Accounting Leaders Podcast

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)

Pedro Noyola is the CEO of Balanced Business Group, an outsourced accounting and bookkeeping firm serving small boutique wineries. In this episode, Pedro shares his career journey from working at Deloitte, to acquiring his 10th business. Stuart and Pedro also chat about cars, serving winery clients, and balancing family, fun, and career as an entrepreneur.

Episode notes:

• Pedro's Texas upbringing (2:31)
• What he learned from working at Deloitte (3:42)
• His first entrepreneurial venture (6:00)
• Meeting life-changing friends at a car startup (7:43)
• The rise and fall of the car startup (13:40)
• Acquiring Balanced Business Group (23:19)
• What makes winery accounting and winery clients so special (25:43)
• How Pedro and his wife use family OKRs to take on life's challenges (32:37)
• Enjoying life in San Francisco (42:49)
• What's next on Pedro's acquisition roadmap (48:26)

Susan Bryant is the Principal of MB Group, a public accounting firm headquartered in Plano, TX. Susan and her team are dedicated to transforming businesses by maturing their finance function. In this episode, Susan shares her journey to public accounting, leadership insights, and the secret recipe that consistently delivers financial success for her clients.

Together, they discuss:

• The return of live, in-person events (2:00)
• How Susan got into accounting (2:45)
• Susan's first job as a bank teller (4:10)
• Taking a pay cut from banking to public accounting (4:30)
• Learning the practice of public accounting on the job (5:20)
• Joining MB Group (8:24)
• Susan's take on the definition of leadership (9:30)
• How COVID differentiated businesses with solid financial advisors (12:26)
• Industries that thrived during the pandemic (14:25)
• The future of hybrid work and talent (15:20)
• Implementing technology to modernize the firm (18:57)
• Strategic planning for clients (21:49)
• How the MB Group helped ZigZag Stripe thrive during COVID (26:19)
• Celebrating clients' most successful moments (29:01)

Jamie Johns is the CEO & Founder of Australian firm, Sky Accountants. He also co-founded Wize Mentoring, along with Ed Chan and Brenton Ward to provide business coaching and personal development services to accounting firm owners who want to elevate their practice. In this episode, Jamie and Stuart discuss Jamie’s entrepreneurial journey to accountancy and business coaching, the life-changing impact of good mentors, and how Wize Mentoring is shaping the next generation of accounting talent and leaders.

Together they discuss:

• Friendy catchup with Jamie Johns (1:00)
• California has a larger GDP than Australia (02:49)
• How Jamie went into business instead of farming (05:38)
• The technology landscape in the late 90s and early 2000s (07:53)
• The early days of MYOB and accounting software (16:39)
• Teaching QuickBooks to local small businesses (17:37)
• The path to entrepreneurship (18:59)
• How Jamie’s first client built a sunglasses empire as a bricklayer (20:10)
• The devastating struggles of scaling up (29:59)
• Two motivators that kept Jamie going (32:36)
• Life-changing mentorship from Ed Chan (35:50)
• Growing Wize Mentoring (38:41)
• Booming mentoring services for accounting firms (40:16)
• Cooking up WizeTalent (43:07)
• The hiring methodology of Topgrading (43:37)
• Talents without borders (45:04)

This episode marks the Accounting Leaders Podcast’s 50th release. To celebrate, we flipped the tables on our show host and Karbon CEO, Stuart McLeod. No question was off limits. In this episode, Karbon’s Content Marketing Specialist, Jess Marcello, and Marketing Development Manager, George Connor, had a lively conversation with Stuart about the hardest part of running a growing firm, how to find meaning and purpose in work, Karbon’s culture, Stuart’s favorite Karbon employee, and everything in between.

In this episode, you'll find:

• A special note from the Karbon team (00:01)
• Welcome Jess and George (01:05)
• Karbon offices (03:00)
• Stuart’s childhood in Australia (4:30)
• Stuart’s pets and Karbon’s (secret) pet page (07:00)
• The hardest part about running Karbon (09:10)
• Challenges of keeping a growing team aligned (11:00)
• How to keep everyone in the company happy (13:00)
• How to find meaning and purpose in work (14:30)
• What is Karbon’s culture? (19:00)
• Karbon’s three objectives (21:00)
• Stuart’s dreams when he was growing up (24:30)
• Why Stuart was a terrible employee (28:00)
• The dream size of Karbon (29:30)
• Stuart’s fears (31:20)
• Freewill or destiny? (32:40)
• Hydrofoil surfing (35:00)
• Getting bored (36:00)
• Who is Stuart’s favorite employee? (37:10)
• Magic sword vs. magic shield (39:00

As promised at the beginning of this episode, you can read Stuart's letter to all employees regarding Karbon's recent company restructure, and find the list of talented ex-Karbon employees who are now available for work here.

Zane Stevens is the Director of Protea Financial—an accounting and bookkeeping firm specializing in wineries. In this episode, Zane talks about his life in South Africa, how he got into accounting, and what made him move to the US to start working in the winery consulting space. Zane and Stuart discuss what’s unique about winery accounting, how they attract clients, and what the future holds for Protea Financial.

Together they discuss:

• Growing up and going to college in South Africa (00:30)
• The start of Zane’s accounting career (02:00)
• Zane’s experience at KPMG (04:00)
• Pivoting to consulting work (06:40)
• Moving to Cape Town and working in IT consulting (08:00)
• Leaving KPMG and moving to the US (09:00)
• Entering the winery consulting space (12:30)
• Characteristics of winery accounting (15:30)
• The process of building the structure (18:30)
• Balancing work and family (19:30)
• Ways to attract new clients (21:40)
• What’s next for Protea Financial (25:30)
• Client stories (29:20)

Jim Dunham is the President and General Manager of IRIS Software Group. With over 25 years of experience leading enterprise software companies across the public and private sectors, Jim is a seasoned executive in accountancy and tax markets. In this episode, Jim shares the story of his professional journey, his experience working in different industries, and how he ended up in accounting. Stuart and Jim discuss how cloud technology changed everything, how it developed over time, and where the most value is created.

Together they discuss:

• Jim’s role at IRIS (0:40)
• How Jim started with accounting software (2:00)
• Accounting payroll systems (6:00)
• Jim’s experience working in the military (9:00)
• Early years of operating systems (12:00)
• Jim’s underwater videography hobby (14:00)
• COVID’s influence on the US accounting market (18:00)
• Comparison between the UK and US markets (24:00)
• Acquisitions by IRIS (27:30)
• Creating value (33:00)
• Application of technology in the advisory services (35:00)

Michael Ly is the Founder and CEO of Reconciled—a virtual bookkeeping and accounting firm for busy business owners and entrepreneurs across the US. He is also a Co-Founder of PunchPay—a small micro-loan fintech startup that offers post-payment and micro-installment loans for small business expenses. In this episode, Michael shares with Stuart how his family escaped Cambodia as refugees and relied on entrepreneurship to survive the new world, his introduction to accounting, and the entrepreneurial spirit running throughout his family. 

Together they discuss:

• Michael’s journey in accounting and entrepreneurship (1:20)
• The story of Michael’s parents (3:30)
• The experience of growing up in the US (5:00)
• Michael’s family’s entrepreneurial spirit (08:00)
• Skiing in Burlington, Vermont (10:00)
• The story of founding Reconciled (12:00)
• Growth management and the tech stack at Reconciled (14:30)
• The story of founding PunchPay (16:30)
• The niche of micro-businesses (19:00)
• The future of Reconciled and PunchPay (21:00)
• Growth strategy at Reconciled (22:00)

Joe Cox is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ecommerce Accountants LLP—the leading accountancy in the UK for e-commerce businesses. In this episode, Joe shares his story of being an e-commerce seller who spotted an opportunity to serve like-minded entrepreneurs in the accounting domain (eventually creating Ecommerce Accountants). Joe and Stuart discuss the trajectory of Ecommerce Accountants, their tech stack, the nuances of working in this niche, the impact of COVID and Brexit on e-commerce, and Joe’s passion for traveling.

Together they discuss:

• Joe’s trip to Karbon X (1:20)
• Growth and marketing at Ecommerce Accountants (2:30)
• Joe’s professional journey and the story of Ecommerce Accountants (5:20)
• The fun of being an e-commerce accountant vs. an e-commerce seller (8:00)
• Watching clients grow along the way (9:10)
• Impact of COVID and Brexit on e-commerce (10:30)
• What it’s like working at Ecommerce Accountants (13:30)
• Workforce and types of clients at Ecommerce Accountants (14:50)
• Plans on a geographical expansion (17:00)
• How Karbon can help with segmenting businesses geographically (18:10)
• The tech stack at Eccomerce Accountants (19:10)
• Reporting to clients (22:40)
• The idea of creating benchmarks for clients (25:00)
• The main supplier of e-commerce products (28:20)
• What’s going on in Joe’s life (29:30)

Andrew Hunzicker is the Founder of Dope CFO, a comprehensive cannabis accounting and tax training program, which helps firms in over 25 states unlock a new world of clients. In this episode, Andrew shares his professional journey, how he started working in the cannabis industry, and what cannabis accounting looks like. Stuart and Andrew also discuss the complexities that he faces in his work, and how the government treats cannabis businesses.

Together they discuss:

• Andrew’s journey in the cannabis industry (01:00)
• Living in Bend, Oregon (4:10)
• Early mountain climbing ventures (6:20)
• The employee shortage (7:40)
• Unappealing traditional accounting career journey (09:00)
• Cannabis accounting and social justice (10:20)
• Locations that are progressive with cannabis legalization (12:30)
• Accounting complexities in the cannabis industry (16:00)
• Point of sale technology in the industry (18:20)
• Complications of accounting systems (21:00)
• Mountain climbing (22:40)
• Old Nokia phones (25:00)
• Andrew’s climbing stories (27:30)
• Andrew’s family (30:00)
• Andrew’s upcoming family vacation (33:00)
• The current state of Dope CFO (36:20)