Hi! I’m Ryan Lazanis. I’m a CPA by trade but definitely don’t consider myself a normal accountant. I identify more with being an entrepreneur and I love disruptive technologies and business models. My aim is to help modernize the old, boring, traditional accounting profession.

After spending many years in public practice at a small, traditional CPA firm, I decided to start Xen Accounting in 2013. The firm was one of the first of its kind in Canada. 100% online, totally paperless, fully cloud-based, leveraging the latest tech to automate our customer’s accounting. We’re a firm of geeky CPA’s, bookkeepers and technologists. We looked at what millennials hated from the traditional accounting firm and turned that on its head to offer a new service in the country.

I also like writing & speaking on the subject of technology (including blockchain & cryptocurrency!) & accounting. I’ve been a writer for Techvibes, featured in international publications and have spoken at various events around the world.

Previous to starting Xen Accounting I was an active DJ in Montreal but I have to say that my biggest passion is traveling to remote destinations with my wife.

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Hey there,

My name is Joey Steben, I am a CPA Auditor, CA with a variety of experience spanning over 7 years. Prior to joining the Xen squad, I gained experience in industries including manufacturing, wholesale and distribution and retail…both from an audit point of view as well as a controller inside the company. I’ve also spent some time as a forensic accountant, where I participated in fraud investigations, as well as investigations into corruption, collusion and bribery. My time as a forensic accountant also allowed me to publish an article on fraud in real estate which opened up my eyes on the importance of professional skepticism and thorough due diligence.

I believe that accounting in itself is a fundamental component in all businesses and a grasp of accounting allows for a greater understanding of the mechanics of a business. That was the key reason I chose to become a CPA; I have a passion both for learning about different industries and how that industry works as well as for helping small businesses grow and flourish by identifying areas in which they can tweak, apply certain structure, control or framework, which will allow the business to jump to another level.

I joined Xen as Xen’s business model falls perfectly in line with my passion for helping small businesses succeed. At the personal level, I am an advocate for a clean environment and wildlife conservation. I truly hope that one day I can contribute my professional skills to society to help in those areas. In the meantime, while I build those skills, I take care of my 2 dogs (a Great Dane and an Alaskan Klee Kai…better described as a mini husky). I also love sports, including soccer, ball hockey and golf all of which I have been playing since I was a kid. I managed to play for some pretty competitive soccer teams back in the day, and have been a medalist at 2 national championships. Lastly, when time permits, I like to head up north to my family’s cottage to enjoy the great outdoors, or travel to remote destinations and learn about different cultures. In a nutshell, I don’t fit the stereotypical bean counter, but rather a dude who likes to meet and help people, whether it be in business or in sports or anywhere else for that matter.

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My name is Michelle Ratcliffe and I am the Tax Manager here at Xen accounting. I am a tax accountant with my Canadian CPA, CA and US (WA) CPA designations. I have 10 years of public practice experience in British Columbia and have worked for all sizes of firms; small, mid-size and one of the large national firms. I found that I enjoy the atmosphere and the hands on experience of assisting owner-manager business owners at smaller accounting firms, which is one of the many reasons I came to Xen.

At the beginning of my career I did my time auditing and did not enjoy it, although it did let me see the inner workings of a number of different types and sizes of companies. My position prior to Xen, was as a cross border tax specialist that assisted US citizens living in Canada with their US and Canadian tax filing requirements. I also managed a number of property development groups of companies and partnerships that had dealings in both the US and Canada.

I initially became an accountant because I enjoyed preparing my friends and family’s tax returns. I also wanted a career where I could either help people, animals or the environment and becoming a tax accountant was my way of giving back by helping with an unavoidable part of life that most people hate to even think about. I strive to do my best when assisting individuals and business owners with tax planning advice and their tax issues and to do so in a way that they can understand.

Outside work, I enjoy sewing, baking and being outdoors. In the summer, you will find me camping at lakes around BC and throughout the year, I attend outdoor bootcamp classes to stay fit. In the winter, I snowboard and try my best to go south for warmer weather. My love of travelling has aligned perfectly with Xen’s business model and has made my dreams of spending my winters working from South and Central America come true.

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My name is Jessica Mayrand and I am a CPA auditor, CA; working remotely – and currently – from Squamish, Beautiful British Columbia.

As part of my career journey, I’ve experienced different stimulating environments before entering the Xen World. From corporate banking to Venture capital, I also spent many years in one of the Big 4’s, earning solid audit experience and building a strong customer approach.
My career path brought me really close to entrepreneurs and opened my mind to new opportunities; as I seized the 21st century opportunity of Cloud Accounting : A creative and forward thinking approach that suits my daily lifestyle perfectly – the nomad one. I am an adventure pursuer, as I find my roots in evolving, discovering, exploring.

I am a strong advocate of simplicity and curiosity; as I believe that the meaningful things in life relies in the satisfaction of the now and the how. These days, I balance myself between the adrenaline of most extreme outdoor sports and the serenity of accomplishment by pushing my limits, always.

Helping others is one of the cornerstones on which my community is built on and I pursue an everyday goal of sharing it with my family, my friends, my colleagues and my clients.

– Bio written on some amazing melodic beats

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Hello, I’m Pierre. I’m an improbable mix between a software engineer and an accountant. I enjoy working with small businesses with an open, forward-looking and deliberate mindset, such as Xen and its clients. As a tech lead, I spend most of my days making sure the team is trained and up-to-date with the latest innovations, freeing my colleagues from working on boring stuff with automation, building tools to improve our already awesome ways of doing things, and consulting with clients to help them find the best solution to support their processes with technology. For fun, I try to learn as much random stuff as I can. My favourite things besides coding are cycling, pixel art, listening to loud music, and humbling myself with martial arts. You can find me on Interwebs as ‘pierresenechal’ almost everywhere, and on the Twitterverse as ‘xen_pierre’ too.

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Hi! My name is Morvarid Shahbazian. I have a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and am soon to enrol in the CPA program. While pursuing my accounting degree, I worked for a small family business as a manager and bookkeeper and where I received more exposure to accounting, business and real life experiences. I also did accounting for a start-up marketing company after my graduation and prior to joining Xen Accounting. I love to learn about new business ideas and Xen gives me a great opportunity to do so by providing support to our clients. I enjoy the workplace and the zen environment of Xen as well as working with the great and dynamic team.

My passion in life is to learn new skills and study about human behaviour and how we could improve our traits. I love travelling to new places as much as my work and personal life allow me. Life is all about balance so I truly believe we should enjoy it however we like, and for me that is being active and making sure I devote enough time to my health and well-being. Every day for me is about making a positive change in my own life and that of others.

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Hasan Shahariar; adventurer by nature, CPA by nurture.

I am an accounting professional with several years of industry and firm exposure as well as investment management experience in trading securities and business development for capital markets.

I joined Xen Accounting a year and half ago because it was not a typical accounting firm with traditional values. We look to innovate in the tech side of things to make accounting as pain free as possible. Prior to Xen, I used to work for a traditional accounting firm where clients showed up with a shoebox of receipts, and I must say it’s a great feeling to not have to do that anymore!

Outside of work, I am very active physically. I’m an avid outdoorsman, I enjoy hiking, sports and travelling. I have been to every continent on the planet except South America, which I plan on conquering some day as well. I love stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying new things.

Have questions? Feel free to ask!

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My name is Christopher Pryde, I am a CPA candidate going through the university graduate program at Concordia University. Prior to joining the Xen team, I completed the CO-OP program at Concordia which allowed me to gain experience in bookkeeping and payroll with other small businesses as well as larger international companies.

I decided to become an accountant because my father has been running his own business since I was born and I’ve always been interested in how things work in the back end and understanding what the numbers can tell you about a business.

I joined Xen because I wanted to be part of a firm with the goal of helping small Canadian business reach their objectives and was attracted by its non-traditional online model. On the personal side, I like to keep up to date on new technologies coming out, whether it be new computer hardware, cryptocurrency applications or internet of things solutions.

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