Latest / The Accounting Leads Now Podcast / Miss This Window and You'll Regret It: Why He's Buying Firms in 2026 - With Nik Watson

Transcript

Miss This Window and You'll Regret It: Why He's Buying Firms in 2026 - With Nik Watson · The Accounting Leads Now Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Some people start firms from scratch, others buy them with almost no money down.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Today's guest didn't grow up in the accounting industry.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: He failed at four businesses, walked away from a marketing agency, and had zero credentials when he tried calling firm owners.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: Most wouldn't even take his call.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Fast forward just one year, and he's a licensed EA, a firm owner, and a walking case study in one of the smartest business moves you've ever made.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Buying a profitable firm with little to no cash up front.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: We talk about how he broke into the most gate kept industries in the US, why AI and automation are non-negotiables for the next generation of firm owners, and how a single Ben Kelly video changed the trajectory of his life.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: This is about rejection, reinvention, and results.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: From failed startups to firm acquisition, from zero to EA, from cold calls to closing deals, today on CFO Chronicles, we sit down with Nick Watson, CEO of Cloud Accounting Group.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Nick, welcome to the show.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Excited to be here.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: This is going to be great.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to hear more about your story for our listeners to hear.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: When uh we were chatting about a week or two ago, and you were telling me you actually came from a background in marketing and you bought a firm with little to no money down, and that's the path you're going on.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's a path I want to go on expanding and buying a firm.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm I'm so interested to hear how you did this, and just I'm so pumped to see all the success that is yet to come.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: But I want to start off right out of the gate.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: What's the one belief holding most firm owners back, especially the ones coming from outside the industry?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: That I guess taking action is the only thing that should be on your mind.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like people get so caught up in, ooh, should I do this?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: Should I not?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: I had zero experience coming into this industry.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: Zero.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: I was from the marketing industry.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: And so I just thought, you know, what's recession resistant, uh, what has sticky clients, death, and taxes are the two things that are very certain in life.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I just go back to that quote.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: And so I just taking action, like a decision is better than no decision.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so I always harp on that and I always emphasize that to people wanting to learn about this industry.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just you just dive deep head first and you learn as you go.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: I learned so many things.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh three months in, six months in, nine months in, and I I'm still learning.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I would say a decision.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: So cool.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it I love that it just starts with taking action.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's what holds back so many people.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's the waiting for the perfect moment.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: I need to be an expert.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Someone else is already doing this better than me, and they don't do it.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: But you were like, no, I'm just gonna take action.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that you did that.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: You were running a marketing agency before, then your partner showed you a video from Ben Kelly, everything changed.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: What was it about that moment that hit different for you?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I I had never known that you can buy a business for say it's a$600,000 business, you can buy it for$60,000, and it could be cash flowing$200,000.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: Me personally, you don't even have to put down the money.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: You can have an investor put down the money, and then you could be cash flowing, you know,$150 to$100.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: So just that thought in of itself, it's like you don't you always think of you know tech startups, AI apps, starting a business.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: I have to start a business to be an entrepreneur.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have to.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: You can buy a business that's already cash flowing, that already has employees, that already has processes and SOPs and all of that stuff.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: So if if you're a more of a zero uh a one to one hundred guy rather than a zero to one guy, then this is definitely the path for you.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: How how long were you playing around with the idea of like, can I can I actually do this?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, is this is this my path?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm guessing, I mean, if if you're working for marketing, you were running a marketing company before, did this feel like it was out of left field, or were you always thinking, yeah, that this is what I want to do?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like what what was that when you saw the video, you were like, 100% I'm doing this?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it started with what like because COVID had happened, you know, two or three years prior, and I was thinking, like, what if something like that happens again, um, a recession, and my marketing agency wouldn't survive?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, okay, what what can you know stand test of time?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I just started researching and researching, and I eventually landed on accounting firms.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't land on it at first.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: I spent two to three months, you know, going to HVAC, going to landscaping, um, like gutter cleaning, just all these boring businesses.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I eventually landed on accounting firms just because the wildly exciting business.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, I majored in uh business management.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: I've always been a business guy myself.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I wanted something that was service-based, I realized towards the end.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that's the progression of how I landed on accounting firms.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: But I wanted something that was very recession resistant.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: I think that was the biggest point I was after.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: So you're you're a handful of months in now with an accounting firm.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: What's the biggest difference that you're noticing from running a marketing agency to now being inside of an accounting firm?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's a good question.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think just the sheer amount of clients uh with a marketing agency, we didn't have too many clients.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: We had more, you know, high-ticket uh things of that nature.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: But just the sheer amount of clients and um, I guess managing uh the employees and things like that, that's just been a big learning, I guess.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, the nitty-gritty of the of the accounting world is is very unique.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so you have to know what you're talking about when you do talk to clients, and when you talk to your employees, um I'm going back, you know, listening to all of the sales recordings, all of the sales calls, just to up my learning that much more.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: So uh getting that EA license was definitely a big, a big plus for my employees, my clients, the the old seller selling to me.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: So that was all that was all very weak up.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: What was the talk to me about when this officially happened?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like pen, pen went to paper, the funds were secured, you now own this accounting firm.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was actually Halloween night.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I didn't know whether I was gonna be, you know, going to a Halloween party or just staying in my room and just you know looking at the uh looking at the the forms and the legal documents and the money being wired.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: So it happened that night, the Halloween night.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: And what what what was that feeling that that I'm guessing there was probably an overwhelm of a certain emotion?
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to hear what that was like because buying a firm, especially if it's the first one you're you're acquiring, purchasing, that's a pretty big deal.
• 7:13
  unknown: Yeah.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I would love to hear what that was like from your side.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it was more relief than anything.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, okay, I can finally breathe now, because this journey has taken, I would say, 10 to 11 months um of just you know searching and grinding and trying to find a firm that is profitable and does want to sell to me and things of that nature.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I just I think relief at the end of the day um was it was a big weight lift off my shoulders.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: And passing that EA exam, that last EA exam, was another relief off my shoulders because I was I was studying six to eight hours a day for I don't know, five to six months.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: So I was I was really in the trenches there and just studying my butt off.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: And uh passing that EA exam was was another relief off my shoulders.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: So two things went went right in the span of about a week, and I was like, wow, you know, the fruits of my labor have have come to fruition.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: So that's cool.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: What uh what services were you working with with your marketing company?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Is that still active?
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: No, so it's it's totally closed down.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: We had about two to three employees that I managed.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um it was pretty small.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we did funnels and we did copywriting, and we mostly did emails for like uh big e-commerce brands and personal brands online.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so now going into the accounting world, when you finally decided, all right, accountant uh an accounting firm is where I want to go.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: What was your I guess criteria, or how did you end up landing on this firm?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: And how many firms did you look at or interview or walk through that process?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, okay, we got a winner now, this is the one.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I probably looked at like looked at meaning their financials.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: I would say like 400 to 500 um over that period of time.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe more, maybe less.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: But I I sent out five to six LOIs, and um, all of them got rejected except for the last one.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was I was in the running uh for those five and six LOIs, uh, down to the last two or three, and then they told me that you know we're going with this other guy who has two firms under his belt, who's an EA or a CPA.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just like, yeah, like that's the that's the that's the choice, you know, that they should do that, and they shouldn't have pick like a newbie like me uh coming into this industry with then no EA license, uh, no experience, no firm under his belt.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, five to six LOIs, and then this one ended up uh working out.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's so cool.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, you you didn't come from a background in accounting, you didn't have a license.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: You said no one would take your call at first.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: What finally helped you break through the gatekeeping and and have that offer accepted?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I had I had a conversation with a lender actually.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: He was giving me some real talk.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um he he said to go get my EA license or go work in the industry for two years.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I didn't want to do the two years working in the industry because that would have taken up you know a lot of time.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: But uh I did get my EA license, and I think what changed on that one call was I brought a very personalized pitch deck.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: So before I didn't bring anything to the call, um, anything personalized at all.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: So that last one, I for some reason I just got a feeling of like, okay, like this could be the one, and maybe I should do something extra.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: So I, you know, I threw together a very detailed pitch deck of the goals and what I could bring to the table.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's very important.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like what you can bring to the table for the owner and have them visualize that is super, super important.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: And just having concrete numbers of what you want to achieve in the first year, in the first three years, in the first five years, things like that.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: And you want to have um their transition plan as well because they don't want to be working 40 hours a week for six months after they sell their business.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: So just things like that, um, that really helped me secure the deal.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: So interesting.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so, I mean, this is all new to me, right?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've never acquired a firm or looked into it.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's on the cards.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it sounds like it's not as easy as here's a check with a lot of zeros, and it's a yes or no decision from the owner selling.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: I guess they're probably treating it very much like it's their baby, right?
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: And they want to make sure the kid grows up and has a uh has a nice life after because they they raised it to whatever stage.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, definitely.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: I would say 90% of owners um they they want to sell to an EA or a CPA.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's the biggest thing um in in my head is like they need to see your experience in the industry.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: And for you, you have you do have a lot of experience in the industry because you're specifically servicing you know accounting firms.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: So um I think you have a unique background where uh it could be very beneficial for you.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: And just remind me, did you get secure your EA license before the sale was secured?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: No, so I had promised that by the deal.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so that was part of the deal.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, maybe like two weeks after the deal closed, then I I got my license.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_02: But like that was you know on the horizon.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: So you you got the firm now, you've been you've been in it, you've been, you know, working around, doing some different things.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: You're telling me right before the recording, you guys have have uh your future planning for 2026, you've identified a lot of um increased revenue opportunities, which is so cool.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Love to hear that.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: Two sides of a coin here for this question.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: What are you most excited about over the next 12 months for this new journey?
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: Man, I've always wanted to scale my firm, like double a firm in uh 12 months, the revenue.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm very, very excited to take our revenue to new heights that it's never seen before.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, I'm I'm working with you guys and I'm working with um possibly you know some organic, an organic content firm uh to you know increase sales for the next six months or so.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm I'm very excited to to scale, but also keep that uh individual touch per client.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: So as we scale, I definitely want to um you know keep the keep our our services you know very, very good for our clients.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and not and not you know diversify a lot and stuff like that.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that's so cool.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, flip side of the coin.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: What what are you most nervous about?
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: I'm most nervous about uh I guess it's so the way we have our firm structured right now is the seller note is is kind of complicated.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: So the old owner is still in the business, and so he gets 25% of net profits.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I basically did a partial buy-in into the business.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: And so cash flow is a little tight in the beginning right now.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: And so now that I've uh invested into your service and I'm investing into other services as well, it can be a few tight months in the in in the new year.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_02: So I am I'm pretty nervous about, you know, if if things don't work out with your firm and if things don't work out with the other firm, then um, like where do we go from there?
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I guess just taking the risk is is the biggest thing that's that that I'm nervous for.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: But I think it's a necessary thing to grow the business.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like you come to a point where you either take the take the risk or you don't, and you either grow or you don't.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so like this is the turning point that for our business where we're investing in all these different things, and if they don't work out, then we're kind of screwed.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: But if you know one of them does and one of them doesn't, then you know we'll break even.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: But then if both of them work out, you know, we're we're off to the races.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's amazing, dude.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a real pivotable, pivot, pivotable uh moment right now in the firm, which is super exciting for you.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I one of the things that I I found really inspiring from our first conversation was just like how much of an action taker you are.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I I'm I'm really excited, obviously, to be working with you and your team, and then to see the different levels that you're going to scale to because um there's hard there's hard work, and then there's people who just like won't take no for an answer.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I I see both of those in you and smoothly.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm pumped to see it.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be really cool.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me a little bit about uh the experience you're gonna bring from some of these failed businesses in the past.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: And uh as I say that, uh failed, it sounds aggressive and so negative, but uh I like to look at that as you have all this extra experience that you've learned from.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: So like you're actually more armored going into this because you've been through the trenches already.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: So you failed, air quote, some businesses in the past.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: But again, a lot of people have never even started a business.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: So, well, I've never failed anything.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Cool, you never started it.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, whatever.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: You failed, you've learned a lot, and you're gonna keep moving forward.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: How do those failures show up in how you're gonna operate this new firm, especially when it comes to resilience and decision making?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I've been resilient all my life.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's just been in me from a very young age.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I've seen it in myself through all the different experiences in my life.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I always go back to the quote like failure is a stepping stone for success.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I fully, fully believe that.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I've learned things along the way, like you know, how to pivot, things like that.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm a very um driven individual, but I also know how to pivot when it's time to pivot.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: So those failed businesses have have all led me to here, and even though they failed, I've learned things you know from them.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: So from the marketing agency.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: I've learned so much of what Alex Ramosy does.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I really you know listen to all of his advice and I'm gonna implement that for this accounting firm.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think it's gonna be a great, a great uh investment for the future.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for you, man.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's so cool.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that you've you've been and I don't know the exact stat, but what do they say?
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like how how many, what's the percentage of how many people the first business they start fails, and that's not the business they're with forever?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's just Oh, yeah, I think it's like 90 to 95%.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like you the first one, it's almost like all right, you're you're going to go in, you're gonna get cut, you're gonna get you know bruised, and then you're gonna learn and you're just gonna keep leveling up.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I mentioned it on uh some some past episodes, but it would make for a really boring movie and story if the main character didn't face any adversity.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: If you just showed up to the theater and the main character everything went right and it just worked out in the end, like you're probably not gonna re-watch it, but you want to see that adversity, you want to see the hardship.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it's all about developing your your character.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that you've already gone through some of that stuff and now you're bringing it into a new firm, a new chapter, and I think you're gonna be set up for so much more success with that.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um your firm on value-based pricing and three-tier packages, why is it why is that a non-negotiable for you?
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: And how do you intend to sell it when a client wants to negotiate it down?
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think being really structured in your in your pricing, um, and you want to you want to attract A-tier clients.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: That is the type of client that you want to serve.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: You don't want to serve D tier clients who want the lowest pricing.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think that it's very important to have the three tiers because you have different choices for your client.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: And if you would never know that they would be interested in a higher package if you only gave them one price.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: And that's the biggest thing.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's like you never know.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: You all you have to do is ask, and you can ask in the way of three tiers.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so you might be surprised by how many clients you know choose the the middle package or the higher tier package.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: And so there'll just be a few, but you know, a few can make a lot of difference.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: So going back to the the time based pricing is it is the old way of doing things, and a lot of Um legacy firms do still have it around, but I think we we can all agree as accounting firm owners, like you know, value-based pricing that is the here and now, and three-tiered pricing, you know, we can all you know move to that to become more profitable as firm owners.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I agree.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: There, there's a counter-argument I'll make from previous sales coaches who would argue the three-tier pricing, that you when you get on a when you get on a call, you obviously want to find are we a good fit to work with, are both parties a good fit to work with one another?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: And you're trying to remove as much of the decision-making process as possible.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you can make the argument that with three-tier pricing, not only do they have to make the decision, do they want to work with you, now which package do they do they want?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, on the flip side of things, human psychology also shows that you have that six-figure offer, the elite package.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: That could be, you know, four or five X more expensive than your middle offer, which is the most popular one that everyone will go for because now there's a huge price anchor.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then you have the essential package.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Not a lot of people want to take the lowest one, even if it's just like out of ego, they're like, Oh, I don't want the cheapest one or the lowest one.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I I don't maybe I don't need this really expensive one, so I'm gonna take the middle.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the one you wanted them to take to begin with.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I can see both sides of it, but I really do like the three-tiered system as long as it's framed properly while on the call, and you're still the expert going, look, I don't uh feel based off where you're at, this elite package makes the most sense for you right now.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: And based on the goals you discuss that you want to achieve, our essential program is not going to get you there in the time frame you want.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I would recommend, you know, our core offer right here in the middle.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I think as long as you're the expert still driving where they should be going, then that three-tier system works.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're like, here's our three options, you pick from the menu which one you think works best, now you're no longer the expert in the room.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I totally agree.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: And to that first point, I think putting the three tiers in front of them first is not the right move.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think putting uh an intro offer, like a flat fee priced um intro offer.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: So we do a lot of cleanup bookkeeping for their prior years to make sure their books are you know in line with what we want to see.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: And so we do you know an intro offer of cleanup bookkeeping for you know 2024, 2025, whatever the year.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's our intro offer to be like, okay, you know, this is the flat fee.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then after that, we'll come in with the three tiers after we've done, we've looked at their books and we know you know how complex the the the client is.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: I like that.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: And now you're also you're you're the expert in the room and you're building that authority because now you're also building off of a solid foundation, you're not trying to build a house off of you know a coup a couple two by fours that's on unsturdy ground.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Bad bad analogy.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not a construction guy, but you but you get the point.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so cool.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: That I I I like the three-tier pricing model, and more firms should go to that.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: And and again, Nick, to your point, if you don't have that wild six-figure offer, whatever that is, like the dream offer that you're like, if I have five clients at this, I'm set.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't have that to put in front of someone, no one ever knows it exists and they can't say yes to it.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's so important.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: So you you want to build the the the premier AI-powered virtual tax firm.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: What role do you see AI playing in your growth?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: And how are you actually using it right now in your systems?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so we use a lot of AI-powered software.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: We like we like carbon, we love carbon, we love anchor, we love ramp, we love all of those types of um software.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I've I've looked at digits a few a few times, and that's AI-powered bookkeeping.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so we we might transition to that uh later on in the in 2026, but not just yet.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: I think AI agents for accounting and tax firms do have a ways to go.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I would love to you know implement them into our firm maybe late 2026 when they're a little bit more developed.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: But right now, from what I've seen, AI agents aren't the best for tax and accounting firms, just because it is a niche industry.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, they're better for, I guess, like emails and and you know, you know, calendars, things like that, uh, more general type of stuff.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: But once they get niche down for AI agents, I think there's a lot of value in it because you know you can replace your administrative people, you can possibly replace your bookkeepers, you know.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: People have mixed views on that.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, later in 2027, it could be possible of like you don't need a bookkeeper anymore.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: And that's that's kind of scary to think about.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, like bookkeepers be could become obsolete in a sense, but um, I think it's I think it's the way the world's moving with AI agents and um all of these different AI apps starting.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: Now, a AI agents, they still to a certain degree need to be managed.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: You need to keep tweaking them.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: They're not just perfect, they're only as great as the prompts you put in it, you know that.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then also there's still the relationship aspect, and this has been a very common theme on the last handful of episodes.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: AI can do a lot of stuff, but it's never gonna replace us having this conversation.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's never gonna replace the conversations you have with your clients when they go to you and they're can you explain to me what's going on on this financial like why, why, why am I bleeding money?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Or Nick, it's been so great working with you for the last year because no one is pro no one has ever proactively called me about our accounting.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: We've only heard from them when our tax bill is due.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: AI may maybe way down the road will fully replace that.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: But I think to a certain degree, it's not gonna move as fast and take over as much of the industry as some may think.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: And a recent guest and client of ours, Michael Lee, brought this up on a past episode, and I think he's he's spot on with that.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's I think so many people are are consumed by the buzzword AI, and it's it's not gonna just like completely eat up everyone's jobs, and it's it's not gonna happen overnight.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: No, it won't.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_02: It definitely won't.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's more so the back-end work that could be eaten up, but they could never replace the the client relationships that we have in the firm.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: So 100%.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me, what what advice do you have for someone thinking of buying a firm, especially if they're not a CPA or have a non-traditional background like you?
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a little bit biased because I'm like, I really want to hear what your answer is on this because I'm I'm very curious myself.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I mean we've all heard, I don't know if we've all heard, but 10,000 baby boomers right now are retiring every single day for the next five to seven years.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: So you have that five to seven year time period of where you have to act.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: And right now is the perfect time to act.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I think I have a very unique story to where I didn't have a CPA, EA, or any experience in the industry.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: And looking back on it, who knows if I would have done the same thing.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think I was very, very lucky in finding this firm.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, you know, someone pointed out to me the other day of like, I you might be the youngest uh tax and accounting firm owner in the US.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, really?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, maybe you could speak on that, James, because you know a lot more tax and accounting firm owners, but you know, I'm I'm 20, I'm 23, just turned 23.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: So um I I could be the youngest one, and like, you know, just get out there.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: Just just go and do it.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: And if you have experience in the industry, you know, that's that's so much better than not having experience in the industry.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: I love that, man.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's uh that's so cool.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: One sec, just want to make sure we're still good here.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, your camera's a little.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think your camera, there we go.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so I mean, 23, dude, that's that's incredible.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: I was not buying accounting firms at at 23, so I'm I'm pumped for you.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um what what is the first step someone needs to go and take?
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: They're looking to buy a firm.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, where do they even like number one thing to do?
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so there's sites called BizBySell, and there's sites called Biz Scout, and there's um what's another one?
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like SMB, Marketplace, things of that nature.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I I found my deal on market.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: You can definitely find your deal off market.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: You can cold email, you can cold call people in your area.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: There's lots of, I mean, every accounting firm owner that that we know is basically 50, 60, or 70 years old.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: So they're all looking to retire in in the next five to ten years, and it's an aging industry.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: But even if you don't want to do you know the accounting industry, there are other industries where people are retiring every single day.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: And so those those three sites will help you with the on-market deals.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: But if you're researching off-market, then um you have you know, Google that that always helps, and just researching, you know, very personalized things.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, how old is the is the owner?
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then maybe going into the replace of business, maybe just cold calling, uh, things of that nature.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, that's awesome.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think that would be the first step.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's so cool.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Nick, last question for you, man.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: Really appreciate how much time you've given um to this recording today.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh, that's a good one.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think it's stay small enough long enough until you're big enough soon enough.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: So it it it goes back to living below your means.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I guess it can apply in business of like reinvest and reinvest and reinvest, and don't don't spend it on those, don't spend your money on those fancy cars um until you're big enough, and then you'll be you'll be be big enough soon enough.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: So once you start making that that first bit of money, it's very, very important to reinvest in the business.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think that's that's the biggest piece of advice I could give someone, and that's what I'm gonna do with with my money.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna you know go out and buy more accounting firms and increase my multiple um, you know, by a lot.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: So that's just the uh that's that's the best advice I've ever received.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: Stay small enough long enough until you're big enough soon enough.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: Love it.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's so cool.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: Nick, how can people get in touch with you?
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um how can they continue the conversation if they want to reach out?
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I am posting every single day on Instagram.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: So it's nickwatson.biz, n-i-k-w-a-t-s-o-n.biz.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that's how they can get in contact with me.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: You can just DM me if you wanna, if you want to chat, you know, hear about my story.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: I can hear about your story, I can help you, you know, things of that nature.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm I'm documenting all of my days, so I'm doing a day one, day two, day three of running the accounting firm.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: So see the behind the scenes there.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: What day are you on?
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I am on, well, technically I'm on like I'm on like month two, but technically on on the on the Instagram on them, I'm on day 22 or 23.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: So pr pretty consistent then for for recording it every day.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um awesome, dude.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: Nick, thank you so much for coming on, sharing all of your insights, sharing your knowledge.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so pumped, man, to see what is to come for you in the coming months.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, I'm gonna be I'm meaning I'm gonna be cheering you on as we as we partner up and run some some new campaigns for you, but all really cheering cheering on from the sidelines as well with different growth.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: So again, thank you so much for coming on, dude.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: This was amazing.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it so much.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for tuning in to this episode of CFO Chronicles, The Secrets Behind Success.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you found value in today's conversation.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: As we wrap up, I'd love for you to do two things.
• 32:36
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• 32:40
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• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: It helps others discover the insights we share here.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: Second, if you're ready to take your business to the next level and attract the high-end clients you deserve, head over to accountingleadsnow.com or click the link in the show notes to book your strategy call.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's time to position yourself as the advisor your clients need.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: And don't forget, you can connect with me on LinkedIn to stay up to date on what's happening in the world of accounting and financial growth.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: We've got exciting topics coming up, so stay tuned for the next episode of CFO Chronicles.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: Until then, keep pushing forward.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: Your growth is just one strategic move away.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to CFO Chronicles, the secrets behind success.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: We hope today's episode provided valuable strategies to help you attract more high-paying clients.
• 33:28
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• 33:32
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