JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomTwyla Verhelst is the co-founder of Eighty Twenty, an Advisory Accounting Firm. We discuss her journey of implementing Advisory Services, long before it was known as Advisory Services. We discuss the difference between what the client needs, and what the business owner needs, what questions to ask that lead to deeper insights to support Advisory Services, and how to get started simply and without overwhelm.   What we cover: How to get started building your Advisory Services Rather than make assumptions about what your clients need, ask questions up front: Why did you start this business? A passion-project, or because you quit your job and you need this to feed your family? What keeps you up at night? Where is your business headed? Where do you want to see your business headed, in 6 months, 12 months, 5 years? But even now in Covid-times, how about 90 days?   What patterns emerge from asking those questions of your clients? Cashflow cashflow cashflow.  While 5 and 10 year scenario planning is incredibly useful, short-term cashflow planning is the most important thing. If not done well, it makes the 5-year plan moot.  IbXVV43MIPLfyzBxx7vb What Twyla learned along the way: Don’t provide metrics they see no value in They may not pay you for information they don’t see value in or that matters to them Present information that is digestible to them How you see and understand information is not the same as how they see it Understand what matters to them - and what helps them make better business decisions Avoid accounting jargon and don’t be intimidating with tossing around fancy terms   Twyla’s advice for those wanting to get started Start with one: One client - don’t do it for everyone out of the gates One service - don’t offer everything all at once Come back to : what it is that you are trying to do for your client what happens if you don’t tell them what impact will it have if I can help them Connect with Twyla: https://www.linkedin.com/in/twylav/   Other Relevant Episodes: 053, Adding Advisory Services and the Power of Niching Down    121, Switching to Advisory Services using Profit First, with Rob Foncannon, CPA Software mentions: https://www.freshbooks.com Do you want your own Roadmap to Advisory Services? If you want to implement Advisory Services in your accounting practice, but you need something of a Roadmap so you know what path to travel, and don’t want to waste time and energy wandering in the dark,  Check out my roadmap to Advisory Services.  In this 30-day intensive1:1 program, we will work together hand-in-glove to get you from wanting Advisory Services, to actually Doing Advisory Services.  The end result is you have your first 2 advisory service clients, engagement letter signed.  We work together until you have that result, and you can have it inside 30 days.  If you’re curious, check out the Coaching Options tab on my website, SheThinksBigCoaching.com Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomMost CPAs struggle with pricing - some have moved to flat-rate or subscription pricing, and some still bill by the hour. What they often struggle to understand is the full depth of the value they offer to their clients, and because they don’t fully understand value, they are leaving Everest Sized Mountains of Money on the table,  which means they have to work a lot harder to compensate for the missed opportunity.  Today’s guest is Mark Stiving the pricing expert behind impactpricing.com.   What we cover: How to shift to flat-rate pricing when you have had a client whom you have billed by the hour: Give them Menu Pricing with 3 packages: Good, Better, Best.  Put last year’s average monthly bill between the Good and Better package   How do you have a value conversation with your clients? You can’t simply ask, what is the value? Instead you must work together with your client to discover the value of your work together. You might ask... If we can get you this result, what would result from that? If we can move from a 7 to an 8, what would happen? What’s it worth if you had that result, of ?   The quantitative value takes some digging to get to, but if you ask the right questions, you can get there.    Discovering value is a two-way street: It’s about trying to discover how much value we are delivering to that client You as a vendor have no idea how much value your customer is going to get from your product The customer doesn’t know your product  and has no idea how much value they are going to get from it Both of you work together to understand the value it will provide, and the client will receive.   Remember: Before customers buy, they are buying based on perceived value.  After working together, they continue to buy based on actual value. Once we have a customer, our job is to make sure they get real value, and KNOW they got real value. To communicate hidden value, consider having a one-page write up “Let me tell you what I did yesterday” People with these problems often face these issues I solved this for you If you want to look more into it, here is more information    How to price by segment: “I charge people in this industry this amount” Start with what you price now, and examine your client roster to see if there is an industry that gets significan value from that service, compared to the others, and then price that segment above your basic rate.  Stay away from complexity! Keep price segmentation simple by charging businesses in a certain industry XX% more than the basic service. Think about where the low hanging fruit it, gain from that, and then go on to the next segment If a CPA has the ability to act as a Trusted Advisor, they can have an initial conversation to get the ball rolling.  Understanding how to do pricing well is involved, so start with industries that are not in a super-competitive market and use cost+ pricing.     The Will I, Won’t I, or Which One? Questions: Will I buy, won’t I buy? – think about popcorn in a theatre. You ask yourself first, will I or won’t I buy? You are not asking “Which theatre will I buy popcorn from?” When people make a Will I decision, they are not as price sensitive, because options are often limited. Start small. Start with value-pricing for your own company, and make it work first in your own business. Then learn to have value conversations  with your clients, and then learn to coach your clients on having value conversations with their clients.  There’s a phenomenal opportunity for CPAs to help their clients become more profitable, you will reduce turnover, your work becomes more impactful and fulfilling, and your work becomes easier.    Connect with Mark: Website: https://www.impactpricing.com/ Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomErin Longmoon, Owner of Zephyr Recruiting shares the 4 most common hiring mistakes business owners make, and what to do instead. There is a reason that so many business owners have hiring PTSD and staff that are challenging: hiring correctly is not as easy as it looks. Erin is on a mission to eradicate toxic workplaces by helping clients find the RIGHT FIT (™) employee. Today Erin shares the 4 most common hiring mistakes business owners make, and what to do instead.    The 4 most common mistakes made when hiring: 1. Hiring someone you know or someone who was referred to you by someone you know. This actually does not have to be a hiring mistake if done correctly. In fact, using your network to grow your team is a great tactic, the problem is that it often leads to having unconscious bias that this person must be a great fit if they are being endorsed by a trusted source, especially when it is someone you are close to. We are therefore no longer able to see this candidate objectively or clearly.  2. Hiring primarily for skills, education, and experience. You know the drill, you see that really impressive resume in your inbox and think “wow, if I can get this person on my team, we will be light years ahead of our competitors”, or “we can finally elevate our service offerings”, or some version of that. You interview the person, are totally impressed with their knowledge and expertise, and you pull out all the stops to get them, and they start with you – you scored!!! But... at some point, usually within a few months of hiring them, something is not right and BAM! It backfires! Why? Because culture fit was ignored. It is imperative, I repeat, i-m-p-e-r-a-t-i-v-e that culture fit is taken as seriously as skills, education, certifications, and experience. 3. Not having a recruiting strategy. Think of recruiting as a project, with a beginning, middle and end, and with a measurable goal to let you know you have succeeded, (in this case, finding your BEST FIT™ employee). And just like all projects you need to identify objectives and goals, allocate resources ($ and people), create an action plan- basically you need strategy for the project to succeed. Many small business employers just identify the need to hire and jump right to posting a job and hoping it works- but hope is NOT a strategy! Recruiting is a whole industry for a reason, it takes methodology, expertise, experience, strategy, and more to be consistently successful. 4. Not doing your full due diligence when vetting a candidate. You created a strategy, now you have to use it, consistently. Often, we end up fast-tracking a candidate because they seem great during the first interview, and you need someone NOW! So, you jump to the offer, skipping all the steps you identified in your Recruiting Strategy. This is a huge mistake because:  You could miss big red flags and critical information that can come back to bite you after you made the hire.  You could make a quick decision to not hire someone and they could end up having been your BEST FIT™, but because you did not follow your strategy, you missed out. This often happens with unconscious bias as well.  It could get you into compliance trouble. Every candidate MUST go through the same process per hiring cycle. By having a well outlined process, that is followed with each candidate, you mitigate your risk for discrimination lawsuits, and if you do get sued, it will help you defend your case, by being able to prove you have a process that every candidate goes through equally.  If you want the *solutions* – what to do instead, email me at Subject =  4 Mistakes Hiring PDF, and I will send you the PDF.  Bonus tips: Anticipate 2-3 months from deciding to hire, to having the spot filled.  Anticipate 4 - 6 weeks of training.    That means you will want to start thinking about the hiring process 4 - 6 months before you actually need the person to be up and running.  ---------------- Connect with Erin and get “20 Questions to Determine Culture Fit”: Website: https://www.zephyrrecruiting.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/longmoon/ -------- Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday I speak with Author Barbara Huson (previously known as Barbara Stanny) Overcoming Under-earning and her new book, Rewire for Wealth. Barbara Huson is the leading authority on women, wealth and power. As a bestselling author, financial therapist, teacher & wealth coach, Barbara has helped millions take charge of their finances and their lives. We discuss overcoming under-earning and how your mind must Rewire for Wealth.  Barbara is the author of 6 books: Prince Charming Isn’t Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money Secrets of Six-Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to up Your Earnings and Change Your Life Overcoming Underearning: A Five-Step Plan to a Richer Life Finding a Financial Advisor You Can Trust: A Guide for Investors and Those Who Want To Be Breaking Through: Getting Past the Stuck Points in Your Life Sacred Success: A Course in Financial Miracles Her 7th book, Rewire for Wealth  In her new book, Rewire for Wealth, we discuss the 3 steps any woman can take at any time to rewire: Recognize - your thoughts and the lines you repeat to yourself as if they are true Reframe - how else you can think about things through different lenses Respond - what new choices you will make now that you know something different to be true   We also discuss:  How you can recognize whether or not you are under-earning. It’s relative to your potential and your desire to earn more The element of co-dependency in the accounting profession How growing your income requires changing your self-image The goal of 7-figure earning women is not more profit, but greatness Connect with Barbara: www.Barbara-Huson.com   Rewire for Wealth: https://www.amazon.com/Rewire-Wealth-Program-Financial-Success/dp/1260464237/ref=sr_1_1?crid=BOB4NO2P1SW1&dchild=1&keywords=rewire+for+wealth&qid=1611707302&sprefix=rewire+for+we%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-1   /////////   Upcoming Events: How to Deliver Rolling Forecasts to Your Clients with Laura Landmark Tues Feb 9th noon ET Email [email protected] with “Rolling Forecast” in the subject line and I will send you the calendar invite.   //////////   If you suspect you are under-earning and you are ready to do something about it,  Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday I speak with Alan Weiss, owner of Summit Consulting and author of more than 60 business books, including Value-Based Fees, Million Dollar Consulting, Fearless leadership, and more.    What we cover: Value-pricing requires a wholesale shift in thinking.  You have to do a 180 - from starting with your costs and building to some form of cost+, to starting with the client’s objectives, what they are coming to you to help them accomplish, determining what that is worth to them, and pricing back from there.  Once you can do that, then… the really the first sale is always to yourself. You need to be able to say these numbers to yourself in front of a mirror without turning red.  No doubt there will be a big swing in your actual prices. In many cases, my clients are charging 4 - 10 times what they would have had they set their prices based off hourly rates. You will need to get used to this shift, on the inside.  Other shifts in thinking include how you frame what you do.  The value to your client isn’t in the doing. The value to your client is what your doing creates.  Cranking out numbers isn’t it. But cranking out numbers that are scenario plans that help a client make a better informed decision that doubles her margins – that has real value.  Reframe all that CPA terminology.  Your clients don’t understand activities you perform, like: monitor activity for any fixed asset/ intangible capitalization items maintain fixed asset reports  maintain proper accumulated depreciation records What does the above DO, for your clients? Keep them out of hot water? Help them save tens of thousands of dollars? Reframe, reframe, reframe.  There are limits to the value of compliance.  Become an expert in the finance and business side of things for your clients. When you look at your client’s prices, the cost of creating products and services, what the market will bear, and ensuring margins are in the right zone, suddenly the value you provide can skyrocket.  Consider: who else in your clients’ network of vendors they work with, can provide this level of expertise?  No one.  You are uniquely positioned to help them grow their business.  Behind every corporate objective is a personal objective. Clients want to create financial value, but there are often deeper reasons that motivate them.  Those might include: Saving time, getting time back, going from a 50-hr work week to a 40-hr work week (get home for dinner, happy marriage!) Stop wasting money to free it up to use elsewhere in the budget (look good for the boss, get promotion) Stop stressing and fretting about business (my kids tell me I’m always distracted, and I feel like I’m losing them/missing their lives) Focus on results. Always think and act in your client’s best interest. Focus on outcomes and results. Consider how you will improve their condition, and how they will be better once you’re gone. When you orient your business around getting results for your clients, everything gets easier.  Connect with Alan: Website: https://www.alanweisss.com/ Episode mentions: 111 - Better Pricing Methodologies For CPA Firms, with Jonathan Stark 106 - Better Pricing Strategies for Accountants: Stop Billing by the Hour, with Jonathan Stark 081 - Time To Rethink Your Pricing Strategy? Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday I speak with Rob Foncannon, owner of Foncannon Tax & Financial Services about how Profit First has impacted his business and his clients’ businesses.    Rob talks about  What Profit First is and what it’s not How it helps business owners become better stewards of their cash The effect it has on the business owner’s profitability   Misconceptions and Objections Some CPAs will raise objections, asking if you can’t accomplish the same thing with a spreadsheet and percentages. Rob explains that it’s more than that: intentionally moving your cash and directing it to where you want to spend it changes the mindset of the business owner and puts them in charge of their money.    Rob’s Foncannon’s Niches Rob focuses on chiropractors and Financial Advisors. The chiropractors because they are open-minded and accept guidance, and the Financial Advisors because they too need cash flow advice and see it as a useful tool for their clients as well.  If you are curious about Profit First, Rob suggests starting with the book, Profit First, and implementing it in your own business to appreciate the effect it can have.  Connect with Rob: Website: https://foncannontax.com/ Website Mentions: https://profitfirstprofessionals.com/ Get the Book: https://www.amazon.com/Profit-First-Transform-Cash-Eating-Money-Making-ebook/dp/B01HCGYTH4   Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Upcoming training:  Value in Pricing: How to assess it, increase it, and get your clients to see it Thursday, February 18th, 12pm ET   https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/free-stuff/   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday I speak with Blake Oliver, co-host of the Cloud Accounting Podcast and Marketing Director at Jirav.    What we cover: Where is accounting technology going? And what are the implications that you think accountants and CPAs are not seeing? How should CPAs and accountants differentiate themselves? What advice do you have for CPAs in e-commerce, given the need for software to manage inventory and transactions? Discussion around owning the tech stack as a business strategy. What keeps CPAs from making better strategic use of technology in the accounting practices? You wrote somewhere that when you started back in your bookkeeping days and developing cloud accounting software, that you wanted to disrupt the business model. What is the business model specifically that you want to disrupt? And what is it you want to shift it into?  If you were to build your own accounting practice, around your own software stack, what do you think you'd build? And who do you think you'd have as clients? You have held a number of marketing positions inside software companies that provide applications for accounting related applications. What do you think CPAs need to know about marketing? Connect with Blake: Website: https://www.blakeoliver.com/ Episode mentions: 078 - How To Design Better Workflows In Your Business with David Cristello Software mentions: Melio https://www.meliopayments.com/   OneNote https://www.onenote.com/signin?wdorigin=ondc   Jirav https://www.jirav.com/ Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomCPAs and accountants worked crazy hours in 2020. The start of 2021 may be no different.  Many CPAs, out of concern for their clients, logged extra hours for those clients, to understand PPP, EIDL, and other loan programs to help keep their clients’ businesses afloat.  Many CPAs are exhausted. Some are excited. Most are in need of a break, and need to recharge from a tax season with no end.  Usually on this podcast I talk about business strategy for your accounting practice so that you can deliver more value to your clients, be better compensated, and take back your time, so that you can enjoy more of your life. Because True Wealth is discretionary time.  In this episode, I take you on a journey of a different sort.  A journey of favorite places to travel.  Because the time to think about your break - the break you get to take to recharge - is now.  It’s now, before you get swept away by another tax season, that you don’t resurface from until May, if you’re lucky.  The window for you to think about how, when, and where, you’re going to recharge is right. Now.  And to facilitate your dreams… in this episode I share with you some of my personal favorite places, to get you thinking, dreaming, and making plans.  If you want to know what my favorite places are, you’ll have to listen to the episode :) Want to earn more and work less, so you can travel more?  It all starts with pricing.  /////// Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Upcoming training:  How Should I Price  __X__ ? Thursday, January 14th, 12pm ET   Free, register here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/free-stuff/   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options ////// JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday I share with you a way of looking at 2021 on your clients’ behalf.  While exactly predicting the future is difficult, the year can be broken down into 3 main phases: hunkered-down, re-opening, and post-Covid. We are likely to be hunkered down through April, then May - September we will see continued business growth as things reopen, then September and beyond as we reach herd immunity, we will find our new post-Covid-normal.  Helping your clients consider these 3 phases and anticipate demand in their businesses can set them up to avoid a crash, or take advantage of a wave of interest. Four main groups of businesses There also exist 4 main groups of businesses. Those who: experienced significant growth in 2021 (plexiglass and cleaning suppliers, funeral homes, software that facilitated work-from-home) had steady or minimally impacted (professional services, construction, and businesses that were essential or could operate in a Covid-safe way) suffered, but are managing to hang on, if only barely (physical therapists, chiropractors, salons, commercial real estate) Got walloped (local restaurants, gyms, travel related, anything conference related) Putting your clients into these different groupings can help them think about how they might be affected in each phase.     Help Your Clients Anticipate Demand For example: What should the plexiglass supplier be anticipating for demand in 2021? How about the funeral home - at what point will demand dial down? How should one staff appropriately through each phase? What should the physical therapist anticipate in terms of demand - if they laid off staff, when should they think about ramping back up? Given that hiring takes time (up to 8 weeks!) when should they begin the hiring process so as not to miss the wave of pent-up demand? If they wait for demand to ramp up to begin hiring, they will be unable to take full advantage of business demand. For the salon owner: when will demand peak, and how to be best prepared? Does the restaurant owner need to restock wine inventory? When should the yoga studio owner begin adding more classes to the calendar?   If you cannot be an expert, at least be a guide You don’t have to have the answer to all of these questions. Give these questions a few minutes of your attention before your next meeting with them, and address them together with your client, to add significant value.  This is where you earn the title Trusted Advisor.   Want structure for conversations with clients? Download the 4x3 grid tool here, Anticipate 2021 for Your Clients /////// Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Upcoming training:  How Should I Price  __X__ ? Thursday, January 14th, 12pm ET   Free, register here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/free-stuff/   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomCreate a different 2021. It was a hard year.  I suspect you don't want 2021 to be a recreation of 2020.  But it's easy to get sucked under, and run on autopilot.  It's easy to let your business run you, and dictate your day-to-day.  It's ok (sort of), it happens to most of us.  But if you want 2021 to be really different from 2020, now is the time to think about what you want it to look like, and what choices you will make to create that different reality.  Taking a wild guess that you like spreadsheets, I put some together to get you started, and to actually get you putting pen-to-paper (ha) on your numbers, money, math, and time.  How many clients will you have? And at what prices? What work will you decline?   These are choices you may want to make now, before the next wave of busy washes in. Are my spreadsheets perfect? Could they be more sophisticated? (No, Yes.) Are they better than starting from scratch? (Yes.) Set aside an hour or two, and build out Your. Amazing. 2021.  Would love to hear how it goes, and what your "Holy Heck Yeah" goals are.   HOW TO CREATE YOUR 2021 PLAN & STRATEGY   Watch Video – TEMPLATE - 2021 Financial Goals & Strategy  https://www.loom.com/share/276a996dce144cb08661766c4987cc70   Here is a link to the G. Spreadsheet: https://shethinksbigcoaching.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ebb61d37ca514f74be23c7b03&id=3f3767cff0&e=a60340bd48   *MAKE A COPY* - and customize to your heart's content.   BONUS: consider creating something similarly useful for your top clients. :)   Free 5 day email course:  Better Pricing Strategy for CPAs https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-get-your-pricing-right/    Upcoming training:  HOW DO I PRICE ______ ? January 14th, 12pm ET  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/free-stuff (scroll down)   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomMy guest today is Erica Goode.  Erica is a freelance finance professional, working with a small handful of clients, focusing on financial forecasts while staying out of tax as much as possible.  Many CPAs choose hourly billing when they don’t know how long it will take.  This pricing methodology - if it can be called that - leaves your client without a clear price.  While it may seem like the safest option, if the project takes much longer than you anticipated, either your client is left with the high cost of your unanticipated work, or you eat the hours. If you split the difference, you are likely both left with a sour taste.  By simply setting the price at the maximum length of time you might take, you Provide a clear price to your client, so they can make an informed buying decision Force yourself to actually think through how long it might take, to ensure it’s worth it to you Are motivated to be expedient in your work.  Pricing new and one-time projects is difficult. Consider these strategies when setting your price: Set it at the maximum amount of time you think it might realistically take - Scope Creep always happens, and setting the price at the top end of your window gives you margin for the extra follow up communications.  Set it just shy of the maximum, knowing you will work more quickly once the price is set, and give your client a “good deal” Set the price 15% above the maximum, and give your client the best possible service. You could argue this last strategy is also an excellent deal.  When you share your price, pay attention to their reaction.  If it was an immediate Yes, you know there may have been room to go up. If there is a pause, you are likely in the right range. If they say no, recognize they just saved you from either sending a higher-than-desired bill, or eating your hours. In this case, no is not a bad thing.    Getting your pricing right is the single most important change you can make in your business.  If you still bill by the hour, head on over to SheThinksBigCoaching.com and take my free 5 day email course: Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs.  Episodes mentioned: 082 Cashflow Forecasting, Niching, and Raising Your Rates with Emily Sandberg  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/082   Upcoming training:  TRANSLATE YOUR EXPERTISE INTO CASH Thursday, December 17th, 12pm ET  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/accountants-anonymous-12-17   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomIf you have ever had to fire a client, you know how hard it can be. In the end, you know it will be better for you both (or at least, for you), but when it comes time to have the conversation or hit the Send button,  it’s easy to talk yourself out of doing it today.  Letting go of, or getting your clients in the right service at the right price, can be difficult, but it’s necessary to maintain the health and growth of your business.  Most CPAs have more work than they can handle. If you’re going to maintain and grow a healthy business, creating space is a must for YOU, it’s a MUST for your best clients, and it’s an absolute necessity if you’re going to take on better business.  This step of creating space is challenging for each of my clients who goes through it.  But you need to be selective, you have to be more selective, so it’s time to select.   So I’ve pulled together a script for you - that you can download below - to get you started.  Before I give you the script, let’s go over a few key points. These points will help you stay on track as you navigate the conversation.  Give plenty of notice if possible. Either get your letters out now - before the 21st of December - or get them out in the first two weeks of January. So START NOW. If you have a contract, meet the terms of the contract, or find someone who can take them over.  Complete all your outstanding tasks, unless you and the client negotiate a hand-off to another CPA.  I am a big fan of treating people with respect and kindness, and maintaining good relationships. So, operate in good faith to help them make a successful transition.  In terms of the message itself,  Keep your message positive, and keep the focus on you – it’s about you, not about them. Don’t over-explain your reasons – you don’t have to elaborate. Keep your message short, simple, and to-the-point. If you’re finding a new home for a good client, recommend a colleague or two who can take over their account. Make sure you’ve spoken with those colleagues first and that they are truly happy to accept your clients. Your clients might beg you to stay. If they do, be firm. Have a plan with milestones for moving them along, while still being helpful – so that you can maintain a healthy relationship and a clear conscience. If they try to add last minute tasks, set a clear deadlines and scope that will mark completion.  The script I’m about to share is for clients you’ve outgrown. We’re not talking about problem clients. And by problem clients I mean the ones who are chronic late-payers, difficult to deal with, and chew up your time, THOSE, we have to handle a bit differently.  I’ll handle that script in a future episode.  Remember, this is for clients you have outgrown, but who aren’t bad clients.  Finding a new home for your clients is hard. You have relationships with these folks - some, that last decades.  Finding the right words can be tough, so hopefully this script will make it a bit easier.  But remember that change is part of life, and that you are responsible for your life and your business only. And your best clients deserve the best of your attention. Doing this is in the best interest of your best clients.  If anything, you owe it to your best clients to find a new home for your decent clients.  And as long as you make good on your end of the bargain, AND do what’s right that might not necessarily be spelled out,  you will set them and you up for an amicable transition. Wish them well, they will do the same, and carry on growing your business.    Download PDF: Script for clients you’ve outgrown https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/115-pdf-download   Free 5 day email course:  Better Pricing Strategy for CPAs https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-get-your-pricing-right/    Upcoming training:  TRANSLATE YOUR EXPERTISE INTO CASH Thursday, December 17th, 12pm ET  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/accountants-anonymous-12-17   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomTrap money is money that looks like good money, but in reality, it’s a trap.  Trap Money is important to be able to recognize because it’s one of the factors keeping CPAs under the glass income ceiling and working long hours.  If you can learn to recognize Trap Money for what it is, you’ll be better equipped to say No Thank You at the gates, and then, eventually move your Trap Money income out of your revenue streams. If you can stop accepting Trap Money, it will make your transition to a high-margin CPA firm that much faster, and that much easier.  So what is Trap Money? It’s money that appears to take only 20 minutes to make, and you make 3 or 4 hundred dollars. Typically it’s in the form of individual returns.  It looks like good money, because the thinking goes that if it takes 20 minutes to make $300, that’s an hourly rate of $900, and that’s not shabby.  The problem is, that math doesn’t account for the whole picture.  The math on 20 minutes for a personal return is 18 weeks working 40 hours a week. 18 weeks is 4.5 months. Tax season is only 2.5 months, or 10 weeks.  Now, if you have 3 staff you can push the work to, that’s another situation. That’s 6 weeks per staff member. So that’s doable. If it’s truly 20 minutes per return, which we have established that it’s more like 2 - 3 times that.    But would you rather that your business have:  10 CFO-Advisory clients at $75K  30 clients where you are a Concierge CPA at $25K  50 simple Advisory clients at $15K  250 business returns at $3K   or 2,000 Individual returns at $350 apiece?   A reason that so many CPAs are stuck on the hamster wheel is Trap Money.  Recognize it for what it is, decide WHO you want to have as clients and where you want to focus your talents, and get rid of anything that risks getting you caught in trap money.  If you don’t believe me, let me give you an update from Minnie, my client from last week’s episode. Last April, she was drowning in Trap Money. She was making enough Trap Money - she was making GOOD Trap Money - but the earning of that money had taken control over her life and crowded out time to spend with her new little one.  Once we got into her business, set up consulting packages at $2500, $5K, and $7500, she was able to start buying her time back, and that enabled her to find a new home for about 30 clients.    So watch out for these offerings you have that look like easy money….   If you’re not convinced, Do the math… and add up all the increments of time.    Your next steps to getting to the bigger ticket items is to stop accepting this type of work, take it off your services list, and if people ask for it, recommend some other CPAs who would be happy to have that type of work.  If you think you might have Trap Money you can’t see, and you want me to help you find it, a single 1:1 coaching session with me will surface it.  Getting rid of Trap Money is just one way to get your business to the next level.  Changing how you price is the single fastest change you can make with the largest impact. Episode mentioned: 113 Out of Compliance and into Tax-savvy Stock Option Consulting, with Minnie Lau, CPA https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/113   Free 5 day email course:  Better Pricing Strategy for CPAs https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-get-your-pricing-right/    Upcoming training:  TRANSLATE YOUR EXPERTISE INTO CASH Thursday, December 17th, 12pm ET  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/accountants-anonymous-12-17   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomMy guest today is Minnie Lau. Minnie provides tech professionals working in late-stage start-up companies that are about to IPO, guidance on stock option vesting and selling strategies.  These tech professionals who work at top levels inside start-ups about to IPO are going to receive stock options worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes more.  Without guidance, not only will they get hit with a giant surprise tax bill, they will lack a strategy  for how to optimize those options based on varying stock prices and other factors. Minnie helps them understand their CHOICES.  I wanted to have Minnie on the podcast to showcase what’s possible in the Advisory space. What she has created in terms of consulting packages is well outside the box, it’s completely different from the more common forms of Advisory services that CPAs often offer business owners.  You will hear what it’s been like for her to transition from a compliance-heavy practice to offering high-margin consulting packages. What stands out to me is that when it comes to transitioning your practice to high-margin work, there is no bible, no single playbook for everyone to follow.  I am working with 9 CPAs and accountants right now on this transition, and yes,  while there are shared fundamentals, no two clients have created the same advisory services. Everyone is creating something different that uniquely suits their talents and interests, overlapped with what their clients need and value.   If you want to do high-value, impactful work that comes easily to you, and for clients you enjoy, it requires writing your own playbook.    If you want to create and offer high-value advisory or consulting services, so you can earn more and get your life back, I offer a variety of ways to help you do just that. Check out shethinksbigcoaching.com/ for solutions that fit inside your time available and what you are comfortable investing.  YOU CAN change the nature of your business and the quality of your life.     Episodes mentioned: 103 Cashflow Forecasting, Niching, and Raising Your Rates with Emily Sandberg  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/103   053 Adding Advisory Services and the Power of Niching Down with Tracy Jepson https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/053 Connect with Minnie: Website: https://minnielau.com/   Upcoming training:  TRANSLATE YOUR EXPERTISE INTO CASH Thursday, December 17th, 12pm ET  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/accountants-anonymous-12-17   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday I'm going to dig into what deliverables are and what they sound like in the CPA world, so that you can get better at recognizing them and understand why it's such a problem to sell deliverables. We'll talk about what outcomes you might consider selling so that you know what it sounds like. And finally, when you're stuck in deliverables, how to convert them into outcomes.  CPA deliverables sound like this: P&L, balance sheet, accounting services, financial service, individual, and business tax prep, state and trust tax, print, nonprofit tax prep, tax planning, tax presentation, bookkeeping and write-up, business valuation, cashflow and budget analysis, payroll, accounting software selection and setup, elder care, monthly meetings, spreadsheet of your most important KPIs, plans and projections, tax returns, a secure password-protected portal, and succession planning.  Why is it a problem to sell deliverables?  1. It's not what your clients want.   2. Not only is it not what they want, it's that they might not even know that that's what they need. Who really wants an analysis of their budget? If, on the other hand, we take care of your financial health and wellness, that's a different conversation.    3. Deliverables unto themselves are of limited value. And because value must exceed price for your prospect to buy, deliverables will suppress your prices, because deliverables will always be less valuable than outcomes. So take for example, a P&L. A P&L is valuable, but by comparison to outcomes, like stop having a bank account that's always empty, start filling up your emergency funds and saving for retirement. That's much more valuable.    Deliverables are of limited value. Outcomes and results and transformations are limitless in value. So sell those instead.  Now you're wondering what outcomes do I sell instead? It depends on what your niche or vertical wants.  So here's where the meat is in this burger. When you are stuck in deliverables, how do you get your head into outcomes? Use this little phrase: SO THAT.    It works like this:  Get your P&L every month on time so that you know where your money went.  Get your balance sheet so that you know what your business is worth.  Take care of your estate planning so that your loved ones get your assets, not the government.  Get on top of your cash flow so that you are never late on paying your employees.  Get on top of your cash flow so that you are not up at night wondering if that check will clear.  Get a spreadsheet full of KPIs so that you know what numbers to focus on and can stop guessing about what drives profitability in your business. Use our password-protected portal so that you can send us your documents easily and securely.  Let's do a business valuation so that you know how much you can get for your business when you put it up for sale.    So that. This is the phrase that gets you out of deliverables so that you can get into results, so that you can provide more value to your clients, so that you can increase your prices, so that you can work less and earn more because that's the ultimate outcome, right? Stop selling deliverables and start selling outcomes.  If you want help transitioning your accounting practice from selling lower value deliverables to selling high value outcomes put 15 minutes on my calendar. Just head over to shethinksbigcoaching.com and click on the big fat red schedule time with me button and the interwebs will take it from there.    Episode mentioned: 110 15 Phrases to Scrub from your CPA Firm’s Website https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/110 Upcoming training:  15 PHRASES TO SCRUB FROM YOUR WEBSITE AND WHAT TO SAY INSTEAD Thursday, November 19th, 12pm ET     Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/work-with-me/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomWe're back today with Jonathan Stark. In case you missed it we did a recording with Jonathan a couple of weeks ago. It’s episode 106 - Better Pricing Strategies for Accountants. There was so much more to talk about that I invited him to come back on to continue the conversation about pricing.  One of the problems that CPAs run into in their practices is that they tend to fall back on two methodologies for pricing: billing by the hour, and flat rate, which tends to be a cost-plus version of billing by the hour.  These two methodologies limit them in terms of how they price in their firm. Coupled with the problem that hourly billing is problematic in that the client doesn't have a price until after the work is done. And if the bill exceeds the value to the client, that's a big problem. So what we want to talk about today are different pricing methodologies for CPAs.  Before we started recording, I laid out a couple of options, namely retainer, value-based, contingency and subscription. Jonathan walks us through what those different pricing methodologies look like, what's good to use and what kind of circumstances and why you don't want to use them in certain circumstances and what the risks are. Download the PDF below for the notes on the different pricing strategies. Download the PDF: Different Pricing Methodologies for CPAs https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/111-pdf-download/   Connect with Jonathan: Website: https://jonathanstark.com/ Episodes mentioned: 081 Time to Rethink Your Pricing Strategy? with Ron Baker, Founder of VeraSage Institute https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/081 104 How Much Would a CPA Pay for a Kid’s Bike? https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/104 106 Better Pricing Strategies for Accountants: Stop Billing by the Hour https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/106 Geraldine Carter on the Ditching Hourly Podcast - The Forensic Bounty Hunter https://podcast.ditchinghourly.com/episodes/coaching-call-with-geraldine-carter Book recommendations: How To Measure Anything: Finding The Value of Intangibles in Business, by Douglas Hubbard https://hubbardresearch.com/publications/how-to-measure-anything-book/ Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms, by Ron Baker https://www.amazon.com/Implementing-Value-Pricing-Business-Professional/dp/0470584610 Hourly Billing Is Nuts by Jonathan Stark https://jonathanstark.com/hbin Upcoming training:  15 PHRASES TO SCRUB FROM YOUR WEBSITE AND WHAT TO SAY INSTEAD Thursday, November 19th, 12pm ET     Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/work-with-me/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday we’re talking about the copy on your website. Because you might be either alienating prospects who visit your website, or not attracting them to begin with. And because of that, you could be missing out on really good revenue.   What am I talking about? All kinds of words and phrases that are meaningless at best - and are potentially harmful - and are taking up valuable real estate on your website, and doing nothing to rank in search results when your ideal clients are googling around for someone like you. And when prospects DO make it to your website, they go, mmmm, not THIS CPA. and they bounce. And you might be thinking to yourself, well, I don’t get most of my business from my website. I get it from word of mouth and referral. So, why bother with my website? You might be right that website traffic is not a source of leads for you, so why bother… but the other way to think about it is… a lackluster website that doesn’t speak to your prospects is exactly why you get few to no leads from it.    So let’s take a spin through a bunch of words and phrases I see in use, see what is problematic about these words, and what to say instead: Affordable Experienced, Accurate, Integrity, Trustworthy, Honesty Talking about things that are expected, the bare minimum Full-service, broad range of services, wide range of expertise Small Firm Personality, BIG FIRM CAPABILITY Bizarro Aspirational phrases that mean nothing:  THE SKY'S THE LIMIT, Achieve Your Goals committed to your success, ensuring success We dream big with you achieve more than you thought possible Serving our community since the stone age We have established a reputation for excellence, teamwork, community involvement, and a certain alternative character.   Here is what prospects want to see on your website: You know who they are - specifically - martial art studio owners. Landscapers. Creative agencies. Architects. Etsy shop owners. Women in the stages of divorce, who need to get a handle on their finances.   And an indication you know what those people want: Martial art studio owners: what do the numbers need to look like for them to buy the building, or open a second location? Landscapers - stop getting paid 60 days after they’ve mowed the lawn, and instead get paid up front, so they can stop chasing cash and instead have enough reserve to make it through the winter months.  Contractors - want to stay on top of project costs and know week to week how estimate to actuals are doing.  Women in the stages of divorce who need to get a handle on their finances after years of not being in charge of the money.   You need to be able to identify the pain points that are specific to the type of business owner you want to attract, so that they know you understand them. Doing this will not only separate you from the CPA around the corner, but it will get you much farther along the value curve.  Scrub your website of accurate and honest and we reply to your questions, and instead give your prospects an indication you know who they are, what their struggles are, and what they want. If you want my eyeballs on your website to see what kind of verbiage needs to be scrubbed and what you can replace it with, sign up for Accountants Anonymous - it’s Nov 19th at 12 ET - and walk away knowing exactly what to say to attract your ideal clients.  Register at https://shethinksbigcoaching.com Episode mentioned: 106 Better Pricing Strategies for Accountants: Stop Billing by the Hour https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/106   Upcoming training:  15 PHRASES TO SCRUB FROM YOUR WEBSITE AND WHAT TO SAY INSTEAD Thursday, November 19th, 12pm ET     Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/work-with-me/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomAre you stuck thinking about Advisory Services in the commonly accepted tiers of transactional, controller, vCFO? These 3 tiers are great way to begin to think about Advisory Services for CPAs. But why these 3, and only these 3?  Here are some other questions I ask, when it comes to CPAs transitioning to advisory:  Why stop at vCFO?  Why do the tiers stop at being strategic? (Helping business owners adopt smarter strategies is where it's just starting to get good.)  What is being missed when service stops at strategic?  What is beyond vCFO? It seems to me like two tiers are missing. Why not add beyond vCFO, a service column for anticipatory? Anticipating, and not just taxes, but also in your client's businesses. And you help your clients think through how changes, be they economic or seasonal or technological, or even social changes, how these changes that are coming down the pipeline are going to impact your client's businesses.  What else could be beyond vCFO?  What about being innovative? Innovation creates significant new value that didn't exist before. And when you innovate, for a while, you will be the only one offering that new value to your clients. Now, you might be thinking, “I am a CPA. CPA's don't innovate.” I beg to differ. I work with CPAs just like you.  I watch them innovating. It's just that they don't frame it like that to themselves. They think of it as “solving an obvious problem.”  There are services beyond vCFO. All you have to do is listen to what your clients are, to date, unable to accomplish when it comes to money, numbers, math, and data. And I guarantee you, you can find innovative, powerful ways to help them.    I give you permission to anticipate and innovate. Because when you do these things, you can maximize your prices. And when you maximize your prices, you will be able to work with fewer clients. And when you can work with fewer clients, your business gets simpler. And when your business gets simpler, you don't have to work as many hours. And when you don't have to work as many hours, you can get your life and your health back. And you get to read Dr. Seuss books to your grandkids. And when you read Dr. Seuss books to your grandkids, you get more joy back. And goodness knows we could all use a bit more joy in 2020.  Remember, anticipate and innovate new additions to the tiers of CPA services.  If you have innovative ideas that you want help flushing out and piloting to your clients, I can help you do just that. The best place to start is by putting 15 minutes on my calendar at http://shethinksbigcoaching.com.   Upcoming training:  10 PHRASES TO SCRUB FROM YOUR WEBSITE AND WHAT TO REPLACE IT WITH Thursday, November 19th, 12pm ET     Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/work-with-me/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomGuidance and wisdom in the accounting industry tend to be provided by accountants and CPAs. There's a notable absence of expertise and wisdom from thought leaders outside the accounting industry. In order for any profession to advance, it needs to have conventional thinking be challenged. And the best people to challenge conventional thinking are those who have never been taught to believe conventional thinking in the first place. Why do we cling to our views so tenaciously after they're formed? Psychologists attribute this to at least two phenomena: self-affirmation and cultural cognition. Both of these concepts suggest that we cling to our views because the walls of our opinions are like battlements that keep the good guys on the inside safe from the enemy on the outside - all those dopes with different opinions. The problem is that when you have these walls set up, you don't allow in new information that would actually be good for you. Knowing this makes it extra important to be in about listening to people outside the profession, and to welcome them as observers and commentators so that you on the inside the profession can benefit from fresh thinking. The danger in listening only to accountants for wisdom is that regardless of what they're thinking about, they're still thinking about it in accountant type ways. So whether they're thinking about numbers or thinking about concepts, their way of thinking reverts to reporting on what has happened in the past, rather than what can be created in the future. Instead, think beyond the perspectives that the industry typically shares with you.  I want you listening to voices outside the accounting space so that you can rise above the din of the same-same, and expose yourself to completely different viewpoints and ways of thinking. And if you're looking for inspiration for some other fresh thinking and voices, here are some of my favorites:  Seth Godin https://seths.blog/ Jonathan Stark https://jonathanstark.com/ Elizabeth Gilbert https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/   When you listen to leading voices outside the accounting profession, you're exposed to fresh perspectives. And when you apply fresh perspectives to your work, you advance your business. And when you advance your business, your clients get more value. And when the value you provide to your clients increases, your rates increase. And when your rates increase, you don't have to work as much. And that is how you get your time back.  Now, I want to hear from you. What fresh perspectives have recently shifted your business?    Episode mentioned: 106 Better Pricing Strategies for Accountants: Stop Billing by the Hour, with Jonathan Stark https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/106   Upcoming training:  GIVE UP CALCULATING $ PER HOUR Break free of this arbitrary metric: there is a better way Thursday, October 22, 12pm ET   10 PHRASES TO SCRUB FROM YOUR WEBSITE AND WHAT TO REPLACE IT WITH Thursday, November 19th, 12pm ET     Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/work-with-me/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomHave you ever heard of a tool called the wheel of life? It's a really simple but powerful tool to help you take stock of the most important areas of your life and visualize which ones are going best and which areas you want to devote more of your attention to, to improve. The wheel of life gives you a bird's eye view of the different aspects of your life.  I want to share this tool with you because I want you to have it not just for your life, but also for your business, so that you can get your life where you want it and your business where you want it. With everything that’s been going on this year it can be really hard to focus. And when you do focus, what do you focus on? With all of the problems that you could address, how do you know where to allocate your attention? After all your attention is limited. And just like you allocate cash for certain priorities in your business, you allocate your attention. The problem is that sometimes we allocate our attention indiscriminately. And when your attention gets allocated indiscriminately day after day, year after year, you might inadvertently end up with a business you no longer like owning.  The problem with that is that life is too short to own a business you don't like owning.  So back to the life wheel, back to the business wheel. How can these two things help you? This really simple tool will help you move in the direction of building the business you love to own that fits right inside a life you love.  It's a really simple tool to help you see what is actually happening in your life that often otherwise just gets lost in the day to day.  This simple exercise can really help you understand where you need to focus in your business and where to allocate your attention. And when you know where to focus your attention, you improve the right things. And when you improve the right things, you make progress in the right direction in your business. And that is how over time you build a business that you love to own.  Now, it would be really easy to do with the life wheel and to do the business wheel and then tuck it away in some file folder. But I want you to pin it on the wall so that you can check in with it and remind yourself where your focus most needs to be. DOWNLOAD PDF: Life Wheel and Business Wheel https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/107-pdf-download/   Upcoming training:    GIVE UP CALCULATING $ PER HOUR Break free of this arbitrary metric: there is a better way Thursday, October 22, 12pm ET   10 Phrases To Scrub From Your Website And What To Replace It With Thursday, November 19th, 12pm ET     Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/work-with-me/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomMy guest today is Jonathan Stark. Jonathan is a former software developer who is on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing. He is the author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts, the host of TWO podcasts: Ditching Hourly and The Business of Authority, and writes a daily newsletter on pricing for independent professionals. We’re talking today about better ways for CPAs to price their services so that they can get out of the accounting rut.  We will get into different pricing strategies, the differences between value, price, and cost, selling outcomes instead of deliverables, and more.    “If you can find clients that will get more and more value out of the services that you provide, the prices that you can put in your project proposals just magically go up... In other words, without much more work, you can charge a client a hundred thousand dollars for basically the same thing if the value to them is a million. So your growth comes from finding clients who value the stuff that you do more.”  - Jonathan Stark   Value is not just about increasing prices. It's a way for you to provide a range of possible solutions for your clients so that they can choose what makes sense to them given the context they're in and which solution they want, in a way that is always profitable for both parties. What I see as most immediately implementable when it comes to moving out of hourly billing is to take one thing that you already do all the time anyways, and turn that into a flat-fee service, and give yourself the experience of getting faster and better at it, so you know what it feels like to divorce your profit margins from your time. Once you get a taste for that feeling, you’ll be thirsty for more.    Episodes mentioned: 105 Mathematical Proof Different is Better  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/105 104 How Much Would a CPA Pay for a Kid’s Bike?  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/104 Upcoming training:  GIVE UP CALCULATING $ PER HOUR Break free of this arbitrary metric: there is a better way Thursday, October 22, 12pm ET   10 Phrases To Scrub From Your Website And What To Replace It With Thursday, November 19th, 12pm ET     Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/work-with-me/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomI am here to offer you mathematical proof that different is more profitable.  The best possible strategy to becoming more profitable without having to work so hard includes specializing.  A few weeks back, a well-known software developer turned consultant named Jonathan Stark invited me to be on his podcast, Ditching Hourly, so we could discuss other ways to bill forensic accounting. And it was in our conversation that he dropped this equation that I want to share with you.    Here is the max price formula that proves that specializing will make you more profitable. Desire x Buying Power / Availability of Options = Max Price   Let me give you some good news and some bad news.  The bad news is that making yourself different is among the hardest and most necessary gates to pass through on your path to becoming a highly compensated CPA. Now, the good news. Because this gate is one of the hardest ones to get through, very few people actually get through it. Many people try, but they either get lost or they run out of steam, or they don't see it through.  If you are willing to come in and see it through to the other side, you will find that you are in small, great company.  So if you have the courage to commit to the process of specializing, which really only takes about six months, you will cut the number of options your prospects have down to such a small number that you will be able to bump up your max price by a factor of three or five or even eight or more.  If you want to work on upping your max price, here are some initial steps you can take:   Run through your client roster, and note which clients are in a lot of pain. Then look at their buying power. Which of your clients are best positioned to invest with you more deeply? Conversely, which ones do you know will never have the buying power to work with you in a way that lines up with what you want your business to be doing? Finally, look at how many CPAs around you look just like you in a white press button-down shirt who do all things for all people.    Look inside your client roster and leverage the types of businesses you already have as clients to begin the process of specializing. So that you can look different from the white shirt CPA next to you, who specializes in serving everyone and no one at the same time. Remember, specializing is a process. It takes three months just to see if you're getting traction. It takes six months to know for sure if your specialty is working. But if you commit to an industry that is specialized enough, and you give it time, you will get there and you will reap the rewards of being able to maximize your price. And when you maximize your price, you will be able to work with fewer clients. And when you can work with fewer clients, your business gets simpler. And when your business gets simpler, you don't have to work as many hours. There you have it - mathematical proof that different is more profitable.   Podcast mentioned: Ditching Hourly Episode 193: The Forensic Bounty Hunter with guest Geraldine Carter https://podcast.ditchinghourly.com/episodes/coaching-call-with-geraldine-carter   Upcoming training:  GIVE UP CALCULATING $ PER HOUR Break free of this arbitrary metric: there is a better way Thursday, October 22, 12pm ET   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/work-with-me/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday I want to talk to you today about how to price a bicycle. Now you might be wondering, what has this got to do with being a CPA? What does the price of a bike have to do with payroll, cashflow, or tax strategy?  I'll tell you what the connection is.  And I'm going to tell you through a recent experience I had buying a bike for my five-year-old daughter, Hazel.  It was an expensive, but worth it bike. Here are five ways I never thought to justify the price: Component parts: rubber, aluminum, plastic.  Time for the machine to stamp out the bike.  Margins of the bike company.  Goal earnings of the bike company owner. Comparing to prices of other bikes.  Instead, I made the purchase based on the value to me. And that value is being able to watch my daughter have a blast in the pump track with her friends, to feel more confident riding, and to be able to keep up with the boys.   Check her out, getting the hang of the pump track! Here’s the YouTube link:  https://youtu.be/6reW8zJivmM The price of the bike had nothing to do with the cost.    How this connects back to CPAs: they price their services all wrong, all the time.  Here are five examples of how CPAs price their services incorrectly: Hourly. Not so much a price, but more an expression of your confidence. Breaking it down into its component parts like their time, staff time, court time, bookkeeping is this much, payroll is that much.  Destination margins. Shooting for the industry average of 14.9% or above.  Goal earnings. “I need to make $400K so I can cover my desired expenses.” Comparing. They say they are not the most expensive, nor the least expensive CPA in town.  Each of these is something that I've heard a CPA say, and sometimes it's how my own clients can think about pricing when we're starting out. And I get the value of these ways of thinking about pricing. You have to start somewhere.  The problem is the amount of money that CPAs are leaving on the table when they use incorrect pricing strategies.  In none of these examples did we talk about value. Nowhere did we talk about the value to me, the buyer. Value and price are not one and the same.  And the fundamental problem with pricing any other way than on value is the amount of money left on the table.  So how do you get from pricing your time to assessing the value of the outcomes you help create and putting a price on that instead? You start by listening more to your clients. You listen to what they really care about.  When you spend more time with your clients and listen to why it is they want what they want, you will be able to uncover untold value. And then you can start value pricing. And when you start value pricing, your income increases while your workload decreases. And that is how you work less and make more. When your service is amazing and the value is priceless, there will be clients who are happy to pay you for it.  If seeing the five ways not to price listed out would be helpful to you, zip on over to my website, shethinksbigcoaching.com where you can download the free PDF I made that lists the examples that I mentioned.  DOWNLOAD PDF:  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/104-pdf-download/ Upcoming training:  PLAYING SUPERHERO Stop being all things to all people: How to narrow your niche the easy way Thursday, September 24, 12pm ET   GIVE UP CALCULATING $ PER HOUR Break free of this arbitrary metric: there is a better way Thursday, October 22, 12pm ET   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/work-with-me/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Emily Sandberg. Emily provides cashflow and forecasting services to online coaches and course creators.  While many accountants focus primarily on making sense of the past, Emily works with her clients to know the future of money in their business, so they can make strategic decisions with their cash. Her work has helped dozens of clients go from running a money-hungry business to a predictably profitable enterprise, by simply following her profit-centered framework.  When she’s not running scenarios for her clients’ Facebook Ad Spends, she can be found playing pickleball or hiking in the gorgeous red rocks of southern Utah with her family.  I wanted to have Emily on the podcast because her business model is unique in that she did not pass GO, she did not collect $200, she went directly to Advisory Services.  Her perspective on what her clients need when it comes to money is well outside the box, and I think it will be interesting for you to hear from someone who was never tethered to traditional accounting. So many things stuck out to me, it’s hard to pick just one. The top 3 are: How niching down takes the pressure off What her clients need most from her is advising and forecasting That charging more is actually good for my clients. Each of these is counter-intuitive and can be a difficult mental transition for people to make.  If you want help establishing the value of and shifting the services you offer to increase their value, and you're looking for the courage to raise your rates, I can help you make these changes in your accounting practice.  Episode mentioned: 053 Adding Advisory Services and the Power of Niching Down with Tracy Jepson   Connect with Emily: Website: http://emilysandberg.net   Upcoming training:  PLAYING SUPERHERO Stop being all things to all people: How to narrow your niche the easy way Thursday, September 24, 12pm ET   GIVE UP CALCULATING $ PER HOUR Break free of this arbitrary metric: there is a better way Thursday, October 22, 12pm ET   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Work with Geraldine: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/work-with-me/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday we're talking about your business. Is it a lot of work? Do you spend it too many hours or more hours than you want in front of a screen toiling away?  At the end of a long work week, do you ever wonder if there was an easier way? Many CPAs work really hard. And when I say hard, I mean, lots of hours, lots of clients, endless fires. And it can seem like hard is the path, and it can be the only path that you see. But what I want you to know is that there are easier paths available to you. And I will tell you what keys you need to unlock these easier paths.  But first, I want you to listen to my story about inner tubes and me and some friends, a few years back.   So how is this misadventure relevant to you?    You got started as a CPA. And you knew it might not be easy-peasy. You may have thought that there was some risk, but little did you know that you would end up in the position of having 250 or 1400 returns to process in a 10-week timeframe. And there were probably moments that you felt desperate. And when you have that desperate or piled on or overwhelmed or sucked under feeling, it can be difficult to see the path out. What I want you to know is that if you're feeling swamped in your accounting practice, that you are only in knee-deep water, because you have a skill set that no one else has. As a CPA, you are able to understand a business's finances in ways that other professionals simply cannot. As a CPA, you are uniquely positioned to provide immeasurable value to your clients. You are standing in two feet of water. It's just a matter of harnessing your talent and your ability to provide insights and get it pointed in the right direction. So remember at the top of this episode, when I said, I would tell you how to find an easier path? Here are five pieces that you need to get on the easier path:  Learn to value price.  Continue to narrow your niche or specialize.  Develop a framework for consistent high-quality results.  Make yourself visible.  Be open to the idea that it can be easy. And that it's all right for it to be easy.  If you believe that it's supposed to be hard or that making money isn't supposed to be easy, your subconscious will seek out ways to make you right. And you will continue to make it hard.  If you believe that it can and that it should be easy, your subconscious will look for the easy path. And when you're looking for the easy path, the answer will appear.    Episodes mentioned: 081 Time To Rethink Your Pricing Strategy? With Ron Baker, Founder Of Verasage Institute https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/081 091 Is Your Accounting Niche Niche-y Enough?  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/091 054 How Narrowing Your Niche Can Help You Grow Faster https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/054 098 A Framework is Essential to CPAs Working Less and Earning More https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/098 Upcoming training:  PLAYING SUPERHERO Stop being all things to all people: How to narrow your niche the easy way Thursday, September 24, 12pm ET   GIVE UP CALCULATING $ PER HOUR Break free of this arbitrary metric: there is a better way Thursday, October 22, 12pm ET   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday I want to talk with you about why checking in a few times a year on your best clients’ results and how you as a CPA contributed to their success can help you feel more confident in your pricing. When CPAs take the time to stop and observe, what some of them find is that their best clients are getting amazing results. And that they had a hand in the creation of those results. But because those results had been invisible to them or because they had been dismissing their role in the creation of those results, they were undervaluing their services. And when they were undervaluing, they were underpricing. And when they were underpricing, they were overworking to compensate. And when they were overworking to compensate, they're spending more time at work than they need to be in order to make the same amount of money.  In addition to the quantifiable, like increased profitability and tax savings, there is also a value you might be adding to your clients’ lives that is simply not quantifiable, like:  sleeping better,  peace of mind,  finally understanding their financials,  trusting that they are getting the right information from their accountant,  being more at ease in their business.  Not quantifiable, but have enormous value.  So if you ever have a sneaking suspicion you are not getting compensated for the value you contribute to creating, take yourself through this exercise. All you have to do is list out your top clients and rough in the outcomes and results that they have gotten since they started working with you. Get it down on paper or in a spreadsheet and give yourself credit where it's due so that you can see the part you play in contributing to the growth of your client's businesses. By gathering this kind of evidence, it can be an enormous help in growing your confidence around raising your prices.  When you quantify the results you help your clients get, it helps you see more clearly the value you provide. It helps you stop diminishing your role, and it helps you own your talent. When those things happen, your confidence increases. And when your confidence increases, you can raise your rates. When you raise your rates, you can earn more while working less.  So I would love to know what kinds of big results have you helped your clients get over the last few years? If money is not your motive, maybe it's time. I want to hear the success you are helping create in the world.    Upcoming training:  PLAYING SUPERHERO Stop being all things to all people: How to narrow your niche the easy way Thursday, September 24, 12pm ET Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomIt’s just too easy to assume that your clients want only what they come to you for, and then, simply, serve them up the usual menu of accounting and tax.  The problem is that your best clients likely want so much more than accounting and tax. Chances are good they are asking you for more but the questions aren’t getting through to you, because they lack the language to articulate it, or because you’re buried under a pile of compliance and back-office accounting When you’re in the hole and you want to get out, it makes sense to dig if the tool you have is a shovel. But what you need is a ladder.  And the ladder comes in the form of client interviews.  Client interviews are a key step on the path out of accounting rut. Client interviews are the differentiator that you need, to put your accounting practice on the trajectory of working less, without sacrificing income.  When you ask your clients what they want and then you turn right around and give it to them - it’s one of the most powerful things you can do to transform the quality of the service you provide.    Here are some Don’ts and Do’s when it comes to interviewing your clients: DON’T follow guidance in Accounting Today that cites: 5 tips that are WAY TOO GENERIC LIKE   Being a trusted advisor; Responding quickly; Understanding the client’s business or industry; Being affordable; and Communicating clearly with non-accountants.   That’s all helpful, but it’s also way (waaaaay) too generic.  When my clients interview their clients, what comes out of it are insights wanting very specific things, like: data mining tax planning in August rather than November for more time for large purchases when prices are lower margins on specific projects Estimated vs Actual increased clarity on crop yield getting ecommerce data to match insight on cash available for Facebook ad-spends   Here are the dos: Tip/ how to solve: Don’t ask them what you are doing right or wrong. You’re not looking for feedback on your service. Instead frame the conversation around wanting to serve them better.  Ask what they like about other service-based businesses. This will give you insight into what’s important to them when it comes to service-based businesses like your own. Ask about the challenges in their business, and if they could solve the problem, what would that give them?  Ask them if they had time to make their business more profitable, what would they do? These questions will help you understand the problems they have, solutions they are looking for, and the kind of service they want to get. AND THAT could be gold for you.    When you know exactly what your client wants - because you have heard it directly from them, you  know exactly what to give them start giving them what they want your life gets easier, and you can stop guessing stop giving them things they don’t care about or are less important to them start giving them huge value and you now have a secret weapon that will not only keep your clients coming back to you, but will also have your clients sending you other clients with the same problems.  Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomAnjali Jariwala, CPA and CFP®, is the founder of FIT Advisors — a financial planning firm serving physicians and business owners virtually across the US. She utilizes her expertise in tax and finance to empower her clients to discover and reach their life goals while building a stable financial future.  Anjali hosts Money Checkup podcast - a semi-monthly checkup that discusses the many facets of financial well-being.   When Anjali started her practice 5 years ago, baked right into the plan was how to build a highly profitable business while working only 30 hours a week, so that she can spend time with her young daughter.  I wanted YOU to be able to hear exactly what Anjali has figured in order to work less and make more, so that you can see that it’s real, and do the same in your accounting practice.  What stood out to me in this episode was the level of intentionality with which she designed and built her practice to align with her values. And that by choosing to stay small, she could cap the number of clients she takes, be selective, charge a premium for limited seats for a specific service, and provide value that most people cannot.  All of that was intentional. She set out to do it that way, and it works.   Previous episodes mentioned: 91 Is Your Accounting Niche Niche-y Enough? 86 Secrets of Shifting to vCFO Services   Connect with Anjali: Website: www.fitadvisors.com  Podcast: Money Checkup Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anjalifit/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnjaliFIT LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjalijayakumar  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FITadvisors    Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday we're talking about how creating your own signature framework can be a gamechanger in your accounting practice. A framework is your process or methodology, your approach of how you work with your clients. It's the process you walk your clients through to get the consistent, impressive results you help them get. A framework helps both you and your clients know how to think about things. Most CPAs I work with have a framework. They just don't realize it. What they tend to do is give away all kinds of advice and guidance for free, and then they get upset when their client does nothing with it.    So how do you come up with your own framework?    Imagine one of your clients who you know is leaking money.  Imagine being able to have your way with that person's business: What would you do?  Where would you go to look for and find money?  What would you change about their business, their structure, or the way it's run? What are the opportunities for profit that are being left all over the table?  What would you do that's different from others in your field?    When you can list out answers to those questions, you have the beginnings of a framework. Just like a framework helps me help my clients, you having a framework helps your clients understand what order to do things in. It increases their clarity and it reduces their overwhelm. Not only will it increase clarity for them and reduce overwhelm for them, it will do the same for you.  Most importantly, it will improve your ability to create consistent, amazing results for your clients. When you help your clients get better results, you can raise your prices. And when you can raise your prices, you can work less. –    Previous episodes mentioned: 91 Is Your Accounting Niche Niche-y Enough? 54 How Narrowing Your Niche Can Help You Grow Faster   Upcoming training:  Stop Underpricing: It Does A Disservice To Your Clients August 21st at 12pm Eastern   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomWhat’s on your summer reading list?   Now that the July 15th deadline is behind us, hopefully you have a bit more discretionary time to read the latest releases on finances. Now, I don't need to tell you why to read books, but I will anyways: because you want to work smarter. You want to set yourself apart and you want to find forward-thinking ways of adding high value to your clients so that you can start working less and earning more. In my reading, I learned that double-entry accounting dates from 14th-century Italy. Who knew. And that’s really cool, but here’s the thing - your clients don’t give a hoot about double-entry accounting. What they care about is how you can help them grow their earnings while protecting more of what they make.  And YOU learning more about double-entry accounting won’t help you get them there. But HERE are 5 books that will:   Subscribed by Tien Tzuo Read Subscribed if you want your mind expanded - it’s full of forward-thinking ways you need to be accounting for clients with subscription revenue.    Fix This Next by Mike Michalowicz Read Fix This Next if you want to add value to your practice by helping your clients know what they need to fix next in their business. Plus, it provides a simple framework to apply again and again.   How Finance Works by Mihir Desai Read How Finance Works if you're wanting to get into more vCFO - type work, and if you need to bone up on finance terms and concepts.   Million Dollar Consulting Proposals by Alan Weiss Read Million Dollar Consulting Proposals if you want to get more yesses on high-value proposals. Creating great proposals is a key to a high-margin practice.   The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss Read The 4-Hour Workweek if you want to live a rich life while working less.  If you enjoyed one of these books, please comment or shoot me an email! Happy summer reading outside the accountant box! Episodes mentioned: 081 Time To Rethink Your Pricing Strategy? with Ron Baker, Founder of Verasage Institute 032 On A Mission To Transform Healthcare, with Lesley Von Eschen, PA-C And Carol Bridges, MD, co-CEOs of Costcare 088 The Case of The $475k Proposal: Did They Accept?   Upcoming training:  Stop Underpricing: It Does A Disservice To Your Clients August 21st at 12pm Eastern   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Hugh Duffy, CEO and Co-Founder of Build Your Firm (BYF), Inc. Hugh is the leading marketing coach for accountants and takes pride in the impact that it has on their practice, and lives. With more than thirty years of marketing experience, Hugh has been teaching accountants how to improve their marketing so they can make more money in their accounting practice.  I wanted to have Hugh on so that you can better understand the role marketing can and should be playing in your business, so that: you can get better leads for your business, and get the most from your marketing dollars.  your marketing time, dollars, and energy bring the right number of high quality leads into your business. What stood out to me in this episode was just how much Hugh is on the same page about choosing a vertical or niche to become an expert in - and the impact it has to quality leads being able to find you, and you being able to command and defend much higher rates.    If you want to know if your niche is niche-y enough, go back and listen to episode, #91.  Figuring out your niche so that you can make your marketing more effective and command higher rates is one of the hardest parts of shifting your business from traditional accounting to highly paid advisor.  It’s a process I move almost every single one of my clients through - even the ones who thought they were sufficiently niched.  If you know your business’s growth is being held back because you can’t figure out your niche, I CAN HELP YOU find it.  Past Episode Mentioned: 091 Is Your Accounting Niche Niche-y Enough?   Connect with Hugh: Website: https://www.buildyourfirm.com/   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomIn this episode, you get a different way of thinking about the proposal and it's called a choice of yeses.  A yes or no choice pits you and your buyer against each other. But when you give your prospect options, you change the very nature of the conversation: You set your clients up to answer an entirely different question: What's the best way for me to work with this person? Now they're viewing your relationship as a partnership, a collaboration whereby you are offering them options to best help them solve their problems. Your conversion rate goes up. The value you provide goes up and your margins go up.  If you're a traditional accountant, prospects often come to you for transactional services. It's what they think they need. But when you take the time to listen more deeply to your prospect's challenges, you might hear that there are other pain points you may be able to help them with and new ways that you can add significant value.   Here are six guidelines for you to follow when creating your proposals:  Start with your bread and butter service.  Spread out other ways you can solve numbers and money based problems for your clients.  keep a healthy spread between your prices.  If your buyer wants vCFO, but can only afford controller: If they want the price reduced, they need to take out value.  Keep it simple. Don't make this rocket science and definitely don't make it accounting-y.  Make clear the value to your client because ultimately that is what matters in the buying decision.    When you offer a choice of yeses, it makes the conversation about the prospect and them getting their problem solved.  By providing value that your clients seek, that is how you can start working less and making more. Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Register for Free Livestream for CPAs: How to Become A High-Priced Advisor http://shethinksbigcoaching.com/livestream   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomIf COVID has taken your accounting practice on a long, unexpected detour, it's time to pause and ask yourself where you are relative to your goals.  And given where you are, what is the best path to get you to your goals?  You might tell yourself that you don't have the time. But the truth is that if you don't take the time now it'll cost you far more time and far more energy in the long run to get to wherever it is you want to go. Now's the time to pick your head up: if you don't pick it up now you might stay on your trajectory and finish the year way off course. Or, if you do pick your head up, but you take a little while to do it, the longer it takes to recover and the more energy it takes to get back on track. So how do you do this? The first thing to do is to look at your calendar. And before the end of July, or if you're listening asynchronously, before the end of the month, block half a day where you can check in with your business and assess it.    Ask yourself: What is my income year-to-date relative to where I thought it would be? What percent of my clients does it take to create 80% of my income?  What actions am I not taking to grow my accounting practice?  What's holding your current system in place? What would it look like if my business were easy?  If I knew I couldn't screw up, or if my decisions wouldn't upset anyone, what would I do?  When you take a moment to pick your head up, to see where you are, you suddenly see where you need to be heading. Pausing your work for a day to ask yourself these questions is how you get yourself on the path to working less while making more.    Download this PDF for more questions to assess your accounting practice: PDF 094 - Questions to assess your accounting practice   Previous episode mentioned: 044: CEO DAY: Why you need to pick your head up in your business   Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Register for Free Livestream for CPAs: How to Become A High-Priced Advisor http://shethinksbigcoaching.com/livestream   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomBusiness owners across the country are wondering, more like, dying to know, what the impacts of COVID might be to their business, their revenue, and their cash flow.  They want to know the best case, worst case and likely case scenarios. And they want to know the UH-OH case of how long do I have before I run out of cash. By providing simple scenarios, you can help your business-owning clients, make wiser decisions sooner. As a CPA, you can run scenarios and be clear about the variables you use and be frank about the assumptions you've made and see what results each scenario spits out. Doing this for your clients now can be the difference between them weathering the COVID storm with some bruises or their ship totally sinking. Even if you can't tell them exactly how things will play out, showing them what happens in these different scenarios gives them a greater sense of control over their future. And when you provide your clients with a greater sense of control and an ability to make better informed decisions, now the value you add as a CPA goes way up. But it’s YOUR accounting practice that has the most to gain. When you add more value, it allows you to:  command much higher fees let go of low-margin compliance work free up time for higher impact work.  Start by picking one client for whom you could easily run scenarios. Walk them through your thinking and be sure to include the variables they know to be important.  Start there and you will be well on your way to offering this service more broadly to you best clients and transforming your CPA firm.  Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Register for Free Livestream for CPAs: How to Become A High-Priced Advisor http://shethinksbigcoaching.com/livestream   Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Germeen Guillaume (GEE-YOME), Founder of Visionary Accounting Group.  Germeen founded Visionary Accounting Group in 2015 and has been helping nonprofits leverage technology as a means to gain deeper financial insight and real time data. To date, Germeen has led the Company in recouping over $2.8M in receivables, through workflow automation and accounting system conversions. I wanted to have Germeen on to better understand the experience that people of color have when it comes to being an accountant and business owner, so that you can be on the lookout for opportunities to level the playing field. What stood out to me long before I recorded this episode is just how much leadership in the accounting space is predominantly white and mostly male.  And as a woman, frankly, I’m not down with that.  What this conversation helped me see is how pervasive and systemic biases and prejudices are in accounting, banking, and funding , and how much work there is to be done. It’s shifted how I view my role as someone who values a level playing field.  Rather than a call to action that supports my business, which is what I would usually put here, instead I pass along Germeen’s request: Speak up when you see bias, prejudice, or racism in play Take the time to educate yourself about challenges that people of color uniquely face And if you’re in the VC space, consider who you’re funding Start with your inner circle - the people with whom you have contact on the regular. Connect with Germeen: Website: https://www.visionaryag.com/ Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Schedule time with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday, we're talking about how niching can bring you one step closer to earning more while working less. Having a clear niche as a CPA is the single biggest thing you can do to get you off the hamster wheel of working like crazy, and makes it easy for great clients to find you because you're a go-to expert in their field. When you go through the process of making your niche niche-y enough, your business will become more simple for you to run. You'll deliver more value, more easily, and in less time. And you'll become known as a go to person to be serving that type of client. And then once all that happens and given some time, then you can take things to the next level where many more opportunities that you may not be able to see right now, including additional revenue streams will begin to appear. Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Adam Hale, Co-Founder and COO of Summit CPA Group.  Summit CPA Group is the leading provider of Virtual CFO Services in North America.  Summit CPA offers virtual CFO, Controller, and transaction-level services remotely and at scale. And Adam works with his team to deliver the best possible vCFO services to their clients. I wanted to have Adam on to dig into the art and science of pricing and delivery of these services, so that you can learn his hard-earned secrets so you serve your clients better and at a higher level.  What stood out to me in this episode was the idea that they decidedly want clients in Controller and vCFO, and don’t want clients at the transaction level.  After all, transaction is labor and time-intensive, while excellent guidance can happen in a short amount of time and add far more value to the client.  Listeners, if you want help building Controller and vCFO level services to your practice but haven’t been able to figure out how on your own,  so that you can get your practice to the next level, from 150 clients down to 15, with $60K or $100K annual engagements, I can help you make that transformation.  Put 15 minutes on my calendar - just go to shethinksbigcoaching.com and click on the big fat red Schedule Time with Me button.  Connect with Adam: Website: https://www.summitcpa.net/ Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Schedule time with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Annette Bevers, a solo CPA based in northern California.  I wanted to have Annette on because she has many of the classic challenges that CPAs face when they say yes to most types of work that arrive at their door.  She has a mish-mash of clients, whose needs vary, which makes it hard to have consistent processes, which means work takes up a lot of time, leaving little to think about growing strategically. She’s bogged down in work and not using her full potential.  What stood out to me in this episode is just how easy it is to stay caught in the tangle of questions you ask yourself when trying to break free of the traditional model.  Fortunately, the path out is straight-forward, and it works. Interviewing top clients, shedding 20% of your client base and committing to using that time to grow, and raising your prices are 3 key pieces.  But it’s hard to walk through this fog alone.  If you want to know what the simple steps are to grow your business, go grab a copy of my e-book, where I walk you through the 6 steps.  Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Connect with Annette: Website: https://beverscpa.com/ Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomI have a story for you today about what is possible in your business. So often the thing I hear from my clients is that one of the reasons they wanted help working together was that they knew that bigger was possible in their businesses. But they didn't necessarily know how to get there. They knew that other CPAs were making this transition from billing by the hour to shifting into delivering high value. They knew that others were doing it, but they didn't really know that they themselves could do it.   In telling this story I want you to know what is possible and what is potentially not that far away from you with some key changes in your business and that without any shenanigans, you can be earning two or three or four times what you're currently making right now. By getting away from hourly billing, if you haven't already, by deeply understanding what your prospects and clients really want and what is worth to them, and putting together powerful proposals where you serve your clients at a high level in this way with far less effort than some of the compliance and or accounting or transactional work than you may be doing right now. Schedule time with Geraldine: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Amy Vetter. Amy is the CEO of the B3 Method® Institute, a keynote speaker, corporate board member, author, and contributor to Inc.com and Entrepreneur.com. Amy authored the book: Business, Balance & Bliss: How the B3 Method Can Transform Your Career and Life. She is the host of the Breaking Beliefs Podcast. I wanted to have Amy on to talk about how to manage yourself and your time in your business and in your life so that you find better balance.  My take-aways on the notifications and self-discipline is that no one can do it for you.  Just like no one can eat for you, and no one can sleep for you, NO ONE can turn off your notifications for you and no one is going to focus for you.  The other turn of phrase I appreciated was Handle Your Relationships with Care. I do see my own clients getting stuck here, especially as updating your business model often requires finding new accountants for your current clients. If you position it in your mind as doing this with grace, kindness, and care, it can make the process easier to take.  I also want to add my own take on the phrase “I don’t want to disappoint people.” You may have noticed that this phrase got called a feeling, and I want to clarify that this is in fact a thought and not a feeling.  This clarification is important because, in the vernacular, we say that feelings are true and real, and that’s right. However, “I don’t want to disappoint people” is a thought, and shouldn’t be taken as true because it’s accidentally believed to be a feeling when it’s not.  The other piece of this is people will say, “You can’t please everyone” to which I say, “You can’t please anyone, it’s not in your power.” And if you have done something before and another person has been happy, remember that correlation does not imply causation.  Connect with Amy: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyvettercpa/ Instagram www.instagram.com/amyvettercpa Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AmyVetterCPA/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmyVetterCPA Schedule time with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min Download the ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomMy guest today is Jody Grunden, Co-Founder and CEO of Summit CPA Group, the leading provider of Virtual CFO Services in North America.  Jody is passionate about changing the way people think about accounting.  As the author of Digital Dollars and Cents, Jody literally wrote the book on helping digital companies create a financial roadmap to success. Summit CPA offers virtual CFO, Controller, and transaction-level services remotely and at scale.  I wanted to have Jody on to talk about everything that he has learned in nearly 20 years of growing this business.  There were many gems including the simple but important reminder: “Your clients are hiring you to help them get to the next level.”  It’s your job to help build the financial roadmap that gets them there.  The rest is just deliverables. What your client wants is transformation.  If you want help getting your practice to the next level, getting from 150 clients down to 15, with $60 or $100K annual engagements, I can help you make that transformation.  Put 15 minutes on my calendar - just go to shethinksbigcoaching.com and click on the big fat red Schedule Time with Me button. You’d be surprised how much ground we can cover in that time, so I hope you will take me up on the offer.    Connect with Jody: Website: https://www.summitcpa.net/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jodygrunden Twitter: @jgrunden and @SummitCPAGroup Schedule Time with Me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Claire Stewart, the Founder of Cartmill Stewart.  Claire and her partner have totally dialed in their systems to run an efficient practice, including having gone paperless.  Systems and workflows are a common pain point for accounting practice owners so I wanted to dig in.  The highlights were: 1. Creating issues that didn’t need to be there. And that sometimes clients who “behave badly” do so because they were set up that way.  So they make themselves go back to the drawing board and make systems better from the client’s point of view. This tied in nicely with: Look at businesses that do customer service really well and see what elements you can replicate.  2. Fix one thing at a time. If there’s too much, you won’t do anything. So many accountants complain of feeling like they are chasing their tail when it comes to making improvements, and it’s because they are either trying to do too many things at once, or fixing things out of order. And yes, there is a RIGHT order to fix things in.  Software mentioned: GoProposal https://goproposal.com/ Senta https://www.senta.co/   Connect with Claire: Email [email protected] Website https://www.cartmillstewart.co.uk/ LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/in/clairestewartfca/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/clairestewartfca/ Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Carol Cox. Carol is the founder of Speaking Your Brand®, a coaching and training company that helps women entrepreneurs and leaders around the world create their signature talks, whether it’s for a keynote, TED talk, conference session or business presentation, and position themselves to get better (and paid) speaking engagements. Carol is host of the weekly Speaking Your Brand® podcast and during election seasons serves as a Democratic political analyst on TV news in Orlando, Florida.  With an extensive background in business, tech, politics, media, and history, Carol’s mission is to help women develop their content and confidence, to raise their voices and visibility, to challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Carol and I have known each other for 3 years, and I have worked with her in a variety of capacities over that time. She even gets credit for helping me coin the name, She Thinks Big Coaching. Carol is here to help us understand what is keeping women from getting in front of the microphone.   Here are my top takeaways:  #1. Get over perfectionism. You have to start where you are, you will get better as you go, and there is no such thing as perfect, so stop chasing it. #2. You’re doing your audience a disservice if you don’t share your expertise and tell people how they can work with you.  Remember that milllllions of Americans and business owners have challenges with their money and need guidance.  Speaking Your Brand Challenge: Choosing Women’s Voices https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/challenge/   Speaking Your Brand Podcast episodes mentioned: Creating a Business for Change with Geraldine Carter https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/podcast-36-business-growth-geraldine-carter/ Thinking Bigger – I Get Coached On-Air by Geraldine Carter https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/thinking-bigger-getting-coached-by-geraldine-carter/   Connect with Carol: Website: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/ Podcast: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/podcast/   Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomMike mi-KAL-o-wits is the author of Profit First, Clockwork, Surge, The Pumpkin Plan, and his newest release Fix This Next.  By his 35th birthday, Mike had founded and sold two companies - one to private equity and another to a Fortune 500. Today he is running his third multi-million dollar venture, Profit First Professionals.  Mike is a former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal and the former business makeover specialist on MSNBC. Over the years, Mike has traveled the globe speaking with thousands of entrepreneurs, and is here today to share the best of what he has learned. Being a certified Pumpkin Plan Strategist is incredibly useful to my clients, so when he offered the opportunity to become a certified Fix This Next Advisor, I jumped at the chance.  I wanted to have him on the show today to talk about his new book, Fix This Next, so that you could find it useful to know what to fix next in your accounting practice.  Mike is so brilliant at taking the challenges of running a business, and turning them into simple tools we can use to grow.  If you want to take the Fix This Next assessment, head on over to shethinksbig.fixthisnext.com where you can go through the 25-question assessment that will help you isolate your most important problem to fix next.  If you want a quick review of your results, put 15 minutes on my calendar. Go to  shethinksbigcoaching.com and click on Schedule Time with Me. You’ll walk away with a clear understanding of what to fix next, and what can wait, so you can start working on the right thing in the right way, at the right time. Get out of the swirl, and get yourself on a linear path to growth.   Take the assessment: https://shethinksbig.fixthisnext.com/   Book: Fix This Next https://fixthisnext.com/   Connect with Mike: Website: http://www.mikemichalowicz.com/ Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/MikeMichalowiczFanPage/ Twitter https://twitter.com/MikeMichalowicz Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mikemichalowicz/ Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/   JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Erica Goode, a Certified Public Accountant with 12+ years of experience in Big 4 public accounting, Fortune 50 finance, and small business accounting. She has a passion for creating cashflow forecasts and long-range plans that enable small business owners to think more strategically given solid financials.  I wanted to have Erica on the podcast to do an on-air coaching call because I know that she struggles with a lot of the same struggles as so many other listeners.  Today we're going to talk about low value and high value work, and where fulfillment fits in. The story that Erica told about not having anybody to look to, that there are no role models around her, and the idea that her boss said to her, “You need to be the one to light the way for the others behind you” really struck a chord for me.  Many of you, many of us have very few, if any, people to look to for how to do it. We don't see women who look like us who have done it before us. There have been though, women who have been lighting the path in their own way before us. And I hope this conversation helps you build your own path and light the way for the younger woman who follows behind you.   Connect with Erica: Email: [email protected]   Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Apply for on-air coaching call : https://geraldinecarter.typeform.com/to/Ygoz2w Schedule time with me : https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Ron Baker. Ron is the founder of VeraSage Institute—the leading think tank dedicated to educating professionals internationally. He is the author of seven best-selling books, including Professional’s Guide to Value Pricing and his latest book The Soul of Enterprise: Dialogues on Business in the Knowledge Economy, co-authored with Ed Kless. Ron is also the host of the show The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Knowledge Economy, which you can find both as a podcast and on VoiceAmerica.com.  As a leading thinker in value-pricing, I wanted you to hear from Ron on his latest thinking around your business model when it comes to pricing.  Ron and I talk about subscription and value-based pricing, and dig into a few ways that this is playing out in accounting practices and how they can learn from this conversation and start to knock down some of the hurdles that are in their way when it comes to implementing and shifting to value-based pricing if they haven't already, and how subscription-based pricing might benefit their businesses as well.   Here are my top 3 take-aways:   #1. 3x-5x your price and cut 80% of your clients.  Yes. And I realize you have relationships with your clients that you will want to handle well. This is not easy work, but this is a Much More Sane model for your business.    #2. You cannot be all things to all people.  I know you want to help. You will be more helpful, when you are better help to fewer clients.    #3. This scares the hell out of people. YES these are big changes to your business model! Of COURSE it’s intimidating!   If you want someone to guide and support you through these changes, I am here to support you.  Remember that you can join my Strategic Action Group Coaching Program, which starts April 21st and is a VERITABLE STEAL at $300/mo for 4 months.  Head on over to shethinksbigcoaching.com and click on the Work With Me tab to find out more.  Book mentioned: Subscribed: Why the Subscription Model Will Be Your Company's Future - and What to Do About It, by Tien Tzuo https://www.amazon.com/Subscribed-Subscription-Model-Companys-Future/dp/0525536469 Connect with Ron: E-mail: [email protected] Website/Blog: www.verasage.com  Podcast: www.thesoulofenterprise.com Twitter: @ronaldbaker http://twitter.com/ronaldbaker Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomI’m kicking off a new series of episodes, Lies of the Accounting Industry.  What I want to do in this series of episodes is bring up these mindset challenges, pieces of dogma, myths and so on, that I think are problematic and that have infiltrated the industry and the thinking.  So let's start with number one, charge what you are worth.    The MAIN problem: Your prices are (almost entirely) not about you Your prices are about the buyer Your prices are about the value you help the buyer create when working together   Instead, ask these questions to establish and increase value: What are your objectives with this project? Why use outside help, vs doing it internally? Why now? - Why change accountants now? Why are cashflow forecasts important now, relative to a year ago when you did not have them? Why me?   If you would like help beginning the transition to value-based fees, reach out! Book a 15-minute session with me.  Just like you’re helping your clients, I am here to serve and support you.    Connect with me through my website, http://shethinksbigcoaching.com and click the CONTACT  tab or SCHEDULE TIME WITH ME button to get started.    Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom

JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedomToday’s guest is Heather Zeitzwolfe, a CPA certified with the State of Oregon’s Board of Accountancy and a member of the AICPA.  Heather was excited for the opportunity to do an on air coaching call to come on the podcast and talk about some of the challenges she faces in her business, and to look for direction and clarity around how best to grow.  Here are Heather’s key takeaways: No more working for free! It’s possible to help people with limited means, but in smaller doses Positioning rates and people who purchase them helps them and isn’t sleazy, in facts it’s helpful and what they want Connect with Heather: Website: https://zeitzwolfeaccounting.com/ Apply for on-air coaching: https://geraldinecarter.typeform.com/to/Ygoz2w Download ebook “6 Simple Steps to Double Your Revenue” https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/download-double-your-revenue   Work with Geraldine: Strategy Session https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/strategy-session/ 1:1 Coaching https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/business-coaching/ VIP Day https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/vip-day/ JOIN PEAK FREEDOMFor solo and small accounting firm owners who want peace and calm without hiring, scaling, grinding, or reducing profithttps://geraldinecarter.com/peak-freedom