The Wize Way

What does it actually look like to build a hiring process for your accounting firm that finds the right person every time, without expensive software, without guesswork, and without starting from scratch every time a role opens up? In this session, Dani and Kristy from the Wize team break down exactly how to take the chaos out of hiring, whether you are doing it yourself or working with a talent t...

From 3 people to 18. From one city to 10 states. From doing all the work to building a team that runs without you. Jeremy Eckert from Trail CPA has done what most firm owners are still trying to figure out, and in this episode, he breaks down exactly how it happened. In this conversation, Jeremy sits down with us for an honest reflection on what it really takes to grow a remote accounting firm at...

200 episodes. 21,950 downloads, over 40 countries. And it all started with a simple idea to help accounting firm owners build better businesses and better lives. To mark this milestone, Bren Ward sits down with Jamie Johns for a candid reflection on the lessons that have shaped the Wize Way, the ones that matter most right now, and the mindset that separates firm owners who break free from those w...

Avoid the mistake of thinking that working harder is the path to freedom, or you will keep trading your time for money while the business stays completely dependent on you. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, Ed Chan sits down with Bren Ward to unpack the real reason most accounting firm owners never buy back their time. It is not a systems problem or a staffing problem. It is a thinking prob...

Avoid the mistake of collecting timesheet data and doing nothing with it, or you will keep running a firm that feels busy but cannot tell you whether it is actually profitable. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, Thomas breaks down the metrics that sit beneath your Fab Five and shows you how to use them to diagnose exactly where your firm is leaking money. ✅ What recoverable rate actually me...

Avoid the mistake of posting a job ad before you know what you are actually looking for, or you will either attract the wrong people entirely or watch great candidates talk themselves out of applying before they even reach out. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, Danny Bray breaks down exactly what makes a job ad work, and what quietly kills your chances of finding the right person before the...

Avoid the mistake of blaming the market every time a hire does not work out, or you will keep repeating the same costly cycle without ever fixing the real problem underneath it. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, Ed Chan sits down with Bren Ward to cut through the noise on what is actually driving the people challenge in accounting firms right now. ✅ Why AI will not make accountants redunda...

Avoid the mistake of rushing into a hire without a clear process — or you'll end up paying the price with bad hires, wasted time, and the whole exhausting cycle starting over again. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast , the Dani Bray breaks down their proven step-by-step hiring blueprint so you can find the right person every time. ✅ The capacity planner that tells you exactly what role...

Scaling your firm requires more than just generating leads, the services you offer determine whether growth is actually possible. If your model is built around high-end advisory work that only you can deliver, there's a hard ceiling on how far you can go. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, Wize Growth mentor Jamie Johns breaks down how to build a service model designed for scale: ✅ Why...

Building a thriving accounting firm is impossible without the right systems - but most firm owners are still creating SOPs from scratch, one painful document at a time. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, Kristy and the Wize Team break down the real secret to scaling your firm without chaos and it all comes down to building a centralised policy factory. ✅ Why having an SOP for your SOPs is t...

Remote work sounds like the dream but without the right communication rhythms and cadences, even the best accounting teams fall apart. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast , Dani and the Wize Team break down the real secret to making remote and hybrid work actually work and it all comes down to communication rhythms and cadences. ✅ Why senior staff thrive remotely but juniors struggle (and wha...

You're doing everyone else's job but your own. Client requests pile up, tasks that should belong to your team keep landing on your desk, and no matter how hard you work, the list never gets shorter. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, we break down a powerful delegation framework that helps firm owners finally get the right work to the right hands: ✅ Why 80% of what you do daily pr...

Is your team “busy” but still out of sync, because nobody has a simple daily rhythm to align priorities and surface issues early? Most firm owners try to fix productivity with bigger meetings, more tools, or more chasing. The result is the same: scattered communication, silent bottlenecks, and leaders carrying the mental load of the whole firm. A Daily Huddle solves that by creating a short, repea...

Is your firm suffering unnecessary churn because you’ve lost real connection with your staff? Most firm owners try to grow their teams without ever building the connection rhythms that actually keep people engaged. The result? Surprise resignations, scattered communication, and leaders stretched thin trying to hold everything together. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, the Wize coaching tea...

Are you tracking dozens of numbers but still unsure how your firm is really performing? More data does not equal more clarity. What matters is knowing which five metrics actually drive decisions. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast , Wize Mentor Thomas breaks down the Fab 5, the five high-level KPIs every firm owner should be watching if they want clarity, control, and sustainable growth: ✅ W...

Are you keeping track of the metrics that actually drive profit and control…  or getting sidelined by vanity metrics that make you feel busy? In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast , Thomas breaks down the Fab 5 KPIs and why they’ve been refined over the last 10–15 years into a simple scoreboard that gives firm owners a full-spectrum view of how the business is really performing. You’ll learn: ✅...

Most firm owners don’t hit a growth ceiling because they lack talent in their team. They hit it because they haven’t built ownership in their team yet.  The result? Managers who stay dependent. Performance conversations that feel emotional. And a firm that can’t scale because everything still rolls back up to the owner. In this Wize Coaching Call, Tim breaks down the simplest (and most powerful) l...

Most firm owners try to scale by tracking more numbers yet still feel stuck in the weeds. The result? KPI overload, inconsistent results, and a business that still depends too heavily on the owner. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast , we unpack how SOPs are the missing link between KPIs and real performance. Not as paperwork, but as the operational muscle that turns targets into daily behavio...

Most firm owners think leadership is about driving harder, fixing problems faster, and holding everything together themselves. But real freedom doesn’t come from doing more, it comes from lifting others to lead. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast , Jane Pollard shares an honest reflection on leadership, legacy, and what changes when a firm owner stops centering the business around themselves...

Most firm owners think pricing is a “numbers problem”… so they copy what the last accountant charged, slap on a fixed fee, and hope it works out. The result? Scope creep, shrinking margins, and a team that’s flat-out busy while the profit quietly disappears. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, Bren Ward sits down with Jamie Johns to break down the Wize approach to pricing, including: ✅ Why C...

Most firm owners try to improve performance by pushing harder, hiring more, or firefighting their way through the week. But the real bottleneck isn’t effort - it’s the lack of structure. Without clear systems and consistent meetings, your team is left guessing, and you end up carrying the weight alone. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast , we break down how effective meetings become the backbo...

Most firm owners try to “scale the business” by working harder or hiring faster - but never fix the structural ceiling that keeps them stuck.  The result? Constant firefighting, team bottlenecks, unpredictable results, and a firm that can’t run without them. In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast , we break down the real blueprint behind building a scalable, self-running firm - the same principle...

Most firm owners hear the noise about AI and panic. They’re told their jobs are disappearing and the industry is on borrowed time. But the reality is simpler: AI isn’t replacing accountants,  it’s reshaping how firms think, make decisions, and deliver value. In this episode, Brenton Ward and Thomas Phabmixay break down what AI actually does in a firm, why it’s more “translation engine” than threat...

 Most firm owners don’t realise they’re the most expensive employee in their own business. They jump into client work thinking they’re helping — but every time they do, the firm’s most valuable time is spent on the least leveraged task. In this episode, Ed Chan breaks down why firm owners should never be billable. He explains how doing client work turns your time into the most expensive cost in th...

Firm owners don’t realise they’re building a business that depends on them because they never truly delegate. They hand off tasks thinking they’re freeing themselves but without training, clarity, and follow-up, the work boomerangs right back, and the cycle of overwhelm continues. In this episode, Ed Chan breaks down the difference between delegation and abdication. He explains why doing 100 perce...