Growing Your Firm | Strategies for Accountants, CPA's, Bookkeepers , and Tax Professionals

Director of Technology & Marketing HPC Accounting & Tax July 2015 – Present (3 months)Greater Los Angeles Area Design and implementation of accounting technology solutions internally and for clients. Putting that knowledge to good use marketing HPC's wide range of cloud solutions. Co-Founder & CEO Cloudsourced Accounting LLC January 2013 – June 2015 (2 years 6 months)Greater Los Angeles Area Grew an online bookkeeping and cloud integration firm from scratch to serve hundreds of customers all over the country in under three years. Went from zero to a dozen team members spread over four states. Cloudsourced Accounting was acquired by Harshman Phillips & Company (HPC) in July of 2015

From Mike's Linkedin::: A CPA and CVA (Certified Valuation Analyst) who specializes in the area of dental and other healthcare entities.I work primarily with privately owned practices and individuals and strive to become their most trusted financial advisor. We take a long-term approach to dealing with clients by billing them a flat monthly rate and often investing time over and above our agreements when clients need big things accomplished. We have the flexibility that many of our larger competitors don't have.

Carrie is a founding shareholder and President of The Whetstone Group, Inc. Since 2000 Whetstone has provided growth consulting services to hundreds of CPA firms, professional service firms, and companies in business-to-business markets nationwide. She has nearly 20 years of professional services marketing experience. Carrie helps clients: Determine how to best organize for growth and build a sustainable growth culture. Develop comprehensive growth plans, providing ongoing support and consultation. Establish accountability for business development and meet their revenue goals. Implement follow-up strategies to help manage the sales process with prospective clients and maximize their ROI on marketing. She is also a skilled trainer and provides group sales training as well as one-on-one coaching that enables attendees to better understand the sales cycle and develop the personal skills necessary to close sales. Firm leaders, practitioners, marketing professionals benefit from her knowledge and dynamic approach. Before joining Whetstone, Carrie was an in-house marketing director in the national marketing office of RSM McGladrey, Inc. Speaking/Writing Carrie has presented for the AICPA, the Association for Accounting Marketing's (AAM) Annual Summit, the Indiana CPA Society, DFK USA's Annual Growth Summit, Moore Stephens North America, MSI Global Alliance's International Managing Partner Conference, BKR's Annual Marketing Meeting, PKF North America and The International Group of Accounting Firms (IGAF). She has been published in the AAM's MarkeTrends, The Journal of Accounting Marketing and the CPA Practice Management Forum. Leadership Carrie is also a member of the CPA Consultants' Alliance (CPACA), a working group of thought leaders united in their efforts to further leadership within the CPA profession. Through collaboration, the CPACA offers deliverables and solutions CPA firms can use to advance leadership in their firm. She has also served on the AAM's Board of Directors as well as Chair of AAM's Education Committee.

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk has been a member of the creative and marketing services community for over 20 years and does not appear to be leaving it anytime soon. As president of bbr marketing, she has relished the challenges of entrepreneurship as she worked to grow and nurture a new business. Since the firm's inception in 2009, Bonnie has led the young company to become widely recognized and respected within the professional services marketing niche, with award-winning client websites and an outstanding history of business success. Bonnie quite literally wrote the book on online marketing for accounting firms, Take Your Marketing Online: Proven Ways to Grow Your Firm in the Digital Age, at the request of the AICPA. Prior to this feat, she was recognized for two years in a row as one ofAccounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People and is in great demand as a consultant, speaker and leader at various industry events. She is a founding member of the Atlanta Independent Women's Network and is the Atlanta chapter president of the Association for Accounting Marketing. She is also a regular contributor to a variety of websites, including Social Media Today, Accounting Today and other industry-related publications and has been quoted in Entrepreneur, U.S. News & World Report, CPA Practice Advisor, and others.

Darren successfully created a highly efficient and effective CPA firm in Bloomington, Indiana. As a result of his successes in building and managing his CPA firm he has become a sought after speaker at many national conferences. Darren created an organization called RootWorks LLC to help other accounting firms around the country move their firms into what he calls the "Next Generation Accounting Firm". As a technology enthusiast, he likes all things that relate to technology. Darren recently authored The Intentional Accountant: Your Guide to Building A Next Generation Accounting Firm. Darren is the co-author of The E-Myth Accountant with famed author of The E-Myth Michael E Gerber and Youtility for Accountants with New York Times best-selling author Jay Baer. Over the next few years Darren plans on continuing to manage and grow his CPA Firm while working to grow and expand RootWorks to serve other accounting firms around the country.

Sarah Johnson Dobek's Profile Thank you for wanting to learn more about me! I am passionate about helping accounting firms, state CPA societies and vendors to the accounting profession grow. Through my experience as a former accounting firm marketing and hr director as well as through my role as an advisor to CPA firm leaders, I have learned that for firms to grow they have to do two things well- bring in new business while retaining current business AND they must retain the right talent. I am lucky enough to be in a position to help accounting firms do just this. I help our clients achieve their growth goals through a few key areas: Marketing that drives growth I work with local and regional firms around the country to help them develop and implement their roadmap to growth- a plan that aligns their growth goals with practical strategies to spur and maintain their growth. Social Media I help accounting firm use social media effectively and help them understand the value social media can bring to their organization. I also provide training and coaching on social media use and implementation, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Blogs and more. We also help firm's determine how social media will be integrated into their marketing efforts or elevate their current efforts to drive more results. Content Marketing We work closely with firms to help them develop content marketing strategies or better leverage their existing content for improved results. Author & Speaker I am a speaker and author on marketing topics, social media-including LinkedIn and Facebook, client service and retention, recruitment marketing and more.

Sandi Smith Leyva, CPA, CMA, MBA, and founder of Accountant's Accelerator, has helped thousands of accountants earn more, work less, and serve their clients better through her innovative coaching and training services. Sandi was named one of the Top 25 Thought Leaders for 2014 by CPA Practice Advisor, one of the 2013 "Ones to Watch" of Accounting Today's "Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting" and was a 2013 Community Choice Honoree of the Small Business Influencer Awards held by Small Business Trends. She won a 2013 Stevie Award for "Maverick of the Year," and her work has also been noted by CBS News, PBS, Dallas Morning News, San Jose Mercury News, Accounting Today, Journal of Accountancy, Today's CPA, and The Practical Accountant. She is a regular contributor to CPA Trendlines.

From Mike Michalowicz's Linkedin: I am the author of 'Profit First', 'The Pumpkin Plan' and 'The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur'. BusinessWeek called Toilet Paper Entrepreneur a business cult classic. My books have been translated into 10 languages. I am also the founder of Profit First Professionals. The Profit First Professional organization is designed to support accountants, bookkeepers and other financial professionals to substantially differentiate themselves in the market - so they can dictate a premium for their services and attract more clients. How do we do it? By introducing a significant service differentiator - the tools and techniques to maximize the profitability of your clients. If you own a bookkeeping or accounting business, and you want to distinguish yourself from your competitors... consider applying to be a Profit First Professional. I am a co-founder of Provendus Group, a business growth consultancy. I have founded, built and sold two technology service based companies. My second company, PG Lewis & Associates, was sold in a public transaction in 2006. My first company was acquired by private equity. I enjoy entrepreneurialism and gladly share experiences and advice with first time entrepreneurs. I am regularly invited to sit on both formal and informal advisory boards and have relationships with the angel and early-stage investment community.

Jeff Borschowa is the founder of Business Evolution Consulting Inc. He is an author, educator, and curator of all things related to accounting efficiency and technology. Jeff first joined the accounting world in 1991 and has spent the bulk of his career working with and advising small to medium-sized enterprises. Jeff has experience working in all sizes of accounting firms, from sole proprietorship to international firm. The focus in Jeff's career has been to find new and better ways to integrate innovation and technology to enhance the customer experience and improve efficiency in the accounting process. Jeff's journey has been unique in that he has met some very innovative accountants and mentors in his career. Jeff has been very fortunate to be in a position to learn from them, compare their ideas, and to truly choose the best of the best. Jeff would like nothing more than to free bookkeepers and accountants from the stress created by high volume commodity work, allowing them the freedom to pursue work that is rewarding personally and professionally. Jeff's overall goal is to reduce the hours worked by accounting professionals and increase overall profitability. In Jeff's experience, almost every bookkeeper or accountant can tell you how much their gross revenue is, but very few know what their actual costs are. Jeff challenges you to learn more about your business so that you can bid on the right kinds of projects and earn what you are worth – your education should be your most valued possession.

About Me! Jody Padar, CPA, has emerged as a "feeling leader." That is, a leader driven by a passion to foster real change in the accounting profession. Jody represents the next generation of accounting professionals and is in the vanguard of the new movement of "digital CPAs." She has joined with other future-thinking leaders and vendors to spread the word and educate the profession on its natural evolution into the digital age. Embracing the Cloud, social media, and other highly advanced technologies and practices, Jody is out to alter the way CPAs think about firm culture and serving their clients via speaking engagements, podcasts, published articles, and 'screaming it from the rooftop'. A true change agent, Jody continues to initiate conversations and encourage open collaboration between the profession and vendors in order to support the movement toward a newer, better, and more innovative CPA firm culture. Jody earned her BBA from Saint Mary's College and MST from Northern Illinois University. Jody is also an adjunct professor at Oakton Community College and a contributing member of the Intuit Trainer Writer Network.