Pulse of the Practice

This week Will and Paul sit down with Blake Oliver, host of ‘The Cloud Accounting Podcast’ and also the Marketing Director at Jirav. Blake brings some great insight to using technology for improving the client experience in working with your firm.

Paul and Will are joined this week by Janel Sykora, a veteran in the accounting profession and currently the CMO of TaxExact. Janel shares the value of telling the story of your firm. Listen in to a great conversation about getting started with your story.

This week Will and Paul sit down with Meg Balestrieri, a Senior Consultant with Thomson Reuters who has helped over 150 firms make their transition to advisory. Meg shares her insights on what helps firms be successful, and what challenges firms must face head on as they make the transition.

As we come into this year, there is an increase in a new ‘type’ of entrepreneur – coming from a corporate background of length, rather than a lifelong entrepreneur. This week Will asks Paul about how he is handling those prospects and their needs in a bit of a twist from his tradition new entrepreneur client.

This week Will and Paul sit down with Mark Martukovich and Brittany Lanphier – fresh off the first 2 Partner Summits of the year. Listen in on the takeaways from the event. Haven’t signed up yet? There is still time to catch one! To learn more or register please visit https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/us/en/partner-summits

This week Will and Paul talk about the cultural push of ‘back to normal’ and the dangers that may present to your firm, if you let that mindset seep into client relationships and internal operations. 

This week Will and Paul are joined by Robert Santos and Rory Henry from Arrowroot Family Office to talk about the movement in the accounting profession to including wealth management services in what the firm offers, or at a minimum how they are more involved in decision making with clients. Listen in to hear their perspective. You can find out more about Arrowroot Family Office by visiting https:...

There is a hidden treasure we are all looking for….more bandwidth! And no, we are not talking about internet bandwidth, but capacity in your firm! This week Paul and Will discuss the things Paul is doing within his firm to create more bandwidth. You may be looking for bandwidth to add more clients or to better serve existing clients – either way we hope you pick up some good tips in this episode.

This week Will and Paul are happy to have a great conversation with Gabby Luoma, CEO and co-founder of Mod Ventures, about her firms unique technology first approach to client service, client accounting service and its translation to true advisory service. Listen in and pick up some ideas from one of your peers! You can visit https://modventuresllc.com/ to see more about her firm.

Whew, May 17 th is past! This week Will and Paul talk about the client relationship focus during the summer. Get some ideas from Busines by Design, and keep working on your client relationships.

How big can a small firm be? This week Paul and Will visit with Chris Papin, owner of Papin CPA, to talk about a couple strategies small firms can use to play a big role with their customers.

There is no doubt an elevated level of awareness around mental health and well-being these days. So, what is a firm owner to do? This week Will and Paul are joined by Amber Setter, an executive leadership coach who is also a CPA, to discuss this important topic. You can learn more about Amber by visiting https://www.ambersettercoaching.com/ .

This week Paul and Will are joined by Tom Hood, the Executive Vice President of Growth and Engagement for the AICPA. Those who have heard Tom speak know of his passion around being ‘future ready’ – and we dig into this topic as it relates (related?) to the pandemic. Certainly future ready firms didn’t see the future of the pandemic – but what about being future ready makes you agile when things ar...

This week Paul and Will are joined by Allan Afterman, CPA and author, to talk about business value in privately held companies. We discuss being clear on the purpose for why value matters on a per client basis, and then talk about a few keys to consider as you not only advise, but help implement the right strategies for your clients. You can find some of Allan’s recent work here: Measuring-Managin...

This week Renee Moelders from ConvergenceCoaching is the guest for Will and Paul. Together we talk about concerns and strategies around managing a work force that is mixed between in office and remote – a fact of life for most firms from here forward. In addition to listening for some ideas and inspiration, check out the latest survey results on remote work from ConvergenceCoaching: https://conver...

Ever felt that odd tension as you work with the CFO or lead internal bookkeeper for your client? This week Paul and Will are joined by David Peters, tax practitioner and financial advisor who also hosts the podcast “Accountable” geared at CFOs. Listen to some great ideas for pairing with these key stakeholders in your clients. For more on David Peters, you can visit https://www.davidpetersfinancia...

This week Will and Paul are joined by Samantha Mansfield, industry veteran and founder of Samantha Mansfield LLC. She brings her perspective on where firms should consider spending their training and professional development dollars this year.

With conditions and regulations in what seems to be constant flux, it is more important than ever to manage client expectations. This week Paul shares some things his firm is doing to help manage the shifting expectations, and stay in front of the questions coming their way as a firm.

Communication is important – we already know that! Author and speaker Peter Margaritis joins Will and Paul this week to talk (and laugh) about some things accountants can do to improve their communication.

This week Will and Paul are joined by Michelle Arnold, Executive Director of North America and the Caribbean for Prime Global. She brings her great perspective and insight into what is on firm leaders minds as we start to come out of tax season here in 2021.

This week Will and Paul talk about firm owner’s need to have a plan for their exit. With many owners already thinking of retirement, coupled with the challenges 2020 brought, it is clear that firm owners need to have a plan in place. Paul shares his perspective on two courses of action for owners to evaluate as they consider their journey.

We have discussed the accountants role of being ‘dot connectors’ before – but this week we turn it up a notch as we talk with Jim Hall and Brian Suthoff, co-founders of TallyStreet. We talk about the advisory opportunities found through a managerial focus, not a mere financial focus. Listen in and get some ideas! You can find more about TallyStreet from https://tallystreet.com/

This week Will and Paul chat with Angelic Menegatos, founder of Menegatos Accounting Solutions. Angelic has a unique story as she decided to create her new firm in the summer of 2020 – right in the middle of the pandemic. Listen in as we talk through her story and dig into what motivated her to make this choice in a time of great uncertainty.

Will and Paul sit down this week with Jim Bourke, Managing Director of Advisory Services at Withum. We hope you enjoy this conversation around discovering advisory opportunity within your client base.