The CPA Advisory Show

In this episode of the podcast, Jeremy and Chris discuss the what and how of offering business budgeting services to customers. The key takeaways from the episode are: The timing and process of putting together a budget for customers The tools you can use to build budgets for your customers The difference between budgeting and forecasting and how they apply to CAS What does coherence mean within the context of a budget? How to bill customers for budgeting services Follow the show on Twitter @CPAAdvisoryShow Jeremy Wells on Twitter @JWellsCFO Chris Hervochon on Twitter @ChrisHervochon

As accountants, we want to make sure our firms run efficiently and profitably, but are those the right goals? Jeremy and Chris make a case for pivoting to effectiveness rather than efficiency and discuss how to measure effectiveness in your firm. Follow the show on Twitter @CPAAdvisoryShow Jeremy Wells on Twitter @JWellsCFO Chris Hervochon on Twitter @ChrisHervochon

In this episode of the podcast, Jeremy and Chris welcome knowledge economy extraordinaire Ed Kless (@edkless on Twitter) to the podcast. Ed, along with his co-host Ron Baker, hosts The Soul of Enterprise podcast every Friday. Ed is a staple at accounting conferences as an engaging presenter and has been a pioneer in notable areas such as timesheets and value pricing. The key takeaways from the episode are: The top books for new firm owners and those firm owners that want to throw out their timesheets Why we need to thoroughly explore what matters before we explore the “how” with customers. Welcome to Solutionists Anonymous! Why linguistics matter The key components of the value-based conversation and a framework to get to that value How to measure efficiency in a firm without timesheets (hint: maybe it’s not efficiency we’re after) Follow the show on Twitter @CPAAdvisoryShow Jeremy Wells on Twitter @JWellsCFO Chris Hervochon on Twitter @ChrisHervochon

In this episode of the podcast, Jeremy and Chris talk about their different approaches to workflow management, capacity management and engagement management. The key takeaways from the episode are: · How ticketing software can be used to manage the workflow of a firm. · What is practice management software? · What’s the difference between practice management software and project management software? · The importance of tracking the history of client engagements – digitally! · How these platforms can help you share information across the team · Are we still using email or are we using one of these other systems? · How does the month end close tie into the practice management system? · What analytics are important to layer on a project/workflow management system? · How does a CRM system fit into a firm management software ecosystem? · How important is integrated data within a firm? Follow the show on Twitter @CPAAdvisoryShow Jeremy Wells on Twitter @JWellsCFO Chris Hervochon on Twitter @ChrisHervochon

In this episode of the podcast, Jeremy and Chris talk about their different approaches to closing the books for clients within their CAS services. The key takeaways from the episode are: What is the purpose of the month-end close? What processes are included in the month-end close? What tools do we use during the close process? What does the timing of the close look like? Use cases for bots in the close process Follow Jeremy Wells on Twitter @jwellscfo and Chris on Twitter @chrishervochon.

In this episode of the podcast, Jeremy and Chris talk about how to decide when to offer a new service in your firm and how to price it. The key takeaways from the episode are: What services should you, or shouldn’t you offer and why? What’s the first question you should yourself before offering a service to the marketplace? How to price a new service offering when you don’t have any experience delivering it. How do new services interplay with the subscription model? How to "buy" the ability to have your clients be your guinea pig. Follow Jeremy Wells on Twitter @jwellscfo and Chris on Twitter @chrishervochon.

In this episode, for the first time ever, we have a guest with their own #1 podcast (in Nmibia!). Shannon Weinstein, CPA is the owner of Fitnancial Solutions, a virtual CPA firm providing CFO and tax strategy services to entrepreneurs. There are a ton of takeaways in this episode, among them: Can subscription models work with any industry niche? How to build trust with clients How Shannon sold $20K in services last month with text message marketing (it's not what you think) Should you firm use a copywriter? A copywriter...what!?!? Newsletter marketing (don't call it a newsletter!) Leveraging "quick questions" to create value as opposed to considering them a time suck You can find Shannon on Instagram at shannonkweinstein. Definitely check her out here - no accountant does Instagram better than Shannon. You can also find Shannon on Twitter @shannonkcpa. You can find Shannon's website here. Follow Jeremy Wells on Twitter @jwellscfo and Chris on Twitter @chrishervochon.

Alyson Caffrey of Operations Agency, is the founder of Operations Agency and co-creator of the Operations Simplified™ Framework. As a fractional COO for many high-growth businesses, Alyson fell in love with the results that clear ops bring to a service business. She and the team at Operations Agency are determined to help businesses thrive profitably, serve more clients and create high-performing teams. When it comes to streamlining the operations of a professional services firm, Alyson knows her stuff. Additionally, her website has a ton of free resources which we encourage you to check out. In this episode Jeremy and Chris unpack these topics with Alyson: How to think about capacity planning for professional service firms How to prepare your firm for offshoring What is the best project management tool to use? “Standards of Excellence” for your team Why screencasting for service delivery is important and how to use it for your team and clients Follow the show on Twitter @CPAAdvisoryShow Jeremy Wells on Twitter @JWellsCFO Chris Hervochon on Twitter @ChrisHervochon

In this episode of the CPA Advisory Show Jeremy and Chris talk again with Michael Meihaus, CPA for another interesting discussion: What was it like to build out an office overseas? What are the common pitfalls of managing an offshore staff? How is managing an offshore staff different than managing a U.S.-based staff? What should we be thinking about with data security when we offshore? Tips for interviewing offshore talent You can find Jeremy (@JWellsCFO) and Chris (@ChrisHervochon) on Twitter.

In this episode of the CPA Advisory Show Jeremy and Chris will discuss: What is a subscription model in an accounting firm? Can tax work be done on a subscription basis? Should subscription services have limits? What are some ideas to mitigate sources of friction in subscription services? Can you do subscriptions without having a niche? Some ideas to manage capacity within a subscription type model. Thoughts on managing team members in a firm that is subscription focused. You can find Jeremy (@JWellsCFO) and Chris (@ChrisHervochon) on Twitter.