Latest / The Jeff Crilley Show / Jessica Chompff & Charlene Carpenter, The CPA Sisters, CC Group Advisors | The Jeff Crilley Show
Transcript
- Alright. Three, two, one. Coming up next on The Jeff Crilley Show in Dallas Fort Worth, there's a CPA firm on every street corner, but my next two guests have really distinguished themselves. They're known as the CPA sisters. Their journey just ahead. Many are predicting that the worst is yet to come, which is unfortunate, said one person here. Until now, they've enjoyed the reputation of being the nation's icebox. Watched a burglar in his home this morning by webcam. As a journalist of over twenty five years, stories are what make my world turn. Reporting live from The Dallas Newsroom tonight, Jeff Crilley, Fox four news. But in 2008, I took the jump from my familiar life and started a PR firm from my home. We're talking about anyone with a camcorder like the one I'm using becomes a television network. We started slowly growing the company and we now have over a 100 clients and we've branched into the world of live digital broadcasting. I now own eight different TV studios and have a huge team. And the stories that I now get to share are sometimes the most important of my life. Life has a funny way of coming around full circle. This is The Jeff Crilley Show. Alright. I'm an entrepreneur, so obviously we have a CPA firm that works with us. We've been working with them for a dozen years or so. Not everybody loves their CPA. They they they like their CPA, but in the back of their mind, speaking as an entrepreneur, they're always kinda wondering, is my CPA firm doing enough for me? That's why I have my next two guests in the studio, Jessica Chompff and Charlene Carpenter. They are known as the CPA sisters. Ladies, thanks for coming on the show. Thanks for having us. Very cool. Very cool. I wanna hear how all this began. So, Charlene, when you were in high school, were you kind of a numbers math person? Yeah, I loved algebra. Didn't want to be an accountant for sure, that was not in my head. When I had my daughter, I needed to do something to bring in more income and you know, I wanted education and so, I started working at a tax office and Jess and I eventually started working together. She was a manager at Nordstrom and she was like, I don't wanna do retail anymore. And so, came to the same firm I was at, I taught her everything I knew at the time, she went back to school and that was in California. Then, moved here, we were both at different firms than the last firm we were at before we started our firm, we were there together too. And, yeah, we decided at some point we wanted to start our own and we did. So, we started from ground zero. Wow. Well, I'm so impressed with you and you're really as a branding guy, I'm fascinated with your branding because you dress the same. We don't have a full body shot, but same shoes, same jeans. It happens sometimes. Alright, Jessica. Let's let's bring you in on this. So when you joined your sister, not all families can work together. Mhmm. Was that a leap of faith for you? A little bit like, I think Charlene and I are a good balance like we always get along really well in our adult years, I will say. You know, we did fight a lot when we were kids but I think all that was out of the way. So it was very easy for us to work together and she really did teach me everything she knew when I stepped in at that first accounting firm and so it just kind of paved the way for for where we are today. Beautiful. I'm gonna pull up your website and as we scroll down the website I want you to talk about what makes your firm so special. Charlene? Yeah, so we built our firm with a preface we wanted to be different than tax office, typical tax office and so we only work with business owners and by doing that we can actually we have the time to actually help them and answer questions as they're growing and not make them wait you know once a year, when they come to you in March, the year's already closed, you can't help them with anything, it's all reactive not proactive. So, Jess and I wanted a different model and that's really what we did, we a different model and we stuck to it. And you meet monthly with your clients? We do, that's pretty much a requirement because we can't help them if we're not talking to them constantly. It doesn't fit our model if we're not and they usually, they have all kinds of problems that maybe they're shoving under the rug. And so, we find out what those are first and then we're constantly bringing them up to see how we can help guide them or who can we introduce them to that might be able to help them. Let's talk a little bit more about that philosophy because a lot of CPA firms in Dallas would just cash the check. Why do you go above and beyond? I think the work's more enjoyable that way. Like, when we actually get to help someone, like, that's much more satisfying than just preparing a tax return or you know doing some bookkeeping or whatever. So actually getting to help people reach their goals and you know watch their business grow over time is really rewarding. We were talking before the show about one of your favorite success stories without naming the client. Mhmm. Who comes to mind? Yeah, it was actually one of our first clients they came to us because they had a CPA who was a family friend helping them out and I say helping very lightly. They started getting IRS notices, they now were afraid things weren't being done right, and so when we came in, we kind of, we went through everything, started explaining it, and found there were definitely missed opportunities, because they were only working with the CPA once a year, they're not talking about anything, so they have no idea what's going on, and business owners, they struggle with that kind of stuff. This one in particular was a C Corp, it was started in the 70s, and you know, there was missed opportunities, so we kind of dug in and started making some changes, introduced them to some attorneys that they needed, and got new documents, it's just, it's not just numbers that CPAs can help with, know, we see a lot of stuff in businesses, why not share the knowledge? Well, you mentioned referring them to a lawyer. Business owners need so much help and you're very passionate about a group called Provisors. So, we've got some pictures we're gonna put on the screen. Talk about Provisors and do you both lead groups or I know you're both involved. Yeah. So, I started Provisors first, just started almost a year after I did to the day actually, it was October. And when we started our own business, it was really easy to say what we were doing, who we wanted to work with, and who we wanted to be introduced to. And so, I jumped in 100 just when she joined, we just started going to socials together, we started going to guesting at monthly meetings, and just meeting all kinds of people, telling our story, and actually, what I found out is so many people had the same exact experience that we had gone through, but no one ever talks about it. And so, just meeting all these professionals who have so much knowledge to share, and they were all very open to it, and that was not the kind of firms that I came from, we didn't share knowledge like that, it kind of felt like you were on your own and so having this amazing network, like I just fell in love with it, obviously. Yeah. So then I started my own group and still meeting people, Jess and I still go to socials, we plan, we're in a lot of what they call affinity groups. We plan socials for those, like we just have a lot of fun doing it because one of our core values is have fun. So that's what we do. Jessica, more on provisors. Is it they accept one person from one profession, so you don't have competitors in the group? Or tell me the ethos of provisors. Yeah. They don't promise exclusivity, but they'll have, you know, like one lane of something. So, you know, maybe there'll be a business tax CPA and an individual tax CPA. And then you have, like, your forensic accountant. And then attorneys, you have all your different lanes for attorneys. So, it just kinda depends, but generally, there's one seat. Sometimes, if they fit, you know, maybe like high high net worth, super high net worth versus, you know, more small mom and pop businesses. And you guys do a great job. We actually host a Provisors Group here at our our company. You do a great job vetting people. So when people come in, it's not a business card exchange. Business is done because people want to do business with each other. Yeah, it's definitely relationship building. It's about getting to know them because ProVisors motto is Know, Like, Trust, Refer, And it really is magical when you see it happen. Our first referral from ProVisors was actually from someone not in my group that I had met. I had a lunch with, what they call a Troika. Just, because you don't want to send, you're not going to send your largest client to someone that you don't really know, just because they gave you a business card. I will send someone to someone who just explained to me how they try and work and what their demeanor is and their personality because clients, they're all different and not one size fits all, I would never say, I'm only sending you know my client to this one insurance person. Don't think that's fair because every client's different and we're all about the client. Alright, one of my favorite questions when I have you know, families on the show is is, you know, what is their brilliance? So, Jessica, what is Charlene's brilliance? Charlene is a very good people person. You know, she just has that confidence, that spark when she talks to people. So that's always fun. We do have a lot of fun when we're together. And then her decision making skills are phenomenal. Like, I'll sit there and I'll do, like, the back and forth, like, well, we could do this or we could do this. And then Charlene's like, nope. We're doing this. Decision made. Like, let's go. And I'm like, Okay, thank you. I was spinning my wheels a little bit there, right? So, you know, that's very helpful. So, it's a good balance between Charlene, same question. Yeah, so Jess is absolutely brilliant when it comes to tax research. The Internal Revenue Code can be really hard to go through. And when there is a strategy that we want to implement, she makes sure hand, tooth, and nail, 110%, that it will fit with that client, and that it's legal and then letting them know like what documentation is gonna be needed in the event of an audit and that's just it's a peace of mind knowing what we're giving our clients is right and she can find anything through research and she totally nerds out on it. I love it. I can see why you compliment each other so well. We have about a minute left. So, Charlene, give us some final thoughts. Why why would somebody might you know, why would they need to engage you if they're not happy with their current CPA or just wondering why would they need to engage you? Usually that's where it starts, is they're not happy with their current CPA, they think they need more, they want more, maybe there's missed opportunities and they're really not getting a call back from their current CPA, so they don't have that question answered. Sometimes they don't even know what they want, they just know like, there has to be more out there, right? Like, I know I think I need more help, maybe it's the numbers, like, yeah, these are probably messy, like, you know, maybe I'm not getting the bank loan I wanted like, that happens a lot too. Like, let's let's talk about your books. Yes. So, it just kinda depends. They're all different. I love it. Well, thank you so much for sharing your heart and your wisdom with us. We're gonna end with the website which is ccgroupadvisors.com. Jessica and Charlene, thanks for coming on the show. Yeah. Know. Thanks for having us. You bet. That's it for now. We'll see you next time.