Accounting Firm Coach: Office Hours

🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://www.rlz.io/
📩 Want a simple way to keep up with accounting firm and AI? I break it down every week in my newsletter: https://www.jasononfirms.com/newsletter

☎️ Leave me a voicemail at (1)516-980-4968!

In this episode, I sit down with the co-founder of Financial Cents to unpack the real tension behind “all-in-one vs best-of-breed” in accounting firm tech. We talk through what a practice management system should actually own, why most firms really buy PM for visibility and peace of mind, and where workflow is headed next, especially around month-end close. We also get into how Financial Cents decides what to build vs integrate, why client experience and portal consolidation matters, and where AI belongs inside practice management versus point solutions.

🎤 I’m going live! We’ll announce new dates and cities. Stay tuned for the presale
🔥 Here’s that Roast-My-Firm intake form: https://airtable.com/appZ7dtNz3oaTWWZT/shrybn5166E9t12ag

💰 Today's Sponsors
Financial Cents: https://hubs.li/Q03mLr_x0
Use code Jason10 to receive 10% off the Team or Scale annual plan for firms with 2+ users
Missive: http://missiveapp.com/jason
Verito: https://verito.com/
TeamUp: https://www.hireteamup.com/

🗣️ Continue the discussion on social!
X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa

🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://www.rlz.io/
📩 Want a simple way to keep up with accounting firm and AI? I break it down every week in my newsletter: https://www.jasononfirms.com/newsletter

🎤 I’m going live! We’ll announce new dates and cities. Stay tuned for the presale.
☎️ Leave me a voicemail at (1)516-980-4968!

📝 Grab your own copy of the state of AI report here https://karbonhq.com/resources/ebooks/state-of-ai-accounting-report-2026/

In this episode, I break down Karbon’s new AI report (nearly 600 firms across six continents) and what it reveals about how firms are actually using AI—plus what the data might be overstating. Then I explain why the real value is getting your team aligned, not just collecting more ideas. We close with a mailbag on cutting C/D clients, finding leads when launching a firm, handling client ownership when leaving a firm, and whether agentic AI can move data between apps.

🔥 Here’s that Roast-My-Firm intake form: https://airtable.com/appZ7dtNz3oaTWWZT/shrybn5166E9t12ag
📧 Email me: [email protected]

💰 Today's Sponsors
Soraban: https://www.soraban.com/
TeamUp: https://www.hireteamup.com/
Verito: https://verito.com/
MakersHub: https://makershub.ai/
Financial Cents: https://hubs.li/Q03mLr_x0
Use code Jason10 to receive 10% off the Team or Scale annual plan for firms with 2+ users
Missive: https://www.missiveapp.com/jason

🗣️ Continue the discussion on social!
X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa

🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://www.rlz.io/
📩 Want a simple way to keep up with accounting firm and AI? I break it down every week in my newsletter: https://www.jasononfirms.com/newsletter

☎️ Leave me a voicemail at (1)516-980-4968!

In this episode, I break down six practical ways accounting firms can prove their value using real numbers, not just marketing claims. I share examples for both bookkeeping and tax firms, from time saved and FTE reduction to measurable tax savings. I also roast a fast-growing firm’s pricing and client mix, then wrap with a mailbag covering AI agencies, three-tier proposals, tech stack decisions, and fee increases.

🔥 Here’s that Roast-My-Firm intake form: https://airtable.com/appZ7dtNz3oaTWWZT/shrybn5166E9t12ag

📧 Email me: [email protected]

💰 Today's Sponsors
Mercury: https://mercury.com/jasononfirms 
Soraban: https://www.soraban.com/
Cloud Accountant Staffing: https://portal.cloudaccountantstaffing.com/
Verito: https://verito.com/
Missive: https://missiveapp.com/jason
MakersHub: https://makershub.ai/

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®. To receive cash back, your Mercury accounts must be open and in good standing, meaning they cannot be suspended, restricted, past due, or otherwise in default.

Mercury will compensate Referral Partner for its referrals in accordance with the terms specified in the Mercury Referrals Page, accessible within the Mercury Partner Portal. All payouts are contingent upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Agreement as well as the Mercury Referrals page.

🗣️ Continue the discussion on social!
X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa

🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://www.rlz.io/
📩 Want a simple way to keep up with accounting firm and AI? I break it down every week in my newsletter: https://www.jasononfirms.com/newsletter

☎️ Leave me a voicemail at (1)516-980-4968!

In this episode, I break down what’s actually happening with LinkedIn right now and why so many accounting firms are seeing their impressions drop. I share the six biggest mistakes I see firms make on the platform, why going more specific is the real path forward, and how to use LinkedIn as a relationship and opportunity engine instead of a vanity-metrics trap. I also roast a real three-tier proposal that helped a firm land a client at a much higher profit level, then wrap with mailbag coaching on niching, tech choices, pricing, and building a firm that attracts better clients.

📹 Here’s the Katie Thomas video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytXl95rBoL4

💰 Today's Sponsors
Mercury: https://mercury.com/jasononfirms
Soraban: https://www.soraban.com/
Cloud Accountant Staffing: https://portal.cloudaccountantstaffing.com/
Verito: https://verito.com/
Missive: missiveapp.com/jason
MakersHub: https://makershub.ai/

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®. To receive cash back, your Mercury accounts must be open and in good standing, meaning they cannot be suspended, restricted, past due, or otherwise in default.

Mercury will compensate Referral Partner for its referrals in accordance with the terms specified in the Mercury Referrals Page, accessible within the Mercury Partner Portal. All payouts are contingent upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Agreement as well as the Mercury Referrals page.

🗣️ Continue the discussion on social!
X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa

🧰 Swipe my FREE app recommendations for accounting firms: https://www.jasononfirms.com/apps
🚀 Make the ultimate investment in your accounting firm by joining my alliance of nearly 700 firm owners: https://rlz.io/

My name’s Jason, I used to run a $5M accounting firm, now I help accountants around the world build better firms. I’m the founder of a 700 firm private community that’s shaping the future of small-firm ownership for the better.

In this episode, I break down the biggest changes in accounting firm technology over the last few years and what they mean for your firm today. We cover how practice management systems have evolved, where workflow automation is actually saving time, and why 1040 intake remains the biggest unlock in tax. I also walk through where AI is genuinely changing firm operations, where it's mostly noise, and how new ledgers, portals, and peer-driven recommendations are reshaping how firms choose their tech stack for the next 18 months.

⚒️ Tools mentioned in this podcast:
Karbon - https://karbonhq.com/
Canopy - https://www.getcanopy.com/
TaxDome - https://taxdome.com/
Financial Cents - https://financial-cents.com/
ClientHub - https://www.clienthub.app/
Thomson Reuters Practice CS - https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/us/en/cs-professional-suite/practice-cs
CCH Axcess Practice - https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/cch-axcess/practice
XCM - https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/xcm-solutions
QuickBooks Online - https://quickbooks.intuit.com/global/oa/online-accounting-software-for-small-business/
Xero - https://www.xero.com/
NetSuite - https://www.netsuite.com/portal/home.shtml
Sage Intacct - https://www.sage.com/en-us/sage-business-cloud/intacct/
Digits - https://digits.com/
Kick - https://www.kick.co/
Campfire - https://campfire.ai/
Rillet - https://www.rillet.com/
Keeper (now Double) - https://doublehq.com/
FloQast - https://www.floqast.com/
Aider (acquired by Karbon) - https://www.aider.ai/
Soraban - https://www.soraban.com/
Stanford Tax -

🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://www.rlz.io/
📚 A curated list of the apps I actually use and recommend: https://www.jasononfirms.com/apps

☎️ Leave me a voicemail at (1)516-980-4968!

In this episode, I break down why referrals are both the most common way accounting firms grow and one of the fastest ways to end up with the wrong clients. I cover how referral leads actually behave, why being professionally invisible still hurts referral-only firms, and how to get more intentional by focusing on A-clients, specialist referral partners, and clearer website positioning, including a live walkthrough of what works and what doesn’t on a real firm’s site.

💰 Today's Sponsors
Mercury: https://mercury.com/jasononfirms 
Soraban: https://www.soraban.com/
Cloud Accountant Staffing: https://portal.cloudaccountantstaffing.com/
MakersHub: https://makershub.ai/
Missive: missiveapp.com/jason
Verito: https://verito.com/

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®. To receive cash back, your Mercury accounts must be open and in good standing, meaning they cannot be suspended, restricted, past due, or otherwise in default.

Mercury will compensate Referral Partner for its referrals in accordance with the terms specified in the Mercury Referrals Page, accessible within the Mercury Partner Portal. All payouts are contingent upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Agreement as well as the Mercury Referrals page.

🗣️ Continue the discussion on social!
X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa

🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://www.rlz.io/
📚 A curated list of the apps I actually use and recommend: https://www.jasononfirms.com/apps

In this episode, I sit down with Karen Reyburn to break down how accounting firms should actually be using AI for marketing. We walk through a practical framework that starts with research, then extraction, ideation, and finally writing, and why most firms get this backwards. Karen shares the AI tools her agency uses every day, how to research niches without overcommitting, and why AI should do the heavy lifting while humans stay responsible for voice, taste, and trust.

💻 Learn more about Karen: https://karenlreyburn.com/
And check out her AI marketing accelerator here! https://wearepf.com/ai

💰 Today's Sponsors
Mercury: https://mercury.com/jasononfirms
Verito: https://verito.com/
Soraban: https://www.soraban.com/
Cloud Accountant Staffing: https://portal.cloudaccountantstaffing.com/

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®.

To receive cash back, your Mercury accounts must be open and in good standing, meaning they cannot be suspended, restricted, past due, or otherwise in default. Mercury will compensate Referral Partner for its referrals in accordance with the terms specified in the Mercury Referrals Page, accessible within the Mercury Partner Portal. All payouts are contingent upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Agreement as well as the Mercury Referrals page.

🗣️ Continue the discussion on social!
X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa

🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://www.rlz.io/
📚 A curated list of the apps I actually use and recommend: https://www.jasononfirms.com/apps

In this episode, I break down the newest wave of autonomous AI and what it means for accounting firms as AI moves from tools to agents that actually do work for you. I walk through how desktop AI like Claude Cowork and Multbot signal a shift toward AI that operates across your apps, files, and workflows, and why this is both exciting and messy. We also roast a real 75-year-old firm that just changed hands, talk through what the new owner should do first, and dig into a full mailbag covering AI security, practice management systems, buying firms, pricing work upfront, hiring managers, and building a more focused firm.

📕 The book, The Legal Singularity: https://www.amazon.com/Legal-Singularity-Artificial-Intelligence-Radically/dp/1487529414
💿 Download my IRS Hold Music album here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oyQ8y9-3WkGk3FggMQiADvVO1aY40P4S?usp=drive_link

💰 Today's Sponsors
Mercury: https://mercury.com/jasononfirms 
Soraban: https://www.soraban.com/
Financial Cents: https://hubs.li/Q03mLr_x0
Use code Jason10 to receive 10% off the Team or Scale annual plan for firms with 2+ users
Verito: https://verito.com/
MakersHub: https://makershub.ai/
Cloud Accountant Staffing: https://portal.cloudaccountantstaffing.com/

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®. To receive cash back, your Mercury accounts must be open and in good standing, meaning they cannot be suspended, restricted, past due, or otherwise in default.

Mercury will compensate Referral Partner for its referrals in accordance with the terms specified in the Mercury Referrals Page, accessible within the Mercury Partner Portal. All payouts are contingent upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Agreement as well as the Mercury Referrals page.

🗣️ Continue the discussion on social!
X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa

🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://www.rlz.io/
📚 A curated list of the apps I actually use and recommend: https://www.jasononfirms.com/apps

🔥 Here’s that Roast-My-Firm intake form: https://airtable.com/appZ7dtNz3oaTWWZT/shrybn5166E9t12ag

In this episode, I break down the newest wave of autonomous AI and what it means for accounting firms as AI moves from tools to agents that actually do work for you. I walk through how desktop AI like Claude Cowork and Multbot signal a shift toward AI that operates across your apps, files, and workflows, and why this is both exciting and messy. We also roast a real 75-year-old firm that just changed hands, talk through what the new owner should do first, and dig into a full mailbag covering AI security, practice management systems, buying firms, pricing work upfront, hiring managers, and building a more focused firm.

💻 Learn more about Claude Cowork here (still MacOS only): https://claude.com/product/cowork
🤖 And ClawdBot/MoltBot here: https://clawd.bot/

💰 Today's Sponsors
Cloud Accountant Staffing: https://portal.cloudaccountantstaffing.com/
Soraban: https://www.soraban.com/
Financial Cents: https://hubs.li/Q03mLr_x0
Use code Jason10 to receive 10% off the Team or Scale annual plan for firms with 2+ users
Verito: https://verito.com/
MakersHub: https://makershub.ai/
Missive: missiveapp.com/jason

🗣️ Continue the discussion on social!
X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa

🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://jasononline.link/C575T
📚 A curated list of the apps I actually use and recommend: https://jasononline.link/A575T

☎️ Leave me a voicemail at (1)516-980-4968!

In this episode, I sit down with Jonathan Stark to talk about why email is still the most powerful channel for building trust, authority, and better clients. We dig into how writing a short daily email helps crystallize your thinking, sharpen your positioning, and attract the right people over time, even if you do not feel ready yet. Jonathan shares how he has sent more than 3,400 daily emails, why email beats social media algorithms, and how consistent writing can help firm owners raise prices, specialize, and work less while making more.

📌 Join Jonathan’s email list here! https://jonathanstark.com/daily
📌 His book Hourly Billing is Nuts https://jonathanstark.com/hbin
📌 And his community Ditcherville https://jonathanstark.com/group

💰 Today's Sponsors
Cloud Accountant Staffing: https://portal.cloudaccountantstaffing.com/
Verito: https://verito.com/
Financial Cents: https://hubs.li/Q03mLr_x0
Use code Jason10 to receive 10% off the Team or Scale annual plan for firms with 2+ users
Soraban: https://www.soraban.com/

🗣️ Continue the discussion on social!
X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa