Podcast appearances and mentions of jason staats

In this week's Thought Snob Podcast, Paula sits down with Jason Staats, CEO of SUN Behavioral Kentucky, for a powerful conversation about the shifting landscape of mental health awareness and care. After the interview, Paula said, "Jason made me rethink some things. Parents should never assume their children are just on their phones. We need to know how to spot silent mental health struggles."  Jason shares how the stigma around mental health has changed throughout the years—and why we must stay vigilant to avoid becoming desensitized to the struggles others may silently face. From his work as a licensed counselor to leading a team of over 300 professionals across Kentucky, Jason offers a unique lens on how compassionate, patient-centered care changes lives. You'll learn what makes SUN Behavioral Health stand out, its critical services, and why mental health doesn't take a summer vacation. Whether you're personally struggling or supporting a loved one, especially a child or teen, Jason delivers practical advice you won't want to miss.

In this episode, Brian Davis, owner of One Stop CPA, discusses how technology has transformed the way his CPA firm operates and interacts with clients. Brian highlights the importance of using technology to provide a top-notch, virtual client experience. He shares insights on tools that have enhanced client engagement and streamlined his firms' operations. What you'll learn from this episode: Examples of ways to use technology to enhance a client's experience How remote work and serving clients virtually has worked for his firm The benefits of offering subscription model billing The importance of investing in client education as you introduce new tools and processes AICPA resources Tech stack wars in 2024 | Reimagining Your Tax Practice — With the amount of technology products out in the market, how do they perform in reality? Hear from Jason Staats on the latest products available for practice management and more on this archived Reimagining Your Tax Practice session. Transitioning to a tax-focused CPA financial planner | Reimagining Your Tax Practice — Tax return compliance is continuing to become more of a commodity. Your clients see you as their trusted adviser and ask about a range of topics that affect their financial well-being. In this Reimagining Your Tax Practice archived session, learn more about practitioners who offer financial planning services and how that has impacted their practices. Transforming Your Business Model…Technology — The Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) is developing tools around technology designed to help firms not only identify elements of their current business model that may be holding them back but also offering solutions to help them adapt in this changing environment. Transcript April Walker: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the AICPA Tax Section Odyssey podcast, where we offer thought leadership on all things tax, facing the profession. I'm April Walker, Lead Manager for the Tax section, and I'm today with Brian Davis. Brian is the CEO of One Stop CPA, which is a firm that focuses on tax, tax planning, and advisory. We're going to hear more about that. Brian, let's start off with telling me a little bit about your firm and how you got started and what you think, are your distinguishing characteristics. Brian Davis: Definitely. Well, excited to be here. Thanks for having me. Definitely, so my firm is One Stop CPA. It's a traditional small firm. We do compliance. I'm a CPA. We do tax compliance, tax planning, we do accounting services. It's a team of five, including myself, some onshore, some offshore. And the thing that I think distinguishes our product in our service that we deliver to our clients is how we deliver it. We use technology and pair it with insights. We pair it with traditional advisory things that we're giving the clients, and we try to give them that feel as if they're getting in person, top-notch experience because all of the clients that we work with are all virtual. So that gives us the ability to work with a remote team. It gives us the ability to deliver the clients nationwide. I think it's a little, I think it's definitely helped me grow business, get me a little bit more work-life balance, all the above. April Walker: All positive things. So for those who are listening, I mean, I think COVID taught us a lot of things - that we don't always have to be in person, although it's lovely to be in person. I love being next to people. But we don't have to be in person with our staff, with our clients. Maybe talk a little bit about that, how you still get that really great relationship with your clients and your staff, even being remote. Brian Davis: Sure, yeah. Definitely. COVID changed a lot within my firm. I went out on my own in 2017. This was pre-COVID. I went out for a lot of the reasons that are popular now, but back then it was not as popular as it's becoming. The commute to work, having to meet in person just to get a tax return signed, mailing off things. All these different things, I saw them as, these are not the values that customers appreciate. They're looking for me to help them do so many other things, save them, strategize on how to lower their tax bill, how to help them grow their business, how to go for an exit one day. I want to sell this, we can have that on a phone call. I could actually deliver even better results to you. I just started to think, before COVID, it was a little bit tougher to sell clients on this service. It was a lot of teaching. You have to tell your client, hey, well, you have to e-sign your returns, so go to your email. And it's like, I'm not used to this. This is not how we do things with our last accountant. After COVID, of course, that exploded. A lot of clients would reach out to us and say, yeah, if you could get this done for us remotely, that'd be great. So from there, I also switched over to the subscription model around  March 2020. When we made that switch because it's hey, well, we want to serve you guys, and we want to give you all the things that you now need to do remotely. So technology is a big part of that. The way you educate your clients, the way they feel. Because you're losing a little bit of the touch when they're not in person. I can't offer you a drink when you come to the office, but there's even things now where you could send a client a gift card. Here's a five dollar Starbucks gift card, so we could out grab a coffee. There's all these cool little ways where you can just make that customer feel so good, even though we're doing it all the time. April Walker: We're going to talk a little bit about while we're here together, talk about technology. So maybe talk a little bit about where you see those biggest friction points with your clients and how you think technology or how you've explored technology helping some of those friction points. Brian Davis: Definitely. I made all the mistakes when I started my firm. I would do compliance-only work. I would do tax prep only, and I would have different segments of clients that I would deal with in different ways. Well, this person likes to sign in person. This person likes to drop off a package in the mail. When you look into this technology, when we look at things as a firm, it's always well, these clients wouldn't adopt it. These clients wouldn't like it. I wouldn't be able to attract these style of clients. But when you meet a client, and you say, hey, this is our portal. This is how we do business. Take a good look at it, give them a free trial, maybe if you're seriously considering them, and then try to do a test. Did you see this message that I just sent you there? Here's a template. Did you get it? Cool. So that's how we communicate. Believe it or not, nowadays, more and more people, no matter their level of skill and technology, if you could simplify it for them, they appreciate that. Whenever I'm looking at new technology, I'm looking for, I love the new features and how I could make all this money using it and save time. But it's also, will the client feel a disconnect or will they feel like I'm throwing them into the tech dark hole? You could lose a good client because they don't feel that personal touch. Even though we're investing in different technologies and moving to greater things that help us on the back end, we also want to at the same time, if not even more important, when you're making sales, when you're delivering, you want to make them feel comfortable with your tools. If your tool is so hard for them to navigate, it's going to create that for them. April Walker: That's right. What are some exciting things that you have implemented lately around technology? Brian Davis: Definitely. Well, I'll highlight two of my favorites. They know that they're my favorites. TaxDome is my client portal that I use. Before TaxDome, I was doing the spreadsheet and notepad method of workflow management, which is not the right way. April Walker: Maybe in Excel spreadsheets. Brian Davis: Excel spreadsheets. Before that and then implementing TaxDome, it helped me map out how I want to grow the team, how I see myself. Like, which task within this job that we're doing, do I want to, one day off load to somebody, so that I could free up more time for myself to do sales, do client services, help people do like advisory one on one because that's where the value is to the client. They don't care if you're in the back turning out bookkeeping and entering in numbers on your 10 key. They want to know the results, and it's the client experience. So TaxDome is great because when I started it, I was slow to implement. I would pick a few clients, test out on myself. I'm a client, too. I would test out my firm's tax return process and say, Hey, what went smoothly? What can we tweak and make better before we go live with this with everyone? But the feedback I would get from clients is this is so great. I love how easy that was. It's on the app. I can download an app. Everybody knows how to download an app. April Walker: Most everybody, yeah. Brian Davis: Most people. If you're going to work with us, you got to be able to e-sign your return. That's one of the things TaxDome makes. I was getting the feedback that clients really like the experience, and I like the back office side of it, which there are other options out there. I just know that doing TaxDome, clients loved it. Another one is spotlight reporting. A lot of clients are used to seeing their QuickBooks reports black and white, ledger. What's more fun than watching that with the client and just going through a list of fixed assets? Here's your security department. They don't want to see that. You got to make these numbers kind of come alive for the clients have a discussion. Spotlight Reporting connects directly to your QuickBooks file, your Zero files, and you can create your own advisory dashboards. A lot of clients I have will ask, well, how I'm I on pace compared to last year? I would say, well, let me run that report on QuickBooks. Let me do the prior year comparison. Now, I have a custom bar chart, and it shows month by month, how you're doing this year, how you're doing versus last year. Another one that I made was a EBITA monitor. It looks like an EKG machine. When I'm showing doctors, hey, this is your EBITA monitor, I say, this is like a heart rate monitor. When you're having these conversations, it's better to have a nice report that you can get them to collaborate with you because there's nothing more boring than reading a report and everybody's just staring at you, and that comes across. Spotlight's another one. When I show people the reports, it's like, this is great. It really answers my questions, and now we could move forward to the future planning conversation where I could make the big bucks with advisory. April Walker: Sure. I want to talk about advisory. Let's lean into advisory. Did you start doing advisory right away, or how did you implement that and what have you seen, the changes and maybe the client satisfaction? I don't want to lead the witness. Brian Davis: Like I said, I made all the mistakes when I started our firm. I was doing advisory, but I wasn't charging for it. I was doing tax compliance. I was charging by the form. This is your form. You need some bookkeeping write-up work. But clients would reach out. Hey, we have some questions surrounding the tax, not necessarily doing the tax return. We have some year-round support questions. We want to go buy a car. What's the best way to do it. I got to come up with a way where I could not just be quick with them in five seconds, get them off the phone. No, I want to actually help you walk through this process. Clients would rely on us for those things. It's not just for the compliance. That's part of why I branded my company one stop, because I want them to feel like it's not just that we're coming to do your tax return and bill you by the form. We're adding that other piece, the advisory, to take advantage of different things. That's under the umbrella of your subscription. Now taking on clients, that's part of the package. You have to sign up for some piece of the advisory and the taxes will come along with it, but you can't do this tax prep. The advisory journey, it's been a journey for me, for sure. It's still, always working on ways to make it better. But things like TaxDome puts them at ease with the compliance part. All your stuff's there. You get audited. You have your forms and your backup. We saved it in a portal. If you want to look at some reporting, we can, support an advisory conversation with these nice cool. People like pretty colors. It's the colors and the pictures. April Walker: Hundred percent that's what I like, too. On that, with this subscription advisory and learning how to charge for that, how has that evolved? Where are you now now with that? Because I feel like that a lot of firms that I talked to just cannot figure it out- cannot figure out value pricing, cannot get away from time and billing, you know, everyone has a different answer, and there's not one right thing. Brian Davis: I mean, the subscription model, of course, it has its little pieces where you, it has to make sense for what you're offering. Just because you subscribe doesn't mean I'm going to go back and do your five years of catch up filings and year to date books. There's also those one time services. Usually when we meet a new client, there's going to be some advisory diagnostic assessment fee. That's just we try to be as upfront about the pricing that we're going to charge them going forward, so we can see do even want to take this client on for this one time service. It's been a journey to get there. As you get more revenue, you can make these decisions. April Walker: A little more picky. Brian Davis: You could be a little bit more picky, but that's been the journey. The price I advertise and go for now is probably 10X what I was thinking in the beginning. Because I was going off of what I think the customers are ready to pay. But if I explain it to them, so you can't just go straight into the pricing conversation. I heard it from the conference before one of the speakers, it's malpractice to just price without a diagnosis. That's one of the medical rules, the medical oaths. We have to diagnose what you're looking for, to put you in the right package. But I do the three tiers of package thing, but the way I do it is I show the big package, the good one. First all the cool features. Sounds great, right? Well, these are the other options, but once I've showed you this one, you're sold. I showed you all the tech that comes with it, and now I start to piece away some of the reporting. Hey, you can't get those cool pretty colors, you want to have that. April Walker: You get the simple quickbooks report. Brian Davis: How can I give you support for those big questions? If you're going through, when I got my start, I got lucky. I got a couple of clients that were in the medical profession that were doing deals where they were getting ready to sell their practices. I got a first hand experience of what a private equity investor would come in and say, Here's our due diligence questions. I said, "Well, you know, half of these are financial statements." I could pull those out. But there's some other things they're asking you that the customer wasn't even tracking. It's these cool reports bring that alive. It shows them, okay? We can support you in more than just getting your taxes and having the financials for the bank and the IRS. We have it so that you can make better decisions and if you're going to add or remove shareholders, this supports that, as well. That's part of the part of the pricing well, as far as pricing, it's all based on what we're including so you got to have your packages premade and a lot goes into that. But one thing I would do is try to not my prices and packages have one name. The name explains  what [it is]. Advanced, starter and small. And there's limited seats on small. We're probably already booked. That's how you propose it to the clients. So you are either going to get one of the two. I'm not going to give them all the options. I'm going to recommend one and if they decide they want the smaller one, well, hey, we'll take them on maybe, and you could grow into the big package. But a lot of times, what I'm seeing, is sometimes I meet with good clients and go through this process, the intake proposal, the discovery assessment, and they realize, no, you don't get this advanced. You're not going to get the results you're asking me for. April Walker: What they really need. Brian Davis: Because it's not a solution that everybody explains and a lot of times when I meet clients, they don't have this. All virtual -  nobody's using the same tech stack as me. It's a little bit of training and education that you're doing. So what I do like about some of these software vendors now, they're working with us accountants to help us sell in. Here's how you can grow your advisory practice and just the idea of it. Well, being that we're talking to just smaller firms, smaller firm practitioners and owners, we undervalue how agile we are. We can implement something, and that could be the start of something great. It's just, you got to do it one software tool at a time, one employee at a time, one customer. April Walker: That brings up another thought I had is, is there a magic time to add a new software or do you not limit that? Brian Davis: I mean, you got to keep an open mind so you're definitely not going to you don't want to keep moving your clients from portal to portal software to software that's a big no no because then they'll look at you like, am I an on the job training client or you know what you're doing. You know, would you move me from this one to this one? Definitely demoing the like I said, if you're doing your own taxes, test your firm out. You could do your own and say, Hey, how do I feel as a customer, or pick a couple of friends or those friend clients and say, Hey, I'm going to send you down this pipeline. How did you feel about the experience? Then I mean, we're small firms. We can implement. Like that spotlight reporting is something I implemented. Immediately, I started to see that customers were reacting well to it, so I put it in my offer in a way. Hey, well, my new customers get this. My old customers, well, I'm trying to tell them hey, this is where we're going. Maybe we'll keep you for this year, but we'll have this conversation and revisit. Hopefully your business grows and you need this. You can't you're not a one even though I have the name one stop CPA, we're not one size fits all. That's the thing you have to educate. It's a lot of proposals and presentations. That's why I like to use YouTube and Loom. They help with I don't have to do a presentation to everyone and lose my voice. I could make a nice intro. Give you the presentation that applies to yours, what I'm trying to talk to you about. Then I jump in on the back end of I mean, big companies do it. April Walker: Absolutely. I'm sure we're going to talk about it a decent amount. We're just getting started at this conference today, but AI. What's your take on it? How are you using it? How has it made your life better or your firm's life better? Brian Davis: Oh, it's made my life better, everything. I mean, we learn how to do recipes on there, everything. You could almost use it for anything outside of that. April Walker: Absolutely. Brian Davis: But AI, I mean, it's great and you have to know it's just like another tool. You have to know how it applies to your firm and how you're using it. Of course, we have to be careful with security and making sure you're not uploading personal data. What I talked about in the session is think about who the customer is. If you're on a free version of ChatGPT, you're the customer. They're using your input to build the model. But if you pay for the workspace, the app it costs a little bit more money, you can control those settings, and now you can get even more advanced with, endless opportunities. I mean, I have when I'm doing video deliveries that, now sometimes I'll do a tax return and I'll send you a Loom video that will kind of answer the questions I know you're going to have so that that way, when you look at it, you're not hey, I got questions, and I'm busy because I'm at digital CPA. Let me show the video, send it to you. I have a script writer that will help me write the script. There's so much different ways you can play around. I mean, I feel like AI is just getting better and better, so I can't say that I'm an expert on it because it's who it is. It's it's such an early stage but it's great. I'm definitely impressed with it. I try to do as much improvement as I can because it's kind of an assistant. We used to go to Google, research different articles, different people's opinions on tax. Now, you could kind of use it as a research assistant. April Walker: To get you started, at least. Brian Davis: Hey, I'm researching these tax things and I have these questions. This is the idea that I want to present to the client. How would you approach that? Of course, I'm not going to just forward that, but it's definitely better to have that with you kind of just to help you out. I see it as another team member. It's like another team member. April Walker: Yeah, we use Copilot. Brian Davis: Well, one way that I'll be using it now, and I got to give a shout out to Automation Town, it's a community that I'm part of with Chad Davis. One thing I even expressed him, I said, well, the Zoom AI summary after I have my discovery call, Zoom gives a pretty decent, recap of the meeting. But I can't just forward that to the client because there's sometimes there's little, I want to put all that. It's kind of look at it before you send anything to a client. Before I start running off tasks to people, I want to put a little bit of, that would be me, something I would go and manually do. I said, well, he kind of laid out a way where you can combine Zoom's AI summary that comes to you by email with a zappier integration that can create a new Google document with action plan, potential action task for the team, a potential agenda recap that you can send to the client. Then pair that with you tell it stuff about your firm. Well, hey, we talked about this, we want offer this afterwards, and now it already knows what you mean. It can get very customized. You just got to play around with it. It's so cool. There's so many different ways people are using it, and you don't have to be any kind of super tech-forward. You can play around with it. April Walker: I think that's right. I mean, just keep in mind the security aspects, and don't put personal information in there, and then just have fun. Brian Davis: Yeah, get those settings right where you're not uploading your life to the cloud. You know, it's analyzing everything, but, once you're in there, I mean, it's helped me design chat messages that I send to clients just enhancing, hey, I want to come across this way because when we're accounting, you wouldn't even want to see some of the emails I used to send to people just to summarize our meeting. April Walker: Oh my gosh I know. Brian Davis: You got to be an accountant to read this but you know, you could say, hey, read this so it's easier to digest. It's great that you could do those. It's pairing it with our knowledge. As accountants, we got so much that we're good at. Now there's these tools that help us out. April Walker: Brian, we've had a great conversation today. I love it. I don't know if you have listened to our podcast before. It's called Tax Section Odyssey. On it, I like to think about taking an Odyssey together, journey together towards a better profession. We'll pip it a little bit to do you have any dreams outside of the world of tax that you have a bucket list or any travel you've got planned that's still there. Brian Davis: No, well, I definitely want to start traveling in the future. Again, before COVID, that was the one thing when I went out on my own, I got to start traveling. That's why I was hooked on, okay, I got to make this firm work because then I could keep doing these trips. My son, he's 11 months now, so when he's starting to walk, he's starting to stumble so when he starts walking, we want to  spend the summer in a different country and those things. I'd love to do that. April Walker: My daughter had a passport before she was two, so do it. Brian Davis: Right. Exactly. Definitely looking forward to some travel, and just building the firm that can run smooth. I don't plan on selling my firm anytime. I do enjoy being an accountant. I kind of lost that love when I was at the firms and having trouble breaking through to the partners - hey, we should do this, there's some tools that we could use to save me time. We have to document every 15 minutes that we're doing. Now that I got out on my own, I saw that there's a better way that you could actually run an amazing firm. I know that there's a shortage of accountants that are trying that are getting into it because it's  seen as this heavy, burdensome job and there's definitely ways you could break through. In the future, you know, just being a part of that, whether it means helping accountants that are kind of coming up in my shoes. I talked to a lot of my friends and fellow CPAs that just  may have met me on a Zoom or something or met me on a community chat or something, and they're just, you know, looking for these tips to help them get out on their own. What is the tech stack you use? What should I maybe start off with?. Maybe some kind of coaching thing where I'm just helping out profession a little bit. That's something like an Odyssey. April Walker: I love that. That's great. On an Odyssey. Brian, thank you so much for joining me today. I enjoyed it. Brian Davis: This is great. Thanks for having me. April Walker: Of course. Again, this is April Walker from the AICPA Tax section. This community is your go to source for technical guidance and resources design, especially for CPA tax practitioners like you in mind. This is a podcast from AICPA and CIMA together as the Association of International certified Professional Accountants. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts, and we encourage you to follow us so you don't miss an episode. If you already follow us, thank you so much, and please feel free to share with a like-minded friend. Thanks again for listening. Keep your finger on the pulse of the dynamic and evolving tax landscape with insights from tax thought leaders in the AICPA Tax Section. The Tax Section Odyssey podcast includes a digest of tax developments, trending issues and practice management tips that you need to be aware of to elevate your professional development and your firm practices. This resource is part of the robust tax resource library available from the AICPA Tax Section. The Tax Section is your go-to home base for staying up to date on the latest tax developments and providing the edge you need for upskilling your professional development. If you're not already a member, consider joining this prestigious community of your tax peers. You'll get free CPE, access to rich technical content such as our Annual Tax Compliance Kit, a weekly member newsletter and a digital subscription to The Tax Adviser.

Episode 244 FACULTY: Matthew Cordes, EA and Adam Markowitz, EA CLASS: #AccountingHigh In this episode of Accounting High, Scott Scarano, EA invites the EA team for a discussion about the importance and impact of Enrolled Agents (EAs) in the tax and accounting world. Joined by EAs Adam Markowitz and Matthew Cordes, the conversation dives into their journeys, experiences, and the misconceptions surrounding EAs. The episode also features the premiere of a new OKR track “Smells Like EA's”.

Balancing tech, trust, and innovation.Accounting Influencerswith Rob BrownJason Staats shares insights on balancing innovation, mental health, and technology in today's profession. Staats, known for combining accounting expertise with entrepreneurial thinking, has become a prominent voice in the field.More Accounting Influencers with Rob Brown hereStaats' mission is to help accountants and firm owners create enjoyable and sustainable ways to manage their practices. Through platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, Staats encourages his audience to rethink traditional success in accounting.“Sometimes, we mistake working hard for working smart,” Staats said. “Running into the same wall for the tenth time isn't progress—it's a sign to rethink your approach.”

If you were disappointed by your results from Spotify's Wrapped this year, we've got something to lift your spirits. It's the Top 3 Casey Peterson, LTD GAAP episodes of 2024! Now, did we use listener feedback and data analytics to compile this highly scientific list? Pfffff, absolutely not. Evan and Hillary just picked the three podcasts they liked best. That's right; it's all based on feeeeeeeeeelings, which probably makes most accountants nervous, as it should. Anyway, if you're short on time and just want to know the absolute Cannot Miss Podcasts of the past year, listen in to learn more! Also, Jason Staats, we're coming for you. Not, like, in a threatening way. We're just gonna have you as a guest eventually. Our Favs of 2024, not in the order they appear in this episode: GAAP Episode 025 – Meet Laura Gillen from Avantax GAAP Episode 023 – Rural Health Clinics & Fruit Pizza GAAP Episode 021 – Meet Casey Peterson GAAP Episode 026 – All About Audit and Attest Honorable Mentions: GAAP Episode 028 – Energy Incentives and Future Taxes with Dave McGuire GAAP Episode 029 – Mark's Path to Glory

Episode 238 FACULTY: Scott Scarano, EA and Matt Kid, CPA CLASS: #Shoperations In this episode, one of Accounting High's substitute teachers, Matt Kidd, CPA interviews Scott Scarano, EA, about his journey through accounting. Scott shared how his grandfather's CPA firm and the family software business shaped his early career, as well as the tough times he faced during college before finding his way back to accounting. He talked about his experiences with remote work, using Xero, and implementing EOS, all of which helped him transform his firm and himself. Over time, Scott grew the business significantly and reinvented his role, evolving from an accountant to a full-fledged entrepreneur.

Episode 229 FACULTY: Ashley Francis, CPA CLASS: #Shoperations In this episode, Scotty and Ashley Francis, CPA discuss her journey in becoming a CPA, building her niche practice focused on high-net-worth individuals, and exploring educational opportunities. Ashley shares her passion for accounting, spurred by early childhood experiences, and her growth from working in large accounting firms to running her own practice. She talks about her unique experience with trust and estate taxes, homeschooling her son, and the challenges and rewards of balancing a practice with educational endeavors. Ashley and Scott do NOT discuss: AI, Jason Staats, or Automation!

Episode 227 FACULTY: Mike Meilinger, CPA CLASS: #Shoperations In this episode, join us as we dive into an inspiring conversation with Mike Meilinger, a seasoned CPA and business coach who has transformed not only his accounting firm but also his health. Mike shares his incredible physical transformation and adopting extreme fitness regimes like 75 Hard. Gain valuable insights on balancing business success with personal health, the importance of emotional well-being, and why investing in discomfort can lead to growth in all aspects of life.

In this episode David Snider, Founder and CEO — Harness Wealth, discusses the transformative role of technology in tax practices, exploring how tools like practice management software can enhance client relationships and streamline operations. David shares insights on what he sees as three phases of technology adoption in the tax industry and offers practical advice for firms looking to advance their tech capabilities. Tune in to learn how embracing technology can lead to a more efficient, client-focused tax practice. What you'll learn from this episode: What David thinks are the three phases of a firm's technology journey. How leveraging technology can streamline tax practice management. How practice management software can enhance efficiency and client experience. Why regularly communicating with clients can strengthen relationships. The importance of allocating time and resources to implement new technologies. AICPA resources Adding AI into your tax practice — Artificial intelligence (AI) is certainly a hot topic of late. Listen to hear Jason Staats and Ashley Francis talk about the latest information in this area and where you should move forward and where you should proceed cautiously in this Reimagining Your Tax Practice archived session. Transitioning to a tax-focused CPA financial planner — Tax return compliance is continuing to become more of a commodity. Your clients see you as their trusted adviser and ask about a range of topics that affect their financial well-being. In this Reimagining Your Tax Practice archived session, learn more about practitioners who offer financial planning services and how that has impacted their practices. Transforming Your Business Model…Technology — The Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) is developing tools around technology designed to help firms not only identify elements of their current business model that may be holding them back but also offering solutions to help them adapt in this changing environment. Upcoming event Tech stack wars in 2024 — With the amount of technology products out in the market, how do they perform in reality? Join our next tech stack wars challenge on Oct. 16, 2024, to hear about the latest in technology for tax practices. Other resources Harness Wealth — Learn more about how Harness Wealth strives to provide the next generation of builders confidence in the path to their best financial future. Transcript April Walker: On today's podcast,  listen to hear more about leaning into technology for your tax practice. Hi everyone and welcome to the AICPA Tax Section Odyssey podcast, where we offer thought leadership on all things tax facing the profession. I'm April Walker, a lead manager from the Tax Section and I'm here today with a repeat guest. His name is David Snider. He's the Founder and CEO of Harness Tax. Welcome back, David. David Snider: It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you April. April Walker: David, I'd love for you to start. Tell us a little bit about yourself and tell us a little bit about Harness Tax and where you see yourself in this world of tax. David Snider: Thank you for having me. Yes, so Harness has a platform for routine tax advisors that are looking to make their relationship with their clients more seamless and insightful. What that really means is a practice management solution that's tied into a much broader set of offerings. That includes business development to help advisors with leads, a concierge team to help with support, as well as a broader network of resources to help guide advisors and give them the resources of bigger firms. April Walker: Wonderful. I feel since we talked in Spring of 2022, if it's possible, I feel like the importance of technology is even more important. Maybe that's just me being dramatic, but let's start off just by pretty broad question like, how do you see technology transforming the way tax advisors interact with their clients? David Snider: Absolutely. I think about it being in the second of three inevitable phases. I think the first was the first stage, which is very typical across industries. My background was spending, now 12 years, building tech enabled services, software solutions, first at Compass, a real estate advisory firm, and now at Harness. Before that in the middle, spent a lot of time at Bain Capital looking at different disruptive technologies. And so that first phase that we went through, very similar to a lot of industries, adoption of email, adoption of technologies that clients can actually submit core documents digitally and not just in paper. The ability with the early software to actually complete and file electronically. That really is table stakes. If you look at the data, it's 99% of advisors have an Efin, etc. The second phase that we're really still in the early to mid innings of is the software collaboration phase. What that looks like is work-flow automation, ways of interacting with clients to create leverage for advisors and scale. It's not just, hey, I typed an email, send it to one, or I create an engagement letter sent to one. It's using the efficiencies of technology that can, at the vanguard be AI, but really doesn't need to be. In the vast majority of cases, it's just having good practice management software to create efficiencies for the advisor that end up, ironically, even though you have to spend less time, creating a better client experience and one that's more customized to the individual. It gives them more visibility into what's going on, what's coming next. The third phase, which I think only a handful of firms are really investing in, fully tapping into, which is totally fine. I don't think the client expectation is there, is around customized insights. How do you not just deliver an efficient workflow? But how do you, at the outset of a tax season, demonstrate to your client that you already know some stuff about them from prior years, here's why we really need just to tweak that. Showing your work. Here is all the different analysis that we ran in the completion of your return or the discussions that we had and at the end of the process, Yes, here's a completed tax document or analysis that you requested, but also here's what it means. I think that ability to both give insights to people and leave clients like they actually understand tax, the tax process, the work that you did, is going to create massive benefits in terms of client's willingness to pay, their retention, their happiness, etc. Very few firms are at a Phase 3 in our opinion. You don't need to be concerned if you're not. Because there are a few, if any are. But certainly making sure that you've put in place or have the opportunities to go into next tax season and really nail Phase 2. I think will put advisors in a great place to really capture what is happening on the vanguard in Phase 3. April Walker: We definitely hear from people and when I'm out talking to firms, people who are definitely still in that Phase 1. Where they transferred to Cloud. That seemed like a huge deal and leaning into some technology, but maybe taking that next step into two, even is difficult. Do you have any advice or thoughts on that? Because everyone is so busy and it's hard to figure out, especially if you're really small, it's hard to figure out how to take that time and really invest in trying to get to that next step. Any ideas or suggestions there? David Snider: I think the good news is there are a lot of very good practice management software that did not exist or did not have the robustness that they do today, five years ago. One of the things to consider in evaluating the different choices is, ensuring that you price in the value of your time as a practice leader. In that there is a learning curve on anything, no matter how good the technology is. There are some that I think are much cheaper and may have the technologies you want to check the box on. But I think really understanding what is the on-boarding team look like? What does the client success infrastructure of that solution look like? Who's going to make it as easy as possible to set you and in many cases your team up to use it successfully? And to answer issues that will inevitably arise from any change. I think we have over-invested in those resources, because we know there's a lot of change and fully transitioning the way that you think about practice management, some of the potential third-party software you can plug in, etc. That's important. I think whatever approach that you take, whether it's working with Harness or a whole host of other solutions that are out there that are very good. I think just making sure that you understand, hey, what are the functionality each have, what's going to be accretive to the way that you want to work and your staff and perhaps your clients. But also what's the process going to be to fully utilize and take advantage of that. April Walker: Those are some good thoughts. Just maybe if we can talk about a few examples of ways that firms can use practice management tools to really help them. Because this is really what it's about. It's about not having to have an Excel spreadsheet of clients and that's all you have. I'm not saying that's what our firms have. I'm just saying, I was in practice for some time and I remember that. What are some ways you can use tools to really advance your practice? David Snider: I think there's both external components. How do you enhance the way that your clients perceive their process and there are internal things. How do you ensure that you don't miss a filing? The reason that advisors have Excel is just a mechanism to ensure that they do the work for their clients that the clients expect. I think on the external side, the more frequently you're interacting with clients around the tax process, generally the better, not in an annoying way, but I think tax is something clients generally don't want to think about, but definitely want to get right. It's no different than a patient coming in to a doctor if they have an issue, but don't really totally understand it. Having a solution that allows you to email me before the season starts, to preview of what's to come and the deadlines and things that are upcoming. What do you need from your clients? What is the engagement going to look like from a pricing standpoint? Being able to send out engagement letters that reflect that. So someone feels like they weren't surprised because they had exactly what's being done for them and the pricing terms, etc, outlined being laid out. Having the client questionnaire customized ideally to what the clients already told you in previous years. It feels intelligent, not like you're starting at Day 1 every year with the same advisor around your materials, etc. All that stuff is beneficial, being able to update them that "I've received everything I need" or expect to hear from me this time in March for business filing. Aspirationally, late March not April 14th, but whatever that may be for the draft filing, what their advisors recommended, etc. Or at extension deadlines, etc. That stuff all again can be done without moving your practice to Phase 2, but it's going to be dramatically more time consumptive. And it's stuff that you can't bill and price for in the way that you want. Because there are lots of other tax firms that have already made those investments and therefore they can do those things with very little time invested. Internal stuff is really around collaboration, tracking, knowing what clients have uploaded what? Who has been filed? Who's working on documents? Etc. Where are they in the process? Have they paid? The more visibility you have, the easier it is to spend each day, not driven by who is pinging you over and over in your inbox, but who actually needs something based upon external deadlines or prioritization or the revenue they're going to drive wherever that may be as you think about being the quarterback of your practice rather than playing defense. Just having the scrimmage run towards you over and over again during tax season and hoping you're still standing at the end of it. April Walker: Yes, I love a football analogy. I was just in Minnesota to watch my Tar Heels play. My first trip to Minnesota anyway, it was fun. David Snider: I went to the Super Bowl when The Patriots played there against The Eagles a number of years ago and it was bone chilling. April Walker: Yes, we're recording this in early September. It will come out in a couple of weeks and what we're really thinking about, and what I hope our practitioners are thinking about is year-end planning and there's a lot to talk about with impending legislation. There's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act sunsetting. There's a lot going on for you to be in front of your clients and proving your value. Talk a little bit about how technology might assist you with some of those conversations, or pulling data together to be able to help understand who you need to talk to you, and what about? David Snider: Number 1, I would say, and this is anecdotal, I don't have the data to prove it. The majority of advisors do not proactively email their clients in Q4. Unless they need to collect certain things to do a quarterly estimate, etc. That is a huge missed opportunity. Even if you adopt, no technology, take an hour jot down some thoughts, a few bullets on what could be at stake in the election or the expiration of the Trump tax cuts or of the estate tax exemption, whatever it is, send something that seems thoughtful, and obviously it's going to be thoughtful from any practitioner who cares about what they're doing. If you do that, you may think, I actually have the time to have something more customized. A, you can use software at least have to be addressed to the person, even if it's a mass email versus just a generic one, but then you could potentially also group your clients and say, hey, I've got 15 law firm partners, and I've got 42 small businesses, and I've got a cohort of people with multi-state issues, etc. I'm going to create three different end of year planning emails. I'm going to categorize my clients and be able to send out something that's not individual, but that makes you feel like, wow, April is really ahead of the curve in terms of giving the insights that I wouldn't have expected. Although it obviously can be automated, but it takes the adviser having the initiative to create that content and think about what's going to be most useful for. When you do that, feel free to promote the scope of what you can offer. Tax advisors or not, the world's sales-iest profession. In many respects that can be a good thing, but it also does you a disservice where your clients don't know what type of things might be beneficial. For that end of the year planning to small business owners be like, hey, you're thinking about possibly selling or transferring a chunk of the business to a child or an employee or selling outright, etc. There are a whole bunch of things that you should be thinking about now, potentially some things that may involve tax decisions this year versus next year, etc. I can be helpful with that. I think highlighting the opportunities around that and giving people the ability to opt in for more complex planning is going to be really accretive. But yes, whether it's Harness practice management solution or others, there are definitely ways to customize the messaging, the cohorts, some of that stuff, but it really starts with the advisers sitting down and saying what is potentially meaningful on the horizon for my clients. And how much time energy do I want to take to customize that? And maybe it's hey, it's one generic one, and there are 10 clients that really move the needle. These are my 10K plus clients, whatever the threshold may be. I actually want to spend some time and really make them feel that I'm paying attention to their holistic needs and how I can be strategic to them. April Walker: A lot of times we hear people say, I don't want to bother my clients, but I feel like on the other side, they really want to hear from you when you have something to say that's really important and crucial to them. I think it's important. That's a great point you made about reaching out in some way fourth quarter of 2024, because like we said, there's a lot of different things that you could bring up that are specific to their situation. David Snider: Honestly, my view and it's just a personal view having now been in and around this industry for several years is book-ended communications is extraordinarily rare and extraordinarily valuable. What I mean by that is communication before the season starts, the more customized, the better, but at least something. The same thing at the end, that even after the client has signed a return, you've completed some analysis that post-season follow up. If it's just previewing when they think about bringing for the next year or some of those planning opportunities goes a really long way, I think in demonstrating value. I'm seeing advisers do the presentation of insights through loom videos and other things that I think is also an element of that. Which is do more than deliver the bare minimum of the compliance requirements, and you will stand out and generate a tremendous amount of goodwill from your clients in whatever form it takes. A Loom video, something semi-customized, something even generic will be helpful to a lot of the people that you work with. April Walker: Just thinking about some clients you may have worked with with Harness Tax, do you have any success stories that come to mind where technology really improved someone's practice? David Snider: Yeah. I think we have two different types of advisors that we principally help. The one is a practice with 1-25 employees under 10 million of revenue, that's really making an investment. [They say] we've got a good business. We're going to do just fine regardless, but we also recognize to make it A, sustainable, B, to enable growth, We've got to be more efficient and we want to not just be good enough that clients don't leave, we want to be better. For a number of those practices, I think the combination of a workflow, practice management technology that can save a couple hours per client with some of these automations of the client engagement letter or the intelligent client questionnaire, the status updates, also supplemented by our client's success team that can help field those level 1 questions that may come into the advisor. They're not necessarily required to answer. They don't require tax expertise, etc. All that stuff gets unburdened. Those firms have then been able to take advantage of new referrals that they generate and a whole bunch of Harness generated clients. One of the earliest practices that came on to the platform has grown, I think 80, 90% across two seasons because the practice leader is getting a lot more leverage in the amount of time that she spends with each client. She's gotten more resources to talk about in the conversation. The clients, they don't use the network of tax attorneys that we have or some of the other software and database that they have access through our platform. The other group are people that have been at top 50 firms and for a variety of reasons feel like now is the time to be more entrepreneurial to create their own practice. There's tremendous demand for people that have specialization, nimbleness, a willingness to create a great experience. And one  that joined that had been at a top 50 firm to create his own practice and his first year was able to generate over a quarter million dollars of revenue. That really came from Day 1, adoption of Harness' technology, a few other components to that workflow and the ability to really highlight some areas of specialization and to take a lot of clients that came through our consumer-facing side that brings in clients and distributes those to the right advisors to serve them. It's really a powerful combination that no matter how good your practice seems, if you free up hours and you position yourself well, you're going to grow. I think giving yourself that time, especially in Q4, to really think through what are ways that you can generate more value, maybe capture a fraction of that incremental value for existing clients and create the space for you to take on new ones that would be incrementally valuable is wonderful. We've certainly seen that just in the top-line value and in really high net promoter scores of the clients that are being served by advisors using our technology. April Walker: We'll go live before the end of September. Hopefully this will be valuable information for people and we talk about growing. Sometimes firms don't want to grow because they feel like they have too much going on at the time. But what we have talked about and heard and I'm sure you'll echo this is sometimes you need to grow in a different way, like you need to cull some clients and really focus on growing your experience with those really good clients. David Snider: Grow your free time. Grow your client value and or grow the amount of money that you pocket at the end of the year. April Walker: All three, I'm going to say, check, check, check for me. David, it has been lovely chatting with you today. Any final thoughts as we're wrapping up? David Snider: I think we're turning back to that initial theme. If you are an advisor in Phase 1 where you adopted some technology probably 7-10 plus years ago, it's really important, to get ahead of clients expectations. Which I think will rise as more advisers are using technologies to create a better experience. But don't also get anxious. Oh, if I don't have a fully outsourced AI practice then I'm behind the curve or my job's going away. There is secular growth in demand for tax services. The more that you can devote time to areas that you are advising, building relationships, strengthen relationships you will thrive in this profession. But don't sit in the same as last year mentality. Take Q4, look at what is going well, look at what's going to create the most value for you and your clients and make those investments of time and in some cases, expenditure. April Walker: Great thoughts. You've been with us before, so you know that in closing on these podcasts — we're Tax Section Odyssey — we're taking a journey together toward a better profession. But I also like to think about other journeys outside of tax. David, share a page from your travel journal, a trip coming up or something you've just recently done. You already had a spoiler with the Super Bowl trip, so that was cool. David Snider: That's way in the rearview, I don't think the Patriots are making a run this year unless something dramatic changes. But the trip I'm excited about I'm heading actually tomorrow night to Barcelona and watch the America's Cup race as a father sons trip. [He has] always been a big sailor before my time. He spends a lot of the summer and now year-round in Rhode Island. That used to be where the America's Cup always was held and for the last almost 40 years, I think it's been elsewhere. We decided rather than just wait, we will take the trip. We're hoping that Team USA, American Magic, can at least win the Louis Vuitton cup to be the challenger against New Zealand. April Walker: Worst-case scenario, enjoy some time in Spain which doesn't sound like a bad plan for me. David Snider: Exactly. April Walker: Thanks again so much, David. Again, this is April Walker from the AICPA Tax Section. This community is your go-to source for technical guidance and resources designed especially for CPA tax practitioners like you in mind. This is a podcast from AICPA and CIMA together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts and please feel free to follow us so don't miss an episode. If you already follow us, thank you so much and please feel free to share with a like-minded friend. You can also find us at aicpa-cima.com/tax and find our other episodes as well as resources mentioned today. Thank you so much for listening and happy fall. Keep your finger on the pulse of the dynamic and evolving tax landscape with insights from tax thought leaders in the AICPA Tax Section. The Tax Section Odyssey podcast includes a digest of tax developments, trending issues and practice management tips that you need to be aware of to elevate your professional development and your firm practices. This resource is part of the robust tax resource library available from the AICPA Tax Section. The Tax Section is your go-to home base for staying up to date on the latest tax developments and providing the edge you need for upskilling your professional development. If you're not already a member, consider joining this prestigious community of your tax peers. You'll get free CPE, access to rich technical content such as our Annual Tax Compliance Kit, a weekly member newsletter and a digital subscription to The Tax Adviser.

Down to 40 Hours CPA Mastermind details:Registration is NOW OPENhttps://geraldinecarter.com/40Just how much revenue did that ship mechanic leave on the table?Had he been better at pricing, he might have been able to price more profitably. Pricing intangibles is a skill, and the better a seller does it, the more revenue he can generate for the time and effort he puts in. But how do you price intangibles when they are hard to pin down?In today's episode, I offer four ways to price intangible value. …Link to full shownotes: https://www.businessstrategyforcpas.com/…If you feel trapped by your own accounting firm, I can help you stop the chaos and end the long hours without losing revenue or hiring. Join 5000+ other CPAs who get my single-tip daily emails..Subscribe here: geraldinecarter.com/subscribe.Readers say they love it because they're short and on point.…WANT MORE?Client Interviews307 Take the shortcut!! With Hector Cantu, EA306 25 Hours for Everyone, Team Included with Rebecca Warnick, CPA304 From 55 Down to 15 Hours; Same Take-Home Pay with Melissa Downs, EA295 Niche Journey and 5x Higher Prices than 24mo Ago with Sheila Hansen, CPA293 What it Takes to Work 15 Hours per Week with Erica Goode, CPA281 4 Pricing Problems Solved with Kathy Hayden, EA259 Permission to Stop Being Superhuman with Michael Berry, CPA…Complete list of client interviews at:geraldinecarter.com/client-interview-episodes…Greatest Hits201 Effortless Value211 Pricing for Improved Profitability178 Killer Niches for CPAs with Tom Wheelwright179 Digital Products, Courses, and 90% Margins with The Real Estate CPA, Brandon Hall252 How Accountants Can Use ChatGPT with Jason Staats, CPA…...Ways I help overworked CPAs go down to 40 hours without losing revenue or hiring:.THE EMAIL COURSE – FreeStop Working Weekends will teach you how to reduce your hours without giving up revenue. geraldinecarter.com/stop-working-weekendsTHE BOOK – $9.99Down to 40 Hours – A Roadmap for CPAs to End Overworking Without Losing Revenuegeraldinecarter.com/bookTHE VIDEO COURSE – $497Access 30+ video lessons, bonus training, template letters, website teardowns, and more. Plus, get a $1000 credit toward my DT40H Mastermind and a money-back guarantee.geraldinecarter.com/videoA 1:1 CONSULTATION – $1297Do you have a burning question about the material in Down to 40 Hours? Book a one-on-one call with me to get guidance on implementing the material in your situation.geraldinecarter.com/coaching-options/CPA MASTERMIND – $9500For the overworked CPA at six figures of revenue who is ready to stop working weekends and wants to implement overdue changes but has trouble doing it alone:Get guidance on increasing prices without overdoing it or undergoing itDisengage problem clients at a pace you're comfortable withCreate packages while navigating scope creepFocus on your client niche without feeling like you're jumping off a ledgeBe in a community of like-minded CPAs on a similar journey to share best practices, have a sounding board, and get accountabilityMake progress faster and with more confidence. Your purchase is protected by my risk-free guarantee. geraldinecarter.com/40… Down to 40 Hours CPA Mastermind details:Registration is NOW OPENhttps://geraldinecarter.com/40

Episode 219 Sign up for Workflow Queen's FREE The POWER to Breakthrough Bootcamp: https://learn.workflowqueen.com/power-bootcamp *Bootcamp dates: August 19th - August 23rd, 2024 FACULTY: Questian Telka, EA CLASS: #TheGuide Join us as Questian Telka, an experienced accountant with a passion for nonprofit work, discusses her journey, challenges, and successes in the field. Learn about her unique approach to nonprofit accounting, particularly within disability advocacy, and her dedication to helping these organizations thrive. Discover her tips on scaling a business, finding a niche, and trusting one's instincts. Tune in to see how she balances her professional aspirations with her personal mission.

Want info on Down to 40 Hours CPA Mastermind? Check out:geraldinecarter.com/down-to-40-hours-cpa-mastermindDo you want to increase your revenue without working harder? If so, deepening your appreciation of creating value for clients and clearly communicating that value is a great bet. The less a business-owning accountant appreciates value, the more she'll work hours to create dollars, and who wants that? LINK TO VIDEO REPLAY IN CROWDCAST:https://www.crowdcast.io/c/5bfv3mty0p2dLINK TO MASTER VALUE CREATION CHECKLIST:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tkvq1rcPMqbff_FXDvZ_RdqrFHPW6u5tmMnrnmT3nWE/edit?usp=sharing…Link to full shownotes: https://www.businessstrategyforcpas.com/…If you feel trapped by your own accounting firm, I can help you stop the chaos and end the long hours without losing revenue or hiring. Join 5000+ other CPAs who get my single-tip daily emails..Subscribe here: geraldinecarter.com/subscribe.Readers say they love it because they're short and on point.…WANT MORE?Client Interviews304 From 55 Down to 15 Hours; Same Take-Home Pay with Melissa Downs, EA295 Niche Journey and 5x Higher Prices than 24mo Ago with Sheila Hansen, CPA293 What it Takes to Work 15 Hours per Week with Erica Goode, CPA281 4 Pricing Problems Solved with Kathy Hayden, EA259 Permission to Stop Being Superhuman with Michael Berry, CPAComplete list of client interviews at:geraldinecarter.com/client-interview-episodes…Greatest Hits201 Effortless Value211 Pricing for Improved Profitability178 Killer Niches for CPAs with Tom Wheelwright179 Digital Products, Courses, and 90% Margins with The Real Estate CPA, Brandon Hall252 How Accountants Can Use ChatGPT with Jason Staats, CPA…...Ways I help overworked CPAs go down to 40 hours without losing revenue or hiring:.THE EMAIL COURSE – FreeStop Working Weekends will teach you how to reduce your hours without giving up revenue. geraldinecarter.com/stop-working-weekendsTHE BOOK – $9.99Down to 40 Hours – A Roadmap for CPAs to End Overworking Without Losing Revenuegeraldinecarter.com/bookTHE VIDEO COURSE – $497Access 30+ video lessons, bonus training, template letters, website teardowns, and more. Plus, get a $1000 credit toward my DT40H Mastermind and a money-back guarantee.geraldinecarter.com/videoA 1:1 CONSULTATION – $1297Do you have a burning question about the material in Down to 40 Hours? Book a one-on-one call with me to get guidance on implementing the material in your situation.geraldinecarter.com/coaching-options/CPA MASTERMIND – $9500For the overworked CPA at six figures of revenue who is ready to stop working weekends and wants to implement overdue changes but has trouble doing it alone:Get guidance on increasing prices without overdoing it or undergoing itDisengage problem clients at a pace you're comfortable withCreate packages while navigating scope creepFocus on your client niche without feeling like you're jumping off a ledgeBe in a community of like-minded CPAs on a similar journey to share best practices, have a sounding board, and get accountabilityMake progress faster and with more confidence. Your purchase is protected by my risk-free guarantee. geraldinecarter.com/40 Want info on Down to 40 Hours CPA Mastermind? Check out:geraldinecarter.com/down-to-40-hours-cpa-mastermind

Episode 217 FACULTY: Chayton Farlee CLASS: #TheGuide Join us in this enlightening episode where young accounting professional Chayton Farlee shares his journey of discovering the vibrant side of accounting beyond the classroom. Tune in to hear his insightful conversation on breaking free from the traditional 'Big Four' mindset, the importance of real-world experience, and his passion for making accounting both fun and impactful.

Want info on Down to 40 Hours CPA Mastermind? Check out:geraldinecarter.com/down-to-40-hours-cpa-mastermindWorking more hours than you want can be a tough place to be. A place that you want to get out of as fast as possible. It would make sense to think that hiring someone to handle the excess work is the solution. I want to show you why hiring may not be the best option and how it might actually make the overworking problem worse.…If you feel trapped by your own accounting firm, I can help you stop the chaos and end the long hours without losing revenue or hiring. Join 5000+ other CPAs who get my single-tip daily emails..Subscribe here: geraldinecarter.com/subscribe.Readers say they love it because they're short and on point.…WANT MORE?Client Interviews304 From 55 Down to 15 Hours; Same Take-Home Pay with Melissa Downs, EA295 Niche Journey and 5x Higher Prices than 24mo Ago with Sheila Hansen, CPA293 What it Takes to Work 15 Hours per Week with Erica Goode, CPA281 4 Pricing Problems Solved with Kathy Hayden, EA259 Permission to Stop Being Superhuman with Michael Berry, CPA…Complete list at:geraldinecarter.com/client-interview-episodes…Greatest Hits201 Effortless Value211 Pricing for Improved Profitability178 Killer Niches for CPAs with Tom Wheelwright179 Digital Products, Courses, and 90% Margins with The Real Estate CPA, Brandon Hall252 How Accountants Can Use ChatGPT with Jason Staats, CPA…...Ways I help overworked CPAs go down to 40 hours without losing revenue or hiring:.THE EMAIL COURSE – FreeStop Working Weekends will teach you how to reduce your hours without giving up revenue. geraldinecarter.com/stop-working-weekendsTHE BOOK – $9.99Down to 40 Hours – A Roadmap for CPAs to End Overworking Without Losing Revenuegeraldinecarter.com/bookTHE VIDEO COURSE – $497Access 30+ video lessons, bonus training, template letters, website teardowns, and more. Plus, get a $1000 credit toward my DT40H Mastermind and a money-back guarantee.geraldinecarter.com/videoA 1:1 CONSULTATION – $1297Do you have a burning question about the material in Down to 40 Hours? Book a one-on-one call with me to get guidance on implementing the material in your situation.geraldinecarter.com/coaching-options/CPA MASTERMIND – $9500For the overworked CPA at six figures of revenue who is ready to stop working weekends and wants to implement overdue changes but has trouble doing it alone:Get guidance on increasing prices without overdoing it or undergoing itDisengage problem clients at a pace you're comfortable withCreate packages while navigating scope creepFocus on your client niche without feeling like you're jumping off a ledgeBe in a community of like-minded CPAs on a similar journey to share best practices, have a sounding board, and get accountabilityMake progress faster and with more confidence. Your purchase is protected by my risk-free guarantee. geraldinecarter.com/40… Want info on Down to 40 Hours CPA Mastermind? Check out:geraldinecarter.com/down-to-40-hours-cpa-mastermind

We've had some great conversations recently about A.I.; what it means for our profession and how to integrate it into our work. This week, I talk to Jason Staats, who has been on the leading edge of A.I. and has a wealth of knowledge to share with CPAs about this new technology. Jason's main message about A.I. is that as groundbreaking and game-changing as A.I. is, it doesn't necessarily mean our profession will change radically at it's core. A.I. is a tool we can use in service of what our profession is charged to do. CPAs do what we're trained to do - that will not change. What we do need to do is ramp up our curiosity about these new tools and how they will allow us to better serve our customers. Instead of trying to force A.I into every aspect of our work, a better approach comes by asking what problem we are trying to solve and how at all can A.I. can help. Resources:CPA Australian article, "Generative AI in business: how to navigate the ethics" by Susan MuldowneyJason Staats LinkedIn ProfileJason Daily PodcastJason Daily YouTube Channel

Season 5 Episode 24 FACULTY: Paul Seaton, CPA a.k.a. Rev. Swaggy P CLASS: #SocialStudies In this engaging podcast episode, Scott dives into a conversation with Rev. Swaggy P, also known as Paul Seaton, CPA, and the Founder of Agency CFO. The episode unfolds the intriguing journey of Rev. Swaggy P, from his role as an almost Catholic Priest to becoming a Cloud CPA and CFO. Shout Outs: Marcel Petitpas, Parakeeto, Ron Baker, Jody Grunden, Summit CPA Group, Brian Soloentrop, @SoleyBusiness, Jason Staats, Roman Villard Chapters: 00:09:01 Introducing Rev. Swaggy P 00:11:12 From REV to CPA 00:15:05 Becoming a Cloud CPA 00:18:45 Working at Summit CPA Group 00:22:13 The Summit CPA Group Client Meeting Structure 00:28:13 Leaving Summit to Build a Firm 00:31:27 Paul Going Viral on Tax Twitter 00:40:36 Early Years of the Firm 00:42:41 Marketing and Hiring Intentionally 00:51:43 Lessons Learned from Too Many Meetings 00:56:12 Swaggy P 00:59:02 Bridging the Gap Between CFO and Tax Accountants Tags: marketing, social media, Twitter, LinkedIn, branding, niche, vertical, pricing, value, positioning, hiring, team building, leadership, delegation, systems, processes, consulting, advisory, profitability, growth --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/accountinghigh/message

n this episode, Jason Blumer is joined by Jason Staats, founder of Realize and podcast host of Jason Daily to discuss the rise of AI in the accounting industry. Jason talks about job displacement and the evolving role of entrepreneurs. Jason Staats shares his experience in public accounting and sheds light on the impact of AI on specialized tasks. It's a fascinating topic that'll have you rethinking the future of work. But don't worry, entrepreneurship and a dash of accounting will always have their place! Don't worry, Jason and Jason also share how you can level up your skills. Jason and Jason emphasize the power of video and how it can take your expertise to new heights. From honing your editing skills to becoming a captivating presenter, there's no doubt that incorporating video into your routine can give you the edge you need. Plus, it's a chance to show off your personality and connect with your audience on a deeper level. And there's more! They also touch on the rapid pace of change in the software industry, the rise of AI-first companies, and the exciting future of conversational software. Trust us, this is the stuff you need to know to stay ahead in the game. And speaking of staying ahead, Jason Staats spills the beans on how he dominated the social media scene and amassed over 10 million impressions a month. That's serious visibility! Last but not least, family time matters too! Jason Staats shares his personal journey of finding a balance between work and family, making sure to prioritize quality time with his little ones. It's a powerful reminder that success isn't just about business glory but also about finding fulfillment and joy in all aspects of life.

Season 5 Episode 7 FACULTY: Jody Padar CLASS: #TheGuide TITLE: The Art of Radical Conversations In this podcast episode, Scott interviews Jody Padar, also known as "The Radical CPA," who currently serves as the VP of Tax Strategy & Evangelism. The episode delves into Jody's journey from high school accounting competitions and Tax Twitter to taking over her father's firm. Introducing Jody Padar Jody in High School Early Tax Twitter Peer Group Forward Thinking Taking Over Her Father's Firm Changing Pricing Being a Mother and an Entrepreneur How Jody's Dad Helped Her Passion for Accounting The Art of Conversation Will the AICPA Stick around? CPA vs EA Next Things for Jody Shout Outs: Jason Ackerman's Dad, Nayo Carter-Gray, Jason Blummer, Jason Staats, Ron Baker, Mark Koziel, Tom Hood, Shana Chapman, Michael Hsu, Chris Farmand, Drew Carrick, Anderson Consulting, Engage, Botkeeper, Zappos, Sage, Xero, April, Monday, AICPA --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/accountinghigh/message

Topics include:  DC and profession news  Technical updates  Practical applications of generative AI for accounting & finance  PCPS resources to help firms right-size their client base    Speakers:   Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO, CPA.com  Mark Peterson, EVP, Advocacy, AICPA  Lisa Simpson, VP, Firm Services, AICPA   Kacee Johnson, VP, Strategy & Innovation, CPA.com  Jason Staats, Founder, Realize  Carrie Steffen, Co-founder & President, The Whetstone Group   

Jason Staats, founder of Realize LLC., talks about his passion for creating funny content and how it both applies to his career and separates from his job, using AI tools, bringing your whole self into the office, and much more!

Season 4 Episode 93 Accounting High is supported by our Booster Club Thank you LiveFlow! LiveFlow - Advanced financial reporting on autopilot.  LiveFlow turns your spreadsheet into a scalable, real-time FP&A platform, check them out: https://www.liveflow.io/partnerships/accounting-high Get 20% off for 3 months with promo code HIGH FACULTY: Sabrina Cook CLASS: #SocialStudies TITLE: Arrested Development Accountant (feat. Sabrina Cook, CPA) In this podcast episode, Scott interviews Sabrina Cook aka “Ira Gilligan”, a CPA, Tax Adviser, and Fractional CFO from North Carolina. They delve into Sabrina's journey and discuss her experience working with small businesses, transitioning to a new firm, and her online presence on Tax Twitter and her alter ego. Introducing Sabrina Sabrina's high school years. Exploring Sabrina's college education How Sabrina found her way into public accounting and began working with small businesses. Scott and Sabrina discuss their personal journeys with ADHD Tax Twitter and Sabrina's persona as Ira Gilligan. How Sabrina navigated finding her first clients and the expansion into serving remote clients. Developing processes and strategies for growth as the firm expands. Sharing favorite online educators Mindset shifts related to purpose, intention, and the delegation of tasks. The importance of being open and authentic Shout Outs: Ryan Lazanis, Jason Staats, Will Hamilton, SmartPath, Nicole Davis, Lorilyn Wilson --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/accountinghigh/message

In this episode, our panel of experts delves, once again, into the exciting realm of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on accounting. We begin by discussing the key factors to consider in order to leverage AI effectively in the industry. The panel shares strategic insights and considerations for maximizing the potential of AI in accounting practices.Accuracy is a crucial aspect of AI, and we explore its reliability in various tasks. Our experts engage in a comprehensive discussion, shedding light on the current state of AI accuracy and its limitations. The integration of ChatGPT in Firefly is a topic of interest, and our guests share their thoughts on its advantages, challenges, and potential impact on customer service. The future of AI in accounting jobs is also discussed. Our panel debates whether AI will replace all accounting roles or primarily affect specific positions. They offer their predictions and observations on the evolving landscape of accounting in the age of AI. Join us as we explore the potential, challenges, and ethical considerations surrounding AI in accounting. Jackie Meyer and our esteemed panel of experts provide valuable insights into this rapidly evolving field.What you'll hear in this episode:[3:20] Introduction of the panelists. [6:10] What are the things that we need to be thinking about now in order to leverage AI further? [16:00] How accurate is artificial intelligence? [18:35] What are your thoughts on the use of ChatGPT in Firefly? [24:45] Is AI taking all accounting jobs or is it going to take only particular roles? [30:45] What's the better framework to go through with ChatGPT? [37:55] What integrations are you seeing that you're excited about? [41:05] What integrations would you like to see coming out? [44:10] What's the deal with more personal AI? [51:05] Thoughts on security and privacy in the future with AI[54:20] Are there any other ethical issues that you want to bring up about AI?Learn more about Rob on the Accounting Influencer's website: https://accountinginfluencers.com/ or connect with him on LinkedIn @Rob BrownConnect with Chris on Instagram @betterwaycpa or learn more on the Better Way CPA website: https://www.betterwaycpa.com/Learn more about Patrice and her services on LinkedIn @Patrice Malloy or on the Malloy Management Group website: https://www.malloygroupinc.com/Connect with Jason on Twitter @JStaatsCPA or on LinkedIn @Jason StaatsFind more content from Jackie on Instagram @jackiemCPACheck out more of Jackie's work at https://www.jackiemeyercpa.com/

Down to 40 Hours CPA Mastermindhttps://geraldinecarter.com/Hey CPA Firm owner, glad you found the podcast. If you feel like you've become trapped by your own accounting firm, you're fed up PiTB clients who get you their stuff late, don't appreciate the value you provide, and complain to you when you don't turn it around on a dime, I can help you stop the chaos and end the long hours, without losing revenue. If you like the podcast, join 1000+ other CPAs who get Vitamin G, my daily dose of single-tip business strategy delivered straight to their inbox: Subscribe here: geraldinecarter.com/subscribe…ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, and many accountants are wondering where its use fits into their accounting practice – now, and two years from now. If you want to find out where to get started, how you might begin using ChatGPT in your accounting practice, and what to watch out for (Hint: the cost of not leaning into it), tune in for answers.Also be sure to check out my previous episode with Jason, #219 Automation as Business Strategy.…A few ways to work with me:GET LOTS OF ANSWERS FASTFor the solo CPA with a bunch of rapid-fire questions they want answers to, like: How high can I go on prices without sending my clients running? What do you think of my niche? How do I upsell my legacy clients? What's the script for talking to prospects about higher-level and Advisory services? What do I put in my tiered packages? Book a single strategy call with me, to get answers to questions like these and more. It's covered by my 100% satisfaction guarantee. If at the end of the call, you don't feel like it was worth it, just say the word and I‘ll refund your purchase in full. geraldinecarter.com/call$495DOWN TO 40 HOURS CPA MASTERMINDFor the overworked CPA at six figures of revenue who wants to stop working weekends and wants to implement overdue changes, but has trouble doing it alone: Get guidance on prices, packages, and becoming more specialized How to fire clients without blowing a hole in your firm A community of like-minded CPAs on a similar journey to share what you're working on, bounce ideas off, and get accountability Make more progress faster and with more ease. Guaranteed to get you down to 40 hours. geraldinecarter.com/$75001:1 PRIVATE COACHINGFor the firm owner with $1M+ in revenue who is caught in the weeds of tax work and fielding never-ending staff questions, I offer a high-touch 5-month experience. The aim is to get you down to working only 5 days a week, while 5-10x-ing your investment. geraldinecarter.com/custom-vip-coaching$24,500  

Season 4 Episode 83 Accounting High is supported by our Booster Club Thank you LiveFlow!  LiveFlow - Advanced financial reporting on autopilot. LiveFlow turns your spreadsheet into a scalable, real-time FP&A platform, check them out: https://www.liveflow.io/partnerships/accounting-high Get 20% off for 3 months with promo code HIGH FACULTY: Geni Whitehouse CLASS: #CoolKids TITLE: High Impact through Comedy, Technology, & Advisory (feat. Geni Whitehouse, CPA) In this podcast episode, Scott interviews Geni Whitehouse, the founder of The Impactful Advisor. The episode delves into Geni's journey in the accounting profession, her experiences in the industry, and her fusion of comedy and accounting, the importance of finding one's passion and purpose, and niche expertise. Geni shares her early experiences in high school and the challenges she faced. The story of how Scott and Geni first met and connected. Geni's move to California and her introduction to accounting and the cloud. Her college years and her exploration of programming. Working at Deloitte and gaining valuable experience in the industry. Geni's decision to leave Deloitte and pursue a new job in Atlanta. Joining Sage and discovering her comedic talents and how to incorporate them into her work. Exploring the world of accounting comedians and finding inspiration. How comedy opened up a whole new world for Geni and influenced her approach to her niche. Designing her own life by aligning her passion and purpose. The "basset hound" analogy for living one's best life and finding personal fulfillment. Geni's authenticity and leveraging her strengths to make a difference. Scott's journey in embracing his inner "basset hound." The story behind Scott writing the new rap before going to Vegas. A discussion about the new rap and the process of recording a music video in Vegas. Shout Outs: Deloitte, Avalara, Sage, Peachtree, PeopleSoft, Division Software, Jason Staats, Greg Kyte, Ron Baker, Craig Underhill, Joe Woodard, MentorPlus --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/accountinghigh/message

In this episode Jason Staats, CPA, MBA, Firm Runner and Content Creator — Realize, joins April Walker, CPA, CGMA, Lead Manager — Tax Practice & Ethics, AICPA & CIMA, live from ENGAGE 2023 to highlight the fast-paced world of transformational technology and its prominent impact on the accounting profession. He explores how emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) are not only changing the way things are done but also redefining the rules of the game. What you'll learn in this episode Getting started with cutting-edge technology (1:30) Tips from a practice management standpoint (3:17) Ways firms can incorporate AI such as ChatGPT (5:26) Tips for memo and email enhancements (8:28) The optimal time to incorporate/upgrade technology (10:05) Jason's parting thoughts (12:09) A page from Donny's travel journal (12:56) Related resources Jason.CPA YouTube channel — Jason Staats talks about how to build calm, sustainable accounting firms. The digital download — ChatGPT, AI and data security | Tax Section Odyssey — AI is transformational for the tax profession. In this Tax Section Odyssey episode Ashley Francis, CPA, shares her experience with ChatGPT and BingAI. AICPA Technology Library — Technology is evolving at an unprecedented speed and affects each of us in almost all facets of life and business. This hub provides you with access to the latest technology information, tools and resources to best serve your clients or support the organization where you work. Keep your finger on the pulse of the dynamic and evolving tax landscape with insights from tax thought leaders in the AICPA Tax Section. The Tax Section Odyssey podcast includes a digest of tax developments, trending issues and practice management tips that you need to be aware of to elevate your professional development and your firm practices. This resource is part of the robust tax resource library available from the AICPA Tax Section. The Tax Section is your go-to home base for staying up to date on the latest tax developments and providing the edge you need for upskilling your professional development. If you're not already a member, consider joining this prestigious community of your tax peers. You'll get free CPE, access to rich technical content such as our Annual Tax Compliance Kit, a weekly member newsletter and a digital subscription to The Tax Adviser.

Welcome to the Accounting Influencers Podcast, going live every Monday and Thursday to 150 countries and 30,000 accounting practitioners, fintech specialists and influencers in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space.In this episode of the Accounting Influencers podcast, host Rob Brown interviews Jason Staats, an accomplished entrepreneur and CPA, to provide insights on how to grow an accounting firm. Jason shares his experience and expertise in building a $5M accounting firm, as well as in producing content and providing thought leadership on sustainable accounting firms, AI adoption, and software partnership.The importance of being able to say "no" and capitalising on the coolest "yeses" to engage, as well as defining the type of clients and employees the firm is best for. Jason also highlights the need for a compelling vision to differentiate the firm and build a team around the right abilities. He emphasises that it's essential to ensure that the support structure for the team is built to prioritise emotional health and mindfulness.Lastly, Jason shares his insights on the calculation for individuals just entering the accounting profession and the need to find the right place that aligns with their abilities and way of working best. Overall, the episode provides valuable advice for accountants looking to grow their firms and build a team around the right skills.You can watch this episode and more on our YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/@accountinginfluencersGuest BioJason Staats is an accomplished CPA and entrepreneur, running a $5M accounting firm and an online community for accounting firm owners. He produces content and provides thought leadership on sustainable accounting firms, AI adoption, and software partnership. He is also a prolific content creator with a YouTube channel and weekly newsletter. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family.YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_Z0mb0RshEg6Nu0PkebBPATwitter: https://twitter.com/JStaatsCPALinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢If you like the show, we'd truly appreciate a review on whatever platform you listen. We'd love to get to know you!Main show website. For access to every single show with full shownotes: https://accountinginfluencers.com/podcastFor announcements of published shows, tagging guest so you can build your network and offer feedback on the show: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencersFor videos of all podcast interviews and bonus video content: https://bit.ly/AI-youtubehttps://www.instagram.com/accinfluencershttps://twitter.com/accinfluencershttps://www.facebook.com/accountinginfluencersThanks to our sponsors:Accountex. Accountex will return to ExCeL London UK on the 10-11 May 2023. Bringing together 250+ top fintech companies and cutting-edge start-ups, visitors can browse new software and stay up to date with the latest technology, tools and ideas in accountancy and finance. Alongside the exhibition, attendees will take away actionable tips from the CPD-accredited seminar programme, led...

Season 4 Episode 66 **recorded live in front of a YouTube audience** CLASS: #TechLabs FACULTY: Byron Patrick, Jason Staats, Brandon Bruce, Jared Smith TITLE: 2023 ABC Tournament Rap-Up Recap In this episode, Scott and Byron host the final battle between Jason Staats and Brandon and Jared from Uncat for the Accountant Bracket Challenge, ABC Tournament, aka March Appness. The contestants discuss their journey to the finals. Scott and Byron recall the making of the tournament and announce the winners of the Hawaii trip and the ABC tournament. Hear about Scott's exclusive Victory Rap Parody, the leaked Lazanis and Uncat files, while Brandon tells the story of the famous Felonious Slinky Paws picture in this exciting finish to the first-ever ABC March Appness Tournament! Scott Introduces the final contestants Scott and Byron recall how Uncat was the "Undercat" Jared shares his opinions on upcoming Excel features Jason Staats retells his journey to the finals and his interactions with Uncat before the tournament Scott and Byron talk about what the winner gets and how it was decided Jason recalls the nomination phase Jason talks about being a firm owner and content creator Jared lectures about cryptographically secure random numbers Hawaii Trip winner announced Other prize winners announced Winner of the ABC tournament announced Scott performs the Uncat Rap Scott talks about the making of the Uncat Rap Jason talks about the leaked Lezanus and Uncat files Brandon tells the story of the famous Felonious Slinky Paws picture Everyone gives final thoughts Shout Outs: Adam Slack, Ryan Lazanis, Blake, David, Cloud Accounting Podcast, Fin Daily, FreshBooks, Twyla Verhelst, Felonius Slinky Paws --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/accountinghigh/message

Season 4 Episode 65 CLASS: #GuidePosts FACULTY: Jason Blumer, CPA TITLE: Thriving Through Collaboration: The Benefits of Group Play In this podcast episode, Scott interviews Jason Blumer, an entrepreneur and accountant who founded his own firm and co-founded the Thriveal community. Throughout the episode, Jason shares his experiences and insights on entrepreneurship, community building, and overcoming failures. He talks about how he started his own accounting firm and his motivations for growing it, as well as the challenges he faced in building the Thriveal community. Jason tells his story of becoming an accountant and his passion for music Jason recalls the early days in business with his father Jason explains what motivated him to grow his business Jason talks about the founding and early days of Thriveal Scott and Jason discuss failure and bouncing back from it They also talk about getting out of your own way and letting people help you Scott and Jason compare running two companies to growing multiple crops Jason is asked to become Accounting High faculty Shout Outs: Jason Statham, Jason Bateman, Jason Ackerman, Jason Staats, Jason Presley, Jason Lee Sudakis, Julie Ship, Greg Kite, Ron Baker, Verisage, Doug Sleeter, Darren Root, RootWorks, Simon Sinek, Ian Basin, Karbon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/accountinghigh/message

Welcome to the Accounting Influencers Podcast, going live every Monday and Thursday to 150 countries and 30,000 accounting practitioners, fintech specialists and influencers in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space.In this episode of the Accounting Influencers Podcast, Rob Brown interviews Jason Staats, who creates content on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube to help people run accounting firms in a more fun and sustainable way. Staats discusses how he got into accounting and why he had to find a creative way to contribute because he needed to be a better tax preparer. He also touches on mental blockers that keep accountants from being more intentional versions of themselves and falling into the trap of working hard and thinking they've done their best.Staats discusses the current state of the accounting industry, noting that it was challenging before COVID-19 and even more so after. He says there is a massive opportunity in the industry, but people need to get out of their way and not try to be everything for everybody at their own expense. He also talks about accountants' emotional connection with their clients and how it's hard to say no to them because of that connection.Finally, Staats discusses the difficulty in reaching accountants and selling to them, noting that some companies do it well and understand how to speak the accountant's vernacular. He mentions that accountants carry the stresses of their clients and that it's the most challenging aspect of what they do. Overall, the episode provides valuable insights for accountants looking to grow their firms in a sustainable and fulfilling way.You can watch this episode and more on our YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/@accountinginfluencersGuest BioJason Staats is an accomplished entrepreneur and thought leader in accounting. He founded a $5M accounting firm, which he has run for 18 months. In addition, he has built a SAAS to $30k MRR, sold a startup, built a creatorpreneur business to $10k MRR, and produced commercials for brands like LinkedIn and Zapier.Today, Jason helps people in three key areas. Firstly, he produces content to help accounting leaders develop more sustainable firms. Secondly, he provides thought leadership on adopting automation and AI to support public accounting. Thirdly, he helps software companies to better partner with the accountant channel and leverage AI in their products.Jason is a prolific content creator and regularly shares his insights and ideas through his weekly newsletter, which is essential for accountants looking to stay up-to-date on industry trends. Jason is an invaluable resource for software companies looking to better engage with accountants. He has helped some of the most successful brands in the industry develop more meaningful products.◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢If you like the show, we'd truly appreciate a review on whatever platform you listen. We'd love to get to know you!Main show website. For access to every single show with full shownotes: https://accountinginfluencers.com/podcastFor announcements of published shows, tagging guest so you can build your network and offer feedback on the show: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencersFor videos of all podcast interviews and bonus video content: https://bit.ly/AI-youtubehttps://www.instagram.com/accinfluencershttps://twitter.com/accinfluencers

On this episode of The Woodard Report Podcast, Heather speaks with Jason Staats about accounting technology and automation tools such as Zapier, Make, and OpenAI. Together, Jason and Heather dive into and how we can leverage this technolgy in the accounting industry.

Season 4 Episode 61 | In this episode of Accounting High, host Scott interviews Ms Smiles aka Alex Miles, a social media marketer and former employee of T-Sheets. Alex talks about her journey from high school pranks to her passion for social media marketing, and how she used her skills to connect with others and brighten their days. She also shares insights into the power of community, the importance of being authentic on social media, and the value of in-person meetups. Alex's infectious energy and positive attitude make this episode a must-listen for anyone looking to find their own passion and connect with others in the accounting industry. Interview: Alex shares the story behind her "Smiles" moniker She talks about the power of community building and the role social media plays in it Alex discusses her time at T-Sheets, including her involvement in the ABC Tournament and the T-Sheets raffle She also talks about meeting David Barrett and connecting with the Intuit community Alex shares her philosophy on social media, which includes being authentic and not judging others She also discusses her passion for comedy and making people laugh Finally, Alex talks about the importance of in-person meetups and getting help from and giving help to others Closing: Alex performs a rap Alex wraps us up by discussing the power of community and the importance of being yourself on social media. Shoutouts: FreshBooks, Hubdoc, Xero, MailChimp, QuickBooks, TSheets, Expensify, David Barrett, TurboTax, John Garrett, Misty Megia, Twyla Verhelst, CPA, Laura L. Lynn Ed D, MBA, MS, CFE, EA, Sherrell T. Martin, Slack, Ron Baker, Jason Staats, CPA, Terrell A Turner, CPA, Nikole Mackenzie, --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/accountinghigh/message

This is the complete recording I did with Jason Staats CPA. He will be taking a piece of this for YouTube and I as well... But via this podcast, you get the whole unedited conversation... Jason's Main Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa Jason Daily Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JasonCPADaily 00:00 Intro 01:31 Jason Starts asking questions 03:11 Hector's YouTube Channel and why all accountants should be making videos 10:03 Accountant vs. Influencer? 11:38 Personal vs. Corporate Brand 19:19 Leveraging Content in the Firm 27:03 Levering your team 34:23 How to be successful (beyond content) 38:27 The role of AI 51:01 Getting the young ones excited about accounting 54:42 Jason sold his firm 58:23 What must be sacrificed to make big decisions 01:03:14 How to stay in "touch" with the industry as a creator 01:08:41 Managing Information Overload 01:15:22 Learning more about Jason + Conclusion

Season 4 Episode 45 | Recorded February 13, 2023 In today's episode, Scott talks to Katie Thomas, CPA to discuss the highs and lows of her journey in the accounting world. From getting into accounting to starting businesses, Katie shares her experiences and insights on content creation, team building, and attracting clients. She also gives tips on building confidence as a content creator and shares her personal journey in setting goals, aspirations, and failures. Tune in to this episode to gain valuable advice and inspiration from a successful CPA and content creator. Katie's start Collage, getting into accounting Unicorns of accounting The breaking point Getting into LinkedIn Content creation, just press post Content of the early content Getting more personal on the socials Starting a business Hard numbers, free time The team, contractors vs employees Dealing with ambitious employees Is it work or for or fun work? How does Scott decide content? Getting clients and attracting talent Being a content creator and building confidence Getting better and just releasing content What phase is Katie in? Goals, Aspirations, and Failures Dark social Choosing a platform Who does Katie follow Books suggestions Being rebellious Wrapping up All the Shoutouts: James Ashford, GoProposal, Ron Baker, David Barrett, Jason Staats, CPA, Anita Koimur, LiveFlow, Alex Hormozi, Grant Cardone, Gary Vaynerchuk, Rick Rubin, Mike Michalowicz --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/accountinghigh/message

On Episode 97 of The Unique CPA, Randy sits down with Jason Staats, founder of Realize, a community of accounting leaders, and the co-host of the AutomationTown podcast. The former owner of Brenner & Company, LLP in Salem, Oregon, Jason has turned his attention to Realize full time, as well as to marketing via social media. The two discuss Jason's social media presence, tech solutions to increase accounting productivity, and much more. Get the full show notes and more resources at TheUniqueCPA.com

Season 4 Episode 31 | Recorded January 25, 2023 Automate your Simple Tasks! AppStream powered by The GrowthLab Simple Tasks! Music Video Scott and Logan Graf, CPA are back to have another laid-back chat talking about everything from accounting to making music videos. As they catch up, they reminisce about how Scott once saved Logan's life. This conversation is about delegation, treating everyone with respect, and the potential for AI and automation in the profession. Scott saved Logan's life Updates at Accounting High Getting older Race to 10k Firm Hard Numbers How did Scott do it? Outsourcing The unlock: an integrator Tracking personal productivity You need to measure to improve Limiting app usage Spending time with family Giving props to the wives Learning more on Twitter Graf paper in Staats class Complementary duo Loud on Twitter, quiet in real life OKR, OK Rapper Graf Paper & Chat GPT Tech in the olden days Learning tax return Accounting High on Youtube Accountants making content What's all this for? How to be happy and grow Inspiration Accounting High, public and private ABC March Appness Delegation is Trust Treat everyone like your dad or grandma AI and execution AppStream All the Shoutouts: Xero, QuickBooks, Ron Baker, Chad Davis, Karbon, Jasper, Blake Oliver, CPA, Jason Staats, CPA, Expensify, Relay, FreshBooks, LiveFlow, Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP I CGMA, Botkeeper, Nikole Mackenzie, Daniel Gertrudes, GrowthLab, AppStream, Dropbox, Slack, Gusto, ADP, Digits, Earmark, Paul Glantz, CPA --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/accountinghigh/message

Season 4 Episode 30 | Recorded LIVE March 12, 2023 follow along with the full brackets here After receiving thousands of nominations for the Accountant Bracket Challenge "ABC March Appness" aka ABC Tournament, we compiled all the results and split everyone up into 2 major categories, Accountant Applications and Accountant Education. From there, we continued to categorize the top nominated platforms into 4 Regions, 8 Brackets with 8 teams all competing for best in class in their respective brackets to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, plus a bonus 8 team Tax Bracket Here's a list of all the categories, regions, and brackets!! Accounting Applications Business Money Plooto, Expensify, Bill, Divvy, Gusto, Dext, Rippling, Relay Business Bridge Liveflow, Slack, Tallyfor, Once Accounting, Appstream, Zapier, G-Accon, Reach Reporting Accounting Practice Ignition, Rewind, Liscio, TOA, Karbon, TaxDome, Financial Cents, Practice Protect Accounting Books Keeper, Saasant, Intuit QuickBooks, FreshBooks, RightTool, Uncat, Xero, Excel BONUS Tax Bracket Avalara, Intuit TurboTax, UltraTax, CCH, Intuit Proconnect, Drake, SafeSend, SmartVault Accounting Education Learning School Earmark, CPA Academy, Rock the Books, Taking Your Firm Virtual, The Grove, Bookkeeper Launch, Tanya's Bookkeeper Bootcamp, AICPA Town Halls Learning Community FutureFirm, Bookkeeping Buds, Roundtable Labs, Workflow Wateringhole, Accounting Salon, Dark Horse CPAs, Realize, #TaxTwitter Media Podcasts Cloud Accounting Podcast, Drink While You Think, FAAS Evolution, Ambitious Bookkeeper, Accounting High, Oh My Fraud, Unique CPA, AutomationTown Media Influential Roman Villard, Heather Smith, Jason Staats, Ron Baker, Tax TeleGraf, Radical CPA, Bookkeeping Side Hustle, Appy Hour --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/accountinghigh/message

Jason Staats is the founder of Realize. He guides you through brainstorming, writing, and the different ways to put your material out to attract & educate clients while establishing your brand. He had led a $5M accounting firm for the previous 18 months, grown a SAAS to $30k MRR, sold a startup, grew a creatorpreneur business to $10k MRR, and created commercials for LinkedIn and Zapier. Realize is a community of accounting firm leaders who put much effort into working together to grow. What began as a small community of like-minded company owners has expanded to include more than 300 skilled accountants globally. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rush-tech-support/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rush-tech-support/support

Season 4 Episode 17 | Recorded December 30, 2022 Thank you to our Booster Partners! AppStream powered by the GrowthLab Automate your firm. Save time. Add value. https://www.growthlabfinancial.com/automations-for-accountants Greetings Accounting High! Scotty's in the principal's office, and while he was in there he had an epic 3-hour conversation with Mr. Ron Baker. This conversation was broken up into two episodes for your listening enjoyment. During our first session, after putting on his Tweed jacket and formally accepting the role of Principal at Accounting High, Scott and Ron discuss the evolution of accounting, fitness goals, accounting communities, infinite games, storytelling, comedy, and the future of the profession. And a delightful performance from our rapping custodian to break up the conversation, we go deeper into the mind of Principal Baker. And as always, sit back, relax, and open your mind, because we're in the principal's office with Ron Baker. Making changes in the industry After action reviews What is the future of Accounting? Professionals shouldn't be too busy Amazon and Apple Subscription Model and Customer relationships Scope of service Focus and Niche Finite and infinite games versus Ron Disney stories Rebranding Sons of CPAs and finding faculty for Accounting High Value Billing Pancakes of waffles? Pizza or calzone? Accounting communities Blake's stories Competition, niche, and generations Leaders and dreams Standing on the shoulder of giants Defending Ron's ideas Change is coming A big change in Scott's firm Big leap Time and rapping flow Ron's dream for a film Podcast and comedy Applications Audience and delivery Writing Greg Kyte's story and parodies Simple Tasks! All the Shoutouts: Ron Baker's Times Up, Amazon, Simon Sinek, Twyla Verhelst, CPA, Jason Ackerman, CPA, CFP®, CGMA, Edward Mendlowitz, Lorilyn Wilson, CPA, Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, Hulu, Netflix, Blake Oliver, CPA, James Ashford, Jason Staats, CPA, MBA, Jason M. Blumer, CPA, Paul Dunn, Richard Payne, Ryan Lazanis, CPA, Ed Kless, Tim Williams, Greg Kyte, CPA, --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/accountinghigh/message

Season 4 Episode 16 | Recorded February 1, 2023 VarsityTips is brought to you by LiveFlow Don't be tardy to the Coach Mackenzie party with Scott and Nikole, where they sit down and discuss a hot topic to get Niks' hot takes and tips. So lace up your sneaks and stretch out because of VarsityTips is now in session. Hitting the Charts OKR and The Tax Accountant's Anthem Tax Organizers and Typeforms and Tax Returns Asynchronicity ABC March Appness Update, Sponsers, and Raffle Prizes LiveFlow Accounting Salon AH Gazette Hubspot Chat GPT, write an SOP FinDaily Terrell Turner and YouTube Niks' YouTube Idea Spreading Your Wings If Scott had unlimited money… Managing Ambitious Employees More Chat GPT to get out of things Linkedin & GoProposal Podcast Therapy What's Next for Niks' Business Scott's Consulting CEO Value To Show up or to not show up Back to Liveflow Wrapping Up with RZA and Pushin P All the shoutouts: Nicholas Pasquarosa, Adam Markowitz, Logan Graf, Paul Glantz, CPA, Jason Ackerman, Calendly, Shane Sullivan, Twyla Verhelst, CPA, Ignition, Tallyfor, Spencer Christeck, David Barrett, Anita Koimur, Terrell Turner, LiveFlow, Keila Hill-Trawick, Drip, MailChimp, Karbon, ServiceHub, Hiver, Blake Oliver, CPA, Earmark, GoogleSheets, AppStream powered by GrowthLab Finance-as-a-Service, Jason Staats, Luke Templin, FinDaily, Xero, QuickBooks, Ashley Carroll, Expensify, Dan Gertrudes, Byron Patrick, GoProposal, Reza Hooda, Gusto --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/accountinghigh/message

Jason Staats—accounting firm owner, content creator, automation expert and online community champion—joins the latest Accounting Leaders Podcast episode. Jason shares his journey in accounting, the power of surrounding yourself with like-minded people, automation and no code development, and why vendors need to make more data accessible.Stuart and Jason discuss: The outdoors and writing off an RV (1:30) Raising 3 kids under 5 (4:30) The shortest path to an undergraduate is studying accounting (5:30) Starting in a local Oregon accounting firm at the age of 19 (8:20) Surrounding yourself with like-minded, entrepreneurial people  (10:00) Operational effectiveness and efficiency (11:45) Why you need cloud-native tools that give you access to your own data (13:50) Jason's tech stack (15:30) Automation and the role of accountants as quasi-developers (18:00) The power of online communities and learning from like-minded peers (24:30) An open-source accounting firm? (30:00)

Season 4 Episode 9 | Recorded January 6, 2023 Sponsored by AppStream powered by The GrowthLab The new Expensify Fragrance: "Consequences" by Expensify Don't be tardy to the Coach Mackenzie party. That's right. You're listening to VarsityTips formerly known as NiksTips with Scott and Nikole, where they sit down and discuss a hot topic to get Nik's hot takes and tips. It's the same show you've grown to know and love. We're calling it something new to fit the curriculum at Accounting High. So lace up your sneaks and stretch out because VarsityTips is now in session. Talking to Expensify Expensify Tattoo Accountant Bracket Challenge “March Appness” Automation in Firms Writing of the AppS.T.R.E.A.M. Rap AppStream Staffing and Social Media Losing Money on Paper Getting Back in the Grind Hiring in the US and Philippines Cultural Differences and Business Meetings Big Swings ChatGPT and Accounting Forms of Communication Firm owners doing their own accounting Quickbooks and Xero Expensify Accounting High GuidePosts What to do about staffing? Staff Poaching Socials as a Way to attract employees Testing Employees? Contractor to Employee Trial Employee Socials and Showcasing Your Company We Figured out this podcast thing The Ambitious Bookkeeper Sound Editor Spotlight Bloopers AppS.T.R.E.A.M. Rap All the shoutouts: Expensify, Clayton Oats, Amy Vetter, Kenji, Nick Pasquarosa, Blake Oliver, David Leary, Byron Patrick, GoCardless, Randy Crabtree, Ryan Lazanis, Jason Staats, AppStream, GrowthLab, Christopher Leon, Matthew Meyer, Ashley Carroll, HubSpot, Ignition, Xero, Karbon, DialPad, ChatGPT, Paul Seaton, Zapier, Chad Davis, James Ashford, Bo Burnham, Serena Shoup --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/accountinghigh/message

Your host, Jackie Meyer, talks with the Founder of Realize, Jason Staats. Realize is a high-effort community of accounting firm leaders, who are growing together through collaboration. Jason created Realize when he noticed there were no other peer-to-peer communities for accounting leaders to connect and communicate. Realize pays experts to run private sessions without the vendor filter. They give you a place to share ideas and find inspiration from others who run similar firms. Jason also has a large social media presence, and he talks about building calm, resilient accounting firms.To learn more about Jason's work, click HERE.To check out Jason's blog, click HERE.Interested in being a guest on the show? Apply HERE! Check out more of Jackie's work at https://www.jackiemeyercpa.com/.

Season 4 Episode 4 | Recorded December 27, 2022 Don't be tardy to the Coach Mackenzie party! That's right, you're listening to VarsityTips, formerly known as #NiksTips with Scott and Nikole, where they sit down and discuss a hot topic to get Nik's hot takes and tips. It's the same show you've grown to know and love, we're just calling it something new to fit the curriculum here at Accounting High. So lace up your sneaks and stretch out because VarsityTips is now in session. What happened last year? Trips Blessed to get away in January Ron Baker Marathon Preview Niks shifted away from CFO services Learning from failures Vices FreshPAC and other Trips The birth of Accounting High Pivotal Moments Vegas, Baby! Mexico Niks and her sports Moving to new positions Fast and slow lanes Outreach Learning from others Stay tuned for part 2… Scott Scarano Stories (S3X) More Teasers Accounting High Times with Byron Moving up and getting better Thank you to the audience Shoutouts Gusto, Will Lopez, David Leary, QBConnect, FreshBooks, Jason Staats, Blake Oliver, David Emmerman, Byron Patrick, Genie Whitehouse, Sarah Prevost, Dan Luthi, Keeper, James Ashford, Karbon, Ashley Carrol, Liz Mason, Paul Seaton, Jody Grunden, Summit CPA Group, Xero, AppyCamp, Deeper Weekend, Ron Baker, David Barrett --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/accountinghigh/message

Season 4 Episode 3 | Recorded September 2, 2022 Our Accounting High listener survey is right here https://bit.ly/3NRSAfD An episode that's surely worth capping off 2022. Jason Staats, CPA, MBA and Scott (Lil Toddler) Scarano gives us another great talk about everything big and small, and I mean EVERYTHING! Career? Business? Family? Purpose? Contents? Hobbies? You name it. This lengthy episode is no short of topics that'll make you ponder on the things that you've done, how far you've reached, and how much more you can accomplish. From all of us here at Accounting High, Wishing y'all a happy new year! 0 - Previously on #StaatSnacks 4 - The Accounting Celebs Shoutout to Jody Grunden, CPA, Ron Baker, Blake Oliver, CPA, David Barrett 11 - Getting into Vlogs Shoutout to Xero's XeroCon 16 - Attention from others 23 - How do I leave the space for doing all the things I wanna do with them (my kids)? 26 - Our different universes 31 - Get yourself out of the little bubble 38 - Shilling season with Jason Shoutout to Simon Sinek's Infinite Game, Ryan Lazanis, CPA 44 - The old & new context of rivals 47 - It takes a level of confidence to be able to be vulnerable 53 - Jason goes podcasting Shoutout to Gusto, Chad Davis 60 - Storytelling Shoutout to Edward Mendlowitz 64 - It's not because I want to compete, I just want to have a bigger impact Shoutout to Earmark 71 - Rapping and Podcasting Shoutout to Drew Carrick, Twyla Verhelst, CPA 77 - Fears Shoutout to Jason Ackerman, CPA, CFP®, CGMA 82 - Kids love routine, but they don't like authority Shoutout to Joshua Lance, CPA, CGMA 88 - You can only grow one thing effectively at a time 92 - Building a creative empire 97 - Money = Time + Freedom 103 - Accounting High's freshman year Shoutout to Madeline Reeves 107 - I'm bridging all of these different parts of my life into one thing that I could enjoy doing 110 - Wrapping and Rapping up --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/accountinghigh/message

Season 4 Episode 1 | Recorded October 8, 2022 Thank you to this episode's sponsor, FreshBooks Another Fresh Book Report by Scott and Twyla and today they're doing Simon Sinek's Infinite Game. They break down their own understanding of the book. What is this Infinite Game? How do we win? Or do we even need to win? This episode bridges the book's concepts and our hosts' personal experiences and their own Infinite Games. 0 - Class is now in session! 3 - Why Infinite Game? Shoutout to Greg McKeown's Effortless 8 - You didn't get stuck on the 10th page because it was boring. You got stuck cuz you were inspired and it triggers so many ideas Shoutout to FreshBooks' FreshPAC and all our friends there 12 - The profit and losses of a business are not necessarily what defines the win or loss of that infinite game Shoutout to David Barrett 16 - What does it look like if your clients want you rather than need you? Shoutout to Acuity Accounting, Karbon 22 - Competing with everybody versus learning from everybody 25 - We're on this journey to build a partner program and then a product that people want to explore using versus they're forced to because there's no other alternative 31 - Build a trusting team Shoutout to Alex Miles 37 - Whether we look to one another as competitors, we look to one another as colleagues, or we look to one another for inspiration, it's happening inside this profession where people are seeking the knowledge of what others have Shoutout to Chad Davis, Nicole Davis, CPA, Nayo Carter-Gray, EA MBA 40 - Accounting High is gonna be a community, a platform Shoutout to Jason M. Blumer, CPA, Jason Staats, CPA, MBA, Ryan Lazanis, CPA, Clayton Oates 46 - They changed the game through their will to further their cause 53 - Give it up for Lil Toddler's Infinite Sinek (A parody of ‘Infinite' by Eminem) 57 - Twyla and Scott's final thoughts on the review and the book itself --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/accountinghigh/message

*Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?* Subscribe here: https://www.geraldinecarter.com/subscribe   Accountants and CPAs have loads of systems running through their tax practice. Perhaps some things must still be done manually. But what if more of your work and your staff's work could be automated?  Here today to talk with me about this is my guest, Jason Staats.  Jason is a CPA turned automation nerd who enjoys sharing new ideas and memes on Twitter, Youtube, and Tiktok. He also built Realize, an online community of accounting firm owners.   Highlights: — “Automation today looks a little more bottom-up. It's automating the very workflow and client-specific problems that we have.” — “If you can surround yourself with people who are at varying levels of the same journey, that's just going to accelerate your learning so much.” — “The best way to think about where to start, especially if you do a lot of accounting is, what could you just automate inside of a single accounting file?” — “Inbox rules are the greatest automation hack there is.”  — “In your decision-making feedback loop, you need to have trusted peers or an external coach who can give you honest feedback that isn't subject to the groupthink that you have within a firm.”  Connect with Jason: Podcast https://www.automationtown.fm/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa Twitter https://twitter.com/JStaatsCPA Community https://rlz.io/ Software mentions: Zapier: https://zapier.com/ Make: https://www.make.com/en/  

This week Dan chats with Jason Staats an accountant in the USA about what it's like being an accountant in America compared to Australia. 

Season 3 Episode 25 | Recorded May 9, 2022 The Accounting High Booster Club, thank you GoProposal for the support! GoProposal https://goproposal.com Today we have Scott and Kellie Parks CPB chatting during their time in Paradise Point San Diego. Hop on a conversation that revolves around change and why there is no stopping the Big Shift that our industry is currently on. Kellie shares how change has been a very fun experience for her and how she embraced these changes over time. Aren't you tired of the current practices that you're doing in your firm? Or are you content with everything right now that these changes seem more like a chore? Tune in as Scott and Kellie dissect these changes and how they continue to cope with what's hot 0 - The SaaSy Accounting Coach 3 - Scott and Kellie in Paradise Point San Diego 6 - I do lots of accounting but I'm not an accountant 10 - How Kellie found her love for accounting 13 - I do one personal tax return a year and every single year that client does not pay me and complains about the job that I did Shoutout to Ryan Lazanis, CPA, Chad Davis, Brian Clare, Rachel Fisch, CPB Shoutout to our sponsors GoProposal 20 - “Change is hard. Not changing will be harder” - Kellie Parks 25 - People who have trouble with change have not experienced the fun of it 28 - The fun factor in implementing tech is waaaaay underrated Shoutout to Zapier, 17Hats, Acuity Scheduling, Acuity Accounting, Matthew May 37 - We control numbers and then we try to control everything else around us Shoutout to Blake Oliver, CPA, Kyle Turriff 41 - Coms: from COMpetitors to COMmunity Shoutout to Jason Staats, CPA, MBA 47 - Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference 53 - Go get the things you need to get, don't have them shipped to you --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/accountinghigh/message

Season 3 Episode 19 | Recorded April 11, 2022 Register for FreshBooks Partner Meet Ups and admission to the Lil Toddler World Tour 2022 Come hang out with us to enjoy food, drinks, and free swag. And an opportunity to earn some extra credit with the possibility of being featured on a fresh recording of Accounting High. Spots are limited so act now! November 3, 2022 - Atlanta November 10, 2022 - Portland November 29, 2022 - Toronto December 4, 2022 - Austin Register for FreshBooks Partner Meet Ups and admission to the Lil Toddler World Tour 2022 Scott is joined by Sandy Johns of Revolution Financial Solutions. A laid-back chat about tax, the accounting space, the pandemic, Apple, subscriptions, and relationships. A real refresher of what has been happening in our world over the past years. Sandy shares her experience of growing up in a conservative household and how their shared grace made up the uniqueness of her family. Surely, our diversity brings us all together to continue learning from each other in making this space a great place to evolve and revolutionize. 2 - Tax season in 2022: Cushions from the past two years are gone now Shoutout to Jason Ackerman, CPA, CFP®, CGMA 6 - Sandy's Unique family 10 - It's important that we approach things looking for an opportunity to find common ground with others 13- the importance of bringing diverse points of view and life experiences to the profession so that we can learn from each other 17 - Outsourcing Tax Shoutout to SurePrep LLC, Thomson Reuters' UltraTax, Donna Bordeaux 22 - The more touch points you have with the client, the easier everything else is 26 - If you look at this relationship as purely transactional, you're probably not the right fit for us 29 - Doing sales gives us the ability to filter and get the kind of clients that we want Shoutout to Ryan Lazanis, CPA 32 - How the Pandemic changed us 35 - The unintended bonuses (and consequences) that came with the changes we do to our firm Shoutout to Karbon 41 - Connecting the community is a service to the profession Shoutout to Xero, James Clear's Atomic Habits 46 - 100 Days of No Code Shoutout to Jason Staats, CPA, MBA, Airtable, Apple 49 - The Apple Empire Supremacy Shoutout to Scott Galloway, Disney, Amazon 57 - One of Apple's brilliance: Backing the right horse 59 - We don't need to be afraid of pricing because pricing attracts the right clients 63 - a poor man and a rich man 65 - What Crypto brings to the Accounting space --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/accountinghigh/message

Jason Statts is a CPA firm owner and the creator, manager and owner of the online accountant community Realize. Here are a few of the topics we'll discuss on this episode of Accounting Automation: Common challenges accounting firms have when adopting new tech. How personal-based productivity differs from software-based productivity. How modern accounting firms are changing the way we do things. Ways technology is widening the gap of productivity. How to know which software will work the best for your accounting firm. What will happen to firms that are resistant to industry change. The future of productized solutions. Where the biggest opportunities for accounting firms are. Resources: Realize QuickBooks TurboTax NxtStep Connecting with Jason Staats: LinkedIn Twitter Website Connecting with the host:Sean Boyce on LinkedIn To learn how to boost the profitability of your firm without hiring by taking my 5 day email course at http://bottleneckbuster.com/

Accounting High (aka Sons of CPAs Podcast) Season 3 Episode 11 | Recorded March 21, 2022 Guest: Adam Markowitz, EA Hosts: Jason Ackerman and Scott Scarano Sponsor: Karbon - Karbon firms are connected firms - check em out at https://karbonhq.com/ Join Scott, Jason, and Adam as they talk about tax, branding, software apps, social issues, #TaxTwitter, finding your purpose, and everything in between. Find out how Adam, a Bachelor of Arts who majored in Music and History ended up in the Tax/Accounting space and why he's here to stay. It's about keeping in mind what's really important to each of us, and finding our purpose. What's yours? For Adam, it's to help out his local community and really help out those who need it the most. 3 - Dad started the business back in 1993 5 - The best thing that ever happened to me was telling me they couldn't give me an extra buck and 50 an hour. 7 - I was into sports gambling and it was a miserable, miserable crutch for a college kid who thought he knew much more about sports than he did Shoutout to Mike Rose 8 - You're not paying me because I'm dressed in a suit. You're paying me because I've got a good brain on my shoulders 11 - A writer disguised as an accountant 13 - Having done maybe 20 returns and probably f*cked up half of them, that's when Adam decided he's buying into the family business 17 - I'll promise you, the name Markowitz, it ain't going to be in there anywhere. I want this business to be a lot bigger than me and I want this business to live on a lot longer Shoutout to AJ Campo 21 - How the f*ck do we think we're going to help these people when we don't offer them any help? Shoutout to Netflix, Adam Project, WeCrashed, Adam Newman, TV+ 25 - Does any accountant or tax preparer love themselves on March 21st? Shoutout to Karbon 28 - Why is Adam using Karbon? It keeps his team on task and its automators are absolutely the secret sauce 29 - Adam and his dad's only argument in the 15 years they've been working together was overpaying him Shoutout to Jim Costello 32 - #TaxTwitter Shoutout to Kelly Phillips Erb aka @taxgirl, Jason Staats aka @jstaatscpa, Andrea @andreacpa0, Ed Zollars aka @edzollars, Glen Birnbaum 38 - So what really is an EA? Shoutout to Drake Software, KanyeTax, EasyACCT 42 - Adam's horrible confession re: general ledger Shoutout to Intuit QuickBooks, Xero 44 - By doing the actual manual entry, even though it took more time, I have a lot better understanding about what the client has going on in their business 49 - 2020 was about helping everyone, 2021 was about survival, and 2022 is about the last push of growth 53 - We're headed to a firm that is going to be less about me and more about the community 57 - What is your purpose? 60 - Adam's advice? treat the person on the other side of the table like they're your grandmother --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sonsofcpas/message

The DisruptorsWith Liz Farrfor CPA TrendlinesJason Staats started doing videos at the beginning of the pandemic to quickly share information about the PPP and other relief programs with as many clients as possible. Now, he has an entertaining and informative YouTube channel where he shows how to use his favorite tech tools and a new mission to drive accountants into the future with collaborations and vision.

Accounting High (aka Sons of CPAs Podcast) Season 3 Episode 3 | Recorded May 31, 2022 In this episode, your hosts Scott and Niks discuss repricing hows, whats, whens, and whys. Curious how other firms do it? Is your repricing strategy working? What value-added services do you think your clients would love? Come join us as we find out more about how we can reprice our services and make the whole process easier for your firm and your clients Thank you to our wonderful sponsor, LiveFlow... get 20% off for 3 months with promo code SONS at checkout, go to liveflow.io/sons 2 - Once you price, your job has just started Shoutout to OnPay, Katelyn Hockmeyer 3 - Pricing: the switch from hourly to fixed-fee billing 4 - (re)Pricing our fees to our clients as their business grows (and our firms too) Shoutout to Brandon Hall, Jason Staats, CPA, MBA 6 - Niks shares how her firm handles repricing Shoutout to Ashley Carroll 11 - How can we identify our clients and customize our service to their needs Shoutout to James Ashford 15 - Keeping things slow, steady, and natural Shoutout to Christopher Leon 17 - Repricing woes with our clients 18 - Even if you're not charging more, you should still be adding more value over time Shoutout to Karbon, Ron Baker, Blake Oliver, CPA 22 - Will time tracking be a thing of the past due to Subscription-based billing? 26 - So either they're worried that they made too much or that they didn't make enough and they're shy. It's never just “here's my fucking numbers” 28 - It's easier to sell to your existing clients than it is to get new clients 31 - If they could manage the relationship and they can manage the no's and yes's, and they understand the value that they're bringing, that's not chaotic at all Shoutout to Jeff Phillips, Shane Mason, and AJ 36 - Scott and Niks discuss pricing your clients based on a percentage of their revenue. Scaling with your clients as they grow Shoutout to Ferrari, TheraNest, TherapyNotes, Xero, QuickBooks 38 - The influence of influencers Shoutout to Jody Grunden 43 - How do you pick your niche? Shoutout to Growbots, Madeline Reeves, Fearless Foundry 46 - You always know you're going to get taken care of whenever you use a client's services 49 - Niks and Scott share their firm's MRR... and their one-off compliance work is just icing on the cake Shoutout to Anisha Harjani, Kenji Kuramoto 54 - Stay tuned for more AccountingHigh content. Peace out! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sonsofcpas/message

Season 2 Episode 23 | Recorded February 7, 2022 Guest: Chad Davis, CPA the Co-Founder of LiveCA and Co-Host of AutomationTown Hosts: Zachary Call and Scott Scarano Sponsor: Dark Horse CPAs - abetterway.cpa Listen in as we pick Chad's brain, as there's no shortage of great information up there. How to be intentional and naturally solve problems. Manage a team of over 100ppl. Chad lives in an RV w/ his wife and two kids, down by the river. + what the hell is NO-CODE!? 3 Chad shares how he co-founded LiveCA with Josh Zweig back in 2013. ***Shoutout Josh Zweig, Xero, Will Lopez, and Freshbooks*** 5 Tech & Tax: Chad is the Tech as Josh is the Tax ***Shoutout Johnny McEvoy, Bill Kimball, Herschel Co., Peter Wen, Ryan Lazanis, and Jason Staats*** 9 How Xero has been a bridge that connected all of us in this community. ***Shoutout Maria Phillips, Slack, Dave MacPherson, Donut app*** 13 Chad opens up about how the firm evolves as they add more team members ***Shoutout Baalkis Hassan, Tyler Bradley*** 19 How a 6-week trip turned into 4-years(and counting) on the road ***Shoutout Scout's Barbershop, Kenji Kuramoto*** 23 Try traveling with your toilet, it's insane! It's so good! ***Shoutout outschool.com*** 29 Hiring process: Giving people a chance to test us out is more important than us testing them out ***Shoutout Teach:able, Videoask by Typeform, Trakstar, CloudAccountingJobs.com, Belay*** 38 Zachary asks Chad if they give potential clients the “try before you buy” experience ***Shoutout Bubble, Emily Spanik*** 44 NO-CODE and how Chad and Co were able to create their own tools ***Shoutout Twilio, Make (formerly Integromat), Stripe, Realize, Alex Oxford and TaxValet*** 52 Changing the way we think about employee compensation 53 Being in the New Mexico Desert in an RV... we're getting a Breaking Bad vibe ***Shoutout Ignition, Relay, Fiverr*** --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sonsofcpas/message

Ever wish you could automate sending snail mail without touching a piece of paper? On today's episode, we dive into generating, connecting and snail mailing vulgar bird pics. At the end we get into practical uses of this for your business. SPONSORS: —------------------------------------------Float - https://t.jo.my/float $500 cash back on your first $5,000 spend. Want to sponsor an episode? Contact us at https://t.jo.my/sponsorcontact SHOW NOTES: —------------------------------------------Effin Birds - https://t.jo.my/effinbirds use code ‘uncle' for a special AutomationTown discount. EffinBot - https://t.jo.my/effinbot Zapier - https://t.jo.my/zapier Airtable - https://t.jo.my/airtable Integromat / Make - https://t.jo.my/integromat-make Lob - https://t.jo.my/lobPDF.CO - https://t.jo.my/pdfco Effin Birds RSS (Super Secret, so you can build your own automations) - https://t.jo.my/effinbirdsrssAUTOMATIONTOWN SOCIALS:—------------------------------------------Twitter: https://t.jo.my/twitter Web: https://t.jo.my/automationtown RSS Feed: https://t.jo.my/rss ABOUT HOSTS:—------------------------------------------Jason Staats Twitter: https://t.jo.my/jstaats-twitter Youtube: https://t.jo.my/jason-youtube Chad Davis Twitter: https://t.jo.my/chad-twitter LinkedIn: https://t.jo.my/chad-linkedin AUDIO PRODUCTION:—------------------------------------------Paul O'Mara - https://t.jo.my/paulomara

shout out to our sponsors this week: Xero ... the Sons of CPAs love Xero, if you couldn't tell Gusto's People Advisory Training… go to gusto.com/training and enter Code Sons100 at checkout and you'll get $349 off and some CPE! in this episode, we talk about positioning yourself and your accounting firm in the market #NiksTips for a good Positioning Statement identifying who you want to work with, who do you help? what makes you different, how you can help those clients, what pain points you're solving, what is the emotional payoff for the customer shout outs: EarmarkCPE, cloud accounting podcast, Blake Oliver and David Leary, BNACPA.com, Jason Ackerman, Padgettnc.com/team, Rlz.io, Jason Staats ... and stay tuned for some #StaatSnacks and #CPAliens --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sonsofcpas/message

Believe it or not....tax filing is upon us! The window to e-file your return opens soon. Spoiler alert: filing your tax return this year will cost you more money! The Huddle Guys are joined by Jason Staats, CPA, MBA, a Principal at Benner & Company LLP, a firm which was established in 1946 in Willamette Valley, Oregon. The Huddle Guys and Jason review the 9 Reasons Why Your Tax Professional Will Raise Fees This Year. Filing expense aside, The Huddle Guys discuss other reasons why this filing season may be like none other before. New tax laws, IRS delays/backlog, and a myriad of other issues may make this tax season more challenging than in previous years. Word to the wise: start early this year! Organize your records and work with a CPA. Contact the Huddle Guys for their expert support and services. Do not try to navigate this tax season alone! www.pierreaccounting.com www.iljcpa.com It's time to Huddle Up!

Episode #25 Determined. Agile. Vision. Evolve. (feat. Dave Olsen, CPA) recorded 8/23/2021 Dave Olsen, CPA | CEO Nimbl & Nimbl Staffing South Jordan, UT 2 from Brigham Young University accounting to information systems to programming to EY 5 the CFO of a 5 person startup isn't a full-time job 7 Are you a multitasker or an entrepreneur? 9 from India to the Philippines in 2012… ***shout out to Cathy Tio at Nimbl Staffing*** 10 Putting your business pants on in 2017… ***shout out to Patti Scharf, CPA*** 13 The birth of Tanalytics… the death of Tanalytics… ***shout out to Jason Staats, CPA, MBA*** 15 Where did the name Nimbl come from? 18 Your brand should be a reflection of you…according to Scott Scarano

Brenner CPA - https://www.brennercpa.com/ Realize - https://rlz.io/ Jason Staats, CPA - https://twitter.com/jstaatscpa Sons of CPAs - sonsofcpas@gmail.com (845) 535-1099 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sonsofcpas/message

In order to be completely away from your business for any length of time, you probably need to hire someone. Or maybe a few someones.In the last episode, I talked to Jason Staats about how he uses technology to help him keep his 4 different ongoing projects in maintenance mode, but hiring is also part of his maintenance strategy. He comes up with the ideas, figures out the tools, then hires someone to monitor and maintain. Technology and Team are the two most powerful resources you have when it comes to operating your business in maintenance mode.Technology allows you to make sure your team is doing only the most high-value tasks and having that team in place means that someone is there to monitor the autopilot, make decisions on the fly, and keep the trains rolling. Having a team you can turn to, and someone you can trust to monitor the autopilot can be the last, very critical, piece of maintenance mode. And it's the piece that allows you to truly step away, and know that things are taken care of, even if you aren't there to be the one to take care of them.Meet India Jackson. She's the CEO of Flaunt Your Fire, a brand visibility agency, and co-founder of Pause on the Play, a podcast and community dedicated to visibility and vulnerability for inclusive leaders. India started off her career as a model and bodybuilder and evolved that into an agency where she now leads a team. We talk about her evolution as a leader and how hiring and finding the right fit was critical to the growth of her agency and for her to be able to step back from doing all the things. Listen to the full episode to hear: How India began building a team to fill in gaps in her skill sets, and how her mindset on delegation has changed in her 10+ years in business  Why she hires client support staff for their empathy and not just their resume  How India approaches partnerships and hiring with a values mindset, from full transparency in job listings to explicitly asking about values in interviews Why your brand or company values have to be broken down into actions you take every day, with clarity on what impact you want to have  Learn more about India Jackson: Flaunt Your Fire Pause on the Play Flaunt Your Fire Podcast Pause on the Play Podcast Instagram: @flauntyourfire @pauseontheplay Connect with India on LinkedIn Learn more about Susan: Scalespark.co Twitter @ScaleSpark LinkedIn @thesusanboles Resources: Erica Courdae Break the Ceiling Episode 83: Leveraging People, Processes and Technology with Jason Staats

You can't step away and do something else if everything's going to come to a screeching halt when you do. To be prepared for maintenance mode, you have to figure out how to get the behind-the-scenes systems to operate, consistently, without you.In order to get your business into maintenance mode–and build a stronger business while you're at it–you have to answer the question, "What if I'm not here?"Ideally, the answer is that nothing changes. Invoices still get sent on time, your products and services still get delivered, and the wheels on the bus keep going round and round. That's the goal of maintenance mode, to me. There are some tasks that really don't lend themselves to having a computer do it. But MOST back-end administration of a business can be automated. And for me, automating that back-end tasks means my business won't break if I'm not here for a bit.The other payoff is that even if I AM working in my business, I have time to do other, more interesting things. I could even start another project like my friend Jason did.Jason Staats is a CPA in Salem Oregon. He's principal at Brenner LLP by day, and an accounting tech enthusiast by night. In addition to his CPA firm, he has also started Launch for Accountants, which is a newsletter and website with all the latest software launches. He's built Realize, a community for accountants and he is launching a software product. All those projects he's started and continues to run? He used technology to make that work and keep them all running, even if he's not IN that business all the time. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why creating a single space to gather opportunities and priorities across projects fights overwhelm How knowing what his “anti-goals” help Jason choose which projects to pursue How considering new projects in terms of skills development keeps distraction and shiny object syndrome in check How getting to maintenance mode lets you choose to pursue side projects and shiny objects  Learn more about Jason Staats: Launch for Accountants Realize Follow Jason on Twitter Learn more about Susan: Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable Twitter @ScaleSpark LinkedIn @thesusanboles