Accountant's Flight Plan

Hosted by Brannon Poe; Poe Group Advisors

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136

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Welcome to The Accountant's Flight Plan , where we guide you toward building a top-tier CPA firm that you would want to buy. With over 20 years of working with accountants in mergers and acquisitions, Brannon Poe, CPA delves into engaging and vital topics with industry leaders. Unpacking everything from transition planning and accounting practice sales to practice management and firm development, Brannon equips you with the tools you need to build the practice of your dreams. Whether you are navigating firm growth or exploring the nuances of succession planning, join us to learn actionable insights that will empower and inspire you to love your firm again.

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June 10, 202619 min

The Gap Between Financial Success and Fulfillment

Brian Gray made partner at a top 100 CPA firm, built a career advising billionaires and high-net-worth families on complex tax strategies, and then realized that none of it had made him any happier.Brian is a tax partner, award-winning CPA, frequent speaker at the USC Tax Institute, and the author of Suck Less, Laugh More. He has had a front-row seat to some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs and noticed a pattern: about 10% of them get the balance right and 90% are still searching. By his early forties, he recognized himself in that pattern. He was helping clients structure their legacies while his own family life was strained, and he had been telling himself that family came first when his actions said otherwise.This conversation goes deeper than practice management. Brian shares the specific moment that shifted everything, the exercises he used to identify the beliefs running in the background, and how he rebuilt his personal values, his family values, and eventually his firm's values from the ground up. His firm's core value landed on caring, and he and his business partner made the financial commitments to back it up, hiring for capacity and reinvesting in their team even when it meant reducing the bottom line.The conversation covers:Why making partner didn't change anything and how that realization set off a deeper searchHow having a front-row seat to entrepreneurial clients revealed the pattern: financial success rarely equals fulfillmentWhy telling yourself family comes first when your actions say otherwise keeps you stuckHow writing down seven days of negative and positive emotions reveals the patterns running in the backgroundWhy he moved "success" from his number one value to number six and replaced it with loveHow his firm landed on caring as its core value and then made the hiring decisions to actually live itThe warrior and the wizard framework: why achieving eventually needs to give way to mastering your emotionsTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Brannon Poe intro and podcast welcome 00:13 - Introducing Brian Gray: tax partner, speaker, author of "Suck Less, Laugh More" 00:48 - The gap between financial success and fulfillment: what Brian observed in wealthy clients 01:39 - Asking the question: when is enough, enough? 02:05 - Making partner and realizing it did not solve anything 03:07 - The Olympic gold medal pattern: achieving the goal and wondering what it was all for 03:32 - What the astronauts who went to the moon felt when they came back 04:02 - How alcohol became a way to numb the gap between achievement and meaning 04:51 - What it looks like when high-achieving CPA clients are financially successful but not fulfilled 05:10 - Growing as a way to become more, not just accumulate more 06:12 - The midlife reset: when it arrives, how long it lasts, and what kind of clarity it takes 06:51 - Helping clients structure their legacies while his own life needed restructuring 07:17 - The specific moment of clarity: "my family deserves better than I'm being" 08:21 - Being honest about what really came first: business or family 09:03 - The lies high achievers tell themselves and how the ego protects against discomfort 09:49 - Humility and gratitude as the antidote to self-deception 10:13 - How a core belief like "success equals happiness" gets installed and how to question it 10:55 - Shifting the number one core value from success to love, and what changed 11:17 - The seven-day emotion-tracking exercise from "Suck Less, Laugh More" 11:58 - What the exercise reveals about the emotional patterns running in the background 12:22 - The warrior and the wizard: why the achiever eventually gets tired 12:45 - Why high achievers are especially at risk of the burnout that comes from the warrior pattern 13:07 - Tony Robbins on emotion: you have already felt what you are chasing 13:26 - Why the satisfaction from external achievements lasts days, not months 14:04 - Stated values vs. lived values: how Brian approached this for himself, his family, and his firm 14:39 - Writing down eight family values with his kids in middle school 15:29 - How the firm's leadership team landed on "caring" as the number one company value 16:08 - What it actually means to live the value of caring: hiring for capacity and investing in the team 16:27 - Hiring and client decisions driven by values, not just targets 17:07 - Funny story: parenting teenagers and the wisdom of just saying yes 18:15 - Book recommendation: "Suck Less, Laugh More" by Brian Gray 18:42 - Additional recommendation: "Die with Zero" by Bill Perkins 19:03 - Where to connect with Brian: LinkedInBook Recommendations:Suck Less, Laugh More by Brian Gray Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins

June 4, 202650 min

Right People, Right Seats: How EOS Helps CPA Firm Owners Build Teams That Scale

Meghan Hickman has spent over three years as our EOS implementer at Poe Group Advisors, and this conversation is one we have been looking forward to sharing. Meghan works with entrepreneurial leadership teams to help them build structure, create accountability, and scale with intention. She has helped over 40 organizations do exactly that, including ours.The conversation covers:How a career in politics taught Meghan to recognize when your work is bringing out the worst in youWhy the "right person, right seat" framework gives leaders language for decisions they already sense but can't articulateHow the Accountability Chart reveals the structure a firm actually needs vs. the one it has outgrownWhy the Vision Traction Organizer works where traditional strategic plans fail, because it evolves every 90 daysHow to distinguish between head signals and heart signals when deciding whether to restructure or exitWhy the companies that scale fastest are the ones willing to run toward hard problems and simplify relentlesslyHow vulnerability-based trust separates teams that break through from teams that stay stuckTimestamps:00:36 - Meghan's background: from US Senate press secretary to entrepreneur 01:26 - How a copy of "Traction" in 2014 changed the direction of Meghan's career 01:52 - Growing an EOS company by 62% in five years and launching her own practice 03:12 - Starting in the least entrepreneurial environment possible: bureaucracy vs. the private sector 04:43 - The moment Meghan knew it was time to leave: the night Osama bin Laden was captured 06:09 - Sending out resumes at 1:00 in the morning and the one that changed everything 07:48 - Effective self vs. destructive self activity: the exercise that explained everything 09:28 - What working in the private sector revealed about her unique abilities 11:14 - Core value alignment: using values to attract the right people like a magnet 13:04 - Why the press secretary seat was the wrong one and what EOS language helped her understand 15:21 - Burnout vs. readiness to sell: how to tell the difference 17:04 - Head signals: the business is running you, things feel harder than they should 19:14 - The prescription for heart signals: a leap, whether that is a transition, a sale, or a new chapter 22:02 - Meghan's own red flags: road rage, everyone seems difficult, an unmade bed 25:37 - What the Accountability Chart actually does and why it matters past five or ten employees 28:08 - The value of an outside perspective: seeing the game when you cannot see it from the field 30:22 - The Vision Traction Organizer: a two-page strategic plan that actually gets used 33:17 - How your ideal clients evolve as your firm evolves, and why revisiting matters every 90 days 37:20 - Why firms that obsess over simplification and say no more than yes scale the fastest 40:05 - Meghan's memorable career story: getting her senator to the Today show in the nick of time 45:06 - There is no learning in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the learning zone 45:48 - Book recommendations: "Traction," The Five Minute Journal, and "The Gifts of Imperfection."📚 Book Recommendations: 📚Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman [https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837]The Five Minute Journal by Intelligent Change [https://www.amazon.com/Five-Minute-Journal-Happier-Minutes/dp/0991846206]The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown [https://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Imperfection-Think-Supposed-Embrace/dp/159285849X]Download Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.*Download now and receive:*- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

May 28, 202629 min

The Ideal Practice Model: Seven Areas That Transform a CPA Firm

Joe Woodard has trained over 150,000 accounting professionals and spent his career studying what separates firms that grow from firms that stay stuck. His answer? It almost always starts with pricing.In this conversation, Joe walks through the Woodard Ideal Practice Model, which focuses on seven key areas of operational excellence: brand, services, clients, technology, process, engagements, and team. But the most actionable insight he shares is simpler than a seven-part framework. He says the very first lever any firm should pull is pricing, and he lays out a specific strategy for doing it. Double the price on your bottom 20% of clients. If half of them stay, you have the same revenue. If all of them leave, you get the capacity back. Either way, you win.Joe also shares a measured perspective on AI adoption, noting that mass adoption in accounting is still 12 to 18 months away and that the best thing practitioners can do right now is learn directly from the developers of the platforms they already use.This episode is for firm owners curious about how to create capacity without hiring, practitioners ready to revisit their pricing strategy before the next busy season, leaders wondering where to start with advisory services, and anyone interested in a practical framework for building a more valuable practice.Timestamps00:14 - Introducing Joe Woodard: founder of Woodard, host of Scaling New Heights 02:03 - How Joe's practice led to Scaling New Heights and a coaching and consulting division 04:01 - The shift from compliance to advisory: what is holding CPA firms back 06:01 - Skill set and mindset working together: cash flow projections, dashboards, and KPIs 07:16 - The downward spiral: too busy to invest in new skills, team pressure, and turnover 09:18 - Applying the Pareto Principle to your CPA firm client base 10:42 - How to move methodically through the full client base after creating capacity 12:19 - How pricing improvements affect CPA firm valuation: revenue per FTE and clients per million 13:33 - Why the mindset block comes back around when targeting larger advisory clients 16:34 - How to reinvent your service structure instead of just improving the existing one 19:05 - Why most accounting firms are under-contracted and what to do about it 20:13 - AI adoption in accounting: where the profession is now and how fast it is moving 22:30 - Xero, QuickBooks, and Intuit: how AI integrations are already changing daily workflows 24:08 - Joe's story: his daughter, a butterfly named Alicia, and a mockingbird 27:01 - Book recommendation: "A World Without Work" by Daniel Susskind 29:03 - Where to find Joe Woodard online: woodard.comDownload Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.*Download now and receive:*- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

May 14, 202617 min

Focus Works Every Time: Brannon Poe and Ian Brennan Close Out the Power of Focus Series

Seven episodes. Dozens of real-world examples. One recurring answer.Brannon Poe and Ian Brennan sit down one more time to close out the Power of Focus series. Throughout this series, the pattern that emerges is hard to ignore: the firms that get results are the ones that get intentional about where they put their energy.This episode is for accounting firm owners who have listened to the series and are ready to identify their first move, practitioners curious about how the 80/20 Principle applies to their client list and services, leaders wondering how to build a team culture that attracts and retains the right people, and CPA firm owners ready to shift from working in the firm to working on it.Timestamps: 01:04 - Welcome to the final episode of the Power of Focus series 02:20 - Ian opens the conversation: recurring themes across the Power of Focus series 03:40 - Why focus is a simple concept with a powerful and consistent payoff 04:40 - Why creating capacity is the essential first step for any CPA firm transformation 05:25 - Where Brannon's focus on focus came from: the 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch 07:06 - Letting go: Greg Toner and Bill and Chris Murphy as standout examples from the series 07:54 - Staffing in a shrinking talent pool: why culture is the most durable retention strategy 08:54 - How client selection and service mix affect team morale and turnover in CPA firms 09:39 - Why sharing a clear vision with your team matters more than most firm owners realize 10:27 - What Brannon has observed about vision when selling accounting firms in the M&A space 12:30 - How a focused vision makes your CPA firm more attractive to job candidates 14:04 - Why being a jack of all trades limits margins and exhausts accounting firm owners 15:57 - Greg Toner's growth model: how knowing the recipe made scaling repeatable 16:21 - Brannon's closing thought: find a mastermind and surround yourself with other firm owners 17:08 - Ian closes the series: seven episodes, real results, an invitation to dive in

May 6, 202624 min

What Buyers Are Really Looking For

A niche accounting firm with 45% cash flow and 1,500 owner hours sold for 5.6 million dollars on 2.6 million in revenue. That is the kind of result possible when a CPA firm owner gets intentional about the factors buyers care about most. In this episode, Brannon Poe sits down with Laurens Ball, a highly accomplished intermediary at Poe Group Advisors, to break down what really drives practice valuations in today's market.This is the latest episode in our Power of Focus series, where we explore how CPA firm owners use focus as a strategic advantage. Laurens brings real-world case studies from the M&A side, showing how niche firms consistently grow faster, charge 20 to 40% higher fees, and attract buyers willing to pay premium prices. From a dental-focused practice generating daily referrals to an agricultural firm that found its perfect buyer by leaning into its specialty, the evidence is clear: focus pays off at the point of sale.Timestamps00:00 - Introduction to the Power of Focus series and Accounting Practice Academy 00:25 - Welcoming Laurens Ball, senior intermediary at Poe Group Advisors 01:32 - What is a focused CPA firm? Laurens' definition 02:13 - Why intentionality is the foundation of practice growth 02:37 - Why hesitant-to-niche firm owners are leaving value on the table 03:19 - How niche accounting practices grow faster and charge 20 to 40% higher fees 03:52 - Dental niche example: weekly referrals and consistent growth 04:08 - Professional poker player niche: a memorable and lower-owner-hour firm 05:00 - Why niche firm margins, growth, and owner hours make them desirable at market 05:27 - Cost segregation firm: multiple offers, all-cash close 06:16 - Agricultural firm example: tractor on the website and the right buyer match 07:46 - Current state of the CPA firm M&A market in spring 2026 08:09 - When strong firms can see 7X EBITDA and what it takes to get there 09:03 - Niche firm sold at 5.6X: what the numbers looked like 09:41 - What buyers are really evaluating: cash flow, team strength, growth prospects 10:43 - How de-risking your accounting firm opens up more buyers and better terms 11:48 - Why the team is becoming the most important factor for roll-up buyers 11:48 - The "90-day question": what falls apart first if the owner steps away 12:08 - How to analyze your CPA firm client list for quality, fit, and pricing 12:31 - Seller case study: raising fees from $360 toward $700, keeping 98% of clients 14:08 - Across-the-board 20% price increase: 2,000 returns, five clients left 14:49 - CPAs have more pricing power than ever, with some firms at $2,000 per 1040 16:32 - How owner dependence affects buyer interest and sale terms 18:35 - Success story: owner reduced hours by 500 while keeping EBITDA steady 19:26 - Top advice for accounting firm owners who are 3 to 5 years from a sale 20:31 - How six months to a year of changes can mean $1 million more in valuation 21:02 - Why team health is the longest-lead and highest-impact strategy before a sale 22:33 - Why owner-centric practitioners are hardest to get to stop and look at the firmDownload Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.*Download now and receive:*- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

April 23, 20261 hr 10 min

How Choosing Better Clients Builds More Profitable Accounting Firms

Ric Payne has been thinking about how accountants build better practices for decades. If you have been in the industry for a while, you likely know about Ric Payne. He co-founded Results Accounting Systems in 1992, ran the Accountants Boot Camp across multiple continents, and worked with thousands of firms around the world. His conclusion? High-performing firms are selective about who they work with. The conversation also features Ian Brennan, director of Accounting Practice Academy (APA), a PGA workshop. Ian and Ric discuss how intentional client selection is foundational to everything else a firm tries to do; from pricing and marketing to advisory services and succession planning. This episode is for firm owners curious about how strategic client selection creates pricing power and referral momentum, practitioners ready to build a client base that supports an advisory practice, CPA firm leaders wondering how to increase net profit without simply chasing more revenue, and accountants who want to build a practice they are genuinely excited to show up for.Timestamps:0:00 - Introduction to The Accountant's Flight Plan podcast and guests3:11 - Overview of the episode: client selection and Ric's white paper6:42 - Why having no client criteria means having no strategy7:33 - Steve Jobs on what not to do: the decision framework that changed Ric's approach9:01 - The four growth profiles: fast-start satisfier, opportunistic harvester, & the patient builder15:15 - The founder's gap vs. the Midas gap: two very different CPA firm outcomes19:07 - Baker's Law: bad clients drive out good clients20:54 - Why partners with lower utilization often have the highest net profit per partner23:18 - Systems theory: your CPA firm is perfectly designed for the results it gets26:58 - John Wooden's definition of success and why it applies to accounting firm owners32:53 - Case study: UK accounting firm replaces ten 1,000-pound clients with one 10,000-pound client37:01 - Dealing with imposter syndrome when stepping into an advisory role41:11 - The 11 client selection criteria: the full walkthrough begins57:05 - Roger Martin's Playing to Win [https://www.amazon.com/dp/142218739X ]and how it applies to accounting practice management1:00:44 - Brannon on how the criteria tie back to personality, results, and client experience1:05:46 - APA lesson: You cannot market your accounting firm if you don't know who your clients are1:08:13 - How to find Ric Payne and access the client selection white paperDownload Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.*Download now and receive:*- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

April 16, 202632 min

How a $1.5M Firm Grew to $7M Organically with Jason Ackerman

Jason Ackerman, Co-Managing Partner at BNA Advisors, helped grow the firm from a $1.5 million firm to over $7 million organically, without acquiring a single practice. He joined his father's firm in 2012, scaled the team from 14 to 35 people, and built systems that allow the firm to handle more than 2,000 individual tax returns per year. His approach combines practical technology adoption, intentional pricing strategy, and a long view on people and talent.This is the fifth episode in our Power of Focus series and Jason's story is a strong example of what is possible when a firm stops trying to do everything and starts doing the right things well. This episode digs into the specific tools and tactics Jason's team is using right now, during tax season. His firm is rolling out 8821 authorizations for every client so they can pull IRS transcripts through Tax Now, catching payment discrepancies and missed filings before they become problems. They are also using a payment platform called Remission to schedule quarterly estimated payments for clients in one place. They’re reducing the back-and-forth and keeping the firm proactive rather than reactive. Both moves are part of a broader philosophy: reduce what the client has to do, increase what the firm can see.The through line of this conversation is intentionality. Jason is not automating things for the sake of automation, he’s not chasing every new AI platform, and he’s not pricing low to win volume. Every decision connects back to a clear standard: does this make the practice better, or does it just add noise? That kind of focus, applied consistently over more than a decade, is how a $1.5 million firm becomes a $7 million firm without a single acquisition.This episode is for CPA firm owners curious about building scalable systems without outside capital, practitioners ready to revisit their pricing strategy before the next season, firm managers wondering how to develop staff into more business-aware team members, and accounting practice owners thinking ahead about talent and technology in a changing industry.Timestamps00:36 - Jason Ackerman introduces BNA Advisors: $7M firm, organic growth, and co-founding a software startup01:08 - Growing a CPA firm from $1.5M to $7M without acquisitions since 201202:21 - Series context: practice management tactics for tax season 202603:23 - Why tax compliance still requires real expertise despite the shift toward advisory05:07 - The 8821 strategy: pulling IRS transcripts proactively for every accounting client06:46 - Using Remission to schedule and track quarterly estimated tax payments08:24 - The biggest operational pain points BNA solved as the firm scaled to 35 people09:22 - Why Karbon became a cornerstone of BNA's CPA firm practice management system10:52 - How to approach technology adoption: change one thing at a time12:15 - How Jason evaluates new software as an early adopter in the accounting industry13:22 - A measured take on AI tools: waiting for the market to shake out15:56 - How private equity is reshaping the accounting talent pipeline27:42 - Why value pricing is the single biggest lever for CPA firm owners preparing to sell29:21 - Why pricing high from the start attracts better accounting clients and protects your time30:38 - Book recommendation: discussion of the Karbon co-founder book featuring BNA AdvisorsDownload Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.*Download now and receive:*- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

April 8, 202623 min

How to Get a 4-day Weekend During Tax Season

Chip Summers worked 2,900 hours a year for over 25 years. Every Saturday. Some Sundays. Always behind. Then he made a series of decisions that transformed his firm.He raised prices across the board. He moved on from high-maintenance, low-return clients. He gave up control and let his staff handle work from start to finish. He invested in technology that made everyone more efficient. And in December 2025, for the first time in over 25 years, he was caught up. He had almost nothing to do. It felt weird, but wonderful.Today, Chip's eight-person firm in Orangeburg, South Carolina doesn't work Saturdays anymore. They close every Friday after tax season. During tax season, they're only open half days on Fridays. His staff isn't burnt out. His clients bring organized documents instead of shoe boxes. And he's serving as Vice Chair of the South Carolina Board of Accountancy while running a healthier practice than he ever thought possible.This is the fourth episode in our Power of Focus series, where we explore how CPA firm owners use focus as a strategic advantage. Chip's story shows that transformation doesn't happen overnight, but when you touch every aspect of your practice with intentional changes, the results compound.The conversation covers:How working 2,900 hours a year with no end in sight became the motivation for changeWhy pricing was only part of the transformation, giving up control mattered just as muchThe year they set minimums and lost fewer than five clientsHow technology investments made the team more efficient without increasing hoursWhy closing Fridays after tax season boosted staff morale and reduced turnoverThe decision to exit attestation work and focus entirely on tax planning and consultingHow being upfront about pricing changes led to almost zero pushback from clientsChip's biggest lesson? You can't do it all yourself. Most accountants want to touch everything from start to finish. But when you structure your staff to handle work properly, invest in the right technology, and price your services to match the value you deliver, you create capacity you didn't know was possible. And that capacity changes everything.This episode is for firm owners working too many hours for the revenue they're generating, leaders curious about how to delegate without losing quality, practitioners wondering if it's possible to run a firm without weekend work, and anyone ready to transform multiple aspects of their practice at once.Time Stamps:00:14 - Introduction: Chip Summers, Orangeburg CPA since 199101:34 - Serving as Vice Chair of SC Board of Accountancy02:36 - The CPA firm that said yes to everyone for 45 years03:18 - Why being everything to everybody became impossible04:01 - Working 2,900 hours a year with no end in sight05:32 - Caught up for the first time in 25 years: how it felt06:10 - You can't do it all yourself: restructuring Accounting staff workflows07:17 - Technology investments that made everyone more efficient07:29 - Discussing pricing upfront and what changed08:39 - From shoe boxes to organized Tax clients09:24 - A completely different CPA firm than four years ago10:21 - No more Saturday work for staff10:57 - Raising prices 5-10% every year and losing fewer than five clients12:03 - The biggest change: giving up control13:27 - When staff burn out, they leave, and someone else gets your investment14:03 - The story of giving away a client file on his first month15:21 - Book: The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins15:45 - "Nobody is ever going to die from an accounting emergency."Download Now: https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/increase-letter/Price increases are nothing to fear. The real challenge is effectively informing clients of these changes. Our templates will help you demonstrate your value and help clients understand the increases necessary to keep your firm afloat.*Download now and receive:*- (1) Major Fee Increase Letter Template- (1) 20% Fee Increase Letter Template

April 1, 202616 min

How Niching Down to Veterinarians Built a 15X Practice

Greg Toner kept only his best clients, raised prices, picked one niche, and grew his practice 15X.While many CPAs accept any business that comes their way, Greg found success by being highly selective. He looked at his client list, identified the bottom 10% who weren't getting value from his work, and let them go. Then he raised fees on the clients who remained. His team didn't complain. His revenue didn't drop. And the capacity he created allowed him to focus exclusively on serving veterinarians across Canada.Today, Greg works with 360 vet practices from coast to coast. He doesn't prepare tax returns anymore. He doesn't do bookkeeping. His role has evolved into technical sales and high-level tax planning because he built systems that allow his team to handle the rest. When you niche down and get really good at solving the same 15 problems over and over, referrals fly and close rates skyrocket.This is the third episode in our Power of Focus series, where we explore how CPA firm owners use focus as a strategic advantage. Greg's story proves that the riches really are in the niches, but only if you're willing to make the hard decisions first.Timestamps:01:55 - How firing the wrong Accounting clients changed everything 03:18 - The APA spreadsheet that made the decision obvious 04:14 - Why his team was happy to see clients leave 04:57 - No revenue loss, not even in the short term 05:19 - The dam holding back good clients 06:17 - Why he joined APA (opportunistic, not desperate) 07:01 - From sole Accounting practitioner to 15X revenue 07:28 - Evolving from doer to technical sales role 09:11 - The mental leap of hiring high-salary staff for your CPA firm 11:07 - Solve the same problem 100 times, become a hero 12:23 - Why niching down made CPA Firm growth rapid 13:26 - 10 leads a week, high close rate 13:50 - How 15 vet clients became 360 across Canada 15:18 - The horror film basement full of paper files 16:56 - Book: 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan

March 26, 202621 min

Half a Million in Six Months: How to Transform Firm Value

Bill and Chris Murphy increased their firm's value by half a million dollars in six months. They weren't desperate to sell, just ready to work reasonable hours with clients they liked. So they did something about it. They fired almost all their individual tax clients and more than doubled their fees.The result? They gained revenue and clients happily paid for the valuable work they provided. Their firm had the capacity to provide even better service to their remaining clients. . And when they sold their firm with us back in 2022, they closed for $500,000 more than their original listing price.This is a husband-and-wife team who merged their separate practices, worked themselves into the ground, and then made the hard decisions that transformed everything. They cut unprofitable clients, raised prices dramatically, restructured staff workload through weekly meetings, and learned to trust the process even when it felt uncomfortable.Bill and Chris didn't just sell their firm. They sold a better firm, a more profitable firm, a firm that didn't depend on them working unreasonable hours. And they did it by firing clients who don't fit, charging what they're worth, and trusting that the revenue will come back.This episode is for firm owners who know there is a better way to build a balanced practice, but haven’t known how to get there. This is a success case study on the power focus! Key Timestamps:02:21 - Bill's biggest roadblock: staying in the weeds and not developing staff04:18 - The mental, spiritual, and physical toll of holding onto all the work07:12 - The big move: firing almost all individual tax clients08:35 - How the first APA lesson paid for the entire workshop09:57 - The biggest obstacle to letting clients go: themselves, not the clients12:49 - How pruning clients created capacity for everything else13:21 - Doubling fees and the apology that worked14:37 - "I'm sorry for undercharging you before."16:02 - You have to put the work in, APA isn't passive17:14 - Monday morning meetings: agenda, time limit, workload reallocation19:16 - Driving the bus vs. riding in the back seat24:24 - Book recommendation: Walk Away Wealthy by Mark Tepper