Five Ways to Make Your Services an Investment, Not an Expense

Put your problem-solving skills to use.

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

Every business needs to do some level of bookkeeping for a couple of reasons:

Various government agencies require reporting and payments based on the company’s results.
The owner needs a certain amount of information to manage their business and keep it profitable.

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Many business owners hire us grudgingly for compliance work because they have to. And they consider what they pay us as an overhead expense that is a required cost.

But what if we could turn that perception around?

Posted on January 22, 2026

Sandi Smith Leyva

About the Author

Sandi Smith Leyva, CPA.CITP, helps small business owners get more clients, boost their revenues, and achieve their dreams using painless, low-cost marketing strategies.

She's the author of
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms,
published by CPA Trendlines, which she discusses here:

Read more from Sandi Smith Leyva

At Accountant's Accelerator, Leyva provides CPE webinars and self-study training for CPAs, EAs, tax professionals and accounting professionals who want to learn more to help them grow their practices, earn more, work less, and serve their clients better.

Her business experience includes management time at two Fortune 500 companies as well as making payroll every Friday as a small business owner. A seasoned speaker, she has presented her business programs to thousands of conference attendees. Sandi has earned an MBA as well as a master's in neuroscience.

Sandi has written four technology books and over 500 articles for clients such as Microsoft, Intuit, and the American Institute for CPAs, and her most recent book is Following Amelia: A Modern Day 'Round-the-World Flight.

In 1995, Sandi became the sixth American female and the 15th or so female to co-pilot a single-engine airplane worldwide. In 2009, Sandi co-founded the American Happiness Association, a 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization that helps people learn the tools they need to be happy on a long-term basis.

With quite an eclectic background, Sandi is truly a one-of-a-kind grow-your-biz, live-your-dreams coach. She transforms the latest proven scientific methods into millionaire mindsets to help her clients experience how their own hearts, minds, and spirits are their greatest source of personal power.

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