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Money without the shame: a CFO’s take with Parker Sydor · Flow State Business

• 0:00
  We have Parker Sidor on, and he is just… Oh my gosh, you are gonna get his energy.
• 0:05
  He is honestly one of the best people that you can connect with around all things money, finance, CFO goodness, financial empowerment.
• 0:17
  Parker, welcome to the Flow State Business podcast.
• 0:21
  Thank you so much.
• 0:21
  Thank you so much for having me.
• 0:23
  I'm so excited to, yeah, be here and just talk about how we can look at all of this with just, like, a bit of a different mindset, looking at it from, like, a different angle.
• 0:32
  It doesn't have to be the worst thing in the world.
• 0:35
  Absolutely.
• 0:36
  You know, and this, this interview has been a long time coming because Parker and I are, like, Instagram besties, and we comment on each other's stuff, and I'm like, "Oh my God, we need to actually properly hang." And I just love the way that you literally talk about numbers for business owners, and I just feel that you're going to literally be sharing something that so many of us need to be hearing today around literally getting our head out of the sand and getting focused on what is going to empower us as business owners, which is looking at our finances.
• 1:08
  But also, one thing that I know you're really great at is helping people go, "It's not that bad. Everything's fixable.
• 1:17
  Everything is directional, and you can choose which direction this goes in." So, oh, thank you so much.
• 1:23
  Now, I have to al- I always ask my guests, what landed you in this career?
• 1:28
  What was the moment that you're like, "I'm really great at numbers.
• 1:31
  I'm gonna be the gay CFO.
• 1:33
  I'm gonna go all in." What does that look like?
• 1:35
  Yeah.
• 1:36
  For me, it was kind of like a mixture of, like, four or five different things that kind of all landed at the same time.
• 1:42
  So I think the biggest part, and it kind of goes back to just, like, sometimes money and numbers are just so terrifying for people, and for me growing up, that just was not the case.
• 1:52
  Like, I grew up- With a grandma who loved to play Sudoku and Kakuro and, like, always playing her number games, and numbers were just never scary to me growing up.
• 2:03
  I loved math.
• 2:04
  I was in, like, the gifted classes for whatever reason, and just was like, it… To me, numbers were never something that could be scary.
• 2:12
  But then, I mean, I have three brothers, so I learned very quickly that numbers are scary for a lot of people, and, like, that did- does just kind of freeze you up right away.
• 2:22
  But since that wasn't the way that I saw it, I got to go through, like, my teen years and everything actually enjoying math and seeing math in everything.
• 2:31
  And so, like, seeing that, like, money was just math, and pretty much, I mean, everything we do has math in it, whether or not you want to believe your algebra teacher, you will use the math at some point.
• 2:43
  Um, and then it- so that kind of just, like, was in the back of my mind for my whole life.
• 2:48
  And then I started working at a restaurant, actually, and was doing, like, bill times, like, timing how long things took, doing percentages, talking to the head chef, being like, "What can we do to make this better?" Like, at 18 years old, I was like, "This is, this is obviously my path." They would have loved you there.
• 3:06
  Like, you were full price- They absolutely were obsessed … improving.
• 3:08
  Yeah.
• 3:09
  Oh, yeah.
• 3:10
  And then, well, so this is the owner of the restaurant came up to me, like, later that shift and was like, "Hey, you seem to really like numbers." And I was like, "It's a bit of an understatement, but yes, I do." And so she was like, "Cool.
• 3:21
  Well, we have, like, we need somebody to take over books, so can you do that?" So that was kind of my first little, like, step into the bookkeeping world, and I stayed there for, I was there for, like, four years doing their books, um, until I moved to a small business.
• 3:36
  There was, like, four of us running it.
• 3:37
  It was a compost collection business because we didn't have any of that in our small little city.
• 3:43
  And so we decided to do that on our own, and we had hired a bookkeeper.
• 3:47
  And so I was like, "This is awesome." Like, "They're doing everything right.
• 3:49
  They know exactly what's going on here.
• 3:51
  Great." Then tax time comes around, and they are still in the same boat that everyone else is, where they weren't able to save their money throughout the year.
• 4:00
  They didn't know what to save.
• 4:01
  They had no idea what their reports were showing them because their bookkeepers just didn't care or didn't have the time or the capa- whatever it was There was the, some, like, separation between having the information and having the numbers, and being able to do something with it.
• 4:20
  So that was kind of in my brain the first time I was like,"Okay, w- I'm going to put my own spin on this industry.
• 4:25
  I'm going to see what I can do to make sure that we're not leading with…" I mean, cl- compliance and legality obviously hugely important, but so is the business owner actually understanding their books, and that doesn't happen because it's crazy abstract or impossible to understand.
• 4:46
  It just happens because there's never a conversation, and, like, prior… Like, they just are on two different playing fields the whole time almost.
• 4:55
  Yes.
• 4:56
  Yes.
• 4:57
  I think there's also this kind of, uh, like, sense of I know my numbers because I know what sales I'm making.
• 5:03
  I know what's coming in.
• 5:05
  I know that business felt good today.
• 5:08
  I know that, you know, if it was a restaurant, like, you know, we'd turned over X amount of tables, or if you're a online coach, I, I know I did great today because I signed new clients, I was on lots and lots of Zoom calls or in person, and it kind of stops there, and you have this feeling of, like, I was just literally talking to a client about this the other day, and she's like,"I know that I'm doing well with inflow, and that's where my financial literacy stops." You know, I don't really look at what are the outgoings, but she goes, "I know that there is so much money leaving my account because I'm paying for tech, I'm paying for people, I'm paying for ads." So do you find that as well with, you know, business owners where it's like they love looking at incoming and then it's, like, nothing else?
• 5:54
  Yeah.
• 5:54
  Or even just, like, "Oh no, like, my, my bank account has money in it, so everything must be fine. Like, I'm still positive, so we should be good." Yes.
• 6:04
  Uh, but then you look at their, like, actual cashflow and they're gonna be in the red in two weeks or something because they just don't have anything flowing in or they're not looking at what's coming out.
• 6:16
  And I mean, tying into what I think this whole, like, main theme is, it's, like, nothing around bookkeeping or understanding your finances or whatever it is, is impossible to figure out.
• 6:27
  Nothing takes a college degree to figure it out.
• 6:31
  It's just that some of us decided to take that path.
• 6:34
  Some of us were like,"Okay, maybe I'm going to actually fully learn this." But there's… I think there's this idea that, like, accountants and CPAs and finance pros just have, like, unlocked some knowledge that is unavailable to everyone else, and the reality is, like, we just know what to look at.
• 6:52
  And I think that's where a lot of people stop, where they go, "Oh, well, I know to look at what money's coming in.
• 6:57
  I know to look at my, like, big recurring expenses maybe." But they're not thinking about, "Oh, well, I took this client out for dinner here, and I actually have to travel to this place." And so I was talking to a client actually yesterday about just how her business is doing.
• 7:11
  She just raised her prices, um, and things are going really well.
• 7:14
  But she's had a bit of a slower month because it's September now.
• 7:18
  Her busy season is the summer.
• 7:20
  And immediately she was just like, "Well, I know I've got about, like, 7,500 coming in this month." And I said, "Okay, great, but you also have a contractor that you pay 50% of your revenue to, and you also have store rent, and you also have all these other things.
• 7:34
  So then what, what are we building this off of now?" And I think that's been a, a big issue too, where people go, "Oh, I'm making $10,000 in revenue," or, "I'm making 15, 20," whatever it is.
• 7:47
  But that number kinda means nothing until you know how much you're spending to make that much money.
• 7:54
  'Cause if you're spending 15,000 to make 20, you're only making 5K.
• 7:58
  Yes.
• 7:59
  Oh, yes.
• 8:00
  Exactly.
• 8:01
  You know?
• 8:01
  Yes.
• 8:02
  I totally understand that.
• 8:04
  You and I have jammed on this before because we're both, you know, numbers nerds.
• 8:07
  Y- you more so than me, for sure, but you know, I still like to identify as that sometimes.
• 8:12
  But I'm just like, oh my gosh, why is it so unspoken of in the business world that we don't own, we don't get to keep all of it?
• 8:21
  You know, there's … So the majority of what you see, those numbers, those glossy numbers online, it's like, "I made 10K, 100K." It's like, guys, please know that it's, at, at least in Australia, I'm sure in Canada it's, like, really high taxes as well.
• 8:36
  It's like almost all of it is taken by the tax man, and whatever is left over you either have to put aside or pay your people.
• 8:45
  You know?
• 8:45
  So it's … Look, we don't wanna, you know, discourage you from the numbers side of things and, and … But it's, there is an empowerment which comes along with it.
• 8:55
  So I wanna ask you, when… So let's say this client of yours who you've just laid down, like, "Hey, let's be real here," and we want that.
• 9:03
  We want that from our CFOs, want that from our finance people.
• 9:07
  What do you then do?
• 9:08
  Because I'm sure she would've maybe just gone into, like, a reality deer in headlights moment.
• 9:13
  Like, "What do I do?" How, how do you get to the other side of feeling somewhat, you know, your nervous system somewhat regulated?
• 9:23
  And what's … Like, what are some good financial habits that you've seen put into play that has really helped a lot of your founders go, "Oh, thank you so much, Parker.
• 9:34
  Like, I really needed that"?
• 9:35
  Yeah.
• 9:36
  I think, well, I think the biggest thing too is that there's often just so much shame in not knowing.
• 9:42
  So it's not even just the fact that there are expenses that are eating at that revenue, it's the fact that she wasn't consciously thinking about it that immediately brings this, like, weird shame piece into it, which really, like, doesn't belong anywhere in the finance world.
• 9:57
  It doesn't help anyone.
• 9:59
  It doesn't make anybody more rich.
• 10:00
  It doesn't make anybody feel better.
• 10:03
  And so my whole- ethos around, like, how I have these conversations is very conversational, very, like, we are… I mean, my whole vibe is I, I'm your gay best friend and we're just chatting money.
• 10:15
  Like, that's really all we're doing here.
• 10:17
  So there's already, like, a lower barrier, I guess.
• 10:21
  Like, it's not as scary as sitting down with some, like, buttoned-up finance guy telling you all of these scary things.
• 10:28
  Um, but the reality is, like, it all comes back to the fact that we're in it together.
• 10:34
  Like, my clients all know that I'm not just giving them advice for fun.
• 10:39
  Like, it's because I wanna see their business do better.
• 10:43
  And immediately after, obviously there are things you can do.
• 10:47
  Like, you know the expenses, you know the revenue now, so what are we gonna do about it?
• 10:51
  My favorite thing is, and this is, like, my type B ADHD brain, like, setting savings goals and, like, flat dollar amounts for savings.
• 11:02
  Some people love it.
• 11:03
  I can't do it.
• 11:04
  It stresses me out so much- Same.
• 11:05
  I'm the same … if I miss one of them.
• 11:07
  Right?
• 11:07
  Like, it's just too much.
• 11:08
  Yes.
• 11:10
  And for- forever the biggest thing for me in saving has been, well, what if this month I had to spend more so I don't have that much to save?
• 11:17
  Like, that is real life.
• 11:19
  And so I, which it's not, this is not a new thing, um, but I like to split profit into different savings and allocation pots.
• 11:29
  So- It's not all saving, 'cause I don't think you need to save all of the profit you make.
• 11:34
  But the way I normally like to split it is a good chunk, like 25, 30% to taxes, um, a good chunk to your emergency savings, which is different than a chunk to your reinvestment savings, and then finally something that's just, like, gonna make you excited to work every month.
• 11:53
  So if that's money for taking the team out to dinner every month, if that's just a chunk of money that goes directly to you for a bonus, whatever it is, as long as it adds up to 100%, no matter if your profit is $200 or $2,000, you can still be putting money aside.
• 12:12
  You can still be saving for the future without it feeling like you're going into the negative to do that.
• 12:18
  Yes.
• 12:19
  And it doesn't have to be… Like, financial strategy and financial plans don't have to be these, like, 40-page documents and spreadsheets with all of this crazy information.
• 12:29
  It can be as simple as like,"You know what? Every time I get a deposit this month, I'm gonna send 10% of that to savings." And if you want it to be different the next month, it can be, because your financial needs are gonna change.
• 12:41
  But if we aren't at least putting a little bit aside for savings, then we're just kind of hurting ourselves in the long run.
• 12:47
  Yes.
• 12:48
  Um, and then, yeah, like, I guess adding onto that, I think the only other thing that people miss is just simply tracking their expenses.
• 12:55
  Because they want there to be a right way.
• 12:58
  They want it, it has to feel as easy as possible, and, like, there's no friction, and the reality is sitting down and tracking your expenses isn't fun.
• 13:06
  It's not why we got into business.
• 13:08
  It's not like It's not what we wanna be doing day to day, but if you don't know what's going through your account and you attach all of that shame and all of that, all those negative emotions to it, it becomes a way more difficult task than it ever should have been because it's, it's neutral.
• 13:25
  Oh my gosh.
• 13:26
  Every Monday, Michael and I, we sit down, cup of coffee, and we just have to start our week knowing the expenses side of things.
• 13:34
  It's actually something I don't think I've even talked about on the pod, so here we go.
• 13:37
  Like- Hmm… I, we sit down with all of things 'cause I, obviously, I'm the one who's, like, spending in the business with, like, entertaining clients and things, and he's like, "Where is this invoice?
• 13:48
  Where is this restaurant receipt?" Like, it's, it's quite interesting 'cause it's such an unsexy side of business.
• 13:54
  Well, you probably think it's sexy, but- Yeah.
• 13:56
  … it's, like, the unsexy side because it's almost like working out, like, where do we want to allocate this so that it's easier on our books, it's easier on tax time, it's easier on our accountant.
• 14:07
  It's, like, passing that on.
• 14:09
  But there are some days where we just don't feel like it.
• 14:13
  You know, there are some days where it's like this… I've got a headache, like, I don't wanna do this, and just trying to… And I'm get- I'm getting all grumpy with him.
• 14:20
  I'm like, "I don't know where that receipt is" and he's just like, "Well, you spent… Like, where is it?
• 14:25
  Like, it's gotta- go and check your six purses.
• 14:27
  I'm sure it's in there." But I think no matter what these habits that we get into, I think about, like, those key moments when we have to report back to the tax office, it's like, I am peaceful.
• 14:39
  You know, I'm zen.
• 14:40
  There's no craziness around it'cause of these weekly habits.
• 14:44
  So I love what you're saying here.
• 14:46
  And especially, like, different savings pots, like that's… Like, as you're talking about it, that sort of… That gave me, like, exci- Like, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm excited because then you don't feel guilty wanting to spend $2,000 on a new iPhone because you've already allocated for that.
• 15:00
  You know, it's like, oh my gosh, like, it's not something that you have to wish and hope for.
• 15:04
  You've actually, in one sense, like past you has already set that aside.
• 15:08
  Mm-hmm.
• 15:09
  How empowering.
• 15:10
  Yeah.
• 15:11
  And it really, like, it can be that easy and even, like, you with your husband, like, it reminds me so much of- A very fundamental belief of, like, the whole bookkeeping process for me is just that none of it is too difficult, none of it is too much work.
• 15:28
  It's just that most of us haven't taken the time to just, like, put it into a box and figure out what we're even doing.
• 15:37
  So when it comes to, like, expenses and receipts, this is my favorite thing because it's so simple, but most people just don't ask themselves literally three questions.
• 15:46
  Um, so for me, for anybody that I'm helping set up a receipt system, the first question is, okay, what, what's your system?
• 15:52
  Are you taking pictures with your iPhone and just saving them in an album?
• 15:56
  Are you sending them to your email?
• 15:58
  Are you putting them in a Dropbox?
• 16:00
  Are you using a receipt manager like QuickBooks or Dext or whatever?
• 16:03
  Once you have that system, then you just need to figure out, okay, how often do I wanna do this?
• 16:08
  Do I have 10 receipts a month?
• 16:10
  Maybe I just have to do it biweekly or monthly.
• 16:13
  But if I have 50 receipts a week, I'm probably gonna wanna do that every week or maybe even daily, depending on how much energy, how much time I have.
• 16:22
  And then the last one is just when is it done?
• 16:27
  Is it as soon as it lands in the QuickBooks Receipt Manager, that's the receipt's done?
• 16:32
  Is it as soon as it's in the iPhone album?
• 16:34
  Do you want it all the way in your QuickBooks file attached to the expense, and that's done?
• 16:40
  Because as soon as you answer those three questions, you have your system.
• 16:43
  You, you know exactly what to do, where to do it, when to do it, and when you can put it away.
• 16:48
  Yes.
• 16:48
  Okay, this has really exposed a habit of mine, because I clearly have inconsistent habits because sometimes I take a photo and pop it into QuickBooks, like straightaway.
• 16:58
  We, we use QuickBooks as well, so love QuickBooks.
• 17:00
  So it's like, well, that should just be the process; photo, upload to QuickBooks, and then just, you know, allowing the coding thing to be Michael's job, right?
• 17:10
  So it's, at least it's in there.
• 17:12
  But what happens is that I get it and then I stuff it into my purse or into my bag- Yeah… and I say, "I'll take a photo later." It's that which gets me.
• 17:19
  Yeah, yeah.
• 17:20
  It's the I'll get to it later, and then I forget, like, where it is, and it's like, oh my gosh, I need a better system.
• 17:27
  And I'm so consistently inconsistent that I need- Oh, I'm glad you are too.
• 17:32
  I'm glad you Yes.
• 17:33
  Yes.
• 17:33
  Like, well, and that's like the craziest thing, and for me it was the weirdest way to enter, like, the bookkeeping and finance world, because I would say, like, 99% of people in this industry are very type A, very like,"Here's my process and this is exactly how it's gonna go." And I entered this industry being like, I'm pretty sure that's not how it works for most people.
• 17:52
  And that's why so many people are afraid to talk to their accountants, is because they just are like, we're completely different brain types.
• 17:58
  Like, none of that makes sense.
• 18:00
  But I, I've got ADHD, I've got autism.
• 18:03
  My brain is a wild place.
• 18:06
  And so I approach all these things from, like, five different angles, and then realize, like, oh, maybe actually everybody else needed this help too.
• 18:15
  Yes.
• 18:16
  Yeah.
• 18:17
  Uh, how soon do you think you need to hire a bookkeeper?
• 18:21
  I have that question come up a lot.
• 18:23
  I'm sure you do as well.
• 18:24
  Yeah.
• 18:24
  What, what's the income levels?
• 18:26
  Or is it more less income levels and more, "Hey, I know my business is gonna blow up and I wanna hire you so I can manifest into this next level"?
• 18:36
  What have you seen is too early versus, no, like, everyone should get it as soon as they start a business?
• 18:42
  Yeah, I think there's, like, an in-between of, like, it's almost like a little bit of, like, a spectrum where there's kind of a time when I think if you're starting a business, you should have some sort of support in your corner.
• 18:53
  So maybe that's not, like, a monthly bookkeeper, because that can be expensive depending on what you're starting at, but maybe that's someone that you know you can book calls with when you have those questions, or somebody that you- in your family that knows stuff about finance.
• 19:09
  Like, it doesn't have to be that I'm hiring a CPA right away, uh, but having somebody you can ask questions to will save you so much time and money.
• 19:18
  And then as soon as you are even thinking about scaling, if you're even trying to build a team or have any sort of business that's just bigger than you, pr- I might be a little bit biased, but realistically, a bookkeeper should be your first hire because your books are only gonna get more complicated.
• 19:38
  You're only gonna have less time.
• 19:41
  So getting that locked in early and having a bookkeeper that's growing with you and fully just learning your business and understanding how you're growing can save you… Like, I don't even wanna say time and money, 'cause that feels like not enough.
• 19:56
  Like, it will genuinely push you so far ahead just because you're not guessing.
• 20:03
  You have all the information.
• 20:04
  Tax time doesn't put you back four months.
• 20:07
  And then as soon as you are making those big financial decisions around hiring, around adjusting your prices, building new offers, tax strategy, that's when hiring a CFO ends up being the best.
• 20:24
  And I think a lot of times people confuse all of them into the same person.
• 20:28
  Yes.
• 20:29
  Can, can you explain the differences between them?
• 20:31
  Yeah.
• 20:32
  I see so many people all the time talking about how they're looking for an accountant.
• 20:36
  Yes.
• 20:36
  Which is great.
• 20:37
  I think everyone should look for an accountant.
• 20:39
  But are you looking for an accountant because you want help with tax strategy or because you want help with bookkeeping or because you want help with cross-border stuff?
• 20:47
  Like account- accounting is such a wide industry full of some people that are doing tax things and some people that are doing completely different things.
• 20:58
  So your bookkeeper is going to be the person who is day-to-day in your books, coding transactions, and making sure that you understand what's going on.
• 21:07
  Your bookkeeper and you are like, your bookkeeper's your sidekick.
• 21:12
  At the end of the year, you should hopefully also have either a tax preparer or, like, a full CPA.
• 21:18
  Sometimes tax preparers are CPAs.
• 21:20
  You should have that because they can sign off.
• 21:22
  They know everything that's going on with your tax regulations.
• 21:28
  A CFO is a bit more removed from, like, the actual technical hands-on work.
• 21:35
  Most CFOs aren't coding transactions.
• 21:37
  Um, most CFOs aren't filing taxes.
• 21:40
  But it then goes more into the financial strategy.
• 21:44
  So how are we pricing?
• 21:45
  Are we looking at your cash flow?
• 21:46
  Do you have a budget set up?
• 21:48
  When's the last time you actually went through your expenses and kind of deleted the subscriptions you didn't need?
• 21:55
  Um, but that's when it gets more into almost having kind of like a business coach, who's the person who's really there to help you understand what's going on.
• 22:04
  It's no longer about getting the information, it's about interpreting and using it.
• 22:09
  Yes.
• 22:09
  And which one of those are you?
• 22:11
  Are you all of them?
• 22:13
  Do you dip in and out?
• 22:15
  Like, how do you mainly, yeah, talk about what you do.
• 22:19
  Yeah.
• 22:19
  So I started my business as a bookkeeper, and it was only doing bookkeeping.
• 22:24
  Um, so I was only really doing the technical side.
• 22:27
  I wasn't filing taxes.
• 22:28
  I wasn't really interpreting reports much, until I realized that was actually what I love to do and the only thing I really wanna do.
• 22:34
  So now I'm still doing a little bit of bookkeeping, but I'm really leaning into that CFO- Chief financial officer, the person who's really gonna be the one who's calling you out on the expenses that don't need to be there, that's making sure that you're raising the rates when you need to.
• 22:49
  Um, currently I'm helping clients with, like, figuring out compensation strategy for the holidays because it's super busy and they wanna be able to pay their staff more because they're getting more money.
• 22:59
  So it's these really cool abstract things that you get to do with CFO work that your bookkeeper isn't gonna be able to help you with.
• 23:07
  So it's important to get really clear on obviously, like, the actual outcome you're looking for.
• 23:12
  Yes.
• 23:13
  Oh my gosh, this is so exciting.
• 23:15
  I mean, like, I hear that and I go, "Wow." To have someone like you on the team who'd be like, "Hey, do you know you've got an excess amount over here? What do you wanna do with it? You know, these are the options." Having a CFO actually give you options rather than just uselessly spending it, you know, I think that's a trap that we all seem to get into.
• 23:33
  It's like, "Ooh, a little extra bit of money here, let's throw it on a holiday on Fiji or something." And then it's like,"Wait, wait, wait," like, "We could do some really cool things with it." I, I really appreciate what you do for business owners because, like you said, effectively you're not just there managing the receipts.
• 23:50
  You're literally going, "Okay, well, these are some of the ways that you can open up financial opportunity and be smarter around how you spend, but also because you're smarter here, you're gonna make so much more money over there." Oh, it's, it must just be such a relief to your clients, like when you sit down and you give them these strategies.
• 24:10
  Have you ever had major pushback, like, on your strategies where it's like,"What are you talking about?
• 24:15
  I, I don't wanna do that," or, you know, "That sounds really out of this world," or, "There's no way I could spend on that"?
• 24:24
  How do you have those difficult conversations around, you know… Like, you see numbers and money in a certain way.
• 24:30
  I'm sure your clients are very emotionally attached.
• 24:33
  So how do you deal with that when they're just like push and pull, you know?
• 24:37
  Yeah.
• 24:38
  Well, and that's like the, the interesting part about being in the finance world is that money is so emotional, and I think for a really long time people were trying to act like money was just like- Like, you shouldn't really worry, it's just there.
• 24:51
  Don't, don't get too emotional about it.
• 24:53
  Like, don't freak out.
• 24:54
  Everything's fine.
• 24:55
  But that doesn't work when you've been raised a different way, or the social factors in your life have taught you to see money a different way.
• 25:04
  And so I kind of, I approach every conversation thinking there will be pushback because there are, like, there's so many stories that people are telling themselves about money, about their worth with money, how they can make money.
• 25:16
  Um, and I think going from like a 9 to 5 job to something more freelance or just running your own business, like there's so much in people's brains about like why I shouldn't be charging that much.
• 25:29
  And so like y- literally yesterday I was having a conversation with a client who had raised their rates, um, based on a conversation we had six months ago or something, and she was really hesitant because the rate that she was charging was working, clients were happy, no one was pushing back.
• 25:46
  The business was making money, but there was so much behind that that I could see even before we got into like, "Hey, well, you need to tweak the pricing for this and this pricing needs to go up and this could probably go down." You can almost immediately tell when somebody is bracing for impact, right?
• 26:05
  It's like at that point then it starts with, "Hey, you're really good at what you're doing here.
• 26:09
  It's inc- it's incredible what you've built.
• 26:11
  Like, if we look back at the summer you've had, you just did X amount of appointments.
• 26:17
  You've seen this many people.
• 26:18
  You got this many new clients in.
• 26:20
  You also just launched this mentorship and you've got this going on." Making sure that they know like, "Hey, you're doing really awesome stuff. You've built this business to a place…" Because so many people think that their above average businesses are just skating by.
• 26:37
  And I'm like, "No, no, no.
• 26:37
  We need to, we need to clarify this.
• 26:39
  Now your business is working and now you get to push the gas pedal because you've been booked up for however many months now and- That's so empowering even just to hear that.
• 26:50
  Yeah.
• 26:51
  And I think it's the part that people miss.
• 26:52
  They just, they see all the bad things.
• 26:54
  They see, "Oh, I missed that tax obligation," or, "I overspent here and I don't have enough to pay this invoice right now." But they're never reminding themselves of, "Oh, I have invoices hitting my bank account monthly, weekly, daily," right?
• 27:10
  Like there's so, there's so many good things happening all the time that people just aren't noticing, and sometimes having those conversations, all you have to do first is just pull out that and just be like, "Hey, just a reminder that like I know pricing increases can be scary." Because you don't know how people are gonna react.
• 27:27
  But let's just go back to the fact that everybody's obsessed with you.
• 27:30
  You've been booked out for however long.
• 27:32
  You've got people internationally trying to work with you.
• 27:36
  And that, and really, that's the, like, gay best friend part of what I do here, is like, "No, let's talk…" Like, I'm gonna be real with you, and if you need some tough love, like, I'm going to tell you that you need to be believing in yourself.
• 27:47
  Okay, wait.
• 27:48
  I need gay bestie energy right now, 'cause as you s- as you're saying this, oh my gosh, you've got no idea.
• 27:54
  So I had this, uh… So a psychic told me that I need to raise my prices.
• 27:59
  She's like, "Oh my God, girl, you need to raise your prices." And just said it really, like, you know, just really kind of throwaway line and then went on to something else.
• 28:07
  And I, and the whole time I'm just like, "I gotta raise my prices? I gotta raise my pri-" in my head.
• 28:10
  I'm just like- Yeah … got stuck there.
• 28:12
  Yeah.
• 28:12
  And she was just yapping along.
• 28:14
  Anyway, and then it's almost like I ha- So the history of this is, you know, pre-COVID, even during COVID times, online business just went boom, right?
• 28:25
  So I'm sure you know this from the books, like, everyone's business that was set up a certain way was thriving, and I was charging, like, more than I'd ever charged, and so many people were online and they were taking up online mentorships.
• 28:37
  Then comes 2023, then comes 2024.
• 28:40
  2024 was the worst year that we had on the books, like, by far, and it was just like this moo- You know, it was a real slump year.
• 28:49
  And because 2024 happened, I repriced everything in my business because I'm like,"This is going to just bring a lot of confidence back to me. I want a thriving group of coaching clients," you know?
• 29:01
  And obviously I'm responding to the market, to the economy, what it's doing, and people were buying and buying.
• 29:06
  Anyway, here we are now, end of 2026.
• 29:09
  I am so booked out.
• 29:11
  Like I, my calendar is just crazy busy.
• 29:15
  Like my parents are here at the moment, they're like, "Do you stop?" And I was like, "No, I don't.
• 29:18
  Not right now." And then the psychic comes along and goes, "You need to raise your prices." Then Parker comes along and says, "Well, you know, I work with clients who need to raise their prices." I'm like, all right, universe.
• 29:28
  But I think the hesitation is exactly what you're saying, where it's like, well, things are working.
• 29:34
  I'm getting booked out.
• 29:35
  People love it.
• 29:36
  The, it's obviously the price is right.
• 29:38
  But then it's like, what gives?
• 29:40
  I need like my gay CFO bestie to take the emotion out of it and just say it as it is, you know?
• 29:47
  It's like what would you say to a client who's just like, "Blah, blah, blah," just spilling out their life story like I am?
• 29:54
  No, I get… But I get it because this is what we… It's the trap that literally everybody falls into.
• 29:59
  Whether or not you're like a first-year business or you've been in business forever, pricing is the stickiest point for some reason.
• 30:07
  But it's like, in my opinion, as simple as like, okay, let's take it back and let's just look at the facts.
• 30:13
  You're so booked out, you're doing VIP days all over the place.
• 30:18
  Like it's not that you're just booked out with like a little offer, right?
• 30:21
  Like you're booked out with big things.
• 30:24
  People are into it.
• 30:26
  And so what I like to do, and this is what I did yesterday for my other client, is go like as basic as possible all the way back to like the simple like supply and demand graph, right?
• 30:35
  Like that's realistically the most basic way to come up with a price.
• 30:39
  Your supply is limited, right?
• 30:42
  Like you can only produce as much as you can.
• 30:45
  You've only got 30 days in a month, 24 hours in a day.
• 30:49
  Your demand though is so high.
• 30:52
  Like you are booked out, which means you're, you're past your demand So just looking at it mathematically with no emotion involved, your price is too low.
• 31:02
  Like, that's just not even analyzing anything, right?
• 31:08
  When you say it like that, it's like it still smacks you in the face.
• 31:11
  Yeah.
• 31:12
  It's so true.
• 31:13
  I'm like- But then you go, okay, cool, well if… 'Cause I also said this to my client yesterday, if those people can't make it, they will find support elsewhere.
• 31:22
  Like, there are other people that are doing business coaching, that are teaching people how to sell daily.
• 31:27
  There are other people doing that, maybe not as well, but there are other people doing it.
• 31:32
  So whether you're doing business coaching or spray tans or nails or haircuts, if you out-price somebody, that just means that the value just didn't line up, and they'll go find it somewhere else, and then you're open for that client that does see it, and it's not a negative thing.
• 31:53
  Yes.
• 31:54
  I love this.
• 31:55
  Yeah, so I'm not leaving them hanging.
• 31:57
  I'm not abandoning them.
• 31:58
  I'm not not being accessible.
• 32:00
  You know, that's a really big thing, is like- Mm-hmm … I wanna be accessible, and I am accessible through my low tickets.
• 32:06
  Yes.
• 32:07
  And also, like, I, I think accessibility is such a touchy topic, especially for people that are growing their businesses because they want to still help out the little guys all the time.
• 32:19
  'Cause you're like, "No, I remember being there, so I want to help out." But there's no, there's no obligation there.
• 32:26
  You were never obligated to always help out everybody that could ever be helped out.
• 32:31
  This is why- Because then you're taking- … I love Capricorns… business away from other people.
• 32:34
  Yeah.
• 32:35
  It's just what we do.
• 32:37
  I, you made a, a Cappy ba- ga- gay best friend who's just like, "You are not obligated." I'm like, "Yes." That's all you need, is just, "Hey girl, boundaries.
• 32:45
  We got boundaries here." Love.
• 32:49
  Love.
• 32:51
  Oh.
• 32:51
  It really… I just… I think if we, if we… 'Cause again, money is emotional, but if we strip that away for a little bit, sometimes it's, like, it's just so easy to be like, "Oh, okay, yeah.
• 33:01
  No, that makes sense." Like mathematically, that makes sense.
• 33:06
  Now I can start relearning the things that I've been teaching myself the wrong way.
• 33:12
  Like, I've been telling myself the whole time that the price is working, but is the price still working if you are limited with your capacity, you're limited with your extra free time?
• 33:24
  Like there… I think we get stuck in things working because they feel comfortable and safe, and we know what this feels like.
• 33:31
  Yeah.
• 33:32
  Yeah.
• 33:33
  I don't know, I always get to this time of year, so we're recording start of October, and I always think, "Oh, last quarter of the year," I, I sense there's a change.
• 33:43
  You know, there's a change especially to do with pricing and product that's- Mm-hmm sort, sort of started the wheels turning for 2027.
• 33:51
  You know, like it's what, what's different?
• 33:53
  What's… Even a best friend of mine asked me yesterday like,"What's the big goal for 2027?" I'm like, "Girl, I haven't even thought about how I'm finishing the rest of this year." Mm-hmm.
• 34:01
  But then, uh, you know, it's true.
• 34:03
  Like, I think it's starting to shift some things, and this conversation is so timely because pricing is truly what empowers you or what disempowers you.
• 34:15
  You know?
• 34:15
  Mm-hmm.
• 34:15
  What makes you feel like, like it's not gonna serve me all of next year if I continue at this pace for my pri- you know, especially in the sort of view that my price is too low.
• 34:25
  That already feels yuck.
• 34:27
  That already feels misaligned.
• 34:29
  So it's almost like I'm completing this year, and I'm just, you know, getting through it, and then next year is like, wow, like new price model, I know it's coming through.
• 34:39
  So that's so ex- and that's something you talk to your CFO about.
• 34:41
  You know, that's something- Yeah, exactly that you go like, "All right, what is, how, what do I do now between now and I know new pricing's coming in, in the new year?" Exactly.
• 34:49
  And that's like that juicy strategic call you'd be having of like, "Do I just clear the pipeline and just keep pricing at this point, or do I start shifting and tiering up so that there's different, you know, it's moving up now?" Like, I, oh my God, those conversations would be so good.
• 35:05
  Like such fun.
• 35:06
  And people get so, people get just so scared at the idea of repricing that they don't even go further into that.
• 35:12
  Like, if you wanna reprice but keep all of your current clients at the same price, you can do that.
• 35:16
  If you wanna reprice and bump them up 50%, you can do that.
• 35:19
  If you want to completely clear them out, you can do that.
• 35:22
  Like, there's no one way to do anything in business.
• 35:27
  So you might as well Do it the way that works for you.
• 35:30
  I love that.
• 35:31
  I love that.
• 35:32
  Can we switch gears slightly?
• 35:33
  Yes.
• 35:34
  So one thing that I am so, like, honestly fascinated and inspired by is you own your entire identity.
• 35:43
  You're like, "I'm ADHD, I'm gay, blah," you know, "I- I'm CFO.
• 35:47
  This is who I am.
• 35:47
  I've got a sparkly brain.
• 35:48
  I work 100,000% and I'm all here.
• 35:51
  I'm everywhere." Like, I love how you just… You're just, like, so authentic.
• 35:55
  People just know what they're getting, to the point where you literally have, like, Your Gay CFO as your Instagram handle.
• 36:01
  Now, I know a lot of people who are so scared to show all of themselves online and who won't talk about… Like, it doesn't even need to be sexual identity, but, like, just won't talk about- Mm-hmm … their identity.
• 36:12
  Won't even talk about their story.
• 36:14
  Won't even tell us, like,"How did you grow up?" So have you always been that open?
• 36:19
  Like, how, as a, as a business owner yourself, at what point did you just go,"Yeah, fuck it," like, "I'm just gonna share all of it." Yeah.
• 36:26
  I think for me, a lot of it, I think, comes back to, like, the way I was raised.
• 36:30
  I grew up in the States.
• 36:32
  My dad played hockey, so I moved every year of my life until I turned 11.
• 36:38
  So I got really good- Just different states, every- Yeah … different schools.
• 36:41
  It's different states.
• 36:41
  Oh my gosh.
• 36:42
  Every year.
• 36:42
  It was pretty much every year we moved to a different school.
• 36:45
  And so obviously not fun, but I got really good at just being like, "Yeah, you know what? This is who I am, and I probably won't see you next year, so if you love it or you hate it, it's really all fine." Um, and just kind of realizing that it just n- nothing really is that big of a deal.
• 37:04
  We're all really weird as humans.
• 37:08
  Some of us are just hiding it better than others.
• 37:10
  And I think that, for me, I, I started my business as Sparky Bookkeeping.
• 37:15
  My nickname growing up was Sparky, so Sparky Bookkeeping.
• 37:19
  And I was like, "This is great.
• 37:22
  This feels like a, a professional bookkeeping firm.
• 37:27
  This is great.
• 37:27
  This is exactly what I need." And then about, like, a year and a half, two years in, I realized, like, I was not… I didn't recognize the person that was on my Instagram. I didn't really believe in any of the content I was putting together, and it just got, like, really boring, honestly, where I was like, "Why am I trying to-" You got bored of yourself?
• 37:48
  I literally got bored of myself, and I was like… 'Cause I was trying to be this, like, idea of a professional bookkeeper and whatever that looks like.
• 37:57
  But y- if you look at, like, the median age of bookkeepers in Canada, it's 55-year-old women.
• 38:02
  So it's like I was never going to achieve that.
• 38:05
  It was never gonna work.
• 38:07
  And so I realized, I was like,"You know what? People that I talk to-" They're mostly women, they're mostly queer folk, and they just love the chat.
• 38:16
  So like, what is this about me that they're really identifying with?
• 38:20
  And then realizing that it was the fact that I'm just like a flamboyant gay man that will chat with you about whatever.
• 38:28
  And when that kind of like came through and I was… I mean, we're obviously in this really big like authenticity era right now with AI everywhere, and I was like, you know what?
• 38:38
  Like the one thing I can do right now is be different by just pulling this one really, oh, hard to hide piece of my life, and let's just like make it front and center and see what happens.
• 38:52
  And immediately I was like, I love making content now.
• 38:55
  I started my last reel with,"Hey bitch," because I was like, I can just do this now.
• 38:59
  Like, I can talk the way I want to talk, and it lands so much better, and people actually want to listen when it's not just like, "And this is your chart of accounts." Like, no one cares.
• 39:11
  I would 100… Hey bitch is the best hook you could ever, ever use.
• 39:15
  Like people were in.
• 39:16
  People were in.
• 39:17
  I was like, oh, it's really that easy.
• 39:19
  And I think it also really all clicked when I, I was taught by one of like my Instagram coaches way back, like a year or so ago, and she said,"The people that are buying services don't care if you know what you're talking about.
• 39:36
  They just want to know who you are and that you have integrity, that you actually care about the results, that you want to see them win, and they wanna see who you are because they're not buying your service, they're buying you, and you're just providing the service." And as soon as that clicked, I was like, oh, I don't, I don't need to pretend to be this straight finance bro that I actually kinda hate.
• 40:00
  Yeah.
• 40:01
  Like, I don't want to be in an office, stuffy, and only speaking to you in jargon.
• 40:07
  I wanna use whatever words make sense to you because that's the way that I think about it.
• 40:12
  And so when that kind of all clicked, I was like, oh, this is like the mission.
• 40:17
  This is the moment.
• 40:17
  This is where we're going with this because I can see that this is where things actually change.
• 40:24
  Yes.
• 40:25
  Oh, so good.
• 40:28
  That's gonna empower a lot of people to… I, I can see it in my mind's eye, people just finally decide I'm gonna change my handle.
• 40:34
  I'm gonna do it.
• 40:35
  So- Yeah… oh, thank you so much.
• 40:37
  I could talk to you forever.
• 40:38
  Thank you.
• 40:38
  I, I wanna… I want you to leave us with- A piece of advice for someone who is freaking out about looking at their money, and if you were advising them, what's one thing they can do today that will move things in the right direction and get their head out of the sand?
• 40:56
  Okay.
• 40:57
  Today?
• 40:58
  Yeah, okay, so it's, it's Thursday.
• 41:00
  So either today, tomorrow… No, do it today, set it for tomorrow.
• 41:05
  Um, 15-minute block out of your day, it doesn't have to be big, but just sit down and write out what that receipt process is, and do it one time.
• 41:15
  Literally, that's like, if I could s- say anything that's actually going to save people time with their books and understand their money, it's just 15 minutes every Friday.
• 41:27
  You don't have to change it all overnight.
• 41:29
  You don't need some beautiful, big plan.
• 41:32
  But if there's a piece of your bookkeeping or financial strategy or something that feels off, sit down for 15 minutes, write down what the problem even is, because if you don't know what the problem is, you're not gonna be able to solve it, and just literally take it step by step.
• 41:48
  It doesn't have to all happen at once.
• 41:51
  There's this idea that, like, if you start something, you have to finish it at the same time.
• 41:55
  It's not going anywhere.
• 41:56
  If you start and you only get half of your system done, next Friday it's still gonna be there.
• 42:01
  But if you know every Friday you take 15 minutes to sharpen that system, it gets easier and easier every time you do it.
• 42:08
  And then it just becomes a habit, a really good habit.
• 42:10
  Yeah.
• 42:11
  Okay.
• 42:12
  I'm doing that.
• 42:12
  I'm gonna take a- Do it … I'm gonna take a photo and send it to you with all my receipts.
• 42:16
  Please.
• 42:16
  Please.
• 42:17
  I love it.
• 42:18
  I'll be like, "Look what I'm doing, my 15 minutes." Aww.
• 42:22
  Hey, it, it'll be done before you know it.
• 42:24
  You are the best, Parker.
• 42:25
  Okay, tell us how we can find you, and yeah, what, how, how do we get into your amazing world?
• 42:32
  Yeah.
• 42:33
  I, um, I'm @yourgaycfo on Instagram and TikTok, mostly on Instagram, though, so come hang out there.
• 42:41
  Um, I am always open for chats.
• 42:46
  I'm not somebody that, like, you need to pay $500 to get any sort of information, so hop into the DMs if you want to.
• 42:53
  I also have a little resource shop, because I know books aren't, monthly books at least, aren't accessible for everybody.
• 43:02
  Um, but these resources are super helpful.
• 43:05
  I have, like, set up your business the right way, here's how to set up your monthly checklist, um, and a full, like, here's how to do your bookkeeping and set up your bookkeeping course.
• 43:15
  Ooh.
• 43:15
  But- That's so good… those are all over at Amazing.
• 43:22
  Thank you so much, Parker.
• 43:24
  Thank you.
• 43:24
  You, I knew we would have the best chats.
• 43:27
  Oh, just so good.
• 43:28
  You, you are the best.
• 43:28
  I appreciate you so, so much.
• 43:30
  You guys go and give Parker a follow, and let us know what your biggest takeaway was from this episode, and I'll see everybody in the next one.
• 43:38
  Bye.