Accounting Infamous

Season 1 Episode 7

FACULTY: Mike Michalowcz, Jason Ackerman

CLASS: #Shoperations

TITLE: Accounting Infamous

Scott and Jason interview Mike Michalowicz, author of "Profit First," in this podcast. They cover Mike's journey profit first, reflections on professions, theatre and comedy, the "Grow My Accounting Podcast, advice for entrepreneurs, and a comparison between Simon Sinek and Profit First.

• The Michalowcz Hierarchy
• Fame
• To Be a Garbage Man...
• Theatre and Comedy
• Grow My Accounting Podcast and Unwinding the Propaganda
• The Grow Your Practice Podcast
• Other Podcasts
• How do you interact with your accountant?
• One Piece of Advice
• Profit First?
• Buying Up other Firms
• Profit First and Acquisition
• The Starving Entrepreneur
• Simon Sinek vs Profit First

Shout Outs:

00:04:00 The Michalowcz Hierarchy

00:05:00 Fame

00:07:00 To Be a Garbage Man...

00:09:00 Theatre and Comedy

00:11:00 Grow My Accounting Podcast and Unwinding the Propaganda

00:12:00 The Grow Your Practice Podcast

00:13:00 Other Podcasts

00:14:00 How do you interact with your accountant?

00:15:00 One Piece of Advice

00:16:00 Profit First?

00:17:00 Buying Up other Firms

00:18:00 Profit First and Acquisition

00:19:00 The Starving Entrepreneur

00:21:00 Simon Sinek vs Profit First

Melissa McCarthy for Accounting Professionals

Season 1 Episode 6

FACULTY: Dawn Brolin

CLASS: #Shoperations

TITLE: Melissa McCarthy for Accounting Professionals

Scott interviews Dawn Brolin, CEO of Powerful Accounting, discussing her New England attitude, handling challenging clients, crucial business processes, inter-firm collaborations, lessons from a six-year partnership, numerical aspects, motivating accountants, hiring strategies, personal and professional goals, encounters with figures like Mike Michalowicz, representing clients before the IRS, pricing intricacies for selling, and the importance of personal time.

• The New England Attitude
• PIA and PITA Clients
• Most Important Process
• No Partner Firm
• Inter-Firm Collaborations
• What Dawn Learned from a 6 Year Partnership
• Hard Numbers
• Motivating Accountants
• Hiring and Managing People
• Dawn's Goals
• Meeting Mike Michalowitz
• Representing Clients Before the IRS
• Pricing for Selling
• Making Time Off

Shout Outs:

[00:02:57] The New England Attitude

[00:05:36] PIA and PITA CLients

[00:10:06] Most Important Process

[00:12:00] No Partner Firm

[00:15:54] Inter-Firm Collaborations

[00:21:05] What Dawn Learned from a 6 Year Partnership

[00:25:32] Hard Numbers

[00:27:20] Motivating Accountants

[00:31:00] Hiring and Managing People

[00:35:27] Dawn's Goals

[00:39:49] Meeting Mike Michalowitz

[00:44:40] Representing Clients Before the IRS

[00:47:20] Pricing for Selling

[00:49:53] Making Time Off

The Accounting Messiah

Season 1 Episode 5

FACULTY: Ryan Lazanis, Jason Ackerman

CLASS: #Shoperations

TITLE: The Accounting Messiah

In this podcast episode, Scott and Ackerman interview Ryan Lazanis, the Founder of Future Firm, Xen Accounting, and a strategic advisor at BotKeeper. The discussion covers Ryan's journey into accounting, his introduction to cloud accounting and subscription billing, experiences with hiring the first employees, scalability challenges and strategies, considerations about clients and niche specialization, the evolutionary path of his firm, discovering his purpose, the process of selling his firm, the inception of Future Firm, common mistakes made by firms, the dynamics between competition and community, and cautionary advice regarding automation and other aspects within the accounting domain.

• How Ryan Got Into Accounting
• Introduction into Cloud Accounting and Subscription Billing
• First Hires
• Scalability
• Clients and Niching
• Evolution of the Firm
• Finding His Purpose
• Selling the Firm
• Starting Future Firm
• Biggest Mistakes Firms Make
• Competition vs Community
• Caution with Automation and other Sage Advice

Shout Outs:

Marie Phillips, Dark Horse, Xero, Padgett, Crunch Bookkeeping

00:03:01 How Ryan Got Into Accounting  

00:07:17 Introduction into Cloud Accounting and Subscription Billing

00:11:31 First Hires

00:14:21 Scalability  

00:18:22 Clients and Niching

00:22:43 Evolution of the Firm  

00:23:55 Finding His Purpose 

00:29:31 Selling the Firm

00:32:51 Starting Future Firm  

00:36:17 Biggest Mistakes Firms Make  

00:43:45 Competition vs Community

00:46:29 Caution with Automation and other Sage Advice  

50 Shades of Gray Areas

Season 1 Episode 4

FACULTY: John Briggs, Jason Ackerman

CLASS: #Shoperations

TITLE: 50 Shades of Gray Areas

Scott and Jason engage in a conversation with John Briggs, the Founder of Incite Tax, where they discuss various gray areas of accounting and tax as well as how things work at Incite Tax.

• Introducing John Briggs
• Being too Conservative with Accounting
• 50 Shades of Gray Areas
• Why Focus on Tax?
• CFO Services
• Pricing Returns
• Dealing with PITA Clients
• More Pricing Details
• John's Secret to Efficiency
• Workflow of the Firm
• The Structure of the Firm
• Targeting Solo-preneurs
• The Canopy Deal 

Shout Outs:

N/A

So Many Things to Learn

Season 1 Episode 3

FACULTY: Ed Mendlowitz

CLASS: #Shoperations

TITLE: So Many Things to Learn

In this podcast episode, Scott and Jason Ackerman interview Ed Mendlowitz, a Partner at WithumSmith+Brown. The discussion covers various aspects of Ed's experience in accounting, including early fixed-price subscription billing, insights from Tax Court, identifying good and bad clients, dealing with fraudulent individuals, maintaining professional integrity, anecdotes about unusual client situations, insights into partnerships, staying ahead in the industry, and a final intriguing story.

• Ed's Fixed Price Subscription Billing
• Tax Court
• Ed's Hourly Rate
• How to tell a good and a bad client
• Not Accounting for Crooks
• You Can't Compromise
• Crazy Client Stories
• Ed's Partnerships
• Being Ahead of the Curve
• What Hasn't Changed in the Industry
• Favorite Thing in Accounting 
• Parting Advice
• One Last Story 

Scott interviews Ron Baker, the founder of VeraSage Institute, in an insightful discussion covering topics such as value pricing, time tracking, employee growth, the intricacies of billing methods in the accounting profession, and the early years of Ron’s life in the accounting profession.

• How Ron Got started 
• The Birth of Value Pricing
• Ron's First Book and Entry to Radio
• Charlie Brown and Sons of CPAs
• Scott and Time Tracking
• Money is Time
• Leading Indicators
• Replacements for Time Sheets
• Efficiency versus Effectiveness
• Letting Your Employees Grow
• Scheduling Creativity and Meditation
• Don't be at Capacity
• Employee "Rust-Out"
• Good Consulting by Asking the Right Questions
• What is Value?
• The Art of Business
• How Ron Would Build a Firm
• Niching
• Money gives you control over your time
• Why People Still Bill by the Hour 

Shoperations is a production of Accounting High and hosted by Scotty "OKR" Scarano.

Scott interviews Jody Grunden, CPA, co-founder of Summit CPA Group and author of two books, to discuss various topics related to running an accounting practice and building virtual CFO services, dressing "professionally", and niching down.

• Introduction and an update on recent developments since the last interview.
• The origin story of Jody’s Hawaiian shirts
• Scott shares his similar wardrobe story
• Discussing the evolution of “professional attire” in the accounting profession
• Exploring the benefits and challenges of running a remote accounting firm
• The importance of finding a niche and specializing in the industry
• Creating CFOs from accountants within the firm and the training and development process
• Utilizing retreats and building a strong company community
• Addressing the resistance to change in the accounting industry and the need for adaptation
• Insights into the day-to-day operations and growth goals at Summit CPA Group
• Scott and Jody discuss the acquisition of cloud firms, venture capital, and private equity

Shout Outs:

Tommy Bahama, Accounting Salon, Kenji Kuramoto, AICPA, Karbon, Dave Barrett, Matthew May, Acuity

Shoperations is a production of Accounting High and hosted by Scotty "OKR" Scarano.