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After more than four decades in accounting and business, Kauffman brings years of operating experience back to the classroom as he continues his education at Pepperdine University.
LAS VEGAS, NV, Sep 11, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — After a career spanning public accounting, corporate finance, business ownership, and consulting, Darryl Kauffman is continuing his formal business education at Pepperdine University, where he completed an MBA in 2026.
For Kauffman, returning to school after decades in the workforce offers a different educational experience than when he first studied accounting at California State University, Chico. He now approaches business concepts with years of practical experience to compare against what he encounters in the classroom.
“When I first studied accounting, I was learning the concepts before I had any experience applying them,” Kauffman said. “Going back to school later in life is almost the reverse. Now I can hear an idea and immediately think about situations where I saw it play out in an actual business.”
Kauffman believes that the relationship between education and experience can be valuable throughout a career. His own decision to continue his education reflects a broader view that professional experience does not eliminate the need to keep learning.
Bringing Four Decades of Business Experience Into the Classroom
Kauffman earned his accounting degree from California State University, Chico, in 1984 and began working in public accounting the following year. He remained in public accounting until 1993, then moved into corporate leadership as CFO of Strings Restaurants.
That transition gave him an early opportunity to see the difference between studying financial information and making decisions inside an operating business.
“When you are working inside a company, the numbers have a story behind them,” Kauffman said. “A change in a report might come from staffing, pricing, purchasing, operations, or several things happening at once. Understanding the number means understanding the business that produced it.”
His career later included work as a senior financial analyst at Dole and as a regional controller for McDonald’s. He also served as controller for Sr Care Advocates.
Working across different industries reinforced the importance of context. Although many accounting and finance principles remained consistent, the operating environments could differ dramatically.
“You cannot assume that because you understand one business, you automatically understand another,” Kauffman said. “The questions you ask have to reflect how that particular organization actually works.”
How Experience Changes Business Education
Kauffman’s return to higher education has allowed him to examine those experiences from another perspective.
A business case or management concept that might once have been purely theoretical can now remind him of a decision he encountered as a CFO, controller, analyst, or business owner. In some cases, experience reinforces what is being taught. In others, it highlights how unpredictable real business situations can become.
Kauffman said this is one reason he believes education can remain useful well beyond the early stages of a career.
“The advantage of experience is that you have more examples to draw from,” he said. “The danger is assuming those examples mean you have already seen everything. Business keeps changing, and there is always something you haven’t encountered before.”
That willingness to continue learning has also been part of Kauffman’s work outside large organizations. In 2007, he established DK CPA and operated the practice through 2018. Running his own business added another perspective to the corporate experience he had accumulated earlier in his career.
Ownership, he said, made some business concepts much more immediate.
“When it is your own operation, decisions look different,” Kauffman said. “You are thinking about time, customers, employees, expenses, and what needs attention first. It gives you another way to look at the same business principles.”
Learning Does Not Have to End With Experience
Kauffman continues to study business beyond his formal coursework. Reading is part of his regular routine, and business books have long influenced how he approaches his work.
He is also currently involved at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as a college student and faculty assistant, studying New Venture Management and Quantitative Finance.
Kauffman views continued education as a way to test old assumptions as much as it is a way to learn new concepts. After decades spent working with financial information and business operations, he believes curiosity remains important.
“Experience should give you context, but I don’t think it should make you stop asking questions,” Kauffman said. “Sometimes learning something new confirms what you already believed. Sometimes it makes you reconsider it. Both are useful.”
For Darryl Lynn Kauffman, returning to business school is not about starting over. It is an opportunity to combine formal education with decades of experience while continuing to examine how businesses operate, make decisions, and adapt.
About Darryl Kauffman
Darryl Kauffman is a Las Vegas-based accounting and business professional with experience in public accounting, corporate finance, business ownership, consulting, and business coaching. He earned a degree in accounting from California State University, Chico, and an MBA from Pepperdine University. His career has included roles as CFO of Strings Restaurants, senior financial analyst at Dole, regional controller at McDonald’s, and controller at Sr Care Advocates. He later operated DK CPA from 2007 through 2018. Kauffman is also a faculty assistant at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Outside of business, his interests include playing guitar and bass, SCUBA, automotive work, woodworking, reading, and exercise.
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