Business

Michel Valbrun Shares Tips With Firms About Asking The Right Questions While Hiring CPA

Published

5 years ago

June 23, 2021

Michel Valbrun, CEO & Founder Of Valbrun Group Brings In Value Based Learning For Firms/Entrepreneurs

Michel Valbrun, a reputed CPA, helps entrepreneurs and businesses understand the importance of saving money on taxes and use it as a tool to create wealth. This has helped many of his clients create generational wealth. His multiples of experience in the corporate and accounting firms helped him start his own venture ‘Valbrun Group’ – where he opened his own accounting firm. He is sharing some tips with the firm owners and brand owners on how to ask the right questions when they hire a CPA.

Question #1

Afraid of the IRS? Not suitable then. An individual with the CPA role should be absolutely comfortable and work willing, and try to engage with the idea of handling an IRS audit.

If they are overly nervous about the IRS audits or how they work, find someone else to do the job for you. Some of the tax preparers often advised: “Don’t take this deduction, even though it’s legitimate, because it might raise a red flag and get you audited.” This is a statement that comes from a place of insecurity and unpreparedness.

Question #2

Are you ready to handle IRS communications, if necessary? Hire the best tax advisor who is highly capable to deal with an IRS auditor, not you. Michel shares, ‘I cannot emphasize this point enough. It is highly advisable that you as a business/brand owner don’t converse with the IRS directly. No means no!.’

Be it a simple request or an extensive audit, the IRS could easily flood you with too much information as you are a common man who is unaware of the depth of the knowledge they hold. Your CPA should know this depth even more than the IRS.

Question #3

Have you experienced an IRS audit before? Listen to them carefully. How was their experience with the rendezvous? Ask them a few examples if you don’t understand something. Also feel free to understand how it ended at the end. There can be 100 different scenarios in your case, however, it is necessary to understand how they react in such instances.

Losing an audit means losing a huge refund for the client. In some cases, it means a huge tax refund if the auditor won. In fact, it is better if the taxpayer was better off losing when you combine the two years of tax paid.

Question #4

Do you know how to build a relationship with an IRS auditor? This is a moment changing answer usually. CPA with good people skills can make the IRS auditor feel comfortable and really do their best to coax them. Auditors usually have a really tough job, and building rapport with them can make a big difference in the results.

Keeping proper documentation of expenses can keep the tax return in check. Always ask for a list of the documents you need to keep for emergencies. It’s critical to keep good records. Led and mentored by Michel Valbrun, most small and medium-size businesses can easily reduce their tax burden legally and ethically. To get some tax or finance saving advice from the genius himself, check out Michel’s website and save all your money to create wealth for the upcoming generations.

Business

Inside the $4.3B Quarter: What’s Fueling Black Banx’s Record Revenues

Published

1 day ago

January 16, 2026

Matthew Wiles

Every quarter brings fresh headlines in fintech, but few make the kind of impact achieved by Black Banx in Q2 2025. The Toronto-based global digital banking group, founded by Michael Gastauer, reported an extraordinary USD 4.3 billion in revenue and a record USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, while improving its cost-to-income ratio to 63%.

These results not only highlight the company’s operational efficiency but also mark a pivotal moment in its journey from challenger to global leader. The big question is: what’s fueling such impressive financial performance?

Customer Growth as the Core Driver

One of the clearest engines of revenue growth is Black Banx’s expanding customer base. By Q2 2025, the platform had reached 84 million clients worldwide, up from 69 million at the end of 2024. This 15 million net gain in six months demonstrates both the attractiveness of its services and the scalability of its model.

Unlike traditional banks, which rely heavily on branch expansion, Black Banx leverages digital-first onboarding that allows customers to open accounts within minutes using just a smartphone. This approach is especially effective in regions underserved by legacy institutions, where access to affordable financial tools is in high demand.

More customers don’t just mean higher transaction volumes—they generate a compounding effect where network size, brand trust, and service adoption reinforce one another.

Real-Time Payments and Cross-Border Solutions

A major contributor to Q2 revenues is the platform’s real-time payments infrastructure. Black Banx enables instant cross-border transfers across its 28 supported fiat currencies and multiple cryptocurrencies, helping both individuals and businesses bypass the traditional bottlenecks of international banking.

For freelancers, SMEs, and multinational clients, this means faster liquidity, reduced foreign exchange costs, and simplified global operations. The demand for real-time financial services is growing rapidly—Juniper Research projects global real-time payments turnover to hit USD 58 trillion by 2028—and Black Banx is strategically positioned to capture a significant share of this market.

Crypto Integration as a Revenue Stream

Another key revenue driver is crypto integration. While many traditional institutions remain hesitant, Black Banx embraced digital assets early and has built infrastructure to support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the Lightning Network. In Q2 2025, 20% of all transactions on the platform were crypto-based, reflecting strong customer appetite for hybrid banking services that bridge fiat and digital assets.

Revenue comes not only from transaction fees but also from value-added services like crypto-to-fiat conversion, staking yields (4–12% APY), and blockchain-enabled payments. For customers in markets with unstable currencies, these services act as a financial lifeline, further expanding the platform’s relevance.

AI-Powered Efficiency and Risk Management

Record revenues would be less impressive if costs ballooned at the same rate. But Black Banx has proven adept at balancing growth with efficiency. Its cost-to-income ratio improved to 63% in Q2, down from 69% a year earlier, thanks to heavy reliance on AI-powered automation.

AI now drives fraud detection, compliance, and customer onboarding—areas where traditional banks often struggle with cost inefficiencies. By automating these processes, Black Banx can process millions of transactions securely while maintaining profitability at scale. This level of efficiency is rare in fintech, where high growth often comes at the expense of margins.

Regional Expansion and Untapped Markets

Geography also plays a role in fueling revenues. Much of the Q2 growth came from Africa, South Asia, and Latin America—regions where demand for mobile-first banking continues to soar. In 2024 alone, Black Banx reported a 32% increase in SME clients from the Middle East and Africa, signaling the strength of its positioning in underserved markets.

By extending services to populations previously excluded from formal banking—migrant workers, rural communities, and small businesses—Black Banx taps into vast pools of latent demand. The strategy proves that financial inclusion and profitability are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing.

Diversified Revenue Streams

Another factor behind Q2’s record revenues is Black Banx’s diversified business model. Income is not tied to a single service but spread across multiple streams, including:

Transaction fees from cross-border transfers and payments.
Crypto trading and exchange services.
Premium account features for high-net-worth clients.
Corporate services for SMEs and international businesses.

This diversification insulates the company against volatility in any single segment, creating stable revenue growth even in shifting market conditions.

Michael Gastauer’s Strategic Blueprint

Behind these results is Michael Gastauer’s long-term strategy: scale aggressively but with efficiency, innovation, and inclusion at the core. His vision has always been to create a borderless financial ecosystem, and Q2 2025’s performance is evidence that this vision is not only achievable but sustainable.

By balancing mass-market accessibility with premium features, and by blending fiat with digital assets, Gastauer has positioned Black Banx as a category-defining player in global finance.

The Road Ahead: Toward 100 Million Clients

Looking forward, the company’s goal of reaching 100 million customers by the end of 2025 will likely be the next catalyst for revenue growth. More customers mean more transactions, more data insights, and more opportunities to refine and expand its service offering.

If current momentum holds, the USD 4.3 billion quarterly revenue milestone could be just the beginning of an even larger growth story. The challenge will be ensuring systems scale securely while maintaining trust in an environment where privacy and compliance are paramount.

A Record That Signals More to Come

Black Banx’s Q2 2025 performance—USD 4.3 billion in revenue, USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, 84 million clients worldwide, and a lean 63% cost-to-income ratio—is more than a financial milestone. It is a signal of how the future of banking is being rewritten by platforms that are borderless, crypto-inclusive, and data-driven.

What fueled this record-breaking quarter is not one innovation but a combination of strategies—scalable onboarding, real-time payments, crypto integration, AI efficiency, and expansion into underserved regions. Together, they form a model that doesn’t just challenge traditional banking but actively builds the foundation for global dominance.

For Black Banx, the road ahead is clear: the $4.3 billion quarter is not an endpoint but a launchpad for even greater scale and profitability.