Working Theory Podcast

Clients can now pay Karbon invoices by ACH without logging into their bank, and Apple Pay works on invoice payment links. Max Ducharme and Brooks Wheatley walk through the latest Karbon release, from payments and engagements to the new contacts page and API updates.

The theme of this release is simple: fewer steps between a client saying yes and your firm getting paid. If you want engagement status changes to move work items forward automatically, the hosts explain the API feature idea worth voting for in the Karbon Community.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome and release overview

01:03 Manual ACH with instant verification

05:37 Entering bank details for clients

07:25 Apple Pay and Google Pay

08:21 Daily digest for signed engagements

10:03 Engagement comments and draft templates

12:18 Renewal work items and an API request

17:24 Close automation in the release notes

19:27 Sidebar customization and themes

22:13 Contacts page upgrades

27:51 The theme: from yes to paid

28:55 API updates: segments and PATCH

31:23 How Max and Brooks help firms

IN THIS EPISODE

- Clients can type in a routing and account number for ACH, and Karbon verifies the account instantly. There is no bank login and no wait for deposit verification. The option is a small "Enter bank details manually" link below the bank list, so a highlighted screenshot helps clients find it.

- Firms holding signed payment authorizations may be able to enter bank details on a client's behalf. Read Karbon's terms of service before you try it.

- Apple Pay now works on invoice payment links opened on Apple devices, alongside Google Pay on Android.

- A once-a-day digest now tells you when engagements are signed but not yet set up, and engagements have an activity section with comments and mentions.

- Service templates can be saved as drafts, so a half-finished template can no longer be picked for an engagement.

- The contacts page gets sticky headers, column toggles and reordering, and jump to page. The API adds a segments preview, PATCH for work item statuses, and a last modified date on work items.

QUESTIONS?

Reach out to either of us; we are happy to help.

Navica Consulting (Max): https://navica.llc

Framework Solutions (Brooks): https://www.frameworksolutions.co/

ABOUT THE SHOW

The Working Theory Podcast is for accounting firms already on Karbon that want to optimize how they use it. Optimization, not onboarding. Hosted by Max Ducharme (Navica Consulting) and Brooks Wheatley (Framework Solutions), two Karbon implementation consultants who worked inside accounting firms before going independent.

The Working Theory Podcast is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Karbon.

#Karbon #AccountingFirms #PracticeManagement #KarbonPayments #KarbonAPI #AccountingPodcast

Max Ducharme and Brooks Wheatley catch up on five updates that shipped while the show was on hiatus: automatic engagement renewals, engagement templates with bulk creation, posting invoices without emailing them, shareable invoice payment links, and payments on account.

If you have been holding off on engagements, take note. They are now out of beta, live in every Karbon account, and the only way to set up recurring invoicing. This episode covers what changed, where each feature helps, and the gaps that remain.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome back

00:49 Where Karbon focused this summer

01:50 Automatic engagement renewals

04:01 Engagements leave beta and replace recurring invoicing

06:37 Engagements don't have to be client-facing

06:55 Engagement templates

10:26 Bulk engagement creation (and the BOI lesson)

11:59 Posting invoices without emailing them

15:10 Shareable invoice payment links

18:11 Payments on account: deposits, prepayments, and overpayments

23:11 Wrap-up and deep-dive requests

IN THIS EPISODE

- Automatic renewals create the next engagement in draft ahead of the period end, with an optional built-in price increase, so you review everything before it reaches the client.

- Engagement templates let you package services once and reuse them. Bulk creation applies a template across many clients at once. Template duplication is not available yet.

- The new Post option moves an approved invoice to awaiting payment without sending an email, ending the placeholder-address workaround for SafeSend, Ignition, and clients who don't use email.

- View and Pay Invoice opens the client-facing invoice so you can share the payment link directly.

- Payments on account let you request money without an invoice and apply the credit to future invoices. Deposits, annual prepayments, and single checks covering several invoices all get simpler, and much of the workaround from our earlier prepayments episode is no longer needed.

WANT A DEEP DIVE?

Tell us in the comments which feature you want covered next, including edge cases and full walkthroughs.

ABOUT THE SHOW

The Working Theory Podcast is for accounting firms already on Karbon that want to optimize how they use it. Optimization, not onboarding. Hosted by Max Ducharme (Navica Consulting) and Brooks Wheatley (Framework Solutions), two Karbon implementation consultants who worked inside accounting firms before going independent.

Navica Consulting: https://navicaconsult.com

Framework Solutions: https://www.frameworksolutions.co/

The Working Theory Podcast is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Karbon.

#Karbon #AccountingFirms #PracticeManagement #AccountingPodcast #KarbonHQ #FirmOperations

Delegation is one of those leadership topics that sounds simple until you actually have to do it.

In this episode of The Working Theory Podcast, Max and Brooks talk about why delegation often fails in accounting firms, especially when leaders wait until they are already overloaded. They dig into the difference between simply offloading tasks and actually delegating responsibility, and why real delegation is less about getting work off your plate and more about developing people who can own outcomes.

They also bring the conversation into Karbon, SOPs, firm workflows, busy season, AI, and the fear that holds leaders back from letting others make decisions.

The big idea: if everything depends on you, your firm cannot grow beyond you.

In this episode:

• Why delegation breaks down when it starts from urgency
• The difference between task delegation and responsibility delegation
• How Karbon workflows can either support ownership or reinforce bottlenecks
• Why mistakes are part of leadership development
• How to set expectations without over-prescribing every step
• Why firm owners need to multiply decision-making across the team
• What delegation has in common with using AI effectively
• Why training someone to “replace you” may be the best thing for your career

Books mentioned:

• The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
• Turn the Ship Around! by David Marquet
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
• Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni

Question for the comments:

What’s one thing in your firm that you’ve been offloading, but should probably be delegating as real ownership?

00:00 Delegation is more than getting work off your plate

01:19 Delegation as team development

02:12 Why urgent delegation usually fails

04:10 Delegate before busy season hits

05:06 Task delegation vs. responsibility delegation

07:44 What this looks like inside Karbon

10:43 Setting expectations without over-directing

13:20 The fear of mistakes, cost, and client risk

14:07 SOPs, standards, and ownership

15:06 Letting your team improve the process

17:14 Turn the Ship Around and leader-led bottlenecks

18:58 From giving orders to approving ownership

21:52 Why everyone keeps coming to you with questions

22:52 Accounting leaders need space for AI and strategy

25:39 Training your replacement does not make you irrelevant

27:29 Delegation and AI use the same leadership muscle

29:19 Final thoughts on growth, oversight, and mistakes

30:18 Books, memory, and Brooks being Brooks

Fixed fee billing can create better incentives for accounting firms, better client experiences, and more sustainable profitability. But it only works if you know your costs, understand the effort required, run thoughtful fee reviews, and keep tracking time.

In this episode, Max and Brooks talk through why hourly billing can punish efficiency, how automation changes the pricing conversation, how to calculate a baseline fixed fee, and why time tracking is still essential even when clients are not billed by the hour.

Chapters:

00:00 Why fixed fee matters

01:55 Better incentives for firms and clients

03:52 Automation makes hourly billing risky

05:25 Fixed fee vs. value-based billing

06:31 Managing fixed fee work in Karbon

07:07 Know your internal cost

10:55 Use a short first engagement

13:28 Run better fee reviews

15:09 Improve process or raise rates

18:57 Explain the price increase

20:04 Pricing takes math and people skills

22:26 When to lower a fee

24:51 The danger of autopilot price increases

27:15 Clients buy peace of mind

29:05 Efficiency creates capacity

31:15 Keep tracking time

33:04 Time data is firm intelligence

34:02 Closing thoughts

Karbon's April 27 release is one of the biggest in recent memory — long-requested features like customizable timesheet periods, engagements that finally create work for you, and a Gusto integration that handles shifting payroll dates. Max and Brooks Wheatley walk through every change, what's actually useful, and where the gotchas still are.

This is the Karbon Release Party — a recurring segment on The Working Theory Podcast where two Karbon implementation consultants break down each Karbon release from a practitioner perspective. Between them, Max and Brooks have helped hundreds of firms get more out of Karbon.

00:00 Intro

00:53 Aider integration goes live

02:46 Engagements can now create work items

06:42 Gusto integration — payroll work items that handle shifting dates

09:50 Karbon API updates: time entries endpoint + self-service keys

12:20 E-signature expiration extensions (no more restarting)

13:50 Suspicious email warnings

15:29 Exact email send timestamps

16:30 Filing deadlines on repeat work

17:09 Customizable timesheet periods (finally)

19:56 Edit time entries directly in draft invoices

21:41 Wrap-up

• Engagements create work — sign an engagement and Karbon generates the work items, with better control than Ignition or GoProposal. Still in open beta, but shipping fast.
• Gusto integration reads upcoming payroll dates and adjusts your next work item's due date — solving holiday-shifted paydays breaking your schedule.
• Customizable timesheet periods — change Karbon from Monday–Sunday to Sunday–Saturday, 1st–15th, monthly, or multi-week. Found under Settings → Workflow.
• Self-service API keys in Connected Apps. No more waiting on the Karbon team to activate.
• In-invoice time entry edits — fix mis-coded entries without leaving the invoice.

The Working Theory Podcast is for accounting firms that are already on Karbon and want to actually optimize how they use it. Optimization, not onboarding. Hosted by Max (Navica Consulting) and Brooks Wheatley (Framework Solutions) — two Karbon implementation consultants who spent years inside accounting firms before going independent.

🎧 New episodes on YouTube and Spotify

Max — Navica Consulting

Brooks — Framework Solutions

#Karbon #AccountingTech #PracticeManagement #AccountingFirms #KarbonHQ #AccountingPodcast #FirmOperations #AccountingWorkflow

The conversation covers the new release from Karbon, focusing on the introduction of a rich text editor, email formatting improvements, and firm-wide email settings and features. The discussion provides insights into the practical benefits of these updates and their impact on daily workflows.

Takeaways

• Rich text editor
• Email formatting
• Firm-wide email settings

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to New Karbon Release
• 09:08 Firm-Wide Email Settings and Features

In this episode, Max and Brooks discuss the process of handling prepaid fees in Karbon, focusing on creating prepayment invoices, adjusting revenue in QuickBooks Online, and the pros and cons of the prepayment process. They emphasize the importance of clear audit trails and proper revenue recognition when taking prepayments.

Takeaways

• Prepaid fees are commonly used in accounting firms for services like tax returns and financial statements.
• Taking prepayments in Karbon involves creating invoices and adjusting revenue in QuickBooks Online.
• The process of taking prepayments adds complexity but provides a clear audit trail and ensures proper revenue recognition.

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Prepaid Fees in Karbon
• 10:19 Adjusting Revenue in QuickBooks Online

The conversation covers Karbon's latest release, including updates to Karbon AI, document navigation, triage and work enhancements, engagements, Xero sync improvements, and new integrations. The release introduces significant improvements such as the ability to reassign time entries while invoicing and download signed engagements as PDFs.

Takeaways

• Karbon's latest release includes updates to Karbon AI, document navigation, and triage and work.
• The ability to reassign time entries while invoicing and download signed engagements as PDFs are significant improvements.

Chapters

• 00:00 New Integrations and Conclusion

The conversation covers the specific approach to handling prepaid payments in Karbon, including the creation of standalone work items, syncing with QuickBooks Online, sending and applying invoices, handling credit memos and invoices in QBO, tracking revenue and reporting, and the pros and cons of the approach. The conclusion introduces alternative approaches to handling prepayments in Karbon.

Takeaways

• Prepaid payments in Karbon require a specific approach
• Handling prepayments in Karbon involves syncing with QuickBooks Online

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Prepaid Payments in Karbon
• 06:08 Syncing with QuickBooks Online
• 13:10 Tracking Revenue and Reporting