In this special end-of-year episode, David Cristello, Founder & CEO of Jetpack Workflow and host of the Growing Your Firm Podcast, offers his observations of 2020 and predictions for how best to prepare for 2021 as an accounting firm owner.

We’re proud of our community of accountants and financial professionals who have stepped up to serve businesses in need in a hectic year. You have likely had so many curveballs (and a few tornadoes of questions) sent your way, but you’ve made it through another year, stronger than before. The energy you continued to gather up for yourself and your clients has raised the level of small-to-midsize businesses worldwide.

TL;DR: We could not have made it through this year without you.

We hope you’re able to rest and take stock of all that you’ve accomplished. As you reflect on this year and prepare for the next year, we’re sharing three main buckets of your firm that you should secure for a great year in 2021. Read on to learn about each bucket you should be securing, why they’re important, and how to take action on them right away.

Podcast

Summary

• Bucket 1: Secure a margin of safety for your firm.
  • Think of systems as a way to solve challenges and problems in your business.
• Bucket 2: Secure opportunities to serve existing and new clients.
  • Ecommerce
  • Additional Financing Options
• Bucket 3: Secure your own wellness and goals.
  • Make It Easier On Yourself to Stay Focused
  • Schedule Regular CEO Days

Resources

• Growing Your Firm Podcast Archives
• How to Move From Accounting Manager to CEO
• 5 Zapier-Based Automations You Can’t Live Without
• Krishna Pendyala on How to Avoid Burnout

Bucket 1: Establish a margin of safety for your firm.

Do you have enough cash on hand to weather a 30-40% drop in your business? Can you establish a line of credit just in case? Consider what finances your firm needs to stay afloat and to keep growing.

Think of systems as a way to solve challenges and problems in your business.

Is there a system, tool, or process that can help you maximize what you currently have? If you’re not already using Jetpack Workflow, you can try it for free for 14 days to automate more and reduce your firm’s overhead costs.

Leverage your time and attention away from adding headcount in your business.

Bucket 2: Seek opportunities to meet the needs of businesses everywhere.

You’ve already been taking on new clients to adjust with the times this year. Here are a couple of areas in which many businesses we anticipate will keep needing you in 2021:

Ecommerce

Ecommerce is bigger than ever before thanks to 2020. If these businesses shift into brick-and-mortar or in-person products and services as the world opens back up, they’ll need your firm’s assistance to shift into the right direction and maintain their growth.

Additional Financing Options

PPP loans. Stimulus packages. Small businesses loans. Tax planning (multiple times). Debt relief.

If you heard about it this year, you likely helped a plethora of clients with all of them. Even if 2021 opens back up early on, businesses will still be feeling the pains of 2020 and will want your advice on how to repair any damage and prepare for the possibilities of any more.

Bucket 3: Take care of yourself.

Head’s Up: We might have to be just as nimble in 2021 as we were in 2020.

We’re hoping for the best, and we have a lot of reasons to believe the world will gradually start to look more “normal” like pre-COVID times in the market. But we can’t be sure, and it’s always wise to remain flexible with your plans so you can adjust as you need. Here are our top tips for how to make a plan that works, but that is flexible enough to change as needed.

Make It Easier On Yourself to Stay Focused

If this year taught us nothing else, it taught us to fill our own cup so we can overflow to our employees, colleagues, clients, and loved ones.

How can you cut out the noise to focus on what matters in your business? One way is to reduce or remove the amount of social media, overwhelming amounts of news, etc. that you regularly consume. Stick to the sources of news you trust and need, and the communication channels that are growing your business and filling you up personally and/or professionally.

Pro Tip: If you find that you really miss the news sources and platforms you cut out, you can always return to them. There are no rules except what you establish for yourself to focus on what you want in your firm and in your life.

Schedule Regular CEO Days

We suggest that you schedule time for yourself. You can schedule a CEO Day for yourself once every 4, 6, or 8 weeks (but be smart during busy seasons not to overdo it). On this CEO Day, you can take one day to recharge, think about your business, your blockers and opportunities.

Here are the focuses we recommend for your CEO Day:

Strategize and Plan

This isn’t a PTO day, but it’s not a typical work day either. It’s a day where you get to wear only your CEO hat. Put down your admin, manager, or individual contributor hats. All of those needs can wait for one day while you focus on your business’s strategic goals, your plan to achieve each one, and the opportunities to shift any goals or focus according to the market and times.

Learn and Grow

Catch up on the industry news, research, reading, and education you need to grow as a leader. These resources can help you to reflect on your progress and your own professional goals. How are you doing against your own KPIs as a firm owner, accountant, manager (of yourself if you’re a solopreneur, or of your employees if you have a staff), and in service to your clients?

Example CEO Day Schedule

Ideally, you’ll take one whole day for this work, but if that’s too much for your current workload, start with one morning. Mark it on your calendar and make it clear for your staff and clients to know that this is the time you have dedicated to making your business and services better for everyone involved.

Here’s an example of a short morning schedule you can try out until you have more time to spend for the whole day. If you usually start your day at 7 a.m., here’s how you can spend it for your CEO Day, abridged version:

• 7 a.m. Pick up your favorite drink from your local coffee shop. Come back to your office to read for an hour. Jot down notes, and think about big questions.
• 8 a.m. Move your body in the way that you enjoy most. For David, it’s jogging around his neighborhood. If weather permits, get some fresh air and any sunshine you can find. Or keep up your streak on the virtual workout classes you’ve been mastering in 2020. Use this time to let your mind process these big questions, whether consciously or unconsciously.
• 9 a.m. Map out your priorities for the following month.

In fact, this could be your morning schedule as often as you’d like! But if you can only afford these few hours to yourself once every month or so, make sure that you stick to it as you would a meeting with your team or your clients.

May 2021 be your best year yet!

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An IIT graduate, Kishna Pendyala is currently the Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of Choice Ladder. He previously worked with congressional representative Tim Ryan at the Mindful Nation Foundation, which offers wellness services for Veterans and their family, education, and healthcare. He’s had a very diverse career from founding technology companies to being a COO and coach at a financial firm. 

In this edition of the Grow Your Firm podcast, we’re replaying Krishna’s session at the Lift Customer Conference, held earlier this year. In this talk, Krishna focuses on ways in which we can bring mindfulness and awareness into various sectors of the workforce.

Podcast

Summary

• A Metaphorical Experience
• VUCA
• The Great Escape: Unplugging
• Lifespace Reconciliation

Resources

• How to Avoid Burnout In 2020
• Have You Determined the “Inside Health” of Your CPA Firm?
• Lift Customer Conference Recap

A Metaphorical Experience

One day, Krishna went to a lake with his wife. They were having dinner in the evening, sitting close to the exhaust fan. Suddenly they noticed another couple dart away from their table, which was, of course, odd.

Krishna’s senses piqued, and he heard a faint voice saying, “Help, Help! Can anyone hear me?” With the permission of his wife, he went to investigate the source of the cry. A gentleman who had earlier left the table had reached the man who was seeking help, as he was flailing in the lake after having fallen off of his boat. 

The other couple who had left eventually returned, and Krishna inquired what had happened. The man who had fallen was working on the motor of his boat when he leaned on an unsecure railing. The railing broke, and he fell into the water. The man was holding onto the lid of the motor, which filled up with water, and he could not get out of the lake. 

There are several metaphorical insights to glean from this experience. There were several other options the man could have taken, such as letting go of the motor and returning to the scene to retrieve it another day, for the water was shallow enough to make the option possible. Of course, we also have to consider how much this year was believed to be stable, only to realize how feeble it actually is just like the railing. The prevailing theme of 2020 seems to be “Help, Help, can anyone hear me?!” 

VUCA

Our ability to reason is a hallmark of progress, a gift from historical periods of Enlightenment. However, in the shadow of panic, all of such reasoning goes out the window because of fear. In April 2020, Krishna provided tips on how to navigate uncertainty and set priorities so that a business may overcome the pandemic.

However, he emphasises that we were never truly in a state of “balance.” In matter of fact, Krishna asserts that balance is near impossible to achieve. Instead, he says that we are always in VUCA times. With technology at our fingertips more than ever, Krishna describes society’s current style of living as:

1. Volatile
2. Uncertain
3. Complex
4. Ambiguous 

Tony Robbins once said, “Where attention goes, energy flows.” In a similar sense, Krishna explains that because we are so fixated on the object of our panic, or even the state of panic itself, we are constantly on high alert at all times. “We are depleting…energy,” he says, “much more than we probably even realize. We don’t have a gas gauge to tell how much energy we have.”

Krishna double downs on this point. If you are depleted of energy from the previous day, how well are you going to perform the following day? Furthermore, how will the quality of decisions be affected by fear and panic? During periods of stress that trigger the freeze, fight, or flight response, one should take a time-out before acting rashly, allowing the mind to cool down.

The Great Escape: Unplugging

Media can often contribute to the drain and panic but so can work and cellphone use. In modern days, many of us work hard in anticipation for their break; however, our break is seldom ever used to rejuvenate our minds. Instead, we shift our attention to a new subject of addition, usually our cell phone. 

It’s not just enough to limit cell phone use. Krishna says, “I have gotten rid of my devices. I’ve turned off all notifications. I go look at it only when I want to. And weekends, they’re totally off simply because that’s the only way I can limit.” We have to look at how to protect our mind from certain kinds of information. Thus, taking exceptional care of communication practices to limit the quality of information coming into the mind is pivotal to redirecting one’s attention and energy into meaningful spaces.

Lifespace Reconciliation

As we negotiate how we engage in our spaces, it is worth reiterating that work-life balance—or any balance at all—is nearly impossible. The average person sleeps between 6 to 8 hours per day (if they’re able to do so) and works up to 12 hours per day. This does not leave much time for a personal life. To make things a little more complicated, life shifts and changes shape differently for everyone, so instead of a work-life balance, Krishna encourages “lifespace reconciliation.” Krishna has identified 6 lifespaces in his book Beyond the PIG and the APE:

1. The Self
2. Your Partner
3. Your Friends, which includes relatives and community
4. Your work
5. Your money
6. Your kids, pets, parents etc.

Often, people try to interact in each of these spaces every day. “In accounting, you might say, I want to reconcile balance or reconcile my books every so often. And you can define that time period in life spaces. You can do the same, but it can be a different time period for each lifespace for yourself,” Krishna explains. 

A working person with teenage kids, like Krishna, is less likely to engage in a lot of spare time with their children than another person who may have to care for younger kids. A person who focuses on work and family may have a weaker lifespace for friendships. Krishna explains that there is a time, or a season if you will, to cultivate each of these lifespaces, and the key is being able to give each space its due diligence at the right time.
There was a lot of valuable information in the presentation, and we encourage you to listen to the podcast or watch the video recap. Krishna is always trying to enrich the lives of those around him, and he has offered a free infographic for boosting your energy by replenishing your immune system. To receive this infographic, text the word VALUES to the number 233777.

Podcast

Summary

• Meyer Tax Consulting
• F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

Resources

• 3x Your Clientele Using One Sentence
• How to Implement Value Pricing With Ron Baker
• How to Turn Your Accounting Firm Around In 6 Months

Meyer Tax, The Concierge CPA

Jackie has been a firm owner of Meyer Tax Consulting for a decade, more recently established the Certified Concierge Accountant program for tax planners, and just released a tax planning app called TaxPlanIQ™. She converted her firm to value pricing around tax strategies approx 2016 and later became a speaker and a coach from that success. Her effective leadership has been proven through a survey she conducted that compared her firm to others in the industry.

The results of the survey revealed an average rating of 9.4 for her firm, which translates to an NPS score of 81. To put this into perspective, the average accounting industry score is 24. So 81 exceptional! How did she do it?

Jackie explains that the key to such success is keeping her clients as her fans, using the F.O.R.E.V.E.R. method.

F.O.R.E.V.E.R

Jackie says that F.O.R.E.V.E.R. is the most concise way to share the lessons she’s learned along the way during her transition from a traditional tax firm over to a concierge CPA practice. In the talk she gave at our first Cloud Accounting Summit, she breaks down what this acronym means and how to use it to retain your clients.

F is for Fit

One size does not fit all in tax and accounting. You have to deliver the right product for the right client to maximize retention. The key is to find a niche you love and excel in that niche.

To do this, identify the clients you love to work with and why. Next, make sure that your best practices revolve around serving the needs of those favorite clients. Jackie explains that this was one of the key tactics she did in 2016 when she converted her firm from hourly to value pricing. 

Most people stop at figuring out the people with whom they want to work. Jackie takes it a step further, advising us to identify our favorite clients’ ideal persona. She says, “Just like I interview a new staff member for being hungry, humble, and smart. I interview potential clients to be respectful, a kind person, and tech savvy.” These qualities act as qualifiers for potential clients.

O is for Outstanding

Next, figure out in what areas you are outstanding, and identify your competitive advantages as a firm. Sometimes it may help to find a coach to aid in realizing where your strengths lie. Jackie’s business coach, Chuck Bauer, helped her realize how to differentiate herself from other firms. Here are a few ways that Meyers Tax Consulting outperforms its competitors:

• Offer 24-7 emergency access. 
• Have an ROI on tax strategies. 
• Deliver video and recorded communication that clients can watch any time. 
• Aid clients in managing their entire estate and financial teams.
• Use state-of-the-art technology like Jetpack Workflow.

Meyers Tax Consulting also offers free pickup and delivery scanning services for local clients. Make a list about what makes your firm different from the rest. Highlight what’s unique, as even the small things will add up. When in doubt, get feedback by asking your clients what they appreciate about you and your firm.

R for Resource

Be accountable to your clients, and have someone at your firm assigned and dedicated to their needs. As president and founder of her firm, Jackie had to let go of being the client’s manager for every relationship. Many CPAs and leaders in the industry have type-A personalities, so the temptation of being a control freak in the shadow of perfection is very high.

However, in order to guide the business and maintain a leadership role, it’s simply not possible to manage every single interaction. Instead, use your resources, tax staff and project managers, to work with your clients.

To reduce the fear you might have about this, use workflows to standardize the work. For instance, be sure that your staff adheres to your company values and policies, like answering emails and phone calls within 24 hours, by making it a requirement.  Take it up a notch by establishing these values and policies as key performance indicators (KPIs) that you measure with your team.

E is for Empathy

Tax accountants understand that we’ve become immune to that hair-on-fire feeling when an IRS letter arrives. This can translate into a perceived lack of empathy to the worries of our clients. The ability to make our services “human” can become a significant attribute when value pricing as opposed to hourly pricing.

While you may be familiar with IRS processes, the client, on the other hand, isn’t. Instead, support them through their worries, and show that you’re more than just a number cruncher. Jackie says, “Send sorrowful condolences when [they experience a loss]. Work through their fears, by training them to understand there aren’t really that many true accounting and tax emergencies. Mail them handwritten notes; say happy birthday.”

V is for Valuable

Can you show your client their return on investment in you and in your firm? When developing tax strategies or outsourcing CFO work, any consultative service, you can easily estimate a cash value for that service.

For example, Meyer Tax Consulting won’t work with a client if they can’t find at least 200% return on investment upfront in its tax strategies. Jackie explains, “We point that out during our work, and we review that year to year with a client. It’s way too costly, otherwise, to waste each other’s time.”

E is for Engaging

Be someone a client wants to be around. Regulate your emotions, and put on your game face. A client meeting or a webinar isn’t the time to vent your frustrations. Instead, find the passion you have, and project that outward towards your clients. Jackie expressed that she does whatever she can to add joyfulness and positivity with both her clients and her staff.

This also means being personable and remembering that clients and employees are human too. When you come across a helpful article, send it to them. During the pandemic, Meyer Tax Consulting offered free virtual town halls weekly for clients to ask all those pressing questions that are pretty repetitive about PPP. One client after the meeting expressed confidence that they will be okay.

R is for Revolutionary

Michael McQueen, one of the keynote speakers at QuickBooks Connect last year said, “Think revolution, not evolution.” Jackie explains that there is a time and place for this kind of thinking, but several small firms may not have the resources or support to make that revolutionary move. However, receiving coaching can aid in reevaluating processes and holding firms accountable for positive change, eventually leading to revolution. 

There was a lot of valuable information in her presentation that didn’t make it to the show notes, so watch the presentation to glean more knowledge! If you would like to connect with Jackie, visit her website at www.theconciergecpa.com, fill out the three-minute application form, and schedule a one-on-one appointment. You can also join her free Facebook group called Accounting Firm Influencers.

Share your biggest learnings from this episode and from the rest of the summit, using #cloudaccountingsummit on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter!