The Successful Bookkeeper Podcast

" When you start speaking to yourself with more precise and definitive language, it changes how you show up for yourself. Think about how your clients and the people that you work with, it impacts how they see you." –Justin Atherton In this episode, former law enforcement detective, SWAT operator, and leadership coach, Justin Atherton breaks down a skill most bookkeepers overlook: precise communication. He explains how th...

"This is how you look at success. It is only a narrative of people to people, to people. Why else wouldn't you wanna spend your time doing that more purposefully and intentionally?" -David Homan In the finale of our two-part series with community building strategist and author, David Homan, he will show you how to turn everyday interests into real connections and why the opportunities you're looking for are already closer ...

"There's all that magic that seems to happen by those who are born with relationship privilege, but we can all build it. It just starts with how you can become more purposeful and intentional with what you want out of not just your life, but the people around you that form your purposeful community." -David Homan Community-building strategist and author of Orchestrating Connection, David Homan challenges the way you think ...

"High performers liked to be with high performers. So if you start to train yourself as a manager, as a boss, as a business owner, as an entrepreneur, in holding people accountable, you will notice who doesn't mind that, who kind of thrives around that, and those kind of people attract more people like that." –Gina Cotner In this episode, founder and CEO of Athena Executive Services, Gina Cotner shares a practical framewor...

"At some point in the future, somebody's going to be watching a movie about our era and there's going to be a human bookkeeper. And they're going to turn to their parents 20 years from now, and they're gonna say, 'Bookkeepers used to be people? That's so weird. I thought they were always artificial intelligence. I thought they were always computers.'" -Joe Woodard In this spotlight episode, founder of Scaling New Heights, ...

"Oftentimes we get into burnout because we are saying yes to everything. We're getting scope creep, and we aren't billing for those extras."–Linda Hunt In this episode, the author of The Money Conversation: Speak the Truth. Set the Standard. Get Paid Without Apology, Linda Hunt explains why burnout often starts with unclear boundaries and underpriced services. She shares practical strategies to help you calculate your tru...

"We always say 'Motivation is like a shower. You should visit it daily.' You have to keep yourself motivated every day. How do I get myself motivated and sold back on myself so that I can be the best version of how I want to show up for my clients?" –Julee Gracey In this episode, sales and marketing coach, speaker, and author of Highly Confident, Julee Gracey explains why confidence is the foundation of pricing, pitching, ...

" In order to create that trust, you have to be honest enough to know that you're not the right person for everybody. But those people that you do connect with, when you find that connection, that is when you can start to go through that process." –Amy Jacobson In this episode, Australian emotional intelligence expert, speaker, and author of The Emotional Intelligence Advantage: Mastering Change and Difficult Conversations...

"The biggest one and the most impactful one is not making the time every week to work on the business. They get themselves into the rat race. They spend the money on these programs, and then they don't make the time to implement them. That's the biggest mistake that I see. Do the hard things 'cause we can all do hard things and it's okay if we screw up."–Teresa Slack In the final episode of this four-part series, co-found...

"You can have all the great checklists and all the great systems for quality bookkeeping and you can hire all the right people, but if you don't know how to price your services, you are going to fail. You will not be profitable."–Teresa Slack In part three of this four-part series, Teresa Slack, co-founder of Financly Bookkeeping Solutions, shares the phase where momentum finally began to build. After resetting the firm, ...

"We can do hard things even though you're afraid, even though you don't know if it's going to work. You have to try. You have to do different things and you will fail. And that's part of the growth. Part of the learning is to not be afraid to take that leap." –Teresa Slack In part two of this four-part series, Teresa Slack, co-founder of Financly Bookkeeping Solutions, shares the breaking point that forced her and her sist...

"The mission was always to build a million dollar bookkeeping firm. Our goal was to grow a large bookkeeping firm with clients and staff across Canada. That's what we wanted to do. And that's kind of what we are now." –Teresa Slack In part one of this special four-part series, Teresa Slack, co-founder of Financly Bookkeeping Solutions, shares the honest story of launching a virtual bookkeeping firm in 2014 with big goals, ...

"The hardest thing is to not try and solve their problem in the sales interview, just listen to the business case, and then come up with clever ways to achieve that business case really as easily as you possibly can. So you're looking for smaller projects, not bigger projects. It's, it's a complete mind shift." -Jonathan Stark Jonathan Stark, author of Hourly Billing is Nuts, breaks down why hourly billing holds you back. ...

"Slow down. I think we move so fast and we're trying to go in straight to the solution and there could be multiple things that the customer needs and we miss opportunities when we move too fast." -Syvonia Brown In this Spotlight episode, Syvonia Brown, Director of Sales at Sage 50 US, talks about emotional intelligence and why it matters more than most bookkeepers realize. She shares practical ways to handle tough client c...

" Selling is not necessarily the answer. Exit can mean continuing to be part of it, but in a different way." –Salim Omar In this episode, Salim Omar, CPA and author of The CPA Firm Exit Playbook, shares what it takes to build a firm that works without constant owner involvement. Drawing from 30 years as a firm owner, Salim explains how systems, marketing, and leadership shape firm value and future options. In this intervie...

" We need to do things that the other people aren't doing because that's how you make ways, that's how you revolutionize, that's how you pave a new path for the other people that think like you, but maybe don't have the strength at this point yet to pave the way." -Sharrin Fuller

In this episode, Sharrin Fuller, strategic advisor and founder of Glass Wallet Ventures, shares why she believes the future of bookkeeping is cli...

"Your data is good to go. Customer comes into Hub Analytics and starts chatting with the chat bot to ask questions about the data, get visualized charts and graphs, and really have kind of this virtual CFO experience, which is cool." -Tommy Vincent Tommy Vincent, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Hub Analytics, returns to explain how AI is reshaping analytics, advisory, and the bookkeeper's role. He shares how data d...

" I'm not gonna say people can't change. What I will say is that it is hard work to change attitude. Changing skills, super simple. Attitude, it's a losing battle for the vast majority of business leaders." -Mark Murphy

Welcome to 2026 and the 10th anniversary year of our podcast! In this episode, Mark Murphy, founder of Leadership IQ, shares how to hire better and build teams that actually work. He explains why most hirin...

"Ethics and integrity are a bookkeeper's superpower." -Heather Smith Kick off your new year with clarity and momentum in this special Year-In-Review episode! Host, Michael Palmer brings together an international panel of leaders to unpack the biggest wins, surprises, and lessons from 2025. This conversation gives you a grounded look at what actually changed in the bookkeeping world and what you can expect moving into 2026....