So what is it? Client Accounting Services? Client Advisory Services? Or Client Accounting and Advisory Services? And does it matter? Well yes, because you have to be very clear to your clients as to what services you're providing and to your team what tasks need to be completed to deliver on your promise to clients.Without proper definition these services can quickly become everything that's not tax. And this makes it difficult to create processes, workflows and tech stacks etc. While it might be easy to utilize a 'blueprint' from a speaker on stage if you're not crystal clear on what you are and are not doing you'll struggle to realize the potential of CAS (or is it CAAS?).To ask us any questions or share any feedback, please connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

So what is it? Client Accounting Services? Client Advisory Services? Or Client Accounting and Advisory Services? And does it matter? Well yes, because you have to be very clear to your clients as to what services you're providing and to your team what tasks need to be completed to deliver on your promise to clients.Without proper definition these services can quickly become everything that's not tax. And this makes it difficult to create processes, workflows and tech stacks etc. While it might be easy to utilize a 'blueprint' from a speaker on stage if you're not crystal clear on what you are and are not doing you'll struggle to realize the potential of CAS (or is it CAAS?).To ask us any questions or share any feedback, please connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

Is it CAS or CAAS? What's it matter?

We've been on the road and in today's episode we share our insights picked up from AICPA's Engage Conference in Las Vegas, and Scaling New Heights and BKX in Orlando. Were you at any of the conferences? What were your key take aways?Plus we've seen a number of apps close their doors as funding dries up and we share some questions you should be asking your technology providers.To ask us any questions or share any feedback, please connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

We've been on the road and in today's episode we share our insights picked up from AICPA's Engage Conference in Las Vegas, and Scaling New Heights and BKX in Orlando. Were you at any of the conferences? What were your key take aways?Plus we've seen a number of apps close their doors as funding dries up and we share some questions you should be asking your technology providers.To ask us any questions or share any feedback, please connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

On the road again - key lessons from recent conferences

An interesting article on Accounting Today asked the question do you train accountants on tech, or technologists in accounting? Ultimately where we landed was agreeing with Geni Whitehouse who said hire the attitude and train for what you need. The old way of building an accounting firm was to hire more accountants and bookkeepers, but what we know is they're in short supply and they certainly don't want to be doing things the old way. As we were discussing a few common threads became apparent, and if you've been listening to this podcast, then they shouldn't be foreign to you - be very clear about want you want to get out of your business, what you want to do and what you don't want to do. And hopefully that'll help you identify whether or not you want to train accountants on technology or technologists on accounting.To learn more about how MoneyPenny can help your accounting and/or bookkeeping firm visit https://moneypennyllc.com/.And to ask us any questions or share any feedback, please connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

An interesting article on <a href="https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/training-accountants-on-technology-or-training-technologists-in-accounting-which-is-better" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Accounting Today</a> asked the question do you train accountants on tech, or technologists in accounting? Ultimately where we landed was agreeing with Geni Whitehouse who said hire the attitude and train for what you need. The old way of building an accounting firm was to hire more accountants and bookkeepers, but what we know is they're in short supply and they certainly don't want to be doing things the old way. As we were discussing a few common threads became apparent, and if you've been listening to this podcast, then they shouldn't be foreign to you - be very clear about want you want to get out of your business, what you want to do and what you don't want to do. And hopefully that'll help you identify whether or not you want to train accountants on technology or technologists on accounting.To learn more about how MoneyPenny can help your accounting and/or bookkeeping firm visit <a href="https://moneypennyllc.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://moneypennyllc.com/</a>.And to ask us any questions or share any feedback, please connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

Can technologists be taught accounting

Today's episode we catch up following a few weeks of being on the road and attending conferences in real life again. We talk through the AccountingWeb Summit in San Diego and Intuit's Get Connected conference in Sydney. Not surprisingly, themes were consistent across both conferences - What's the new normal for the workplace? How AI and automation are continuing to advance;How to understand and meet the changing needs of clients; and,How the pandemic has changed people's perspective on what's important.Also no surprises, attendees were delighted to be back in person, learning from each other, sharing experiences. While webinars and virtual learning have changed dramatically for the better, there's nothing quite like that in person connection.What conferences are you attending? Don't be shy, come up and say hi or connect with us on LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

Today's episode we catch up following a few weeks of being on the road and attending conferences in real life again. We talk through the AccountingWeb Summit in San Diego and Intuit's Get Connected conference in Sydney. Not surprisingly, themes were consistent across both conferences - <ul><li>What's the new normal for the workplace? </li><li>How AI and automation are continuing to advance;</li><li>How to understand and meet the changing needs of clients; and,</li><li>How the pandemic has changed people's perspective on what's important.</li></ul>Also no surprises, attendees were delighted to be back in person, learning from each other, sharing experiences. While webinars and virtual learning have changed dramatically for the better, there's nothing quite like that in person connection.What conferences are you attending? Don't be shy, come up and say hi or connect with us on LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

Conferences IRL

Early on when talking to accountants and bookkeepers about the cloud, we always got the question, well what happens when the internet goes down...Thankfully our look into the crystal ball proved successful (big gamble) and the internet got better and better, and faster and faster, meaning we got fewer of these types questions. And what happened this week? AWS went down. It happens and it will happen. Don't worry all is not lost!Today we talk through tech stability concerns and how to talk with your clients.Enjoy! And keep sending us your questions via LinkedIn.

Early on when talking to accountants and bookkeepers about the cloud, we always got the question, well what happens when the internet goes down...Thankfully our look into the crystal ball proved successful (big gamble) and the internet got better and better, and faster and faster, meaning we got fewer of these types questions. And what happened this week? AWS went down. It happens and it will happen. Don't worry all is not lost!Today we talk through tech stability concerns and how to talk with your clients.Enjoy! And keep sending us your questions via LinkedIn.

When Tech Goes Down...

Thank you to everyone who has dropped us an email, or connected with us on LinkedIn - keep your emails coming in! That being said we've had a couple of questions from listeners looking for all the answers - a blueprint of sorts to follow. However when we've dug a little deeper in conversations with these folks, one thing is particularly apparent - they haven't yet created their vision for what they want in their firm. And while we can provide you a list of apps, make recommendations etc without your vision and knowing what it is you want to achieve we're going through the motions. Instead spend some time focusing on what it is you want to achieve out of your business. With tax season behind you, hopefully now is a good time to think about your business and what changes you want to make in it - what services do you want to do? What clients do you want to work with? What do you want to stop doing? If you do have the time, head back to some early episodes of the webcast for more insights.

Thank you to everyone who has dropped us an email, or connected with us on LinkedIn - keep your emails coming in! That being said we've had a couple of questions from listeners looking for all the answers - a blueprint of sorts to follow. However when we've dug a little deeper in conversations with these folks, one thing is particularly apparent - they haven't yet created their vision for what they want in their firm. And while we can provide you a list of apps, make recommendations etc without your vision and knowing what it is you want to achieve we're going through the motions. Instead spend some time focusing on what it is you want to achieve out of your business. With tax season behind you, hopefully now is a good time to think about your business and what changes you want to make in it - what services do you want to do? What clients do you want to work with? What do you want to stop doing? If you do have the time, head back to some early episodes of the webcast for more insights.

We Don't Have All Your Answers

Sweat Jar Warning! And here's the link about customer dissatisfaction article that we discuss.Post tax season many consultants will be recommending to fire your pain in the a#@ (PITA) clients. Before you do, ask yourself what makes them a pain? Yes there are some clients who truly are a pain in the you know what... But today we ask listeners before they put clients on the chopping block, have a look in the mirror, and ask yourself how well did we "onboard" our client?Onboarding is a common term for your software providers. Think about it, what are they trying to achieve with their onboarding? Most simply, they're trying to get you using the product. So now apply this to how you bring on your new clients - is it standardized? is there training involved? Turns out that two-thirds of consumers leave companies because of poor customer service - and that’s a pretty scary statistic, but it goes to show just how important clear, supportive communication is during the post-conversion stage. Don't think because you're in professional services this doesn't affect you. And before you make the decision to fire clients make sure you're not going to have a revolving door because of a poor client experience.

Sweat Jar Warning! And here's the link about <a href="https://www.zendesk.com/au/blog/why-companies-should-invest-in-the-customer-experience/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">customer dissatisfaction article</a> that we discuss.Post tax season many consultants will be recommending to fire your pain in the a#@ (PITA) clients. Before you do, ask yourself what makes them a pain? Yes there are some clients who truly are a pain in the you know what... But today we ask listeners before they put clients on the chopping block, have a look in the mirror, and ask yourself how well did we "onboard" our client?Onboarding is a common term for your software providers. Think about it, what are they trying to achieve with their onboarding? Most simply, they're trying to get you using the product. So now apply this to how you bring on your new clients - is it standardized? is there training involved? Turns out that two-thirds of consumers leave companies because of poor customer service - and that’s a pretty scary statistic, but it goes to show just how important clear, supportive communication is during the post-conversion stage. Don't think because you're in professional services this doesn't affect you. And before you make the decision to fire clients make sure you're not going to have a revolving door because of a poor client experience.

Bad clients? Take a look at your onboarding

New business doesn't just walk through the door - especially not the properly priced value added work that many accountants and bookkeepers want to add to their firm. Winning this type of work requires a defined sales process that includes good discovery of not only the numbers, but also what non-financial challenges the business owner is facing. If you only focus on the numbers you'll miss much of the disfunction that will impede your ability to do a good job, plus you'll likely leave a bunch of money on the table. Whether it's in person or virtual meetings, web or customer research, you have to train yourself to really listen - to the owners, the team and customers. A lot of sales calls we've listened to are dominated (as much as 80%) by the accounting firm telling the prospective client how great they are. Instead, flip this on its head and get the prospective client talking as much as possible - you'll be surprised how much beyond the numbers you learn.How is your tax season going so far? Get in touch and let us know. If you'd like us to help with a tax season review workshop get in touch with us via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

New business doesn't just walk through the door - especially not the properly priced value added work that many accountants and bookkeepers want to add to their firm. Winning this type of work requires a defined sales process that includes good discovery of not only the numbers, but also what non-financial challenges the business owner is facing. If you only focus on the numbers you'll miss much of the disfunction that will impede your ability to do a good job, plus you'll likely leave a bunch of money on the table. Whether it's in person or virtual meetings, web or customer research, you have to train yourself to really listen - to the owners, the team and customers. A lot of sales calls we've listened to are dominated (as much as 80%) by the accounting firm telling the prospective client how great they are. Instead, flip this on its head and get the prospective client talking as much as possible - you'll be surprised how much beyond the numbers you learn.How is your tax season going so far? Get in touch and let us know. If you'd like us to help with a tax season review workshop get in touch with us via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

Proposing for the work

We know! Tax season isn’t even over and we’re talking about a tax season review. Don’t worry, we’re just planting the seed. In fact we’re recommending taking the rest of April off! But when you do come back in May, be intentional about your business. The risk is it’ll quickly be the fall and extension season and you won’t have done any of the big projects you wanted to.Here’s an easy agenda for your after tax season review:ClientsServicesTechnologySystems &amp; ProcessEventsGet your team together. If you can, get off site for a couple of days to talk through the good, the bad, and the ugly of the above. Ideally you’ll have identified 2-3 key issues to work on. Your list will be much longer but you can’t do everything. And with those 2-3 issues in mind, what work needs to be done to address them? What events should you go to to learn more/speak to peers and providers.If you can do this in May, you’ll set yourself up well for a productive summer testing new systems, updating processes, meeting with clients.Good luck for the final push to April 15 - if there’s anything we can help with - get in touch. You can easily find us on LinkedIn.

We know! Tax season isn’t even over and we’re talking about a tax season review. Don’t worry, we’re just planting the seed. In fact we’re recommending taking the rest of April off! But when you do come back in May, be intentional about your business. The risk is it’ll quickly be the fall and extension season and you won’t have done any of the big projects you wanted to.Here’s an easy agenda for your after tax season review:<ul><li>Clients</li><li>Services</li><li>Technology</li><li>Systems &amp; Process</li><li>Events</li></ul>Get your team together. If you can, get off site for a couple of days to talk through the good, the bad, and the ugly of the above. Ideally you’ll have identified 2-3 key issues to work on. Your list will be much longer but you can’t do everything. And with those 2-3 issues in mind, what work needs to be done to address them? What events should you go to to learn more/speak to peers and providers.If you can do this in May, you’ll set yourself up well for a productive summer testing new systems, updating processes, meeting with clients.Good luck for the final push to April 15 - if there’s anything we can help with - get in touch. You can easily find us on LinkedIn.

Post Tax Season Review - A how to guide

This is the third episode we've done on pricing and today we tackle how to pricing the value added services you provide. Take a listen to the previous episodes as they do build on each other. As we've said before we're not pricing experts, instead we've shared our insights from being in practice and working with firms to help them implement a practical pricing model. We've attempted to keep it simple and do talk about an hourly rate for the value add services - when you are thinking critically about your clients business. In fact we recommend building it into your back-end pricing model - factor in and calendarize this time to focus on where you can add value to your client's business. Importantly this time isn't to come up with all the answers - instead this is the time come up with the questions to ask your clients when you meet. What's driving this trend? The report says this, what's the impact of that? Your labor costs are increasing...And it's ok to charge for this time by the hour - but make sure it's at your premium rate. From these sessions will come a bunch of value add work - be ready to book in the follow up meeting.Let us know what you think this episode on pricing - and if you'd like to talk about your firm's pricing and updating it - get in touch with us on LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

This is the third episode we've done on pricing and today we tackle how to pricing the value added services you provide. Take a listen to the previous episodes as they do build on each other. As we've said before we're not pricing experts, instead we've shared our insights from being in practice and working with firms to help them implement a practical pricing model. We've attempted to keep it simple and do talk about an hourly rate for the value add services - when you are thinking critically about your clients business. In fact we recommend building it into your back-end pricing model - factor in and calendarize this time to focus on where you can add value to your client's business. Importantly this time isn't to come up with all the answers - instead this is the time come up with the questions to ask your clients when you meet. What's driving this trend? The report says this, what's the impact of that? Your labor costs are increasing...And it's ok to charge for this time by the hour - but make sure it's at your premium rate. From these sessions will come a bunch of value add work - be ready to book in the follow up meeting.Let us know what you think this episode on pricing - and if you'd like to talk about your firm's pricing and updating it - get in touch with us on LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

Pricing: How do you price your value?

Your hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead have more than 30 years of combined experience in the accounting industry. This podcast is to share their experiences of working in, and consulting to accounting and bookkeeping firms of all sizes, helping them grow. Nothing discussed will be rocket science, instead they'll be discussing 'how' firms have successfully, and not so successfully, pursued growth. Penny and Damien will be sharing their insights on how firms can be successful by focusing on their people (clients included), their technology, and their processes and systems.Ultimately how successful an accounting business will be depends largely on how the owners manage change, which alongside taxes appears to be the only constant.We do want to acknowledge David Maister's great read Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing what's obvious but not easy as the inspiration for our title. Buy it on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3dhcUFCSubscribe today for an upbeat and practical conversation about what's working and what's not in accounting businesses around the world.

It’s been said many time before - the riches are in the niches. However making the most of an industry vertical requires more than marketing. It’s actually the systems, process and the tools you use that will bring the riches. With the April 15 deadline looming, you may not have the space to be thinking strategically about your niches, but you might be able to start building that list of clients you like working with and the services you enjoy providing. Just doing this exercise will likely identify potential industry verticals to focus on once tax season is behind you.As always get in touch if you’d like to talk through any of the topics we discuss on Strategy and the Virtual Controller.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

It’s been said many time before - the riches are in the niches. However making the most of an industry vertical requires more than marketing. It’s actually the systems, process and the tools you use that will bring the riches. With the April 15 deadline looming, you may not have the space to be thinking strategically about your niches, but you might be able to start building that list of clients you like working with and the services you enjoy providing. Just doing this exercise will likely identify potential industry verticals to focus on once tax season is behind you.As always get in touch if you’d like to talk through any of the topics we discuss on Strategy and the Virtual Controller.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

Why niches make sense

Often in the heat of tax season we overlook our own policies and procedures, including during the recruitment and onboarding process of new team members. And nine times out of ten, this is where problems first arise. We might speed up the recruitment process, we might put cultural fit to the side for the time being - just to get the capacity we need. And once they're in the firm, we want them to hit the ground running, so we'll likely race through the orientation and training process - I mean who has the time for this...As you have no doubt experienced; stress, overtime and turnover are the likely end result. So before you head down this path, take a breath, listen to this episode again, and stick to your long term strategic plan. maybe even say no to that prospective new client.How is your tax season going so far? Get in touch and let us know. If you'd like us to help with a tax season half-time workshop get in touch with us via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

Often in the heat of tax season we overlook our own policies and procedures, including during the recruitment and onboarding process of new team members. And nine times out of ten, this is where problems first arise. We might speed up the recruitment process, we might put cultural fit to the side for the time being - just to get the capacity we need. And once they're in the firm, we want them to hit the ground running, so we'll likely race through the orientation and training process - I mean who has the time for this...As you have no doubt experienced; stress, overtime and turnover are the likely end result. So before you head down this path, take a breath, listen to this episode again, and stick to your long term strategic plan. maybe even say no to that prospective new client.How is your tax season going so far? Get in touch and let us know. If you'd like us to help with a tax season half-time workshop get in touch with us via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

Onboarding and why it's critical in Tax Season

This is our second episode on pricing. If you missed the first episode, check out Pricing: Don't trash the time sheet...Yet.This episode focuses on fixed pricing - where it makes sense in your firm, and how to go about creating a fixed price. Probably no surprises, but it does start with a time sheet. We cover off on cost accounting of accounting and bookkeeping with simple time motion studies and then simply applying an appropriate rate for the transaction, the team meetings, the client meetings and even the training required. It's relatively simple, but a great place to start. To be successful with fixed pricing, this cost accounting is critical. Equally important is the discovery process that takes place prior to quoting and so we spend some time discussing how to develop a robust discovery process. Fixed pricing can easily fail without this robust discovery, and you're set up to fail from the outset, so make sure you spend time on the front end getting to know as much as possible about the business - and don't worry you can realize that time in your pricing model.As we've said, we're not experts in pricing, but we've made enough mistakes along the way, and have built  confidence in the methodology, but we're always interested in your feedback. And if you'd like any consulting help on the pricing front, please get in touch.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

This is our second episode on pricing. If you missed the first episode, check out Pricing: Don't trash the time sheet...Yet.This episode focuses on fixed pricing - where it makes sense in your firm, and how to go about creating a fixed price. Probably no surprises, but it does start with a time sheet. We cover off on cost accounting of accounting and bookkeeping with simple time motion studies and then simply applying an appropriate rate for the transaction, the team meetings, the client meetings and even the training required. It's relatively simple, but a great place to start. To be successful with fixed pricing, this cost accounting is critical. Equally important is the discovery process that takes place prior to quoting and so we spend some time discussing how to develop a robust discovery process. Fixed pricing can easily fail without this robust discovery, and you're set up to fail from the outset, so make sure you spend time on the front end getting to know as much as possible about the business - and don't worry you can realize that time in your pricing model.As we've said, we're not experts in pricing, but we've made enough mistakes along the way, and have built confidence in the methodology, but we're always interested in your feedback. And if you'd like any consulting help on the pricing front, please get in touch.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

Pricing: Moving to Fixed Pricing

As is always the way, some 1099s are late, and tax season seems to be starting early...again. For all the change we have had over the last couple of years, some things never change. However we all have a different lens through which to look this year. The pandemic has changed the way we do business, it has changed our expectations - whether you're a client, an employer or an employee.Some firms owners will think it's back to pre-pandemic tax seasons, but they're in for a nasty surprise.  Employees not only know their value, but they also know they can work from anywhere, and they'll seek out those employers that have successfully leveraged technology to enable workplace that suits them, rather than the other way round. Embrace the change that the pandemic has encouraged us to make, listen to your team, and your clients and you'll have one of your best tax seasons yet.Feel free to get in touch if there's anything we can help you with in your firm.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

As is always the way, some 1099s are late, and tax season seems to be starting early...again. For all the change we have had over the last couple of years, some things never change. However we all have a different lens through which to look this year. The pandemic has changed the way we do business, it has changed our expectations - whether you're a client, an employer or an employee.Some firms owners will think it's back to pre-pandemic tax seasons, but they're in for a nasty surprise. Employees not only know their value, but they also know they can work from anywhere, and they'll seek out those employers that have successfully leveraged technology to enable workplace that suits them, rather than the other way round. Embrace the change that the pandemic has encouraged us to make, listen to your team, and your clients and you'll have one of your best tax seasons yet.Feel free to get in touch if there's anything we can help you with in your firm.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

1099s are late and tax season starts early

Pricing is difficult and by no means are we experts! We have made a lot of screw ups along the way however and we'd like you to learn from our collective mistakes. Pricing is part science, part art, and a bit of luck thrown in as well. This is part one on pricing. Of how many episodes we don't quite know just yet. We decided to start with the billable hour and when it makes sense. Interestingly we both disagree with the trash the timesheet folks - we both believe timesheets play an important role in a firm as a productivity tool and a costing mechanism.Time sheets can be a great place to start for your fixed pricing journey as it’s important to understand how long tasks should take to be completed with technology properly implemented. Stay tuned for our next instalment on pricing.Would love to hear your feedback ad comments on this topic.Please get in touch if you’d like help with your pricing methodology via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

Pricing is difficult and by no means are we experts! We have made a lot of screw ups along the way however and we'd like you to learn from our collective mistakes. Pricing is part science, part art, and a bit of luck thrown in as well. This is part one on pricing. Of how many episodes we don't quite know just yet. We decided to start with the billable hour and when it makes sense. Interestingly we both disagree with the trash the timesheet folks - we both believe timesheets play an important role in a firm as a productivity tool and a costing mechanism.Time sheets can be a great place to start for your fixed pricing journey as it’s important to understand how long tasks should take to be completed with technology properly implemented. Stay tuned for our next instalment on pricing.Would love to hear your feedback ad comments on this topic.Please get in touch if you’d like help with your pricing methodology via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

Pricing: Don't Trash the Time Sheet...Yet

Today's episode focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) in the accounting industry. Unfortunately software providers (and Damien's guilty of it early on) have over promised what AI can do.  This episode isn't to bash AI, but rather help listeners understand where AI excels and with this understanding identify the tasks that are perfectly suited to it. The apps that leverage AI are an incredibly important part of an accountant/bookkeeper's toolkit, just be wary of it's limitations. And while AI is constantly improving, don't worry, it's not replacing you anytime soon. You will continue to play a critical role, just remember to continue to bring insights, ask probing questions and if nothing else check in on your clients more regularly.If you'd like to learn how Penny and Damien can help your firm implement new technology and services, get in touch via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

Today's episode focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) in the accounting industry. Unfortunately software providers (and Damien's guilty of it early on) have over promised what AI can do. This episode isn't to bash AI, but rather help listeners understand where AI excels and with this understanding identify the tasks that are perfectly suited to it. The apps that leverage AI are an incredibly important part of an accountant/bookkeeper's toolkit, just be wary of it's limitations. And while AI is constantly improving, don't worry, it's not replacing you anytime soon. You will continue to play a critical role, just remember to continue to bring insights, ask probing questions and if nothing else check in on your clients more regularly.If you'd like to learn how Penny and Damien can help your firm implement new technology and services, get in touch via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

The (over)promise of AI

Enforcer might be too strong of a term to describe who your next hire should be, but one thing is for sure they shouldn’t be an accountant nor should they be trained to do bookkeeping.One of the biggest limiting factors we see firms doing over and over again is thinking they need to hire more accountants and bookkeepers. Instead you should be hiring documenters, client relationship managers, and/or office administrators. It is this persons job to handle the non-billable activities in your firm such as scheduling, documenting processes, managing workflow, and organizing the intake of client documents. Their list of responsibilities can obviously grow, but their role ensures your accountants and bookkeepers, and probably yourself too, are able to focus on where they add the most value.Check out Penny's blog post on the topic too.PLease contact us via LinkedIn if there's anything we can do to help your firm in this area.

Enforcer might be too strong of a term to describe who your next hire should be, but one thing is for sure they shouldn’t be an accountant nor should they be trained to do bookkeeping.One of the biggest limiting factors we see firms doing over and over again is thinking they need to hire more accountants and bookkeepers. Instead you should be hiring documenters, client relationship managers, and/or office administrators. It is this persons job to handle the non-billable activities in your firm such as scheduling, documenting processes, managing workflow, and organizing the intake of client documents. Their list of responsibilities can obviously grow, but their role ensures your accountants and bookkeepers, and probably yourself too, are able to focus on where they add the most value.Check out Penny's <a href="https://moneypennyllc.com/not-everyone-on-the-team-needs-to-know-accounting/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">blog post</a> on the topic too.PLease contact us via LinkedIn if there's anything we can do to help your firm in this area.

Hiring your office enforcer

In this episode we respond to emails we received about firm owners struggling to keep good people despite the fact they “run good firms”. Many firms owners will lament the work ethic of young people these days, others will assume their staff will eventually steal their clients, so why bother training, but the problem isn’t with staff. Instead we challenge listeners to take a constructive look at their own firm - and is it a great place to come to work each day. What’s the employee experience like? Start at the front door and the front office and the front office? How’s the coffee? How’s the view? How’s the technology?Leave no stone unturned. And when it comes to technology a critical piece of both the employee experience and your firm’s management is your workflow. Workflow helps you manage the firm and track work and tasks which is imperative in our virtual work environments - even if you’re back in the office a good workflow is worth it’s weight in gold. They come at all price points, so there’s no excuse.Get your employee experience right and many other aspects of your business will fall into place.We’re here to help - reach out via LinkedIn if there’s anything we can do to help.

In this episode we respond to emails we received about firm owners struggling to keep good people despite the fact they “run good firms”. Many firms owners will lament the work ethic of young people these days, others will assume their staff will eventually steal their clients, so why bother training, but the problem isn’t with staff. Instead we challenge listeners to take a constructive look at their own firm - and is it a great place to come to work each day. What’s the employee experience like? Start at the front door and the front office and the front office? How’s the coffee? How’s the view? How’s the technology?Leave no stone unturned. And when it comes to technology a critical piece of both the employee experience and your firm’s management is your workflow. Workflow helps you manage the firm and track work and tasks which is imperative in our virtual work environments - even if you’re back in the office a good workflow is worth it’s weight in gold. They come at all price points, so there’s no excuse.Get your employee experience right and many other aspects of your business will fall into place.We’re here to help - reach out via LinkedIn if there’s anything we can do to help.

Keeping good people

With tax season on the horizon we kick off this episode discussing how we communicate with clients. Owners and staff are quick to blame clients, for all their tax season troubles, but more often than not it's because we haven't set clear boundaries with our clients that tax season gets derailed. For the most part clients are very understanding - with good communication that manages their expectations you'll be a-ok.So before you accept that new client (that you know is not a good fit) or before you introduce new technology to clients (and staff), take a few minutes to think through this. Could this new client or technology cause frustration and stress during an already stressful time of the year? If yes, then maybe push it to post April 15. You can always put that new client on extension - making sure you're up front about if of course! And you can push that shiny new app to the spring. And who knows you probably have that capability in one of the other apps you've already adopted.The podcast is designed to help practitioners avoid short term distractions and focus on the long term. Tax season is full of short term distractions, and most of these can be avoided with good communication between you and your clients and you and your team.We’re here to help in any way we can. Get in touch via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

With tax season on the horizon we kick off this episode discussing how we communicate with clients. Owners and staff are quick to blame clients, for all their tax season troubles, but more often than not it's because we haven't set clear boundaries with our clients that tax season gets derailed. For the most part clients are very understanding - with good communication that manages their expectations you'll be a-ok.So before you accept that new client (that you know is not a good fit) or before you introduce new technology to clients (and staff), take a few minutes to think through this. Could this new client or technology cause frustration and stress during an already stressful time of the year? If yes, then maybe push it to post April 15. You can always put that new client on extension - making sure you're up front about if of course! And you can push that shiny new app to the spring. And who knows you probably have that capability in one of the other apps you've already adopted.The podcast is designed to help practitioners avoid short term distractions and focus on the long term. Tax season is full of short term distractions, and most of these can be avoided with good communication between you and your clients and you and your team.We’re here to help in any way we can. Get in touch via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

Skipping the Tax Season Chaos

Post thanksgiving, pre tax season is an interesting time in an accounting firm. For most providers it’s considered peak selling time, or alternatively the last chance to close a deal before tax season. For practitioners many think it’s their last chance to get new systems and tools implemented.We’ve recently received a number of emails from listeners trying to fast track their software selections asking for our recommendations. But unfortunately it’s not that easy and our responses always begin with “it depends”. It depends on what your trying to build. And this takes us back to our first ever episodes - what are you trying to do in your firm? What services do you want to provide? What types of clients do you want to work with?Given where we are in the year - instead of trying to implement something new - spend that time focusing on what why you want to do post tax season. Start the planning process now by identifying what you don’t want to do anymore. Write it down somewhere, add to it, and leave it. Then attack it in May. Your team will thank you for it.We’re here to help in any way we can. Get in touch via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - LinkedIn  |  @PennyB57Damien Greathead - LinkedIn  |  @Damien_GH

Post thanksgiving, pre tax season is an interesting time in an accounting firm. For most providers it’s considered peak selling time, or alternatively the last chance to close a deal before tax season. For practitioners many think it’s their last chance to get new systems and tools implemented.We’ve recently received a number of emails from listeners trying to fast track their software selections asking for our recommendations. But unfortunately it’s not that easy and our responses always begin with “it depends”. It depends on what your trying to build. And this takes us back to our first ever episodes - what are you trying to do in your firm? What services do you want to provide? What types of clients do you want to work with?Given where we are in the year - instead of trying to implement something new - spend that time focusing on what why you want to do post tax season. Start the planning process now by identifying what you don’t want to do anymore. Write it down somewhere, add to it, and leave it. Then attack it in May. Your team will thank you for it.We’re here to help in any way we can. Get in touch via LinkedIn.Penny Breslin - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @PennyB57Damien Greathead - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | @Damien_GH

That awkward post-Thanksgiving, pre tax season feeling

Your hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead have more than 30 years of combined experience in the accounting industry. This podcast is to share their experiences of working in, and consulting to accounting and bookkeeping firms of all sizes, helping them grow. Nothing discussed will be rocket science, instead they'll be discussing 'how' firms have successfully, and not so successfully, pursued growth. Penny and Damien will be sharing their insights on how firms can be successful by focusing on their people (clients included), their technology, and their processes and systems. Ultimately how successful an accounting business will be depends largely on how the owners manage change, which alongside taxes appears to be the only constant. We do want to acknowledge David Maister's great read Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing what's obvious but not easy as the inspiration for our title. Buy it on Amazon - <a href="https://amzn.to/3dhcUFC" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3dhcUFC</a> Subscribe today for an upbeat and practical conversation about what's working and what's not in accounting businesses around the world.

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