Episodios
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eth Fineberg spent most of his professional career writing for the accounting industry. In this episode, he joins Stuart to share his new business venture, and how he's going to help bridge the gap between tech vendors and the community they serve.
Episode notes:
Gaining the trust of customers is more important than ever for tech vendors (04:20)Helping all boats rise by supporting small businesses (05:30)Seth's business venture into Accountants Forward (08:25)Using quality content to help advance the accounting profession (10:00)Seth's journey from business journalism to AccountingWEB (11:30)How AccountingWEB found its purpose as a publisher (20:30)The transactional approach to customer relationships doesn't work anymore (25:00)The next big thing for accounting technology (30:20) -
Alasdair McGill, Managing Director at Ashton McGill brings his client Colin Munro, Founder of Miconex, to share the journey they went on together that turned a small, local Scottish startup into growing global business.
How Alasdair developed a service-oriented mindset at EY (02:00)Bringing a bespoke designer approach to accounting at Ashton McGill (04:34)Colin's journey from marketing to restaurants to a small business startup (07:30)The accelerated consumer desire to support the local economy (17:00)How Colin's firm, Miconex, is making it easy to shop local (18:55)When an accountant becomes a part of your firm's DNA (26:55)Do good work for good people (38:20)Where the future lies for Ashton McGill and Miconex (39:00) -
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Jennie Moore wears two professional hats: one as an accounting firm owner, the other as Ignition's Partnerships Manager. In this episode, Jennie joins Stuart to discuss all things accounting and technology—from what can be done to make the accounting industry attractive again, to how technology can be used to augment accountants' capacity.
When Jennie met Stuart (00:45)Balancing life as Ignition's Partnership Manager and accounting firm owner (02:30)'Numbers accountants' vs. 'purpose accountants' (07:00)How to make accounting sexy again (09:45)Finding unexpected talent (14:00)Technology's role in augmenting accountants' capabilities (18:00)Knowing your ideal clients and sticking to your principles (20:00)Jennie's plan to ensure data integrity at her firm (24:00)How in-person events encourage deeper personal connections (28:50) -
Anton Colella's journey in accounting is unconventional. After 18 years as a religious teacher, he joined Scotland's Institute of Chartered Accountants and later became the CEO of Moore Global, one of the world's largest accountancy networks. In this episode, Anton shares his story as a religious teacher, a leader, and a man with a strong sense of a higher purpose.
Episode notes:
Anton's 18 years as a religious teacher and a sports coach (01:00)The profound fulfillment of being an educator (04:00)How a major crisis in the Scotland education system incidentally changed Anton's professional path (07:15)Transferring his persuasion skills from teaching to management (09:00)Changing the world by healing one broken childhood at a time (10:15)Anton's mission to bring social responsibility back to the accounting profession (17:30)Factors that influence the perception and growth of the profession (19:00)The importance of purpose and culture in an accounting firm (28:00)A leader's responsibility to help people and organizations go from good to great (34:00) -
Candy Bellau grew up with an unconventional father who applied his genius in all the wrong ways. In this episode, Candy candidly shares how others' mistakes enlightened her to live a life of integrity, and what she's doing to maintain work-life balance for herself and her staff.
Learning how to do bookkeeping at 14 years old (01:20)Uncovering major accounting fraud while working as a bookkeeper (03:00)How Candy's evil genius father shaped her moral and ethical codes (05:00)Reconnecting with her father on his deathbed (12:00)Candy's accidental involvement with a check-kiting scheme (18:00)A brief stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia (22:00)How Candy put a fraudulent executive behind bars (25:00)Finding a new sense of purpose as a coach (29:00)Putting family first, not just for the owner, but for every staff member (32:00) -
Carla Caldwell, Stuart's long-time friend and ex-colleague, joins him for a delightful conversation about her journey in accounting, accounting technology, consulting, and entrepreneurship.
Reminiscing together (00:05)How family and mentors influenced Carla's accounting journey (01:55)Finding her superpower in accounting and technology (05:20)The game-changing opportunity to be a part of Xero's early days in the US (12:10)Carla's post-Xero venture as technology and process consultant for accountants (21:20)Harnessing the power of technology (rather than resisting it) (24:00)How the accounting industry might solve the talent challenge (27:30)Building meaningful, personal connections with your staff (30:00)How the 'Working Geniuses' model uplifts her staff (34:00)Carla's most memorable clients (38:30) -
Rob Santos and Rory Henry of Arrow Root Family Office join Stuart to discuss how accountants are primed to be strategic advisors in the wealth and family management space.
Together, they talk about:
Why accountants are well-positioned to get involved in wealth management (02:15)The origin story of Arrowroot Family Office (07:00)Creating a personalized financial advisory experience (09:40)Diversifying an accountant's portfolio with wealth management (12:00)Are accountants the future of investment advisory? (15:30)How accountants can add value to a holistic financial plan (28:06)Planning for succession as firm owners (32:00) -
Meghan Blair lives and works in Nantucket, Massachusetts, a tourist town with a close-knit community. In this episode, Meghan and Stuart discuss COVID's impact on seasonal economies, what accounting professionals can do to help, and an exciting update for Meghan's firm—Fogged in Bookkeeping.
The unforgettable experience of living on a cattle farm in Australia (03:17)The cultural and economic diversity in Nantucket, Massachusetts (09:20)COVID's impact on service-based, seasonal economies (12:57)Building sustainability, and social responsibility metrics into accounting processes (15:10)How COVID accelerated innovative, data-driven problem-solving in Nantucket's food and hospitality industry (18:29)Growing a remote accounting firm before it was popular (24:07)Karbon's instrumental role in Meghan's bookkeeping practice (29:00)Fogged in Bookkeeping's merger with GrowthLab (30:00) -
Stefan van Duyvendijk is the Accounting Operations Evangelist at FloQast. In this episode, Stefan chats with Stuart about the pains that drove FloQast's founders to building their own solution, and what sets the company apart from its competitors in the marketplace.
Together, Stefan and Stuart discuss:
Living and skiing in Utah (02:00)A fed-up accountant's quest for changing the status quo (05:32)Stefan's career journey before FloQast (08:08)Adopting new skill sets as a brand evangelist (12:09)How FloQast is redefining accounting operations (14:12)FloQast's 2023 strategic plan (21:00)Building a user-centric product (23:51)What's next for Stefan (27:20) -
Natalie Lennon, accounting firm owner, automation guru and podcaster, joins Stuart to discuss her career journey that led to Two Sides Accounting. They also chat about the talent shortage and what Natalie is doing to live the '4-day work week dream'.
Natalie’s winding journey in accounting (2:00)Becoming a partner at 28 years old (6:10)The light-bulb moment that birthed Two Sides Accounting (7:15)A passion for working with startups and progressive businesses (9:00)Work smarter, not harder through automation (10:00)The talent shortage and coming full circle around remote work (13:30)COVID's financial impact on small businesses (17:00)Setting boundaries to enable the ‘4-day work week dream' (21:55)Finding equilibrium between work, life, and growth (23:30) -
Dan Luthi is a partner at IgniteSpot Accounting, a virtual accounting and fractional CFO service firm. In this episode, Dan shares IgniteSpot Accounting's journey, his favorite client stories, and how accountants can provide a sense of clarity for clients in an increasingly unfathomable world.
The genesis of IgniteSpot Accounting (01:00)Helping clients achieve 100x growth within 5 years (03:25)IgniteSpot Accounting's ideal client profile (05:26)Dan's preferred accounting tech stack (06:40)Going from hybrid to fully remote (07:51)Taking an organic, value-based approach to marketing and growth (10:08)Accelerated mergers and acquisitions post-pandemic (15:23)Making sense of the volatile economy (17:19)How to help small business clients through unpredictability (22:14) -
Leah Roe is a CPA-turned-leadership-coach and organizational trust expert. In this episode, Leah and Stuart chat all things 'trust'. Leah shares how she unexpectedly got into the people and cultures space, the five behaviors that build trust in the workplace, and she turns the table on Stuart to find out how Karbon is rebuilding trust after a difficult company-wide layoff.
From VP of Finance to VP of People Operations (00:30)Getting laid off during maternity leave (06:34)The evolution of finding her niche in trust and leadership coaching (10:23)Would you have gone into entrepreneurship had you known everything about it? (12:14)Leah grills Stuart on trust and leadership (20:00)99% of your organizational issues are trust issues (21:55)The Five-Behavior Trust Operating System (25:21)Leah's 2023 professional and personal aspirations (46:57) -
Jason Staats—accounting firm owner, content creator, automation expert and online community champion—joins the latest Accounting Leaders Podcast episode. Jason shares his journey in accounting, the power of surrounding yourself with like-minded people, automation and no code development, and why vendors need to make more data accessible.
Stuart and Jason discuss:
The outdoors and writing off an RV (1:30)Raising 3 kids under 5 (4:30)The shortest path to an undergraduate is studying accounting (5:30)Starting in a local Oregon accounting firm at the age of 19 (8:20)Surrounding yourself with like-minded, entrepreneurial people (10:00)Operational effectiveness and efficiency (11:45)Why you need cloud-native tools that give you access to your own data (13:50)Jason's tech stack (15:30)Automation and the role of accountants as quasi-developers (18:00)The power of online communities and learning from like-minded peers (24:30)An open-source accounting firm? (30:00) -
Ben Taylor, a CPA-turned-tech-entrepreneur and founder of SoftLedger, sits down with Stuart to share his company's origin story, the landscape of a mid-market GL solution, how to enable accountants to 'do more with less', and the saving grace of having your best friend as your co-founder.
Finding an interest in accounting in college (1:15)Early career experience at EY & Fannie Mae (2:00)How Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae started (3:10)The roller coaster real estate market around the world (4:00)The genesis of SoftLedger (5:42)The landscape of a mid-market general ledger solution (7:10)The advantages of the next-gen cloud accounting software (8:08)SoftLedger’s typical clients (8:51)Benefiting from COVID-19’s push towards remote collaboration (10:00)The investment landscape of SoftLedger (11:55)How to enable accountants to ‘do more with less’ (14:58)Running a startup with your best friend (16:00)SoftLedger's product roadmap (16:30)What excites Ben about the future (18:08)Gaining traction through SEO (20:30) -
Karen Reyburn is no stranger to change. She grew up in Arizona yet found her home-away-from-home in Scotland. She began her career as an auditor but discovered her true spark in marketing—a realization that ultimately led her to founding The Profitable Firm, a creative agency dedicated to serving accountants. In this episode, Karen shares her journey of living in two worlds, the power of marketing for accountants, and her growth philosophy of 'better over more'.
Karen's journey from the US to Scotland (1:28)Connecting with a culture that's not your own (2:15)A temporary move that turned permanent (3:00)Enjoying the natural beauty of Arizona and Scotland (5:30)Karen's first job as a state auditor (8:00)The worthy challenge of immigrating to a place you love (11:10)How Karen got into marketing as an accountant (13:00)Filling the marketing gap for accountants (16:00)Not chasing growth for growth's sake (17:10)Using marketing to attract ideal clients (18:00)Bad marketing kills referrals (19:45)Helping accountants reveal their greatness through marketing (21:30)Consistency is the key to success (23:08)Karen's favorite client success stories (24:00)Top marketing tips for accountants (26:00)The joys of working with clients who align with your values (31:00)When in Rome, do as the Romans do (35:50)The quirks of living in two cultures (38:30)Beautiful places to visit in Scotland (41:30) -
Adam Pritchard of UK firm, Linford Grey, joins Stuart to share his unique journey from touring the country appearing in on-stage musicals to starting his own accountancy practice. Adam talks about the challenges of helping his clients navigate the global pandemic, moving from one crisis to the next, and how he is building the type of business that he is proud of, enjoys, and provides a platform for his staff to develop and grow.
Wedding bells (1:30)Life through the pandemic for Linford Grey (4:00)A journey from singing and dancing to accounting (5:10)Prioritizing marketing to drive growth (8:00)Favorite musicals and a national tour for "Jesus Christ Superstar" (9:50)Starting in accounting by starting your own firm (12:40)Why the name Linford Grey? (15:15)A niche in using technology to transform businesses (42:20)Helping hospitality clients navigate the pandemic (21:30)Running a business during COVID, Brexit, a declining economy, the war in Ukraine, an energy crisis and other macro challenges (26:20)Adam's proudest client success story (32:00)Dealing with bad clients (35:30)A message to Linford Grey staff (36:00) -
Zach Gordon is the VP of Accounting at Propeller Industries, an enterprise-grade financial service firm for high-growth startups. In this episode, he shares how he developed a speciality in cannabis and crypto accounting, the intricacies of serving clients in these highly regulated industries, and his plan for making accounting an attractive profession for young people again.
Moving from public accounting to private equity (2:15)Zach’s first B2C tech startup experience (4:00)How Zach got into the crypto and cannabis accounting field (6:05)The intricacies of cannabis accounting and taxes (9:42)Overlap between two highly regulated industries (11:50)Helping clients navigate crypto assets on the balance sheet (13:00)What makes Propeller Industries special (16:24)Making an impact for clients in the boardrooms (20:50)What’s next for Zach (22:15)Attracting fresh talent to the accounting profession (23:00)The fallacies of billable hours (28:00) -
First meeting at Accountex London 2018 (1:00)Ryan's journey to accounting (2:00)Moving from a small to a large to a mid-tier firm (5:20)Empowering clients with the right business insights (9:00)Harnessing the power of technology with SB Digital (14:50)The benefits of being vendor agnostic (17:00)Can the 4-day work week come to accounting (19:20)Has the accounting talent pool shrunk? (20:00)The most significant impact of accounting technology (23:00)What impact will the UK leadership turmoil have on HMRC? (27:40)
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Lynda Steffens found her calling in accounting at a young age. She saw the impact of a good accountant early on through her family's farming business. In this episode, Lynda sits down with Stuart to look back at her journey from running her own practice to uplifting other accounting firm owners. They exchange thoughts on the image problem of the accounting industry today and share ideas on how we can make accounting sexy again.
Episode notes:
Backpacking across Europe (01:48)How Lynda found her calling in accounting at 14 years old (02:19)How her family’s farming business cultivated her work ethics (03:20)Lynda’s first accounting job at a regional firm (06:15)Connecting with local business clients (07:20)The accounting industry’s image problem (11:23)Being willing and able to embrace change (14:46)Why automation won’t replace humans (17:06)Making accounting sexy again (20:00)Lynda’s deep passion for helping others succeed (21:54)The role of personal development in entrepreneurship (25:08)How Lynda enabled a client to transition from compliance to advisory services (29:57)The fulfillment of aligning your work with your purpose (34:45)You can learn more about Lynda and The Small Business Project here: https://thesmallbusinessproject.com.au/
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Greg Daley is the Chief Visionary at Parable, an accounting firm focussing on the church niche. In this inspiring episode, Greg discusses his journey from being a pastor to starting an accounting practice with his wife and growing that into a business that serves 230 churches across 42 US states. He shares why churches are similar to any business, his plan to grow to 1,000 clients, why the journey to the cloud has never been more apt, and the literal life-changing impacts that his firm has on its clients.
Together, they discuss:
Telling the Parable story on stage at Karbon X (2:00)The evolution from a side gig to a family company (4:00)Specializing in accounting for churches (9:00)The growth or decline of religion as an industry (13:00)How churches adapted during COVID (16:00)Taking technology to church (19:30)What client onboarding looks like for church clients (20:40)Parable's plan for growing to 1,000 clients (24:00)Other firms and accountants that are helping churches grow (27:00)Beyond bookkeeping and strategic services for churches (28:00)Being remote and adopting Zoom before it was cool (30:00)The staff who are attracted to working at Parable and identify with the mission (32:00)A mission or vision that's larger than themselves (33:00)Strategies to increase giving, and what that giving can do (36:50)The Karbon community (44:10) - Mostrar más
