Accounting High

Early career: high school, tax years, consulting

Moving to family office, helping clients, being a Doula

Starting a firm, family and employees, no niche yet

Cash break-even, trying things out, modeling good practices

Firm hard numbers, scope and pricing, speaking events

Keeping up with niche industry, using other consultants

Accountability and coaches, rebranding, letting clients go

Being stuck in the business, difficulty in finding accountants

Helping people, taking care of the team

Determining clients to keep, software, outsourcing, unlocking time

Advice for biggest unlock

Randy Crabtree, Intuit’s Tax Advisor Summit, Nicole Glasson, Travis Baird, Ignition, QuickBooks, Karbon, Cognito Forms, Canopy, TaxDome

Chase talks about realizing that audit wasn't the right fit for him and starting up his own firm.

He discusses pivoting the firm, staffing, and getting funding for marketing and scalability.

Chase talks about becoming CEO and the inspiration for the structure of the firm.

He discusses the challenges and goals of Dark Horse and its niche in public accounting.

Chase talks about the fear of external factors that could affect niches and the origin of the Dark Horse name.

He wraps up with words of wisdom.

The episode concludes with Chase discussing the importance of being a dark horse and black sheep in the industry.

QuickBooks, Xero

Geraldine discusses her experiences traveling around the world and how they changed her perspective on life and business.

She shares her decision to leave her first company and start her own business as a business strategist.

Geraldine highlights three things CPAs are doing wrong, including not using value pricing, not seeing sales as necessary, and telling clients what to do instead of guiding them.

She explains how niching by vertical can help CPAs differentiate themselves and attract ideal clients.

Geraldine emphasizes the importance of having hard numbers and plans and distinguishing between spending and waste.

Jay Shetty, Climate Ride, Ron Baker

In this episode of Accounting High, Scott sits downs with Liz Scott, a consultant and entrepreneur who shares her journey of starting her own business and the importance of staying up to date with technology and cybersecurity. Liz talks about her passion for training others with apps and creating courses and the impact of Covid on her work. She also discusses the importance of cybersecurity and offers practical tips on staying safe from cyber threats. If you're interested in entrepreneurship, technology, and cybersecurity, this episode is definitely worth a listen!

Liz discusses her experience starting her own business and pivoting to cloud-based services.

She talks about her love for training and creating courses

Liz shares firm hard numbers and the goals of her lab, as well as the origins and purpose of the Appy hour camp.

The discussion also includes cybersecurity issues such as data leaks, security tips, and the importance of being prepared for a hack.

The episode concludes with Liz offering advice on preparing for cybersecurity threats and emphasizing the need to be smart, not fearful.

Stacy Kildal, Slack, Rob Smith, Microsoft, Zapier, William Murphy, Dawn W. Brolin, CPA, CFE, Andrew Wall, CPA, CMA, 

It’s a hard time to be a human in America right now

I could grow my business so much more if I didn’t have to think about this stuff

How can I use that power and privilege to support other people?

One of my first responses to all of this Supreme Court stuff was I’m exploring dual citizenship

There is no incentive to change until an external factor comes in and makes it difficult for them

A woman that isn’t afraid of getting too political, too personal

You can live an entirely sheltered life in this country and have an opposite experience than your neighbor because of what you surround yourself with

Our phones are making us lose our connection

This is an addiction we’ve created as a culture

Conscious Consumption: a level of conscious awareness around what are the intakes I’m putting in

I like real-life interactions better… I get the privilege because I have a podcast where I get people to come and I get to have a real conversation

Conscious consumption of anything in your life makes your life intentional

I love working with accountants because you all have the propensity to touch, influence, and advise businesses of all shapes and sizes

Keila talks about her journey into accounting and starting her own firm

They discuss the importance of doing things differently and why she chose to focus on smaller clients

Keila shares the hard numbers of her firm and her role in it

They discuss the importance of having a strong team and niche

Keila talks about her priorities, communication tools, and the apps she uses to increase efficiency and capacity

They touch on the importance of community and how March Appness can help choose the right tools

Keila also talks about the books that inspire her and the importance of embracing failure and taking breaks

The Simple Tasks rap

Scott and Keila wrap up the episode

In this episode of Accounting High, host Scott interviews Ed Kless, a meta-consultant and business iconoclast. Together, they explore the art of asking effective questions, the value of strengths and weaknesses, and the importance of breaking the rules. Ed shares his insights on connecting music to superabundance and the accounting business, confronting our freedom, and confronting the challenges of the profession, including the cancerous timesheet. This thought-provoking episode challenges listeners to think differently about their work and the industry as a whole.

what makes a good question?

Bringing gifts and identifying strengths and weaknesses

Ed shares how he met Ron Baker and how they became friends.

The importance of reading and becoming a Guide

Ed shares his love for musical theater and raps You Got Trouble.

The connection between music, super abundance, and the accounting profession

Breaking rules and The Chesterton Fence

The negative impact of timesheets on the accounting profession, alternative value-based pricing methods

The importance of managing the work, not the people

The value of questioning the present and confronting our freedom

Who is Serena?

Ambitious side hustles to motherhood

Building the business so that there was more family time

Business development and helping others

Music and creativity

The employees

What is work? Family burnout, little sacrifices

Delegation

Wanting to throw in the towel

Personal brand issues

Rebrand

Ego, teams, soft skills

Being relatable

Self-confidence and age

The future, the burnout bridge, social media

You are the product

Social detox

Social media manager

Being intentional

Wrapping up

Amber's childhood, moving to New Mexico, and experience in Albuquerque

Changes in the accounting industry over the last 10 years and why she chose to take on accounting

Getting an EA versus a CPA

Tax with "nano-business," pricing, and writing and creative outlets

Tax therapy and not just focusing on the numbers

Dealing with good and bad clients, referring out and making mistakes, and retiring from employees

Automation and workflow management, working with paper, and waiting on clients

Mary's origin story, the size of her firm, and being a teacher

Tax and accounting as a puzzle, accounting as art, and getting connected to artists

Tiara squad, kids, and mother vibes

Being authentic and salty, sassy, and savory

Wrapping up the discussion on accounting and art

Emphasizing the importance of authenticity and finding a creative outlet.