Creative Agency Success Show

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“The first thing you want to do is identify what you think is going to happen over the next 2-3 months.” - Jody Grunden

The finer details of this episode 

• The main things to look at in your forecast when your business is struggling 
• How often to look at your forecast when times are tough 
• The 15% net income model and how you can use your forecast to achieve it 
• A walkthrough of how we are serving one of our clients during the COVID-19 crisis 
• Scenario planning to eliminate unnecessary worry 
• Tips and insights on the PPP loan 

Episode resources

• Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net
• Email us with questions/comments- [email protected]  

Quote

“You are not trying to just increase your top-line revenue. Your bottom line needs to be increasing too.” - Jody Grunden

The finer details of this episode 

• How Summit CPA used forecasting to help a client double their revenue 
• What part of your business to work on in order to create growth 
• Determining if you have the capacity to grow the way you want to 
• The “Four Levers of Growth” that you need to cover in your growth plan 
• How to manage a distributed team as your firm gets bigger 
• Getting your team excited about the goal and keep the motivation up 
• Tips on the hiring process as your team gets bigger 

Episode resources

• Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net
• Email us with questions/comments- [email protected]

Quote

“It doesn’t make sense to drain your cash in order to save for taxes” - Jody Grunden

The finer details of this episode 

• Tax laws and how to follow them 
• Cash-based vs accrual-based 
• What you can do to lower your tax bill 
• How to forecast your tax bill 
• What creative agencies need to know about their taxes 
• Is it your location or the client’s locations that matter? 

Episode resources

• Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net
• Email us with questions/comments- [email protected]  

Quote

“Creating a dedicated space for your work is one of the most essential things you can do when working from home.” - Adam Hale 

The finer details of this episode 

• How Summit CPA became a virtual company
• Work from home tips from the Summit CPA team
• Perks of working from home
• Our favorite tools for working online
• How this can actually be a blessing in disguise for your company
• How to support yourself and your coworkers through this quarantine period
• How virtual teams can support business growth even better than in-person teams

Episode resources

• Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net
• Email us with questions/comments- [email protected]
• Secoco - https://www.sococo.com/
• LastPass - https://www.lastpass.com/
• Sharepoint - https://products.office.com/en-us/sharepoint/collaboration
• Boxcryptor - https://www.boxcryptor.com/en/

Quote

“The fact that you created a process is more important than what process you use. What matters is that you have a process.” - Jamie Nau 

The finer details of this episode 

• How often you should be looking at your bank balance
• How to determine your inflow to start a cash flow forecast 
• How to forecast your outflows 
• Reasons you should reconcile your account as often as possible 
• Why your business should have a line of credit as opposed to taking out loans 
• Things you can do to make sure you always have cash flowing into your business

Episode resources

• Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net
• Email us with questions/comments- [email protected]  

Quote

“When you have a lot of recurring revenue, you are able to increase your capacity for more projects and take more risks.” - Adam Hale 

The finer details of this episode 

• How Summit CPA started with recurring revenue streams 
• How the subscription based model solved many of the problems we faced early on in business 
• Different ways that marketing firms can take advantage of the recurring revenue model 
• Key things to remember when setting up recurring revenue in your business 
• How recurring revenue enhances your cash flow and allows you to take more risks in your business 
• The process of setting up automatic regular payments with your clients 

Episode resources

• Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net
• Email us with questions/comments- [email protected]  

Quote

“You know that it’s going to happen, but it’s not possible to predict exactly when, so the key is to prepare for it.” - Jody Grunden

The finer details of this episode 

• What is a recession? 
• What happens during a recession 
• Tips to prepare your business for a recession 
• Why you should start planning now for the next recession 
• The biggest tool you have against a recession 
• The advantages of going into a recession strong and well prepared 
• Things you can do right now to ensure your success in the next recession
• Why you should run scenarios and some sample scenarios to think through
• Why you shouldn’t be worried or heavily impacted by a recession 

Episode resources

• Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net
• Email us with questions/comments- [email protected]

Quote

“Forecasting gives us the opportunity to reroute, so we can stay on track with the goal.” - Adam Hale  

The finer details of this episode 

• The difference between budgeting, forecasting, and resourcing
• How Summit CPA began to implement forecasting with our clients
• How far ahead you should look when forecasting
• How forecasting can help you reach your long-term goals
• How to create a forecast for your business
• The importance of separating out your expenses in forecasts
• The best time of year to put together a forecast for your business

Episode resources

• Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net
• Email us with questions/comments- [email protected]

“It’s important that the amount you have in your pipeline varies based on what your future outlook looks like.” - Jamie Nau

The finer details of this episode

• How often you should look at pipeline metrics
• The different parts of the pipeline that can be measured and controlled
• The three inputs that should be evaluated regularly
• How to calculate Recognized Revenue and why that’s important
• Why looking ahead 3 months is the best way to look at pipeline metrics
• The formula to calculate the percent capacity
• How the pipeline metrics fit into the other numbers in your business

Episode resources

• Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net
• Email us with questions/comments- [email protected]

“A service-based company should be making 15% net income, 10% is the break-even.” - Jody Grunden

The finer details of this episode

• Why 10% is the new break-even
• How profit margins get smaller as your company gets bigger
• The sections of an income statement and why they are important
• How to calculate your actual gross profit and determine what it should be
• How much to invest in your employees outside of their paycheck
• The difference between overhead cost and production cost
• What you can do to increase your gross profit
• How to prepare for a recession

Episode resources

• Summit CPA website - www.summitcpa.net
• Email us with questions/comments- [email protected]