Future Firm Accounting Podcast

I coach one firm owner who's automating nearly everything herself and another who wants almost nothing to do with AI directly, and both are growing fast and staying profitable. In this episode, I break down the three paths firms are taking with AI right now, what the tradeoffs of each one look like, and why dipping your toe in still matters even if you never want to become the power user yourself.

Some marketing tactics feel productive in the moment but almost never move the needle. In this episode, I break down why a few common approaches keep failing firm owners in the exact same way, using real numbers on how badly one of them has been performing lately, plus a giveaway disaster from my own firm's early days.

A firm that can't be clearly credited for changing a client's business becomes exactly the kind of replaceable vendor that gets shopped against a cheaper competitor. In this episode, I walk through why a proper diagnosis is the starting point for avoiding that trap, how to scale the depth of that diagnosis to the size of the engagement, and a real example of a CPA who turned his own diagnostic process into a standalone tool.

One of my coaching clients told me she gets a real physical anxiety reaction every time a certain client emails her, and that client wasn't even paying extra for the daily back and forth. When I asked my Inner Circle coaching group if anyone else was dealing with something similar, nearly every hand went up. In this episode, I break down the two root causes behind this pattern after coaching hundreds of firms through it, and exactly how to reset the relationship without blowing it up.

Not long ago I asked my newsletter readers for feedback, and one asked for more Wu-Tang references. That's how this episode got its theme, but the lesson is a real one: you need to protect your time, energy, and mental bandwidth from a constant, well-meaning stream of people and tasks that would happily take them from you. In this episode, I walk through the "Ideal Role Document" I built to map out what energizes me versus what drains me, how I used ChatGPT as a thinking partner to build it, and how you can build your own version.

Technical competence got you this far, but it's not what's going to differentiate your firm going forward. In this episode, I walk through why soft skills, things like emotional intelligence, cultural awareness, and simplifying the complex, matter more than ever in the age of automation, and how to start building them deliberately starting this week. Read the full breakdown of all thirteen soft skills here: https://futurefirm.co/accountant-soft-skills/

Losing a team member is painful, but what happens next is usually the bigger problem: the scramble to hire, the months of retraining, and sometimes losing that person too. In this episode, I break down why this cycle isn't a sign of bad leadership, and share three practical ways to build redundancy into your team before you need it, so the next departure doesn't take your momentum with it.

What if hitting seven figures didn't require a bloated team or hundreds of clients? I walk through five steps that could get you there.

Long before accounting, I lived in a completely different world, and it taught me one lever that's driven more new work than anything since.

Gut feel has been one of your most trusted tools as an owner, but it's not something you should lean on every time. Here's why that matters.

Some client problems feel like they need a hard conversation. One firm owner proved otherwise, and I break down exactly how she did it.

What if adding more clients isn't the answer to feeling maxed out? I break down four things that quietly tend to cap a firm's growth.

There's a marketing tool many firm owners skip because they're too busy listing services. Turns out it might be the most persuasive thing you're not doing.

The discovery call is where margins get set and clients get qualified — and some common patterns tend to undermine both more than people realize.

Worried AI is going to take your clients? It might be worth asking which ones — and being honest about what that answer actually looks like.

Accommodating every type of client might sound like good business — but it's nearly impossible to pull off and could be hurting your growth.

What does MrBeast's early growth habit have to do with running an accounting firm? More than you might expect — and it's simpler than it sounds.

When a firm owner has all the right pieces in place and is still struggling badly, the real problem is rarely where you'd expect to find it.

AI is splitting firms onto two very different paths right now, and the outcome really isn't the same for both of them, not even close.

When things feel stuck, the instinct is almost always to reach for a new tool or process. I think that's the wrong move to make first.

Prices on your website, or not? I don't think it's a simple yes or no, and the wrong answer might be repelling good clients.

There's a version of my first firm's story that looks clean from the outside, almost like a straight line to exit. It really wasn't.

A lot of firm owners think offshoring is primarily about cutting costs. I think that's the wrong lens entirely, and it might cost you.

This year's pricing benchmark report is out, and there's a gap in it I think matters more than the numbers themselves. I share what I found in this episode. For more, join me and Dawn Brolin live on July 23rd: https://www.ignitionapp.com/webinars/are-you-charging-what-youre-worth

AI can already do a lot of what accountants get paid for. So what actually makes someone hard to replace in a firm like yours?

Ever wonder why some firm owners seem to have it so much easier than everyone else? I've got a theory, and it's not quite what you'd guess.

AI and automation have taken over every conversation in accounting — but the core business model problems holding firms back haven't moved.

Sometimes the most expensive decision you can make is the one that looks like a saving — and here's how to tell the difference before you act.

Reviewing a real firm's packages is often more useful than any abstract lesson — here's what this one gets right and what I'd change about it.

The most useful shift in how you run your firm might not be about how to solve operational problems — it's about who should solve them instead.

Could your own systems be holding your team back? One coaching client's "processes on processes" might sound more familiar than expected.

AI has been the dominant tech conversation for years — and the version that's already here in 2026 could be the most convincing distraction yet.

Automating a broken process doesn't fix it — it makes it faster to stay ineffective. Here's the question that should come before anything else.

When I work with firm owners, pricing is almost always the first thing we dig into — and what I teach came directly from running my old firm.

The hire that makes you uncomfortable might be the one that finally gets you out of the bottleneck. Here's the case for going senior early.

The gig economy just got flipped — AI is now the employer. Here's what that means for accounting firms and the work worth building around.

My five-year-old asked me to explain what I do — and trying to answer reminded me of something many firm owners have quietly lost sight of.

Fixing your prices or systems won't help much if the thinking underneath them hasn't changed. Here's what actually needs to shift first here.

AI tools of today are viewed as something to help you think faster. The next phase is AI that actually does things for you — and it's already here for firm owners to explore.

Are you selling your process or selling the outcome? The difference could be affecting the clients you attract and what you're able to charge.

June is one of the most important months for accounting firms — and one of the most wasted. Here's how to actually make the most of it.

Episode resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L3v1Xg0qiBhDQKroi5Qf73hWUvG4yOA0RQvbxOBizc0/edit?usp=sharing — Many firm owners say they want to delegate, but haven't defined what ownership actually looks like for each person on their team. I share the exact framework we used at Future Firm — including why I needed it applied to myself first — and how it could help reduce the constant escalations you might be dealing with right now.

If your team keeps coming to you for direction on things that should be obvious, vision might be what's actually missing. Here's why it matters.

Pricing isn't just a number—it's a signal. Here's what your price might be telling prospects about your firm before the conversation even starts.

Pouring more leads into a leaky funnel just makes things worse. Here's what to fix first before bolstering your marketing activities.

Stuck, overworked, and can't afford the hire that would fix it? There might be a path forward that doesn't require perfect margins first.

Digital marketing is harder than ever in 2026—but that doesn't mean it's not worth it. Here's what winning at it actually tends to require.

There are four things quietly eating your time as a firm owner. Getting out of them could change how fast—and how freely—your firm grows.

Price objections can feel personal, but they often point to something fixable. Here's what might actually be going on in those conversations.

A lot of firm owners are unknowingly the biggest bottleneck in their own business. Here's what that tends to look like—and what to do about it.

Many introverted firm owners assume sales just isn't for them. This episode—and the Profitable Packages Workshop—might change that: futurefirm.co