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

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.

Chad is a partner at LiveCA LIVECA LLP is a 13 person firm committed to providing a progressive approach to accounting with a focus on entrepreneurs and technology professionals. Our concept is to allow greater accessibility to information and advice by connecting clients online directly to a chartered accountant from the comfort of your home or office. With the wide range of online tools available in today's marketplace, our goal is to help clients shift their accounting towards an online platform - reducing the need to search through piles of paper documents and spending more time on value-added work. Our team designs customized digital workflows and are familiar with a large number of applications that can help solve many issues experienced by entrepreneurs (timely financial advice, cash flow forecasting, systems integrations, etc). We work completely online with no desktop systems in a paperless environment. Practicing what we preach is really important to us. Whether you are setting out with a new idea or are already an established entrepreneur, we would love to speak to you about bringing your business online and taking care of your accounting and tax needs.

Randy Johnston is a nationally recognized educator, consultant, and writer with over 30 years experience in Strategic Technology Planning, Accounting Software Selection, Paperless, Systems and Network Integration, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning, Business Development and Management, Process Engineering and outsourced managed services. In this interview, we help CPA Firm owners, accounting professioanls, and bookkeepers navigate the technological jungle of finding the right software for your firm or practice.

LIVECA is committed to providing a progressive approach to accounting with a focus on forward thinking entrepreneurs. The concept is to allow greater accessibility to information and advice by connecting clients online directly to a chartered accountant from the comfort of your home or office. With the wide range of online tools available in today's marketplace, our goal is to help clients shift their accounting towards a digital platform - reducing the need to search through piles of paper documents and spending more time on value-added work. Whether you are setting out with a new idea or an already established entrepreneur, we would love to speak to you about your business. Check us out at www.liveca.ca. Or, just email me at josh@liveca.ca to schedule a free online consultation at your convenience. LiveCA provides a comprehensive range of accounting services from a qualified chartered accountant for small and medium sized businesses. Specialties: Corporate Taxation, Self-Employed Individuals, Accounting software setup, Trusts, Joint Ventures.

Ed Kless joined Sage in July of 2003 and is currently the senior director of partner development and strategy. He develops and delivers curriculum for Sage business partners on the art and practice of small business consulting including the Sage Consulting Academy, Business Strategy and Customer Experience Workshops. He also serves as the liaison to the Sage Leadership Association. Prior to joining Sage, Ed worked with Tipping Point Advisors, an organization dedicated to the growth and development of software implementation partners. In 1996, he co-founded Third Wave Business Systems, a Microsoft Dynamics GP partner that grew to 20 team members and $5 million in revenue. At Third Wave, Ed developed the implementation methodology and led the CRM and ERP consulting teams. Ed is a frequent contributor to industry publications, including the Journal of Accountancy, Harvard Business Review and HR.com, and has spoken at many conferences worldwide on project management, pricing, and knowledge workers. He is also active in the Information Technology Alliance (ITA). He lives north of Dallas with his wife and two children and ran for Texas State Senate in 2010 and 2012 as a Libertarian.

If you really want to talk shop, Kirk brings over 15 years of experience developing FileMaker databases and web applications as well as systems integration. As the principal of MightyData, Kirk heads an elite team of FileMaker Certified Developers and Authorized Trainers. He is a renowned speaker at the FileMaker Developer Conference and PauseOnError un-conference. Anyone who knows Kirk realizes that to become the Visionary of Value means walking the walk and talking the talk. To that end, Kirk is a Practicing Fellow at the VeraSage Institute and a proud graduate of EntreLeadership. He is also the Founder and Host of The Art of Value Podcast

Adrian G. Simmons is a CPA innovating ways to put money in its place. His first debit was made in the classrooms of Loyola University Maryland, where he completed his studies in 2000, and then launched out as an auditor with KPMG Baltimore. He was relieved to have passed the CPA exam in one sitting so he could avoid more studying, but was surprised to learn that it came with an Elijah Watts Sells Silver medal. In 2002, he left KPMG to join his father in public practice, and began the work of serving small businesses, individuals, and non-profits. Since that time, the practice has grown to now four individuals, and the team works together to help customers become financially strong, so that they can focus on what truly matters in life. Adrian likes tech, uses a fountain pen, prefers dark over milk chocolate, and is happy to say he recently survived a half-marathon. His faith is very important to him, and he teaches Sunday school at his local parish. He also likes the out-of-doors, always keeping an eye out for ways to walk, hike, bike, ski, scuba, camp, swim, and others — one he'd really like to do soon is whitewater rafting. In the world of accounting, his interests lie in finding ways to make business more human, in keeping numbers secondary as a support to life aspirations, and in molding technology to enable creative expression. He is excited to be a part of the network of Thrivealists who share this passion, and are pioneering a new future for the profession.