Saturday Special! Today's episode comes to you 'live' from last year's QuickBooks Connect. We were lucky enough to get 8+ attendees in the room to discuss their thoughts not only on the return of QuickBooks Connect to live and in person, but also what's happening in their firm, common challenges and how they're tackling them. It was a great session of sharing and encouraging - hope you enjoy! Don't forget to connect with us via LinkedIn and if you liked the episode, remember to rate us....
Jan 21, 2023•54 min•Ep. 49
Happy new year! Will it be new year new you? Or will it be same old same old. We're back with a new episode of Strategy and the Virtual Controller and today we're talking about saying no to things that don't align with your vision for your business. But instead of the negative, let's turn it into a positive and focus on what we're saying yes to. Yes to specific clients, yes to increasing prices, yes to new roles and responsibilities in your firm. So rather than same as last year, let's focus on ...
Jan 19, 2023•39 min•Ep. 48
There's no need to wait until January to start specific tasks in the year-end process. It's the start of December, so why not start communicating with your clients about what's coming up. Whether it's W9s for the 1099 process or just helping your clients get better organized, we discuss tactics that will help firms get better prepared for a less stressful tax season. If you'd like to pick our brains on software or workflow (including to share feedback), please connect with us on LinkedIn or Twit...
Dec 05, 2022•45 min•Ep. 47
In this episode we discuss how firms can better leverage technology to not only move tasks around the office, but also move knowledge around the firm. Regardless of where your team works - virtually, physically or likely a blend of both - you need to be able to capture all of the small conversations, the small tidbits that are critical to getting the client file completed. The working papers and last year’s return tell one part of the story, so what’s the other part? You tell us, well more impor...
Nov 28, 2022•45 min•Ep. 46
In this episode of the tax season pre-season mini-series we talk marketing! A lot of accountants don’t like to talk about marketing, Penny included. However, you can easily reframe marketing to communicating. How are you communicating with your clients? What’s the comms plan to get them organized before the year-end? What are the frequently asked questions you know you’re going to get? The lesson here is don’t wait until mid January to start this. Get your team involved now and create a comms pl...
Nov 10, 2022•41 min•Ep. 45
It's the time of year again - the tax season pre-season. You've now got a small window of opportunity to make changes in your business to create a better, smoother tax season. You can't change everything, so what are 2-3 things you will focus on? This episode kicks off the pre-season, and over the next few episodes we'll be deep diving into key areas including marketing, pricing, workflow, technology and managing a remote workforce. So tune in to each episode and hopefully pick up one or two tip...
Nov 03, 2022•41 min•Ep. 44
In this episode we get super specific and talk tools. We've had a bunch of emails come in from listeners asking about how to work with multi factor authentication (MFA) for all the different apps in and accounting tech stack. We talk about tools in Penny's workflow namely yodel.io which is is VoIP company that has a bunch of integrations including Slack and Relay Financial which is a new fin tech bank designed specifically for small business and the advisors that serve them. Both these tools pre...
Oct 19, 2022•34 min•Ep. 43
There are many ways to define a workflow, but, put simply, it’s the organization of work so you can see how it should move from one stage to the next . Today's episode we discuss key elements to consider when it comes to workflow. Most firms have recognized the importance of workflow software, but few have it fully implemented, let alone reaping the benefits of it. The benefits are there, and it'll be worth the pain of change in the short term. Below is the content of the document Penny referenc...
Sep 29, 2022•40 min•Ep. 42
We discuss two interesting conversations this week. Both with practitioners that are struggling to find people. Coincidently the firm is also struggling with going paperless and scared to introduce new technology to clients. Unfortunately the pre-Covid excuse of my clients won’t do that just doesn’t fly. So the question is who or ‘what’ is driving this bus? Are you in control or are you letting your clients dictate? Or worse still are you letting the fear of talking to your clients hold you back...
Sep 11, 2022•37 min•Ep. 41
In this episode we discuss an interesting article about change and understanding that change will cause tension, and that's OK. In fact the author contends it's required and uses the analogy of rope requiring tension to perform its key task - pulling something/hanging something etc. We also discuss the importance of getting out of the way to allow change to happen, and recognizing that you will need a team of people with different skills to drive the change through your organization. Check out t...
Aug 24, 2022•35 min•Ep. 40
Too many times it's happened when we've ignored our gut, broken our own rules and taken on a client that we didn't feel quite right about. In this episode we discuss moving clients on or being forthright and saying no to a new client that you know doesn't quite fit. And no surprises, but the sooner you make the call the better. To ask us any questions or share any feedback, please connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter. Penny Breslin - LinkedIn | @PennyB57 Damien Greathead - LinkedIn | @Damien_G...
Aug 17, 2022•31 min•Ep. 39
We've got something special for you in this episode You might remember Rachel Siegel from a previous episode sharing how she has been building her firm. In this episode Penny and Rachel head into a firm that wants to better focus on their clients throughout the year rather than just tax season. Penny and Rachel really dig into the firm and it sounds like have some challenging conversations with both the owner and the the team. A big thank you to Kevin, Brian and Chuck for having us along for the...
Aug 07, 2022•46 min•Ep. 38
According to the AICPA record numbers of students are graduating with accounting degrees, but accounting firms at graduate job fairs aren't seeing these candidates. In this episode we discuss what might be causing this dearth of graduate talent for public accounting firms. A common theme throughout this podcast has been that same as last year (or SALY) will not cut it when it comes to finding and keeping good people. If you're a firm owner you have the opportunity to give up-and-coming accountan...
Aug 01, 2022•37 min•Ep. 37
As you start to build your CAS (or is it CAAS?) one of the things you'll need to think about is your organizational structure. Typical accounting and bookkeeping firms grow by adding more accountants and bookkeepers, however what we've found, for your CAS business to grow you'll need a different skill set in your next hire. We've named this person Beth, namely because that's her name in one of the firms we work with and she's the gel that holds the firm together. She's the first point of call fo...
Jul 18, 2022•38 min•Ep. 36
So what is it? Client Accounting Services? Client Advisory Services? Or Client Accounting and Advisory Services? And does it matter? Well yes, because you have to be very clear to your clients as to what services you're providing and to your team what tasks need to be completed to deliver on your promise to clients. Without proper definition these services can quickly become everything that's not tax. And this makes it difficult to create processes, workflows and tech stacks etc. While it might ...
Jul 06, 2022•37 min•Ep. 35
We've been on the road and in today's episode we share our insights picked up from AICPA's Engage Conference in Las Vegas, and Scaling New Heights and BKX in Orlando. Were you at any of the conferences? What were your key take aways? Plus we've seen a number of apps close their doors as funding dries up and we share some questions you should be asking your technology providers. To ask us any questions or share any feedback, please connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter. Penny Breslin - LinkedIn ...
Jun 26, 2022•43 min•Ep. 34
An interesting article on Accounting Today asked the question do you train accountants on tech, or technologists in accounting? Ultimately where we landed was agreeing with Geni Whitehouse who said hire the attitude and train for what you need. The old way of building an accounting firm was to hire more accountants and bookkeepers, but what we know is they're in short supply and they certainly don't want to be doing things the old way. As we were discussing a few common threads became apparent, ...
Jun 04, 2022•35 min•Ep. 33
Today's episode we catch up following a few weeks of being on the road and attending conferences in real life again. We talk through the AccountingWeb Summit in San Diego and Intuit's Get Connected conference in Sydney. Not surprisingly, themes were consistent across both conferences - What's the new normal for the workplace? How AI and automation are continuing to advance; How to understand and meet the changing needs of clients; and, How the pandemic has changed people's perspective on what's ...
May 25, 2022•36 min•Ep. 32
Early on when talking to accountants and bookkeepers about the cloud, we always got the question, well what happens when the internet goes down... Thankfully our look into the crystal ball proved successful (big gamble) and the internet got better and better, and faster and faster, meaning we got fewer of these types questions. And what happened this week? AWS went down. It happens and it will happen. Don't worry all is not lost! Today we talk through tech stability concerns and how to talk with...
May 08, 2022•36 min•Ep. 31
Thank you to everyone who has dropped us an email, or connected with us on LinkedIn - keep your emails coming in! That being said we've had a couple of questions from listeners looking for all the answers - a blueprint of sorts to follow. However when we've dug a little deeper in conversations with these folks, one thing is particularly apparent - they haven't yet created their vision for what they want in their firm. And while we can provide you a list of apps, make recommendations etc without ...
May 02, 2022•36 min•Ep. 30
Sweat Jar Warning! And here's the link about customer dissatisfaction article that we discuss. Post tax season many consultants will be recommending to fire your pain in the a#@ (PITA) clients. Before you do, ask yourself what makes them a pain? Yes there are some clients who truly are a pain in the you know what... But today we ask listeners before they put clients on the chopping block, have a look in the mirror, and ask yourself how well did we "onboard" our client? Onboarding is a common ter...
Apr 25, 2022•39 min•Ep. 29
New business doesn't just walk through the door - especially not the properly priced value added work that many accountants and bookkeepers want to add to their firm. Winning this type of work requires a defined sales process that includes good discovery of not only the numbers, but also what non-financial challenges the business owner is facing. If you only focus on the numbers you'll miss much of the disfunction that will impede your ability to do a good job, plus you'll likely leave a bunch o...
Apr 11, 2022•40 min•Ep. 28
We know! Tax season isn’t even over and we’re talking about a tax season review. Don’t worry, we’re just planting the seed. In fact we’re recommending taking the rest of April off! But when you do come back in May, be intentional about your business. The risk is it’ll quickly be the fall and extension season and you won’t have done any of the big projects you wanted to. Here’s an easy agenda for your after tax season review: Clients Services Technology Systems & Process Events Get your team ...
Apr 06, 2022•34 min•Ep. 27
This is the third episode we've done on pricing and today we tackle how to pricing the value added services you provide. Take a listen to the previous episodes as they do build on each other. As we've said before we're not pricing experts, instead we've shared our insights from being in practice and working with firms to help them implement a practical pricing model. We've attempted to keep it simple and do talk about an hourly rate for the value add services - when you are thinking critically a...
Apr 01, 2022•40 min•Ep. 26
It’s been said many time before - the riches are in the niches. However making the most of an industry vertical requires more than marketing. It’s actually the systems, process and the tools you use that will bring the riches. With the April 15 deadline looming, you may not have the space to be thinking strategically about your niches, but you might be able to start building that list of clients you like working with and the services you enjoy providing. Just doing this exercise will likely iden...
Mar 28, 2022•37 min•Ep. 25
Often in the heat of tax season we overlook our own policies and procedures, including during the recruitment and onboarding process of new team members. And nine times out of ten, this is where problems first arise. We might speed up the recruitment process, we might put cultural fit to the side for the time being - just to get the capacity we need. And once they're in the firm, we want them to hit the ground running, so we'll likely race through the orientation and training process - I mean wh...
Mar 03, 2022•40 min•Ep. 24
This is our second episode on pricing. If you missed the first episode, check out Pricing: Don't trash the time sheet...Yet. This episode focuses on fixed pricing - where it makes sense in your firm, and how to go about creating a fixed price. Probably no surprises, but it does start with a time sheet. We cover off on cost accounting of accounting and bookkeeping with simple time motion studies and then simply applying an appropriate rate for the transaction, the team meetings, the client meetin...
Feb 18, 2022•38 min•Ep. 23
As is always the way, some 1099s are late, and tax season seems to be starting early...again. For all the change we have had over the last couple of years, some things never change. However we all have a different lens through which to look this year. The pandemic has changed the way we do business, it has changed our expectations - whether you're a client, an employer or an employee. Some firms owners will think it's back to pre-pandemic tax seasons, but they're in for a nasty surprise. Employe...
Feb 11, 2022•37 min•Ep. 22
Pricing is difficult and by no means are we experts! We have made a lot of screw ups along the way however and we'd like you to learn from our collective mistakes. Pricing is part science, part art, and a bit of luck thrown in as well. This is part one on pricing. Of how many episodes we don't quite know just yet. We decided to start with the billable hour and when it makes sense. Interestingly we both disagree with the trash the timesheet folks - we both believe timesheets play an important rol...
Feb 03, 2022•31 min•Ep. 21
Today's episode focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) in the accounting industry. Unfortunately software providers (and Damien's guilty of it early on) have over promised what AI can do. This episode isn't to bash AI, but rather help listeners understand where AI excels and with this understanding identify the tasks that are perfectly suited to it. The apps that leverage AI are an incredibly important part of an accountant/bookkeeper's toolkit, just be wary of it's limitations. And while AI is...
Jan 28, 2022•40 min•Ep. 20
