January 2, 2025 • 31 mins
Have you ever considered how similar financial planning is to a medical diagnosis? We unravel this intriguing comparison with Aleksey Kaplan from Kaplan CPA, who shares his unconventional journey from aspiring doctor to entrepreneurial CPA. Abandoning his medical dreams due to an unexpected aversion to needles, Aleksey found himself navigating through the tumultuous waters of real estate during the 2008 market crash. Thanks to some sage advice from his wife and his natural knack for numbers, Aleksey pivoted to accounting, turning his diverse business experience into a guiding light for fellow entrepreneurs.
Tune in as we redefine the role of a fractional CFO as a "financial doctor," where Aleksey draws insightful parallels between financial and medical diagnoses. With engaging analogies like likening tax planning to medical prescriptions, he simplifies complex financial concepts, making them approachable for every client. Discover how a color-coded scoreboard becomes a vital tool in assessing financial health, guiding clients toward informed decisions and ultimately, sustainable success. Whether you're a business owner seeking financial clarity or simply curious about the journey of this unique "financial healer," this episode promises a wealth of engaging insights.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to CFO Chronicles the secrets behind
success the go-to podcast forfractional CFOs and accounting
firm owners who want to attractmore high-paying clients and
increase their revenue.
Hosted by James Donovan fromNine Two Media, this podcast
dives into marketing strategiesspecifically designed for lead
(00:22):
generation and clientacquisition.
In each episode, you'll hearfrom industry leaders sharing
their success stories and Thankyou to your bottom line.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I'm super excited to be joined today by a great
client of ours, a greatindividual, alexi Kaplan from
Kaplan CPA.
Alexi, thank you so much forjoining us today.
Thanks for having me.
James, it's a pleasure to behere.
Awesome, I'm really lookingforward to diving in, hearing a
little bit more about your storyand all the wonderful insights
(01:14):
you have to share with everyone.
So take me back to maybe howyou even got into this industry
to begin with.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
It's a great question how much time do I have right?
It's one of those situations.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So if it goes on too long, we'll cue up the Oscars
music.
We'll put that in the edit.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah Well it's been a journey, to say the least.
I've never wanted to do what Ido, never had any aspirations to
be in this field to begin with.
I mean, I always wanted to be adoctor.
When I was a kid I was inBiomed Institute.
In my high school I took allthe pre-med type of classes.
(01:57):
I was doing great.
And then the last semester ofhigh school something changed in
my body, I guess.
Last semester of high schoolsomething changed in my body, I
guess, and I started painting atthe sight of a needle entering
a body.
So I'm glad that it happenedbefore I graduated and I would
not waste hundreds of thousandsof dollars in, you know,
(02:19):
pursuing my career in medicine.
But I guess everything happensfor a reason.
So I had to kind of switch gearsbecause, being Jewish, every
single mom's dream is for theson to be a doctor, a lawyer or
an accountant, right.
But the second option was beingan attorney.
(02:43):
I was always great with wordsand I was always comfortable
speaking, engaging, defendingcertain positions.
I was always very argumentative.
So I said it's kind of naturalfor me to be a lawyer if I can't
be a doctor.
So I went to college.
I had to get a degree insomething to sit for the LSATs
(03:03):
and then eventually go to lawschool.
I had to get a degree insomething to sit for the LSATs
and then eventually go to lawschool, and I graduated with a
(03:28):
degree in business managementand finance.
To kind of give me a backgroundstudents do, I decided to major
in something that couldpotentially give me something
that I could fall back on incase law school does not work
out.
I took the LSATs.
I got a wonderful score.
I could have gone to any lawschool in the nation, but at
that moment I was alreadymarried and my wife and I found
out that we were expecting ourfirst kid and she was in nursing
(03:51):
school at that moment and Icould not afford not to work,
because the first year of lawschool is usually the most
difficult one.
They tell you you can't work,et cetera, and I ended up not
going.
So instead, what I decided todo instead when we found out we
were expecting our first kid isI quit my job that I had with a
(04:14):
law firm at that time and Idecided to venture out on my own
and open up my first business.
And that's exactly what I did.
I opened up my first businessit was not an easy journey and
then the second business and thethird business and fast forward
to 2008,.
(04:36):
I had a lot of my businessventures tied in with real
estate market.
I had a title insurance agencysettlement company, real estate
holding company, real estatedevelopment company.
I had a day insurance agencysettlement company, real estate
holding company, real estatedevelopment company.
I had a daycare center with 75little kids, imports, exports.
I had a lot of different thingsgoing on, but real estate was
the main bread and butter for me.
(04:57):
And when market tanked I had tomake some serious decisions.
And from 2008 to 2010, I triedto salvage what I could.
I sold off everything I had andI had a stack of checks.
I came home, I sat down acrossthe table with my wife and I
told her honey, I kind of don'thave to work for the next 10, 15
(05:19):
years, we'll be finefinancially, but what the hell
am I supposed to do for the restof my life?
And at that time we had alreadytwo kids.
My middle child was born and wewere okay financially, but I
was still young and I kind ofhad to reinvent myself.
So she told me, my smart wife,smart and beautiful wife.
(05:41):
She says well, look, you werealways great with numbers.
All the business you ever had,you essentially ran them
yourself internally.
And then our accountant wouldalways tell you that, alexi, you
don't need me, you can justfile your own tax returns.
You're doing great.
And keep in mind, nobody evertaught me any of that stuff.
It was kind of a hit or miss.
(06:01):
I had to teach myself a lot ofdifferent things how to
understand financial data, howto interpret it, how to use it
to make the business decisionsmore effective and efficient
within every single venture thatI had.
But it was kind of natural forme.
So I looked at it from astandpoint of what makes sense
(06:24):
and kind of backtracked into itand made decisions based on
using and analyzing financialdata.
So she goes to me why don't youjust become a CPA and have it as
a business?
And I'm like look, it'srecession proof.
Everybody needs this.
You need advisors like that.
You need somebody thatunderstands this stuff and
(06:46):
guides people along the way.
I mean, I'm in a very uniqueposition because I've been down
in trenches as a business owner,entrepreneur so many times.
But now, if I was to actuallypursue a career and become a CPA
, I could actually help so manyother people on so many
different levels that at leastmy own CPA could not do.
(07:09):
So I said you know what?
It's not a bad idea.
Let me find out what I need todo, because the other
alternative was to actually goto law school.
Right, because now I actuallyhave the means to do it.
But law school is three yearsof my life and you know I would
have to compete with20-year-olds.
You know that have no well,that don't have anything else to
(07:30):
do with their lives except goto law school.
They don't have kids to support, mortgages to pay, et cetera.
So you know it would be tough.
So I went back to my collegeand I found out what I actually
need to qualify to sit for theCPA exam, and I was told I only
needed a year to get my secondbachelor's degree and that
basically a year would allow meto take 10 missing accounting
(07:55):
classes and then I will beeligible to sit for the exam and
then, once I passed the section, I could essentially become a
CPA.
So that's exactly what I did.
I went back to school.
So instead of three years it'sa year, right?
So I saved myself two years ofmy life.
I graduated with a seconddegree, a bachelor's degree, in
(08:18):
accounting, with a perfect GPA,and it took me another year to
pass the four sections of theCPA exam and I opened up my firm
.
I got my license.
I opened up my firm.
Now, when I opened up my firm, Iwanted to be completely
different from anyone that Iknew that was involved in this
industry, and that's why Idecided to specialize in
(08:40):
taxpayer representationrepresenting taxpayers before
the IRS and different stateagencies whenever they get in
trouble.
Why?
Because it's as close as itgets to being a lawyer without
practicing law Right.
So I kind of combined the bestof both worlds and started
specializing in that area and Iwas really good at it.
(09:01):
I loved it.
I love challenges.
I love challenging IRS and Iwas really good at it.
I loved it.
I love challenges, I lovechallenging IRS.
I love winning cases.
It was really really cool time.
But the problem with thoseclients, the ones that actually
owe money to IRS and differentstate agencies they don't walk
around advertising on theirforeheads.
Here I am, I owe money to IRS,help me, right.
(09:22):
So you can't really marketdirectly to those clients, and
that was the biggest challengeof obtaining new leads for those
type of clients.
So, but meanwhile, I was stilloffering the traditional
services the tax preparation,bookkeeping, all that fun stuff
that I actually did not enjoy,but it kind of came with the
(09:43):
territory Right, because peopleexpect you to do taxes when you
tell them you're a CPA.
So a few years down the line, Istumbled upon American Institute
of Certified Tax Planners andcoaches and I decided to become
a tax coach and a tax plannerand a tax strategist.
Why coach and a tax planner anda tax strategist?
(10:08):
Why, because I wanted tospecialize in tax planning and
specifically proactive taxreduction planning for
successful business owners.
And that's exactly what I did.
And what intrigued me aboutthat side of the practice and
that specialty is the fact thatnobody ever taught me when I
went to school to become a CPA,while I was studying for the
(10:32):
exams, while I was working for aCPA firm, of how to actually
proactively save money on taxeslegally right, because that was
not the intent.
The only thing that was evertaught to me and my colleagues
is how to record money,historical financial data,
(10:52):
putting numbers in boxes, callit a day.
As a result, I wanted to learna different angle, which I did.
I still am a part of AmericanCertified Tax Planners and
coaches until now for the pasteight years or so and coaches
(11:14):
until now for the past whateight years or so?
During this journey, I actuallywas nominated to be a certified
tax planner of the year on threeseparate occasions.
It was a national award andnational recognition.
I did not win.
On two of those occasions Icame in second and one of them I
actually won and I became acertified tax planner of the
year, which was really fun andthat was the highest possible
(11:38):
award you could get from thatorganization.
But then, once again, as withanything else, the more you do
things, the better you become.
Sure, you become an expert inthat space space.
But I tried to figure out a wayor how to help business owners
in more efficient ways from atotally different angle, and
(12:01):
that's when I decided to becomea certified CFO, whereas I'll be
.
It's an advisory service, butyou essentially work with
successful business owners thatare struggling to understand
successful business owners thatare struggling to understand
financials, that are strugglingto understand where the money
are going, and you were theirguide.
(12:23):
Essentially, I became theirguide to success.
I call myself a non-equitypartner right.
So I'm always there by theirside, guiding them along the way
, dealing with all thechallenges, finding all the
solutions for their challenges,from internal standpoint to
managerial, to business, etcetera and, of course,
(12:44):
incorporating the fact that Iknow how to save money on taxes,
you know in a proactive fashionand I know how to defend every
single position if there's anissue with the IRS or any state
agencies.
So it kind of goes hand in handand I become their go-to guide
and expert on all things mattersto their success.
(13:06):
So it's three unique, separatespecialties that I have
accumulated and I've ascertainedover the years and they
definitely helped not just mebut my clients get ahead and
those people that actually workwith me.
They actually get ahead muchfaster.
(13:28):
They accomplish and reach theirgoals very quickly.
They accomplish and reach theirgoals very quickly and they're
all successful.
You know in every single way ofhow they define success.
Every single person has adifferent definition of it, but
I'm there to make sure that thebusiness prospers, has a
positive cash flow on consistentbasis, pays as little taxes as
(13:50):
possible legally and, of course,the business owners accomplish
all their goals personal andbusiness throughout our
relationship and I help them.
So that's pretty much where weare today.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
All right, that's an introduction, that's a story
Appreciate you sharing that youasked?
Speaker 3 (14:12):
me a question.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yeah, very true, very true.
An introduction, that's a story.
Appreciate you asking me aquestion.
Yeah, very true, very true.
Um, yeah, I mean right back tothe start of that.
I'm not good with needleseither, so my the chances of me
going into the medicalprofession were were very
short-lived.
I think back from grade schoolwhen I had my first needle and
fainted in the gym, probablygetting like a flu shot.
(14:34):
So I was like, all right, wecan write off going into that
industry.
It's interesting, though youtalk about, you know, wanting to
be a doctor because I would.
I would hesitate to say, or Iwouldn't hesitate to say, that
you know, being a fractional CFOis, you know, the financial
doctor for a lot of businesses.
(14:54):
You're looking at somethingthat someone can't quite figure
out.
They know there's some painthere.
You identify where the pain isand you give them the solution
on how to fix it.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah, it's a good point, James.
So usually I like to use a lotof analogies within my business
to explain complicated conceptsin very layman terms, and the
analogy that I love to use a lotand I actually work with a lot
of doctors as my clients.
I love dealing with medicalpractitioners.
I mean, they're great at whatthey do, but they suck at
(15:26):
everything else, especially whenit comes to finances, it's true
.
I mean, most of them are justclueless until they start
working with me and then theybecome a lot more educated and
well-versed in all thingsfinances related.
So the analogy that I love touse is very simple is just like
(15:48):
when you go to a doctor, beforethe doctor actually tells you
what's wrong and how to fix it,what do they do?
They diagnose you right, sothey take in certain tests, they
review some of the results, ormaybe scans or whatever you
bring in.
They run their own tests.
Then they come up with adiagnosis and then, after the
(16:09):
diagnosis, what do they do?
They write a prescription onhow to fix the issue that you're
having your stomach, your tummy, aches.
Oh my God, what do we do?
So we know that the tummy achesthat's the diagnosis.
Well, how do you fix that?
You prescribe a medication, sothat prescription is essentially
the tax plan that I do for,let's say, tax planning clients,
(16:33):
and prescription by itself willnot alleviate your tummy ache.
So what do you need to do withthat prescription?
You got to go to a pharmacy andfill it, right.
That's where the implementationcomes in.
And when you fill theprescription, just because you
got the medication and until youstart taking it, you're still
(16:53):
going to have a tummy ache forthe most part.
So what?
It's the same concept.
You, I diagnose what theproblem is, I come up with a
solution that's a prescription,and then that solution has to be
implemented in order for theresults to become, in order for
everything to work.
So I I'm there along the way,I'm implementing everything.
(17:15):
It's the same ideas as when yougo to a doctor's, or the other
analogy I like to use is fromthe architectural standpoint.
So before you have any buildingup, right, what do you need to
do?
You need to go find a piece ofland, right.
Then you have to go to anarchitect that designs a
(17:37):
blueprint.
Blueprint, essentially, is thattax plan and then that
blueprint is fulfilled andfollowed by the contractors.
That builds the foundation.
You know, they put up the walls, they put up the beams and then
you have everything up andready.
After the blueprint has beenfollowed to the t, you have a
(17:59):
house.
So the same idea there's a lotof pieces that has to work, uh,
in conjunction and together, uhto to make things work and to
improve things.
So, yeah, you're 100% right.
I mean doctor's analogy and thearchitect analogy are basically
(18:20):
what I like to use the most toexplain how we get things done
and why we do them.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
That's great, the analogies, especially when it
comes to sales and I'm guessingyou would say you use that when
on sales calls with prospects,because I think it really helps
paint a picture in a much moresimpler term on what is going to
happen.
And, like you mentioned, notevery business owner speaks the
(18:49):
same lingo as you.
They don't.
They don't know all thesethings, Otherwise they wouldn't
be speaking to you to begin with.
So being able to tell them likehey, here's, here's what's
going to happen, here's thesteps, this is what you need to
do.
But how often, Alexia, do yourun into the problem where you
know you can't?
You can take the horse to water, but you can't force it to
drink.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
How many times have you put in a plan and it doesn't
get all the way across the line.
So every single situation iscompletely unique and different.
So we're all different.
We all have differentfingerprints, right.
So same idea when it comes toan approach.
There's no such thing as a onetrick pony type of thing.
You have a one thing that willwork for everybody 80-20 rules
you do apply.
(19:37):
So there's a lot of things that, especially when you specialize
in particular industry, thatapply to the same type of
strategies may be applicable toa lot of different individuals
and business owners, but stillthey have to be tweaked, you
know, because every situation isdifferent.
(19:58):
What I like to do with all of myclients is essentially educate
them as much as I can.
Now, when we go through thateducational part of the
engagement, I never usefinancial jargon or lingo.
I speak to them like we'respeaking right now, in a term,
(20:20):
and I try to explain the mostcomplicated concepts in very
layman terms and put things inperspective, depending on what
they do, so they couldunderstand in their head how it
relates to them right, Like, forinstance, very complicated
concepts of CFO right, thecertified CFO services, the
(20:42):
advisory service they provide,instead of going through all the
ratios and KPIs and all thefinancial and accounting lingo,
what I use in my practice is ascoreboard.
It's color-coded scoreboard.
It's just like a traffic light.
You got the green, you got theyellow, you got the red.
(21:03):
So the green is the areas thatdon't need to be touched, the
yellow is something you got topay attention to and the red are
the immediate things that hasto be taken care of.
They have to be taken care ofbecause they will potentially
could ruin your business.
So whenever I do an analysis,the financial assessment of,
(21:24):
especially for a prospect, Ipresent them with a scorecard
and I tell them this area isgreat.
There's 16 different drivers inevery single business.
What drives the revenue, thecash flow and, obviously, the
profitability of the business?
Those 16 drivers I would notbore my clients with.
(21:48):
I'm definitely not boring youwith that.
That's not my intent to boreyou with that information
because it's very detailed.
It's based on a lot of ratioanalysis that nobody really
cares about.
They want to know how you solvethe problem and whenever they
see the scorecard, it's easy forthem to follow it.
You've got to look at the redareas.
Oh, my God, let's zoom in.
(22:08):
What's going on there and howdo we change that color from red
to yellow and then to green?
Right, and that's what we workon.
But there are times that, nomatter what you tell them, it's
all about accountability, right,because there's certain things
that I can't do and there'scertain things I cannot do
without the business owner'shelp or their team's help.
(22:30):
If they're terrible businessowners and they don't listen to
their advisors, they usually endup failing, right, so did it
happen in my practice withanybody I ever worked with?
It happened once, and that wastheir choice.
They just did not listen.
And when you don't listen, youcan't, no matter what you do,
(22:55):
you can't jump over yourself,right, so you could lead the
horse through the water, but youcannot make or drink it.
This is the perfect situation ofthat and scenario is when
people just choose themselvesnot to follow a certain advice,
for whatever reason.
You could blame the time, youcould come up with a million
(23:15):
different excuses, but at theend of the day, if you're not
going to take action, nothingwill change.
No matter how many advisors,how many people are working with
you, for you, et cetera, itdoesn't matter.
The business owner isultimately responsible for
making key business decisionsfor their business.
I cannot make them for him orher.
(23:37):
They have to be doing this Now.
I could only provide my insightof what I believe should happen
and how things should shape outif you take certain steps.
But if they choose not tofollow them, there's nothing
else they can do.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
That's impactful.
It's so true, though, so Idon't want to take up a ton more
of your time, alexi, but onequestion I would love to ask you
.
You have a very successfulbusiness.
You have a very successfulbusiness.
You've built a very successfulbusiness.
You have a great life.
(24:17):
What's one piece of adviceyou'd give to either other
fractional CFOs, taxprofessionals listening on you
know, building a successfulbusiness, building that dream
life that they're after, becauseyou've had multiple businesses
now it's not your first rodeo.
What's that piece of adviceyou'd give to other
(24:38):
entrepreneurs Actually, itdoesn't even have to be
fractional CFOs and tax planners.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Well, I have a lot of different advices of the main
ones that you should probablystick with.
Whoever is going to be watchingthis is the fact that you
should always be honest withyourself and honest with
everyone you work with.
Do not over promise and underdeliver.
Always try to under promise andover deliver, but if you're not
(25:05):
sure about something, it's fine.
Just be honest with the client.
I don't know, I'll look into it, I'll get back to you.
Don't agree or yes, or just behonest with yourself and try to
get rid of your impostersyndrome.
A lot of folks, unfortunately,do not have enough faith or
(25:27):
confidence in their abilities,in their or confidence in their
abilities.
We cannot possibly knoweverything.
I certainly don't, and nobody'sexpecting us to know everything
.
What people that work with usexpect us to do is to do the
(25:51):
best job we can under thecircumstances and just be honest
with yourself.
Never lie to anybody and onlydo things that will help and not
hurt your clients.
Because I don't know about youor anyone that's going to be
listening, but I love to sleepat night and I don't want
(26:18):
anything to come back and bitingmy client in the places of
their body, and obviously me bydefault.
So I know a lot of folks outthere.
They do a lot of shady thingswith their mission of helping
their clients, with theirmission of helping their clients
.
From time to time I come acrosssituations where I actually
have to represent those clientsbefore Internal Revenue Service
(26:39):
and different state agenciesbecause of that help that ended
up hurting them a lot more thanthe actual help.
So please be honest withyourself and know what you're
capable of, withoutoverextending the things and
abilities of what you feel youknow but in reality you don't,
(27:02):
and never be afraid to ask forhelp.
I align myself with a team ofdifferent experts in different
areas.
Like I said, I don't knoweverything.
I don't need to know everything.
I know people that do, so all Ineed to do is just reach out to
those people, get theconfirmation I'm looking for or
guidance, and just pass thatinformation along to my clients.
(27:25):
And I encourage everyone tohave a network of professionals
around themselves thatspecialize in different areas,
not just with tax or CFO or whathave you, or just different
experts in different areas soyou could rely on and work with
on a consistent basis and bethere for you and, in turn, for
(27:48):
your clients whenever you needthat help.
But, above all, never lie toyourself, never lie to others
and just be truthful and try notto overextend yourself by
overpromising and overdeliveringand do the opposite.
But I always tell my kids thisand to myself actually just some
(28:09):
of those daily affirmations,and one of the things that I say
is that always try to be thebest version of yourself Never
try to be somebody you're not.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
That's great.
Thank you so much for sharingthat, Alexei.
That's very, very wise words.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
No, I try.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
No, that's great, that's great, I appreciate it
appreciate it comes withexperience, james.
Yeah, yeah, that's fair.
That's fair.
Thank you so much for coming ontoday, alexi, really appreciate
it.
Um, it's awesome hearing yourstory how you got started.
Um, you know, brief wins howyou approach your sales
conversations make, uh, that youknow that analogy much easier
(28:51):
for individuals to understandwhere you're coming from and how
you can help them.
And then, obviously, the theadvice to cap it off.
So, again, thank you so muchfor coming on today.
My pleasure Anytime.
Thanks for tuning into thisepisode of CFO Chronicles the
secrets behind success.
I hope you found value intoday's conversation.
As we wrap up, I'd love for youto do two things.
(29:12):
First, make sure to subscribeto this podcast so you don't
miss any future episodes.
If you enjoyed today'sdiscussion, please rate and
review the show.
It helps others discover theinsights we share here.
Second, if you're ready to takeyour business to the next level
and attract the high-endclients you deserve, head over
to accountingleadsnowcom orclick the link in the show notes
to book your strategy.
(29:32):
Call it's time to positionyourself as the advisor your
clients need.
And don't forget you canconnect with me on LinkedIn to
stay up to date on what'shappening in the world of
accounting and financial growth.
We've got more exciting topicscoming up, so stay tuned for the
next episode of CFO Chronicles.
Until then, keep pushingforward.
Your growth is just onestrategic move away.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Thanks for listening to CFO Chronicles the secrets
behind success.
We hope today's episodeprovided valuable strategies to
help you attract more highpaying clients.
Be sure to subscribe, followand share with fellow
professionals, Connect with uson LinkedIn and leave a review
or comment to join theconversation.
Your feedback helps us bringyou the best insights in finance
(30:16):
and marketing.
Until next time, keep strivingfor success and unlocking your
business's potential.
Welcome to CFO Chronicles the secrets behind
success the go-to podcast forfractional CFOs and accounting
firm owners who want to attractmore high-paying clients and
increase their revenue.
Hosted by James Donovan fromNine Two Media, this podcast
dives into marketing strategiesspecifically designed for lead
(00:22):
generation and clientacquisition.
In each episode, you'll hearfrom industry leaders sharing
their success stories and Thankyou to your bottom line.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I'm super excited to be joined today by a great
client of ours, a greatindividual, alexi Kaplan from
Kaplan CPA.
Alexi, thank you so much forjoining us today.
Thanks for having me.
James, it's a pleasure to behere.
Awesome, I'm really lookingforward to diving in, hearing a
little bit more about your storyand all the wonderful insights
(01:14):
you have to share with everyone.
So take me back to maybe howyou even got into this industry
to begin with.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
It's a great question how much time do I have right?
It's one of those situations.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So if it goes on too long, we'll cue up the Oscars
music.
We'll put that in the edit.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah Well it's been a journey, to say the least.
I've never wanted to do what Ido, never had any aspirations to
be in this field to begin with.
I mean, I always wanted to be adoctor.
When I was a kid I was inBiomed Institute.
In my high school I took allthe pre-med type of classes.
(01:57):
I was doing great.
And then the last semester ofhigh school something changed in
my body, I guess.
Last semester of high schoolsomething changed in my body, I
guess, and I started painting atthe sight of a needle entering
a body.
So I'm glad that it happenedbefore I graduated and I would
not waste hundreds of thousandsof dollars in, you know,
(02:19):
pursuing my career in medicine.
But I guess everything happensfor a reason.
So I had to kind of switch gearsbecause, being Jewish, every
single mom's dream is for theson to be a doctor, a lawyer or
an accountant, right.
But the second option was beingan attorney.
(02:43):
I was always great with wordsand I was always comfortable
speaking, engaging, defendingcertain positions.
I was always very argumentative.
So I said it's kind of naturalfor me to be a lawyer if I can't
be a doctor.
So I went to college.
I had to get a degree insomething to sit for the LSATs
(03:03):
and then eventually go to lawschool.
I had to get a degree insomething to sit for the LSATs
and then eventually go to lawschool, and I graduated with a
(03:28):
degree in business managementand finance.
To kind of give me a backgroundstudents do, I decided to major
in something that couldpotentially give me something
that I could fall back on incase law school does not work
out.
I took the LSATs.
I got a wonderful score.
I could have gone to any lawschool in the nation, but at
that moment I was alreadymarried and my wife and I found
out that we were expecting ourfirst kid and she was in nursing
(03:51):
school at that moment and Icould not afford not to work,
because the first year of lawschool is usually the most
difficult one.
They tell you you can't work,et cetera, and I ended up not
going.
So instead, what I decided todo instead when we found out we
were expecting our first kid isI quit my job that I had with a
(04:14):
law firm at that time and Idecided to venture out on my own
and open up my first business.
And that's exactly what I did.
I opened up my first businessit was not an easy journey and
then the second business and thethird business and fast forward
to 2008,.
(04:36):
I had a lot of my businessventures tied in with real
estate market.
I had a title insurance agencysettlement company, real estate
holding company, real estatedevelopment company.
I had a day insurance agencysettlement company, real estate
holding company, real estatedevelopment company.
I had a daycare center with 75little kids, imports, exports.
I had a lot of different thingsgoing on, but real estate was
the main bread and butter for me.
(04:57):
And when market tanked I had tomake some serious decisions.
And from 2008 to 2010, I triedto salvage what I could.
I sold off everything I had andI had a stack of checks.
I came home, I sat down acrossthe table with my wife and I
told her honey, I kind of don'thave to work for the next 10, 15
(05:19):
years, we'll be finefinancially, but what the hell
am I supposed to do for the restof my life?
And at that time we had alreadytwo kids.
My middle child was born and wewere okay financially, but I
was still young and I kind ofhad to reinvent myself.
So she told me, my smart wife,smart and beautiful wife.
(05:41):
She says well, look, you werealways great with numbers.
All the business you ever had,you essentially ran them
yourself internally.
And then our accountant wouldalways tell you that, alexi, you
don't need me, you can justfile your own tax returns.
You're doing great.
And keep in mind, nobody evertaught me any of that stuff.
It was kind of a hit or miss.
(06:01):
I had to teach myself a lot ofdifferent things how to
understand financial data, howto interpret it, how to use it
to make the business decisionsmore effective and efficient
within every single venture thatI had.
But it was kind of natural forme.
So I looked at it from astandpoint of what makes sense
(06:24):
and kind of backtracked into itand made decisions based on
using and analyzing financialdata.
So she goes to me why don't youjust become a CPA and have it as
a business?
And I'm like look, it'srecession proof.
Everybody needs this.
You need advisors like that.
You need somebody thatunderstands this stuff and
(06:46):
guides people along the way.
I mean, I'm in a very uniqueposition because I've been down
in trenches as a business owner,entrepreneur so many times.
But now, if I was to actuallypursue a career and become a CPA
, I could actually help so manyother people on so many
different levels that at leastmy own CPA could not do.
(07:09):
So I said you know what?
It's not a bad idea.
Let me find out what I need todo, because the other
alternative was to actually goto law school.
Right, because now I actuallyhave the means to do it.
But law school is three yearsof my life and you know I would
have to compete with20-year-olds.
You know that have no well,that don't have anything else to
(07:30):
do with their lives except goto law school.
They don't have kids to support, mortgages to pay, et cetera.
So you know it would be tough.
So I went back to my collegeand I found out what I actually
need to qualify to sit for theCPA exam, and I was told I only
needed a year to get my secondbachelor's degree and that
basically a year would allow meto take 10 missing accounting
(07:55):
classes and then I will beeligible to sit for the exam and
then, once I passed the section, I could essentially become a
CPA.
So that's exactly what I did.
I went back to school.
So instead of three years it'sa year, right?
So I saved myself two years ofmy life.
I graduated with a seconddegree, a bachelor's degree, in
(08:18):
accounting, with a perfect GPA,and it took me another year to
pass the four sections of theCPA exam and I opened up my firm
.
I got my license.
I opened up my firm.
Now, when I opened up my firm, Iwanted to be completely
different from anyone that Iknew that was involved in this
industry, and that's why Idecided to specialize in
(08:40):
taxpayer representationrepresenting taxpayers before
the IRS and different stateagencies whenever they get in
trouble.
Why?
Because it's as close as itgets to being a lawyer without
practicing law Right.
So I kind of combined the bestof both worlds and started
specializing in that area and Iwas really good at it.
(09:01):
I loved it.
I love challenges.
I love challenging IRS and Iwas really good at it.
I loved it.
I love challenges, I lovechallenging IRS.
I love winning cases.
It was really really cool time.
But the problem with thoseclients, the ones that actually
owe money to IRS and differentstate agencies they don't walk
around advertising on theirforeheads.
Here I am, I owe money to IRS,help me, right.
(09:22):
So you can't really marketdirectly to those clients, and
that was the biggest challengeof obtaining new leads for those
type of clients.
So, but meanwhile, I was stilloffering the traditional
services the tax preparation,bookkeeping, all that fun stuff
that I actually did not enjoy,but it kind of came with the
(09:43):
territory Right, because peopleexpect you to do taxes when you
tell them you're a CPA.
So a few years down the line, Istumbled upon American Institute
of Certified Tax Planners andcoaches and I decided to become
a tax coach and a tax plannerand a tax strategist.
Why coach and a tax planner anda tax strategist?
(10:08):
Why, because I wanted tospecialize in tax planning and
specifically proactive taxreduction planning for
successful business owners.
And that's exactly what I did.
And what intrigued me aboutthat side of the practice and
that specialty is the fact thatnobody ever taught me when I
went to school to become a CPA,while I was studying for the
(10:32):
exams, while I was working for aCPA firm, of how to actually
proactively save money on taxeslegally right, because that was
not the intent.
The only thing that was evertaught to me and my colleagues
is how to record money,historical financial data,
(10:52):
putting numbers in boxes, callit a day.
As a result, I wanted to learna different angle, which I did.
I still am a part of AmericanCertified Tax Planners and
coaches until now for the pasteight years or so and coaches
(11:14):
until now for the past whateight years or so?
During this journey, I actuallywas nominated to be a certified
tax planner of the year on threeseparate occasions.
It was a national award andnational recognition.
I did not win.
On two of those occasions Icame in second and one of them I
actually won and I became acertified tax planner of the
year, which was really fun andthat was the highest possible
(11:38):
award you could get from thatorganization.
But then, once again, as withanything else, the more you do
things, the better you become.
Sure, you become an expert inthat space space.
But I tried to figure out a wayor how to help business owners
in more efficient ways from atotally different angle, and
(12:01):
that's when I decided to becomea certified CFO, whereas I'll be
.
It's an advisory service, butyou essentially work with
successful business owners thatare struggling to understand
successful business owners thatare struggling to understand
financials, that are strugglingto understand where the money
are going, and you were theirguide.
(12:23):
Essentially, I became theirguide to success.
I call myself a non-equitypartner right.
So I'm always there by theirside, guiding them along the way
, dealing with all thechallenges, finding all the
solutions for their challenges,from internal standpoint to
managerial, to business, etcetera and, of course,
(12:44):
incorporating the fact that Iknow how to save money on taxes,
you know in a proactive fashionand I know how to defend every
single position if there's anissue with the IRS or any state
agencies.
So it kind of goes hand in handand I become their go-to guide
and expert on all things mattersto their success.
(13:06):
So it's three unique, separatespecialties that I have
accumulated and I've ascertainedover the years and they
definitely helped not just mebut my clients get ahead and
those people that actually workwith me.
They actually get ahead muchfaster.
(13:28):
They accomplish and reach theirgoals very quickly.
They accomplish and reach theirgoals very quickly and they're
all successful.
You know in every single way ofhow they define success.
Every single person has adifferent definition of it, but
I'm there to make sure that thebusiness prospers, has a
positive cash flow on consistentbasis, pays as little taxes as
(13:50):
possible legally and, of course,the business owners accomplish
all their goals personal andbusiness throughout our
relationship and I help them.
So that's pretty much where weare today.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
All right, that's an introduction, that's a story
Appreciate you sharing that youasked?
Speaker 3 (14:12):
me a question.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yeah, very true, very true.
An introduction, that's a story.
Appreciate you asking me aquestion.
Yeah, very true, very true.
Um, yeah, I mean right back tothe start of that.
I'm not good with needleseither, so my the chances of me
going into the medicalprofession were were very
short-lived.
I think back from grade schoolwhen I had my first needle and
fainted in the gym, probablygetting like a flu shot.
(14:34):
So I was like, all right, wecan write off going into that
industry.
It's interesting, though youtalk about, you know, wanting to
be a doctor because I would.
I would hesitate to say, or Iwouldn't hesitate to say, that
you know, being a fractional CFOis, you know, the financial
doctor for a lot of businesses.
(14:54):
You're looking at somethingthat someone can't quite figure
out.
They know there's some painthere.
You identify where the pain isand you give them the solution
on how to fix it.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah, it's a good point, James.
So usually I like to use a lotof analogies within my business
to explain complicated conceptsin very layman terms, and the
analogy that I love to use a lotand I actually work with a lot
of doctors as my clients.
I love dealing with medicalpractitioners.
I mean, they're great at whatthey do, but they suck at
(15:26):
everything else, especially whenit comes to finances, it's true
.
I mean, most of them are justclueless until they start
working with me and then theybecome a lot more educated and
well-versed in all thingsfinances related.
So the analogy that I love touse is very simple is just like
(15:48):
when you go to a doctor, beforethe doctor actually tells you
what's wrong and how to fix it,what do they do?
They diagnose you right, sothey take in certain tests, they
review some of the results, ormaybe scans or whatever you
bring in.
They run their own tests.
Then they come up with adiagnosis and then, after the
(16:09):
diagnosis, what do they do?
They write a prescription onhow to fix the issue that you're
having your stomach, your tummy, aches.
Oh my God, what do we do?
So we know that the tummy achesthat's the diagnosis.
Well, how do you fix that?
You prescribe a medication, sothat prescription is essentially
the tax plan that I do for,let's say, tax planning clients,
(16:33):
and prescription by itself willnot alleviate your tummy ache.
So what do you need to do withthat prescription?
You got to go to a pharmacy andfill it, right.
That's where the implementationcomes in.
And when you fill theprescription, just because you
got the medication and until youstart taking it, you're still
(16:53):
going to have a tummy ache forthe most part.
So what?
It's the same concept.
You, I diagnose what theproblem is, I come up with a
solution that's a prescription,and then that solution has to be
implemented in order for theresults to become, in order for
everything to work.
So I I'm there along the way,I'm implementing everything.
(17:15):
It's the same ideas as when yougo to a doctor's, or the other
analogy I like to use is fromthe architectural standpoint.
So before you have any buildingup, right, what do you need to
do?
You need to go find a piece ofland, right.
Then you have to go to anarchitect that designs a
(17:37):
blueprint.
Blueprint, essentially, is thattax plan and then that
blueprint is fulfilled andfollowed by the contractors.
That builds the foundation.
You know, they put up the walls, they put up the beams and then
you have everything up andready.
After the blueprint has beenfollowed to the t, you have a
(17:59):
house.
So the same idea there's a lotof pieces that has to work, uh,
in conjunction and together, uhto to make things work and to
improve things.
So, yeah, you're 100% right.
I mean doctor's analogy and thearchitect analogy are basically
(18:20):
what I like to use the most toexplain how we get things done
and why we do them.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
That's great, the analogies, especially when it
comes to sales and I'm guessingyou would say you use that when
on sales calls with prospects,because I think it really helps
paint a picture in a much moresimpler term on what is going to
happen.
And, like you mentioned, notevery business owner speaks the
(18:49):
same lingo as you.
They don't.
They don't know all thesethings, Otherwise they wouldn't
be speaking to you to begin with.
So being able to tell them likehey, here's, here's what's
going to happen, here's thesteps, this is what you need to
do.
But how often, Alexia, do yourun into the problem where you
know you can't?
You can take the horse to water, but you can't force it to
drink.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
How many times have you put in a plan and it doesn't
get all the way across the line.
So every single situation iscompletely unique and different.
So we're all different.
We all have differentfingerprints, right.
So same idea when it comes toan approach.
There's no such thing as a onetrick pony type of thing.
You have a one thing that willwork for everybody 80-20 rules
you do apply.
(19:37):
So there's a lot of things that, especially when you specialize
in particular industry, thatapply to the same type of
strategies may be applicable toa lot of different individuals
and business owners, but stillthey have to be tweaked, you
know, because every situation isdifferent.
(19:58):
What I like to do with all of myclients is essentially educate
them as much as I can.
Now, when we go through thateducational part of the
engagement, I never usefinancial jargon or lingo.
I speak to them like we'respeaking right now, in a term,
(20:20):
and I try to explain the mostcomplicated concepts in very
layman terms and put things inperspective, depending on what
they do, so they couldunderstand in their head how it
relates to them right, Like, forinstance, very complicated
concepts of CFO right, thecertified CFO services, the
(20:42):
advisory service they provide,instead of going through all the
ratios and KPIs and all thefinancial and accounting lingo,
what I use in my practice is ascoreboard.
It's color-coded scoreboard.
It's just like a traffic light.
You got the green, you got theyellow, you got the red.
(21:03):
So the green is the areas thatdon't need to be touched, the
yellow is something you got topay attention to and the red are
the immediate things that hasto be taken care of.
They have to be taken care ofbecause they will potentially
could ruin your business.
So whenever I do an analysis,the financial assessment of,
(21:24):
especially for a prospect, Ipresent them with a scorecard
and I tell them this area isgreat.
There's 16 different drivers inevery single business.
What drives the revenue, thecash flow and, obviously, the
profitability of the business?
Those 16 drivers I would notbore my clients with.
(21:48):
I'm definitely not boring youwith that.
That's not my intent to boreyou with that information
because it's very detailed.
It's based on a lot of ratioanalysis that nobody really
cares about.
They want to know how you solvethe problem and whenever they
see the scorecard, it's easy forthem to follow it.
You've got to look at the redareas.
Oh, my God, let's zoom in.
(22:08):
What's going on there and howdo we change that color from red
to yellow and then to green?
Right, and that's what we workon.
But there are times that, nomatter what you tell them, it's
all about accountability, right,because there's certain things
that I can't do and there'scertain things I cannot do
without the business owner'shelp or their team's help.
(22:30):
If they're terrible businessowners and they don't listen to
their advisors, they usually endup failing, right, so did it
happen in my practice withanybody I ever worked with?
It happened once, and that wastheir choice.
They just did not listen.
And when you don't listen, youcan't, no matter what you do,
(22:55):
you can't jump over yourself,right, so you could lead the
horse through the water, but youcannot make or drink it.
This is the perfect situation ofthat and scenario is when
people just choose themselvesnot to follow a certain advice,
for whatever reason.
You could blame the time, youcould come up with a million
(23:15):
different excuses, but at theend of the day, if you're not
going to take action, nothingwill change.
No matter how many advisors,how many people are working with
you, for you, et cetera, itdoesn't matter.
The business owner isultimately responsible for
making key business decisionsfor their business.
I cannot make them for him orher.
(23:37):
They have to be doing this Now.
I could only provide my insightof what I believe should happen
and how things should shape outif you take certain steps.
But if they choose not tofollow them, there's nothing
else they can do.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
That's impactful.
It's so true, though, so Idon't want to take up a ton more
of your time, alexi, but onequestion I would love to ask you
.
You have a very successfulbusiness.
You have a very successfulbusiness.
You've built a very successfulbusiness.
You have a great life.
(24:17):
What's one piece of adviceyou'd give to either other
fractional CFOs, taxprofessionals listening on you
know, building a successfulbusiness, building that dream
life that they're after, becauseyou've had multiple businesses
now it's not your first rodeo.
What's that piece of adviceyou'd give to other
(24:38):
entrepreneurs Actually, itdoesn't even have to be
fractional CFOs and tax planners.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Well, I have a lot of different advices of the main
ones that you should probablystick with.
Whoever is going to be watchingthis is the fact that you
should always be honest withyourself and honest with
everyone you work with.
Do not over promise and underdeliver.
Always try to under promise andover deliver, but if you're not
(25:05):
sure about something, it's fine.
Just be honest with the client.
I don't know, I'll look into it, I'll get back to you.
Don't agree or yes, or just behonest with yourself and try to
get rid of your impostersyndrome.
A lot of folks, unfortunately,do not have enough faith or
(25:27):
confidence in their abilities,in their or confidence in their
abilities.
We cannot possibly knoweverything.
I certainly don't, and nobody'sexpecting us to know everything
.
What people that work with usexpect us to do is to do the
(25:51):
best job we can under thecircumstances and just be honest
with yourself.
Never lie to anybody and onlydo things that will help and not
hurt your clients.
Because I don't know about youor anyone that's going to be
listening, but I love to sleepat night and I don't want
(26:18):
anything to come back and bitingmy client in the places of
their body, and obviously me bydefault.
So I know a lot of folks outthere.
They do a lot of shady thingswith their mission of helping
their clients, with theirmission of helping their clients
.
From time to time I come acrosssituations where I actually
have to represent those clientsbefore Internal Revenue Service
(26:39):
and different state agenciesbecause of that help that ended
up hurting them a lot more thanthe actual help.
So please be honest withyourself and know what you're
capable of, withoutoverextending the things and
abilities of what you feel youknow but in reality you don't,
(27:02):
and never be afraid to ask forhelp.
I align myself with a team ofdifferent experts in different
areas.
Like I said, I don't knoweverything.
I don't need to know everything.
I know people that do, so all Ineed to do is just reach out to
those people, get theconfirmation I'm looking for or
guidance, and just pass thatinformation along to my clients.
(27:25):
And I encourage everyone tohave a network of professionals
around themselves thatspecialize in different areas,
not just with tax or CFO or whathave you, or just different
experts in different areas soyou could rely on and work with
on a consistent basis and bethere for you and, in turn, for
(27:48):
your clients whenever you needthat help.
But, above all, never lie toyourself, never lie to others
and just be truthful and try notto overextend yourself by
overpromising and overdeliveringand do the opposite.
But I always tell my kids thisand to myself actually just some
(28:09):
of those daily affirmations,and one of the things that I say
is that always try to be thebest version of yourself Never
try to be somebody you're not.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
That's great.
Thank you so much for sharingthat, Alexei.
That's very, very wise words.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
No, I try.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
No, that's great, that's great, I appreciate it
appreciate it comes withexperience, james.
Yeah, yeah, that's fair.
That's fair.
Thank you so much for coming ontoday, alexi, really appreciate
it.
Um, it's awesome hearing yourstory how you got started.
Um, you know, brief wins howyou approach your sales
conversations make, uh, that youknow that analogy much easier
(28:51):
for individuals to understandwhere you're coming from and how
you can help them.
And then, obviously, the theadvice to cap it off.
So, again, thank you so muchfor coming on today.
My pleasure Anytime.
Thanks for tuning into thisepisode of CFO Chronicles the
secrets behind success.
I hope you found value intoday's conversation.
As we wrap up, I'd love for youto do two things.
(29:12):
First, make sure to subscribeto this podcast so you don't
miss any future episodes.
If you enjoyed today'sdiscussion, please rate and
review the show.
It helps others discover theinsights we share here.
Second, if you're ready to takeyour business to the next level
and attract the high-endclients you deserve, head over
to accountingleadsnowcom orclick the link in the show notes
to book your strategy.
(29:32):
Call it's time to positionyourself as the advisor your
clients need.
And don't forget you canconnect with me on LinkedIn to
stay up to date on what'shappening in the world of
accounting and financial growth.
We've got more exciting topicscoming up, so stay tuned for the
next episode of CFO Chronicles.
Until then, keep pushingforward.
Your growth is just onestrategic move away.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Thanks for listening to CFO Chronicles the secrets
behind success.
We hope today's episodeprovided valuable strategies to
help you attract more highpaying clients.
Be sure to subscribe, followand share with fellow
professionals, Connect with uson LinkedIn and leave a review
or comment to join theconversation.
Your feedback helps us bringyou the best insights in finance
(30:16):
and marketing.
Until next time, keep strivingfor success and unlocking your
business's potential.
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