Building a sustainable CPA career as an introverted leader: Chase Birky, CEO of Dark Horse CPAs

In public accounting today, technical skill isn’t always enough. CPAs are increasingly expected to communicate with clients, manage relationships and build a book of business – responsibilities often associated with more outward-facing, extroverted behaviours.

But many CPAs excel through focus, depth and thoughtful, deliberate communication. For them, building a sustainable career means balancing the profession’s external demands with their natural way of working.

Few leaders speak about that balance more openly than Chase Birky, CEO of Dark Horse CPAs. In this conversation, Chase shares how his firm began almost by accident, how introversion shapes his leadership and how CPAs can build careers that align with their strengths – even when the job requires moments of living an “extroverted” life.

Key takeaways for introverted CPAs

• You can build a sustainable CPA career without pretending to be an extrovert – clarity on your energy and strengths matters more than personality type.
• Business development isn’t about being charismatic; introverted CPAs often excel by communicating clearly, doing great work and earning respect.
• Protecting your energy through structure, boundaries and intentional recovery is essential for long-term performance and well-being.

What led you to start your own firm?

I would say it was more a matter of life circumstances than intention. I left a partnership in accounting rather abruptly and as a result I didn’t have a plan. I had a handful of clients in the summer of 2015 who needed tax returns filed before the extended deadlines. So I was focused on that, figuring that once I got into October, I’d decide the next step.

But as things tend to happen, one thing leads to another. My father-in-law had a new business at the time and needed some fractional controllership/CFO work. Between that and the clients I already had, it was enough of a monthly nut that I could actually pay bills. So I figured I’d keep going down that road and see where it led.

Did growth come naturally in those early days?

If you’re asking whether I’m naive, the answer is yes. As an entrepreneur, you have to be optimistically naive. If you truly knew what you were getting into, you wouldn’t do it. The strength and weakness of an entrepreneur is this mindset of “I can do it, how hard can it be?” And it often ends up being way harder and way bigger in scope than you imagined.

That shows up in a lot of areas of my life – even painting our house. I thought I’d paint my wife’s office in a couple of days. That turned into multiple coats, then painting the ensuite, then the entire loft. Same thing with quitting nicotine – I told people I was going to quit and my stubbornness meant there was no way I’d backtrack.

So yes, naive and stubborn. Both need to be balanced, but they can produce great outcomes – though often with a personal cost. But nothing meaningful in life is easy.

How does your natural working style show up in leadership?

In terms of the introvert-extrovert spectrum, I definitely tend toward the introvert side. I say spectrum because I don’t think it’s binary – everyone is some degree of both.

I’d also consider myself a bit of an ambivert, where I can turn it on. But there’s a dark side to that. If you’re “on” too long, it drains you in ways that are hard to articulate. There are times when I’m so exhausted socially that I’m watching myself talk and thinking, I don’t even believe what I’m saying. It’s this weird autopilot.

I define introversion this way: socializing takes energy. And when you combine that with being a bit of a people pleaser, it’s not a great combo – you end up being very performative. Which is probably why ambiverts end up that way in the first place.

Which parts of your work are most challenging from an introverted standpoint?

Conference season. That can get tough because it’s all day, week after week. When you own a firm, relationships matter, so duty calls. My wife and I talk a lot about being introverts living extroverts’ lives.

Day-to-day, I notice it most in meetings. I schedule them around my energy levels. I almost never book meetings in the late afternoon because that’s when my energy is lowest. If a meeting requires active participation, it goes earlier in the day. If I have a lot of meetings in a day, that’s all that happens. 

If you can audit your energy levels and get a clearer understanding of the day-to-day work which drains you of energy and that which gives you energy, you have a bit of a blueprint for how to structure your days and weeks so you can avoid running on fumes for too long. 

How do you manage the parts of your role that require you to lean more into extroversion? 

My executive coach gave me a metaphor I like: work-life balance is like a flight plan. The plane is never actually on the plan – it’s constantly correcting back toward it.

I go through seasons where I’m way off the flight path, having ignored my energy audit blueprint because I’m in the middle of something that feels like it’s existential. Life and especially business, doesn’t unfold in ways that allow you to stay on the flight plan in perfect balance. Discipline is not about doing everything as prescribed without fail. It’s about having the resolve to get back on the flight path when you realize you’re too far off. 

You have to recognize when to hit the brakes and recharge. When you’re low on energy, that’s when you make bad decisions and damage relationships.

For me, recharging might be listening to a podcast alone, exercising, or immersing myself in something that shuts the world out. I’ve also done solo trips – just a couple of days, I’ll go somewhere so I can have some quiet space to think and that’s super powerful.

People often assume business development comes more naturally to extroverts. How do you approach it?

I haven’t been in client service for 6+ years, but I see a lot of CPAs in the firm who are seeding practices. It’s interesting because the people you think will crush business development – charismatic, agreeable, likable – often don’t.

And some who seem standoffish or less verbose end up outperforming them.

What matters more than extroversion is how you communicate. You don’t have to be liked – you have to be respected. Being liked is a hamster wheel. People who focus less on being liked and more on doing great work, serving the right clients and being assertive tend to do better.

The stereotype of what a good “salesperson” looks like is often wrong. The best performers aren’t always the ones you’d expect.

Are there parts of your role that benefit from introversion? 

Writing, for sure. Writing, creative thinking, strategy – the stuff that informs mission, vision, execution.

Introverts burn out faster in social settings, but they recharge through creative, mostly solo work. What we’re building at Dark Horse is novel and I don’t think that comes as naturally from someone super extroverted. Extroverts tend to be more focused on their surroundings and what others are doing; I’m more focused on what I want to create.

Rick Rubin says the audience comes last – if you build something you think is awesome, people like you will think it’s awesome too.

Do you think that’s helped you attract the right clients and team members?

Even before we pivoted the firm, the brand was about projecting the type of client we wanted. We didn’t wear suits. We wore T-shirts. We were the CPA you could have a beer with.

That doesn’t work for everyone – but it worked for the clients we wanted.

To attract the right people (clients or staff), you need to know who you are. Without that clarity, you can’t create a value proposition that resonates.

What advice would you give CPAs who want to build their career around their strengths?

Go back to the energy audit. What gives you energy is likely a strength. Do more of that and less of what drains you.

I started my career at Deloitte and got feedback that when they gave me something difficult and stimulating, I did well. But when they gave me “easy” work… did I even think about it? I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was a little bit of commentary towards my ADD. And also I think it really illustrates the point of what I found stimulating showed up in my work. What I did not find stimulating also showed up poorly in my work.

If something stimulates you, even if you’re not good at it yet, it’ll become a strength. Follow that.