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From Pivot Magazine

Meet the CPAs using TikTok to share tax and budgeting tips

Sam Cao and Myriam-Karina Gad are part of a larger trend of accountants turning to social media to share their financial insights

A man sits at his desk with camera equipment nearby and a woman sits next to a microphone and a laptopFrom left: CPAs Sam Cao and Myriam-Karina Gad are using TikTok to share their financial knowledge (Photography by Alicia Thwaites and Rodolphe Beaulieu)

Sam Cao

Senior associate and digital accelerator, PwC
Handle: @canadiantaxenthusiast
Followers: 17,500
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba

When I was studying for my CFE in 2019, I developed a passion for anything and everything to do with tax. I was also interested in building my own social-media brand.

TikTok quickly became the platform everyone was talking about, so I decided to give it a try. In April 2021, I began posting videos with some general accounting advice. In those early days, my videos would only get about 10 views each. I kept posting regularly, but I struggled to come up with ideas for new content. The answer was staring me in the face: I spent most of my time working in tax and consuming news about it. So why not talk about tax? Conventional wisdom would say that most people find tax boring. But I thought, ‘It's my job to make tax interesting.’

So, I started a video series called Canadian Tax Tips. In the videos, I offered simplified tips in under sixty seconds. TikTok is unique because it has powerful built-in features that allow you to edit your videos within the app. All you need is a phone. With other platforms like YouTube, you’d often need editing software. So, I was able to quickly put together my videos whenever I had spare time.

Another great part of TikTok is that videos can rapidly go viral on the platform. Some of my posts received more than 100,000 views virtually overnight. Since then, my following has slowly and steadily grown, which proves there’s demand for engaging information about tax. If people can watch my videos and learn something that improves their lives, that’s all the motivation I need to keep posting.

Myriam-Karina Gad

Budgeting analyst at MTY Food Group
Handle: @mimismoneymoves
Followers: 12,000
Location: Montreal, Canada

Soon after becoming a CPA in late 2020, I joined restaurant franchisor MTY Food Group. My role focuses on supporting various brands in bridging their strategic plan with financial aspects like budgeting and forecasting. As a budgeting expert, I’ve noticed there’s a lot of bad advice out there on how to manage your money. On social media, countless financial coaches preach the gospel of frugality to the point of absurdity. I’d compare a budget to a diet. Restrictive diets that cut out your favourite foods never last because they’re unsustainable. I believe the same goes for restrictive budgets that leave no room for things you enjoy.

That’s why I decided to create a TikTok channel to promote a more accommodating and sustainable approach to personal finance. In February 2021, I posted my first video. Initially, I outlined basic budgeting strategies. Nowadays, I share my personal finance journey and all its ups and downs. Being open and vulnerable about my finances resonates with my followers, many of whom go through the same challenges I do. My TikTok experience has shown me that I love helping people manage their money, which is why I’m launching a personal finance consultancy in 2022.

MEET OTHER INFLUENCERS

See how these CPAs are capturing big audiences with their YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram content.