The Successful Bookkeeper Podcast

“ We've adopted pretty bad behaviors since the pandemic of over meeting and not caring about time and not setting our own boundaries, and we have this toxic productivity where we always have to be on. There's a sense of constant urgency that's manufactured, and there's also a lot of learned helplessness where you go in and just like, I'm just burned out and I'm gonna quiet quit. Instead of deciding, ‘Okay, how am I gon...

“ I could take my time. That's a really big one because so many times, when we're in a crunch, you really wanna hire before you get to that. Because what happens is, when you hire, when you're in a crunch, you may end up settling or you may not pick the best fit.”
-Nacondra Moran

In part 2 of this great conversation, Nacondra Moran, founder of Exceptional Tax Services shares how she transformed her business by embracing intentional...

“ I had a lot more of mindset issues than the actual execution because I felt like I could provide good services. I had a certain level of confidence. But it doesn't matter really how much confidence, if you do also lack that critical mindset piece to really help you move forward.”
-Nacondra Moran

In part 1 of thie great 2-part series, Nacondra Moran, founder of Exceptional Tax Services, shares the mindset shifts, fears, and learni...

“As a business owner, you have to pick up everything. So right now, it's not my goal to hire at that capacity, but definitely to hire more of an assistant for myself to make sure that I am getting the support that I need as I'm building this business, rather than bringing someone in to run this business.”
-Christina Springstead

Christina Springstead, founder of Springstead Solutions, shares her journey about hiring, finding her nic...

“Think about what you want. Be intentional on why you're growing your business. Are you growing it for a money goal? Are you growing it so you have more time and flexibility? And then create those boundaries around giving yourself what your why is. Build a business that feels like your own fairy tale.”
-Cindy Schroeder

Cindy Schroeder, owner of Bright Bookkeeping and founder of Bookkeeping Buds, shares how she went from job-hopping...

“Speaking requires feedback. We have to listen to ourselves. We have to listen to each other and give feedback in order to get better. Speaking is social.”
-Ruth Milligan

Ruth Milligan, founder of Articulation and curator of TEDxColumbus, dives into how better communication leads to better business — especially for bookkeepers and business owners who want to be more clear, confident, and effective.

In this episode, you’ll learn…

“Practice is what gives the consistent and reliable delivery of whatever you're mastering. So for me, I remind myself that I'm not faking, I'm becoming, I'm working on it until I become it.”
-Michelle Quiñonez

Michelle Quiñonez, CEO and partner at Financial Stories Inc, shares how childhood play led to a lifelong love for administration and business building. She opens up about her journey from stay-at-home mom to entrepreneur, and...

“Just start small. Just start doing it. It'll take a while, most likely to kind of build. So start even before you feel like a hundred percent ready. Just start. It's a lot of it the first year or so, it's just like kind of practice too.”
-Morgan Law

Morgan Law, founder of Fine Points Bookkeeping and a popular YouTuber, shares how she transitioned from corporate life and copy editing to part-time bookkeeping, and eventually into fu...

“By offering corporate services, compliance services, payroll and sales tax registration services to their clients, they're actually not only enhancing their trusted advisory services, but they're also scaling their revenues, increasing their revenues. More importantly, they are keeping that client with them long term because they're becoming a one-stop shop.”
-Nellie Akalp

Nellie Akalp, CEO of CorpNet.com, shares how bookkeepers a...

“Go out, stick your hand out, say hello and start talking. It's not easy, but over time it becomes easier and it's definitely worthwhile just creating the relationships either virtually or physically in the community.”
-Holly Corcoran

Holly Corcoran, owner and CEO of Corcoran Business Advisory Services, shares her journey from running a traditional CPA firm to launching a virtual, advisory-focused business that specializes in veter...

“If you think about the most common mistake that most small and mid-sized business owners make when it comes to cybersecurity, it's this assumption that ‘I'm not very big. It's not going to happen to me’. And so they're not doing any security or they're doing minimal security measures in place.”
-Nick Mullen

Cybersecurity expert, Nick Mullen, founder and CEO of Entoo Security, shares the rising threats facing bookkeepers and accoun...

“Define your customer first. I only want to work with people who understand that accounting is important to their business.”
-Debra Kilsheimer

Debra Kilsheimer, owner of Behind the Scenes Financial Services, shares her journey from growing up in an accounting household to running a modern, client-focused bookkeeping business. She discusses the power of flat-rate pricing, building strong client relationships and how emb...

“As I was building all these processes in my mind, if I had been documenting them, I would have not had to spend that two years documenting everything after the fact when the team started to come. If you're good at what you do, your accountants are going to find you and they're going to start referring business to you. So just to have those processes documented and you're ready for when they come, that's gonna be a hug...

“People came to me thinking that I was an expert. They saw the posts that I was posting about bookkeeping for law firms, and they already had buy-in to use my services. So I didn't need to sell them that much. I just needed to prove that I was a real person. I don't want to be out there selling my services. I want people coming to me already sold on my services.”
-Brandy Derrick

Brandy Derrick, owner of Legal Ease Bookkeeping, disc...

“In the bookkeeping and accounting world, if someone gets sick and that client can't get what they need, they just get back into the universe and another bookkeeper picks them up. So you lose everything.”
-Christine Siegenthaler

Christine Siegenthaler, founder of Succession Security, discusses the importance of contingency planning for solo bookkeepers and small bookkeeping firms. She shares how Succession Security helps ensure bu...

“If it's consistently where you're feeling behind like you can never get on top of your to-do list, that you're always having to reschedule stuff for tomorrow, that's probably a sign that you have too much work on your plate. That's a sign that you could use more help within your business.”
-Jamie Van Cuyk

Jamie Van Cuyk, owner of Growing Your Team, joins the podcast to help solo bookkeepers and small business owners master hiring...

“I remember being on Zoom and we saw our colleagues' children, people got personal and talked about the health challenges they were dealing with or that a family member was dealing with. I saw leaders and bosses having to have that same transparency. It was human to human. Since the workplace has evolved, employees are expecting that same transparency. They're expecting the same collaboration. And what they want specifically for th...

“Money is an energetic source in our world. When you get it, you feel really good, and when it leaves, you feel very bad. That's an energy. That's an exchange.”
-Lou Clarke

Lou Clarke, who is a CFO and profit strategist, discusses the power of confidence, pricing strategies, and how bookkeepers can shift into advisory roles to better serve clients. She also explains the importance of understanding money dynamics and building a bus...

“If a majority of your leads come from LinkedIn, that's great, and you should keep doing that. But it doesn't hurt to diversify and to make sure that you have a couple of lead sources to pull in from different avenues.”
-Kristen Corey

Kristen Corey, founder of Media Books, dives into the importance of a well-designed website, how to make your firm stand out online, and common pitfalls to avoid. 

In this interview, you'll also lea...