Creative Agency Success Show

"In our industry, we're always looking at what can save time and what's not going to break down all the time” - Jody Grunden The finer details of this episode  Understanding your company's needs to find the right solution for you How to choose the best vendor for your company Things to consider before  saying "yes" to a vendor How Summit CPA Group weeds out all propos...

Quote “If you want to be a big business that continues to grow with some scale, then you need to learn how to use these.” - Stephen Pope The finer details of this episode  How video helps you connect to your audience Why it's important to incorporate a video marketing strategy into your social media and other marketing efforts in general How to be comfortable in video Tips on getting your ver...

Quote “One of the partners there was sharing that their firm no longer has an overdraft thanks to using our payment plans” - Bruce Coombes   The finer details of this episode  What is QuickFee What are the three payment solutions offered by QuickFee Advantages of using QuickFee How it helped firms collect payments faster How QuickFee can help enhance your relationship with your client   Episode re...

Quote “Let’s build the plan and plug the engineers into the plan instead of the other way around.” - Casey Cobb    The finer details of this episode  How the beginning of this client relationship changed the way we pitched Casey’s amazing backstory and how a virtual CFO was able to help him through challenging times The 80/20 rule, Parkinson's Law, and how Casey implemented them into his busi...

Quote “Taking this time and investment in your team will show dividends in the future.” - Zach   The finer details of this episode  How to choose the right venues, restaurants, and activities for the group Tips for structuring the content of your company retreat Balancing team-building and business development activities Choosing the right location for your retreat The importance of working with t...

Quote “This applies to more agencies than not, and if you don’t ask you are not going to receive.” - Dave Danic    The finer details of this episode  The four parts of qualifying for the R&D tax credit What if you are a Canadian-based company with USA operations?  Things that might exclude you from the tax credit  Extra steps you can take to make sure you get the credit  How to find a tax acco...

Quote “The key to keeping employees happy is to get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats.” - Tom Barrett   The finer details of this episode  How to keep your employees happy  Using accountability charts to get everyone into “the right seat”  Processes for transitioning and onboarding employees into their roles  Making sure that everyon...

Quote “We were growing, I was wearing a lot of hats, and I started to realize our finances should be doing better.” - Greg Bear    The finer details of this episode  How Bear Group got started and their experience as a remote company  Their process of hiring a CFO  How Summit CPA has helped Bear Group to uplevel their business  New financial management tricks Greg learned during the onboarding pro...

Quote “Scope out the wifi situation before you arrive somewhere. The worst workweeks have been when I had to use my phone hotspot to work.” - Mikala Paige    The finer details of this episode  Angie and Mikala’s stories and how they joined Summit CPA  Tips for creating a remote/travel lifestyle  Things to research before moving to a new location  How Angie worked from a van  Having a social life w...

Quote “The time you spend on EOS tools, you are going to save that time and more in the long run.” - Tom Barrett   The finer details of this episode  How to determine if your organization needs EOS  The process of implementing EOS  Advantages of working with an EOS implementer  The six key components of EOS  Setting priorities using the EOS model    Episode resources Summit CPA website - www.summi...

Quote “We need to be committed to the boring stuff in our business because it is the backbone of how everything runs.” - Emily Morgan    The finer details of this episode  Tips for small businesses on delegating their admin tasks  Advantages of having a virtual assistant  How to start delegating some of your admin work in your business  How to get comfortable letting go of tasks in your business ...

Quote “Intentionally fostering serendipity in a distributed company will help keep isolation at bay.” - Matt Westgate   The finer details of this episode  What brought Matt to Summit CPA  Why Lullabot decided to become a distributed company  The benefits of working with a distributed team Maintaining company culture when your team is distributed The evolution of the Lullabot leadership team  How M...

Quote “If you don’t have the gross profit to support the bottom line, then you aren’t going to have a bottom line.” - Kristen Reinking   The finer details of this episode  The three meetings every organization should have about their finances How often to have meetings about your finances  Using the IDS model in your financial meetings Who is normally in each meeting  How the size of your organiza...

Quote “The most important thing is to build a short-term cash flow forecast to know what you are working with.” - Jamie Nau   The finer details of this episode  Cash flow - the most common issues we help our clients with as CFOs  What factors could contribute to your cash flow issues  Preparing your firm for taxes  Ownership issues and how we handle them with our clients  Things to consider about...

Quote “We split out the different types of profit in order to focus our conversations.” - Jamie Nau   The finer details of this episode  What “cost of goods” means for agencies and media companies How to separate your production costs on your payroll The most common conversations we have with our clients about gross profit Hiring contractors vs employees and how that affects your gross profit   Ep...

Quote “It’s important to understand your company before setting your average bill rate. You might have an advantage if you can charge less and make more.” - Jody Grunden   The finer details of this episode  When it’s ok to lower your average bill rate  How to use your average bill rate for pricing  The importance of having a project manager involved in the sales conversation  The difference betwee...

Quote “Documentation is key when it comes to calculating how much forgiveness you have.” - Jamie Nau    The finer details of this episode  Changes related to compensation of employees and owners  Rules for bonus and hazard pay for your employees  Limits on owner compensation  Changes that self-employed and partner filers can expect  What this means for you based on your number of employees  Rehiri...

Quote “We are trying to learn about a candidate, know how they are going to fit into the culture, and know how they are going to do the job in a very small amount of time.” - Zach   The finer details of this episode  How Summit CPA has struggled in the past with hiring  The hiring assessments that Zach introduced to Summit CPA  Why Emotional Intelligence is such an important factor in a potential...

Quote “Don’t try to game the system with these. The government is going to be really scrutinizing the details with this.” - Jody Grunden   The finer details of this episode  Which expenses are included in loan forgiveness What you should do if your business uses contractors  How to approach documentation  What you need to know about the regulations and guidelines  The timing and process to obtain...

Quote “The first thing you want to do is identify what you think is going to happen over the next 2-3 months.” - Jody Grunden   The finer details of this episode  The main things to look at in your forecast when your business is struggling  How often to look at your forecast when times are tough  The 15% net income model and how you can use your forecast to achieve it  A walkthrough of how we are...

Quote “You are not trying to just increase your top-line revenue. Your bottom line needs to be increasing too.” - Jody Grunden   The finer details of this episode  How Summit CPA used forecasting to help a client double their revenue  What part of your business to work on in order to create growth  Determining if you have the capacity to grow the way you want to  The “Four Levers of Growth” that y...

Quote “It doesn’t make sense to drain your cash in order to save for taxes” - Jody Grunden   The finer details of this episode  Tax laws and how to follow them  Cash-based vs accrual-based  What you can do to lower your tax bill  How to forecast your tax bill  What creative agencies need to know about their taxes  Is it your location or the client’s locations that matter?    Episode resources Summ...

Quote “Creating a dedicated space for your work is one of the most essential things you can do when working from home.” - Adam Hale    The finer details of this episode  How Summit CPA became a virtual company Work from home tips from the Summit CPA team Perks of working from home Our favorite tools for working online How this can actually be a blessing in disguise for your company How to support...

Quote “The fact that you created a process is more important than what process you use. What matters is that you have a process.” - Jamie Nau    The finer details of this episode  How often you should be looking at your bank balance How to determine your inflow to start a cash flow forecast  How to forecast your outflows  Reasons you should reconcile your account as often as possible  Why your bus...

Quote “When you have a lot of recurring revenue, you are able to increase your capacity for more projects and take more risks.” - Adam Hale    The finer details of this episode  How Summit CPA started with recurring revenue streams  How the subscription based model solved many of the problems we faced early on in business  Different ways that marketing firms can take advantage of the recurring rev...