Building the Premier Accounting Firm

Think of it, finishing college, working within the community, and then starting your accounting business. Trokon shares with Roger what it took to get the confidence and competence to start the accounting business.  He points out the 3 things that made the difference to insure his success in the first year.  It’s like a franchise without the royalty fees. Trokon is quick to point out that getting clients is priority #1.  Hear the mantra he uses to stay focus and make sure it is a win/win relationship when working with a client. In the process the discuss the Imposter Syndrome and how he was able to work past it to offer his clients the quality accounting services he knows they deserve and get paid what he is worth. This is a fun and informative episode you don’t want to miss.   Your Host: Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center Our Guest: Trokon Pope Trokon Pope is the owner of TRP Accounting Services LLC located in Hightstown, NJ. Trokon is a Certified Professional Tax Preparer, Profit & Growth Expert, Intuit QuickBooks Online Advanced Certified ProAdvisor, Certified Life and Business Coach, and Fathom Advisor. He is a father of three, soon-to-be four, loving boys and the husband to his life partner Deyonna Pope, who is the co-owner of C.O.D.E. 2.0 located in Burlington, NJ. He graduated from Thomas Edison State University located in Trenton, NJ in 2020 with his BSBA in Accounting Studies and opened TRP Accounting Services in September of 2020 which in its first year of operation generated over $60,000 in gross revenue. TRP Accounting Services currently offers bookkeeping, tax planning/preparation for business and individual income tax filers, monthly expert consultations, and many more accounting services. He currently is the Northern Regional Director of Partnership for Successful Living which is a not-for-profit that provides Support Coordination Services to individuals born with a developmental disability. He has been in leadership positions for over 15 years and excels at creating efficient workflows, policies, and procedures. As an accountant, Trokon enjoys working with small to medium size businesses that provides services. His goal is to assist new and current business owners with getting a better understanding of their business’s financial position so they can make better business decisions.    Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to become the premier accounting firm in their area   Offers: Become a Professional Tax Preparer!  Get the training, certification and coaching to offering quality tax planning and preparation services.  Learn what you can also do to automate your market efforts to get the clients you deserve.  Attend this Marketing Webinar & Training Now for free! In addition to offering quality accounting and tax related services you need to also enlighten your clients with CFO Advisory and Coaching Services.  See what you can do improve client relations and retention increasing the revenue per clients as a Profit & Growth Expert. Get a FREE copy of this book all accounting professionals should use to work on their business and become profitable.  This is a must have addition to every accountant’s library to provide to have the premier accounting business today: “in the BLACK, nine principles to make your business profitable”   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE!    Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal.   Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   For more information on how you can apply these principles in your business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 801.265.3777

This is an episode you don’t want to miss.  Tyler has a fascinating story to share.  From the stable corporate job to joining the wife in her accounting business. Roger and Tyler have so much to cover as they discuss: Developing a virtual accounting business, never meeting the client and many of the staff in person but working with them remotely Prequalifying potential clients for consideration.  Although he runs a virtual business he still understands is needs to be personable and based on relationship building We all know this, finding quality staff is a challenge but then we also need to train, manage them while bringing them into the company culture.  Listen as Tyler shares his onboarding process with new employees using a system that is recorded and set for every employee experience. Now let’s talk tech stack, what are the tools to consider in the business to work efficiently and be productive. But what does a successful virtual accounting business look like: Of course we need to offer quality accounting services along that include CFO advisory for the clients to be a full-service accounting firm. You need to consider niching the services offered, picking an industry and then you’ll realize the benefits it brings to the firm and the clients.  Hear the 3 things Tyler feels it helps you achieve! When it comes to marketing he makes a great point, ask yourself how does marketing compare to fishing, knowing the catch and using the right bait? Tyler’s advice, beginning with the end in mind.  What are you really trying to accomplish? Define your scope of services and be willing to say no! In this episode they also does how accounting is changing but not going away, this is still and always will be relationship based.  Just remember to adjust your mindset from a large corporate world to running a small business. You’ll want to hear this amazing discussion with a successful accountant. Your Host: Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center Guest Name: Tyler Otto Tyler D. Otto along with his wife Karen are the owners of Specialty Bookkeeping, LLC, where he has developed a winning formula for an innovative, virtually based accounting and tax firm. His company leverages technology to simplify client’s financial processes, creating greater visibility into their financials and driving profit. He has extensive experience in the finance side of the hotel and tourism industry where he has also served as the Corporate Director of Finance with Imprint Hospitality in 2020. His primary focuses include database architecture, Visual Basic scripting, Forecasting, Budgeting, and Data Mining. His recent activities include doing large financial system migrations for several companies spanning the hospitality to the construction industry. Tyler has a passion for team development and promoting fun and collaborative cultures. He believes that a dedication to continuous improvement and learning is the backbone of any successful venture. He loves helping clients make more money. His career has been focused on serving as a financial analyst and business partner, helping business managers make strategic decisions that will grow their business for years to come. Tyler is a fanatic about making new relationships and collaborating with others on large projects. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife Karen and two children. When he’s not geeking out in Visual Basic, he’s found in the woodshop doing any number of woodworking projects, or on his road bike. Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers: Whether you are starting or ready to build your accounting business, this is the Turnkey Business Plan course designed to help you plan and work ON your business addressing some key areas that need your attention such as marketing, selling, pricing to offering quality accounting services.  Go here to take this course for FREE! Also, when it comes to technology and automation, we need to consider how each can be leveraged to help find and nurture your potential clients.  This is a must-see webinar to help you understand what you can do to get new clients and be paid what you are worth.  Grow your business today applying these important lessons within your company.  Register NOW for this webinar and get the accounting, bookkeeping and tax clients you desire applying prove processes and systems that are effective and inexpensive.   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE!   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   For more information on how you can apply these principles in your business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 801.265.3777

Beyond the work we do and the accounting reports we create we need to find out and understand how useful the information is to our clients.  Think about it.  What are they really paying us for?  In fact, what are we doing to generate for them a 5 Star Experience? Roger and Tyler have an interesting discussion that we each should consider as we remember what our relationships are and should be with our clients Listen and learn the 3-step process to improve client appreciation and retention.  You’ll want to be ready to take some good notes. Your Host: Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center Our Guest: Tyler Small Tyler has created learning experiences for over 100,000 people, published 2 books, hosted over 50 podcast episodes, and has coached hundreds of leaders. He specializes in coaching "numbers people" to build better business relationships. He is the founder and CEO of “The 5-Star Approach”. The mission of “The 5-Star Approach” is to catalyze one million 5-Star Relationships. Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers: Reach out to work on your personal and professional relationships, Tyler is offering a complimentary 15-minute consultation that you don’t want to miss. You can sign up by visiting www.5StarApproach.com today!   Leverage your marketing efforts using technology to get the clients you deserve. This is a webinar you don’t want to miss. From marketing to sales there is a turnkey process you can use to improve your tax, bookkeeping and accounting client acquisition to get you the work you need and get paid what you are worth. Register and Attend NOW!   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE!   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   For more information on how you can apply these principles in your business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 801.265.3777

Do you know the 4-part questions to use to determine if someone qualifies for the R&D tax credit? This conversation with Adam and Roger is going to be enlightening both personally and professionally.  I’m sure you’ll get some great notes from this. Also, how many of this have said to our spouse “Heh Hon, I’m going to start a business, “trust me I have a plan”, there’s this opportunity and I know what I’m doing? As accounting professionals, it makes sense we’d create the business plan & proforma.  But what happens when things don’t go as planned?  Are you ready to pivot and following the numbers?  Marketing can change so we need to be ready and willing to go where the clients are. Adam shares some great ideas and shares some good examples. Enjoy this next episode of this podcast, building the premier accounting firm! Your Host: Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center Our Guest: Adam Farnsworth, CPA Adam Farnsworth has been working as a CPA since 2015 after he completed his master's degree at the University of Utah and his undergraduate degree at Colorado State University. As the founder of Leaf Specialty Tax Consultants, he has built a team that saves companies millions of dollars annually by identifying tax credit savings. Leaf Specialty Tax Consultants was born after founder Adam Farnsworth saw a need for businesses to have a better way to access and claim Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credits. Across the United States, companies are using innovation, technology, and research to make the world a better place. By creating a consulting business for R&D Tax Credit, LEAF wants to provide a way for businesses to have the advantage of a tax credit expert to provide computation and substantiation guidance surrounding Section 41 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and affiliated code sections, court cases, regulations, and affiliated state tax credits. Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers: Speak with Adam regarding the possibilities related to R&D tax credits.  You can reach him directly or schedule a time that is convenient for you at: https://leaftaxconsultants.com/contact-us/ https://calendly.com/afarnsworth-1/r-d-tax-credit-free-consultation   Book recommendation mentioned in the discussion, A legal guide to research and development by Alex Sadler. Off quality tax services becoming a certified Professional Tax Preparer, PTP   As you work ON your business consider applying the proven principles from The Turnkey Business Plan for a successful accounting, bookkeeping & tax business.  Creating your proforma.   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE!   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   For more information on how you can apply these principles in your business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 801.265.3777

Do we really understand the purpose of the US tax code?  Often our clients are frustrated with the laws and how it affects them individually. Can you explain to them why it is and how they can legally minimize their tax liability?  Steve & Roger have an informative and fun discussion about starting a tax career, the struggles opening a tax business and the successes that followed.  This is a journey you need to hear. Listen for how you can also become a professional and accessible as a tax preparer, it’s what our clients need.   Your Host: Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center Our Guest: Stephen M. Moskowitz Steve Moskowitz knows that clients’ lives – and livelihoods – can be upended or even destroyed when tax trouble arises. As a tax attorney for more than 30 years, Steve has made it is his personal mission to help business owners and individual clients successfully resolve tax issues and go on with their lives. With extensive knowledge of tax law, a desire for swift and vigorous defense, and decades of experience with tax authorities and in the courts, he has an unusually perceptive judgment in assessing the best way forward, and the right resources to achieve resolution. Steve started Moskowitz LLP because he saw that while big corporations were consistently navigating the tax code to their advantage, smaller businesses and individuals were not. With prior experience as a CPA at a national accounting firm, and with extensive experience in the corporate world, Steve knew he could help smaller businesses and individuals by applying what he knew, and wanted to make the critical difference in businesses and individual lives that protected them from the powerful government and enabled them to keep and enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of work that otherwise could be taken away from clients by the government in just one action. Today – together with a full team of tax attorneys, CPAs, enrolled agents and other professional staff – Moskowitz LLP helps business and individual clients across the country and overseas to resolve a wide variety of tax matters. The Moskowitz LLP team also creates strategies to utilize the tax code and relevant treaties to clients’ benefit, and provides ongoing tax support and tax return preparation. Steve understands that clients need high quality representation but do not have unlimited budgets, and that cost predictability is important. Unlike most firms, their clients pay a flat fee and are not subject to hourly rates. Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers:   Reach out to Steve directly with any questions you may have.  He’s offered to help Accounting professionals with your legal questions:  steve@moskowitzllp.com OR call 888-tax-deal   It’s also time to become a certified Professional Tax Preparer, PTP.  Get the training and certification to show you are proficient in tax planning and preparation for both individual and business returns.  Also gain the confidence to start and build your business offering quality tax services.  Realize this, you can be in business for yourself but not by yourself with Universal.   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE!   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   For more information on how you can apply these principles in your business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 801.265.3777

For Shannon working with clients involves more than just providing quality reports, it’s doing so much more than the client initially expects. Listen as Roger and Shannon consider what bookkeeping is today and how it can be so much more when we consider engaging with clients as their CFO, advisor and coach.  Ask yourself this, what perspective do you bring to the relationship and what suggestions do you offer? Moving beyond bookkeeping, accounting to offer CFO related advisory and coaching services is a continuous and deliberate exercise. Consider pricing your services profitably, over delivering and so much more. This is a conversation you don’t want to miss.  Get ready to take some notes. Your Host: Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center Our Guest: Shannon Beck Shannon Beck is the President of Professional Accounting Solutions, Inc. Shannon is a Management Accountant, a Professional Bookkeeper, and a Profit Expert. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 2001 and co-founded his company in 2004 with his wife Tina who is the Vice-President and CFO of Professional Accounting Solutions. He has served as an official judge for Grow America Ventures to support entrepreneurs and he hosted his first event with Billionaire Alan E. Hall as his keynote speaker. He has been running Professional Accounting Solutions now for 17 years. Shannon loves working with small to medium size businesses who want to increase financial performance. Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers: Professional Accounting Solutions is offering a 30-Minute Q&A Consulting Session on “How to obtain higher quality clients to get paid what you’re worth.” Learn how to confidently and competently offer quality accounting services at a price you deserve. Get better quality clients and spend less time working.    Visit their website at www.TheProfitExperts.com or email Shannon@TheProfitExperts.com to arrange for a 30-minute Q&A Consulting Session.  Each 30-minute Q&A Consulting Session is $150.00.  However, if you schedule your Q&A session using the Promotional Code: ProfitExperts365 you will get a 50% discount on your first 30-minute session.    Also get a FREE copy of this book all accounting professionals should use to work on their business and become profitable.  This is a must have addition to every accountant’s library to provide to have the premier accounting business today: “in the BLACK, nine principles to make your business profitable” – e-book   Lastly, get the support you need to be in business for yourself but not by yourself with Universal.  This is The Advanced Coaching for accounting professionals.  The mentoring, support and coaching owners of accounting business need!     For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE! Join us for our next LIVE event, register Today!   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   For more information on how you can apply these principles in your business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 801.265.3777

We each have our story and Lindsay is no different.  Bookkeeping at age 12, death of a spouse, starting college late and opening her bookkeeping business while in school.  She has done so much and is willing to share. Lindsay and Roger discuss the experiences we have in life and what we can do to make lemonade.  We all have choices to make and opportunities to embrace.  Listen as they cover what clients need to receive from us as bookkeeping experts to retain them.  Also pay attention to the two sales tips. You don’t want to miss this great episode. Also listen for the special offer related to tech stacks and the use of automation to nurture your leads to become clients. Your Host: Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center Our Guest: Lindsay Kline Lindsay Kline is the President of her bookkeeping practice, Sakline (suh-kline), Founder of the Bookkeepers Club networking group, and the host of the By the Books podcast. Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers: As mentioned, we’d like to also Invite to listen to Lindsay’s podcast, By the Books on: Spotify Apple Google YouTube   Also, how are you leveraging your social media presence, developing your tech stack to automate your tasks related to marketing and sales to building your list of clients?  Great questions!   Don’t miss this informative webinar to help you understand and apply proven principles to get the clients you deserve and get paid what you are worth.  LISTEN NOW to this great presentation!   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE!   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   For more information on how you can apply these principles in your business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 801.265.3777

After years of service in the military and life experiences Richard shares what he has learned and how it applies in business.  This is a great conversation and adaptation that we all need to hear. Listen as Roger discusses with Richard the two things that he feels he learned from his military service that he applies daily in his life personally and professionally.  He is spot on! They also share their thoughts related to helping and serving others.  How it is fulfilling and why we should each find opportunities to give back. Lastly, you need to hear about the Universal CFO Simulator and how it can help business leaders, accounting professionals learn how to apply strategic business principles in practice and then in real life.  You are going to love it.   Your Host: Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center Guest Name: Richard Crawshay Richard is a Senior Business Executive with 40+ years of experience in general management, operational management, business transformation, program management, outsourcing & organizational leadership. He has been a British Army Officer, a management consultant, an IT executive, and a High School science teacher and is currently the Chief Commercial Officer for PBS. He has worked on 3 continents, operated at account, country, sub-regional, regional & global levels in both the private and public sectors. He has demonstrated significant success in turnaround situations and transformation initiatives with an emphasis on effectives and efficiency. Colleagues would characterize him as an inspirational leader, ambitious but loyal with a laser focus on results and adept at creating the conditions for their individual and collective success. He has honed his skill in being able to rapidly structure problems, design solutions & then implement them. He lives in SW Ontario in Canada with his second wife Maria and has 3 adult children from his previous marriage. He is a keen daily runner who enjoys snow skiing and reading. Company Summary - At ProfitAbility we accelerate performance by providing highly engaging, competitive and unpredictable learning experiences which prepare people to solve real problems. We don’t teach. We don’t do case studies. We don’t do slideshows. We rapidly enable people to “learn by doing”. Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers: Experience the art of business participating in the Universal CFO Simulator.  This is a fun, interactive course for business leaders and accounting professionals to learn and apply strategic business principles.  In addition to learning these important elements of business you’ll also participate in a competitive game as you apply what you learn as a team of business executives.  Register NOW using this coupon cfo50 and get ready for this amazing training.   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE!   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   For more information on how you can apply these principles in your business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 801.265.3777

Why is it we each enjoy a great story?  From plays, to shows and movies we are drawn to stories we relate to, in fact, we are especially drawn to those we can see ourselves relating to the heroes. So how does this apply to marketing accounting services? Listen as Aleya and Roger discuss a proven framework that you can apply story telling principles to the narrative we tell in our marketing to help clients relate better to what we do and how in time it can benefit them. It’s time to grow the business, help the clients we have and empower them to become the heroines they are.  So, which mentor or guide are you for your accounting, bookkeeping and/or tax clients? Your Host: Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center Our Guest: Aleya Harris Aleya Harris, CPCE is a powerhouse Storybrand Certified Guide, empire-building owner of Flourish Marketing, award-winning marketer, sought-after speaker, mic-drop copywriter, and woo enthusiast. She’s committed to helping entrepreneurs get out of the never-ending grind so they can tap into their heart’s purpose and live a life that uplifts their soul. Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers: Book Recommendations: The Hero with a Thousand Faces ·       Unleash the Power of Storytelling: Win Hearts, Change Minds, Get Results   Be sure to learn and apply the principles found in the Turnkey Business Plan to help accounting professionals have the premier accounting firm in their area.   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE!   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe. For more information on how you can apply these principles in your business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 801.265.3777

Listen as Alyssa shares her story along with the lessons learned to build a successful accounting business. Alyssa and Roger discuss the unforeseen challenges and the corresponding solutions to address each.  From workflow, systems to client relations and everything in between. Consider this, finding someone to be front facing and interacting with clients in a way that meets our expectations and standards can be a hard, but they do exist.  We can build a business that thrives without us working within it doing the day-to-day tasks. Sit back and enjoy the conversation in this next episode of “Building the Premier Accounting Firm”.   Your Host: Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center Guest Name: Alyssa Lang  Alyssa, aka the Workflow Queen, teaches bookkeepers and accountants how to utilize tech and automation to create better workflows, systems, and processes. As a result, they can run their practices on autopilot, stress less and save time!   After being in the accounting world for five years, Alyssa struggled with streamlining her practice. She felt frustrated and nervous and couldn’t sleep at night not knowing where her client work would come from. She was overwhelmed by all the daily tasks, lost track of work and just couldn’t keep up.   Alyssa hit a wall and decided to make a change, so she started to automate her practice by creating workflows, systems, and processes. She was then able to run her practice and take on more clients, scale and provide excellent service in the process! These days Alyssa’s a full-time educator. She’s also an Asana Certified Pro and her courses and resources have helped hundreds of bookkeepers and accountants worldwide!   Fun fact: Alyssa’s a certified skydiver and is obsessed with great white sharks + is mildly OBSESSED with Deadpool!   Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers: Click HERE to register for the Breakthrough for Bookkeepers & Accountants group coaching program that will begin its first cohort on November 1, 2021. This program is meant to help bookkeepers and accountants to scale bigger, hire better and breakthrough to the next level. We will be providing weekly coaching calls with myself and my team, there will be a program included, homework reviews, detailed assets to use to build next level systems and operations for their firm. The intention of this program is to help gear them to creating a firm that can run without them.  Also learn more about the tech stack you should be using to effectively market your business to get the clients you deserve.  Attend this information packed webinar which is the Turn-Key System to get tax and accounting clients.  In it you will learn how to leverage your online presence to get new clients.  There is a Turnkey Business Plan for accounting professionals to help you run a success Virtual Bookkeeping business.   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals check out this collection HERE!   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   For more information on how you can apply these principles in your business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 801.265.3777