Latest / The Accounting Leads Now Podcast / Why So Many Accountants Are Broke by December, Even the Good Ones - With Tony Proctor

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Why So Many Accountants Are Broke by December, Even the Good Ones - With Tony Proctor · The Accounting Leads Now Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to another episode of CFO Chronicles: The Secrets Behind Success, the must-listen show for fractional CFO, accounting firm owners, and finance leaders who want to land high-value clients in scale through next level marketing, branding, and strategy.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, James Donovan, and today's guest is Tony Proctor, enrolled agent and business strategist at Proctor and Associates.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: With a background in IT and training, Tony specializes in helping business owners understand what their numbers are actually telling them.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: He spent years translating tax and financial language into real-world decisions entrepreneurs can act on, bridging knowledge gaps so people can lead their business instead of reacting to it.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Today, Tony will share his insights on the importance of financial clarity as leaders, as leadership, and how it can drive business growth.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned to hear how Tony's journey can help you take your business to the next level.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Tony, so pumped to have you on today's episode.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: We recently had a chance to reconnect in Vegas a few weeks ago.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: How have you been since getting back?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: Man, it's been it's been an adventure.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Vegas was fun.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: It always is fun.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh step one coming back from Vegas is to detox from all the smoke that's inside of my lungs.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but you know, we are uh we are in a season where we probably should be going towards cruise control, uh, but it's actually been uh polar opposite.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: And it's been a little bit of an adventure post-Vegas, uh, but it's all good in the hood, man.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's all good.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, nice.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's I think a lot of people, and it it that could be maybe the first controversial take to get into right away, but a lot of people use kind of coming up on the end of November, start of December as all right, I can take the foot off the gas, but there's a lot of there's a lot of there's a lot of opportunity still left on the table for 2025.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, personally, I like to try to go hard right up until about the Christmas holiday season, and then from there take, you know, after Christmas, in maybe like a week or two into the start of the new year, then really hit the ground running.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: But it's what's your take on that?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, because we go so hard at the beginning of the year for us when tax season ramps up, I tend to like to calm down a little bit, like the calm before the storm, because you know, we get all the end-of-year functions that need to happen, both internally and externally.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we got to do end-of-year stuff for us, but we got to take care of our clients as well.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but you know, a lot of times, usually towards the end of the year, people are like, hey, I'm I'm done.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm gonna take two, three weeks off, and and uh, I'm actually the opposite.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: I like to be around um because I can get stuff done.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I don't have, and I don't want to say that they're interruptions, but they're interruptions, like all the other the the email dings, the phone rings, all the the pings that are coming through.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so you know it is an interesting time of year to kind of productively chill.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Is that is that does that make sense?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: I make sense to me.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it what I'm hearing a lot of it is you're you're able to work on the business a lot more, maybe more more or less than on the in-the-business stuff when it's just team members are reaching out, clients are calling, phones ringing, there's just fires.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: So you can get you can get a lot more focus and probably get a lot more done in a shorter period of time than say eight hours in the office when every notification's going off.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, tell me a little bit about um, I want to hear like your turning point or aha moment when you realize the importance of helping business owners understand their numbers.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um after working with so many folks that would kind of give the glazed overlook when you're talking to them about money.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that it's not only business owners, it's it's people in general.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like we've we've seen people that just are like they hear wah wah wah, wah, wah.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so when I started to realize that, specifically within my community, and it's not just, you know, African-American, black or brown, but just folks that are like within my peer groups that are kind of on the same levels that I'm on, they struggle with this money thing personally, and especially when they start to run a business.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was like, you know, how can I, how can I help folks out?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: How can I help my people out by talking to them in language that makes sense to them?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I tend to kind of refer to us as the financial cousin.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, we all have that that cousin in the family that they just happen to be smart.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: And when we go and have a conversation with them, we don't feel like they're talking down to us or treating us dumb.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so that that's really the one of the founding um pillars of the firm is to be the financial cousin for our people.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that to me, honestly, has been one of the biggest challenges, I think, in this past year.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: For the longest time, it was hey, even as a marketing company, how how are we going to keep finding new ways to get our own clients?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's different channels that we can use, there's different channels that we can use for our clients that just work better.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: But we've got that dialed in.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: We've got retention dialed in now.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: That was always the next biggest bottleneck.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: For me, one of the biggest learning lessons this year was how to manage our money better as you scale.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds real easy.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Start a business, make money, you pay some team members, you pay your software, and like you run.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's what it was the first couple of years.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then as we continue to scale, it's like, oh shit.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I I'm I'm not doing that great at managing the money.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: I feel very blessed working in this industry and getting to speak to professionals like you and all the amazing guests we've had on and our clients, but it is a huge learning curve.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it I find it insane that more businesses don't have those professionals in their corner to really give them the insight that that you guys carry because it's hard.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to manage the money of a business and all of those aspects when you're doing everything else.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I even think even in our even in our industry though, James, like I know so many firm owners that this time of year, they are they're broke.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I don't know if I have to put it shout-ups to all my firm owners, but because we get this large amount of cash injection that happens the first half of the year, but then the latter part of the year, you know, we don't have as much.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: And if you don't, if you don't govern yourself accordingly, I like to say that a lot, then yeah, November, December, you're like, oh my God, what am I gonna do?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so even in our industry, like we are the people who talk about managing money.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I have peers who are on the struggle bus, man.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's it's a real deal, it's a real issue.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's wild.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: It yeah, I mean, it happens.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um so tell me, as an enrolled agent, you specialize in bringing knowledge gaps and in translating tax and financial language into actionable decisions for your clients.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Can you share any specific examples of how that has helped some of your clients and helped other business owners?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, you know, I think I'm gonna break the mold a little bit.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: I have my credentials of enrolled agent, which means, you know, I can represent my clients before IRS and the state boards, but that's that's a certificate on the wall, honestly.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I think that being able again, being able to have those conversations with folks, and and I've had this one conversation that's coming to my mind.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm gonna protect the the the innocent, but they were bleeding bad.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um and it was a situation where they were they were living paycheck to paycheck, if you will.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: And and what I mean by that is they they had subscription revenue, if you will, on the first and the 15th.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: But it was just like by the time the money came in on the first, unfortunately, it was already gone two days beforehand.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: Same thing on the 15th.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: And so we had to sit down and had to have a conversation and say, hey, you're bleeding.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like it feels good because money's coming in, but just because money's coming in, you're not profitable.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: You don't mean it's keeping that losing money.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's and I don't want to be Debbie Downer, but it was a negative Nancy or whatever you want to call it.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we had to have the conversation to say, hey, we have to fix this and we have to fix it immediately, or you're only going to get deeper and deeper into the hole.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then shortly after we had that conversation, who comes knocking on the door?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: IRS.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: Because like clockwork.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: They, you know, if you're struggling to pay your daily, if you're struggling to keep the lights on, one of the things that you have not been taken care of, unfortunately, are these tax issues.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's this compound effect.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: The light bill, you can probably buy a little bit of time.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: Rent, maybe you can buy a little time.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: When the Fed boys come knocking, or the Fed girls, whoever they might be, um, it's at that point you you you're in some deep trouble.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, just kind of helping them to navigate that piece.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, put the Fed boys at at bay uh and rearrange some things internally, especially from a spending standpoint and even from a billing standpoint, to get them to a place that we were closer to being profitable.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um things got really interesting towards the end, and they may watch this episode and be like, why are you gonna talk about me?
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: But uh things got really interesting towards the end because they were wanting to do some very, we'll call it interesting um transactions.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, hey, you know, this is this is how I roll, I'm not gonna do that.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so we decided to go out our separate ways.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh real good, real good colleague, real good friend.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but apparently I was doing things uh by the book and they didn't, they didn't like that.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: They wanted something that was very risky, uh, which is how they got into the situation that they were in.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, but that, you know, I when I think about like, hey, someone that was in a terrible place, I helped them to get again, by the time we wrapped up, they weren't fully in the black, but they were way closer than when they were when we first started, man.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: And and for me, that continues to inspire me to keep pushing forward and and keep helping folks out.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_02: So that's like a long answer, man.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: But it's real, it's real.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I got I got two questions that come from all of that.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: One, I 100% want to revisit you more or less firing a client because it didn't feel right.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's really important that I want to pick your brain on a little bit more to hear your thought process on that.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: So remind me after this next question.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: But one thing for me that we implemented this year, and I wish I just I wish I did this years ago because it will probably have saved so much headache.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like it's a little controversial from the accounting side of things, but profit first.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: We we implemented profit first, and that has been an absolute game changer the last two and a half months or so.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what's your take on the profit first strategy?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe one tip or strategy you helped implement for this particular client that didn't entirely get them out of the black, but put them in a significantly better position so that they were not where they currently were.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: So so Profit First, I think is a great platform.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: There's some great principles that are in it.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we don't necessarily do it within our firm.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: The folks that we work with, um to have that many accounts just makes it more difficult to manage from a day in, day out standpoint.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: But then also because you have more accounts, that means that there's more work that we need to do, and you're gonna have to pay extra for that.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: But I think, you know, and this is profit first, it's great, but it's nothing that's that's like earth shattering.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's what we've been doing for eons.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: You get paid, and people would put money into envelopes.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: So now we're doing it digitally and it helps out.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you have to be in a place where you are profitable.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_02: Profit first.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: You have to have profits.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so if you are not profitable, having those different allocations and those different accounts to put funds is actually, and I might get some enemy fire on this, is shooting yourself in the foot.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: Because cool, I've separated stuff, I got my profit, got my taxes here, got my expenses, all that.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: But then on Thursday, money is coming out of my account for insert bill name.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: And what do I have to do?
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: Go and pull it from another one of those accounts that I had the auto transfer on.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: Remember to put it back, but I forget to put it back because I ran out of cash, and then it's just like it's this constant hamster wheel.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, for those folks that are that have the that have the profit and they have the discipline to let those funds go where they need to go and and pay the bills where they need to come from, then it works.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: But if every week you're trying to figure out where is this money gonna come from, you gotta go snatch it from the other envelope or digital envelope.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: What are we doing?
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that makes sense.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna take enemy fire for that, James.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: You you put me in a place where I had to, but and I got I got folks who who love profit first, and and kudos to them.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but you know, for for our side, we we tend to not get too involved with it because it does seem to cause more challenges than help.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's um I feel like it's more most most firm owners I've spoken to feel similar to you.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like maybe it's more attractive to the business owner who's not handling all of the different accounts.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like to me, it's cool.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Money's put away for tax.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have to worry about the CRA being in Canada coming and knocking on the door.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's there, and I'm not gonna touch it.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: I can be strict enough to not move it.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: But that's it right there, Jay.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: Strict enough to not touch it.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's the problem.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: Your discipline.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's fair.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, if you just move it and then you move it back because you got to you want to buy something else or you gotta pay something else, it doesn't work.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: But I I'm also in the mindset now of like, cool, we got this implemented.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's going to cost us more on the bookkeeping side of things because there's just more to reconcile.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's fine.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: To me, it's peace of mind, but I totally get where you're coming from with that.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: I do want to go back to that first question.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: So you had a client you were doing by the book, you were putting them in a better position.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: They wanted to stretch that, you know, draw the line a little bit further.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: You said, no, we're not doing that because it's me, it's my name signing off on that.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Would love to hear how you approach that situation for other listeners, other firm owners who may have been in a similar spot before, or are currently in that spot, and they're like, This doesn't feel right, but I either I the revenue is helpful right now, or I I've been working with this person for years.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how did you approach that difficult conversation?
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: So interestingly, it they approached me with it because I had told them no on multiple occasions.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so one day they was like, hey, I'm I'm thinking about doing this, and I was like, No.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: The next day they was like, hey, I know you said no, but I went ahead and I did it, and I was like, hey, I don't like we can't do this anymore.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I keep saying they because I'm not gonna say he or she.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, but uh so then they called and they was like, hey, um I don't uh I like we we've been good, but it just it seems like you are you're you're you're too straight and narrow, is what they is what they said to me.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: And for me, that was validation of the authentic person that I am.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I tell people this, I tell my team this, I tell anybody that I work with, if my reputation in the industry or in these streets is that I'm going to be straight and narrow, present and accounted for.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm I'm I would take that reputation any day over somebody saying, yo, you want to go commit some fraud, go holla at your boy Tony.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-uh.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because guess what else happens?
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: If that is my and this happened, if that is a reputation on the streets, when I have a meeting with a revenue officer and they've heard that this is how I roll, then there's an extra layer of credibility that I bring not only on my firm, but also on my clients' behalf.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: So if that's who you are and that's how you roll, then then stay who you are.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: Do you.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and but but the conversation is difficult.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: I it sounds good for me to be like, oh yeah, it was all good.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: I because it was it was a it was a good amount of revenue.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: But if with with with that good amount of revenue, are they gonna bring some other people to the table?
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they probably will.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: But guess what?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: Burrs of a feather flock together.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: So if they are trying to do some weird stuff, then their homies are trying to do weird stuff as well.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: And so now you end up in a situation where you're you're too you're in too deep.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: And so now, how do I come out of this?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: I would rather come out of it early on than to now have 25 people that are trying to commit fraud, and now here I am with you, and now they're making a movie about how I got too deep in with you, and and I don't I don't want any parcel of that, James.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't blame you.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't blame you.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it it also comes down, it sounds like you also just we're not you're not worried about having that difficult conversation.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was just like, look, this is not gonna work, and I I don't care if if I'm not the guy anymore, if we're not the team for you, because like this is just not that's not the way things are gonna happen.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so if anyone's in that similar situation, take a page from Tony's book, and it's not the worst to be called authentic, genuine and honest.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so Tony, I would love to flip the script just a little bit here with it being a marketing podcast.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Would love to know how you how your firm, how you guys are growing.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: How do you guys find clients?
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: What works for you?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: What can what can other firm owners do out there that you're like, yep, this works for us, you should 100% be doing this.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, again, it it what I was just talking about, that that authenticity.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, I think a lot of times we try to be something or someone that we aren't, and it ends up causing us more hurt than help.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: And so for us, we this is who we are.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: This is how we roll, this is how we talk to our people.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: We have a client portal.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: Do you want to play in the client portal or do you want to be able to text and phone call at 10:30 at night?
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: If that's how you roll, that's not how we roll, and so that's not the place.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: So being authentic.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but that that spreads.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: Now, I you know, embarrassingly, have we done an amazing job at marketing?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe not.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I also recognize that we've been in the game for almost two decades.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so to have made it this far with limited marketing activities, if you will, um, I I think the the word of mouth, the the folks that are out there saying, hey, you want to be on the straight and narrow, go see Tony and his team.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think that that works.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, social media, there is a lot of stuff on social media.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: Good, bad, and different.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think when I've shown up, when my firm has shown up as who we are, we look, everybody can run QuickBooks reports.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody can pick up the 10-key calculator and and and have tape that's eight miles long.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: But when we have a conversation, do I feel like you care?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: Do because we're not we're not buying services, we're buying an experience, right?
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: We we all hear that.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and there are some firm owners that's like, hey, I don't like all that fluffy language.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's it is what it is, and I'm gonna tell my clients this is what they need to do.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: And that works.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: We are like, hey, client, it's looking a little rough for you, bruh.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: What you what you want to do?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: And they can appreciate that.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I think that's where social media has come in.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: The tips and all that stuff, it's it's all good, but being that authentic person and showing who you are as a human, um, I think allows the the doors to open, but then also having right people in your in your corner that can send the the traffic your way um so you can close on those deals.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I I back the the authenticity part that you're talking about and just being you.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've seen you speak on stage, I've had conversations with different events, having this conversation, it's the same Tony every single time.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that that to me is the the coolest thing about it all, and just yeah, being real and people know this is what you see, this is what you're gonna get every single time.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Every single time.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: So tell me about the stuff that hasn't worked, or what you guys are trying to work on now that's maybe like the biggest hurdle or the bottleneck in the firm right now as you go into 2026.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_02: So the thing that that didn't work many years ago, I think this is probably right before COVID or maybe leading into it, I got this bright idea to do a radio ad.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it was it was five figures.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I literally had I think maybe four or five people that indicated to us that they heard the radio ad.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: All five of those people were our current clients.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, wait, I just spent all this money, ads everywhere.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: And five, and I I I'm imagining way more than five people heard it, but the five people that I know heard it were like, hey, current client, I I I heard you on the radio.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, that's that's that's cute, but but I I need somebody who who is brand new.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: So that was a disaster.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: If anyone ever asked me to do radio, I'm sorry, ain't gonna happen because been there, done that, got the tattered t-shirt to say won't do it again.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that's already hear that happened.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: Man, it was it was listen, people be like, y'all think about doing ads on the radio.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm out of the, I'm not gonna tell you not to do it.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just gonna say I ain't got nothing to say.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'm throwing my hands up, I ain't got nothing for you.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: But now you know, okay, we can check that one off the list.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: We don't need to ever wonder, is that going to be the way to go?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: So you you've 100% you learn from the scars.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: And so now, as we go into 2026, um, I think that one of the the key initiatives is going to be getting our name and face out there.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: Because what I what really grinds my gears, I don't know what else to say, is when we have a great conversation with a prospect, and then we get across the line and we close, and they say, My goodness, I didn't even know that you guys were here, or you know, when did you when did you guys arrive?
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: Or you knew, how long you've been around?
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: I've been like, oh, it's been almost 20 years.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, what?
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's one of the worst, one of the worst things is being the best kept secret.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: This is not where you want to be the best kept secret.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we definitely are going to expand our exposure, um, but also making sure that the systems are in place to handle the influx of traffic, because one of the worst things that we can do is open the whole pipeline, let the flood come in, and then we are not able to handle it or to fulfill um, which now we have we've marketed ourselves that we're a failure.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: And it's so much more difficult to kind of claw back from not being able to handle something than to just kind of do it outright the the right way.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: So exposure, making sure the systems are in place, um, and being more intentional about who it is that we work with and and starting to cater the message towards them.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, again, can we run QuickBooks reports for many businesses?
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: But the ones that we really want to rock with, let's kind of cater the message towards them so that we can get them in the door.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's so many important things you touched on there.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: Don't just go and sign up for marketing, quote unquote, just to be like, yeah, we're working with this new company.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you can't handle the influx, you don't have the systems to take the appointments, you don't have the systems for your proposals going out.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: What does your sales process look like for closing once they're in?
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: Can you onboard people?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: Can you now fulfill it?
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have the staff?
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: We speak with a lot of firms across the US who are always reaching out to us to learn about our strategies, how we can help them.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: We turn away a lot of firms because it it would they wouldn't be set up for success.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: So we're doing them a disservice.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: They only get one first chance to impress that new potential client, but also it's for us because if we bring on someone, we do our job really well and we send them a ton of opportunities, doesn't work for them, they're not gonna keep being like, wow, James, your team's amazing.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for all this, but we actually now kind of ruined our reputation and we spent a bunch of money doing it.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's knowing who is, and to your point, who is the best fit for our firm?
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: Who do we want to work with?
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: Who's who do we want to send that message to?
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I love what you're saying about, yeah, we have plans in place, we're getting other systems set up, and then we can we can attack.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, slightly on the other side of that coin, I'd add, and you've been around for 20 years, so I'm sure you know this through and through, but there is no perfect time either.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: And trying to wait for everything to be 100% lined up, that's also not the play.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: But knowing, okay, is this is this me being scared versus trying to wait for the perfect time, or do we truly need a better system so we could handle it?
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: So that's I'll just add that in as a little asterisk because I think that's really important to note.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: No, that that's extremely valid.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I think really quickly on that, I had a conversation with someone about, you know, like when when do we go?
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so we the question outside of this industry is like, when do we have kids?
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: Well, there's no perfect time, like there's not enough money, there's not enough space.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_02: However, if you were preparing to have a kid, then you can no longer still ride around in your tour, your two-door coop.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, at least let's get a sedan that's got so you know, you gotta start making some adjustments.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: Even when you get the sedan, are you ready to have a kid?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe not.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: We don't know when the perfect time is, and so that's where we are.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: I told my team, like, hey, let's at least make sure that we have the right car to bring the baby home.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's such a good analogy.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's so good.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: I love that one.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Tony, what what would be like the number one thing you would want someone who's listening to this episode to leave with?
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that's hard, man.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know with that.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: Put you on the spot with that one.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that it's it's probably two-pronged.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_02: One, B you.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like, that sounds so cliche, but it actually, you may not even realize it, but it was validation for me to be like, yo, the same Tony that's on platform, the same Tony that's at the bar drinking a sprite on the rocks, the same Tony that's on the podcast, like you're gonna get the same Tony wherever you are.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: So be you, don't try to.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: Be somebody else just so you can get some business in the door because you can't maintain it.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's like when you tell your kids, like if you lie once, you have to keep lying to keep up the original lie.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_02: So don't do that.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: Two, this, this, this world of being a firm owner has peaks and valleys.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: And so just know that wherever you are, there's an up, but then there's also a down.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so if you feel like you're at the lowest, there's still you can go up.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: On the flip side, though, if you feel like, oh, this is great, we're living the dream.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's just one client that can take you from living the dream to like, oh shoot, well, what we about to do.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_02: So just, you know, main, I guess, I guess in humility.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's probably what the the true word is.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_02: Just remember that this is a journey.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and the destination continues to get further and further away, and just keep pushing, man, um, and and make it do what it do.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, 20 years of experience of running your own firm, that's there's a lot of weight behind those words.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I appreciate you sharing that.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious, um, before we get to the very last question, I want to wrap this up with, tell me what your plans are for 2026.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: Are you we're gonna see you back at GrowCon?
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: Are you attending any other conferences?
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: Where where will people see you out and about?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's always a pleasure running into you.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_02: So, my goal for 2026 is to be out there.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I'm working on getting things uh I'm not gonna say stable, because it's not like that's not stable, but I'm I'm working to make sure that that the that the crib, the office, that it can run, not necessarily because it can run without me, but for me to be out and doing what I love, having conversations, doing the things that I do, being on stages, um, I got to make sure that the foundation is solid.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: So 2026, I'm gonna be out there.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, even if I I trip up and I might miss an opportunity, I'm going to be out there because I recognize that there is a segment of the population that is assigned to my voice.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_02: And if I'm not out there to provide that to them, then I'm doing them a disservice.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so that's that's the goal for 26.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_02: Lock the foundation and make sure the firm is solid and get on stage and give the people what they need.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: You're it's is you're super intentional about it.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, you're one of the greatest, greatest guys I've met in the industry.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope you're at more events because it is always great catching up with you.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: We'll definitely be at Grocon.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: I hope to see you there.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: We're also gonna be at scaling, so come by the booth, say hi to us.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: It'd be great to see you again there.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, last question for you, Tony.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna put you on the spot again.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: So big drum roll to build up.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: All right, all right.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: What is the best piece of advice you've ever received?
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: The best piece of advice I've ever received.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um I'm not sure if it's necessarily advice, but it's a saying, um one of my former pastors said to me, keep living, son, keep living.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: And and what he was saying that to me, or what it was in reference to, is kind of almost what I was just talking about.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like the things that you have experienced are putting you in position for the things that you are about to experience.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think about it, because I, you know, I did something to my knee, probably trying to do too much on the Peloton or on the trademark.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what happened.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: But my sons, like my sons of 14 to 18, was like, yo, dad, what happened?
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, and it and it came out of me.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, keep living.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: Because right now, you can you can jump everywhere, you can run everywhere.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_02: But as time goes on, you start to realize, oh, I can't do it the way I used to.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um however, I can still outsmart you in other ways.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_02: So when he told me to like keep living, I was like, oh, I may not be as physically agile as I used to be, but I'm way more mentally agile than I ever was.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: And so for me, like I continue to replay that.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I and again, I think about the peaks in the valley.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes, and I think anybody in my seat has been like, you know what?
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: Flip the table up.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm out of here, I'm done, I'm gonna go be a Walmart greeter.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_02: But then there's some times that you're like, yo, this is amazing.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_02: Let's let's keep doing more.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, keep living, keep living because you're gonna have a time when you you're questioning every decision, and then you're gonna have times where you're like, Oh, I love it.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_02: This is the greatest thing ever, man.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for sharing that.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: Tony, thank you so much for coming on and spending time with us here today.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's always a pleasure speaking with you.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: You have so much insight and so much knowledge.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: I can't wait to see you at whatever that next event is, but I know we'll be crossing paths again soon.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um enjoy the holiday season as it's as we're very much coming up on it.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, just thanks again for coming on.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it, James.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much, sir.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in to this episode of CFO Chronicles, The Secrets Behind Success.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you found value in today's conversation.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: As we wrap up, I'd love for you to do two things.
• 37:11
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• 37:16
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• 37:19
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• 37:22
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• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to position yourself as the advisor your clients need.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: And don't forget, you can connect with me on LinkedIn to stay up to date on what's happening in the world of accounting and financial growth.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: We've got exciting topics coming up, so stay tuned for the next episode of CFO Chronicles.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, keep pushing forward.
• 37:49
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• 37:53
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• 37:59
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• 38:05
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• 38:09
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• 38:14
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• 38:18
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