely in the first place. Those who make it through go on to four or five rounds of interviews, including a lunch with the entire team, with the owners deliberately absent so people can ask the questions they wouldn't ask in front of their future boss. The team also has an opportunity to provide honest feedback about whether the candidate would be a good fit for the company’s culture.
A business coach once gave Walter a simple question for evaluating a team: Would you enthusiastically rehire everyone who currently works for you?
Walter says there have been times when his answer was no. Today, he is happy to say it would be yes.
Walter describes PorterKinney’s culture as one of the firm’s greatest assets. But he is also clear that it did not happen automatically. It developed over time through lessons learned and mistakes made along the way.
PorterKinney typically sets goals on a trimester schedule. When the firm reaches those goals, the team celebrates together. Those celebrations have included trips to Silverwood Theme Park, an overnight stay at Silver Mountain, indoor skydiving, and a Mariners game.
These experiences are more than employee perks. Walter believes spending time together outside the office strengthens relationships in ways that daily work cannot. Even something as simple as playing ping pong at the office gives team members a chance to step away from their desks, interact, and have fun together.
“We like to win together. Celebrate together,” Walter said. The goal is for employees to understand that when the company succeeds, that success is shared across the team rather than benefiting only the owners.
That same commitment to shared success led PorterKinney to make another significant cultural decision: opening its financial books to the entire team.
One of PorterKinney’s most distinctive cultural practices is financial transparency. Walter and his business partner share the firm’s gross revenue, net profit, current priorities, and opportunities for improvement with the entire team. Individual compensation is the one area they keep private.
Although they were nervous about opening the books, they provided context by sharing the firm’s journey, including the risks they took and the modest income they earned during its early years. Walter says the decision generated significant positive feedback and helped create greater understanding and buy-in across the team.
Compliance and accuracy still matter, but Walter believes a CPA’s greatest value is no longer transferring numbers from a W-2 into tax software. Technology can handle more of that work, allowing CPAs to focus on proactive planning and stronger client relationships.
For PorterKinney, that means working with business owners throughout the year, identifying tax strategies before deadlines, and understanding their long-term goals. If a client plans to retire and transfer the company to a family member, for example, those conversations should begin years in advance.
That kind of planning can protect cash flow and help owners reinvest saved dollars into hiring, marketing, and business growth. The goal is not simply to report what happened last year. It is to help clients make better decisions about what happens next.
CPA firms hold a significant amount of sensitive client information, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, bank account details, and tax records. Walter describes that information as a “goldmine of personal data,” making security and client confidentiality a top concern across the accounting profession.
PorterKinney takes a layered approach that includes strong IT systems, employee training, awareness of regulatory changes and cyber insurance. AI adds another consideration because employees need clear guidance about what information can be entered into these tools.
As Walter explains, uploading an unredacted tax return into a free AI platform could expose highly sensitive client data. The challenge for accounting firms is finding ways to benefit from AI while maintaining appropriate policies, safeguards, and professional responsibility.
PorterKinney has primarily been using Claude while the team learns how to incorporate AI into its daily work. Some employees use it to create a morning brief that summarizes their calendars, inboxes and unanswered Teams messages, helping them begin the day with a clearer plan.
Walter has also used AI to work through large client projects involving multiple spreadsheets and data sets. Some projects that previously required 15 to 20 hours of manual work have been completed in approximately three to five hours.
The process is not hands-off. The firm has policies and training in place, and sensitive client information is redacted before AI tools are used. Experienced professionals still need to guide the process, ask the right questions, and validate the results. AI can create significant capacity, but it does not replace professional judgment.
Walter sees small business owners as some of the hardest-working and most generous people in their communities. But that commitment can also lead to burnout, with owners continually postponing the experiences they hoped their businesses would make possible.
As Walter’s business partner once pointed out, he looked at his calendar and said, "I see a Monday and a Tuesday and a Wednesday, there's no someday on there." Building the right team, improving systems and using technology effectively can help owners create the capacity to pursue their goals now instead of continually putting them off.
That is the larger message behind the conversation. You own your business. It should support the life you want to live, not consume it.
Want to hear the full conversation? Watch the complete episode of The Byron Martin Show for more insights on hiring, company culture, financial transparency, proactive tax planning, and responsible AI adoption.
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