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TfP 017. Getting Ready for 'Busy Season', Part II · Transforming: Tales of Business Evolution

0:03
FEMALE_1: Welcome to Transforming:
0:05
Tales of Business Evolution.
0:07
Where we delve into the dynamic worlds
0:09
of business transformation.
0:11
Each episode is designed for
0:13
firms of any size and scale,
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exploring both innovative
0:16
long-term planning and day-to-day
0:18
operating practices that help
0:20
organizations adapt to a changing landscape.
0:23
Join us each month as we hear from leaders in
0:25
the public accounting profession
0:27
sharing their experiences
0:28
of reshaping their business models
0:30
and inspiring you to explore new ways
0:33
to evolve your own organization.
0:35
Let's dive into this month's conversation now.
0:38
Jaimie Boyd: Hello. I am Jaimie Boyd,
0:40
manager with the firm services team at the AICPA.
0:45
PCPS or Private Companies Practice Section
0:50
is concentrated on the evolution of
0:52
accounting firms and the modernization of
0:55
accounting practices through our
0:58
Transforming, Your Business Model
1:00
organization-wide initiative.
1:02
Our goal is to showcase
1:04
practitioners who are innovating in ways that
1:08
promote sustainability in
1:09
the profession while maintaining
1:12
a work-life balance that
1:13
includes personal and family time.
1:16
As we work hard to get away from
1:19
the historically quintessential accountant,
1:22
who works more hours than there are in a day
1:25
and never sees their family until after April 15th,
1:29
practitioners are changing this
1:32
by creating more balance within
1:34
their firms and shifting away
1:37
from how things have traditionally been done.
1:40
This could involve setting
1:42
clear boundaries with clients,
1:44
or it might simply be figuring
1:46
out how to get more done in fewer hours.
1:49
We have been joined by
1:51
several practitioners over the past year who,
1:55
in particular have stories that really resonate
1:58
around the benefits of building a sustainable firm.
2:02
We wanted to bring you a little motivation
2:05
towards the end of the year.
2:07
But while you still have time to make some changes to
2:10
your practice before this next busy season hits,
2:13
we invite you to listen to these excerpts
2:16
from our conversations in which the guests
2:19
describe strategies that have transformed
2:22
their organizations and offer
2:25
insights valuable to those preparing for peaks periods.
2:29
I hope you enjoy and get the motivation
2:32
to make some changes to your own firm.
2:34
We begin with a conversation on how one firm transform
2:39
their tax season by scheduling
2:40
every tax return to control their workflow.
2:44
You'll hear from Brenda Cannon,
2:46
partner at Cannon and Associates CPAs
2:49
about her journey from unpredictable workloads to
2:53
a streamlined process where
2:54
clients pick specific dates for
2:57
their tax return preparation
2:59
and receive clear completion timelines.
3:02
Brenda shares how this change
3:05
ultimately led to happier staff and clients.
3:08
She also discusses lessons learned and
3:11
how embracing change helped attract her ideal clients.
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Let's listen in as she explains how
3:19
a scheduling system can
3:20
make tax season smoother for everyone.
3:23
Brenda Cannon: Two years ago,
3:25
we started scheduling tax prep.
3:28
This will be our third tax season to schedule tax prep.
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We send a calendar out to our clients in December,
3:39
and there are only so many spots
3:42
available each day to give us their tax documents.
3:45
They pick a date, and this is how
3:47
we've smoothed out our workload.
3:50
Now, we have a reasonable number
3:54
of tax returns to prepare each week,
3:55
and we tell our clients that we'll have their return
3:58
completed by the end of the three weeks later.
4:01
Now, they have a specific
4:02
completion date for their tax return.
4:05
Another thing we do is,
4:07
and I need to find a way to automate this,
4:09
and I'm going to work on that.
4:12
They're supposed to give us
4:13
all of their tax documents on their date.
4:16
We have one employee
4:17
who will go through their tax documents the day
4:20
after their date and
4:23
compare those to their tax
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documents from the prior year,
4:26
and then she'll check with the preparers and say,
4:28
it looks like these documents are missing,
4:30
and we'll give her the go ahead,
4:32
and she will contact that client and say,
4:34
it looks like these tax documents might be missing.
4:37
If you have these for this tax year,
4:40
please get them to us as soon as
4:42
possible to keep your date on the calendar.
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That sense of urgency
4:47
is clients are taking these dates seriously.
4:51
One of my clients said that they're putting
4:54
reminders on their phones because the dates go fast.
4:57
They go really fast.
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One client said that he was going to pick
5:02
two dates and sell one on Ticketmaster.
5:04
I was actually on
5:07
a plane listening to Jason Staats podcast,
5:10
and he was talking about scheduling tax prep.
5:13
It was November of 2022,
5:14
and I honestly used to look forward to
5:17
the next tax season because
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I would get to see my clients again.
5:20
It was just exciting.
5:22
I was starting to get to
5:24
a point where I wasn't looking forward.
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I was dreading tax season.
5:27
It's November, and I'm thinking about, oh,
5:29
I'm going to lose my life again for three months.
5:32
He's talking about scheduling tax prep,
5:34
and he had heard it
5:34
from Jacob Oberlander who was doing that.
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I'm just taking notes
5:40
and thinking about it and I thought,
5:42
it just sounds so wonderful.
5:44
You know how many returns you can prepare
5:47
on average in a day, and you knew you were on schedule.
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That just sounds so wonderful.
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When I got back to the office,
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we had a team meeting, and we talked through it,
5:58
and everybody thought it was a great idea,
6:00
but how are we going to implement and communicate?
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I think we've kind of worked out all those kinks now.
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FEMALE_2: Do your tax team folks,
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are they having a smoother busy season?
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Are they having less overtime?
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Do they get their life back?
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Brenda Cannon: Yes, absolutely.
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There have been a few weekends I've worked,
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but I pretty much do not work weekends anymore,
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and no one works overtime at our office.
6:26
Our staff didn't work
6:28
a single weekend for the last couple of years.
6:32
We're not getting status checks from our clients.
6:36
That is such a thing.
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They'll give you their tax documents,
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and we would say 2-3 weeks.
6:43
We had no idea how long it would take.
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They email and just checking in, or they call,
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and then that slows you down
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because then you got to go look where you are on that,
6:53
or they didn't give you-all their information.
6:55
Then you had the back and forth,
6:57
picking up and putting down.
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Then the way we used to do it,
7:00
after April 15th,
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when you're exhausted, then you just slower.
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We would be four weeks, maybe five,
7:09
six weeks on getting tax returns turned around,
7:12
and so we get frustrated clients.
7:14
Now, clients have a specific date.
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They know their tax return will be completed.
7:20
The first year, what we did
7:23
was we used Firm360 practice management,
7:26
and we ran a report, try to figure out the average time
7:29
it takes to prepare one of
7:30
our tax returns for our clients.
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Some returns might take a day or two,
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and some could 30 minutes for the prep part.
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But we came up with an average,
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and we figured out
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how many returns we could get done in a day.
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But we wanted to add a ton of cushion,
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and I cannot stress that enough.
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Add a ton of cushion because you
7:54
forget about unforeseen things that happen.
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Somebody gets sick, bad weather,
8:00
you lose a loved one, all things that can happen.
8:03
We dropped it down to about 75% of
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that number of tax returns to be prepared in a day.
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We had those numbers available each day,
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Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
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I think we started the second week of February.
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No spots available on Fridays.
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That is our day for catch up,
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accounting, dealing with correspondence,
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things like that, meetings, whatever.
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For the week of April 15th,
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three weeks prior, we had no spots available.
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To that week, we just
8:41
work on extensions and if we had to do
8:43
any last minute calculations
8:45
for payments with extensions, things like that.
8:48
You can set it up to fit your firm.
8:50
This last two years,
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what we did, we took our number of clients,
8:55
and like I said, we added 10%,
8:57
and we just spread it out pretty evenly
8:59
from the second week of February till August 20th,
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and August 20th is our deadline
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for personal and business.
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It's even worse when you have
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a crunch in September and October because
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that's the final final deadline.
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We did that.
9:14
Another way to do it,
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and Ann Irons, who's my friend
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on Tech Twitter, she does it this way.
9:21
She picks the date for her clients.
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That makes sense, too,
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because she knows what clients should file early,
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what clients should file later.
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I feel like that's a little more admin work,
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and I didn't want to do that.
9:34
I wanted to be a little more like,
9:36
here's a calendar, have at it.
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But you have to do what works for your firm.
9:42
One thing that I want to work more
9:45
on is carbon out time for tax planning.
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I would do planning before the April 15th,
9:52
extend estimated tax payments in June and September.
9:55
I want to carve out more time for that.
9:57
We don't have that big exhaustion
9:59
after April 15th anymore,
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because our work is pretty smoothed out.
10:03
Our bonuses for our employees now,
10:06
we always did April 15th bonuses.
10:08
They're December, like normal businesses.
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Because April 15th is a day.
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We file extensions, but it just
10:17
our work is smoothed out.
10:19
But it's important to add a ton of fishing.
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Clients don't mind if you are ahead of schedule.
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They don't like if you're behind schedule.
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Another thing we did was,
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what we send the calendar
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out the second year and this year,
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we sent out another form that says,
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I didn't get the date I want.
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Clients didn't like their date,
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they could put their name on this form.
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The mistake we had was
10:48
we had them pick the date they want.
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We're not going to do that anymore.
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It's just going to be a waiting list.
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If we're ahead of schedule,
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go ahead and upload your documents so they're ready.
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But if we're ahead of schedule
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and this year we weren't able to,
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but last year in early April, we were ahead of schedule,
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and so we were able to get some more returns done.
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The important thing was we weren't behind schedule.
11:15
Now, it's me and Randy.
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We have a part-time contract person.
11:19
We're two returns a day,
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maybe three, maybe four,
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but it's not a lot because we just want to spread it
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out and we have more time to visit with our clients.
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There are fewer mistakes because we're not rushed.
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Another thing we've noticed is
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the clients who like this are our favorite,
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our A plus clients.
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They are clients who are organized and responsive.
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They actually read our communications.
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They like this process,
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and those are the clients we want to attract.
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We're really happy about that.
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If you wanted to start scheduling next year in 2026,
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I would start communicating now.
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I've heard that it takes like seven
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times before somebody actually reads something.
12:07
A few times,
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we're going to do things different next year.
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We're going to schedule tax prep.
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Please be paying attention for more communications.
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Then the next communication,
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maybe say, try to focus on the benefit to the clients.
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A more specific completion date,
12:27
less errors because we're more rested.
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That they'll need to have their tax pro
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do a tax projection before
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the end of the year or early in
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January because there's
12:42
a good chance they'll be extended.
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I got pushback from some clients that said,
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I don't think this is a good idea.
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You're going to have that. You're going to
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have that with coworkers,
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your boss and some of your clients.
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Some of them aren't going to take you seriously
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until they learn the hard way.
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The first year's not going to be perfect,
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but it's a learning curve.
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Change is far. Our clients have been spoiled.
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They've been absolutely spoiled.
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The fact that they're going to have to
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actually pick a date and
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not just willy-nilly drop it off whenever they want to,
13:25
that's going to be an adjustment for them.
13:28
Jaimie Boyd: Next, Kelly Rohrs,
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CPA, founder of K. Rohrs, CPA, PC,
13:34
discusses the realities of leaving a small virtual firm.
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You'll hear honest reflections on
13:41
setting boundaries and choosing the right clients.
13:44
Kelly shares how she built
13:46
a firm focused on quality relationships,
13:49
not just volume and
13:51
wide clear communication and staff support
13:54
are key to sustainable growth.
13:56
Let's listen in as she discusses creating balance,
14:00
managing client expectations,
14:02
and fostering a positive culture.
14:05
FEMALE_3: How do you manage deadlines
14:07
and client expectations
14:09
during high-volume periods largely
14:12
from February to April 15th?
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Kelly Rohrs: Number one, I closed down our lead pipeline,
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and I don't take on new business during this time.
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I think, again, I've said it,
14:24
we all have an abundance of clients available to
14:28
us in order to serve
14:30
the clients that came through at the right time of year.
14:34
There might be one or two exceptions for
14:37
some really good referral partners
14:39
that we have or what have you,
14:40
but we shut that off.
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We also are very clear
14:45
on our deadlines and our expectations from the clients.
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So all of my organizers go out on one day,
14:52
February 1st, engagement letters,
14:54
we collect all of our billing upfront
14:56
before we work on any of the tax returns,
14:59
and we let people know that we need the data
15:02
at least three to four weeks before the deadline.
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They don't get us all of the data,
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then we may have to put them on extension
15:11
and it's not our responsibility
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and that they may be subject
15:15
to penalties and interest, but that's not our problem.
15:19
I give a hard deadline in multiple places.
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A newsletter, our portal, our engagement letter.
15:27
Then I have a set of instructions
15:30
that shows what software we're using,
15:33
what our expectations are.
15:35
If we're going to be having to file
15:37
these business tax returns by March 15th,
15:39
I need your information by February 15th.
15:42
If we have to file the personal tax returns
15:44
by April 15th,
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I usually say around March 20th.
15:48
We need all of the data by.
15:50
FEMALE_3: If we get your information after this,
15:52
it will not be done by April 15th. I like it.
15:54
Boundaries and communication.
15:56
It sounds like that is what helps you make this work.
16:00
What about your ability to attract and retain talent?
16:04
The culture that you're creating
16:06
sounds very positive what CPAs want,
16:09
especially as far as competition and people going
16:12
to other firms that may not have this approach.
16:16
How has that helped you?
16:17
Kelly Rohrs: I have a very hands-off
16:21
approach to our staff.
16:25
I have very clear expectations
16:29
and deadlines for them.
16:30
But being that we all do work virtually,
16:34
I don't care when you get it done.
16:36
I don't care what hours you work during the day.
16:39
I think it's really important
16:41
to if you have a doctor appointment in the morning,
16:43
you got to go pick up your kid,
16:44
or whatever the case is,
16:46
you have the flexibility to do the work
16:48
when you want to do the work.
16:49
That works for some people,
16:52
and it doesn't work for others.
16:53
Some people do need more structure.
16:55
It's important that we found the right fit,
16:58
that it works for the right people,
16:59
and they'll give a loose schedule
17:03
at the beginning of the week on
17:04
what their availability is.
17:05
But I'm not going to be asking you at
17:07
three o'clock if you're going for a walk, where are you?
17:10
I need to get the work done.
17:11
We just have very clear workflows
17:14
and management for the types of projects
17:16
or even reoccurring work like what
17:19
the expectations for when the work needs to be done,
17:22
and it's really working for us.
17:24
I struggled a lot at the beginning with
17:27
delegating and thinking about expansion,
17:29
which I think a lot of small firm owners do.
17:32
I left a firm, and I was like,
17:34
well, I'm handling so much.
17:36
How am I going to continue to take on clients
17:40
and have balance in my life
17:44
without having staff members that I can lean on?
17:47
That developed over time.
17:49
I always felt the need to hire,
17:52
but before we got too busy,
17:54
because I never wanted to get into
17:56
a place where I was working 50,
17:58
60 hours a week.
18:00
There's a pretty easy formula to balancing things,
18:05
but people are just very resistant,
18:08
and it's just about making sure you have enough staff,
18:11
paying staff accordingly,
18:12
billing clients accordingly, and setting boundaries.
18:15
There's no lack of clients,
18:17
but it's important to bring on
18:21
the right clients that fit you
18:24
and the lifestyle that you want to build,
18:27
and that accept the pricing
18:29
that you want to put in place.
18:31
Listen, [inaudible] pricing that we have
18:33
wasn't the pricing that I had when I first started,
18:36
even just four years ago.
18:38
I think you realize that very quickly.
18:40
You want to get people in the door.
18:41
Your pricing might be a little bit lower.
18:43
You may not have as much confidence
18:45
as you do after four years to
18:48
really realize what goes
18:50
into it and how to set boundaries on,
18:53
this engagement really needs
18:55
to be within this scope for this fee.
18:57
I'm not going to do unlimited amount of
19:00
work for your monthly recurring fee.
19:04
I think a lot of people get stuck in that.
19:07
Oh, I'm going to just bring on as many 1040s as
19:09
possible because that's
19:11
the biggest thing that's out there.
19:12
But I always started off with, I got a 1040 firm.
19:16
I'm not a high-volume firm.
19:18
We have about 200 1040s.
19:21
We probably have another 75 returns,
19:24
including businesses, and trusts,
19:26
and some estate work.
19:29
It was always really important for me to tell
19:32
any referring partners this and be open and honest.
19:38
I don't want the small 1040s, the basic returns.
19:44
They can be a filler as you continue to grow,
19:47
but you need to make sure that
19:48
you have the staff for that.
19:49
Also, those types of engagements are a shot in the dark.
19:52
You could have two exact 1040s that look alike,
19:55
and one person,
19:57
their behavior is totally
19:58
different from the other person.
20:00
FEMALE_3: I think what you're saying is,
20:03
you wanted the type of clients that you
20:04
could offer more services to
20:06
that appreciated the value that you were bringing them,
20:11
and it's not just a transaction,
20:13
and you're not just a commodity.
20:15
I assume over time,
20:16
it sounds like you had it pretty
20:17
figured out from the beginning,
20:18
but your confidence level of being able to
20:21
say no has probably increased over time.
20:24
Kelly Rohrs: Yes. If the clients
20:27
don't like the systems that we set up,
20:30
or they put our backs
20:32
against the wall, or they misbehave.
20:36
Listen, we give clients shots.
20:37
Everybody has their bad days.
20:39
But we're pretty intentional
20:42
about if we really have that gut feeling.
20:44
If you have that feeling when you're
20:46
talking to a client,
20:48
I do not want to take this meeting.
20:50
I really can't stand this person.
20:52
They're just giving me so much anxiety.
20:54
I think it's time to disengage.
20:58
FEMALE_3: That seems like a pretty good
20:59
indicator that it's not
21:01
a relationship you want to have for the long run,
21:04
and that type of thing, your people appreciate that too.
21:07
We talked so much about retention at firms
21:10
and making those types of decisions that may feel like,
21:14
oh, well, I'm letting
21:15
this business go, I'm losing revenue.
21:18
You're keeping perhaps someone invaluable that
21:22
is so committed to you because you're
21:24
willing to do that for them, for your people.
21:26
Kelly Rohrs: Exactly. The staff appreciates it.
21:28
As we've continued to grow,
21:30
not every interaction is with me,
21:33
but I have built my firm on quality relationships,
21:37
so I am the main relationship manager for my firm.
21:41
But I don't want my staff to be abused by clients,
21:44
and they do. They appreciate that.
21:47
As we continue to grow and we have
21:49
more people involved in working on the product,
21:52
I still want to make sure that everything is quality.
21:56
Not only does the tax preparer
22:00
actually review the return,
22:02
but then we have
22:03
a review process going through in a tax program,
22:07
and then we also record
22:10
a video walk-through of
22:12
the prepared personal tax returns,
22:15
going through line by line.
22:17
Explaining it to the client,
22:19
where the numbers come from,
22:20
year over year, what any changes are.
22:23
I have to tell you,
22:24
recording those videos has helped me with
22:27
that extra layer of review
22:30
when sometimes things look okay in the software,
22:34
and everything's flowing appropriately.
22:37
But then when you have to actually
22:38
explain where each number comes from,
22:40
you're like, Wait, actually, you know what?
22:43
I pause the video.
22:44
I'm like, that doesn't make sense.
22:46
Let me go back,
22:47
make the changes, and then re-record the video.
22:50
But that sounds like it's so much work,
22:52
but I'm recording these videos in probably 3-7 minutes.
22:57
The clients can watch it at their leisure.
23:01
They can watch it with or without their spouse.
23:04
If they're married.
23:05
They can watch it three times.
23:08
When you're meeting with the client
23:09
and explaining things,
23:11
listen, half the time people don't listen,
23:14
and they still have the same questions.
23:16
I've eliminated 90% of meetings during tax season.
23:21
FEMALE_3: With all the new tax laws and changes,
23:24
are you concerned about going into the next tax season?
23:28
What planning are you doing and education of
23:31
your clients to get them ready
23:33
so that it's not a bad tax season,
23:35
because I'm already hearing
23:36
people talk about this is going to be
23:38
a terrible tax season coming up six months from now.
23:40
Kelly Rohrs: I have been prepping
23:42
my clients for these changes.
23:44
Obviously, we've known that
23:46
they were going to be working on this for,
23:47
what, seven months or more.
23:49
We expected change.
23:51
I have a monthly newsletter where I update
23:53
all my clients on potential changes,
23:55
what they're talking about.
23:57
In that newsletter, I've also been saying,
23:59
hey, we're going to host
24:00
two free webinars for our clients,
24:03
one on personal updates,
24:05
one on business updates.
24:07
Then, if there's any particular questions
24:11
on your tax profile,
24:12
then we will do a special projection,
24:15
including any new provisions.
24:17
We have our regular tax planning clients
24:20
and reoccurring clients,
24:21
so we'll include that in there.
24:23
But it's really important for
24:24
you to, once again, communicate,
24:26
let people know when the bill passed,
24:29
and people started asking me questions.
24:31
Actually, before people even started,
24:34
24 hours after the bill passed,
24:36
I said, hey, the bill passed to everybody in my CRM.
24:41
Please don't ask me questions because
24:44
we need time to understand everything.
24:47
It's okay to do that.
24:48
You know, let people know that,
24:51
I'm aware that things have changed, but guess what?
24:53
Like, there are things that
24:54
are still going to be debated,
24:55
and there are things that the IRS
24:57
still needs to release,
24:58
and there's going to be FAQs,
25:00
and we don't have a crystal ball.
25:02
We don't know everything,
25:03
and it's going to take time to learn
25:04
and implement within our practice.
25:06
Jaimie Boyd: This next segment
25:07
explores practical strategies for
25:09
preventing burnout and boosting
25:12
productivity when the pressure is on.
25:14
Randy Crabtree, co-founder and partner at Tri-Merit,
25:18
shares how simple changes that promote health and
25:21
well-being can help teams get more done in fewer hours.
25:25
He also explains a three-step shutdown ritual
25:29
to help you truly disconnect at the end of the day
25:32
so that work doesn't follow you home.
25:35
These insights remind us that
25:37
with the right habits and boundaries,
25:39
it's possible to thrive during
25:41
busy season while still maintaining your well-being.
25:45
Randy Crabtree: Burnout is somebody feels cynical about
25:47
their job, they're getting tired.
25:50
They just feel negative.
25:52
I don't want to deal with that client.
25:54
They become less productive.
25:56
All of that right there tells you,
25:59
we need to do everything we can to avoid burnout.
26:01
We need to put things in place.
26:02
There's so many things that we can do.
26:04
There's so many tricks that we can do
26:06
that we don't even tell
26:07
individuals and their firms
26:09
that let's try this this way,
26:11
because we can be as productive and
26:13
even more productive by putting less time in.
26:16
There's studies and it's simple.
26:17
It's almost common sense.
26:19
The more time you put in the less productive you become.
26:21
That's a no-brainer.
26:22
I think everybody can probably agree to that,
26:24
and everybody's been through that.
26:26
If I'm an hour 12 of a day,
26:28
I'm going to be a lot less productive.
26:30
Some things that organizations can do, I think,
26:33
to keep the bottom line where it is,
26:35
but promote a healthy work life, is simple.
26:39
Promote well-being during tax season.
26:41
I'm just picking tax season for now.
26:43
Rather than at lunch,
26:44
everybody getting hamburger and fries,
26:47
let's get a salad and
26:48
a healthy soup or something. Simple things.
26:50
Let's have a firm do that for everybody.
26:53
That little cost is going to be a positive.
26:56
Let's promote people taking
26:57
15-minute breaks twice a day
26:59
to go take a walk around the building.
27:01
If it's cold, I'll do it inside.
27:03
Let's promote not eating at your desk.
27:06
Let's get away from your desk,
27:07
clear your mind, because our body gets tired.
27:11
It's our mind getting tired too.
27:13
Our mind, if we can just clear it for that 15 minutes,
27:18
we become so much more refreshed,
27:21
and we come back, and we're more productive.
27:23
Things like setting specific time
27:26
aside where you cannot be disturbed.
27:28
I think more people are doing this,
27:30
but I don't think enough are doing it.
27:32
If you can block out, let's say,
27:34
three hours, the morning,
27:36
I'm most productive in the morning.
27:37
I'm going to block out the morning.
27:38
I'm going to block out three hours.
27:39
There's no emails,
27:41
there's no text messages, my phone's off,
27:43
nobody can disturb me unless
27:44
obviously it's life altering event that's happening.
27:48
You spend that time and just concentrate on
27:52
this high-brain-power work that needs to get done.
27:54
In that three hours, you're going to
27:55
get more done in time,
27:57
that non disturbed time than you are in
27:59
eight hours of reacting to
28:01
everything around you from
28:03
text messages to emails to phone calls.
28:06
Then after that, that's where you can do your billing,
28:10
or you're responding to emails or your phone calls.
28:13
That little simple trick of
28:15
just I think it's Michael Hyatt,
28:18
the Free to Focus or Full Focus system.
28:22
I know a Manji partner of a firm,
28:24
and she put this into their firm.
28:27
Just that. The Michael Hyatt system,
28:29
the Free to Focus, Full Focus.
28:30
I'm getting the words right.
28:32
I think I have it? She did it for herself personally.
28:36
She went from 65 hours a week
28:39
during tax season to the first year,
28:41
55 hours a week, personally.
28:43
She just did it herself,
28:44
and she was getting more work done.
28:46
It's not like this is
28:47
an argument for not doing billable hours,
28:50
too, or at least billing correctly. Don't worry.
28:54
If you're more productive,
28:55
it doesn't mean you should make less on that project.
28:59
She dropped her hours significantly.
29:02
She did it the next year,
29:03
dropped again to 50.
29:05
She decided to put this in
29:06
place for the whole organization.
29:08
The last time I asked her about
29:09
this was about a year and a half ago.
29:11
But the first year that they
29:12
put in place for the whole organization,
29:14
the goal was 45 hours a
29:15
week during tax season per person.
29:18
I think they got to 46.5.
29:21
But the positive thing is, it wasn't like, okay,
29:24
we just put everything on extension,
29:25
we did everything later,
29:26
which I'm okay with that.
29:28
I have no problem with spreading out taxes,
29:30
and I know some people do.
29:32
But for them is they got more work out the door in
29:35
less hours by putting the system in like this.
29:40
What that system basically saying is,
29:42
Hey, we don't want you working crazy hours.
29:44
We know you can be more productive.
29:46
We want you to be at home with your family.
29:49
We want you to be there to see
29:51
your kids concerts and sporting events,
29:54
and we want you to have a work life.
29:56
That simple little trick was
29:58
a huge transformation for that firm.
30:01
People wake up at three in
30:02
the morning thinking about a client,
30:03
or what do I need to do tomorrow,
30:05
or what's that problem I'm trying to solve?
30:07
And so a friend of mine, Brian Kush,
30:10
told me about this three-step process
30:12
of shutting down at the end of the day.
30:14
What this is is at
30:17
the end of every day, wherever you are,
30:19
you're at work, you're working at home,
30:21
you're in a hotel because
30:22
you're on the road, whatever it is.
30:24
At the end of the day,
30:26
bookmark your work. What were you working on?
30:28
Just be consistent.
30:29
Put it in a Word document,
30:31
tell Siri to remind you in the morning.
30:33
If you use an Apple or whatever, Google,
30:35
ask Google to tell you remind you in
30:37
the morning, but be consistent.
30:39
Number 2, have an instead of plan.
30:42
Instead of like my mind
30:45
play tricks on me after my stroke,
30:47
your mind will just wander to work.
30:49
I'll just happen, train
30:51
your brain to not think about work.
30:54
Instead of work when I get home or leave my office,
30:57
my instead of plan is,
30:58
I'm going to make dinner tonight.
30:59
I'm going to watch a movie tonight.
31:00
I'm going to read a book tonight.
31:01
I'm going to do a jigsaw puzzle.
31:03
I'm going to work out. You just have this plan,
31:06
and it obviously doesn't have to be the same every day.
31:09
Then the third thing you do,
31:12
three really simple things.
31:13
The third thing you do is you just
31:15
have a shutdown ritual.
31:16
You're training your brain.
31:18
This is the end of the day.
31:19
I don't have to think about work anymore.
31:22
Close your computer,
31:24
meditate for a minute, say a prayer,
31:26
recite a poem, do a push-up,
31:29
have a physical and mental shut down routine.
31:33
Now, if you do this consistently,
31:36
you're training your brain again;
31:38
that work is over.
31:39
I am not going to have to think about this.
31:41
I don't have to worry.
31:42
I don't have to wake up at 3:00 in the morning
31:44
worrying about work because I've already
31:45
told my morning self the projects that I was working on.
31:49
I know when I walk into the office in the morning,
31:53
this is what I'm working on.
31:54
I'm not going to think about it anymore,
31:56
and I have now a work-life balance because
31:58
I have this plan that I'm going to do something instead.
32:01
I do this a little bit, but I don't
32:03
have the 3:00 AM wake-ups and
32:05
I'm bragging because I
32:07
just don't let myself do that anymore.
32:09
I don't really do the routine,
32:11
but I do it in bits and pieces.
32:13
I know we're going to go for a hike after work today.
32:17
That's already mindset of plan.
32:18
I know that. We're taking the dogs about 10 minutes
32:21
away to a really cool forest preserve
32:23
and we're doing that after work.
32:24
I have that plan. I look forward to that.
32:26
It also gives you something to look forward to now too.
32:30
That three-step process and when I've told people
32:33
about this and some people
32:34
already do something like this,
32:36
and then some people have reached out to me and said,
32:38
"I've been doing that," and it's made
32:40
such a big difference in my mind set.
32:42
But, in addition to that,
32:45
you got to shut off.
32:46
You got to shut off the text, the emails.
32:48
You can't just get bored at
32:50
7:00 at night and pull up your email and like,
32:52
"I'm just going to look and see if anybody
32:54
responded to that email." You have to shut down.
32:56
You have to be diligent about work is done.
32:59
Then to do that, you have to
33:01
set boundaries with your clients.
33:03
They know that you're
33:05
not going to respond in the evening,
33:06
the weekends, that,
33:08
if you send an email Saturday morning,
33:11
they're not going to hear back from you
33:12
until sometime Monday, stuff.
33:14
I can keep going on this,
33:15
but there's so many things
33:17
that we can do different that we
33:18
just ignore because of the sally method,
33:21
same as last year. Let's just keep going.
33:23
I'm in a big firm and I'm already
33:25
making 700 grand a year,
33:26
so why should I change?
33:28
Why should I make anything different?
33:30
Because look at the money that's coming in.
33:31
Well, you can make that money in less time
33:33
and have a better work life balance.
33:35
Jaimie Boyd: In this next segment,
33:37
Yuri Kapilovich, CPA,
33:40
managing partner of Kapilovich & Associates,
33:43
shares the realities of
33:45
building a sustainable accounting practice.
33:48
He breaks down the math behind taking on
33:50
hundreds of tax returns at lower fees,
33:53
showing how all the work that goes
33:55
into it quickly adds up to long hours,
33:57
often far more than expected.
34:00
Yuri shares how his firm has moved away from this in
34:04
order to avoid burnout, and maintain profitability.
34:08
As we gear up for busy season,
34:10
this section reminds us that
34:12
smart client selection and
34:14
clear boundaries aren't just good business.
34:16
They're key to surviving and
34:18
thriving when the workload peaks.
34:20
Yuri Kapilovich: If I didn't contract,
34:22
and this was by accident and I'm no guru genius here.
34:26
But if I didn't focus on
34:28
contracting and able to
34:29
really hone in on the clients that I have,
34:31
my initial thought would be
34:32
bringing anybody and everybody.
34:34
Three hundred, 400,
34:36
$500 tax returns are
34:37
the exact clients that you just mentioned,
34:40
that will eat up your time,
34:42
so we can do simple math.
34:44
For me to do the same amount of money,
34:47
and that's gross income,
34:48
we're talking about if I charge
34:50
$500 a return and I want to get
34:52
to $150,000 of income that
34:54
I used to have, that's 300 quartz.
34:56
This is now as I analyze this.
35:00
That would be my initial thought if I didn't contract.
35:03
I need to equal out my earnings. However, I get it.
35:06
The first thing you know, I know how to do tax returns,
35:07
so I would have jumped into that.
35:09
We can ignore self employment tax,
35:11
which is a whole different conversation,
35:12
but 300 clients.
35:14
The simplest client, the 1W2 client,
35:19
and I know people will say,
35:20
"But it only takes you 15 minutes." It does not.
35:23
You got to chase them. We've got to chase them.
35:25
You're chasing them for that 1W2 or one whatever,
35:30
I'm sure they got a couple 1099s.
35:32
You're chasing them for that,
35:33
you're chasing them for the engagement letter to sign.
35:35
Doing this, you getting that information,
35:37
you're inputting it in,
35:38
or your staff is int putting it in.
35:40
You're reviewing it, you're doing your final checks,
35:42
and you send it out one hour.
35:44
I will take this one to the gray with me.
35:47
That is going to take you one hour,
35:49
no matter what, nothing takes 15 minutes in our space.
35:53
Unless they send you the information return,
35:55
everything is clean, everything is perfect,
35:57
but then you got to answer the questions.
35:59
Let's just say an hour.
36:01
An hour at 300 clients to make the same amount of
36:04
money would be 300 hours.
36:08
Now, when do we get our information?
36:09
Not January 1st,
36:11
when a 1W2 is issued,
36:13
most of the time by January 31st.
36:15
Best case scenario.
36:17
Best case, if your clients are perfect,
36:21
you'll get all 300 of your documents by February 15th.
36:25
Now I'm talking about the best most ideal clients
36:28
in the universe that are sending you that.
36:29
Now, you've got 300 hours starting February 15th,
36:34
in the ideal perfect universe.
36:36
That leaves you with eight weeks.
36:39
That's 37.5 hours a week of ideal clients,
36:44
and we don't have that.
36:45
That's just to make $150,000
36:49
and that's a $500 per return.
36:51
FEMALE_4: Those are some perfect clients.
36:53
Yuri Kapilovich: Stopping there for a second.
36:54
That's hard enough to achieve 300 clients.
36:58
Let alone perfect clients
36:59
that give you all the information.
37:01
Now you layer onto that,
37:02
every clients going to ask you a question.
37:04
Nobody has just taking their return,
37:07
and then it's great.
37:08
All done. They're going to ask you questions.
37:10
Now you're layering on at
37:11
least half an hour of questions,
37:14
maybe, maybe even 15 minutes of
37:16
questions per climb, and then as the time.
37:19
You could see how simply just that math
37:23
to make the same amount of money you made before,
37:27
will drive you insane, just all right off the start.
37:30
To go to your question about how do you build
37:33
a value firm, again, contracting first.
37:37
Even if it's 15-20 hours a week, that's two days.
37:42
The other days, you're figuring
37:43
out what's your minimum fee,
37:45
focus on the minimum fee.
37:46
When I first started, my minimum fee was
37:49
800 for any client. It is now $2,000.
37:54
Jaimie Boyd: Next, Argel Sabillo, CPA,
37:57
co founder and Chief Executive Officer
38:00
of HeyApril Inc. discusses how
38:03
global teams and new technologies are
38:06
reshaping the way firms prepare for peak periods.
38:10
You'll hear how being
38:11
intentional about remote and offshore work,
38:14
even before the pandemic helped firms
38:17
adapt quickly and thrive.
38:19
The conversation highlights that
38:21
with today's tools and AI,
38:23
location matters less and
38:26
talent can be sourced worldwide,
38:29
leveling the playing field and boosting efficiency.
38:32
Argel also explores
38:34
the importance of rethinking workflows,
38:37
moving from outdated multi-step processes
38:41
to streamlined, tech-enabled solutions.
38:44
The message is clear.
38:45
As you gear up for busy season,
38:48
rethink some of the traditional processes
38:50
that may not have worked in
38:52
the past and venture into becoming
38:54
a firm of the future. Let's jump in.
38:57
Argel Sabillo: We were very intentional about going
38:59
offshore to us as it was more distributed team globally,
39:03
and we were doing that and we were removed since 2018,
39:07
so even before the pandemic.
39:08
When the pandemic hit,
39:09
we grew because we didn't have to like
39:11
most firms had to try to retool,
39:14
where we were already prepared for it.
39:17
I think that, like you said it's more strategic,
39:20
and I am still very
39:21
bullish about it being strategic going forward.
39:24
One thing we learned after COVID is that
39:25
you don't have to be in the same office,
39:27
you don't have to be in the same state,
39:29
which means you could pretty much be anywhere.
39:31
That's the dream, is to be able to travel.
39:33
That's what I do now. I told you I was
39:36
traveling in Asia for two months during business season.
39:39
That's because it allows me to work,
39:41
and it's seamless to my clients.
39:43
I think that in the future,
39:45
same as what's happening with AI,
39:48
it's also not going to be just US.
39:51
It's going to be global, and so it's really allowing
39:54
our team to train faster to communicate better,
39:59
actually leveling the playing field.
40:00
If you're looking at, okay,
40:02
AI is going to solve a lot of problems,
40:04
yes, but there's always going to be human in the loop.
40:07
Why would you pay someone
40:09
$120,000 to be the human in the loop?
40:12
There's a lot of good economics that comes out of just
40:16
being open-minded about talent
40:19
outside of the United States.
40:20
The tools that we have today,
40:22
I think we need to use them in
40:24
order to get used to how to use them,
40:25
because one thing that to think about is that our work
40:29
flows and how we do work is like 30-years-old.
40:32
In the future, where AI is going to be
40:35
the main tool or the central tool that we're using,
40:38
how can we actually think about our workflows?
40:41
Something that right now takes 20 steps,
40:44
how can we boil that down to four steps?
40:46
I think the only way you can unlock that for
40:48
your firm is by trial
40:50
and error and see what fits for your firm.
40:52
I can talk about specific tools out there,
40:54
but if you don't have the right people
40:56
and the right workflow for it, it wouldn't work.
40:58
You could be using these big box software tools
41:02
and they're coming out with their AI version.
41:04
You have to see whether it is really AI,
41:07
or is it just an add on to their products.
41:09
It's really just looking into
41:11
your workflow and looking at,
41:13
how do I deliver
41:15
great quality to my clients at the fastest way possible,
41:19
the cheapest way possible,
41:20
and that my team has work life balance.
41:23
I think that needs to be
41:24
the first thing you have to do because otherwise,
41:27
you'll just get overwhelmed
41:28
with all the tools out there.
41:29
But I encourage everyone to demo the products,
41:33
see what the LLMs can do,
41:36
and how you can integrate that to your process,
41:38
and how you can deliver great quality for your client.
41:42
Jaimie Boyd: We conclude with Rebecca Driscoll,
41:44
CPA, co-founder of the collaboration room,
41:48
who opens up about
41:49
the unique challenges of leading a small practice,
41:52
especially the loneliness at
41:54
the top and the struggle to create balance.
41:57
She describes her journey as a firm owner,
42:00
ultimately making tough decisions like selling
42:03
part of her firm to create a more sustainable workload.
42:06
Her story highlights the importance of having
42:09
support systems and making intentional changes,
42:13
all crucial steps as we gear up
42:15
for the intensity of busy season.
42:17
Let's listen in and reflect
42:19
on how these lessons can help.
42:21
Rebecca Driscoll: I think what a lot of
42:23
firm owners are looking
42:24
for who are solo firm owners
42:27
is some relationship with
42:30
someone at the top because it's very lonely at the top.
42:34
That doesn't necessarily mean a business partner,
42:36
but just some lead employee or something
42:39
where we can feel we're a lot less lonely up there.
42:42
Someone to make decisions
42:44
and someone to help us just feel less alone
42:47
or that we can have a few weeks off after having a baby,
42:50
or just someone that can
42:52
keep everything functioning well.
42:55
It's hard when you only have
42:58
a couple employees when you're still pretty small.
43:00
That is an awkward time
43:03
because the firm owners still doing a lot.
43:05
That set me on a journey of trying to figure out,
43:09
should I even be a firm owner?
43:11
Do I just need to make some tweaks to
43:13
my client load or
43:15
our services or our offerings or our pricing?
43:18
Because at this point, since I was willing to accept
43:21
anyone who could fog a mirror as a client,
43:24
we were doing all sorts of
43:27
tax returns and all sorts of weird agreements.
43:31
Well, this person we pay their invoices for
43:34
them and this person, we do sales tax,
43:36
but we do it for free because they sent us
43:38
this client and all that crazy stuff.
43:41
I did start focusing on how can we streamline?
43:44
How can we standardize?
43:46
What integrations, automations, things can we set up
43:49
so that maybe we don't even need an admin
43:52
because things just flow?
43:54
What boundaries can we hold with clients where,
43:57
we don't have accounts receivable anymore,
43:59
where they're paying upfront for things,
44:01
so it's automatically withdrawn?
44:03
What about our phone system?
44:04
Can we have a message that just plays that explains
44:06
that we don't have unscheduled phone calls,
44:09
but here's how we can schedule a call?
44:12
All those little things to streamline as much
44:14
as possible curd our clients and
44:16
direct them to places that made it all a lot easier.
44:20
The thing that was still really hard for me was
44:23
training my employees and being
44:26
a good manager and boss to them while also trying
44:31
to be a good manager and boss to
44:33
my child and in my household.
44:36
I felt like I had too many children,
44:39
and I just wasn't able to identify
44:43
someone else to take over and be the manager.
44:46
You know, that just wasn't happening.
44:48
I hired a coach to help me
44:50
decide what to do, and ultimately,
44:53
I decided to sell about 80% of the firm,
44:57
mostly tax work.
44:58
At that point, I had a policy
45:00
that we will only do your taxes if we also do
45:03
your books to try
45:05
to help us be more efficient with having
45:07
less client relationships and make
45:09
more money with less clients was the goal.
45:12
It's everyone's goal.
45:14
My employees were a great fit for
45:16
this transition and they were really excited to work
45:19
for this new firm owner that we all knew
45:21
from going to QuickBooks Connect
45:23
and all these community things.
45:25
We were all friendly already.
45:26
That was great.
45:28
Jaimie Boyd: Thank you so much for being here
45:30
with us today.
45:31
As you prepare for busy season,
45:33
remember the importance of setting boundaries,
45:36
communicating clearly with your team and clients
45:39
and making intentional choices
45:42
about the clients you serve.
45:44
If you're looking for practical tools
45:46
to help you right size your client base,
45:49
we encourage you to check out the PCPS rightsizing
45:52
your client base toolkit available to PCPS members.
45:57
You'll find the link in the show notes along with
45:59
other valuable resources to support your journey.
46:03
If you want to hear the full conversations,
46:06
Please tune in and subscribe to the Transforming:
46:10
Tales of Business Evolution
46:12
podcast available wherever you get your podcast.
46:15
Please visit our PCPS Transforming,
46:19
Your Business Model webpage
46:21
through the link within the show notes.
46:23
In addition, please visit our PCPS homepage,
46:28
also linked in the show notes to learn
46:30
more about the benefits of a PCPS membership,
46:33
and to find additional PCPS resources.
46:38
FEMALE_1: Thank you for tuning in to
46:40
Transforming: Tales of Business Evolution.
46:43
We hope you found today's insights valuable.
46:45
For more details on this episode, check the description,
46:48
and don't forget to subscribe to stay
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updated with our new episodes each month.
46:52
Visit our PCPS Transforming,
46:55
Your Business Model page for all of
46:56
our resources at www.aicpa-cima.com/tybm.
47:05
Keep pushing the boundaries of transformation,
47:08
and we'll see you next time.
47:10
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47:14
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47:16
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47:25
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