Cost Segregation =
Accelerated Depreciation

Jordan is a CPA with over 15 years of experience serving a wide range of clients across many industries and is a Principal at Dark Horse. Jordan is passionate about helping individuals and businesses understand their tax scenarios and providing them with comprehensive planning to help minimize their taxes and maximize their financial options.

Like a proper Dark Horse, Jordan’s journey to becoming a prominent CPA was untraditional and unexpected. It is a journey marked by grit and determination. Originally obtaining a degree in finance, he obtained a job where he was tangentially exposed to tax return preparation. Hungry for more experience, he took a seasonal tax job with a 1.5-hour commute. Being offered a full-time position, he began the journey of juggling a demanding work schedule, night classes, studying for the CPA exam and being Super Dad. Through hard work and determination, he has built a successful career for himself as a CPA.

Jordan lives in Houston with his wife, Julie, and their four children, Lahna (16), Llewyn (6), Langston (2), and Lyle (1). Not by choice but rather by force, his wife also introduced three dogs into the family; a Golden Retriever named Stewie, an overly puffy Pomeranian, Luna, and an old and disgruntled Chihuahua, BooBoo. Admittedly, Jordan is enormously thankful for his wife’s persistence in this matter.

When not accounting, Jordan enjoys tinkering around in his garage with a cold adult beverage, riding bikes, playing t-ball and the occasional home renovation and flip.

John Warner is a principal at Dark Horse CPAs. His career began working for the “Dark Side” – the (gasp) Internal Revenue Service. After a year of enduring the painfully terrible jokes about the IRS that came about conversationally when John mentioned his employer (example: “You better be careful about what you say to John because he’ll turn you in”), John decided to put the jokes to rest by entering public accounting at a large national CPA firm, where he spent seven years growing a national tax real estate practice which served large, international real estate investment and management firms.

Throughout his tenure at the large firm, he couldn’t shake the idea that he could be doing more to help small businesses in his own community. This desire to work with small businesses led him to start his own practice catered to the “little guy” – going so far as to set up a firm and start advertising around town. But as usually happens with the best-laid plans, they went out the window when he serendipitously came across a job posting for Dark Horse CPAs. After talking to Chase and Max, the founders of Dark Horse, John realized he had met two guys who were already practicing what he was hoping to preach. Things moved fast – three weeks, some phone calls, and a job offer later, he was on a plane to San Diego to meet the team (his wife being legitimately concerned it might be a “Taken/Hostel/Saw/other scary movie here,” situation. Fortunately, it was not). Since then, John has been living his professional dream, assisting small businesses and individuals to improve their tax and financial position.

John grew up in St. Louis, MO, and still lives there. He went to college at Truman State University, where, within the first hour on campus, he met his future wife, Kendra. John and Kendra have three kids; Will, Annalise, and Patrick – and (usually) they are great kids. John (and Will) are fans of the St. Louis Cardinals and Blues (Stanley Cup Champs!), and since Kendra is a diehard Chiefs fan (she’s from Kansas City), John is more than willing to jump on that winning bandwagon.

When he’s not working or hanging out with the family, John pretends to train for marathons or finds projects to complete around the house on the family’s “fixer-upper.”

Funny ranks at the bottom of the list if asked what adjectives you might associate with an accountant. Let's be honest; it's not even on the list. Teddy Mizerak, however, likes to laugh and is great at making others laugh. He's not gonna be your jester, but he'll at least make you smile.

But seriously, he's got experience ranging from the Big 4 to a large regional accounting firm to the head of a corporate tax department across industries, including everything from manufacturing to real estate to health care to farming to transportation and hospitality. Many different clients has he served, but they all get his timely responsiveness, a partner they can trust and one of those aforementioned laughs.

Teddy made his way to the University of Louisville by way of his hometown, Fort Lauderdale. Whereas some men of that age might attempt to win over a woman with displays of bravado, he displayed his evolved sensibilities by throwing down some impressive tax code knowledge in one of his tax courses, catching the attention of his soon-to-be-bride, Britney. A decade or so later, there is now a Teddy Jr. (well, actually, he's the fourth installment of the Theodore Mizerak lineage), a dog and a happily married couple.

Outside of his professional endeavors, Teddy enjoys playing with his son, long walks and hikes with the family, sweating it out on the Peloton, golfing, dining out, and watching college football and basketball.

James Larsen knew he wanted to be a Dark Horse CPA. Timing, however, isn't always straightforward or even predictable. But the thing about timing is that when the time is right, you know it...in fact, you can feel it. Such is the case for James, and such is the time at the writing of this bio entry. James enters Dark Horse as a Principal, merging his existing practice into the firm. James modeled his practice after the concept of being a holistic accountant to his clients, treating the client as a complete entity to address their business needs and their global financial situation. With Dark Horse, he now has more resources to deliver on this promise at the highest level.

James earned his accounting degree from California State University, Northridge and his master's in taxation from Golden Gate University. He is licensed as a CPA in both California and Arizona and a CFP in the state of Arizona. He's a member of the AICPA and California Society of Public Accountants. Is he highly credentialed? Yes. It's how he puts these credentials to work (which he's done for 15 years) that adds value to his clients' financial and tax situations. James is an expert in providing accounting and tax services to individuals, corporations, partnerships, LLCs, trusts, estates and non-profits. These services include business and personal finances management, tax resolution, business succession planning (purchase and sale consulting), business startup consulting, wealth management, estate planning, elder care and business management/accounting software implementation...just to name a few.

When not providing those accounting and tax services, James can be found away from his desk, likely outdoors playing softball, boating, camping, skiing, barbecuing or traveling. He even has a strong interest in astronomy. James is married to his wife, Mishell, and their family consists of a daughter (Brynn) and two dogs (Sofie and Callie).

Craig listens. By his own account, he spends most conversations listening twice as long as the time he speaks. To the unacquainted, they might confuse him for someone shy or introverted. To the acquainted, they know that he’s actively listening and taking note of the big things and the small things, the said and the unsaid. He honed this skill by working with small businesses as a freelance web developer in high school. He eventually shifted gears into accounting at the University of Central Florida, where he found his unique propensity towards listening was met by a desire from clients to be heard.

Craig has worked with (and listened to) small businesses and individuals for over a decade. Clients would come to him because they couldn’t get hold of their CPA and, if they did, received advice lacking substance (and accuracy). Desiring to be part of a new wave of accountants that would overtake the swell of the “silver tsunami,” providing a much higher level of client service and pushing forward the profession into the 21st century, Craig found Dark Horse.

Outside of helping small business owners increase profitability and decrease taxes, Craig can be found, well, outside. Running, cycling, golfing, fishing, playing with his boys…just about any verb with an “ing” ending that happens outdoors. He and his wife, Emily, along with their three boys and a Golden Mountain Doodle, reside in Nocatee, where he serves as the Treasurer of Pine Island Academy. Craig exclaimed about his recent move to Nocatee, “it’s the best decision my wife and I have ever made!” Second, potentially, to his move to Dark Horse anyway.

After years of working with large accounting firms servicing even larger corporations, Adam launched his own practice to help small businesses lower their taxes and enable them to invest in their business. With a robust tax planning background, he brought the “big firm” resources to the businesses that need it most, those who are often overlooked…the Dark Horse small business.

Originally envisioning himself as a high school math teacher and football coach, he found himself at a business school without a secondary education program. Given his proclivities for math, the debits and credits of accounting came naturally and were a natural transition. He has benefitted from working inside several corporate tax teams of larger multinational companies and the public-facing side of small and regional accounting firms. He has seen how much of a difference a team of tax CPAs can make for big companies and has invested over a decade into developing a highly effective approach for translating the book of incentives (aka the Internal Revenue Code) for small business owners. He has a passion for serving entrepreneurs (who he believes are the backbone of our country) and wants to give them the upper hand in navigating the increasingly complex U.S. tax system.

When not providing these tax planning and entity structuring strategies, Adam can be found outside the office, making memories with his wife and their six little tax deductions (two boys and four girls). While he hung up the football cleats and track spikes on a competitive level after college, he has found a new outlet for his love of team sports through teaching and coaching his kiddos and their friends. The truth, however, is that the family setting has been the ultimate team sport!