108: From the GAO to Successful Entrepreneur – Libby King CPA

Libby King of Libby King & Associates in Austin, Texas, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, a podcast production of Where Accountants Go. If you’ve ever daydreamed about how you could use your industry accounting background to service clients in a self-employment or contractor capacity, this episode is for you.

US GAO

One of the interesting parts of this discussion for me personally was actually Libby’s first job out of college. She worked as an Auditor with the United States General Accounting Office.  I had always wondered what a position with the GAO may be like, and Libby shared some of her experiences with us on the show.  There are way to many details to share in the show-notes here, but suffice it to say that one of the organizations they audited was so large that anything under $80 million dollars was considered an immaterial item with regards to the audit.  Truly an amazing experience I’m sure.

Her Eureka Moment

When asked about how she decided to start her business, Libby said it truly was a “eureka moment”. She was in a position where she was providing value, but she always seemed to feel like she was treated as an overhead item, and that feeling didn’t sit well with her.  It was at this point that she decided to put her prior governmental experience to use and go into business for herself servicing small start-up businesses, including those in the governmental contracting space.

Where They Are Today

As of the time of this interview, Libby King & Associates has grown to about 15 team members comprised of transactional support professionals as well as management consulting experts. They service clients in the “2 to 10” space as Libby says… two to ten years in business, and two to ten million in revenues.  In reality they service clients outside of these parameters, but it makes it easier to have a guideline for what makes an ideal client for the firm as they continue to grow.

Another important factor in the success of their business is a mastery of cost accounting. Cost accounting is highly important when doing business with the government, so it is an area that the team at Libby King & Associates has developed as a core strength.  Ironically it wasn’t Libby’s favorite subject in school, but she’s learned to work around that for the good of the customer. 

Other podcasts you may enjoy include Matt Malcom’s episode and the interview with Marcus Dillon.

Please listen in on this interview with Libby King by clicking on the player below: