New studio, new building, and the first episode recorded in it — which turned into a looser, more honest conversation than usual.

Matt and Mike open with the move. Nine to twelve months of planning, three weeks of the entire team working remote while the building came together, and a hard-earned verdict from Matt: whoever moves this building next will be the new owner of the firm. But the bigger takeaway wasn't the logistics. It was what happened when everyone came back. The energy flipped on the moment the team was in one place again. Working from home is great when it's a choice. It's a different thing entirely when it's mandatory.

Then, with 70+ people heading to Memphis for the firm visit next week, they get into the part that actually keeps them up at night.

Matt's answer to "what do you still not have figured out?" starts with people — staff development, the balance between doing the work and growing — and lands somewhere more uncomfortable: client engagement. He wants clients digging into the numbers with him, finding the extra 1% in food cost, thinking about retention. Mostly they don't. And Mike pushes on whether that's actually a problem, because the reason a business owner hires you is specifically so they don't have to think about this stuff. That's why I gave it to you. That's why I'm paying you money.

That's the tension the whole conversation circles: they see themselves as business advisors as much as accountants, but when a client's business is struggling, the person they call is usually someone else in their industry — not their accounting firm.

Matt's read on it by the end is the honest one. It's his own angst, not the team's and not the clients'. The clients are getting what they paid for and then some.

In this episode:

• The move, the three weeks fully remote, and why the team came back saying the same thing
• Why "I want you to care more about your numbers" collides with "that's why I'm paying you"
• The gap between accountant and business advisor — and who the client actually calls when things get hard
• Whether small business owners should care more about the accounting function
• Getting wishful about other firms' more engaged clients, and why that comparison might be a trap
• The difference between clients not caring and clients not knowing you're the resource

💬 Wrestling with the same questions in your own firm? Drop a comment, send us a message, or share this with a firm owner who's trying to figure out what their team should look like next.

🎙 Want to be a guest? We're opening the show up to firm owners who want to talk shop. Reach out and let's talk.

Connect with us:Matt Patrick on LinkedIn → https://hubs.la/Q04fKVdQ0Mike Shaeffer on LinkedIn → https://hubs.la/Q04fKVdX0patrickaccounting.com

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