Dark Horse CPAs Announces Hiring of Keaton Trager as Associate Principal

Trager Begins Principal Accelerator Program, Establishes SMB Accounting and Advisory Practice

CARDIFF BY THE SEA, CA, UNITED STATES, July 1, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ --  Dark Horse CPAs, a top accounting and tax firm serving small businesses across the nation, announces the hiring of Keaton Trager as an Accelerator in the firm’s Principal Accelerator Program. Trager’s entrepreneurial background, advisory mindset, and commitment to helping business owners make stronger financial decisions earned him a seat in the highly selective program.

Trager brings experience serving business owners across a wide range of industries, with a focus on making financial data more useful, actionable, and connected to the operational realities of each business. After building his own firm from the ground up, he developed a deep respect for the systems, people, and client conversations required to run a successful practice.

“I had heard of Dark Horse and kept coming back to the model,” said Trager. “The idea of building your own book, running your own P&L, and maintaining ownership while serving clients the way you believe they should be served is why I started my own firm in the first place. The support and infrastructure Dark Horse provides would take years to build from scratch, and being able to keep a true entrepreneurial approach while delivering high-quality service to clients was a big deal.”

Trager’s approach to client service centers on clarity, accessibility, and practical financial guidance. He believes business owners need more than reports or technical answers without context. They need a CPA and advisory relationship that helps them understand what the numbers mean and how those numbers should shape the next decision.

“Business owners don’t need more jargon or more data without context,” said Trager. “They need someone who can translate the numbers into decisions. Financial data should be clearly connected to the operational drivers of the business, so owners understand how daily activity impacts their financials. I want every conversation to end with the client knowing the next action and why it matters.”

That perspective is especially relevant in the Client Accounting Services and fractional CFO space, where Trager sees a significant opportunity to serve small and mid-size businesses that have outgrown basic bookkeeping and tax compliance, but have not yet had access to proactive financial leadership. “Many businesses have a bookkeeper and a tax preparer, but nobody sitting at the table helping them think through cash flow, pricing strategy, or what their metrics are telling them,” said Trager. “There’s a real opportunity to build a practice around that advisory layer, wrapping tax and compliance around a proactive CFO relationship rather than the other way around. I want to show what a modern advisory practice looks like and the high-value relationship that can exist between accountants and business owners.”

“Keaton understands the gap so many business owners are trying to close,” said Chase Birky, CEO and co-founder of Dark Horse CPAs. “Specifically, getting beyond the monthly close and using those numbers to tell a story, to create a narrative to help business owners contextualize the information so they can make informed and often course-correcting decisions moving forward. Where the real magic happens is in his advisory engagements, where he transitions to the role of ghost writer, helping the client write the story they want to live in, to guiding them and measuring progress along the way. Keaton is uniquely able to guide his clients as an operator and entrepreneur himself. This experience helps him differentiate between noise and signal, while communicating the latter in a digestible way. We’re excited to see the evolution of his practice and to help him write the Dark Horse chapter of his story.”



 About the Dark Horse Accelerator Program 
The Dark Horse Principal Accelerator Program was created for entrepreneurially minded CPAs who want to build a scalable book of business without the personal and financial sacrifices of starting from scratch. Dark Horse provides the resources, technology, and operational support to grow intelligently and profitably. Accelerators receive training on the firm’s proprietary tech stack, sales coaching, and access to full-time and fractional professional staff to support client work. Upon successful completion of the program, they can become equity Principals of the firm. 

The Accelerator Program is currently accepting new participants. Interested CPAs can learn more at abetterway.cpa or by emailing info@darkhorse.cpa


About Dark Horse CPAs

Dark Horse CPAs provides integrated tax, accounting, and CFO services to small businesses and individuals across the U.S. The firm was founded to save small businesses (and their owners) from subpar accounting and tax services and subpar client experiences. These small businesses are Dark Horses among their larger and more well-known competition. Being a Dark Horse CPA means advocating for small businesses by bringing to them the tax strategies and accounting insights previously reserved for big business. To learn more, visit darkhorse.cpa.  

Justin Kurn
Dark Horse CPAs
justin@darkhorse.cpa
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