Welcome to Founder’s CPA Maria! To get to know our newest team member better, we have a little Q & A for you.

Q) Where are you from?

I recently moved to Chicago from Minneapolis, MN. I graduated from Metropolitan State University in August 2018 with major in Accounting.

Q) What’s your background in?

I worked as an Accounts Payable specialist in a small law firm for 5 years, prior to that I’ve volunteered for two tax season in a non-profit organization filing individual tax returns for people with low-income.

Q) Do you prefer to use Quickbooks or Xero?

I think both are good with their own features, but I personally prefer Quickbooks just because I use it a lot more than Xero.

Q) Which part of accounting do you enjoy the most?

For me, favorite part about accounting is problem solving.

Q) What made you decide to become an accountant?

I always loved working with numbers and when I took my first accounting class, I knew right away it is something I want to pursue. It made sense to me right away and was easy to understand.

Curt Mastio
Post by Curt Mastio
Apr 22, 2019 9:50:00 AM
Curt Mastio started Founder’s CPA in 2017 and currently serves as the Managing Partner of the firm. After obtaining both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign Curt started his career in Big Four public accounting. Shortly thereafter Curt served as the Chief Financial Officer of Storage Squad began his stint as an Adjunct Instructor at Northwestern University’s Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and has been teaching Accounting & Finance to undergraduate students for 6+ years. In his current role Curt oversees strategy, operations, and business development at Founder’s CPA. Further, Curt has experience working directly with 200+ startups and small businesses providing accounting, tax, and outsourced CFO services. His industry expertise lies in the SaaS, Blockchain, Marketplace, and Fintech industries. He has served as a key advisor working directly with startups that range from pre-revenue to companies generating over $30 million dollars a year in revenue. Lastly, he serves a key role working directly with the firm’s clients that have collectively raised over $200 million in venture capital funding to date. Curt is also an active advisor, mentor, and investor in the startup ecosystem. He has facilitated numerous workshops, webinars, and presentations to incubators and other startup-centric organizations. He is also an active mentor for Techstars in both Chicago and Iowa. Outside of his daily professional duties Curt is actively involved with Beat the Streets Chicago and was a founding member of its Young Professionals Board. His efforts in both leadership and community involvement were recognized when he was awarded the Illinois CPA Society’s Outstanding Young Professional Leadership Award in 2020. He was also a panelist at their annual conference in 2022 where he spoke about his experiences starting and operating a public accounting firm. He maintains an active Certified Public Accountant designation that he obtained in 2014. Outside of work, Curt can be found spending time with his friends & family including his dog Rufus. His hobbies include golf, boating, cooking, reading, and attending sporting events & concerts.