Business Strategy for CPA's

Intangibles have value. And value is the precursor to price.  If you’re not great at measuring so called intangibles, you won’t appreciate their value, and if you don’t appreciate their value, you’ll underprice, and when you underprice, you’re going to leave a lot of money on the table. Then you’re going to have to work really hard to compensate for not understanding how to measure, value, and price intangibles.  3 sections today: Why CPAs can get stuck here Debunk intangibility Steps to get you closer to measuring, valuing, and pricing the intangible SECTION 1 CPAs especially get so caught in this question, moreso than in some other professions, because of a few factors: Few thought-leaders in the industry know the answer. Many leaders in the industry do not appear to have cracked this nut. So there are few people to get the answer from.  Industry standard. You get your license, you wonder how to price, you look around, other CPAs are billing by the hour so you think ok, this is how it’s done We can all agree on the length of an hour, so it appears to shorten pricing conversations, and there are so many other things to get to in business, so, rather than grapple with this difficult questions that who knows if it even has an answer, how about getting some work done. … so the question gets left unanswered. Because CPAs deal primarily in dollars and numbers, they haven’t been required in quite the same way to learn the value of subjective things. (By contrast, a professional commissioned artist is required to grapple with subjective value of art. But if you’re in the business of art, you’re likely to have a better appreciation and acceptance of the concept OF the subjective nature of intangibles, and their value.) And, GAAP accounting doesn’t help. The idea that only financial transactions get accounted for, and therefore only things financial in nature appear on the Balance Sheet, doesn’t help a person appreciate the value of assets that are intangible.  Next up what we need to do is debunk 3 intangible myths.    SECTION 2 That they’re intangible. Some of the things you think are intangible, are actually quite tangible.  Where people get stuck is the idea that it has to be a physical object to be measurable. More things are tangible than you might have realized if you go inside your body and ask if you can perceive it with your senses.   Things you cannot see as a material, or physical thing, cannot be measured. We tend to use time, weight, length, dollars, to measure things. But just because you can’t use one of these common tools doesn’t mean you can’t measure it.   You can measure by comparison. A lot of a thing, or a little of a thing, crap ton of work to do, increase your peace of mind.  You can measure by rough percentages. Like cutting client fires in half, increase employee engagement by 40% They are relative, they are measurements, and they could be useful. Scales and tape measures aren’t the only way to measure things.   You have to measure directly.  If I want to measure stress, one way is to draw a vial of blood and test for cortisol. But if a person reaches for the video game console to destress, then we can measure how much time they spend playing games to destress.  Once you start doing this, you may find that you use indirect measures more often than direct ones   Needs to be exact It doesn’t need to be exact to be useful.  As long as it’s precise enough to be useful, you’re allowed to use it.   SECTION 3 The actual steps to get you closer to measuring, valuing, and pricing the intangible Learn to listen for the intangibles that are important to your buyer. “Save me from snapping a box of #2 pencils in half because I never would have figured this out.” That’s frustration. Tune your ears to these things. Find out what they use to measure that intangible - how often they play video games or golf to destress or unplug,  to how many games of golf they play a week if business is running smooth - Find out what their indirect measures are.  And ask what that would be worth to them to have those things.  And you can get at the value of improving their condition through the backdoor, with a question like,  “Let’s just say, hypothetically, we WERE able to create that outcome. Would that be worth a million bucks? Or $500K or $250? Or Just $10,000?   They’ll GIVE you a range.    Now you have an answer of what the intangible thing, is worth to them. And WHAT they tell YOU, is how you price intangibles.    CONCLUSION Perhaps that’s Myth #5 that needs debunking, is the very nature of the question is flawed, when framed as “How do I price intangibles.” How can I understand, appreciate, and translate into a dollar figure what intangibles are worth to my buyer? YOU don’t determine the price of intangibles, your buyers do.  Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options

Today I speak with Catherine Ozment, CPA, who I asked to return after last week’s episode.  Last week on the podcast I have Catherine Ozment, CPA. She and I have been working together for just shy of a year, and she’s making huge strides in pivoting her business. If you haven’t heard it, it’s 141, go back and listen to that first if you want this conversation to make more sense in context. But if you’re driving or running and might not be able to, the quick and dirty is that toward the end of the episode, after talking about technical stuff, money, strategy, and all things logic, she basically says: “At the end of the day, the most important thing is to believe it’s possible.” And it made me think, “If simply believing it’s possible, is the most important thing, then listeners need to have an episode on that.” And I could not agree more, that the head space your thoughts occupy is the SINGLE BIGGEST DRIVER of your progress.  So that you can hear perspective from Catherine, I asked her to have another conversation, which we tacked on to the end of one of our regular meetings.  Buckle up, because we’re talking at 75 miles an hour for  Part 2 with Catherine Ozment.   Highlights “If I had believed then, that the sky is the limit, I would probably be 3x farther along.”    “Seeing that the value really does exist, and that I really could deliver what I was telling them I could deliver, is going to increase my business by exponential amounts.”   “This industry has a gaping hole, and creating a service with the numbers, benchmarks, and budgets in a way that’s uniquely designed for my farming clients – is incredibly valuable and is a complete game changer for them.”    /////////// Connect with Catherine: Website: http://www.catherineozment.com/ Episode mentions: https://www.smartstrategyforcpas.com/142 Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options  

Many of you know how difficult and time consuming it can be to run a tax factory: It’s all too easy to get buried under a mountain of tax, underprice services, and be in what feels like a near steady state of chaos.  The desire is often to work 25 hours a week and take home compensation that’s respectable, and representative of all the work you have put in to attain the knowledge that can be so valuable, and to stop grinding it out.   My guest today is Catherine Ozment.  Catherine Is a CPA in south Texas, who called last year, wanting to get off the hamster wheel and get intentional about creating a thriving practice that is designed and built to sell at a high multiple. We’ve been working together on that vision. For just shy of a year.We’re talking about what has changed and what she’s learned along the way, so that you can have a window into what shifting your accounting practice is actually like.  Highlights “I’m finally making a transition from running a tax factory to having a niche, building relationships with the right clients, and providing real value.” “I was ready to stop putting numbers in boxes and really help my clients do a lot better financially: budget, plan for growth, be CFO.” “I have 7 grandbabies. I didn’t want to be working 60-80 hours a week anymore. But I needed somebody else to help me make things change.”  “The hardest part about niching is that the clients in your roster are real people whose lives you are a part of. But we found a way to keep those clients and still be profitable, so I feel like I have the best of both worlds.” “At first it was hard to quote these prices that were so much higher than I was used to, but then, once I saw that I was able to save them 6 digits year after year, I really started to appreciate the value I brought to the table. At that made pricing a lot easier.” “The biggest thing has been the mindset shift: getting out of minutiae and putting myself in the CEO chair.”   /////////// Connect with Catherine: Website: http://www.catherineozment.com/ Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options  

Today we’re playing BS CPA LINGO BINGO.    Lingo in the accounting space that makes some of us kind of crazy.  There are five terms that are especially problematic for CPAs and accountants that slow business growth.    In this First Edition of BS CPA LINGO BINGO, I’ll call out for  B! Advisory Services; I! Future-Proof; N! Trusted Advisor; G! Wait for it…; O! The 3% Rule of Thumb.    B! Advisory Services;  The buyer asks, “Is there service without advice?” Buyers want the whole experience, not just the service   I! Future-Proof;  Anything -proof connotes something you don’t want, or are trying to protect yourself from The future will be here tomorrow, like it or not You’re best off embracing the future with wide-open arms   N! Trusted Advisor;  It makes no sense - why take advice from someone you don’t trust? It’s like Honest Banking - it’s not convincing Trust is built and generated, not granted   G! Big Firm Capability, Small Firm Personality: It’s not believable Why differentiate on personality when you can differentiate on wealth generation   O! The 3% Rule of Thumb: Collective business decision with no business strategy behind it Caps your income at 3% of your clients’ revenue - why would you do that to yourself?   Want to get your accounting practice to the next level? Focus on creating value, selling outcomes, and pricing those outcomes. You’ll set yourself apart as a CPA who provides great service.  Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options

Being a CPA is challenging, there’s no doubt. When I reflect on CPAs’ challenges, and try to simplify the situation as much as possible, I can distill a few key problems: being a generalist, billing instead of pricing, and focusing on the past instead of desired client outcomes.  If you can figure out your niche, learn to price, and begin to forecast and focus directly on improving the future, many problems will go away.    My guest today is Geni Whitehouse, CPA, Countess of Communication at BD Co, and author: How to Make a Boring Subject Interesting.  And I invited Geni to come on because she’s on the other side of these challenges and I wanted to tap into her expertise and insights.  Frustrated by her inability to drive outcomes for her clients, she landed in the Napa Valley, where she focusing on helping wineries understand their financials.   Benefits of working in a niche: Knows what her winery folks need right away anytime there’s a law change Clients have similar issues Education is focused Get more efficient faster Competitors can’t be an expert across all dimensions. “Where are the edges of your niche? What’s the smallest or largest winery you might take on?” It’s measured by case size rather than revenue, and then we stay inside Napa Valley. Clients are from start-up to family wineries that have teams, but not as big as publicly traded companies.  We spend a lot of time on the interview meeting to determine if they are a fit.  Work with supporting organizations and ancillary products to make sure their clients are being well-served.  If you are scared to niche, decide what you most enjoy, and draw the line around that. Carve out a niche anywhere there are opportunities. You want to be the most valuable to your clients, and focusing allows you to create more value more easily.  You don’t have to know it all, you just have to know what to ask.    Worthwhile quotes from Geni: “Fathom gives a high-level overview that the CEO loves, while keeping all the details clear.”    “Until clients have a good forecast, they are often shooting blind, pouring money down a black hole without any sense of when it stops.”    “Forecasting enables me to show clients where they could go if they changed factors.”   “Reports from Fathom facilitate the conversation, and gave me the confidence to have a conversation that takes rows and columns and turn it into a visual that the client understands.”   “I don’t care what you need, I can help you figure out how to find you own answer.”   “CPAs need 3 things: Mindset, Skillset, Toolset: find the right tool and use it!”   Connect with Geni Whitehouse: Website: https://www.evenanerd.com/   Software mentions: fathomhq.com   Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options

Waiting until you’re cooked to decide it’s time to sell your practice is a guaranteed way to fetch a low price for what you’ve spent a lifetime building.  If you want to optimize the sale price of your business, it takes years of advance planning.  Too many CPAs miss out on money they could have earned, had they known what steps to take and what to implement in order to fetch an attractive sale price.  Here to talk with me today about how to set your CPA firm up to be highly attractive when you’re ready to sell it, is Allan Koltin.  Allan is the CEO of Koltin Consulting Group. In addition to receiving countless awards, accolades, and recognition for his thought-leadership in the accounting profession, Allan has facilitated more than 150 M&A deals in the accounting profession over the past decade, including more than 50% of the largest M&A deals in the profession.   We cover a lot of ground in the sales and acquisition of CPA firms:   THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF DEALS: 1.Owners who are ready to off-ramp. They are wondering: Can they buy us out? Can they afford to? Do they want to buy us out? These are the types of deals where the owner is looking at winding down and wants to sell their asset, because they no longer want to own the business.  2. Strategic, due to technology. I think we’d be better off being acquired The best kind of M&A deal: 50 staff, no clients.    WHAT NEEDS TO BE IN PLACE:   Leadership - having the right people in place Rainmaking - you need to grow enough to provide a 5% wage increase Owning the client - being the trusted advisor Technical - do the work with quality   Clients they can get. The buyer wants people.  The buyer is wondering  When it comes time to monetize the business, the acquirer is wondering, without the owner in place, can we keep everything going? Can we deliver that kind of service?You should be thinking about succession planning from the day you start.  Plan 3 - 5 year before you are done, and use their talent to transition.  Six months is not a long enough time to transition your firm.  So busy being busy that they can sometimes avoid planning for the future.  Bigger firms are looking to find more value in the firm that the seller is providing, in the form of untapped revenue in services the existing firm may not be offering:   Type 1 Services - what clients don’t want but need - tax returns, audited financial statements Type 2 Services - what clients want and need - how to grow your business Type 3 Services - what clients want and need but you don’t provide it, so you partner with others who do   FACTORS THAT IMPROVE SALE PRICE Market / location High EBITDA: $750 - $1M+ 7x - 7.5x the EBITDA, 10x would be off the charts 1 - 1.5x revenue, 2x would require a lot of things going your way “Good luck with that” if you have a low-margin firm   SAFEST PATH Dollar amount at closing Stay on for 3 years is a great insurance policy for the buyer   WHAT IF YOUR FIRM IS OFF HOURLY BILLING AND IS VALUE BILLING In the tech space with maintenance contracts are great Annuity work can be 3x greater, because you don’t have to find new clients all the time   What would it take to go over 10x EBITDA? “You would have to have something so perfected in an industry or service line and you figured it out in your market and it was leaps and bounds ahead of anything anyone else was doing, and your buyer could take it national with their resources and capital, you could command in excess of 10x.  It would have to be something pretty special.”    Connect with Allan: Website: https://koltin.com/ akoltin@koltin.com #allankoltin https://www.linkedin.com/in/allan-koltin-24a8181/   Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options  

Should you use rolling forecasts for your clients? Do you hear all this talk of including forecasting for your client, but when it comes to implementing, you’re a bit deer in the headlights? Shifting into forecasting and scenario planning for your clients is a significant shift - in terms of process, what you feel confident in, and your own mindset.  My guest today is Laura Landmark, (CEO) & Co-Founder of Mantle Analytics, which provides custom financial reporting for companies whose needs have outgrown the abilities of the software platforms whose names you would recognize. Mantle Analytics uses technology to dig down into the data and uncover insights that are critical in steering the business towards its goals.  This episode is all about rolling forecasts and what you need to know to optimize their use in your business on your clients’ behalf.    What a rolling forecast is: big picture  a version of the future designed to provoke conversation A tool that helps clients make better informed decisions Data organized in a way that can help the business owner build toward that very reality A picture that helps the client visualize what might happen in their business, or what potential reality they may want to avoid As fresh as possible, and “real-time” should be clearly defined   What a rolling forecast is not: A promise A target that the business owner needs to deliver on A prediction guaranteed to happen   How do I start implementing rolling forecasts for my clients? Start with a revenue and gross profit forecast, by profit line or by customer segment Then build into the next level of sophistication.    Get good at asking questions! What could be done to improve net profit What if you stopped doing X What if you doubled-down on Y Connect with NAME: Website: https://mantleanalytics.com/en/ Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-landmark/ Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options

Would you just as soon rub your hand against the grain of a sheet of plywood than have a sales conversation?  Avoiding sales leads directly to avoiding revenue, and the cost to your firm in the way of business left ungenerated could be enormous.   My guest today is Liston Witherill, founder of Serve Don't Sell and creator of the Serve Don't Sell Method. He works with expert service providers like designers, accountants, agency owners, consultants, and coaches because their services don’t sell themselves.   Today’s episode is all about changing how you think about and approach sales conversations to optimize your business and AND the results you get for your clients – so that you don’t have to be in every sales meeting. Connect with Liston: Website: https://servedontsell.com/   ******************************************************************************   Sign up for my Daily Drip of Value for CPAs at SheThinksBigCoaching.com   Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options  

There are loads of questions out there about Employee Retention Credit, and with all the guidance on top of PPP and all the rest, it can be hard to know everything and stay-up-to-date.  My guest today is Randy Crabtree, co-founder and owner of Tri-Merit, which is a specialty tax firm supporting CPA and their clients. Randy and I were talking recently, and the topic came up that, due to the complexity, shifting nature of guidance, it’s easy to miss out on ERC for your clients.  Randy has been studying ERC day in and day out, delivering trainings and webinars on the topic, and is going to highlight what he sees as the 3 most common areas of opportunity that are not getting captured. I also solicited questions from the #Slack channel I host for my clients, from my Daily email list, and a few other locations, so we’ll do a lightning round at the end.  There are 3 common areas that Randy sees needing clarification.  280C Adjustment Do owners and spouses qualify? How to get PPP and ERC to play nicely together We also discuss how valuable this can be for your clients and for you and your business. We conclude the conversation with suggestions on how to price, and where you can find out more about Randy and Tri-Merit. Connect with Randy Crabtree: Website: https://www.tri-merit.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randy-crabtree-1945a67/   ///////   Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options

****** BEFORE we JUMP IN ****** Do you want the free PDF resource created for this episode, as well as alllll the other free resources I've created for past episodes?  Enter your best email address to download the PDF and sign up for my daily updates.   Email Address: Website   ****** NOW onto the SHOW ****** Is your website a scatterplot of ideas, random phrases, and services? Does it suggest that you can do anything and everything for anyone, so long as they’re human? Do you look at it and cringe, but you feel overwhelmed or lost as to how to make it look right and do what you want it to? Take heart - making a website that captures your value and tells the right story to your best prospects is a tricky thing.  My guest today is Tina Smith, owner of Creative. Creative makes complicated website stuff easy so that clients can solve the right problems, grow good businesses, and live the life they’ve always wanted. 5 Keys to Improve Your CPA Firm’s Website Show up in search. Be sure to use the right terms in your headline, inside the tags. Put what you do in that headline. If you serve a geographic location, use it.  Prioritize faces over places. Avoid mountains and beaches and city skylines. Point your face to the camera. Eyeballs or body language points to headline or CTA you want the visitor to take.  Put your own face on your website, and if you have a team, be sure to include them. If you don’t want to show yourself big, you can use a photo of you working with a client.  Look open and inviting -Look like your audience - when you mirror your audience, they will like and trust you more Get your jargon at the right level - be technical enough to be believable for your audience, but not over their head. Use regular speak that everyone can understand. Run your copy by a few clients to see what they get caught up on.  Use powerful emotional words. You can find great emotional words using google or emoji lists.  Testimonials need to be short - 1 - 2 sentences Sprinkled and scattered, as well as a dedicated page Social proof is the fastest way to earn people’s trust Headline at the top: 1 sentence “This CPA grew my business” Niching makes your marketing more powerful.  If they have a conference and a trade journal, it could be worth checking out Women, ambitious, passionate… not niche-y enough.  To download the PDF for this episode, subscribe at the top of the shownotes, and receive all the free resources created from the podcast (and get on my Daily List).   Get a free website review by Tina at her website: https://www.connecttocreative.com Connect with Tina on Facebook at Connect to Creative Episode mentions: 054 - How Narrowing Your Niche Can Help You Grow Faster 060 - Stand out from the crowd 091 - Is your accounting niche niche-y enough 110 - 15 Phrases to Scrub from your CPA Firm's Website 112 - Does Your CPA Firm Sell Outcomes or Deliverables?   Free 5-day email course - Better Pricing Strategies for CPAs Get here   Want some help in your CPA firm, but not sure where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with me: https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min   Want to find out what options you might have for working together? More about 1:1 coaching, roadmaps, and DIY courses here: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/coaching-options