September 18, 2025 • 30 mins
He scheduled his wedding around payroll. That’s when he knew something had to change.
Jaime Rodriguez, CEO of Bookkeepers.com, has helped over 17,000 students turn their skill into a scalable business. In this episode, he shares the real lessons that most freelancers and early-stage business owners miss:
• The two personality types that sabotage their own growth
• The SOP mistake that stalled his own firm
• Why most freelancers chase the wrong kind of “rich”
• How to build a business that gives back your freedom
This one’s part gut check, part blueprint and it might just save you years of wheel-spinning.
🔗 Learn more at: bookkeepers.com
📲 Find Jaime on LinkedIn & Facebook (@jaime.at.bookkeepers)
This episode is brought to you by Bill.com
- Ready to take your finances to the next level? See how BILL Spend & Expense can power up your business—and get that free grill—at bill.com/cfochronicles
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Most people think bookkeeping is all about
spreadsheets, reconcilingreceipts and staying buried in
someone else's numbers, buttoday's guest is flipping that
idea on its head.
Jaime is the CEO ofbookkeeperscom and he's helped
over 17,000 students launch andscale their own bookkeeping
businesses, not just to makemoney, but to build freedom on
their own terms.
In this conversation, we talkabout what it really means to
(00:23):
become a rich entrepreneur, howto avoid the traps that keep
most freelancers stuck, and whyyour definition of success
should have nothing to do withsomeone else's revenue goals.
If you're ready to break out ofthe job mindset and actually
build a business that works foryou, this one's for you.
Jaime, welcome to the show.
It's so great to have you onhere.
We had a chance to meet atGrowCon a couple months ago.
(00:46):
I'm pumped to have you on.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Thank you.
Thanks so much for having me on.
It was a good time meeting youat GrowCon and I'm happy to be
here.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, look, let's get rightinto it.
You've helped thousands ofpeople step into bookkeeping.
What made you fall in love withthis industry in the first
place?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I didn't love the industry actually, oh, okay,
yeah, no, I jumped in theindustry as an accountant
because I thought like, hey,what is a job that's in demand
that nobody else likes?
And I initially went to schoolas a marketing major, and, as
much fun as I had in thosemarketing classes, the
accounting classes were reallytough and I was like, hey, you
(01:27):
know what, let's make a smartdecision here and let's find
something that's going to bevery difficult, that people just
loathe, me included.
And then I did it.
But what got me into this space, into the education space, was,
well, I actually took thecourse myself and it's been able
(01:50):
to help me grow my bookkeepingfirm.
And then what I did is Istarted working part time with
the company.
I realized that the mostfulfilling part was the teaching
, finding people that actuallythat could, just seeing those
light bulb moments you know whenyou're able to explain
(02:11):
something to them.
That was that's my favoritepart of the industry, more so
than the accounting and thenumbers is being able to teach
somebody how to essentiallylearn a whole new language.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Yeah, I love it.
I love it and I got a commentreal quick for those listening
and not watching.
I've never seen anyone with acooler background, especially in
the accounting bookkeepingworld.
I've seen some pretty wild oneswith other marketers and you
jump on different coaching callsbut, hands down, you take the
(02:45):
cake for anyone in theaccounting industry with your
background.
This is amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Thank you, thank you.
Yeah, I am a basketball nut.
I can't wait Basketball season,even the offseason, I'm keeping
track of all of it and I havean abnormal amount of jerseys in
my closet as well.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, and the favorites, I'm guessing, hanging
up on the wall.
What motivated the ambientlighting.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
So that's just me playing with the lighting, and I
actually play with that all thetime, aside from the basketball
.
I am a gamer.
I do love to play.
I have a gaming PC that I workwith, and part of my space here
is this.
The office is not only where Iwork, it's where I game, and so
(03:33):
I have to really enjoy my timehere.
I have to make it visiblyappealing so that I don't hate
coming in here, and this iswhere I spend hours.
Right, hours of my life arebeing spent here, whether it's
play or work, and so I don'tknow.
It's just a way that, I guess,makes it easy on the eyes.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Nice, well, hey, 10 out of 10, the background's
great and I love the lighting.
I mean, what do most people getwrong when they try to turn
bookkeeping into a business?
There's so many, um, you knowbookkeepers out there.
They're great at at doing thebookkeeping they're great at.
You know, they've got a coupleof clients on their own.
Maybe they're working forsomeone else and they're doing
(04:14):
it on the side, but yeah, what?
Where do people go wrong andwhat hurdles they run and run
into when they try to actuallyrun a business and do it on
their own.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Right and so, and so I kind of like to
compartmentalize that into twosections.
So there's the one student thatis just a brilliant bookkeeper.
They're very detail oriented.
What they're going to haveproblems with and this was me is
marketing themselves, beingable to sell themselves.
Most people that have thatpersonality that are so
meticulous with numbers aretypically not the same person
that is very creative andoutgoing and is able to really
(04:53):
just sell themselves more thananything.
What I did, and I think whatmost students that are in that
seat that I was in we get sofocused on the little details
where I can't launch my businessuntil my website is perfect.
I can't do this until mybusiness card is perfect.
I can't do this until I buyanother course and I have this
(05:17):
course, but maybe I just needthis other certificate, I need
the QuickBooks certificate, andI need the advanced certificate,
and now I need the payrollcertificate, and then you're
just chasing these milestonesthat don't really mean anything,
because at the end of the day,you could be the most wonderful
bookkeeper, but that's allyou're going to be as a
bookkeeper.
(05:37):
You're not going to be abusiness owner, because you have
the knowledge but you don'thave the clients.
And then the other side of thisis the total opposite.
The person that's an incrediblesalesperson.
They have a great personality,they're very creative, they're
easy to talk to.
That person typically struggleswith the attention to detail.
(06:00):
They're usually a little bitmessier, right.
It feels like we all, we all,we all like when you're if
you're listening to this, you'reprobably thinking of somebody
right now where you're like ohyeah, they're super creative,
everything they touch just looksamazing, but then their closet
is a mess, right, like it.
I don't know why that is, butthat's just how it seems to work
.
That person typically struggleswith the bookkeeping side and,
(06:22):
um, I don't think that one orthe other is better.
Each of them have theirstrengths and their weaknesses
and I think it's just a matterof knowing what that strength
and weakness is so that you canbuild that, build your firm
accordingly.
But those are the two biggestthings where the mistake of just
being too detail oriented orjust not having enough knowledge
of the space.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
What do you say to the students and the business
owners you're speaking to, whoare getting hung up on?
Well, as soon as I get mywebsite and as soon as I get my
business card and as soon as mylogo and the font and I'm
curious to hear what you say tothem I got an answer myself, but
I'd love to hear your take onthat.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, so I think we've all heard.
You know, done is better thanperfect, right, and I think
that's that's what I try to liveby now.
Uh, I've made the mistake withmy booking being business, I've
had like three websites, a bunchof different business cards, uh
, and through bookkeeperscom,what we?
It's funny because we get a lotof students that will come in
and ask those questions likewhat if I want to change my name
(07:29):
later?
And then we just say, hey, sobe it.
If you want to change your namelater, just launch your
business and you can switch thisthing later, don't worry about
it.
And I like to usebookkeeperscom as an example.
We weren't alwaysbookkeeperscom.
We started as BookkeepingBusiness Academy, bookkeeper
(07:54):
Business Launch and thenbookkeeper launch and now
bookkeeperscom.
Like we, we've been all overthe place.
If we can change our name, youcan too.
You're not McDonald's orStarbucks, right?
Like your name, isn't that?
Uh, it doesn't hold thepresence that something like a
McDonald's or a Starbucks has.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, that's so good.
You haven't put multi-milliondollars, if not billions of
dollars, into your branding.
Just change it and move on andworry about getting paid and
doing the work and growing alist of clients Also at the end
of the day, your clients.
They're not choosing to workwith you because of your
business name.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Not at all.
No, they couldn't care less.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
They really couldn't Aimee.
You've helped 17,000 students.
What's the repeatable path yousee for people who actually
succeed?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah.
So I think the number one thingthe best, the most successful
students are those that willwork, that will try to create
workflows for themselves rightfrom the start.
And if that it seems so, itseems easier said than done.
But when you're in there andyou only have one client as
you're starting out, you thinkwhy the heck do I need workflows
(08:57):
?
I got this, I can remember this.
You get two clients, you canstill do it.
Three clients, four clients,five still, it's still pretty
manageable.
And then after that it startsto get a little bit busier.
You're like, oh shoot, I forgotto reconcile this account or I
forgot to call this client thenand then.
So what you see a lot of peopledo is you start with a to do
(09:17):
list and your to do list is agood start, but they're not
workflows.
A good workflow in a studentthat really excels is someone
that is not only has a checklist, but for each task on that
checklist there's a how to, howto do this.
Why does that matter?
Because when you're ready toscale, and when you're ready to
(09:39):
scale and you hire somebody, youcan literally just say, hey,
here's the template, here's myto-do list, here's what you're
going to handle this client, andthis is what we do every single
month, every single week.
This is how we do it, and ifyou're really doing things the
way that we suggest, not onlyare you giving them a list and
instructions, you're doing avideo of it, of you doing it,
(10:03):
you're doing a transcript of thevideo and you're doing a
checklist that says not justthis is how you do it, but here
are the five major points inthis task.
If you can knock all these fiveout, you've done the task
correctly.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I love it.
Yeah, and if you haven't fallenback on that safety net, you
don't have the checklist taskisn't done, so just kind of loop
back and go down the list.
I think business owners andjust people in general they make
things so much more difficultthan it needs to be.
Oh, yeah, Record what you'redoing.
I'm in the middle of readingBuy Back your Time by Dan
(10:36):
Martell right now, and it'sabout the point in the book
where, yeah, just recordyourself, have the checklist
what to fall back on and youknow, it just makes life a lot
easier.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yeah, your future self will thank you.
And it's so hard to think aboutthat future self because you
think I don't have time for this.
I'll do this later.
I don't really need it now, butyour future self needs it badly
and they're going to wish thatyou did do it.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
And you're already doing the work.
So just jump on zoom, recordyourself on the screen and then
at least store that doc so thenext time someone comes in at
the bare bones, you have a roughvideo of you just walking
through it and you're justtalking, talking through the
things that you clicked on.
You speak a lot about becomingrich in your own terms.
(11:20):
What does that mean and how doyou help people define it?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, and so the reason this is really important
for me is because when I wantedto start my business for the
first time, I saw being rich asit was totally off, totally
different than what I think ofit as now and to me it was being
able to buy whatever I wanted,to wear fancy clothes, wear a
(11:45):
suit, to work, go to the office.
And that's what I kind ofdefine as success.
And, oddly enough, I thoughtbeing busy was successful, like
I always thought that the mostsuccessful people, if you talk
to them, they were just like oh,I'm too busy for that, I'm too
busy for this, right.
So there's some weird mindsetshift that I made.
(12:06):
I don't know if weird is theright term, but I definitely had
a mindset where I thought busyequals high status, it means
rich, it means that's what Iwant.
Now I've kind of broken it downinto a four-piece framework
which is totally different thanit was before.
That's faith, freedom,flexibility and fulfillment.
(12:28):
When I think of being rich, Ithink of those four things.
Number one faith, like what issomething that I can fall back
on, that gives me purpose forthis job, for this business that
I'm creating.
Freedom is just the ability tobe able to choose and spend time
on whatever it is I want to do.
(12:49):
And then the flexibility part ofit.
This one's probably my favorite, because we think, when we
start a business, that we haveto follow the norms, the nine to
five, monday through Friday.
Who made that up?
Like that's?
If you, if you think, if youknow yourself and you're like I
just hate Mondays.
I'm so not very resourceful ona Monday.
(13:12):
Instead, you know what.
I'm going to take Mondays off.
I'm going to work Saturdays.
I don't know if that's the bestidea, but you can't.
Nobody is telling you.
You have to follow these normsthat we have created for
ourselves.
In fact, if you want to workseven days a week and just work
eight to 12, you could do that.
You're the business owner.
That's what flexibility isabout Just being able to
(13:32):
maneuver your schedule.
I'll use me as an example justto add a little bit more to the
flexibility part.
From noon till about 5 pm, I'museless, and like my brain is
useless, and and like my brainis useless and we're recording
here after in the afternoon.
This is the exact kind of thingthat I can do from noon to five
(13:54):
to noon to six.
Things that really require mybrain.
Uh, I need to schedule in themorning or late at night.
And so if I ever have one ofthose days where I'm like, is
this going to be a very busy day, a very brain heavy day, I may
decide, hey, I'm going to takeoff from 12 to five.
I'm not doing anything, I'mjust because I'm going to be
(14:14):
useless anyways, and whatever Ido decide to accomplish is
probably going to be crappy.
So I, you know, I just it'sabout knowing yourself and being
able to just be flexible withit.
And the last thing isfulfillment.
Just what fulfills you?
Right, and maybe in ourindustry we might not think, hey
(14:34):
, this isn't the most fulfillingindustry, but it can be.
Whenever you speak to a client,if you're a CFO, a tax preparer
or a tax advisor or abookkeeper, if you can really
get your clients to buy in andyou're able to explain the ups,
the downs and give some goodadvice, not only do you become
(14:57):
their bookkeeper, theiraccountant, their tax preparer,
whatever.
You become their friend, youbecome somebody that they enjoy
speaking to and that shouldfulfill you.
And if that doesn't fulfill you, you just need to find what it
is that is going to fulfill youand give you more purpose for
your business.
So, when it comes to being rich, I think thinking about those
four things in mind will makeyou and allow you to realize
(15:21):
that you are rich.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
That's awesome.
The big piece of what you'resaying there really stood out on
the flexibility and justknowing when you're productive.
I don't know how many timesI've sat behind the computer
with that mindset of well, it'sWednesday, it's the middle of
the week, I should be and I'm,you're not, I'm not
(15:47):
accomplishing anything lifechanging, but you could check it
off at the end of the day,cause I go.
I was clocked in from the nineto five, so I'm I'm trying to be
a lot more cognizant of thatlately myself and identify when,
when am I on, when am I not,and when I'm not.
Go do something that I'm goingto get way more enjoyment out of
, rather than sitting there andyou're just moving your mouse
(16:09):
around thinking, okay, well, I'mworking, well, no, you're just
kind of wasting your time andand, like you said, the work you
do produce, it's not to thequality you actually want it at.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
And when you're working on anine to five, when you're
getting paid hourly, knock theclock right, Do it.
I'm not advocating for stealingfrom your job at all, but I
work in an office where I was anemployee and that's what we did
.
Hang out by the water cooler.
Hang out, go get coffee when Idon't really need another cup of
(16:40):
coffee, but it just gave me abreak.
But as a business owner, you'rein charge of your time, so make
the best of it.
Yeah, as a business owner,you're in charge of your time,
so make the best of it.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, I mean, I think we've all been there the nine
to five just looking.
How do I, how do I get throughthe last hour of the day, or
whatever that is, but different,different side of the fence
when you're the owner?
Oh yeah, let's talk about AIfor a sec.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
You've said humans are the biggest threat to AI.
What do you mean by that?
Yeah, I love that, so I just Ithink about, like AI.
It's such a buzzword now, right, and we use it too.
We have an AI bookkeepingcourse as well.
It is a necessary I wouldn'teven say necessarily evil.
It's not an evil.
I think it's a necessary good.
But the biggest threat to AI isour people, because I think
(17:28):
that AI is going to always needus.
I think there's never going tobe to use a bookkeeper as an
example.
If you are a client in themarket for a bookkeeper, you
have the option of pickingsomebody that is just completely
AI, right, it's somebody thatis that you, I don't know
(17:52):
somehow connected to your bankaccount and it produces
financials at the end of themonth and it sends them to you,
you as a business owner.
Most business owners are notgoing to look at that report and
be like, oh wow, this did anincredible job, even if there is
a summary, an explanation of it.
Most business owners just don'tcare.
Don't do that.
However, if you are a person,if you are a human bookkeeper,
(18:17):
you're facing against this AIbot, right, and you have that
relationship with the businessowner, and I think that's what
the core of the message is thatthis industry is so so
relationship heavy, right, and Ilike to compare it to like a
marriage.
Whenever you're dating aroundlooking for a client or a
(18:39):
client's looking for you, it islike dating.
And when you start workingtogether, it is very much like a
marriage.
You spend a lot of timetogether.
You as the bookkeeper or thetax preparer, you get to know so
much of that business ownerjust by looking at their bank
account sometimes more than wewant to know and you're able to
spend those at least monthly, ifnot quarterly.
(19:02):
Spend some time with themexplaining financials to them.
Sometimes it forces that clientto understand the financials
and understand where theirbusiness lies.
And I can tell you fromexperience from clients that
I've had when we haven't met andthey're like, hey, I can't make
it this month.
Can you just record a video ofexplaining the financials?
(19:22):
They don't watch it.
They just don't watch itbecause it's even that like
takes away from the humanelement.
They want a live person theycan chat with, they can ask
questions about.
So when I say humans are thebiggest threat to AI, I mean
that AI is not coming for ourjobs.
I think AI is going to be here.
(19:42):
It's here to stay.
I don't think it's goinganywhere.
I think it's only going to getbetter.
And I think those bookkeepers,accountants, cfos, tax repairers
, everybody in the the industry,if you're not using it, uh,
maybe you could probably getaway with it now, but I think in
a year, uh, two, three yearsfrom now, if you're not using it
(20:03):
, you're going to be left behind100, yeah, and it's also.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
It's only as.
It's only as good as the promptthe human gives it as well.
I mean, depending on whatplatforms are talking about.
I use a lot of chat, gpt, sothat's anyone can use it, but
how, how good is it?
It's the prompt you give it.
But I really like what you'resaying about the, the human
element to things.
Um, I don't know about you, butpersonally I've been a part of
(20:30):
a lot of masterminds, a lot ofdifferent groups.
I rarely ever watch therecordings, even if it's the
most amazing thing that wascovered.
I'm like, oh, I'm gonna, I'mmissing this, but I'll go back
and watch it.
Never do.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
But if you're live on that.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Recording it, it feels different.
I like a lot of sports as well.
I'm a big hockey guy.
I find it insane when peopleare like, oh, I'm gonna record
the game and watch it later.
It's not happening, I want towatch it live.
So that live element, like yousaid, it just makes it adds a
lot of value in relationships tothe clients, which, at the end
(21:07):
of the day, it's all aboutrelationships.
So really solid point there.
Where do you see evenexperienced bookkeepers getting
stuck as they try to grow orscale?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
So I think it's.
It is like the processes.
I think this is what happenedwith me with my bookkeeping
business, which I'm not actuallyactively growing anymore.
But I got to the point where Ineeded the help.
I knew that I needed help I wascapped.
I got to the point where Ineeded the help.
I knew that I needed help.
I was capped.
I had too many clients, notenough time.
(21:41):
I needed somebody to come inand help me, whether that was a
bookkeeper or a virtualassistant, to take some of these
tasks off of my plate.
The issue was that it was acatch-22.
In order to have that help, Ineeded to have processes and I
didn't have those and all ofthis happened.
I hired a bookkeeper bigmistake, not because of the
(22:04):
bookkeeper, but because of me asa business owner completely
failed her by not having thingsin place.
So what happened is I hiresomebody and they're not doing
things the way that I wantbecause I didn't tell them how I
wanted it done.
I didn't have any procedures,any processes, and I think
that's the biggest, the biggestissue with established
bookkeepers that they justthey're at a catch 22 where they
(22:27):
need time.
They need their time back to togrow, to continue to grow their
firm.
But in order to do that, theyneed a, they need help.
But in order to do that, theyneed help.
But in order to get help, theyneed time to create these
processes.
I think that's the biggesthurdle for someone that's been
in business for a couple ofyears.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Interesting.
So, going back to what we spokeabout earlier, just start
recording what you're doing,regardless what it is.
Record the thing that you needto get off your plate the most,
a couple of variations of it,put it in a Google Drive and
that next hire at the bareminimum.
They can just watch exactlywhat you've done as you spoke
through it.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, and James, I'll add to that something that you
mentioned earlier.
I really love what you saidbecause it doesn't have to be
this complex thing.
You can use the free version ofzoom.
That's like doesn't have to bethis complex thing.
You can use the free version ofzoom.
That's like I think it caps youout at 40 minutes.
You don't need a 40 minuteprocess.
You record a 10 minute process,save it to Google drive.
Uh, and that's really, ifthat's all you have, that's more
than I had before.
That's that you're settingsomebody up for success right
(23:29):
there.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
And and it's you know I I'veguilty in the past and obviously
it's nice to have reallydetailed SOPs and show someone
with an arrow in a box like thisexactly click.
That's amazing, until the nextversion of that software changes
and all of a sudden that buttonin that box is moved and all
that times out the window versus.
(23:50):
Here's the framework, like yousaid.
Here's the checklist is havethe five things been done?
If yes, move on to the nextthing.
If not, go back to number one.
So just simplifying what you'redoing.
That that's awesome.
If someone's listening in a, orfor those listening, not if
someone's listening for ourlisteners and they feel, you
(24:13):
know, called to start somethingof their own.
They want to get out, they wantto start their own firm.
What's the first move you'dtell them to make today?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
So I would say, get educated, like find a course and
whether that's something likewhat we have at bookkeeperscom.
I don't think we're the end allbe all.
There's courses in the CFOspace and the tax space.
Don't think we're the end allbe all.
There's courses in the CFOspace and the tax space.
Even if you think you know you,you're going to be pleasantly
surprised at how little you doand and and again.
(24:48):
I'm just using myself as anexample.
I come from, I have anaccounting degree and although I
thought I knew most of thisstuff, I purchased a course
through bookkeeperscom as astudent.
I bought this and I said, okay,let's see what I can learn here
and I thought I don't need tolearn the bookkeeping, I just
need to learn how to be abusiness owner.
I had to relearn thebookkeeping because I realized I
was a pretty crappy one tobegin with and I had to relearn
(25:11):
a lot of that.
So I think the first step isget educated.
Find somebody you can trust,somebody that I don't know,
somebody that has been vouchedfor, that has a legitimate
course that can teach you to bea business owner and, of course,
teach you about the industry aswell.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Yeah, awesome.
What's the best piece of adviceyou've ever received?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Oh, that's a good one .
So the best piece of advice andthis kind of goes back to being
flexible and being and gettingyour freedom back.
I'll tailor with.
I'll tie in a story here.
Believe it or not, I, when I gotmarried, I scheduled my wedding
(25:56):
around payroll, and this is avery practical advice.
Somebody said you just need tostop doing payroll, and that was
the best advice I have everreceived, because I got my
freedom back.
I scheduled my wedding aroundpayroll because every other week
we have to run payroll for anumber of clients, and I said,
(26:19):
okay, there's no way I can getmarried that week because I'm
going to be super busy.
And you would think that thatwould have been enough to be
like all right, I need somethingneeds to change.
No, two, three years later, Iwas like planning vacations
around it and I thought thisstinks.
And finally, what did it for mewas having to run payroll, or
(26:43):
having to have payroll ready onChristmas Eve when I could have
been spending that time with myfamily.
That was the deal breaker.
That's when I said holy crap,what am I doing here?
This isn't why I started thisbusiness, and so I know that's
the first thing that comes tomind the best piece of advice,
because I think that's the onethat gave me my freedom back.
(27:04):
I think that was the biggesthurdle that I had.
As simple as it may seem, itreally killed me to have to do
that.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I love it.
That's great, jaime.
For those who want to get intouch with you, continue the
conversation.
Learn a little bit more aboutbookkeeperscom, maybe pick up a
course.
What's the best way they canget in touch with you?
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Yeah, you can visit our site at bookkeeperscom.
You know the word bookkeeper isthe only word in the English
language with the three doubleletters letters, so double L,
double K, double E.
But yeah, bookkeeperscom, youcan visit our YouTube channel as
well.
Youtube forward slashbookkeeperscom spelled out D, o,
(27:47):
tc, o, m, and you can find meon LinkedIn and Facebook as well
Facebookcom forward slash Jaime.
At bookkeepers.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Amazing.
I'm never going to unseebookkeepers now with the three
double letters.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Yeah, yeah, sharing that.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Awesome, I may.
Thank you so much for coming on.
We'll make sure the links arein the show notes, the
description, so people can getin touch with you.
I highly recommend they do.
We had an awesome conversationin Utah a couple months ago.
I'm excited to see you in thefuture, whatever event that may
be, and I know we got some funstuff planned, so everyone stay
on the lookout for that in thefuture.
Jaime, thanks again for comingon.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
James, thank you so much for having me.
I had a ton of fun.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Thanks for tuning into this episode of CFO
Chronicles the secrets behindsuccess.
I hope you found value intoday's conversation.
As we wrap up, I'd love for youto do two things.
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
(28:55):
and attract the high-endclients you deserve, head over
to accountingleadsnowcom orclick the link in the show notes
to book your strategy.
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 exciting topicscoming up, so stay tuned for the
next episode of CFO Chronicles.
(29:17):
Until then, keep pushingforward.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Your growth is just one strategic move away.
Thanks for listening to CFOChronicles 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
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Connect with us on LinkedIn andleave a review or comment to
join the conversation.
Your feedback helps us bringyou the best insights in finance
(29:47):
and marketing.
Until next time, keep strivingfor success and unlocking your
business's potential.
Most people think bookkeeping is all about
spreadsheets, reconcilingreceipts and staying buried in
someone else's numbers, buttoday's guest is flipping that
idea on its head.
Jaime is the CEO ofbookkeeperscom and he's helped
over 17,000 students launch andscale their own bookkeeping
businesses, not just to makemoney, but to build freedom on
their own terms.
In this conversation, we talkabout what it really means to
(00:23):
become a rich entrepreneur, howto avoid the traps that keep
most freelancers stuck, and whyyour definition of success
should have nothing to do withsomeone else's revenue goals.
If you're ready to break out ofthe job mindset and actually
build a business that works foryou, this one's for you.
Jaime, welcome to the show.
It's so great to have you onhere.
We had a chance to meet atGrowCon a couple months ago.
(00:46):
I'm pumped to have you on.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Thank you.
Thanks so much for having me on.
It was a good time meeting youat GrowCon and I'm happy to be
here.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, look, let's get rightinto it.
You've helped thousands ofpeople step into bookkeeping.
What made you fall in love withthis industry in the first
place?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I didn't love the industry actually, oh, okay,
yeah, no, I jumped in theindustry as an accountant
because I thought like, hey,what is a job that's in demand
that nobody else likes?
And I initially went to schoolas a marketing major, and, as
much fun as I had in thosemarketing classes, the
accounting classes were reallytough and I was like, hey, you
(01:27):
know what, let's make a smartdecision here and let's find
something that's going to bevery difficult, that people just
loathe, me included.
And then I did it.
But what got me into this space, into the education space, was,
well, I actually took thecourse myself and it's been able
(01:50):
to help me grow my bookkeepingfirm.
And then what I did is Istarted working part time with
the company.
I realized that the mostfulfilling part was the teaching
, finding people that actuallythat could, just seeing those
light bulb moments you know whenyou're able to explain
(02:11):
something to them.
That was that's my favoritepart of the industry, more so
than the accounting and thenumbers is being able to teach
somebody how to essentiallylearn a whole new language.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Yeah, I love it.
I love it and I got a commentreal quick for those listening
and not watching.
I've never seen anyone with acooler background, especially in
the accounting bookkeepingworld.
I've seen some pretty wild oneswith other marketers and you
jump on different coaching callsbut, hands down, you take the
(02:45):
cake for anyone in theaccounting industry with your
background.
This is amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Thank you, thank you.
Yeah, I am a basketball nut.
I can't wait Basketball season,even the offseason, I'm keeping
track of all of it and I havean abnormal amount of jerseys in
my closet as well.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, and the favorites, I'm guessing, hanging
up on the wall.
What motivated the ambientlighting.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
So that's just me playing with the lighting, and I
actually play with that all thetime, aside from the basketball
.
I am a gamer.
I do love to play.
I have a gaming PC that I workwith, and part of my space here
is this.
The office is not only where Iwork, it's where I game, and so
(03:33):
I have to really enjoy my timehere.
I have to make it visiblyappealing so that I don't hate
coming in here, and this iswhere I spend hours.
Right, hours of my life arebeing spent here, whether it's
play or work, and so I don'tknow.
It's just a way that, I guess,makes it easy on the eyes.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Nice, well, hey, 10 out of 10, the background's
great and I love the lighting.
I mean, what do most people getwrong when they try to turn
bookkeeping into a business?
There's so many, um, you knowbookkeepers out there.
They're great at at doing thebookkeeping they're great at.
You know, they've got a coupleof clients on their own.
Maybe they're working forsomeone else and they're doing
(04:14):
it on the side, but yeah, what?
Where do people go wrong andwhat hurdles they run and run
into when they try to actuallyrun a business and do it on
their own.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Right and so, and so I kind of like to
compartmentalize that into twosections.
So there's the one student thatis just a brilliant bookkeeper.
They're very detail oriented.
What they're going to haveproblems with and this was me is
marketing themselves, beingable to sell themselves.
Most people that have thatpersonality that are so
meticulous with numbers aretypically not the same person
that is very creative andoutgoing and is able to really
(04:53):
just sell themselves more thananything.
What I did, and I think whatmost students that are in that
seat that I was in we get sofocused on the little details
where I can't launch my businessuntil my website is perfect.
I can't do this until mybusiness card is perfect.
I can't do this until I buyanother course and I have this
(05:17):
course, but maybe I just needthis other certificate, I need
the QuickBooks certificate, andI need the advanced certificate,
and now I need the payrollcertificate, and then you're
just chasing these milestonesthat don't really mean anything,
because at the end of the day,you could be the most wonderful
bookkeeper, but that's allyou're going to be as a
bookkeeper.
(05:37):
You're not going to be abusiness owner, because you have
the knowledge but you don'thave the clients.
And then the other side of thisis the total opposite.
The person that's an incrediblesalesperson.
They have a great personality,they're very creative, they're
easy to talk to.
That person typically struggleswith the attention to detail.
(06:00):
They're usually a little bitmessier, right.
It feels like we all, we all,we all like when you're if
you're listening to this, you'reprobably thinking of somebody
right now where you're like ohyeah, they're super creative,
everything they touch just looksamazing, but then their closet
is a mess, right, like it.
I don't know why that is, butthat's just how it seems to work
.
That person typically struggleswith the bookkeeping side and,
(06:22):
um, I don't think that one orthe other is better.
Each of them have theirstrengths and their weaknesses
and I think it's just a matterof knowing what that strength
and weakness is so that you canbuild that, build your firm
accordingly.
But those are the two biggestthings where the mistake of just
being too detail oriented orjust not having enough knowledge
of the space.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
What do you say to the students and the business
owners you're speaking to, whoare getting hung up on?
Well, as soon as I get mywebsite and as soon as I get my
business card and as soon as mylogo and the font and I'm
curious to hear what you say tothem I got an answer myself, but
I'd love to hear your take onthat.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, so I think we've all heard.
You know, done is better thanperfect, right, and I think
that's that's what I try to liveby now.
Uh, I've made the mistake withmy booking being business, I've
had like three websites, a bunchof different business cards, uh
, and through bookkeeperscom,what we?
It's funny because we get a lotof students that will come in
and ask those questions likewhat if I want to change my name
(07:29):
later?
And then we just say, hey, sobe it.
If you want to change your namelater, just launch your
business and you can switch thisthing later, don't worry about
it.
And I like to usebookkeeperscom as an example.
We weren't alwaysbookkeeperscom.
We started as BookkeepingBusiness Academy, bookkeeper
(07:54):
Business Launch and thenbookkeeper launch and now
bookkeeperscom.
Like we, we've been all overthe place.
If we can change our name, youcan too.
You're not McDonald's orStarbucks, right?
Like your name, isn't that?
Uh, it doesn't hold thepresence that something like a
McDonald's or a Starbucks has.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, that's so good.
You haven't put multi-milliondollars, if not billions of
dollars, into your branding.
Just change it and move on andworry about getting paid and
doing the work and growing alist of clients Also at the end
of the day, your clients.
They're not choosing to workwith you because of your
business name.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Not at all.
No, they couldn't care less.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
They really couldn't Aimee.
You've helped 17,000 students.
What's the repeatable path yousee for people who actually
succeed?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah.
So I think the number one thingthe best, the most successful
students are those that willwork, that will try to create
workflows for themselves rightfrom the start.
And if that it seems so, itseems easier said than done.
But when you're in there andyou only have one client as
you're starting out, you thinkwhy the heck do I need workflows
(08:57):
?
I got this, I can remember this.
You get two clients, you canstill do it.
Three clients, four clients,five still, it's still pretty
manageable.
And then after that it startsto get a little bit busier.
You're like, oh shoot, I forgotto reconcile this account or I
forgot to call this client thenand then.
So what you see a lot of peopledo is you start with a to do
(09:17):
list and your to do list is agood start, but they're not
workflows.
A good workflow in a studentthat really excels is someone
that is not only has a checklist, but for each task on that
checklist there's a how to, howto do this.
Why does that matter?
Because when you're ready toscale, and when you're ready to
(09:39):
scale and you hire somebody, youcan literally just say, hey,
here's the template, here's myto-do list, here's what you're
going to handle this client, andthis is what we do every single
month, every single week.
This is how we do it, and ifyou're really doing things the
way that we suggest, not onlyare you giving them a list and
instructions, you're doing avideo of it, of you doing it,
(10:03):
you're doing a transcript of thevideo and you're doing a
checklist that says not justthis is how you do it, but here
are the five major points inthis task.
If you can knock all these fiveout, you've done the task
correctly.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I love it.
Yeah, and if you haven't fallenback on that safety net, you
don't have the checklist taskisn't done, so just kind of loop
back and go down the list.
I think business owners andjust people in general they make
things so much more difficultthan it needs to be.
Oh, yeah, Record what you'redoing.
I'm in the middle of readingBuy Back your Time by Dan
(10:36):
Martell right now, and it'sabout the point in the book
where, yeah, just recordyourself, have the checklist
what to fall back on and youknow, it just makes life a lot
easier.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yeah, your future self will thank you.
And it's so hard to think aboutthat future self because you
think I don't have time for this.
I'll do this later.
I don't really need it now, butyour future self needs it badly
and they're going to wish thatyou did do it.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
And you're already doing the work.
So just jump on zoom, recordyourself on the screen and then
at least store that doc so thenext time someone comes in at
the bare bones, you have a roughvideo of you just walking
through it and you're justtalking, talking through the
things that you clicked on.
You speak a lot about becomingrich in your own terms.
(11:20):
What does that mean and how doyou help people define it?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, and so the reason this is really important
for me is because when I wantedto start my business for the
first time, I saw being rich asit was totally off, totally
different than what I think ofit as now and to me it was being
able to buy whatever I wanted,to wear fancy clothes, wear a
(11:45):
suit, to work, go to the office.
And that's what I kind ofdefine as success.
And, oddly enough, I thoughtbeing busy was successful, like
I always thought that the mostsuccessful people, if you talk
to them, they were just like oh,I'm too busy for that, I'm too
busy for this, right.
So there's some weird mindsetshift that I made.
(12:06):
I don't know if weird is theright term, but I definitely had
a mindset where I thought busyequals high status, it means
rich, it means that's what Iwant.
Now I've kind of broken it downinto a four-piece framework
which is totally different thanit was before.
That's faith, freedom,flexibility and fulfillment.
(12:28):
When I think of being rich, Ithink of those four things.
Number one faith, like what issomething that I can fall back
on, that gives me purpose forthis job, for this business that
I'm creating.
Freedom is just the ability tobe able to choose and spend time
on whatever it is I want to do.
(12:49):
And then the flexibility part ofit.
This one's probably my favorite, because we think, when we
start a business, that we haveto follow the norms, the nine to
five, monday through Friday.
Who made that up?
Like that's?
If you, if you think, if youknow yourself and you're like I
just hate Mondays.
I'm so not very resourceful ona Monday.
(13:12):
Instead, you know what.
I'm going to take Mondays off.
I'm going to work Saturdays.
I don't know if that's the bestidea, but you can't.
Nobody is telling you.
You have to follow these normsthat we have created for
ourselves.
In fact, if you want to workseven days a week and just work
eight to 12, you could do that.
You're the business owner.
That's what flexibility isabout Just being able to
(13:32):
maneuver your schedule.
I'll use me as an example justto add a little bit more to the
flexibility part.
From noon till about 5 pm, I'museless, and like my brain is
useless, and and like my brainis useless and we're recording
here after in the afternoon.
This is the exact kind of thingthat I can do from noon to five
(13:54):
to noon to six.
Things that really require mybrain.
Uh, I need to schedule in themorning or late at night.
And so if I ever have one ofthose days where I'm like, is
this going to be a very busy day, a very brain heavy day, I may
decide, hey, I'm going to takeoff from 12 to five.
I'm not doing anything, I'mjust because I'm going to be
(14:14):
useless anyways, and whatever Ido decide to accomplish is
probably going to be crappy.
So I, you know, I just it'sabout knowing yourself and being
able to just be flexible withit.
And the last thing isfulfillment.
Just what fulfills you?
Right, and maybe in ourindustry we might not think, hey
(14:34):
, this isn't the most fulfillingindustry, but it can be.
Whenever you speak to a client,if you're a CFO, a tax preparer
or a tax advisor or abookkeeper, if you can really
get your clients to buy in andyou're able to explain the ups,
the downs and give some goodadvice, not only do you become
(14:57):
their bookkeeper, theiraccountant, their tax preparer,
whatever.
You become their friend, youbecome somebody that they enjoy
speaking to and that shouldfulfill you.
And if that doesn't fulfill you, you just need to find what it
is that is going to fulfill youand give you more purpose for
your business.
So, when it comes to being rich, I think thinking about those
four things in mind will makeyou and allow you to realize
(15:21):
that you are rich.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
That's awesome.
The big piece of what you'resaying there really stood out on
the flexibility and justknowing when you're productive.
I don't know how many timesI've sat behind the computer
with that mindset of well, it'sWednesday, it's the middle of
the week, I should be and I'm,you're not, I'm not
(15:47):
accomplishing anything lifechanging, but you could check it
off at the end of the day,cause I go.
I was clocked in from the nineto five, so I'm I'm trying to be
a lot more cognizant of thatlately myself and identify when,
when am I on, when am I not,and when I'm not.
Go do something that I'm goingto get way more enjoyment out of
, rather than sitting there andyou're just moving your mouse
(16:09):
around thinking, okay, well, I'mworking, well, no, you're just
kind of wasting your time andand, like you said, the work you
do produce, it's not to thequality you actually want it at.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
And when you're working on anine to five, when you're
getting paid hourly, knock theclock right, Do it.
I'm not advocating for stealingfrom your job at all, but I
work in an office where I was anemployee and that's what we did
.
Hang out by the water cooler.
Hang out, go get coffee when Idon't really need another cup of
(16:40):
coffee, but it just gave me abreak.
But as a business owner, you'rein charge of your time, so make
the best of it.
Yeah, as a business owner,you're in charge of your time,
so make the best of it.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, I mean, I think we've all been there the nine
to five just looking.
How do I, how do I get throughthe last hour of the day, or
whatever that is, but different,different side of the fence
when you're the owner?
Oh yeah, let's talk about AIfor a sec.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
You've said humans are the biggest threat to AI.
What do you mean by that?
Yeah, I love that, so I just Ithink about, like AI.
It's such a buzzword now, right, and we use it too.
We have an AI bookkeepingcourse as well.
It is a necessary I wouldn'teven say necessarily evil.
It's not an evil.
I think it's a necessary good.
But the biggest threat to AI isour people, because I think
(17:28):
that AI is going to always needus.
I think there's never going tobe to use a bookkeeper as an
example.
If you are a client in themarket for a bookkeeper, you
have the option of pickingsomebody that is just completely
AI, right, it's somebody thatis that you, I don't know
(17:52):
somehow connected to your bankaccount and it produces
financials at the end of themonth and it sends them to you,
you as a business owner.
Most business owners are notgoing to look at that report and
be like, oh wow, this did anincredible job, even if there is
a summary, an explanation of it.
Most business owners just don'tcare.
Don't do that.
However, if you are a person,if you are a human bookkeeper,
(18:17):
you're facing against this AIbot, right, and you have that
relationship with the businessowner, and I think that's what
the core of the message is thatthis industry is so so
relationship heavy, right, and Ilike to compare it to like a
marriage.
Whenever you're dating aroundlooking for a client or a
(18:39):
client's looking for you, it islike dating.
And when you start workingtogether, it is very much like a
marriage.
You spend a lot of timetogether.
You as the bookkeeper or thetax preparer, you get to know so
much of that business ownerjust by looking at their bank
account sometimes more than wewant to know and you're able to
spend those at least monthly, ifnot quarterly.
(19:02):
Spend some time with themexplaining financials to them.
Sometimes it forces that clientto understand the financials
and understand where theirbusiness lies.
And I can tell you fromexperience from clients that
I've had when we haven't met andthey're like, hey, I can't make
it this month.
Can you just record a video ofexplaining the financials?
(19:22):
They don't watch it.
They just don't watch itbecause it's even that like
takes away from the humanelement.
They want a live person theycan chat with, they can ask
questions about.
So when I say humans are thebiggest threat to AI, I mean
that AI is not coming for ourjobs.
I think AI is going to be here.
(19:42):
It's here to stay.
I don't think it's goinganywhere.
I think it's only going to getbetter.
And I think those bookkeepers,accountants, cfos, tax repairers
, everybody in the the industry,if you're not using it, uh,
maybe you could probably getaway with it now, but I think in
a year, uh, two, three yearsfrom now, if you're not using it
(20:03):
, you're going to be left behind100, yeah, and it's also.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
It's only as.
It's only as good as the promptthe human gives it as well.
I mean, depending on whatplatforms are talking about.
I use a lot of chat, gpt, sothat's anyone can use it, but
how, how good is it?
It's the prompt you give it.
But I really like what you'resaying about the, the human
element to things.
Um, I don't know about you, butpersonally I've been a part of
(20:30):
a lot of masterminds, a lot ofdifferent groups.
I rarely ever watch therecordings, even if it's the
most amazing thing that wascovered.
I'm like, oh, I'm gonna, I'mmissing this, but I'll go back
and watch it.
Never do.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
But if you're live on that.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Recording it, it feels different.
I like a lot of sports as well.
I'm a big hockey guy.
I find it insane when peopleare like, oh, I'm gonna record
the game and watch it later.
It's not happening, I want towatch it live.
So that live element, like yousaid, it just makes it adds a
lot of value in relationships tothe clients, which, at the end
(21:07):
of the day, it's all aboutrelationships.
So really solid point there.
Where do you see evenexperienced bookkeepers getting
stuck as they try to grow orscale?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
So I think it's.
It is like the processes.
I think this is what happenedwith me with my bookkeeping
business, which I'm not actuallyactively growing anymore.
But I got to the point where Ineeded the help.
I knew that I needed help I wascapped.
I got to the point where Ineeded the help.
I knew that I needed help.
I was capped.
I had too many clients, notenough time.
(21:41):
I needed somebody to come inand help me, whether that was a
bookkeeper or a virtualassistant, to take some of these
tasks off of my plate.
The issue was that it was acatch-22.
In order to have that help, Ineeded to have processes and I
didn't have those and all ofthis happened.
I hired a bookkeeper bigmistake, not because of the
(22:04):
bookkeeper, but because of me asa business owner completely
failed her by not having thingsin place.
So what happened is I hiresomebody and they're not doing
things the way that I wantbecause I didn't tell them how I
wanted it done.
I didn't have any procedures,any processes, and I think
that's the biggest, the biggestissue with established
bookkeepers that they justthey're at a catch 22 where they
(22:27):
need time.
They need their time back to togrow, to continue to grow their
firm.
But in order to do that, theyneed a, they need help.
But in order to do that, theyneed help.
But in order to get help, theyneed time to create these
processes.
I think that's the biggesthurdle for someone that's been
in business for a couple ofyears.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Interesting.
So, going back to what we spokeabout earlier, just start
recording what you're doing,regardless what it is.
Record the thing that you needto get off your plate the most,
a couple of variations of it,put it in a Google Drive and
that next hire at the bareminimum.
They can just watch exactlywhat you've done as you spoke
through it.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, and James, I'll add to that something that you
mentioned earlier.
I really love what you saidbecause it doesn't have to be
this complex thing.
You can use the free version ofzoom.
That's like doesn't have to bethis complex thing.
You can use the free version ofzoom.
That's like I think it caps youout at 40 minutes.
You don't need a 40 minuteprocess.
You record a 10 minute process,save it to Google drive.
Uh, and that's really, ifthat's all you have, that's more
than I had before.
That's that you're settingsomebody up for success right
(23:29):
there.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
And and it's you know I I'veguilty in the past and obviously
it's nice to have reallydetailed SOPs and show someone
with an arrow in a box like thisexactly click.
That's amazing, until the nextversion of that software changes
and all of a sudden that buttonin that box is moved and all
that times out the window versus.
(23:50):
Here's the framework, like yousaid.
Here's the checklist is havethe five things been done?
If yes, move on to the nextthing.
If not, go back to number one.
So just simplifying what you'redoing.
That that's awesome.
If someone's listening in a, orfor those listening, not if
someone's listening for ourlisteners and they feel, you
(24:13):
know, called to start somethingof their own.
They want to get out, they wantto start their own firm.
What's the first move you'dtell them to make today?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
So I would say, get educated, like find a course and
whether that's something likewhat we have at bookkeeperscom.
I don't think we're the end allbe all.
There's courses in the CFOspace and the tax space.
Don't think we're the end allbe all.
There's courses in the CFOspace and the tax space.
Even if you think you know you,you're going to be pleasantly
surprised at how little you doand and and again.
(24:48):
I'm just using myself as anexample.
I come from, I have anaccounting degree and although I
thought I knew most of thisstuff, I purchased a course
through bookkeeperscom as astudent.
I bought this and I said, okay,let's see what I can learn here
and I thought I don't need tolearn the bookkeeping, I just
need to learn how to be abusiness owner.
I had to relearn thebookkeeping because I realized I
was a pretty crappy one tobegin with and I had to relearn
(25:11):
a lot of that.
So I think the first step isget educated.
Find somebody you can trust,somebody that I don't know,
somebody that has been vouchedfor, that has a legitimate
course that can teach you to bea business owner and, of course,
teach you about the industry aswell.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Yeah, awesome.
What's the best piece of adviceyou've ever received?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Oh, that's a good one .
So the best piece of advice andthis kind of goes back to being
flexible and being and gettingyour freedom back.
I'll tailor with.
I'll tie in a story here.
Believe it or not, I, when I gotmarried, I scheduled my wedding
(25:56):
around payroll, and this is avery practical advice.
Somebody said you just need tostop doing payroll, and that was
the best advice I have everreceived, because I got my
freedom back.
I scheduled my wedding aroundpayroll because every other week
we have to run payroll for anumber of clients, and I said,
(26:19):
okay, there's no way I can getmarried that week because I'm
going to be super busy.
And you would think that thatwould have been enough to be
like all right, I need somethingneeds to change.
No, two, three years later, Iwas like planning vacations
around it and I thought thisstinks.
And finally, what did it for mewas having to run payroll, or
(26:43):
having to have payroll ready onChristmas Eve when I could have
been spending that time with myfamily.
That was the deal breaker.
That's when I said holy crap,what am I doing here?
This isn't why I started thisbusiness, and so I know that's
the first thing that comes tomind the best piece of advice,
because I think that's the onethat gave me my freedom back.
(27:04):
I think that was the biggesthurdle that I had.
As simple as it may seem, itreally killed me to have to do
that.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I love it.
That's great, jaime.
For those who want to get intouch with you, continue the
conversation.
Learn a little bit more aboutbookkeeperscom, maybe pick up a
course.
What's the best way they canget in touch with you?
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Yeah, you can visit our site at bookkeeperscom.
You know the word bookkeeper isthe only word in the English
language with the three doubleletters letters, so double L,
double K, double E.
But yeah, bookkeeperscom, youcan visit our YouTube channel as
well.
Youtube forward slashbookkeeperscom spelled out D, o,
(27:47):
tc, o, m, and you can find meon LinkedIn and Facebook as well
Facebookcom forward slash Jaime.
At bookkeepers.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Amazing.
I'm never going to unseebookkeepers now with the three
double letters.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Yeah, yeah, sharing that.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Awesome, I may.
Thank you so much for coming on.
We'll make sure the links arein the show notes, the
description, so people can getin touch with you.
I highly recommend they do.
We had an awesome conversationin Utah a couple months ago.
I'm excited to see you in thefuture, whatever event that may
be, and I know we got some funstuff planned, so everyone stay
on the lookout for that in thefuture.
Jaime, thanks again for comingon.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
James, thank you so much for having me.
I had a ton of fun.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Thanks for tuning into this episode of CFO
Chronicles the secrets behindsuccess.
I hope you found value intoday's conversation.
As we wrap up, I'd love for youto do two things.
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
(28:55):
and attract the high-endclients you deserve, head over
to accountingleadsnowcom orclick the link in the show notes
to book your strategy.
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 exciting topicscoming up, so stay tuned for the
next episode of CFO Chronicles.
(29:17):
Until then, keep pushingforward.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Your growth is just one strategic move away.
Thanks for listening to CFOChronicles 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 us on LinkedIn andleave a review or comment to
join the conversation.
Your feedback helps us bringyou the best insights in finance
(29:47):
and marketing.
Until next time, keep strivingfor success and unlocking your
business's potential.
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