True Story: When the Feds Came Knocking
Three tech solutions for protecting client data.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
VIRTUAL CFO
What’s the ROI on That Shiny New Thing?
Innovate for the right reasons.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
Five Questions to Ask about New Tech Tools
Be sure to loop in the people who will use them.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
Whether you purchase a one-time software license or pay for a tool on a subscription basis, the cost of software can add up quickly. It’s necessary to conduct a thorough analysis of any new software program before you decide to buy it, and you need to constantly evaluate the effectiveness of the tools you’re using.
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We have learned that we want to be sure we’re getting the most out of our software, that our tools remain the right fit for our needs and that they are cost-effective.
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The CAS Bottleneck No One Talks About | It’s Not Just the Numbers
Poor onboarding frustrates clients, burns out staff, and kills profitability.
This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines
Winning the client is exciting—but in Client Accounting Services (CAS), that’s just the opening act. The real work, and the real success, depends on what happens immediately after a prospect says “yes.”
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In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead make the case that onboarding is one of the most overlooked, underdeveloped, and business-critical functions in CAS firms today.
“Too many firms have no clue what actually happens when a client walks in the door,” Breslin says. “You sold the work, but what happens next? What experience does the client have? And what does your team do first?”
Creative Perks Your Remote Employees Will Appreciate
Stipends for tech and education? Why not?
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
In addition to the more traditional benefits, we also offer a few creative perks that I think our employees really appreciate, including an education stipend and a technology stipend.
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Education Stipend
We believe that continuing education keeps our team members sharp and ahead of the game. One of our core values is “curiosity” because we want our employees to always be thinking about how we can improve our services, become more efficient and do things better. We want people to think outside the box because we’re not a typical accounting firm, nor do we ever want to be one.
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Traditional Benefits to Offer Remote Employees
Being stingy could cost their loyalty.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
Traditional benefits often include things that many brick-and-mortar office workers take for granted such as paid time off, health insurance and a retirement plan.
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Why do I say these are taken for granted? Well, some distributed companies may hire independent contractors to cut down on their expenses when it comes to “frivolous” things like this, but we believe in building a great place to work, and to us that means offering the kind of benefits that make employees feel secure and cared for.
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Retention Doesn’t Mean Keeping Everyone Forever
It’s OK if some people don’t work out.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
There’s a common misnomer when it comes to retention and keeping people on the team. Retention doesn’t mean keeping every single person on your team forever.
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Not only do you want to get the right people on the bus, but you also want to get those people into the right seats. We want Summit CPA to be a great place to work, and we want great people to be working here. However, we realize it may not be the right place for every person.
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Ten Questions for Potential New Hires
Plus four considerations before you start screening.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
Before our firm became a distributed company with a remote workforce, our hiring was naturally limited to a small geographical location – Fort Wayne, Indiana.
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When we really started to grow, we knew we needed to bring in more senior-level accountants to be able to handle the clients we were bringing in at such a rapid pace.
Virtual Accounting Firms Have Hidden Costs
Save by combining a retreat with CPE.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
With a brick-and-mortar company, there are a number of standard costs that you would expect to have, such as rent or mortgage, utilities, building repairs, furniture, technology, etc. The total amount of these kinds of costs typically falls in the range of 3-4 percent of the company’s annualized revenue. That amount can be pretty significant for a lot of companies.
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Some business owners may think they can save the company all of that money by going remote, but I personally believe that’s a terrible idea. While it’s true that a distributed company doesn’t have the costs that come with having a physical space, the very nature of a remote work environment results in a completely different and unique set of needs that should be considered in the company’s annual budget.
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Make Your Leadership Team Meetings More Effective
Three steps to use.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
Doing the DiSC Assessment with our team, we learned that some people love meetings and some people despise them. The “D” (Dominance) personality on the DiSC scale tends to be direct, very results-oriented and less collaborative in meetings. The “I” (Influence) personality enjoys meetings because they provide an opportunity for social engagement and collaboration.
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The “S” (Steadiness) personality may not feel comfortable speaking up in meetings unless they are called upon. The “C” (Conscientiousness) personality may need to rally more energy within themselves for meetings because they tend to value working independently over collaboration. Knowing the personalities of your leadership team members will help you run more effective meetings.
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Create an Accountability Chart for Your Firm
It beats an org chart and here’s why.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
“Getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats – these are all crucial steps in the early stages of buildup…” – Jim Collins, “Good to Great”
When Adam and I first started the company, we didn’t have much organizational structure. We didn’t need it. But as the company grew, it became necessary to develop an organizational structure. There’s a great quote by Michael E. Gerber in his book “The E-Myth Revisited” that says, “Without the Organization Chart, confusion, discord and conflict become the order of the day.”
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We got to a point where we realized that Adam and I didn’t have clarity around our individual roles, and we were overlapping one another. We needed to have clearly defined roles for one another as well as the people who were working for us. Lack of clarity can cause a loss in production.
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Gocke: Operations Overhaul Doubles Firm Rev | It’s Not Just the Numbers
Structured operations freed partners to focus on clients and doubled revenue in six years.
This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by “It’s Not Just the Numbers: How to Move Beyond the Numbers and Deliver Real Value for Your Clients”
by Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead – See Today’s Special Offer
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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines
Running a modern accounting firm requires more than technical expertise. Partners must balance client relationships, business development, and administrative responsibilities, often leaving firms stretched thin.
In a recent episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, Doug Gocke, chief operations officer at a mid-sized California firm, describes how restructuring responsibilities and focusing on operations helped his firm double revenue in six years without significantly increasing staff or client count.
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Gocke, who refers to his role as “chief of all trades,” said growth came from building teams before taking on new clients, creating clear accountability, and relentlessly reviewing procedures.
Get the Right People on the Bus
Shift from serving clients to serving and developing leaders.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
“Once you recognize that the purpose of your life is not to serve your business, but that the primary purpose of your business is to serve your life, you can then go to work on your business, rather than in it, with a full understanding of why it is absolutely necessary for you to do so.” – Michael E. Gerber, “The E-Myth Revisited”
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As our team was growing and we reached over 30 team members, we recognized the need to establish a formal leadership team. When we were smaller, it worked fine for Adam and me to be the primary decision makers, but as our client base and workload grew, we realized we would become a bottleneck and slow things down. At that point, we made a conscious effort to transition our daily tasks and client responsibilities to other team members so we could remove ourselves from the weeds and focus on the higher-level view of the company.
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