Accounting Leaders Podcast

Seth Fineberg, Owner of Accountants Forward LLC and a veteran journalist in the accounting field, discusses his mission to connect tech vendors with accountants effectively. He emphasizes the growing importance of trust in customer relationships and how tech vendors can support small businesses. Seth reflects on his transition from journalism to accounting, shares insights on the transformative impact of automation, and outlines his plans to launch a content platform to elevate the profession.

Alasdair McGill, Managing Director at Ashton McGill brings his client Colin Munro, Founder of Miconex, to share the journey they went on together that turned a small, local Scottish startup into growing global business.How Alasdair developed a service-oriented mindset at EY (02:00)Bringing a bespoke designer approach to accounting at Ashton McGill (04:34)Colin's journey from marketing to restaurants to a small business startup (07:30)The accelerated consumer desire to support the local economy (17:00)How Colin's firm, Miconex, is making it easy to shop local (18:55)When an accountant becomes a part of your firm's DNA (26:55)Do good work for good people (38:20)Where the future lies for Ashton McGill and Miconex (39:00)

Jennie Moore wears two professional hats: one as an accounting firm owner, the other as Ignition's Partnerships Manager. In this episode, Jennie joins Stuart to discuss all things accounting and technology—from what can be done to make the accounting industry attractive again, to how technology can be used to augment accountants' capacity.When Jennie met Stuart (00:45)Balancing life as Ignition's Partnership Manager and accounting firm owner (02:30)'Numbers accountants' vs. 'purpose accountants' (07:00)How to make accounting sexy again (09:45)Finding unexpected talent (14:00)Technology's role in augmenting accountants' capabilities (18:00)Knowing your ideal clients and sticking to your principles (20:00)Jennie's plan to ensure data integrity at her firm (24:00)How in-person events encourage deeper personal connections (28:50)

Anton Colella's journey in accounting is unconventional. After 18 years as a religious teacher, he joined Scotland's Institute of Chartered Accountants and later became the CEO of Moore Global, one of the world's largest accountancy networks. In this episode, Anton shares his story as a religious teacher, a leader, and a man with a strong sense of a higher purpose.Episode notes:Anton's 18 years as a religious teacher and a sports coach (01:00)The profound fulfillment of being an educator (04:00)How a major crisis in the Scotland education system incidentally changed Anton's professional path (07:15)Transferring his persuasion skills from teaching to management (09:00)Changing the world by healing one broken childhood at a time (10:15)Anton's mission to bring social responsibility back to the accounting profession (17:30)Factors that influence the perception and growth of the profession (19:00)The importance of purpose and culture in an accounting firm (28:00)A leader's responsibility to help people and organizations go from good to great (34:00)

Candy Bellau grew up with an unconventional father who applied his genius in all the wrong ways. In this episode, Candy candidly shares how others' mistakes enlightened her to live a life of integrity, and what she's doing to maintain work-life balance for herself and her staff.Learning how to do bookkeeping at 14 years old (01:20)Uncovering major accounting fraud while working as a bookkeeper (03:00)How Candy's evil genius father shaped her moral and ethical codes (05:00)Reconnecting with her father on his deathbed (12:00)Candy's accidental involvement with a check-kiting scheme (18:00)A brief stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia (22:00)How Candy put a fraudulent executive behind bars (25:00)Finding a new sense of purpose as a coach (29:00)Putting family first, not just for the owner, but for every staff member (32:00)

Carla Caldwell, Stuart's long-time friend and ex-colleague, joins him for a delightful conversation about her journey in accounting, accounting technology, consulting, and entrepreneurship.Reminiscing together (00:05)How family and mentors influenced Carla's accounting journey (01:55)Finding her superpower in accounting and technology (05:20)The game-changing opportunity to be a part of Xero's early days in the US (12:10)Carla's post-Xero venture as technology and process consultant for accountants (21:20)Harnessing the power of technology (rather than resisting it) (24:00)How the accounting industry might solve the talent challenge (27:30)Building meaningful, personal connections with your staff (30:00)How the 'Working Geniuses' model uplifts her staff (34:00)Carla's most memorable clients (38:30)

Rob Santos and Rory Henry of Arrow Root Family Office join Stuart to discuss how accountants are primed to be strategic advisors in the wealth and family management space.Together, they talk about:Why accountants are well-positioned to get involved in wealth management (02:15)The origin story of Arrowroot Family Office (07:00)Creating a personalized financial advisory experience (09:40)Diversifying an accountant's portfolio with wealth management (12:00)Are accountants the future of investment advisory? (15:30)How accountants can add value to a holistic financial plan (28:06)Planning for succession as firm owners (32:00)

Meghan Blair lives and works in Nantucket, Massachusetts, a tourist town with a close-knit community. In this episode, Meghan and Stuart discuss COVID's impact on seasonal economies, what accounting professionals can do to help, and an exciting update for Meghan's firm—Fogged in Bookkeeping.The unforgettable experience of living on a cattle farm in Australia (03:17)The cultural and economic diversity in Nantucket, Massachusetts (09:20)COVID's impact on service-based, seasonal economies (12:57)Building sustainability, and social responsibility metrics into accounting processes (15:10)How COVID accelerated innovative, data-driven problem-solving in Nantucket's food and hospitality industry (18:29)Growing a remote accounting firm before it was popular (24:07)Karbon's instrumental role in Meghan's bookkeeping practice (29:00)Fogged in Bookkeeping's merger with GrowthLab (30:00)

Stefan van Duyvendijk is the Accounting Operations Evangelist at FloQast. In this episode, Stefan chats with Stuart about the pains that drove FloQast's founders to building their own solution, and what sets the company apart from its competitors in the marketplace.Together, Stefan and Stuart discuss:Living and skiing in Utah (02:00)A fed-up accountant's quest for changing the status quo (05:32)Stefan's career journey before FloQast (08:08)Adopting new skill sets as a brand evangelist (12:09)How FloQast is redefining accounting operations (14:12)FloQast's 2023 strategic plan (21:00)Building a user-centric product (23:51)What's next for Stefan (27:20)

Natalie Lennon, accounting firm owner, automation guru and podcaster, joins Stuart to discuss her career journey that led to Two Sides Accounting. They also chat about the talent shortage and what Natalie is doing to live the '4-day work week dream'.Natalie’s winding journey in accounting (2:00)Becoming a partner at 28 years old (6:10)The light-bulb moment that birthed Two Sides Accounting (7:15)A passion for working with startups and progressive businesses (9:00)Work smarter, not harder through automation (10:00)The talent shortage and coming full circle around remote work (13:30)COVID's financial impact on small businesses (17:00)Setting boundaries to enable the ‘4-day work week dream' (21:55)Finding equilibrium between work, life, and growth (23:30)