Small Change, Big Results

Every new year has this strange quiet moment, right after the noise settles. You are back at your desk, the calendar is clean again, and there is a brief window where things feel possible.

At that moment, the future you is not asking for fewer loose ends and moments where you wonder if something slipped because it lived in the wrong place.

That is why the beginning of the year matters more than we admit.

It's one of the times when switching to a better mode of getting work done doesn’t feel reactive. You're changing workflow systems because you can see where your bookkeeping or accounting firm is headed, and you would rather get there with intention than urgency.

Financial Cents exists specifically for this. It’s not a generic project management tool that you have to bend into shape for accounting work. It’s built for how firms like yours actually operate: recurring deadlines, seasonal surges, client requests that need tracking, and teams that need visibility without constant check-ins.

Maybe your current setup is still semi-functional, but if you’re being honest with yourself, you probably know where the cracks are, and those cracks don’t shrink when you add more clients or hire more people.

The firms making the switch right now don’t want to carry last year’s frustrations into this year, and you shouldn't too.

Also, you won't have to do it alone.

Our consulting team—Ryan, Will, George, Kasey—they've helped hundreds of firms make this exact switch. They'll walk you through a demo tailored to how your firm actually works, help you get set up, and make sure you're not stuck watching tutorial videos at midnight trying to piece things together.

If you’ve been burned by software transitions before, this one’s different.

👉 Make the switch now

Community 🫶

The Bookkeepers’ Guide to Annual Reviews With Nancy McClelland, CPA

The Bookkeepers who run strong monthly closes don’t dread tax season, and they don’t have to rely on year-end heroics.

This one-page (FREE!) Bookkeepers’ Guide to Annual Reviews, created by Nancy McClelland, CPA, gives you a repeatable framework for reviewing client financials in a way that builds trust, surfaces issues early, and makes collaboration with tax professionals easier for everyone involved.

Inside the template, you’ll get a clear technical review structure that helps you catch issues (ideally before year-end), opportunities to turn clean books into confident client discussions, and so much more.

Get it here →

Accelerate 2 Advisor Community By Lisa Campbell

This is a breakthrough community for bookkeepers and accountants who are still deep in the day-to-day work, but ready to step out of the technician role and start building a business that runs like a system, not a scramble.

Inside, they focus on helping you clarify your true value, tap into where your real power comes from, and learn how to call in what you actually want: more time, money, and freedom. It’s about setting intentional goals, taking aligned action, and learning how to present your business in a way that feels right for you.

Join the community →

H🔥t today

IRS IT overhaul set to finish by 2028

After decades of attempts, the modernization of the IRS’s information technology systems will be completed by 2028, according to former Acting IRS Commissioner Michael Faulkender.

Faulkender, who served as deputy Treasury secretary and acting IRS commissioner for several months in 2025, said the modernization of the IRS's IT systems previously focused on translating millions of lines of computer code written in languages like Fortran developed in the 1950s into more modern languages.

In the past year, the focus of modernization shifted to getting systems to talk to each other and to have an overarching [application programming interface (API)] where all of the information was simultaneously available.

There was no mention of the IRS job cuts, which included 2,163 IT staffers, or 25% of that business unit, according to a May 2025 report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. In addition, 48 senior IT employees were placed on administrative leave in March 2025 due to reorganization plans.

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CFOs signal crucial role that technology will play in 2026

If you thought technology was already a big deal in finance, 2026 is about to dial things up.

A new report reveals a major shift that tech is no longer just a tool to speed up but a core to how finance leaders plan to compete. Think AI, intelligent automation, and smarter systems that do more than track work. We’re talking predictive tools, faster decisions, and CFOs taking a more strategic seat at the table.

What’s interesting is how many of them are now planning to invest in new tools and rethinking how finance should function entirely.

While the confidence is high, the pressure is real. Faster decisions, fewer errors, and better business alignment are now baseline expectations.

The question is: are you keeping pace with the finance function your peers are building?

Continue reading →

Swipe this workflow template

Swipe this 1099 Preparation Workflow Template by Jami Dorman

Get more templates from firm owners like you in our community template library.

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Firm Spotl💡ght

How L&L Bookkeeping Manages More Clients and Delivers Services That Drive Referrals

For Lori Hawkins, what began with helping her entrepreneur husband get cleaner books and clearer insights for smarter business decisions grew into L&L Bookkeeping, LLC in 2018.

Today, the L&L Bookkeeping team assists clients both inside and outside the U.S. with all accounting services except tax returns.

As an outsourced accounting department, they work within their clients’ teams to monitor finances and ensure compliant financial records and quality financial advice.

Managed in an all-in-one practice management tool, the firm has optimized its workflows to meet client deliverables and manage client relationships effectively. This has earned them enough referrals to keep a running list of businesses waiting to use their services.

Continue reading →

Events

📍Profit Machine Live - Free Virtual Summit (January 29, 2026)

Profit Machine Live is a free, one-day virtual summit helping accountants grow beyond tax season.

You'll learn how firms are successfully adding advisory services like Tax Advisory, CAS, IRS Representation, and high-ticket advisory from experts who’ve actually done it.
This is an opportunity to get impactful and actionable insights from thought leaders in the accounting industry, like Dawn Brolin, CPA, CFE, Michelle Weinstein, Eric Green, and more.

P.S.: You can get up to 6.0 CPE credits.

Sign up here

Noteworthy

How Mélyssa Brunet Built a Workflow System That Won Her a Title and a Free Trip to Mexico

When Melyssa Brunet was announced as the 2025 Workflow Champion at WorkflowCon, the applause was immediate.

Her winning workflow, a structured year-end review process, resonated with firm owners who recognized the quiet damage caused by missed deadlines, reactive planning, and processes that live only in people’s heads.

However, Mélyssa’s story is not about a single template.

It reflects how workflows evolve when they are built with intention, tested in real client work, and shaped by the people who use them every day.

In this chat, Mélyssa walks through what pushed her bookkeeping firm to formalize workflows, how she earned team buy-in, where workflows still fall short, and why structure has become one of her firm’s biggest growth levers.

Excerpts

Q: Many firms see workflows and SOPs as efficiency tools. From your experience, what else do they influence?

Mélyssa:
Growth, without question. When we hire someone new, they are assigned files immediately in Financial Cents. They can see exactly what tasks they own, what each task means, and what done looks like. That shortens the time it takes for new hires to feel confident.

Q: You mentioned you have many templates. Why was the year-end review workflow the one you chose to present?

Mélyssa:
We actually have a library of over 50 procedures. The year-end review stood out because….

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How to inform your clients about a price increase (plus a free template)

Well, it's 2026, and yesterday's price isn't today's price.

You’re delivering more value than ever, your workload has increased, and it costs more to run your firm today than it did a year ago.

Maybe you’re still hesitating because you’re unsure how clients will react, but the truth is, your firm can’t remain sustainable or profitable if you never update your pricing. Contrary to your concern, most clients will accept the new rates as long as you communicate the change clearly and professionally.

Proper communication is what determines whether clients understand the increase and continue working with you, or whether they feel blindsided and start questioning the relationship.

Continue reading

Till next time,

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Small Change, Big Results

Dearest gentle reader,

Was it not just yesterday that we screamed “Happy New Year!” and promised ourselves this would be the year we got ahead of deadlines, nailed every client deliverable, and took that long-overdue vacation in Q3?

Yet here we are, another year in the books.

2025 asked a lot from you, and somehow, you showed up for your clients, team, and firm. You pulled long nights. You navigated messy handoffs. You reworked client expectations, built new systems (or at least tried to), and still found time to send a reminder email with grace.

But let us ask plainly:
Did you work on your workflow as much as you worked in it?

That’s the question we kept returning to during the EOY Workflow Reset sessions, and it’s the one we believe you must answer before tax season starts, writing the script for your year.

We brought together Justine Lackey, Kellie Parks, CPB, FCPB, and Nick Boscia, CPA, three firm owners who’ve stopped treating burnout as a rite of passage. They’ve each built systems that scale, protect team sanity, and help them lead with clarity.

What you’ll learn in the replays:

• Justine maps out your first 90 days of 2026 so you start strong (and stay that way).

• Kellie shows you how to create scalable systems your team will actually follow.

• Nick shows you how to fix recurring workflow and rebalance work so Q1 doesn’t immediately become a bottleneck.

This is the blueprint for building a firm that runs with intention.

Let 2026 be the year your workflow works harder than you do.

👉 Watch the EOY Reset Series Replay

Community 🫶

Build a Buyer-Ready Practice with Adam Shay, CPA, MBA

It’s time to build a firm so operationally strong that buyers line up. A sellable firm runs on clear workflow, strong processes, and predictable operations.

Most firms run on memory, heroics, and constant reaction. When Adam built his accounting firm, everything ran through him; burnout, bottlenecks, and a team that couldn’t move without him.

Today, he coaches firm owners 1:1 and through group cohorts, helping them build sellable firms with strong operational strategies that support growth.

In this 5-day email course, you’ll learn the core elements of a buyer-ready practice and how to build simple SOPs so work gets done consistently without you.

Sign up here →

Get the Free NSA’s 2024 Profit and Practice Report

The NSA’s 2024 Profit and Practice Report is packed with benchmarking data from accountants and tax preparers across the country. See how firms are pricing services, structuring fees, and building profitability.

With this report, you can compare your fees with national benchmarks, spot opportunities to grow revenue, and gain insights to position your firm competitively.

Get the report here →

H🔥t today

Every CPA Must Triple Their Productivity by 2035 or Face Professional Extinction

David Wurtzbacher shared this projection on an episode of the Earmark Podcast. As the founder and CEO of Ascend, a private equity-backed platform that’s completed over three dozen firm acquisitions in just over two years, Wurtzbacher offers an outsider’s perspective on the profession.

According to him, demand for services continues to climb while the number of people entering the profession each year decreases.

To put this in perspective, a typical well-performing firm today generates around $200,000 in revenue per employee. Wurtzbacher’s projection means that the number needs to approach $600,000 per person within a decade. Even scarier? By 2035, roughly 85% of the profession will consist of people with ten years or less of experience in an industry where most say you can’t even make partner in that timeframe.

Continue reading →

The Accounting Profession’s Status Is Under Review

So, quick accounting tea ☕️

There’s a proposal circulating that would essentially declare accounting no longer a professional degree, and the accounting world collectively responded: absolutely not.

Nine major accounting organizations, led by the AICPA and representing approximately 1.5 million professionals, have joined forces to push back. They sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education expressing strong opposition to any draft regulation that would exclude accounting programs from a professional degree designation and urging that accounting programs be included as a professional degree in the proposed rule.

At a time when firms are facing staffing shortages, aging practitioner populations, and rising complexity in compliance and advisory work, de-incentivizing formal accounting education sends the wrong message to the next generation. It frames accounting as less rigorous, less essential, and less worthy of institutional support.

Continue reading →

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Swipe this Tax Planning Workflow Template by Laura Adams

Get more templates from firm owners like you in our community template library.

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Firm Spotl💡ght

How Profit Constructors Run Multi-Firm Projects Without Things Falling Apart

Tonya founded The Profit Constructors after realizing that the traditional corporate environment no longer fit the life she wanted for her family.

With years of experience in construction accounting and a growing desire for a more flexible and remote-friendly work system, she set out to build a firm that operated differently.

After returning from a maternity break and struggling to ease into work, Tonya decided to use her expertise to create a virtual accounting practice that would give her and her team the freedom to work from anywhere.

When the company started, Tonya and her first staff could comfortably rely on their memories to manage projects because they had worked together for about 20 years; they understood themselves and what each client engagement required, even without spelling things out.

However, as they took on more clients and added staff, they now needed a system to document workflows and collaborate effectively, standardizing their processes across the board.

Continue reading →

Events

📍Master the Intuit Bookkeeper Certification - Free Workshop (Today, 7 pm EST)

Margie Remmers-Davis is transforming accounting education by making learning hands-on, practical, engaging, and fun.

During the workshop, you’ll discover:

• What the certification actually is (and what it’s not)

• Who really needs it vs. who’s wasting their time

• The fastest, simplest way to pass without cramming wrong material

• How to use it to stand out to clients and employers

Seats are free, but they won’t last, and the live Q&A is where the real gold happens.

Sign up here

Noteworthy

How Stacey Feldman CPA Makes Sure to Fuel Properly Even with a Busy Schedule

In the thick of client demands, team responsibilities, and firm growth, Stacey Feldman, Partner/COO at Full Send Finance, has built a system for wellness.

What makes her approach unique isn’t the discipline (though there’s plenty of that). It’s how she treats her health as a strategic advantage, instead of something to deal with after the busy season. For Stacey, staying sharp means thinking ahead about everything from food to calendar to bandwidth. It means creating predictability in her day so she can lead with clarity.

If you’ve ever told yourself you’ll rest after this deadline, or wondered how to keep showing up for your team without burning yourself out, Stacey’s story is your reminder that taking care of yourself is a business decision.

Continue reading

15 Proven Accounting Firm Growth Strategies for 2026

Growth in 2026 requires more than new clients.

Clients no longer want you only for year-end cleanups. They seek guidance, clarity, and a trusted advisor who can translate financial data into informed decisions.

Also, remote teams are becoming more common. Talent shortages have made geographical hiring optional. Remote and hybrid teams open doors to stronger hiring, but they also require better systems for collaboration, oversight, and accountability. Firms that build for flexibility are the ones keeping their teams engaged and productive.

Growth right now takes smarter operations, modern software, and systems that can actually keep up. To help you navigate this shifting landscape, this guide outlines 15 practical strategies designed to foster your firm’s growth with confidence and profitability.

Continue reading

Happy Holidays, Friends 💚,

See you in 2026!

Share Get Work Done - a newsletter for accounting firm owners.

Small Change, Big Results

Step Into 2026 With Systems That Support You

There comes a time when the status quo no longer feels tolerable.

You know it.

You recognize that something in your accounting firm needs to shift, yet every time you move toward that change, it slips out of reach. The reasons vary: client demands, staffing challenges, shifting priorities, but in the end, the result is the same. Another year passes without the systems you need to grow with intention.

At some point, though, the cycle becomes unsustainable. What once felt manageable begins to strain the limits of your capacity. The interruptions feel heavier, errors are more costly, and pressure is more persistent. The thought of heading into another year with the same gaps and frustrations becomes harder to justify.

That is precisely why the End-of-Year Workflow Reset Series exists.

It offers structured, distraction-free time to evaluate what has worked, what has not, and what must change before 2026. This month, the series is led by three industry experts who understand operational change as lived experience.

Justine Lackey will guide you through structuring your first 90 days of 2026 with intention, resetting your workflows ahead of the busy season, and utilizing real planning frameworks to map out Q1 deliverables.

Nick Bosica, CPA, brings a grounded, strategic perspective shaped by years of building and refining firm operations. His approach is practical, direct, and designed to help owners audit and tighten recurring workflows.

Kellie Parks, CPB, FCPB, is known for making processes accessible, scalable, and sustainable. Her systems-first methodology helps firms standardize their work in a way that supports both the firm owner and the team behind them.

Together, they provide a balanced, real-world framework for the work ahead, one that pairs strategic clarity with operational discipline.

If you feel the tension between where your accounting firm is and where it needs to be, this is your opportunity to bridge that gap. The stability, confidence, and structure you want next year begin with the decisions you make now.

👉 Sign up for the EOY Workflow Reset Series

Community 🫶

The Velocity Retreat With Justine Lackey

If you’re a bookkeeper or accountant who needs a strategic plan for 2026, consider this your official invite to Velocity, Justine Lackey’s half-day (FREE!) virtual planning retreat on December 11th from 12–4:30 pm EST.

Velocity is a community favorite for a reason: in just a few hours, you’ll walk away with:

• A crystal-clear 2026 plan that feels achievable and exciting

• A simple method to break big goals into tiny weekly actions

• A gorgeous 2026 digital planning workbook you’ll use all year

• A mindset reset that gets you out of the weeds and laser-focused on building your #dreamfirm

If you want 2026 to be the year you feel grounded and organized and gain real momentum, register for Velocity today. Your future self will thank you.

Sign up here →

NexPath Coaching

NexPath Coaching helps organizations of every size create cultures where people understand each other, trust each other, and take ownership so that growth, collaboration, and results happen naturally.

They believe communication and leadership aren’t soft skills but the structure that holds everything together.

If you’re an accounting firm owner and want your team to take more ownership and improve collaboration, start here.

Join the coaching community →

H🔥t today

What Will Accounting and Finance Look Like By 2040?

Daniel Burrus has quite a history as a futurist. Over the past 40 years, the New York Times bestselling author has delivered keynote speeches at more than 3,000 conferences worldwide, advised numerous Fortune 500 executives, and foretold scores of technology and business developments.

These predictions have not come via a crystal ball. They are the result of a methodology Burrus developed to identify trends and use those to anticipate what is most likely to happen in the coming years.

His anticipatory business model is a big reason why the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) has teamed with Burrus on Finance and Accounting 2040: Rise to the Future Together, an ambitious attempt to envision what the world might look like in 2040 and what accountants in firms and finance departments may do to guide the profession to continued success over the next 15 years.

The AICPA has twice conducted visioning projects like Rise2040. The 1997 CPA Vision Project gathered more than 3,000 CPAs in 200 focus groups to plot the profession’s path through 2011. That report established a new purpose statement for accounting: “Making sense of a changing and complex world.”

Continue reading →

Why Managed IT Services Make Sense for Accountants

It’s hard to imagine anything an accounting firm does is not tied to technology and processes; however, with so many firms still stretching the limits of dated technology, it is one of many reasons to consider utilizing managed IT services.

Cybercriminals become incredibly sophisticated, and it’s been made clear accounting firms—with all of the sensitive information they potentially have access to—remain a key target. In fact, according to IBM’s 2024 Threat Intelligence Report, professional services, including accounting, ranked among the top five most attacked industries, with an average breach cost of $5.9 million.

Another survey by the AICPA found that 91% of accounting firms experienced at least one attempted cyberattack in the past year. In the middle of this storm, the IRS tightened its own data security requirements.

Under IRS Publication 4557 and the FTC Safeguards Rule, every tax professional must maintain a Written Information Security Plan (WISP) and demonstrate ongoing security controls. This isn’t advisory anymore; it’s mandatory.

Continue reading →

Swipe this workflow template

Swipe this Year End Reporting Workflow Template by Mélyssa Brunet (Workflow Champion 2025)

Get more templates from firm owners like you in our community template library.

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Relatable?😆

Firm Spotl💡ght

How Strategic Tax Planning PLLC Reclaims Time to Serve More Clients

Strategic Tax Planning PLLC was still a side business when Carter Lance began searching for practice management software.

He learned a lesson many accounting firm owners discover too late: Technical accounting skills alone won’t lead to success if your workflow systems are manual and disconnected.

Carter was determined to help businesses create financial plans that met regulatory standards and enabled confident decisions through bookkeeping, tax planning, and fractional CFO services.

However, his search for a suitable workflow software led to an unpleasant realization: most tools were strong in some areas of accounting practice management but lacked in others. He wanted a tool that checked enough boxes and solved enough problems to warrant his financial commitment.

This decision to discontinue the search and continue with manual workflow systems opened the door to some of the worst challenges an accounting firm can face:

Continue reading →

Events

📍Digital CPA 2025 - Dec.7 - 11 (Washington D.C)

Digital CPA (DCPA) is the place where the future of the profession is being shaped in real time. Hosted annually by CPA.com, a subsidiary of the AICPA, DCPA has spent more than a decade bringing together the firms, leaders, and innovators who refuse to settle for outdated ways of working.

If you want to stay ahead of the curve, this is the room you need to be in. You’ll hear directly from industry trailblazers, gain insights that can shift the direction of your firm, and see what’s coming long before everyone else does

Check the agenda →

📍 Ensuring Success 2025 - Dec. 10 - 11 (Virtual)

Ensuring Success is the end-of-year virtual conference that accountants and tax professionals don’t want to miss. Hosted annually by CPA Practice Advisor, this two-day live event brings together some of the most respected voices in the profession right when you need their insights most.

Designed to help you sharpen your expertise and secure those final CPE credits before the year closes, Ensuring Success delivers high-value sessions at no cost. You’ll hear directly from industry leaders on the topics that matter most—practice management, tax updates, accounting technology, workflow efficiency, and more.

Sign up here

Noteworthy

Sarah Won’t Let ADHD Stop Her Bop

If you were at the WorkflowCon 2025 after-party, you can attest to the fact that the jams were fire! All thanks to DJ Sarah Eldridge, an accountant by day and DJ by night.

However, she wasn't always like this.

Rewind three decades, and you’d find a little girl desperately trying to make sense of a brain that worked differently. A child who alphabetized her CD collection while other kids played outside. Who begged for calendars every Christmas and played “school” for fun when she got home from actual school.

One of Sarah’s biggest breakthroughs was understanding how her brain processes focus. Unlike many people who need quiet to concentrate, Sarah discovered she needs lots of noise. She took this discovery even further by learning to DJ and now creates her own mixes of dubstep and drum & bass music. When impostor syndrome strikes or work gets overwhelming, she puts on one of her creations.

Continue reading

The Art of Letting Go (Without Losing Control)

It’s the end of the year, and your accounting firm is buzzing with activity.

Clients are calling non-stop, emails are piling up, and your team is stretched thin trying to meet deadlines. As the firm owner, you find yourself working late nights, meticulously checking every detail, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. The stress is palpable, and the bottleneck effect is in full force.

Every decision and task needs your direct input, leaving you overwhelmed and exhausted.

According to a study by Gallup, CEOs who delegate effectively generate 33% more revenue than those who don’t​​. This boost in productivity translates to more clients served, faster turnaround times, and, ultimately, higher profits. Consider how much more efficient your firm would be if routine tasks like data entry and initial client communications were handled by junior staff, freeing up senior accountants to focus on complex financial analysis and strategic planning.

Also, when your employees are entrusted with responsibilities, they feel valued and are more engaged. This empowerment leads to higher job satisfaction and retention rates.

Continue reading

Until Next Time,

Share Get Work Done - a newsletter for accounting firm owners.

Small Change, Big Results

Inside WorkflowCon 2025: How 2,400 Firm leaders & Operators Found Calm

First of all, a standing ovation to y’all who made it to WorkflowCon 2025.

On Nov 12 & 13, 2025, 2,400 accounting and bookkeeping professionals logged in for one reason: they were tired.

Tired of racing against deadlines with broken workflows, of feeling guilty every time they opened their inbox, and pretending that being busy was the same thing as being successful.

WorkflowCon 2025 was built around a simple, uncomfortable question. What if the problem is not that accounting firms need to work harder, but their workflows were never designed to handle the reality they are operating in today?

Watch a replay of all the sessions here

Clear the Chaos. Find Your Calm was not just a tagline, but a filter for every keynote, every panel, every Workflow Champions Live session, and every conversation in chat. This is what actually happened over those two days, what people learned, and why it matters now that everyone has gone back to their client work and deadlines.

👉 Read the full recap

Community 🫶

Akadian by Margie Remmers-Davis

This is a community and a platform that empowers accounting professionals with hands-on education, innovative learning tools, and a supportive community to bridge the gap between theory and on-the-job experience.

Over 20,000 students have used the Akadian Accounting course library to study for and pass the QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor exam and become experts in the bookkeeping field.

If you're looking to become a better bookkeeper and accounting professional, their courses will help you before, during, and after your certification journey.

Join the community →

The National Association of Enrolled Agents

The NAEA is a community for tax practitioners from aspiring enrolled agents to experts with decades of experience. They advance the professional tax practice through leadership, management, community, and ethics.

What makes them stand out is the collective belief that tax work can evolve. They question outdated standards, push for stronger representation, and create learning environments where practitioners sharpen their judgment rather than rely on random facts.

Join the community →

H🔥t today

Artificial Intelligence Has a trust Problem

We've all agreed that AI is here to stay, and it's essential to incorporate it into the work we do, right?

Then it begets this question: Can we trust the algorithms at the core of artificial intelligence’s ability to learn and solve problems?

According to the Journal of Accountancy, this question is becoming increasingly pertinent as businesses rely more heavily on artificial intelligence (AI) to automate tasks such as talent recruitment, market trend prediction, and cybersecurity assessment. But what if businesses could seek an independent third-party assessment of their AI software that can assure the efficacy of their controls?

Robert Seamans, professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, suggested that so-called “AI auditors” could fill this emerging role.

CPAs aren’t the only professionals who could perform these “AI audits.” However, CPAs adhere to professional standards designed to instill trust in the results of assurance engagements, whether to provide confidence to investors that a company’s financial records are accurate and fair or to assure banks that a company complies with loan covenants.

Continue reading →

1,400 IRS employees receive layoff notices, adding to staff losses

The IRS sent layoff notices to almost 1,400 employees, adding to the losses at the agency where 25% of staff had left as of May, according to a court document filed earlier this week in a lawsuit brought by unions against the federal government.

The layoffs are in addition to a workforce reduction of about 25% as of May through some sort of incentive program, such as deferred resignation, according to a report released in July by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

The report stated that 25,386 employees had departed as of May through some sort of incentive program, such as a deferred resignation. Another 294 employees received RIF notices but had not been terminated because of a court injunction, as was the case for 3,023 probationary employees. These employees continued to work at the IRS unless they chose to separate or were terminated for reasons other than those stated in the report, it said.

Continue reading →

Swipe this workflow template

Swipe this Client Year-End Document Request List Template by Abhijeet Sangani

Get more templates from firm owners like you in our community template library.

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Relatable?😆

If you missed WorkflowCon 2025, you can catch the replays here.

Firm Spotl💡ght

How Pedante and Company Made Work Visible Enough to Fix Problems Before They Spread

Since 2018, Pedante and Company has built strong relationships with businesses across Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, and Philadelphia counties.

For over 22 years, Jenna Rodriguez has worked alongside the firm’s owner, building a successful career and cultivating deep relationships within the local business community.

When the firm’s owner decided it was time to retire, Jenna knew she would have to answer a critical business question: How does the team maintain operational consistency, hand off work seamlessly, and ensure the firm continues delivering the same, if not better, quality of client service?

Continue reading →

Events

📍Digital CPA 2025 - Dec.7 - 11 (Washington D.C)

Digital CPA (DCPA) is an annual accounting conference that has been held for over a decade. CPA.com, formed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), organizes the event, which is for accountants interested in creating a better future for the profession.

The conference will provide you with the opportunity to gain professional insights from industry leaders that will shape your thinking. You should also attend if you are into client advisory services or want to offer this service.

Check the agenda →

📍 Ensuring Success 2025 - Dec. 10 - 11 (Virtual)

Ensuring Success is an annual virtual accounting/tax conference organized by the CPA Practice Advisor at the end of the year.

It is designed to help professionals in the accounting and tax industry learn and earn CPE credits before the end of the year. The free event, which is live-streamed for two days, features an impressive lineup of accounting and tax industry leaders and experts sharing insights on topics like practice management, taxes, accounting technology, and more.

Sign up here

Noteworthy

Erin Pohan on Building an Accounting Firm With Boundaries, Balance, and Boldness

Sometimes, we like to think that Accounting has rules. Unspoken ones.

Keep it serious and play it safe. Don’t be too loud or too bold.

It was only when Erin started her own firm, Upkeeping, that she realized she no longer needed permission to be herself. “I’m a little cheeky. I think I’m fun. But for years, I kept that part of me separate. I didn’t think it belonged in accounting.” But everything changed the moment she started showing up as herself on LinkedIn, in client calls, in community spaces. “You can be anyone you want to be in this industry,” she said. “Your people will find you.”

She was at QuickBooks Connect, in a ballroom full of accountants dancing to Pitbull and Daddy Yankee. “I’m Puerto Rican,” she laughed. “I saw them dancing and thought, wait, we’re allowed to have fun? We can do both?”

She left that night with a new idea: what if there were more spaces where accountants could just be real?

Continue reading

Here's How You Can Build Your Accounting Firm's Tech Stack

The cost of operating in manual systems or disconnected apps is becoming too high, but a well-integrated tech stack helps you avoid spending valuable time on manual tasks.

It minimizes, if not eliminates, tasks like manual data entry, bank feeds, and client reminders to enable your team to focus on understanding and applying their accounting expertise to clients’ financial situations.

Building that kind of tech stack requires clarity on what problem each tool solves, how it integrates with the rest of your workflow, and how it supports the outcomes you want to see in the next few years, not just right now.

To start, assess your firm's pain points and needs. This is a good place to ask your team members where they are struggling and where client complaints are coming from.

Sometimes, you don’t need to buy a tool for a problem. Maybe a task needs to be eliminated or delegated to someone with better capacity to handle it.

Continue reading

What Are Your Thoughts?

Share your POV in the comments.

You can also join the FC Reddit community here.

Until Next Time,

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Small Change, Big Results

 Clear the Chaos, Find Your Calm.

There’s a strange thing that happens when you’re swimming in the ocean.

If a wave hits you and you panic, thrash harder, fight the pull, you sink faster. But if you pause, take a breath, and let yourself float for a second, the ocean actually brings you back up. The calm of the water saves you.

That’s what running a firm often feels like.
You start out swimming with purpose, steady strokes, and clear direction. Then the current changes. Client demands rise like tides. Your team feels stretched. You start working longer hours just to stay above water. You add tools, hire help, patch holes, but somehow it only makes the water choppier.

The lesson is that you can’t outswim chaos. You have to find calm inside it.

That’s the heartbeat of WorkflowCon 2025: a space for accounting firm leaders, operators, and their teams to stop paddling for a day and actually float. To look at the current beneath your work — systems, processes, people — and learn how to build a firm that moves smoothly, not frantically.

Over two days, you’ll learn from experts who’ve been through the storms how to scale without losing your sanity, how to simplify client management, and how to use AI to take back your time.

Here’s the best part: the sessions will help you get your firm back in shape while also moving your career forward. You can earn up to 12 CPE credits while learning how to clear the chaos in your processes, reclaim your time, and find calm in how you work.

It’s a rare kind of maintenance, the kind that doesn’t just get you back on the road, but makes the next stretch smoother, quieter, and faster.

👉 Save your spot

Community 🫶

The 6-Figure Bookkeeper’s Club by Joe Wood and Zoe Whitman

This is a supportive, women-led community that focuses on helping bookkeepers build businesses that fit around their lives. With practical resources, coaching, and a focus on confidence and profitability, it’s designed to empower bookkeepers to charge what they’re worth and succeed on their terms.

Join the community →

The Accountant's Lounge

The Accountant’s Lounge is a community where accountants, bookkeepers, CFOs, and tax professionals have the opportunity to learn, network and scale our businesses together.

Within the group, they talk about ALL the things. From accounting software to taxes, budgeting and goal setting, money mindset, setting prices, outsourcing, workflows, and everything in between.

Join the community →

H🔥t today

The accounting graduate pipeline: Where do things stand?

If you’ve been worried about the accounting talent shortage (and who hasn’t?), the latest update from Journal of Accountancy actually brings a little relief. For the first time in a while, we’re seeing some positive movement in the accounting graduate pipeline.

Yes, the total number of accounting degrees awarded fell again, about 6.6% last year. But here’s the part that caught my attention: enrollment is up more than 12%, the highest since 2020. That means more students are at least starting accounting programs, even if fewer are graduating right now. To me, that’s a hopeful sign that the interest is coming back, and maybe, just maybe, our collective outreach is paying off.

However, fewer master’s grads and a big drop in CPA exam candidates (partly because of the exam overhaul) remains a challenge. Still, roughly three-quarters of firms plan to hire as many or more grads this year, which shows that demand clearly isn’t slowing down.

For firm owners, this is the time to double down on your people strategy. That means making your firm stand out to young talent, through culture, flexibility, growth paths, and technology. The next generation is coming; we just have to meet them where they are and make accounting careers worth choosing.

Continue reading →

Tax Pros Anxiously Await Guidance on New Overtime Deduction

Tax pros are buzzing about a new provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a temporary above-the-line deduction for overtime pay. Right now, qualifying employees can deduct the premium portion of their overtime (that “half” in “time-and-a-half”) from gross income. The cap sits around $12,500 for single filers and $25,000 for joint returns, with phase-outs for higher incomes.

So, why does this matter for firm owners? Two reasons: clients and compliance.
For clients with hourly or overtime-eligible staff, this is a tax-planning opportunity worth preparing for now. On the compliance side, firms (and their clients) will need to ensure payroll systems can separate regular pay from overtime premiums and track qualified hours accurately.

The IRS hasn’t finalized guidance yet, and several questions remain like whether state-level overtime rules or employer-paid bonuses will qualify.

Continue reading →

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Well, well, what do we have here?

Events

📍Digital CPA 2025 - Dec.7 - 11 (Washington D.C)

Digital CPA (DCPA) is an annual accounting conference that has been held for over a decade. CPA.com, formed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), organizes the event, which is for accountants interested in creating a better future for the profession.

The conference will offer you a chance to get professional insights from industry leaders that will shape your thinking. You should also attend if you are into client advisory services or want to offer this service.

Check the agenda →

📍 Ensuring Success 2025 - Dec. 10 - 11 (Virtual)

Ensuring Success is an annual virtual accounting/tax conference organized by the CPA Practice Advisor at the end of the year.

It is designed to help professionals in the accounting and tax industry learn and earn CPE credits before the end of the year. The free event, which is live-streamed for two days, features an impressive lineup of accounting and tax industry leaders and experts sharing insights on topics like practice management, taxes, accounting technology, and more.

Sign up here

Firm Spotl💡ght

400+ Projects, 8 People, One Team: Inside Payroll Restoration’s Workflow Machine

When other accounting firms hit a wall with payroll issues, they call Shannon Ballman Theis.

Known as “the accountant’s accountant,” Shannon has built a reputation for solving the kinds of payroll problems most people avoid, the messy, confusing, IRS-letter-triggering kind.

From her home base in Minnesota, Shannon founded Payroll Restoration with a passion for untangling the payroll puzzles no one else could (or wanted to). Her team steps in when businesses receive IRS or state notices and don’t know where to turn. “We help address the payroll issues they’re having,” Shannon explains. “We also do ERC reviews to help businesses that may have gotten the wrong amount of ERC.”

Fast forward 14 years, and the solo shop has evolved into a powerhouse team of eight accountants, all focused on one thing: helping businesses regain payroll compliance.

But with 400+ active projects and a small team, staying organized became mission-critical. That’s where finding the right practice management system made all the difference. Instead of wasting time figuring out what to do next, Shannon’s team now logs in each day knowing exactly what to work on and gets straight to helping clients.

Here’s how Payroll Restoration keeps its lean team running like clockwork ⬇️

Continue reading →

Put Your Phone Away

This CNBC article has made one thing clear: if anxiety levels are high, your phone might be part of the problem.

Constant pings, endless scrolling, and the need to constantly check in keep the brain on alert, making it nearly impossible to unwind truly. Jonathan Haidt, author and professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, says that even brief breaks from screens can reset the nervous system and help restore focus.

Putting your phone down doesn’t mean disconnecting completely, but about creating moments of calm in a world that never stops buzzing. A few minutes of quiet might just be the simplest stress fix out there.

Continue reading

What Are Your Thoughts?

Share your POV in the comments.

You can also join the FC Reddit community here.

Until Next Time,

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Small Change, Big Results

 Your Ticket to Mexico

It’s October 23. Your team’s already talking about Q4 like it’s a medieval siege. The air smells like pumpkin spice and stress (spooky szn, is that you? 👀). Somewhere in the distance, a client just asked for a 7-month backdated financial report in “one simple PDF.”

And you, brave, sleep-deprived accounting firm owner, are clutching your SOP binder like a life raft.

Friend, you need a break. Not a fake break where you half-watch Netflix while replying to “quick question” emails. A real break. A revival. A sunshine-soaked, workflow-taming, margarita-flavored awakening.

Which brings us to the Workflow Showdown, and the truth that built it: sometimes the biggest results come from the smallest changes.

Maybe it was the checklist you finally documented.
Maybe it was the automation that replaced five emails and three status updates.
Maybe it was even ditching a clunky step that no one liked, and suddenly your whole team breathed easier.

Every firm has one of those moments—a small shift that creates calm where there used to be chaos, a micro-move that turns into a macro-win.

We want to see yours.

The Workflow Showdown is your chance to share the system that changed your firm, and possibly earn an all-expense-paid trip to Mexico.

See this as an opportunity to share that positive improvement in your processes. When you give others a glimpse of what’s possible, the impact grows even bigger.

So take five minutes and submit the workflow.

This time, your system could be your ticket to rest, recognition, and a round of drinks on the beach in Mexico.

All on Financial Cents, of course 😉

👉 Submit your workflow

Community 🫶

Advisory Accountants & Bookkeepers Network By Alyssa J Ciera

This community is for accountants, bookkeepers, and financial professionals who are starting to think differently about the way they work. If you’re looking to build a firm that isn’t just busy but intentional, this is the place.

It’s where firm owners like you talk honestly about what it takes to grow without constantly doing more, what it means to move beyond basic compliance work. How to attract clients who value your insight, and what it looks like to offer deeper, more strategic services without overcomplicating things.

You don’t need to have a big plan mapped out. Maybe you’re just exploring what’s next. Maybe you’ve already started making shifts. Either way, you’re not alone in figuring it out.

Join the community →

The Profitable Accountant By Reza Hooda

If you’re worn out from the long hours and not seeing the return you hoped for, you’re not alone. A lot of people feel the same. You had a vision when you started, and maybe it’s drifted. That doesn’t mean it’s too late to get things back on track.

This community is for accountants and firm owners who want to turn their practices into something more profitable and more fulfilling.

This is also a space to talk through the challenges, the roadblocks, and the small wins. To learn from others, share what’s real, and slowly build a firm that works for you, not the other way around.

Join the community →

WorkflowCon 2025 is in 3 Weeks! 🤯

If you’ve been meaning to rethink how your firm operates but haven’t had the time or space to step back and do it, this might be a good place to start.

Over two days, you’ll hear from firm owners, advisors, and workflow specialists who quietly build practices that run more smoothly and sustainably. The sessions are focused, the conversations are practical, and the goal is simple: to help you create systems that support your team, your clients, and your capacity.

If you haven’t registered yet, now’s a good time. Set the time aside. You might come away with a different view of what’s possible.

Don’t let FOMO win!

P.S.: If you’d like to convince your boss for a chance to attend WorkflowCon, here’s an email template you can use to convince them.

H🔥t today

Accounting Could Be STEM’s New Offshoot

According to a recent survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), three-quarters of Americans (74%) believe accounting courses should be designated as a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education program.

The AICPA is advocating for legislation to establish the accounting profession as a STEM career pathway and to support long-standing efforts to bring awareness of the opportunities accounting can provide to young people who are considering their future careers.

“The role of an accountant has been significantly transformed by technology, which now goes beyond adopting advanced tools to innovating systems that support clients in making better decisions and enhancing service quality,” said AICPA President & CEO Mark Koziel, CPA, CGMA. “STEM legislation would highlight the clear and logical integration between accounting and technology – emphasizing the value of accounting professionals, including CPAs, as technological leaders.”

Continue reading →

The Exit Wave Is Coming. Who’s Ready to Catch It?

As a growing number of Baby Boomer business owners near retirement, concerns are being raised about what happens next for the small businesses they leave behind. Without a clearer path for ownership transfer, many of these businesses could end up in the hands of large corporations or private investors—not because it’s the best option, but because it’s the only one available.

In Queensland, one accountant decided to act. They launched a petition asking the federal government to consider a loan program similar to what exists in the US—one that makes it easier for everyday buyers to step in and take over profitable small businesses. The petition has already drawn nearly 1,300 signatures.

In the US, the Small Business Administration helps ease the risk for banks by guaranteeing part of a buyer’s loan. It’s a structure that gives more people a shot at business ownership, not just those with deep pockets.

Continue reading →

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Swipe this Quarterly Accounting Checklist Template by Misty Scott

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The audacity. Relatable?😀

Events

📍Intuit Connect - October 27 -29, 2025 (Las Vegas)

The Intuit Connect conference kicks off next week!

Intuit Connect 2025, which was called QuickBooks Connect until 2024 when it was changed to “emphasize its integrated platform”, is a popular annual event that brings together accounting professionals and Intuit users of all experience levels to learn, grow, and build relationships.

At this conference, you’ll see how other firms across different levels effectively leverage Intuit software like QuickBooks, top speakers that cut across various industries, and Intuit Connect’s Peer-to-peer learning.

Oh, Financial Cents will be there too!

We'll be partying with Woodard in our VIP Suite, and you're invited.

Join us! →

📍 Reframe 2025 - November 2 - 5 (Florida)

This event empowers accounting professionals to master value-driven pricing strategies, communicate their worth with assurance, and elevate their pricing conversations to drive business growth.

Key topics include the psychology of pricing, building client trust through transparent and confident communication, and overcoming objections with ease.

Attendees will delve into strategies to position premium services, implement tiered pricing models, and transition from hourly billing to value-based and subscription models.

If you’re ready to get your money up, don’t miss it.

Sign up here

NoteWorthy

Karl Strube’s On the Hot Seat & Disneyland’s On the Line

In this episode of Who Wants To Be An Accounting Millionaire, we meet Karl Strube, the owner of Strube CPA PC. He’s playing for a $1,000 prize, not for himself, but to take his kids on a trip to Disney World.

Over ten questions, all centered on tax loopholes, Karl has to think fast and stay sharp. The further he goes, the harder it gets. No buzzers or flashing lights, just one accountant, a quiet goal, and a shot at turning tax knowledge into something his kids will remember.

Watch here →

Mark Wickersham’s GenAI Guide for Accounting Firms

Maybe you used to think AI was something only big tech companies played with. Something cool in theory, but not really built for Accounting firms.

But that’s changed.

Tools like Generative AI, yeah, the kind behind ChatGPT, are becoming more accessible, and they’re actually useful. We’ve started seeing how they can help manage workflows, draft client emails, and brainstorm content or processes. Nothing flashy. Just small shifts that save time and make things run a little smoother.

Mark Wickersham, Chartered Accountant, public speaker, and #1 best-selling author, Value Pricing Academy, shares how you can integrate AI into your accounting workflow to save time, improve efficiency, and deliver more value to clients.

In just 5 pages, he’ll show you how to get started.

Get the GenAI guide here

What Are Your Thoughts?

Share your POV in the comments.

You can also join the FC Reddit community here.

Until Next Time,

Share Get Work Done - a newsletter for accounting firm owners.

Small Change, Big Results

You’re Working 10X Harder Than You Need To

It’s a strange reality, isn’t it?

The more your firm grows, the more it feels like you’re sprinting uphill. There are more opportunities, yes, but also more moving parts, expectations, and pressure to deliver value without overextending your team.

Growth has a way of quietly piling on complexity, and some firms respond the only way they know how: by working harder, hiring more, hustling more, and compensating for process gaps with extra hours and good intentions.

But what if working harder isn’t the only path to the results you want to see?

Here’s a perspective worth considering: Firms that grow without burning out tend to look inward before they scale outward. They don’t just add more people to handle more work; they become obsessive about building repeatable workflows.

At this 10X Virtual Bookkeeper’s Bootcamp, you'll unpack some of the practices that help firms like yours operate at 10X efficiency, not by grinding harder, but by getting clearer.

You’ll see:

• The kinds of workflows top-performing firms rely on to eliminate wasted motion.

• How better project tracking can reduce rework, delays, and the nagging feeling that “someone dropped the ball.”

• Why visibility across your team makes your services more consistent and profitable.

• A plug-and-play workflow template that you can start experimenting with.

You started your firm to build something meaningful, to serve your clients well, and to create a business that supports the life you want, not one that consumes it.

This is for anyone who’s tired of feeling like they’re working harder than they should. It’s for firm owners who know there’s a better way but aren’t quite sure where to start. And it’s for teams who are ready to work smarter.

Register here

Community 🫶

The Successful Bookkeeper Community By Michael Palmer

With over 10,000 members and growing, this community is more than just a Facebook group; it’s a space built for bookkeepers, by bookkeepers.

Whether you’re just starting out or scaling your firm, you’ll find support, answers, and inspiration from people who actually get it. Got questions about pricing? Need feedback on your onboarding process? Want to celebrate a win, or vent about a tough client day? This is the room for it.

Join the community →

The Entrepreneurial Accountants by Ben Brown

This community is for self-employed accountants who want more than just clients; they want the right clients. The kind who respect your expertise, value your time, and happily pay for the quality you bring.

Here, you’ll connect with fellow accountants, bookkeepers, and tax professionals who are all working toward the same goal: building highly profitable firms without running themselves into the ground.

You'll learn how to position your services so they stand out, how to communicate your value with confidence, and how to attract clients who see you as a partner, not just a service provider.

Join the community →

Clear the chaos, Find Your Calm at Workflowcon 2025

There’s a moment every firm owner has. Usually around 11:43 p.m. When you’re staring at your laptop, realizing you spent the entire day putting out fires that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.

This is where WorkflowCon 2025 comes in, and it’s definitely not another “you just need to hustle harder” pep talk.

With 20+ sessions and workshops, you and other firm owners will figure out how to stop duct-taping your businesses together and start building systems that work.

Save your spot!

H🔥t today

AICPA Calls For All IRS Employees to Keep Working During Shutdown

You know it’s bad when the AICPA starts raising its voice.

So here’s the tea, according to Accounting Today.

The American Institute of CPAs is urging the federal government to keep all Internal Revenue Service employees working for the duration of the shutdown, pointing to the approaching Oct. 15 deadline for filing C corporation tax returns and for individuals who requested a six-month extension back in April.

The AICPA believes the consequences of a drastically smaller workforce during a tax filing deadline and immediately preceding the start of next year’s tax filing season would be dire.

“Right now, taxpayers, C-corporations, and tax advisors are working hard to meet the October 15th filing deadline — this can be stressful enough,” said Melanie Lauridsen, vice president of tax policy and advocacy with the AICPA, in a statement. “An extended government shutdown during this important filing deadline will compound this anxiety if the IRS is not 100% staffed.”

Continue reading →

Excel's Reign is Experiencing a Paradigm Shift

On Sept. 30, 2025, Microsoft Excel officially hit middle age, celebrating 40 years of being the cornerstone business tool for accountants and other finance professionals in quantitative and qualitative tasks alike.

Excel’s accessibility, versatility, flexibility, simplicity, and sheer ubiquity (1.5 billion users can’t be wrong) have made it the dominant player in the number-crunching workplace. It should be lauded for being the universal go-to tool for accountants. But it is starting to look tired and replaceable as the tool of choice for accountants and decision-makers worldwide.

Excel has been threatened many times before, and although there have been successful competitors, modern, AI-centered solutions are emerging everywhere.

Continue reading →

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Swipe this Withholding Assessment Checklist Template by Eden Badertscher

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Relatable?😀

Events

📍Intuit Connect - October 26 -29, 2025 (Las Vegas)

Intuit Connect 2025, which was called QuickBooks Connect until 2024 when it was changed to “emphasize its integrated platform”, is a popular annual event that brings together accounting professionals and Intuit users of all experience levels to learn, grow, and build relationships.

At this conference, you’ll see how other firms across different levels effectively leverage Intuit software like QuickBooks, top speakers that cut across various industries, and Intuit Connect’s Peer-to-peer learning.

Oh, Financial Cents will be there too!

We'll be partying with Woodard in our VIP Suite, and you're invited.

Join us! →

📍 Women Who Count Conference - October 21 - 25, 2025 (Arizona)

Women Who Count is an annual conference organized by the Accounting and Financial Women Association (AFWA). For four days, Women Who Count helps female accounting and finance professionals to learn and network across several topics, including tax, finance, leadership, and communications.

This event teaches attendees hard accounting skills and soft skills that will give them a competitive edge in the industry.

If you’re a woman, it’s also a great avenue to connect with other women in the industry.

Sign up here

NoteWorthy

What Happens When Accountants Compete for Glory and $1,000?

Turns out, more than you’d think.

We gave accountants a spotlight, a seat in the hot chair, and one question:
“Final answer?”

Who Wants to Be an Accounting Millionaire is not your average quiz show. It’s where firm owners, tax pros, and CPAs go toe-to-toe for bragging rights and a shot at $1,000.

Over eight episodes, from Nick Boscia, CPA (EP 1) to Amber Thompson (EP 7), we’ve seen close calls, bold plays, quiet panic, and some answers so confident, they were wrong. Gloriously wrong.

If you’re in it for the questions, the competitiveness, or just to see your peers crack under pressure (gently), the full series is now ready for your viewing pleasure.

Binge all 8 episodes here →

7 Figures Later: What Brandon Hall, CPA, Did Differently

Brandon Hall is the Managing Partner at Hall CPA PLLC. A firm he founded in 2016, which has grown to a 7-figure firm.

Hall CPA PLLC, also known as The Real Estate CPA, is a boutique accounting and consulting firm with a sole focus on serving the needs of real estate investors and real estate business owners. They’ve provided candid, intelligent counsel to more than 600 clients.

So what’s the difference between building a solid practice and scaling a 7-figure advisory firm?

According to Brandon, it comes down to two things most accountants tend to overlook: Knowing your advice is worth paying for, and knowing how to say it out loud.

If you don’t believe in the value of your recommendations, your clients won’t either.

Brandon didn’t just offer advisory services; he built his firm around it.
And he’s sharing exactly how he did it.

Get Brandon's Playbook Here

What Are Your Thoughts?

Share your POV in the comments.

You can also join the FC Reddit community here.

Until Next Time,

Share Get Work Done - a newsletter for accounting firm owners.

Small Change, Big Results

If you run an accounting firm, there’s a good chance you’ve found yourself thinking, “It’ll be faster if I just do it myself.”

The truth is, most firm owners don’t struggle with delegation because they don’t want help. They struggle because it feels risky. Letting go of control, even just a little, can bring up fear: fear of mistakes, of slowing things down, of clients noticing. But the alternative? A practice where every task stops with you. Where your team can’t grow, and you can’t step away.

Delegation is about creating clarity for yourself and team. When you delegate well, you’re not just handing something off. You’re explaining why it matters, what success looks like, and what resources are available to get it done. You’re building confidence, not just in them, but in yourself as a leader.

Letting go is hard, but it’s also the doorway to growth.

Also, the biggest difference you can make in your firm isn’t adding more tools, hiring more people, or working more hours; it’s simply learning to share the load with intention.

That’s the small change.
And it makes all the difference.

Continue reading here

Community 🫶

Accelerate 2 Advisor Community By Lisa Campbell

This is a breakthrough community for bookkeepers and accountants who are still deep in the day-to-day work, but ready to step out of the technician role and start building a business that runs like a system, not a scramble.

Inside, they focus on helping you clarify your true value, tap into where your real power comes from, and learn how to call in what you actually want: more time, money, and freedom. It’s about setting intentional goals, taking aligned action, and also learning how to show up and get your business seen in a way that feels right for you.

Join the community →

The Bookkeeping Buds By Cindy Schroeder

This community is where women running bookkeeping firms come together to realize their dreams. In this lively and supportive community, you'll find a wealth of knowledge, inspiring ideas, and a sisterhood of like-minded women all working towards building the businesses they’ve always envisioned.

Bookkeeping Buds blends the best of both worlds: a dynamic online forum and monthly Zoom meetups, creating a space where you can connect, learn, and grow. Every quarter, they help you stay focused on both your business and personal goals, ensuring you achieve balance and success.

Their private Slack channel is like your own little clubhouse, perfect for getting advice, sharing wins, and asking questions. Plus, their member directory is a great way to connect with small business owners looking for your expertise.

Join the community →

Thrive 2025—ATAP’s premier Practice Management Seminar

Come connect with accounting, bookkeeping, and advisory professionals from across Canada for two days of learning, networking, and real strategies to help you grow and future-proof your practice.

Thrive 2025 is happening September 25–26, 2025, at the Ottawa Conference and Events Centre, and it’s the perfect chance to step out of the day-to-day and focus on what’s next for your firm.

Not a member yet? The Affiliate Membership is a great way to get access to Thrive 2025 and other exclusive perks throughout the year.

If you’re looking for fresh insights, powerful connections, and tools to take your firm to the next level, this is where you’ll find them.

Register here →

You’re One Step Away From a Better Tech Stack (and a shot at $1,000 to build it)

We’re wrapping up The Flavor Stack campaign with a bang!
Just in case you missed it, we're hosting a live raffle draw on September 30 at 1 PM EST, and four lucky firm owners will each walk away with $1,000 to upgrade their tech stack.

Yup. Real cash. Real tools. Real transformation.

Here’s how to enter:
✅ Take the Flavor Stack Quiz here (if you haven’t already)
✅ Discover your firm’s tech flavor
✅ You’re automatically entered to participate in the raffle.

Winners will be selected at random during the live draw on YouTube (turn on notifications).

Start here

H🔥t today

Stalled Career Paths Are Causing Top Talent to Leave

Workday’s 2025 Global Workforce Report is sounding the alarm on a triple threat business leaders can’t afford to brush off: top performers are leaving, career growth has hit a wall, and employees are losing trust as AI shakes up the workplace without clear communication.

The report points out something many firms overlook, while leaders are busy recruiting outside talent, their best people are slipping away because they can’t see a future for themselves internally. Add to that the uncertainty around AI reshaping roles, and you’ve got a workforce that feels anxious, disconnected, and left out of the bigger picture.

How can firm owners and business leaders reverse this trend?

This article from CPA Practice Advisor expands more on it.

Read the article here →

NASBA, AICPA release proposed revisions to CPE standards

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and the AICPA issued an exposure draft of proposed changes to the Statements on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs, Journal of Accountancy reports.

According to a news release, the proposed revisions to the CPE standards are designed to “address emerging learning methods, further clarify credit-awarding mechanisms, and ensure continuing professional education remains relevant and responsive to evolving professional practice needs.”

The CPE standards, published jointly by NASBA and the AICPA, provide the framework for developing, presenting, measuring, and reporting CPE programs.

“These proposed revisions reflect the hard work and collaboration of the CPE Standards Working Group, NASBA’s CPE Committee, and the Joint AICPA/NASBA CPE Standards Committee, as well as input from stakeholders across the profession,” Erin Scruggs, associate director of NASBA’s National Registry, said. “As learning technologies and delivery methods evolve, it is essential that the standards adapt to maintain the quality and integrity of CPE.”

Read the story here →

Swipe this workflow template

Swipe this Business License Renewal Checklist Template by Amanda Starkey.

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Relatable?😀

Events

📍Master the Intuit Bookkeeper Certification: Your Complete Guide to Passing Fast and Building Credibility (September 25, 2025)

Join the FREE workshop that reveals everything you need to know, including how to pass quickly and whether it's actually worth your time.

Your instructor for this session is Margie Remmers-Davis, who is transforming accounting education by making learning hands-on, practical, engaging, and fun!

With a background in software training, she realized that traditional methods focus too much on theory and not enough on real-world application. This led to Akadian Accounting Education, which has since trained over 20,000 bookkeepers, equipping them with the confidence, clarity, and practical skills they need to thrive in an evolving industry.

Sign up here →

📍 The 10X Virtual Bookkeeper’s Bootcamp - October 15th (Virtual)

Join hundreds of bookkeepers for the 10X Bookkeeper’s Bootcamp, a one-day, virtual event where six industry thought leaders will share their proven 10X strategies to help you:

• Earn more without working longer hours

• Streamline your systems and workflows

• Attract higher-quality clients

• Grow your revenue and profit with confidence

This is your chance to learn directly from experts who’ve scaled their own firms and helped countless bookkeepers do the same.

Registration is free.

Sign up here →

📍 Find Your Calm at Workflowcon 2025 – November 12 - 13, 2025 (Virtual)

If your days feel like a tug-of-war between deadlines, client pings, and a team that needs answers five minutes ago, WorkflowCon is built for you. Two focused days to step out of the noise, reset your systems, and come back to the work with more clarity, more control, and a lot less stress. It’s 100% virtual, free to attend, and open to every accounting and bookkeeping professional, not just Financial Cents users.

You’ll hear from industry leaders, connect with peers who understand, and discover new ways to create a practice that runs more easily, with less stress and better results.

It’s your chance to reset, refocus, and finally create the space your firm and your life deserve.

Save your spot →

NoteWorthy

Discovering ADHD After 30 Years: Blake Oliver’s Journey and How It Has Shaped His Career

Picture this: you’re sitting down with your family for a relaxed dinner when, out of nowhere, your mother casually reveals a piece of your history that changes everything—"Oh, by the way, you’ve had ADHD since you were 10.” That’s exactly what happened to Blake Oliver.

After 30 years, the founder of Earmark and a successful CPA discovered that the key to many of his life’s challenges and victories had been hidden in plain sight.

Diagnosed with ADHD as a child but unaware of it until adulthood, Blake’s journey is one of resilience, creativity, and adapting to a neurodivergent way of thinking that has shaped both his personal life and his career in public accounting.

For many neurodivergent individuals, being confined to a rigid office environment can be stifling and counterproductive. Blake struggled immensely with this during his brief stint working at a traditional accounting firm.

Read Blake's story here

Why Executives Should Focus On Energy Management Over Time Management

Time management, long considered the cornerstone of productivity, assumes every hour is equal. Yet research and experience show the opposite. A strategy session at 9 a.m. sparks more clarity than the same discussion at 4 p.m. after several meetings. One energized hour can create more impact than three unfocused ones.

For most of the 20th century, productivity was measured in hours. The industrial model valued time on the clock and visible activity. In today’s knowledge economy, hours don’t tell the whole story. What matters is the energy people bring to those hours.

This begs a new question for leaders: Instead of asking, “How can I fit more into my schedule?” Start asking, “When do I have the energy to do my best work?”

That small shift changes the way leaders design their days, their teams, and ultimately their organizations. It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing the right things at the right time, with the energy they deserve.

Continue Reading

What Are Your Thoughts?

Share your POV in the comments.

You can also join the FC Reddit community here.

Until Next Time,

Share Get Work Done - a newsletter for accounting firm owners.

Small Change, Big Results

Could it be that the reason clients take your kindness and availability for granted is because you haven't built your boundaries as tall as they should be?

You want to help and serve, and saying “no” feels like you’re letting people down. But without boundaries, your time, energy, and sanity will disappear.

One of the quickest ways to create boundaries is to decide what’s off the table. Logan Graf, CPA, calls this getting crystal clear on what you’re not going to work on.

For example, Logan avoids diving into unfamiliar tax laws outside his area of practice. Why? Because learning those laws might take hours and he could better spend that time on other high-impact tasks. The same goes for services outside your core expertise. Just because a client asks doesn’t mean you have to say yes.

Another change you can make is to create policies that set expectations. Think of them as your “rules of the road” for working together. They help accounting clients understand your operations, so there’s less room for confusion. For example, if clients don’t submit their documents by the informed deadline, you can’t guarantee their return will be filed on time. Setting these types of boundaries protects you from last-minute scrambles and puts the responsibility back on the client to meet your deadlines.

It is important to know that saying no is a strength. Every time you say yes to something that doesn’t align with your goals, you’re saying no to something that does.

Continue reading here →

Community 🫶

The Modern Firm Challenge by Justine Lackey

Six more days to go!

Industry powerhouse and dynamic digital educator Justine Lackey is bringing you The Modern Firm Challenge, which starts on September 15th, for free.

You’ll learn how to confidently charge premium rates, master workflows that keep clients thrilled, and market your services in a way that actually feels good. This isn’t theory, it’s how to hit six figures while working 20–30 hours a week.

If you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels and start burning rubber, join The Modern Firm Challenge and take the first step toward your most profitable year yet.

Join the challenge →

Thrive 2025—ATAP’s premier Practice Management Seminar

Join fellow accounting, bookkeeping, and advisory professionals across Canada for two days of learning, networking, and practical strategies to grow and future-proof your practice. This seminar is happening September 25–26, 2025, at the Ottawa Conference and Events Centre.

If you’re not already a member, consider joining through the Affiliate Membership, which gives you access to Thrive 2025 and other exclusive benefits.

Take advantage of this event to gain valuable insights, connect with peers, and discover innovative tools to help your firm thrive.

Register here →

Tools, treats, and $1,000?

We’ve partnered with top accounting tools, SmartVault, Relay, and Reach Reporting, and turned them into satisfying flavors your firm will actually enjoy using.

Meet: The Flavor Stack
From smoother workflows to clearer reports, every flavor fixes a part of your tech chaos.

What's in the Flavor Stack for you:
🍫 Tools your firm will love
📦 A 5-minute quiz to find your perfect stack
💰 A shot at $1,000 to upgrade your tech tools
🍬 Get a box of custom chocolate flavors from your perfectly curated flavor stack

Ready to find your firm's flavour?

Start here

Can Amber Win $1,000 to Visit Her BFF in Arizona?

In this episode of Who Wants To Be An Accounting Millionaire, we meet Amber Thompson, the Accounting Operations Manager at L&L Bookkeeping, with one mission: win $1,000 and fly to Arizona for a long-overdue reunion with her best friend.

But before the hugs and happy tears, she’ll need to survive 10 rounds of Accounting & the Law trivia, a category known for turning confident accountants into puddles of doubt. No multiple-choice safety nets. No second chances. Just Amber, her instincts, and questions that get more ruthless with each round.

Will she make it all the way to the top?
Or will a rogue question stop her short?

Watch Episode 07 now.

Watch here →

H🔥t today

Bad tax advice on social media leads to $162M in IRS penalties

This is why it's good to listen to your accountants.

The Internal Revenue Service has hit taxpayers with over $162 million in penalties for claiming fraudulent tax credits they heard about through social media, Accounting Today reports.

The claims involve illegitimate claims for tax breaks such as the Fuel Tax Credit and the Sick and Family Leave Credit. The IRS has seen a surge in such claims in the past five years and warned last year about abusing them. Social media posts promoting such schemes have prompted thousands of taxpayers to file inaccurate, frivolous returns, often leading to the denial of tax refunds and hefty penalties.

Many of the posts falsely claim that all taxpayers are entitled to tax credits they don't actually qualify for, such as those aimed at self-employed people or businesses. The IRS regularly publishes and updates a list of frivolous positions on IRS.gov that could lead to penalties.

Read the article here →

Grant Thornton Advisors to Sink $1 Billion Over Three Years on AI

Top 10 accounting firm Grant Thornton announced that Grant Thornton Advisors is investing $1 billion over three years to provide artificial intelligence tools and technology to the entire workforce at its multinational professional services platform, which stretches from the Americas across Europe to the Middle East.

According to reports from CPA Practice Advisor, the investment will help the platform deliver innovative and high-quality accounting, tax, and advisory services based on a people-centric model powered by AI. As a result, the multinational platform will be able to deliver a better end-to-end digital experience for both its professionals and its clients.

Mike Kempe, chief information officer for Grant Thornton Advisors, added, “This investment is a big step as we ensure that every person at the Grant Thornton Advisors platform has AI and technology resources at the ready—from our newest hires to our most seasoned professionals. The Microsoft 365 Copilot rollout, for example, will help our people save time, balance their workloads, and make more insightful decisions. This means they’ll be able to efficiently provide our clients with personalized high-quality services.”

Read the article here →

Swipe this workflow template

Swipe this Bookkeeping Client Offboarding Checklist Template by Taylor Ammons.

Get more templates from firm owners like you in our community template library.

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Events

📍The 7-Step Client Experience That Keeps Firms Organized w/Nick Boscia, CPA - September 16, 2025 (Virtual)

Join Nick Boscia, CPA, a firm owner and operations expert, for a practical, step-by-step walkthrough of how modern firms are redesigning their client experience from the ground up.

Plus, you’ll see how SmartVault’s secure document storage and Financial Cents’ workflow and firm management tools work together to deliver a seamless experience your clients (and your team) will love.

Sign up here →

📍 Pre-Register For Workflowcon 2025 – November 11 - 12, 2025 (Virtual)

WorkflowCon 2025 is coming! 🚀
Last year, we had over 1500+ attendees who walked away with actionable strategies to scale their firm, and this time, we’re trading burnout for breathing room.

What you can expect:
✅ Proven strategies to tame workflow chaos
✅ Learn from the best in the accounting industry
✅ Tailored sessions for every firm size
✅ The return of the Workflow Awards
✅ Unveiling the 2025 FC Champions

Two days. One simple goal: clear the chaos and find your calm.

Pre-register now to get early access to the speaker lineup, agenda, and VIP perks.

Save my spot →

Noteworthy

Skilled for success? Accounting newcomers say yes, managers say no

Regarding the skills needed to succeed in accounting and finance roles, less-experienced employees and their managers aren’t on the same spreadsheet.

Accountants in their first five years of employment in the profession, recently surveyed by the Illinois CPA Society (ICPAS), gave themselves an average score of 7.39 out of 10 across 37 preparedness skills. Managers who oversee employees in their first five years gave the workers an average score of 4.95.

While employees collectively rated themselves above 7.0 on 30 of the 37 skills in the ICPAS survey, managers didn’t rate employees at 7.0 on any skill, and rated them above 6.0 on just one (“working with spreadsheets to manage large data sets and apply formulas”).

“The goal of our research was to better understand how prepared early-career professionals feel and how their managers perceive their readiness,” Geoffrey Brown, ICPAS president and CEO, said in a news release. “We hope these findings will spark action and inspire profession-wide conversations that shape new strategies, resources, and support systems that’ll help early-career accounting and finance professionals grow and thrive.”

Read article here

Mike Sylvester Has Worked on a Nuclear Submarine, Traveled to 37 Countries and He Isn't Stopping Anytime Soon

From going into depths below the polar ice to building SBS CPA Group and leading a thriving community of accountants through The Collaboration Room, Mike’s life has been anything but ordinary.

His travels have taken him to some of the world’s most breathtaking destinations, but they’ve also brought him face-to-face with stark realities.

In Brazil, he witnessed the extreme poverty that many children endure. “I remember watching children digging through trash for food in Rio de Janeiro,” he recalls solemnly. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget. Seeing that kind of poverty makes you appreciate the privileges we often take for granted. It gives you perspective.”

His love of travel has always been central to his life and has influenced his family’s journey. Mike and his wife, Karena, have taken their children on countless adventures around the globe, helping them see life from a broader lens. “My kids have been to 20 foreign countries,” he says with pride. “We wanted them to grow up understanding that the world is vast and full of diverse people, stories, and ways of life. I think it’s one of the best gifts we could give them.”

With retirement on the horizon, Mike is already planning his next chapter.

“I’ve been to 37 countries, but I want to add five to ten more each year when I retire,” he says, smiling. “We’ve saved some easier places, like England and Ireland, for when we’re older. We’re keeping the more rugged destinations for now.”

Continue Reading

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You can also join the FC Reddit community here.

Until Next Time,

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From smoother firmops to seamless reports, every flavor solves a different piece of your day-to-day tasks.

What’s inside:
- The top accounting tools, reimagined as a box of flavors
- A 5-minute quiz that reveals your firm’s flavour stack
- win $1,000 towards your tech upgrade
- Plus: Randomly selected winners will get a real chocolate box

It’s time to find your flavor.

Start here!

Small Change, Big Results

Did you know that there are 11.3 million non-filers in the United States?

That’s not to mention over 15 million taxpayers with balances due. These numbers aren’t just statistics but a massive opportunity for tax professionals to step in and provide valuable services.

The first step to tapping into that opportunity is to shift from practice to business

When you’re running a practice, you’re likely doing most of the heavy lifting yourself.

You’re the one meeting clients, handling their cases, chasing payments, and putting out fires. While this might work for a while, it’s exhausting and unsustainable. Plus, it limits your growth because your income is tied directly to your time.

A business, on the other hand, operates independently of you. It’s a machine with systems, processes, and automation that do the work for you, or at least most of it.

In Eric Green’s words, “if you want to build a million dollar firm, you have to stop being the doer and start being the builder”

Imagine you’re preparing your practice to sell (even if you never intend to). What would make it more valuable to a potential buyer? The answer is almost always systems. Buyers don’t want to purchase a practice that’s completely reliant on the owner, they want a scalable, efficient operation that runs smoothly.

Continue reading here →

Community 🫶

The Bookkeeping Business Accelerator by Serena Shoup, CPA

What if you could skip over all that wasted time, confusion, and overwhelm, and instead jump straight into building a bookkeeping business you truly love?

This accelerator program is for experienced bookkeepers and accountants start & grow their own virtual bookkeeping businesses so they can create their ideal life. It's a small group coaching + mentoring program coupled with an online course that takes you through 3 simple phases to create the business of your dreams and serve your clients at your highest level.

Join the program →

The Modern Firm Challenge by Justine Lackey

If you are an ambitious bookkeeper or accountant who wants to make more money, work fewer hours, then come learn from an expert who built her firm from the ground up, alongside an amazing community of people just like you.

Industry powerhouse and dynamic digital educator Justine Lackey is bringing you The Modern Firm Challenge starting on September 15th, for free.

You’ll learn how to confidently charge premium rates, master workflows that keep clients thrilled, and market your services in a way that actually feels good. This isn’t theory, it’s how to hit six figures while working 20–30 hours a week.

If you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels and start burning rubber, join The Modern Firm Challenge and take the first step toward your most profitable year yet.

Join the challenge →

What's Your Firm's Flavour Stack?

We’ve partnered with top accounting tools, SmartVault, Relay, and Reach Reporting, and turned them into satisfying flavors your firm will actually enjoy using.

Meet: The Flavor Stack
From smoother workflows to clearer reports, every flavor fixes a part of your tech chaos.

What’s in the box:
🍫 Tools your firm will love
📦 A 5-minute quiz to find your perfect stack
💰 A shot at $1,000 to upgrade your tech tools
🍬 Bonus: random winners get chocolate. Real chocolate.

Ready to find your firm's flavour?

Start here

H🔥t today

IRS Backtracks on Layoff Plans

The Internal Revenue Service is reversing course on some of its wide-ranging job cuts after realizing they reduced the staff too drastically, Accounting Today reports.

The IRS sent a memo permitting employees to rescind their applications for its Deferred Resignation Program and Treasury Deferred Resignation Program, which offered incentives for voluntary buyouts to employees.

According to IRS records, 25,386 employees have separated, taken a voluntary buyout offer under one of the deferred resignation programs, or used some other incentive to leave. Another 294 employees were sent termination notices due to reduction-in-force actions. The separations hit particularly hard at employees in enforcement positions, with approximately 27% of tax examiners now separated, and 26% of revenue agents separated.

Another report released found out they also didn't follow its own internal procedures when terminating thousands of probationary employees nor consider their individual performance. The IRS now plans to bring back 400 revenue agents and 300 revenue officers who accepted the deferred resignation offer.

Read the article here →

Meet the First Accountant to Win $1,000 on EP 06 of Who Wants to Be an Accounting Millionaire

The rules were the same. Ten questions. One accountant and a shot at $1,000.

This time, the theme was around entity structures; LLCs, S Corps, C Corps, questions that test not just your memory, but how well you actually understand what clients are (and aren’t) allowed to do.

Yuri broke down each question like a client case. What applies? What’s a trap? What’s technically true, but operationally risky? With every answer, you could see the years of practice and pattern recognition paying off.

When he hit Question 10, he didn’t hesitate. He answered, won $1,000 and made it look easy.

Want to see how he did it or test your entity structure IQ under pressure?

Watch Episode 06 now.

Watch here →

Swipe this workflow template

Swipe this S-Corp Onboarding Checklist Template by Veronica Ray.

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Events

📍Master Your Month-End Close w/Dave Kersting - September 2, 2025 (Virtual)

The month-end close is one of the most important processes in accounting, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

In this session, you'll learn how to manage varying tasks, perform reviews, and monitor quality assurance, all from one template. Whether you’re handling complex reconciliations or just looking to tighten up your month-end workflow, this session is designed to help you streamline, standardize, and close your books with confidence.

Sign up here →

📍The 7-Step Client Experience That Keeps Firms Organized w/Nick Boscia, CPA - September 16, 2025 (Virtual)

Join Nick Boscia, CPA a firm owner and operations expert, for a practical, step-by-step walkthrough of how modern firms are redesigning their client experience from the ground up.

You’ll learn a proven 7-step framework to build a firm that runs smoother, communicates better, and keeps clients coming back.

Plus, you’ll see how SmartVault’s secure document storage and Financial Cents’ workflow and firm management tools work together to deliver a seamless experience your clients (and your team) will love.

Sign up here →

📍 CPB Ignite 2025 – September 9 - 12, 2025 (Calgary)

CPB Ignite is where Canada's bookkeeping and accounting pros come to level up.

Hosted annually by the Certified Professional Bookkeepers of Canada, this event is all about learning, growing, and connecting with the best in the industry. From insightful sessions to hands-on workshops and networking that actually feels worth your time, it’s the go-to conference for bookkeepers who take their craft seriously.

The Financial Cents team will also be there, live and ready at Booth 101!

If you’re curious about improving your firm’s workflow, want a live demo, or just feel like geeking out over accounting systems, swing by and say hello. We’d love to meet you.

See the agenda →

📍 Pre-Register For Workflowcon 2025 – November 11 - 12, 2025 (Virtual)

WorkflowCon 2025 is coming! 🤯

Last year, we had over 1500+ attendees who walked away with actionable strategies to scale their firm, and this time, we’re trading burnout for breathing room.

What you can expect:
✅ Proven strategies to tame workflow chaos
✅ Learn from the best in the accounting industry
✅ Tailored sessions for every firm size
✅ The return of the Workflow Awards
✅ Unveiling the 2025 FC Champions

Two days. One simple goal: clear the chaos and find your calm.

Pre-register now to get early access to the speaker lineup, agenda, and VIP perks.

Save my spot →

Noteworthy

Michael Eckstein Isn't Scared to Say the Quiet Part Out Loud

There is a stereotype of the accountant. Grey suit. Careful smile. Careful words. Eckstein does not fit it. He credits an unconventional apprenticeship. “I left college and worked for my dad. Most people went to big firms where they’re told, this is professionalism. I never knew better,” he says. He talks to clients like a person and posts like a person. It is deliberate and effective.

“I’m very much a text-based ranter,” he says. “I don’t want to shower and dress up to rant on TikTok. By the time I’ve done that, the rant’s gone.” The frustration has evaporated. The moment has passed. But on LinkedIn? “LinkedIn doesn’t know it’s the same shirt I was wearing yesterday,”

Michael leaned into what he knew best: honesty, timing, and voice.

That combination has won him a dedicated following. The kind of loyal visibility that gets him speaking invites, new clients, podcast requests, and respect from peers who are quietly tired of pretending to love the rules.

Read Michael's story here

Autopilot mode is good for planes but bad for your mindset

For most of the day, your brain is on autopilot, guiding you along your familiar drive home and throughout the daily routine you know so well, says psychotherapist and author Steven Stosny.

The “autopilot brain handles the grunt work,” he tells CNBC Make It, adding that it’s “impulsive” and driven by learned reactions and triggered by familiar situations and habits. On the other hand, your reflective brain uses reason and deep thinking to work through problems.

Though the autopilot brain uses far less energy, it does have its shortcomings.

That’s why, whether in a moment of frustration or of judgment toward another person, Stosny advises you turn to your reflective brain. That’s “the regulatory part of the brain,” he says, and “the part that calms you down when you’re upset, or revs you up if you’re feeling down.”

Continue reading →

What Are Your Thoughts?

Share your POV in the comments.

You can also join the FC Reddit community here.

Until Next Time,

Share Get Work Done - a newsletter for accounting firm owners.

Small Change, Big Results

Imagine trying to cook a five-star meal in a kitchen crammed with unused cookware, mismatched utensils, and multiple variations of the same pans.

Would you feel calm, focused, and in control, or overwhelmed and inefficient? I hope Gordon Ramsey isn't in that kitchen, or you might just get kicked out (just kidding).

That’s how your tech stack can either make or break your accounting or bookkeeping practice.

Here's where things get interesting, and maybe a bit counterintuitive. Have you noticed that the firms that seem to run most smoothly aren't necessarily the ones with the most cutting-edge tools? They're often the ones who have made deliberate choices about what they use and, more importantly, what they don't use.

Kellie Parks, CPB, explains it this way:

"Rationalizing your tech stack means reducing the number of apps you use, particularly those that overlap. You do not need six different apps doing essentially the same thing."

It's an approach that goes against our natural instinct to solve problems by adding more solutions.

Sometimes, the smallest adjustments can create the biggest transformations. Take that cluttered kitchen, for example, you don't need to renovate the entire space. Often, it's as simple as clearing out duplicate tools and organizing what remains.

The same principle applies to your tech stack.

Kellie suggests focusing on four core areas: document management, accounting platform, payment processing, and practice management. The small change? Ensuring each category has one primary tool that integrates well with the others, rather than multiple competing solutions.

Read here →

Community 🫶

Booming Bookkeeping Business by Bill Von Fumetti, CPA

If you want to learn how to start and grow the bookkeeping business of your dreams, this community might be a good place to start.

Founded by Bill Von Fumetti, CPA, this community gives you access to exclusive training and the latest marketing strategies to attract all the bookkeeping clients you can handle.

Join the community →

Women in Accounting & Finance by Erin Gardner Haas

This forum is a space for all women pursuing or exploring careers in accounting and finance, a place to stay informed in an ever-evolving industry while gaining the skills that drive professional growth.

Here, you can turn your passion into a fulfilling career, connect with mentors who will guide you on your journey, or inspire others by mentoring yourself.

You’ll also have access to leadership training that strengthens your ability to lead confidently, and be part of a vibrant community of driven professionals who share knowledge, opportunities, and support every step of the way.

Join the community →

H🔥t today

32% of Accountants Can't Recognize AI-Generated Fake Receipts

It turns out, robots make pretty convincing paperwork.

AP solutions provider Medius recently surveyed 1,000 finance professionals in the U.S. and U.K. and found 30% are already reporting a rise in fake receipts since the beginning of last year, with 32% saying they wouldn't be able to recognize a fake receipt from an AI image generator if they came across one.

The poll also found that 42% of finance professionals have suspected a colleague of submitting a fake or altered receipt, while 34% say they've been pressured to approve an expense that didn't seem legitimate. When asked about some of these questionable expenses, respondents named things such as a diamond ring, a luxury car, fees for a Japanese school, and even expenses for a strip club.

With the release of ChatGPT 5.0, Gary Hall, chief product officer at Medius, felt this issue would become even more dire.

"We're at a tipping point," he said. "GPT-5.0 promises even more realism, more precision, and more ease for the user. That's great for innovation, but also a gift to fraudsters.”

Read the article here →

Burnout Crisis Hits CPA Firms Hard

When firms lack a strong talent pipeline, as many do because of the worsening accountant shortage, they rely heavily on their most experienced staff to carry the load daily. Meanwhile, evolving tax laws, shifting regulatory requirements, and ongoing technology changes are putting additional strain on already-lean teams expected to do more, faster, and with fewer resources.

In this CPA Practice Advisor article, Steve Saah, the executive director of permanent placement at Robert Half, shared that uncertainty is another key contributor to employee burnout. As clients’ needs evolve and economic conditions remain in flux, finance and accounting professionals are under constant pressure to adapt quickly, shift priorities, and maintain high performance without missing a beat.

That sustained urgency, with little time to pause or recover between peak periods, can easily drain employees’ energy, morale, and focus.

Burnout has long been a hazard in deadline-driven professions, but for today’s CPA firms, the pressure points have multiplied.

Read the article here →

Swipe this workflow template

Swipe this Tax Rep Non-Filer Case Checklist Template by Eric Green

Get more templates from firm owners like you in our community template library.

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Events

📍Automate Your Client Onboarding with Financial Cents + Ignition (ft Dawn Brolin, CPA, CFE) - August 20, 2025 (Virtual)

If you're tired of the manual chaos between proposals and project kickoff, Dawn Brolin will walk you through how to instantly launch workflows in Financial Cents after a proposal is accepted in Ignition, auto-assign tasks to team members, sync client data and services between both platforms, and so much more.

Sign up here →

📍 CPB Ignite 2025 – September 9 - 12, 2025 (Calgary)

CPB Ignite is an annual conference organized by the Certified Professional Bookkeepers of Canada, a professional body that certifies bookkeepers in Canada. The event allows bookkeeping, accounting, and finance professionals to network, learn, and grow.

See the agenda →

Noteworthy

Who Wants to Be An Accounting Millionaire - EP 05

Can Tom Zehentner win $1,000 for charity?

You're about to find out.

In this episode of Who Wants To Be An Accounting Millionaire, we meet Tom Zehentner, who leads Product & Growth at FinOptimal, and he's playing for something bigger than himself. If he wins, he’s donating the entire $1,000 prize to charity.

Tom will take on 10 accounting and finance questions for a shot at the $1,000 prize, each tougher than the last, in a high-stakes trivia game tailored for accountants.

Think you could do better? Play along and test your knowledge in real-time.

Watch here.

This Firm Owner Needs A Lot of Noise to Get Work Done

It's always interesting to see how ADHD plays out in people's lives, and Sarah Elledge's story is one for the books.

Rewind three decades, and you’d find a little girl desperately trying to make sense of a brain that worked differently. A child who alphabetized her CD collection while other kids played outside. Who begged for calendars every Christmas and played “school” for fun when she got home from actual school.

She’s now a successful accountant who’s finally figured out why her brain craves chaos to find calm, why time seems to slip through her fingers like water, and why the traditional 9-to-5 workday felt like wearing shoes three sizes too small.

Sarah took this discovery even further. She learned to DJ and now creates her own mixes of dubstep and drum & bass music.

When impostor syndrome strikes or work gets overwhelming, she puts on one of her creations.

Read Sarah's story here →

What Are Your Thoughts?

Share your POV in the comments.

You can also join the FC Reddit community here.

Until Next Time,

Share Get Work Done - a newsletter for accounting firm owners.

Small Change, Big Results

Starting a new client relationship is a lot like the first chapter of a book.

The opening pages set the tone. If they are confusing, slow, or disorganized, it is hard for the reader to stay invested. But if the beginning is clear, inviting, and engaging, the rest of the story flows naturally.

Onboarding works the same way. Those first few weeks are when clients decide if they can trust your firm, if communication will be smooth, and if the promises made in your proposal will actually take shape. It is the bridge between excitement and delivery, and small tweaks to this stage can ripple through the entire client experience.

Nikole Mackenzie, founder of Momentum Accounting, noticed this firsthand.

She realized that onboarding new clients didn't need a massive overhaul but a smarter connection to her sales process. They also leave that first interaction with a clear, shared roadmap of what the next 60‑90 days will look like.

“It's important to have a clear cut-off between sales and onboarding and having everything in your project management system so that the team knows exactly what you sold, what needs to get done, and when the expectations are.” - Nikole Mackenzie

The change is subtle but powerful: smoother handoffs, fewer surprises, and clients who feel reassured from day one. Her team also benefits because workloads are clear, communication is streamlined, and expectations are set early.

This is simply one perspective, not a one‑size‑fits‑all formula. Still, it's a reminder that sometimes, improving the client experience is less about overhauling your entire system and more about rethinking the first impression you create.

If you're curious about how Nikole built her process and why it works so well for her remote team, you can read below.

Read here →

Community 🫶

Join the Four15 Community by Brandon Hall, CPA

This invitation-only community provides exclusive access to a network of like-minded firm owners, tailored resources, and curated events to help CPA leaders make better, faster decisions for controlled growth.

Being a part of this community gives you access to small peer group meetings, exclusive resources, live Q&A sessions, in-person events, and so much more.

Join the community

AutomationTown by Chad Davis, CPA

We all know how AI is still the buzz of the moment, right?

AutomationTown is perfect for bookkeepers, tax experts, payroll specialists, firm owners, CFOs, or students looking to future-proof their skills with automation and AI.

What makes it unique is that there are no sales pitches in this community. This is a genuine, app-free zone where you can connect with peers, learn, and grow without marketing noise. With 300+ members, it’s packed with accountants solving real-world problems using automation and AI—people just like you.

Join the community →

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What CPAs Can Learn From a Pirate-Themed Shipping Company

Clients don't just hire CPA firms for tax prep or financial statements. They hire professionals they can trust with their confidential financial information, people they enjoy working with.

Kyle Walters, partner at L&H CPAs and Advisors, recently shared this perspective with Accounting Today, after his experience with Pirate Ship, a discount online shipping site that somehow manages to make the mundane experience of buying postage and shipping packages genuinely fun.

Their emails start with "Ahoy!" Support team responses are filled with nautical puns, and the help desk signs off with phrases like "ARRRgards" and "We'll be floating around if you need us." It was a quirky, unexpected, and incredibly refreshing experience.

If an online shipping company can inject that much personality into something as mundane as postage, what's stopping CPA firms from doing the same?

According to Kyle, too often, accounting firms hide behind a veil of professionalism that borders on sterile. And while credibility and accuracy are obviously non-negotiable, a little personality can go a long way toward separating yourself from the pack and creating memorable experiences for clients.

Read the article here →

How Are Young People Supposed to Get Experience Without Experience?

A recent AAT survey asked young people about their career prospects, and the findings were sobering. A significant 62% said they were worried that a lack of work experience would harm their job opportunities. These concerns are entirely valid.

In a recent article for Business & Accountancy Daily, Sarah Beale, CEO of AAT, explores how practical experience, widening access to encourage social mobility, and virtual placements can help level the playing field and attract more people into the accountancy profession.

In Sarah's opinion, work experience plays a vital role in bridging the gap between classroom learning and career confidence. It provides the hands-on insight, soft skills, and workplace behaviours that employers increasingly expect, as well as confidence that can only be achieved through personal experience.

Yet far too many young people are locked out of these early career experiences simply because they do not have access to opportunities, funds needed, or the right connections to help secure them.

Read the article here →

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Events

📍Simplify Your 1040 Tax Return Process With Steven Moos - Aug. 5th

The 1040 might be one of the most common tax returns, but that doesn’t mean it has to be time-consuming or stressful. Whether you’re managing a high volume of individual returns or just looking to refine your process, this session is designed to help you simplify, standardize, and, most importantly, save time.

Steven Moos, owner of Moos Tax & Accounting, PLLC will show you:

• A step-by-step breakdown of a simplified 1040 workflow, from document collection to review and submission.

• Tools and templates to help reduce back-and-forth and ensure every return moves forward smoothly.

• Strategies for automating repetitive tasks and freeing up time for higher-value work.

• A live Q&A to get personalized insight on improving your current 1040 process.

Sign up here →

📍 CPB Ignite 2025 – September 9 - 12, 2025 (Calgary)

CPB Ignite is an annual conference organized by the Certified Professional Bookkeepers of Canada, a professional body that certifies bookkeepers in Canada. The event provides bookkeeping, accounting, and finance professionals with opportunity to network, learn, and grow.

See the agenda →

📍 The American Accounting Association (AAA) Annual Meeting - Aug. 2 - 6, 2025 (Chicago)

This conference is focused on teaching and learning in accounting.

With a diverse range of sessions, you’ll have the chance to connect with top accounting faculty, industry professionals, and regulators. This is your moment to grow not just professionally, but personally, solidifying your role as a leading contributor in the global community of accounting educators.

See the agenda →

Noteworthy

Who Wants to Be An Accounting Millionaire - EP 04

If you’ve ever watched The Office and thought, “Wait, is Angela really a believable accountant?” or wondered whether Ben Affleck’s character in The Accountant violated every ethical code in the profession, this one’s for you.

Episode 4 of Who Wants to Be an Accounting Millionaire is live, and it’s diving headfirst into the weird, wild world of Accounting in Pop Culture and Fiction.

And joining Drew Carrick, CPA, in the hot seat for a shot at $1,000 is Rachel Fisch, CPB, and she brought the wit, wisdom, and a little side-eye to all the fictional accountants we love (and love to roast).

Think you know your financial cameos?

Let’s find out.

Watch the full episode.

Watch here.

The Genius Hack For Actually Getting Things Done

You know that moment when an email is just sitting there, waiting for you to reply, and you would rather do literally anything else? Suddenly, TikTok is calling your name. Your sock drawer absolutely must be organized. And somehow, you are mapping out the perfect two-week trip to Japan, even though you do not have the faintest plan to go.

It is not that you are lazy. Your brain just prefers the quick hit of dopamine it gets from things that feel good right now. Sipping a caramel latte or scrolling through dreamy cherry blossom photos on Instagram? Instant reward. Drafting a long, serious work email? Not so much.

Therapist, Caitlyn Oscarson told HuffPost that the ability to create a reward system to complete the tasks your brain would prefer to avoid is called Dopamine Anchoring.

“Dopamine anchoring is the idea of pairing a nonpreferred task with something you enjoy, hopefully making the boring or annoying task less aversive and maybe even something you seek out because the positive activity is more salient”. she explained.

If you have ADHD or otherwise struggle with procrastination, dopamine anchoring can help you tackle the tasks you avoid.

Read the full article here →

What Are Your Thoughts?

Share your POV in the comments.

You can also join the FC Reddit community here.

Until Next Time,

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Small Change, Big Results

The firm owners charging $2,000/hour aren't smarter than you.

They're not more talented, and they don't have fancier degrees.

They just figured out that riches are in the niches. (Yes, we know it's cheesy, but it's true.)

Many accounting firm owners resist niching because they fear it will limit opportunities or reduce their potential client base. They believe that casting a wider net will attract more business, but in reality, the opposite is true.

What if you run an accounting firm where every client you take on is the perfect fit? Where your processes run so smoothly that you save time, increase profits, and scale effortlessly.

Zane Stevens learned this lesson firsthand when he started Protea Financial. At first, he and his team took on a broad range of clients—from attorneys to music festivals to beauty product companies. They were doing good work, but their firm lacked a clear identity.

“We didn’t say on day one we will only help wineries,” Stevens admitted. “But what we could show to people that were referral sources was that we work with wineries and we understand the space.”

Niche accounting firm owners say niching has allowed them to move away from being generalists to becoming experts.

It is the difference between being just another accounting firm and being the go-to accounting firm for their chosen industry. It's why they can charge higher fees because clients are willing to pay for the specialized expertise.

They know they are getting a tailored, high-value service. If you're still on the fence and wondering if picking a niche might limit you, consider this: Do you want to be the Jack of all trades or the master of one?

At WorkflowCon 2024, Zane Stevens shared his 7-step approach to niching and streamlining his business, which made his firm a dominant force in the wine industry.

Check it out.

Read here →

Community 🫶

Join The Fundraising Accountant Community by Stephen King, CPA

If you're a nonprofit leader or changemaker in the accounting space, this is the community for you. Founded by Stephen King, CPA, this is a community to learn new strategies, get support from others facing similar challenges, and build a network that can help your organization succeed. If you’re looking to boost your fundraising and be part of a group that’s rooting for your growth, this is the perfect place to start.

You also have access to a learning library, community QnA sessions, fundraising templates and a lot more.

Join the community

Who’s Got the Bandwidth? This Capacity Planner Spills the Tea.

The Capacity Planner is a decision-making tool built in collaboration with leading accounting workflow experts, informed by insights from serving over 10,000 accountants and bookkeepers, and powered by data from Financial Cents’ annual State of Workflow & Automation Report.

It was designed with one goal: to help you understand your firm’s operational bandwidth before it becomes a bottleneck.

In 10 minutes, this simple, guided quiz reveals the cracks before your deadlines do.

Take the quiz →

H🔥t today

Strategic Planning Isn’t Optional Anymore

There has never been a time when carefully planning out the future of your firm has been so important. While it's easy to feel like you’re making progress because your calendar is packed and your team is heads-down, busyness isn’t the same as direction.

In a recent Accounting Today podcast episode, Matt Rampe of Rosenberg Consulting offers a refreshing take on what strategic planning looks like for accounting firms, and no, it doesn’t involve a three-day retreat or a 40-page PDF that no one reads again.

For most accounting firms, this might look like starting with low-friction ways to gather honest input from the team, without triggering eye-rolls or meeting fatigue. It means being willing to face the hard decisions you’ve been avoiding, whether that’s letting go of outdated services or rethinking capacity. And more importantly, it’s about treating strategy as something you do consistently, not a once-a-year checkbox.

Listen to the conversation here →

The 2025 Tax & Accounting Technology Innovation Awards

The CPA Practice Advisor Tax & Accounting Technology Innovation Awards honor new technologies that help accounting firms and their small business clients operate more efficiently and profitably through improved workflow, increased accessibility, or enhanced collaboration.

Now in their 22nd year, the Innovation Awards highlight technologies shaping the profession and small businesses through increased collaboration and productivity. These tools allow firms to better manage workflows, be more productive and secure, and engage with clients in ways that are convenient and productive for them as well.

Award selection process: Each year, the awards committee votes to announce five winners. Additional technologies are also recognized as award finalists. The awards are not ranked or divided into categories. All nominated products and services meeting the submission requirements can be awarded as award winners or finalists.

The deadline is August 22, 2025.

Nominate your favourite tech here →

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Events

📍The 2025 Tax Retreat – July 18 & 19 (Denver)

T-minus one sleep until tax professionals take over Denver!

The Tax Retreat returns to its birthplace for round three of what happens when #TaxTwitter decides conferences should actually be fun. Think less "mandatory networking mixer" and more "reunion with friends you haven't met yet."

Whether you're a seasoned pro or a fresh face in the tax world, The Tax Retreat promises an unforgettable experience where connections are made, laughter is abundant, and memories are cherished.

See the agenda →

📍 NATP Taxposium 2025 – July 21-23 (Las Vegas)

Looking to stay ahead in tax? TAXPOSIUM, organized by the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP), is where smart tax pros gather to learn, connect, and grow.

From industry hot topics to practice management breakthroughs and tech updates, you'll get the insights you need. Meet face-to-face with tax law experts and IRS reps. This year, you also get to join a community of innovative professionals who are redefining what it means to excel in tax practice.

See the agenda →

📍 Bridging The Gap Conference – July 22-24 (Denver)

Organized by Tri-Merit, Bridging the Gap is an annual accounting conference for accounting, tax, and finance firms. The event provides a blend of innovation, networking, and professional growth, bringing together leaders and experts from across the industry.

The theme for 2025 is “Expedition Innovation: Charting New Paths in People, Technology, and Practice,” and it promises to deliver inspiring keynotes, hands-on workshops, and unmatched networking opportunities.

The Financial Cents’ team will be there and can't wait to see y’all!

See the agenda →

Noteworthy

Accountants + Game Show = Surprisingly Good TV

You're seriously missing out if you haven’t watched the Who Wants to Be an Accounting Millionaire show yet. It's exactly what it sounds like; accountants answering trivia questions against the clock. There's real money on the line ($1,000), which keeps things interesting.

We've seen three contestants so far:

• Nick Boscia, CPA, played for a trip to Japan. He handled the pressure remarkably well.

• Kate Josephine Johnson wanted to win enough to take her family out for a nice dinner. She definitely knew her stuff.

• Katie Thomas came in with investment plans and stayed focused throughout. Made the rest of us realize we might need to brush up on our knowledge.

You'll pick up some interesting facts, find yourself trying to answer along, and probably enjoy it more than you'd expect.

Watch here.

💡Firm Spotlight

From Local to 22 States: How Butler & Sanchez LLC Scaled with Structure

The story of Butler and Sanchez LLC proves that you don’t need a grand vision or well-thought-out branding to start a business. The universe can fan a small idea into flames if you know how to ride the wave and deploy the right resources (technology).

“Butler and Sanchez started as a joke in March of 2017. I needed to help out a friend and wanted to sound legitimate, so I formed an LLC in Texas because it was easy.”

Hugo C. Sanchez, CPA

Three years after this casual step, Hugo Sanchez, CPA, had seen enough clients to convince him to bet on himself and his accounting expertise. At some point, his wife, Amanda Butler, joined him.

Together with eight other accounting professionals, they provide full-service accounting solutions to businesses in 22 states in the USA.

With their entire family (and eight other households) depending on the firm for livelihood, Hugo Sanchez and Amanda Butler were determined to attract more clients and grow their profits by improving service quality and giving their staff the tools to do their best work.

This is when the limitations of their existing project management system hit them.

Read the full article here →

What Are Your Thoughts?

Share your POV in the comments.

You can also join the FC Reddit community here

Until Next Time,

Share Get Work Done - a newsletter for accounting firm owners.

Katie will answer 10 accounting and finance trivia questions for a shot at the $1,000 prize. If she wins, she plans to invest the money and practice exactly what she preaches.

Think you could do better? Play along and test your knowledge in real-time.

This isn’t just trivia, it’s a game show for accountants, CPAs, bookkeepers, and finance pros who love a good challenge (and maybe a little pressure).

New episodes drop bi-weekly, don’t forget to subscribe.

Watch now!

Kate will answer 10 accounting and finance trivia questions for a shot at the $1,000 prize. If she wins, she’ll treat her family to a well-deserved dinner night out.

Think you could do better? Play along and test your knowledge in real-time.

This isn’t just trivia, it’s a game show made for accountants, CPAs, bookkeepers, and finance pros who love a good challenge (and maybe a little pressure).

New episodes drop bi-weekly, don’t forget to subscribe.

Watch now!

Nick will take on 10 accounting and finance questions for a shot at the $1,000 prize, each one tougher than the last, in a high-stakes trivia game tailored for accountants.

Think you could do better?

Play along and test your knowledge in real-time.

This isn’t just trivia, it’s a game show made for accountants, CPAs, bookkeepers, and finance pros who love a good challenge (and maybe a little pressure).

New episodes drop bi-weekly, don’t forget to subscribe.

Watch now!

Small Change, Big Results

What would you do if your doctor looked you in the eye and said, “Change, or you’ll need medication”?

Nick Sinclair was there.

You might think a man running a 9-figure accounting talent solutions business, serving clients worldwide, leading a thriving team, had it all together, but behind the scenes, his health was crumbling.

“For many years, I’d use the excuse that business and family were my focus. The actual losing weight is not the hard part. It was the decision that, you know what, you need to stop making excuses and do something about it.” - Nick Sinclair.

The numbers and business were growing, but so was the quiet risk to his health.

That doctor’s warning was a line in the sand, and Nick realized that if he didn’t make himself a priority, everything else he’d built could come crashing down.

So he made deliberate changes.

A walk, healthier meals, better sleeping habits, and over ten months later, those micro-decisions compounded into a massive result: 40 kilograms gone, and an entirely new outlook on life.

As an accountant, it is easy to bury yourself in the work, serve your clients, chase perfection, and put your well-being dead last, but Nick’s story is a wake-up call. If you don’t invest in your health, you will pay the price.

One small change. That’s all it takes to start. You don’t need to change your whole life today. But you do need to choose something.

If you burn out and break down, who will carry on everything you’ve worked so hard to build?

Think about it.

Read the full interview →

Community 🫶

Introducing Ovata Collective

Remember when we discussed ADHD in the accounting industry 2 weeks ago?

Well, great news: Ovata Collective is here.

Spearheaded by Sabrina Parris, CPA, this community is dedicated to neurodivergent accountants who want to build sustainable, fulfilling practices without sacrificing their mental health or masking who they are. Ovata Collective is all about equipping accountants with tools, strategies, and a supportive peer network to navigate the unique challenges of running a practice while managing ADHD or other forms of neurodivergence.

This is something worth checking out.

Join the community

Take flight with Alicia Katz Pollock's Gold PersonOWL Coaching membership

Alicia, recognized as one of America's Top 50 Women in Accounting, makes mastering the world’s most popular accounting software simple and precise. With this membership, you’ll receive a monthly one-hour private lesson, plus priority on-call support whenever you need it.

You’ll also gain access to an exclusive QBO members group, where you can ask questions and get fast answers. Also, because QuickBooks Online is always evolving, you’ll automatically be enrolled in all live webinars each month, covering both new topics and course updates, ensuring you stay confident and ahead of the curve.

Sign up here →

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The IRS Says 2026 Tax Season is at Risk

In a recent article from the Journal of Accountancy, the IRS shared the forecast for the 2026 tax season, and it’s cloudy with a 100% chance of panic, which is traceable to job losses and funding cuts.

NTA Erin Collins said in the Fiscal Year 2026 Objectives Report to Congress that as of June, the IRS workforce had decreased by over 25% to fewer than 76,000 employees from the 102,000 employees at the agency at the start of the filing season.

The figure takes into account employees who accepted an early resignation offer but remain on the rolls through Sept. 30.

Collins recommends lifting the hiring freeze and providing direct hire authority in Taxpayer Services so that it can hire essential filing-season employees to meet taxpayer needs early in 2026.

“And if that happens, it is critical that the IRS hire them by the end of summer so it can onboard them, provide them with adequate training, and ensure they are prepared to assist taxpayers when the 2026 filing season begins in January. Especially in the short term, the number of total IRS employees is less important than the number of trained IRS employees,” Erin Collins said.

Read the full article →

Who Wants to Be An Accounting Millionaire (EP 2) Just Dropped!

If you caught Episode 1 of Who Wants to Be an Accounting Millionaire, you know how intense things can get. Nick Boscia took on the challenge and walked away with $50, not bad, but far from the grand prize.

Now, Episode 2 is here, and it’s Kate Josephine Johnson’s turn to step into the spotlight. This week’s focus is all about the knowledge of the Big 4; those accounting powerhouses everyone in the industry knows: Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG. Kate will have to draw on everything she knows about these firms if she wants to win the $1,000 prize.

Host, Drew Carrick, is also back in the quizmaster’s chair, ready to test Kate’s nerve, knowledge, and quick thinking. Will Kate keep her cool and come out on top, or will she join Nick in walking away with just a fraction of the prize?

If you love accounting, trivia, and the thrill of watching someone chase a dream, you don’t want to miss this.

P.S.: If you’d like to be a contestant on the show, fill the form here.

Watch episode 2 now →

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Events

📍The 2025 Tax Retreat – July 18 & 19 (Denver)

Born from the vibrant #TaxTwitter community's desire to connect beyond the keyboard, this event returns for a third year to its original stomping grounds—Denver, CO. The Tax Retreat is the "Anti-Conference," where camaraderie reigns supreme, knowledge flows freely, and fun is non-negotiable.

Whether you're a seasoned pro or a fresh face in the tax world, The Tax Retreat promises an unforgettable experience where connections are made, laughter is abundant, and memories are cherished.

See the agenda →

📍 NATP Taxposium 2025 – July 21-23 (Las Vegas)

The National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) coordinates TAXPOSIUM. The conference educates tax professionals about industry hot topics, practice management strategies, and evolving technology. It also helps accountants connect with tax law experts and IRS representatives. This year’s event is your chance to refine your expertise, gain future-focused insights, and build a network of forward-thinking professionals ready to lead the way.

See the agenda →

📍 Bridging The Gap Conference – July 22-24 (Denver)

Organized by Tri-Merit, Bridging the Gap is an annual accounting conference for accounting, tax, and finance firms. The event provides a blend of innovation, networking, and professional growth, bringing together leaders and experts from across the industry.

The theme for 2025 is “Expedition Innovation: Charting New Paths in People, Technology, and Practice,” and it promises to deliver inspiring keynotes, hands-on workshops, and unmatched networking opportunities

See the agenda →

Noteworthy

How to Effectively Manage Your Client Disengagement

Tax season 2026 may not be too far away, and while many clients are gearing up for another year of collaboration, others may be stepping away. No matter why they have decided to move on, it’s important to close the loop professionally and proactively.

In this Workflow Live event, Lori Hawkins shared practical strategies for managing client disengagement with clarity, confidence, and care. Watch the recording to get her insights on how to handle offboarding conversations, document transitions, and protect your firm’s reputation along the way.

How CPAs Can Secure Financing For AI Projects

Staying competitive today means making smart use of artificial intelligence to drive innovation and get more done. Albert Caponi knows this firsthand. As a CPA leading the finance team at Scale AI, a nonprofit that has supported over $500 million in AI projects over the past six years, he’s seen just how much of a difference AI can make for businesses.

In a conversation with CPA Canada, Caponi shared that Scale AI's mission is to boost productivity and drive innovation in Canadian businesses through the adoption of artificial intelligence. It selects companies based on their readiness to adopt AI and their potential to deliver significant economic returns.

“To be eligible,” explains Caponi, “businesses must submit a detailed proposal—which Scale AI guides in the preparation—outlining the expected benefits of the AI project, such as increased revenue, reduced costs, or optimized processes. Once the project is approved by our expert scientific committee, we finance 30 to 40 per cent of eligible costs.

Read the full article here →

What Are Your Thoughts?

Share your POV in the comments.

You can also join the FC Reddit community here

Until Next Time,

Share Get Work Done - a newsletter for accounting firm owners.

Small Change, Big Results

Let’s start with the obvious: accounting doesn’t exactly scream “ideal environment for an ADHD brain.”

You’re expected to sit still, think linearly, and stay inside the lines all day. But what if your brain doesn’t work that way? What if attention shows up in bursts, deadlines trigger paralysis, and focus is a moving target?

The trick isn’t to force neurodivergent brains into neurotypical molds but to design workflows around how you function.

Sabrina Parris, CPA, for example, swears by analog planners and low-stimulation mornings. Linda Lee Hahn uses music and visual structures to anchor her day. Blake Oliver, CPA, built an entire business model that feeds his need for novelty and speed. None of them beat their ADHD into submission, but successfully built systems that let them work with it.

If you’ve ever struggled to keep your focus inside the lines, here’s what might actually help:

• Externalize everything: Don’t rely on memory. Use visual tools, lists, reminders, whatever helps get it out of your head.

• Design for dopamine: Make work more rewarding by building novelty, urgency, or immediate feedback loops.

• Work in waves: Break tasks into sprints. Don’t fight hyperfocus; use it strategically.

• Use accountability anchors: Co-working, peer check-ins, and routine can keep momentum alive when motivation fades.

• Customize your workflow tools: You don’t need a perfect system. You need one that reflects how your brain works, on your best and worst days.

Managing ADHD in a field that loves precision is about design. Maybe it’s time to create space for neurodivergent creativity, intuition, and energy.

Read the full article here →

Community 🫶

Introducing Mentors Count Community by Yuri Kapilovich, #ThefunCPA

Mentors Count is a peer-led community for accounting staff, seniors, and firm owners who believe in the power of practical, non-biased mentorship. Founded by Yuri Kapilovich, CPA, this is a space to ask questions, share hard-won lessons, and support each other’s growth, whether you're navigating your first busy season or scaling a firm.

Join the community

Master Your Practice with Dawn Brolin's Coaching Course

If you're tired of spinning your wheels, chasing deadlines, and watching your passion fade under piles of client files, there’s a better way, and Dawn Brolin is here to show it to you. Dawn offers a range of coaching programs to ensure that every professional, whether they’re just starting out or looking to take their practice to the next level, has the right level of support.

In this course, you'll learn how to build a bulletproof business model, price with confidence, streamline with the right tech, and so much more.

Sign up here →

Join the Financial Cents Customer Meetup at Scaling New Heights

We’re hosting a casual, come-as-you-are meetup at Scaling New Heights, and you're invited! This is a chance to connect with fellow FC customers and get a special thank you from our team.

Date: Monday, June 23rd 2025

Booth number: #184/185

Time: 10:40 am - 11:20 am EST

See ya!

H🔥t today

Who Wants to Be an Accounting Millionaire

What happens when accountants go head-to-head in a high-stakes quiz show?

Who Wants to Be an Accounting Millionaire is where accountants battle brains, nerves, and the clock for a shot at $1,000.

The premiere episode is live, and Nick Boscia, Owner of Boscia & Boscia P.C., is the first brave soul to take the hot seat. Armed with sharp instincts and years of accounting know-how, he’s up against 10 rapid-fire questions and a ticking clock.

Does he walk away with $1,000? Or does the pressure of the spotlight prove too much?

There’s only one way to find out.

Watch episode 1 now →

P.S.: If you’d like to be a contestant on the show, send an email to marketing@financial-cents.com.

Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC Prepare to Audit AI Systems at Scale

As AI takes over more decisions, one question is starting to matter more: Can we trust what it’s doing?

This is where the Big Four are stepping in.

Deloitte, EY, PwC, and KPMG are preparing to launch dedicated AI audit services, designed to independently assess whether AI systems are performing as they are supposed to without bias or hidden risks.

This isn’t just about ethics; it’s about accountability. AI models are complex and constantly evolving, and unlike a financial statement, they don’t come with built-in transparency. That makes external audits not just helpful but necessary.

The goal is to give businesses, regulators, and the public greater confidence in how AI is built and used. Think risk reviews, transparency checks, and governance controls aimed at keeping AI systems aligned with human intent.

It’s still in the early days, and standards are developing. However, one thing is clear: AI isn’t going to be unmonitored for much longer.

Read the full article →

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Events

📍 Scaling New Heights – June 22-25 (Orlando)

If you’re planning to be in Orlando, make sure we’re on your agenda. Catch the Financial Cents’ team at booth 184 & 185 to chat, answer questions, and show you what’s new inside the platform.

Here’s also something fun while you’re at it:
We’re hosting a $500 raffle at the Financial Cents booth! Just stop by to grab a free shirt and raffle ticket, then join us at the scheduled time for the live draw.

RSVP to get your tee→

📍 Workflow Live with Steven Moos - June 24th (Virtual)

The 1040 might be one of the most common tax returns, but that doesn’t mean it has to be time-consuming or stressful. Whether you’re managing a high volume of individual returns or just looking to refine your process, this session is designed to help you simplify, standardize, and, most importantly, save time.

On June 24th, Steven Moos will demonstrate a simplified 1040 workflow, step-by-step, from document collection to review and submission. This includes tools and templates to help reduce back-and-forth.

BONUS: Attendees will get Steven's 1040 Tax Return Workflow template – an efficient checklist for simplifying the return process.

Sign up here→

📍 NATP Taxposium 2025 – July 21-23 (Las Vegas)

The National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) coordinates TAXPOSIUM. The conference educates tax professionals about industry hot topics, practice management strategies, and evolving technology. It also helps accountants connect with tax law experts and IRS representatives. This year’s event is your chance to refine your expertise, gain future-focused insights, and build a network of forward-thinking professionals ready to lead the way.

📍 Bridging The Gap Conference – July 22-24 (Denver)

Organized by Tri-Merit, Bridging the Gap is an annual accounting conference for accounting, tax, and finance firms. The event provides a blend of innovation, networking, and professional growth, bringing together leaders and experts from across the industry.

The theme for 2025 is “Expedition Innovation: Charting New Paths in People, Technology, and Practice,” and it promises to deliver inspiring keynotes, hands-on workshops, and unmatched networking opportunities

See the agenda →

Noteworthy

You Know FOMO But FOPO Might Be Holding You Back

You know that feeling after a meeting or social event where your brain suddenly turns into a highlight reel of everything you think you messed up.

“Did I talk too much?”
“Why did I laugh like that?”
“Should I have said something smarter?”

That’s not just nerves. It’s something called FOPO: Fear of Other People’s Opinions, a concept named by psychologist Michael Gervais in this HuffPost article.

FOPO is sneaky, and it doesn’t always scream insecurity. Sometimes it looks like perfectionism, people-pleasing, playing small, delaying sending that email, choosing silence in a room full of noise, because you’re afraid it won’t land well.

This can be draining because constantly monitoring how you come across can make you feel like you’re working overtime to exist.
Most people aren’t thinking about you as much as you think they are. They’re too busy replaying their own highlight reel of awkward moments.

So, how do you quiet FOPO when it starts creeping in?

• Name it. Recognizing when you’re spiraling into FOPO helps you pause before you react to it.

• Anchor to your own values. Ask: “What matters more, being liked or being aligned with who I want to be?”

• Let go of mind-reading. You can’t control what others think, but you can control how much space their imaginary opinions occupy in your head.

• Practice showing up anyway. The more often you speak up, even when you feel shaky, the easier it gets to trust yourself over the noise.

You’re allowed to take up space without needing everyone to approve of your actions.

Firm Spotlight: How Fiscally Professional Corporation Scaled a 30-Person Remote Team

Fiscally Professional Corporation's firm had quickly grown from just a handful of individuals into a thriving remote team of 30 professionals serving creative businesses across the U.S. and Canada.

But behind the excitement of that growth was a challenge the team was determined to overcome: They needed better workflows, clearly defined processes, and a single tool for managing tasks, projects, and client deliverables seamlessly, no matter where each team member was located.

It wasn’t for lack of effort or skill. Jessica’s team was talented, organized, and motivated. The real problem was simpler: they relied on general project management tools rather than software built specifically for accounting firms.

To sustain their momentum and continue delivering the high-quality service their clients expected, Jessica and her team knew they had to make a change.

Read the full piece →

Until Next Time,

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Small Change, Big Results

Many firms grow to 1 or even $3 million by working harder, hiring more staff, and raising prices. But what happens when you hit a ceiling?

Brandon Hall, CPA, shared the change he made that gave his firm big results.

These are hard-earned leadership lessons that transformed his firm into an IPA Top 500 practice generating $12 million annually. His message was clear: if you want to scale beyond a few million dollars, you must stop being a service provider and start being a leader.

He highlighted three stages of leadership growth you must go through to transition from client work to true leadership.

• Stage 1: Leading Yourself (Startup Phase, $0-$1M in Revenue): At this stage, you wear multiple hats, serving clients, handling sales, and managing operations. This is necessary initially, but many firm owners stay in this stage too long because they believe they are “saving money” by doing everything themselves.

• Stage 2: Leading a Small Team ($1M-$3M in Revenue): At this level, firm owners should focus on building a strong leadership team and removing themselves from direct client work. The mistake? Many firm owners keep taking on “just a few” clients themselves, thinking they are helping the firm when, in reality, they are holding it back.

• Stage 3: Leading a Scalable Organization ($3M-$10M+ in Revenue): At this level, your firm should be running on systems, processes, and leadership teams, not dependent on the owner, but some firm owners who fail to fully empower their teams often hit a plateau because they still insert themselves into too many decisions.

Read the full article here →

Community 🫶

Introducing The Scale Up Academy by Keila Hill-Trawick, CPA

The Scale Up Academy, founded by Keila Hill-Trawick, is a refreshing space for established service firm owners who are ready to build the financial, operational, and leadership systems needed to scale with intention.

They are kicking off with a free virtual summit on June 13th, 2025, to help you break through your next growth ceiling by building systems that support sustainable profit, not just more hustle.

Join the academy

Counter Students by Logan Graf, CPA

Months ago, Logan launched a community called Counter for accounting firm owners or aspiring owners frustrated with the traditional systems.

Well, now, he has launched this new initiative targeting accounting students who want a head start in their careers. This is a space to discuss career progression, classes, internships, CPA/EA prep, and more.

If you're an accounting student (or you know any) with a .edu email, sign up now to reserve your spot.

Sign up here

Financial Cents now has a Reddit Community

We’ve created a dedicated Reddit community for accounting professionals.

It’s a space for firm owners, bookkeepers, and accountants to swap ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and get smarter about the way work gets done.

The subreddit also gives you direct access to peer advice. If you’re wrestling with a specific tool, facing an issue in your workflow, or exploring whether to hire or outsource, you can post a question and hear how others navigate similar decisions.

Join the community

H🔥t today

Make Accounting Career Fun Again

The next generation of accounting students isn’t waiting politely for a seat at the table; they’re pulling up chairs. We’re talking Excel pros, tax interns, and analysts-in-the-making who already know their way around.

A recent Journal of Accountancy piece highlights a 24% enrollment spike in accounting programs at two-year institutions, which shows a strong spring semester for interest in the profession among college students.

According to Sue Coffey, CPA, CGMA, and AICPA’s CEO–Public Accounting, “It’s inspiring to see positive trends in student interest. Enrollment growth underscores the need to continue to raise awareness of the benefits of accounting careers.”

These aren’t future CPAs who need convincing. They’ve already raised their hands, and what they need now is for firms to meet them halfway with real opportunities, mentorship that matters, and a workplace that doesn’t treat them like a number.

There's more to this story, and it's worth the read.

Read the full article →

The Data Breach That Cost a Firm 200k+ Clients

Your clients trust you with their most private financial information. That trust is hard-earned and easily lost. However, a breach can result in loss of clients, damage to your reputation, and lawsuits for negligence or failure to protect data.

Case in point: Chicago-based Legacy Professionals LLP had to notify 216,752 individuals after a 2024 hack and is already facing at least five class-action lawsuits over the exposed data.

The sad truth is that most clients won’t return after a breach, and prospective clients may think twice.

This Financial Cents article outlines practical, actionable strategies for improving security within your firm. It covers exactly how to tighten up your security without overcomplicating your workflow. Think smarter password policies, staff training that actually works, and clear boundaries around who can access what.

Every accounting and bookkeeping firm must take cybersecurity seriously today. Just as Brad Messner, cybersecurity expert and seasoned tax professional, has said, “We can’t just sit back and say, ‘I don’t understand this’ or ‘I’m going to plead ignorance.’ Ignorance is no longer an excuse.”

Read the full article →

Swipe this workflow template

Swipe Dave Kersting's Accounting Firm Team Member Success Onboarding Checklist Template.

Get more templates from firm owners like you in our community template library.

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Events

📍 AICPA ENGAGE – June 9–12 (Las Vegas, NV)
If you want to sharpen your leadership skills, explore new tech, or rethink your firm’s strategy, ENGAGE is where real conversations and insights happen.

The Financial Cents team will be there live at Booth #411. Swing by to say hello; we’d love to hear what you’re working on.

Also, Financial Cents will host a $500 raffle on the 10th & 11th. To enter, stop by our booth, grab a free T-shirt and raffle ticket, and make sure you’re there at the announced time for the live draw.

Don’t miss your chance to win!

RSVP to get your tees →

📍 Workflow Live with Lori Hawkings - June 10th (Virtual)

Tax season is behind us, and for some clients, that means it’s time to part ways. Whether they’re moving on for personal reasons, shifting priorities, or simply wrapping up their engagement, how you handle that exit matters.

On the 10th of June, Lori Hawkins, owner of L & L Bookkeeping LLC, will walk you through how to manage client disengagement with professionalism and intention.

💡 BONUS: Attendees will receive Lori's Client Disengagement template.

Save your spot here →

📍 Scaling New Heights – June 22-25 (Orlando)

If you’re planning to be in Orlando, make sure we’re on your agenda. Catch the Financial Cents’ team at booth 184 & 185 to chat, answer questions, and show you what’s new inside the platform.

Here’s also something fun while you’re at it:
We’re hosting a $500 raffle at the Financial Cents booth! Just stop by to grab a free shirt and raffle ticket, then join us at the scheduled time for the live draw.

RSVP to get your tees →

Firm Spotlight

Full Send Finance recently turned three, and their growth has been beautiful to watch.

Led by Roman Villard, CPA & Stacey Feldman, CPA, the company operates in a state of continuous improvement, thanks to its ability to leverage the best technology to drive client service.

When the company started, Roman only had to manage his own tasks; it was easy to track work without letting things slip through the cracks. However, when Stacey joined the team, she sought to implement systems that empowered the team to meet client deliverables at scale without compromising quality.

We had a chat with Stacey, and she shared how they scaled their accounting firm by 150% in just one year using Financial Cents.

Get the full scoop here

How To Network Like A Pro

Based on tips from 20 Forbes Coaches Council Members

It’s event and conference season in the accounting industry, which means the name tags, hotel lobbies, and networking mixers are back in full swing.

Luckily, this Forbes article breaks it down with 20 practical tips from coaches and business leaders on how to network without that icky feeling.

Here are a few standouts that apply directly to accounting pros heading into AICPA ENGAGE, Scaling New Heights, and beyond:

✅ Go in curious, not scripted. Ask real questions that spark thoughtful conversation. Skip the elevator pitch. Think: “What’s something exciting you're working on this quarter?” or “What’s been a surprising challenge lately?”

✅ Don’t force the follow-up. If the connection feels real, keep it going, but don’t treat people like a sales funnel. A quick “great talking to you, hope to stay in touch” can go a long way.

✅ Listen more than you talk. People remember how you made them feel, not how many facts you shared. Give them space to tell their story.

✅ Be helpful, not transactional. If you can connect them to someone, recommend a tool, or offer a small insight, do it. No strings attached.

Takeaway: Networking is beyond collecting contacts. It’s about building trust, one real conversation at a time.

Read the full piece →

Until Next Time,

Share Get Work Done - a newsletter for accounting firm owners.