December 4, 2025 • 37 mins
Why are so many firm owners flat broke in Q4, even after six-figure tax seasons?
Tony Proctor’s been running a firm for 20 years, and he’s seen it all: tax pros who bleed cash every December, clients who push for fraud, and practitioners who won’t raise prices because they’re scared to lose “friend” clients.
In this episode:
- Why Proctor fired a paying client (and what it cost him)
- What he really thinks about Profit First (it’s not what you expect)
- The cash flow trap that keeps firms broke after tax season
- How to stop being the “best-kept secret” in your city
- The biggest marketing lie most accountants still believe
If you’ve ever said, “We make good money but I don’t know where it all goes,” this one’s a must-listen.
📍 Connect with Tony Proctor
- Website: https://www.proctortaxprep.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyproctor/
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 http://bill.com/cfochronicles
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of CFO
Chronicles (00:02):
The Secrets Behind Success, the must-listen show
for fractional CFO, accountingfirm owners, and finance leaders
who want to land high-valueclients in scale through next
level marketing, branding, andstrategy.
I'm your host, James Donovan,and today's guest is Tony
Proctor, enrolled agent andbusiness strategist at Proctor
and Associates.
With a background in IT andtraining, Tony specializes in
(00:25):
helping business ownersunderstand what their numbers
are actually telling them.
He spent years translating taxand financial language into
real-world decisionsentrepreneurs can act on,
bridging knowledge gaps sopeople can lead their business
instead of reacting to it.
Today, Tony will share hisinsights on the importance of
financial clarity as leaders, asleadership, and how it can drive
(00:46):
business growth.
Stay tuned to hear how Tony'sjourney can help you take your
business to the next level.
Tony, so pumped to have you ontoday's episode.
We recently had a chance toreconnect in Vegas a few weeks
ago.
How have you been since gettingback?
SPEAKER_02 (01:02):
Man, it's been it's been an adventure.
Uh Vegas was fun.
It always is fun.
Uh step one coming back fromVegas is to detox from all the
smoke that's inside of my lungs.
Um, but you know, we are uh weare in a season where we
probably should be going towardscruise control, uh, but it's
(01:22):
actually been uh polar opposite.
And it's been a little bit of anadventure post-Vegas, uh, but
it's all good in the hood, man.
It's all good.
SPEAKER_00 (01:29):
Nice, nice.
That's awesome.
Yeah, it's I think a lot ofpeople, and it it that could be
maybe the first controversialtake to get into right away, but
a lot of people use kind ofcoming up on the end of
November, start of December asall right, I can take the foot
off the gas, but there's a lotof there's a lot of there's a
lot of opportunity still left onthe table for 2025.
(01:50):
Um, personally, I like to try togo hard right up until about the
Christmas holiday season, andthen from there take, you know,
after Christmas, in maybe like aweek or two into the start of
the new year, then really hitthe ground running.
But it's what's your take onthat?
SPEAKER_02 (02:07):
Um, you know, because we go so hard at the
beginning of the year for uswhen tax season ramps up, I tend
to like to calm down a littlebit, like the calm before the
storm, because you know, we getall the end-of-year functions
that need to happen, bothinternally and externally.
I mean, we got to do end-of-yearstuff for us, but we got to take
(02:29):
care of our clients as well.
Um, but you know, a lot oftimes, usually towards the end
of the year, people are like,hey, I'm I'm done.
I'm I'm gonna take two, threeweeks off, and and uh, I'm
actually the opposite.
I like to be around um because Ican get stuff done.
Um, and I don't have, and Idon't want to say that they're
(02:49):
interruptions, but they'reinterruptions, like all the
other the the email dings, thephone rings, all the the pings
that are coming through.
Um, and so you know it is aninteresting time of year to kind
of productively chill.
Is that is that does that makesense?
SPEAKER_00 (03:10):
I make sense to me.
I mean, it what I'm hearing alot of it is you're you're able
to work on the business a lotmore, maybe more more or less
than on the in-the-businessstuff when it's just team
members are reaching out,clients are calling, phones
ringing, there's just fires.
So you can get you can get a lotmore focus and probably get a
lot more done in a shorterperiod of time than say eight
(03:31):
hours in the office when everynotification's going off.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, tell me a little bit aboutum, I want to hear like your
turning point or aha moment whenyou realize the importance of
helping business ownersunderstand their numbers.
SPEAKER_02 (03:48):
Um after working with so many folks that would
kind of give the glazed overlookwhen you're talking to them
about money.
And I think that it's not onlybusiness owners, it's it's
people in general.
Like we've we've seen peoplethat just are like they hear wah
wah wah, wah, wah.
(04:09):
Um, and so when I started torealize that, specifically
within my community, and it'snot just, you know,
African-American, black orbrown, but just folks that are
like within my peer groups thatare kind of on the same levels
that I'm on, they struggle withthis money thing personally, and
especially when they start torun a business.
(04:31):
And so I was like, you know, howcan I, how can I help folks out?
How can I help my people out bytalking to them in language that
makes sense to them?
You know, I tend to kind ofrefer to us as the financial
cousin.
And so, you know, we all havethat that cousin in the family
(04:54):
that they just happen to besmart.
And when we go and have aconversation with them, we don't
feel like they're talking downto us or treating us dumb.
And so that that's really theone of the founding um pillars
of the firm is to be thefinancial cousin for our people.
SPEAKER_00 (05:11):
I love that.
Yeah, that to me, honestly, hasbeen one of the biggest
challenges, I think, in thispast year.
For the longest time, it washey, even as a marketing
company, how how are we going tokeep finding new ways to get our
own clients?
There's different channels thatwe can use, there's different
channels that we can use for ourclients that just work better.
But we've got that dialed in.
(05:33):
We've got retention dialed innow.
That was always the next biggestbottleneck.
For me, one of the biggestlearning lessons this year was
how to manage our money betteras you scale.
Sounds real easy.
Start a business, make money,you pay some team members, you
pay your software, and like yourun.
That's what it was the firstcouple of years.
And then as we continue toscale, it's like, oh shit.
(05:55):
Like, I I'm I'm not doing thatgreat at managing the money.
I feel very blessed working inthis industry and getting to
speak to professionals like youand all the amazing guests we've
had on and our clients, but itis a huge learning curve.
And it I find it insane thatmore businesses don't have those
professionals in their corner toreally give them the insight
(06:15):
that that you guys carry becauseit's hard.
It's hard to manage the money ofa business and all of those
aspects when you're doingeverything else.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (06:25):
And I even think even in our even in our industry
though, James, like I know somany firm owners that this time
of year, they are they're broke.
I don't know.
I mean, I don't know if I haveto put it shout-ups to all my
firm owners, but because we getthis large amount of cash
injection that happens the firsthalf of the year, but then the
(06:47):
latter part of the year, youknow, we don't have as much.
And if you don't, if you don'tgovern yourself accordingly, I
like to say that a lot, thenyeah, November, December, you're
like, oh my God, what am I gonnado?
Um, so even in our industry,like we are the people who talk
about managing money.
And I have peers who are on thestruggle bus, man.
(07:08):
So it's it's it's a real deal,it's a real issue.
SPEAKER_00 (07:11):
That's wild.
It yeah, I mean, it happens.
Um so tell me, as an enrolledagent, you specialize in
bringing knowledge gaps and intranslating tax and financial
language into actionabledecisions for your clients.
Can you share any specificexamples of how that has helped
some of your clients and helpedother business owners?
SPEAKER_02 (07:33):
Yeah, um, you know, I think I'm gonna break the mold
a little bit.
I have my credentials ofenrolled agent, which means, you
know, I can represent my clientsbefore IRS and the state boards,
but that's that's a certificateon the wall, honestly.
(07:54):
Um, I I think that being ableagain, being able to have those
conversations with folks, andand I've had this one
conversation that's coming to mymind.
Um, I'm gonna protect the thethe innocent, but they were
bleeding bad.
(08:16):
Um and it was a situation wherethey were they were living
paycheck to paycheck, if youwill.
And and what I mean by that isthey they had subscription
revenue, if you will, on thefirst and the 15th.
But it was just like by the timethe money came in on the first,
unfortunately, it was alreadygone two days beforehand.
(08:36):
Same thing on the 15th.
And so we had to sit down andhad to have a conversation and
say, hey, you're bleeding.
Like it feels good becausemoney's coming in, but just
because money's coming in,you're not profitable.
You don't mean it's keeping thatlosing money.
And so it's and I don't want tobe Debbie Downer, but it was a
negative Nancy or whatever youwant to call it.
(08:58):
Um, we had to have theconversation to say, hey, we
have to fix this and we have tofix it immediately, or you're
only going to get deeper anddeeper into the hole.
Um, and then shortly after wehad that conversation, who comes
knocking on the door?
IRS.
Because like clockwork.
(09:18):
They, you know, if you'restruggling to pay your daily, if
you're struggling to keep thelights on, one of the things
that you have not been takencare of, unfortunately, are
these tax issues.
And so it's this compoundeffect.
The light bill, you can probablybuy a little bit of time.
Rent, maybe you can buy a littletime.
When the Fed boys come knocking,or the Fed girls, whoever they
(09:40):
might be, um, it's at that pointyou you you're in some deep
trouble.
And so, you know, just kind ofhelping them to navigate that
piece.
Um, put the Fed boys at at bayuh and rearrange some things
internally, especially from aspending standpoint and even
from a billing standpoint, toget them to a place that we were
(10:03):
closer to being profitable.
Um things got really interestingtowards the end, and they may
watch this episode and be like,why are you gonna talk about me?
But uh things got reallyinteresting towards the end
because they were wanting to dosome very, we'll call it
interesting um transactions.
And I was like, hey, you know,this is this is how I roll, I'm
(10:26):
not gonna do that.
Um, and so we decided to go outour separate ways.
Uh real good, real goodcolleague, real good friend.
Um, but apparently I was doingthings uh by the book and they
didn't, they didn't like that.
They wanted something that wasvery risky, uh, which is how
they got into the situation thatthey were in.
But uh, but that, you know, Iwhen I think about like, hey,
(10:47):
someone that was in a terribleplace, I helped them to get
again, by the time we wrappedup, they weren't fully in the
black, but they were way closerthan when they were when we
first started, man.
And and for me, that continuesto inspire me to keep pushing
forward and and keep helpingfolks out.
So that's like a long answer,man.
(11:08):
But it's real, it's real.
SPEAKER_00 (11:10):
Well, I got I got two questions that come from all
of that.
One, I 100% want to revisit youmore or less firing a client
because it didn't feel right.
I think that's really importantthat I want to pick your brain
on a little bit more to hearyour thought process on that.
So remind me after this nextquestion.
But one thing for me that weimplemented this year, and I
(11:31):
wish I just I wish I did thisyears ago because it will
probably have saved so muchheadache.
And I feel like it's a littlecontroversial from the
accounting side of things, butprofit first.
We we implemented profit first,and that has been an absolute
game changer the last two and ahalf months or so.
Um, what's your take on theprofit first strategy?
(11:54):
And maybe one tip or strategyyou helped implement for this
particular client that didn'tentirely get them out of the
black, but put them in asignificantly better position so
that they were not where theycurrently were.
SPEAKER_02 (12:07):
Yeah.
So so Profit First, I think is agreat platform.
There's some great principlesthat are in it.
Um, we don't necessarily do itwithin our firm.
The folks that we work with, umto have that many accounts just
makes it more difficult tomanage from a day in, day out
(12:28):
standpoint.
But then also because you havemore accounts, that means that
there's more work that we needto do, and you're gonna have to
pay extra for that.
But I think, you know, and thisis profit first, it's great, but
it's nothing that's that's likeearth shattering.
It's what we've been doing foreons.
(12:49):
You get paid, and people wouldput money into envelopes.
So now we're doing it digitallyand it helps out.
Um, you have to be in a placewhere you are profitable.
Profit first.
You have to have profits.
And so if you are notprofitable, having those
different allocations and thosedifferent accounts to put funds
(13:13):
is actually, and I might getsome enemy fire on this, is
shooting yourself in the foot.
Because cool, I've separatedstuff, I got my profit, got my
taxes here, got my expenses, allthat.
But then on Thursday, money iscoming out of my account for
insert bill name.
(13:33):
And what do I have to do?
Go and pull it from another oneof those accounts that I had the
auto transfer on.
Remember to put it back, but Iforget to put it back because I
ran out of cash, and then it'sjust like it's this constant
hamster wheel.
And so, you know, for thosefolks that are that have the
(13:54):
that have the profit and theyhave the discipline to let those
funds go where they need to goand and pay the bills where they
need to come from, then itworks.
But if every week you're tryingto figure out where is this
money gonna come from, you gottago snatch it from the other
envelope or digital envelope.
(14:16):
What are we doing?
SPEAKER_00 (14:18):
Yeah, that makes sense.
SPEAKER_02 (14:19):
I'm gonna take enemy fire for that, James.
You you put me in a place whereI had to, but and I got I got
folks who who love profit first,and and kudos to them.
Um, but you know, for for ourside, we we tend to not get too
involved with it because it doesseem to cause more challenges
than help.
(14:40):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_00 (14:41):
Yeah, it's um I feel like it's more most most firm
owners I've spoken to feelsimilar to you.
I feel like maybe it's moreattractive to the business owner
who's not handling all of thedifferent accounts.
Like to me, it's cool.
Money's put away for tax.
I don't have to worry about theCRA being in Canada coming and
(15:02):
knocking on the door.
It's there, and I'm not gonnatouch it.
I can be strict enough to notmove it.
Cool.
SPEAKER_02 (15:07):
But that's it right there, Jay.
Strict enough to not touch it.
That's the problem.
SPEAKER_00 (15:12):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (15:13):
Your discipline.
SPEAKER_00 (15:14):
That's okay.
That's fair.
Yeah, if you just move it andthen you move it back because
you got to you want to buysomething else or you gotta pay
something else, it doesn't work.
But I I'm also in the mindsetnow of like, cool, we got this
implemented.
I know it's going to cost usmore on the bookkeeping side of
things because there's just moreto reconcile.
That's fine.
To me, it's peace of mind, but Itotally get where you're coming
from with that.
(15:35):
I do want to go back to thatfirst question.
So you had a client you weredoing by the book, you were
putting them in a betterposition.
They wanted to stretch that, youknow, draw the line a little bit
further.
You said, no, we're not doingthat because it's me, it's my
name signing off on that.
Would love to hear how youapproach that situation for
(15:56):
other listeners, other firmowners who may have been in a
similar spot before, or arecurrently in that spot, and
they're like, This doesn't feelright, but I either I the
revenue is helpful right now, orI I've been working with this
person for years.
Like, how did you approach thatdifficult conversation?
SPEAKER_02 (16:13):
So interestingly, it they approached me with it
because I had told them no onmultiple occasions.
Um and so one day they was like,hey, I'm I'm thinking about
doing this, and I was like, No.
The next day they was like, hey,I know you said no, but I went
ahead and I did it, and I waslike, hey, I don't like we can't
(16:35):
do this anymore.
Um, and so I keep saying theybecause I'm not gonna say he or
she.
Anyway, but uh so then theycalled and they was like, hey,
um I don't uh I like we we'vebeen good, but it just it seems
like you are you're you'reyou're too straight and narrow,
(16:59):
is what they is what they saidto me.
And for me, that was validationof the authentic person that I
am.
And I tell people this, I tellmy team this, I tell anybody
that I work with, if myreputation in the industry or in
these streets is that I'm goingto be straight and narrow,
(17:21):
present and accounted for.
Like I'm I'm I would take thatreputation any day over somebody
saying, yo, you want to gocommit some fraud, go holla at
your boy Tony.
Uh-uh.
Because guess what else happens?
If that is my and this happened,if that is a reputation on the
streets, when I have a meetingwith a revenue officer and
(17:44):
they've heard that this is how Iroll, then there's an extra
layer of credibility that Ibring not only on my firm, but
also on my clients' behalf.
Yeah.
So if that's who you are andthat's how you roll, then then
stay who you are.
Do you.
Um, and but but the conversationis difficult.
(18:05):
I it sounds good for me to belike, oh yeah, it was all good.
I because it was it was a it wasa good amount of revenue.
But if with with with that goodamount of revenue, are they
gonna bring some other people tothe table?
Yeah, they probably will.
But guess what?
Burrs of a feather flocktogether.
So if they are trying to do someweird stuff, then their homies
(18:28):
are trying to do weird stuff aswell.
And so now you end up in asituation where you're you're
too you're in too deep.
Yeah.
And so now, how do I come out ofthis?
I would rather come out of itearly on than to now have 25
people that are trying to commitfraud, and now here I am with
you, and now they're making amovie about how I got too deep
(18:50):
in with you, and and I don't Idon't want any parcel of that,
James.
SPEAKER_00 (18:54):
So I don't blame you.
I don't blame you.
But yeah, it it also comes down,it sounds like you also just
we're not you're not worriedabout having that difficult
conversation.
It was just like, look, this isnot gonna work, and I I don't
care if if I'm not the guyanymore, if we're not the team
for you, because like this isjust not that's not the way
(19:14):
things are gonna happen.
Yeah, so if anyone's in thatsimilar situation, take a page
from Tony's book, and it's notthe worst to be called
authentic, genuine and honest.
Absolutely.
Um, so Tony, I would love toflip the script just a little
bit here with it being amarketing podcast.
Would love to know how you howyour firm, how you guys are
(19:35):
growing.
How do you guys find clients?
What works for you?
What can what can other firmowners do out there that you're
like, yep, this works for us,you should 100% be doing this.
SPEAKER_02 (19:42):
Yeah.
Um, again, it it what I was justtalking about, that that
authenticity.
And so, you know, I think a lotof times we try to be something
or someone that we aren't, andit ends up causing us more hurt
than help.
And so for us, we this is who weare.
This is how we roll, this is howwe talk to our people.
(20:04):
We have a client portal.
Do you want to play in theclient portal or do you want to
be able to text and phone callat 10:30 at night?
If that's how you roll, that'snot how we roll, and so that's
not the place.
So being authentic.
Um, but that that spreads.
Now, I you know, embarrassingly,have we done an amazing job at
(20:27):
marketing?
Maybe not.
Um, but I also recognize thatwe've been in the game for
almost two decades.
And so to have made it this farwith limited marketing
activities, if you will, um, I Ithink the the word of mouth, the
the folks that are out theresaying, hey, you want to be on
the straight and narrow, go seeTony and his team.
(20:50):
Um, I think that that works.
Um, social media, there is a lotof stuff on social media.
Good, bad, and different.
Um, but I think when I've shownup, when my firm has shown up as
who we are, we look, everybodycan run QuickBooks reports.
(21:13):
Everybody can pick up the 10-keycalculator and and and have tape
that's eight miles long.
But when we have a conversation,do I feel like you care?
Do because we're not we're notbuying services, we're buying an
experience, right?
We we all hear that.
Um, and there are some firmowners that's like, hey, I don't
(21:35):
like all that fluffy language.
It's it is what it is, and I'mgonna tell my clients this is
what they need to do.
And that works.
We are like, hey, client, it'slooking a little rough for you,
bruh.
What you what you want to do?
And they can appreciate that.
Um, and so I think that's wheresocial media has come in.
The tips and all that stuff,it's it's all good, but being
(21:58):
that authentic person andshowing who you are as a human,
um, I think allows the the doorsto open, but then also having
right people in your in yourcorner that can send the the
traffic your way um so you canclose on those deals.
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00 (22:16):
Yeah, I mean, I I back the the authenticity part
that you're talking about andjust being you.
I've I've seen you speak onstage, I've had conversations
with different events, havingthis conversation, it's the same
Tony every single time.
So that that to me is the thecoolest thing about it all, and
just yeah, being real and peopleknow this is what you see, this
(22:37):
is what you're gonna get everysingle time.
Every single time.
So tell me about the stuff thathasn't worked, or what you guys
are trying to work on now that'smaybe like the biggest hurdle or
the bottleneck in the firm rightnow as you go into 2026.
SPEAKER_02 (22:51):
Yeah.
So the thing that that didn'twork many years ago, I think
this is probably right beforeCOVID or maybe leading into it,
I got this bright idea to do aradio ad.
Um, and it was it was fivefigures.
(23:12):
Um and I literally had I thinkmaybe four or five people that
indicated to us that they heardthe radio ad.
All five of those people wereour current clients.
And I was like, wait, I justspent all this money, ads
(23:35):
everywhere.
And five, and I I I'm imaginingway more than five people heard
it, but the five people that Iknow heard it were like, hey,
current client, I I I heard youon the radio.
I'm like, that's that's that'scute, but but I I need somebody
who who is brand new.
So that was a disaster.
If anyone ever asked me to doradio, I'm sorry, ain't gonna
(23:59):
happen because been there, donethat, got the tattered t-shirt
to say won't do it again.
SPEAKER_00 (24:06):
So that's already hear that happened.
SPEAKER_02 (24:08):
Man, it was it was listen, people be like, y'all
think about doing ads on theradio.
I'm out of the, I'm not gonnatell you not to do it.
I'm just gonna say I ain't gotnothing to say.
I'm throwing my hands up, Iain't got nothing for you.
SPEAKER_00 (24:21):
But now you know, okay, we can check that one off
the list.
We don't need to ever wonder, isthat going to be the way to go?
So you you've 100% you learnfrom the scars.
SPEAKER_02 (26:21):
100%.
And so now, as we go into 2026,um, I think that one of the the
key initiatives is going to begetting our name and face out
there.
Because what I what reallygrinds my gears, I don't know
what else to say, is when wehave a great conversation with a
(26:45):
prospect, and then we get acrossthe line and we close, and they
say, My goodness, I didn't evenknow that you guys were here, or
you know, when did you when didyou guys arrive?
Or you knew, how long you'vebeen around?
I've been like, oh, it's beenalmost 20 years.
They're like, what?
And so it's one of the worst,one of the worst things is being
the best kept secret.
This is not where you want to bethe best kept secret.
(27:07):
Um, so we definitely are goingto expand our exposure, um, but
also making sure that thesystems are in place to handle
the influx of traffic, becauseone of the worst things that we
can do is open the wholepipeline, let the flood come in,
(27:30):
and then we are not able tohandle it or to fulfill um,
which now we have we've marketedourselves that we're a failure.
SPEAKER_00 (27:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (27:41):
And it's so much more difficult to kind of claw
back from not being able tohandle something than to just
kind of do it outright the theright way.
So exposure, making sure thesystems are in place, um, and
being more intentional about whoit is that we work with and and
starting to cater the messagetowards them.
(28:04):
Um, again, can we run QuickBooksreports for many businesses?
Yes.
But the ones that we really wantto rock with, let's kind of
cater the message towards themso that we can get them in the
door.
SPEAKER_00 (28:17):
100%.
I think there's so manyimportant things you touched on
there.
Don't just go and sign up formarketing, quote unquote, just
to be like, yeah, we're workingwith this new company.
Because if you can't handle theinflux, you don't have the
systems to take theappointments, you don't have the
systems for your proposals goingout.
What does your sales processlook like for closing once
(28:39):
they're in?
Can you onboard people?
Can you now fulfill it?
Do you have the staff?
We speak with a lot of firmsacross the US who are always
reaching out to us to learnabout our strategies, how we can
help them.
We turn away a lot of firmsbecause it it would they
wouldn't be set up for success.
So we're doing them adisservice.
They only get one first chanceto impress that new potential
(29:01):
client, but also it's for usbecause if we bring on someone,
we do our job really well and wesend them a ton of
opportunities, doesn't work forthem, they're not gonna keep
being like, wow, James, yourteam's amazing.
Thanks for all this, but weactually now kind of ruined our
reputation and we spent a bunchof money doing it.
So it's it's knowing who is, andto your point, who is the best
(29:24):
fit for our firm?
Who do we want to work with?
Who's who do we want to sendthat message to?
So I love what you're sayingabout, yeah, we have plans in
place, we're getting othersystems set up, and then we can
we can attack.
Yeah, slightly on the other sideof that coin, I'd add, and
you've been around for 20 years,so I'm sure you know this
through and through, but thereis no perfect time either.
(29:47):
And trying to wait foreverything to be 100% lined up,
that's also not the play.
But knowing, okay, is this isthis me being scared versus
trying to wait for the perfecttime, or do we truly need a
better system so we could handleit?
So that's I'll just add that inas a little asterisk because I
think that's really important tonote.
SPEAKER_02 (30:05):
No, that that's extremely valid.
And I think really quickly onthat, I had a conversation with
someone about, you know, likewhen when do we go?
And so we the question outsideof this industry is like, when
do we have kids?
Well, there's no perfect time,like there's not enough money,
there's not enough space.
However, if you were preparingto have a kid, then you can no
(30:28):
longer still ride around in yourtour, your two-door coop.
Like, at least let's get a sedanthat's got so you know, you
gotta start making someadjustments.
Even when you get the sedan, areyou ready to have a kid?
Maybe not.
I don't know.
We don't know when the perfecttime is, and so that's where we
are.
I told my team, like, hey, let'sat least make sure that we have
(30:49):
the right car to bring the babyhome.
SPEAKER_00 (30:52):
That's such a good analogy.
That's so good.
I love that one.
I love that.
Well, Tony, what what would belike the number one thing you
would want someone who'slistening to this episode to
leave with?
SPEAKER_02 (31:08):
Um, that's hard, man.
I didn't know with that.
Put you on the spot with thatone.
So I think that it's it'sprobably two-pronged.
One, B you.
Like, that sounds so cliche, butit actually, you may not even
(31:30):
realize it, but it wasvalidation for me to be like,
yo, the same Tony that's onplatform, the same Tony that's
at the bar drinking a sprite onthe rocks, the same Tony that's
on the podcast, like you'regonna get the same Tony wherever
you are.
So be you, don't try to.
(31:50):
Be somebody else just so you canget some business in the door
because you can't maintain it.
It's like when you tell yourkids, like if you lie once, you
have to keep lying to keep upthe original lie.
So don't do that.
Two, this, this, this world ofbeing a firm owner has peaks and
valleys.
And so just know that whereveryou are, there's an up, but then
(32:13):
there's also a down.
And so if you feel like you'reat the lowest, there's still you
can go up.
On the flip side, though, if youfeel like, oh, this is great,
we're living the dream.
It's just one client that cantake you from living the dream
to like, oh shoot, well, what weabout to do.
So just, you know, main, Iguess, I guess in humility.
(32:36):
That's probably what the thetrue word is.
Just remember that this is ajourney.
Um, and the destinationcontinues to get further and
further away, and just keeppushing, man, um, and and make
it do what it do.
SPEAKER_00 (32:50):
Well, 20 years of experience of running your own
firm, that's there's a lot ofweight behind those words.
So I appreciate you sharingthat.
I'm curious, um, before we getto the very last question, I
want to wrap this up with, tellme what your plans are for 2026.
Are you we're gonna see you backat GrowCon?
Are you attending any otherconferences?
Where where will people see youout and about?
Because it's always a pleasurerunning into you.
SPEAKER_02 (33:10):
So, my goal for 2026 is to be out there.
Um, you know, I'm working ongetting things uh I'm not gonna
say stable, because it's notlike that's not stable, but I'm
I'm working to make sure thatthat the that the crib, the
office, that it can run, notnecessarily because it can run
(33:32):
without me, but for me to be outand doing what I love, having
conversations, doing the thingsthat I do, being on stages, um,
I got to make sure that thefoundation is solid.
So 2026, I'm gonna be out there.
Um, even if I I trip up and Imight miss an opportunity, I'm
(33:53):
going to be out there because Irecognize that there is a
segment of the population thatis assigned to my voice.
And if I'm not out there toprovide that to them, then I'm
doing them a disservice.
Um, and so that's that's thegoal for 26.
Lock the foundation and makesure the firm is solid and get
(34:15):
on stage and give the peoplewhat they need.
SPEAKER_00 (34:17):
I love it.
You're it's is you're superintentional about it.
And I mean, you're one of thegreatest, greatest guys I've met
in the industry.
So I hope you're at more eventsbecause it is always great
catching up with you.
We'll definitely be at Grocon.
I hope to see you there.
We're also gonna be at scaling,so come by the booth, say hi to
us.
It'd be great to see you againthere.
Um, last question for you, Tony.
(34:38):
I'm gonna put you on the spotagain.
So big drum roll to build up.
All right, all right.
What is the best piece of adviceyou've ever received?
SPEAKER_02 (34:47):
The best piece of advice I've ever received.
Um I'm not sure if it'snecessarily advice, but it's a
saying, um one of my formerpastors said to me, keep living,
son, keep living.
(35:08):
And and what he was saying thatto me, or what it was in
reference to, is kind of almostwhat I was just talking about.
Like the things that you haveexperienced are putting you in
position for the things that youare about to experience.
And so I think about it, becauseI, you know, I did something to
(35:31):
my knee, probably trying to dotoo much on the Peloton or on
the trademark.
I don't know what happened.
But my sons, like my sons of 14to 18, was like, yo, dad, what
happened?
And I'm like, and it and it cameout of me.
I was like, keep living.
Because right now, you can youcan jump everywhere, you can run
everywhere.
But as time goes on, you startto realize, oh, I can't do it
(35:52):
the way I used to.
Um however, I can still outsmartyou in other ways.
So when he told me to like keepliving, I was like, oh, I may
not be as physically agile as Iused to be, but I'm way more
mentally agile than I ever was.
And so for me, like I continueto replay that.
(36:13):
And I and again, I think aboutthe peaks in the valley.
Sometimes, and I think anybodyin my seat has been like, you
know what?
Flip the table up.
I'm out of here, I'm done, I'mgonna go be a Walmart greeter.
But then there's some times thatyou're like, yo, this is
amazing.
I love it.
Let's let's keep doing more.
Um, keep living, keep livingbecause you're gonna have a time
(36:36):
when you you're questioningevery decision, and then you're
gonna have times where you'relike, Oh, I love it.
This is the greatest thing ever,man.
SPEAKER_00 (36:41):
I love that.
That's so cool.
Thank you so much for sharingthat.
Tony, thank you so much forcoming on and spending time with
us here today.
Um, it's always a pleasurespeaking with you.
You have so much insight and somuch knowledge.
I can't wait to see you atwhatever that next event is, but
I know we'll be crossing pathsagain soon.
Um enjoy the holiday season asit's as we're very much coming
(37:04):
up on it.
And yeah, just thanks again forcoming on.
Absolutely.
I appreciate it, James.
Thanks so much, sir.
Thanks for tuning in to 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.
First, make sure to subscribe tothis podcast so you don't miss
any future episodes.
(37:24):
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-end clientsyou deserve, head over to
accountingleadsnow.com or clickthe link in the show notes to
book your strategy call.
It's time to position yourselfas the advisor your clients
need.
(37:44):
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 topics comingup, so stay tuned for the next
episode of CFO Chronicles.
Until then, keep pushingforward.
Your growth is just onestrategic move away.
SPEAKER_01 (38:01):
Thanks for listening to CFO Chronicles, the secrets
behind success.
We hope today's episode providedvaluable strategies to help you
attract more high-payingclients.
Be sure to subscribe, follow,and share with fellow
professionals.
Connect with us on LinkedIn andleave a review or comment to
join the conversation.
(38:22):
Your feedback helps us bring youthe best insights in finance and
marketing.
Until next time, keep strivingfor success and unlocking your
business's potential.
Welcome back to another episode of CFO
Chronicles (00:02):
The Secrets Behind Success, the must-listen show
for fractional CFO, accountingfirm owners, and finance leaders
who want to land high-valueclients in scale through next
level marketing, branding, andstrategy.
I'm your host, James Donovan,and today's guest is Tony
Proctor, enrolled agent andbusiness strategist at Proctor
and Associates.
With a background in IT andtraining, Tony specializes in
(00:25):
helping business ownersunderstand what their numbers
are actually telling them.
He spent years translating taxand financial language into
real-world decisionsentrepreneurs can act on,
bridging knowledge gaps sopeople can lead their business
instead of reacting to it.
Today, Tony will share hisinsights on the importance of
financial clarity as leaders, asleadership, and how it can drive
(00:46):
business growth.
Stay tuned to hear how Tony'sjourney can help you take your
business to the next level.
Tony, so pumped to have you ontoday's episode.
We recently had a chance toreconnect in Vegas a few weeks
ago.
How have you been since gettingback?
SPEAKER_02 (01:02):
Man, it's been it's been an adventure.
Uh Vegas was fun.
It always is fun.
Uh step one coming back fromVegas is to detox from all the
smoke that's inside of my lungs.
Um, but you know, we are uh weare in a season where we
probably should be going towardscruise control, uh, but it's
(01:22):
actually been uh polar opposite.
And it's been a little bit of anadventure post-Vegas, uh, but
it's all good in the hood, man.
It's all good.
SPEAKER_00 (01:29):
Nice, nice.
That's awesome.
Yeah, it's I think a lot ofpeople, and it it that could be
maybe the first controversialtake to get into right away, but
a lot of people use kind ofcoming up on the end of
November, start of December asall right, I can take the foot
off the gas, but there's a lotof there's a lot of there's a
lot of opportunity still left onthe table for 2025.
(01:50):
Um, personally, I like to try togo hard right up until about the
Christmas holiday season, andthen from there take, you know,
after Christmas, in maybe like aweek or two into the start of
the new year, then really hitthe ground running.
But it's what's your take onthat?
SPEAKER_02 (02:07):
Um, you know, because we go so hard at the
beginning of the year for uswhen tax season ramps up, I tend
to like to calm down a littlebit, like the calm before the
storm, because you know, we getall the end-of-year functions
that need to happen, bothinternally and externally.
I mean, we got to do end-of-yearstuff for us, but we got to take
(02:29):
care of our clients as well.
Um, but you know, a lot oftimes, usually towards the end
of the year, people are like,hey, I'm I'm done.
I'm I'm gonna take two, threeweeks off, and and uh, I'm
actually the opposite.
I like to be around um because Ican get stuff done.
Um, and I don't have, and Idon't want to say that they're
(02:49):
interruptions, but they'reinterruptions, like all the
other the the email dings, thephone rings, all the the pings
that are coming through.
Um, and so you know it is aninteresting time of year to kind
of productively chill.
Is that is that does that makesense?
SPEAKER_00 (03:10):
I make sense to me.
I mean, it what I'm hearing alot of it is you're you're able
to work on the business a lotmore, maybe more more or less
than on the in-the-businessstuff when it's just team
members are reaching out,clients are calling, phones
ringing, there's just fires.
So you can get you can get a lotmore focus and probably get a
lot more done in a shorterperiod of time than say eight
(03:31):
hours in the office when everynotification's going off.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, tell me a little bit aboutum, I want to hear like your
turning point or aha moment whenyou realize the importance of
helping business ownersunderstand their numbers.
SPEAKER_02 (03:48):
Um after working with so many folks that would
kind of give the glazed overlookwhen you're talking to them
about money.
And I think that it's not onlybusiness owners, it's it's
people in general.
Like we've we've seen peoplethat just are like they hear wah
wah wah, wah, wah.
(04:09):
Um, and so when I started torealize that, specifically
within my community, and it'snot just, you know,
African-American, black orbrown, but just folks that are
like within my peer groups thatare kind of on the same levels
that I'm on, they struggle withthis money thing personally, and
especially when they start torun a business.
(04:31):
And so I was like, you know, howcan I, how can I help folks out?
How can I help my people out bytalking to them in language that
makes sense to them?
You know, I tend to kind ofrefer to us as the financial
cousin.
And so, you know, we all havethat that cousin in the family
(04:54):
that they just happen to besmart.
And when we go and have aconversation with them, we don't
feel like they're talking downto us or treating us dumb.
And so that that's really theone of the founding um pillars
of the firm is to be thefinancial cousin for our people.
SPEAKER_00 (05:11):
I love that.
Yeah, that to me, honestly, hasbeen one of the biggest
challenges, I think, in thispast year.
For the longest time, it washey, even as a marketing
company, how how are we going tokeep finding new ways to get our
own clients?
There's different channels thatwe can use, there's different
channels that we can use for ourclients that just work better.
But we've got that dialed in.
(05:33):
We've got retention dialed innow.
That was always the next biggestbottleneck.
For me, one of the biggestlearning lessons this year was
how to manage our money betteras you scale.
Sounds real easy.
Start a business, make money,you pay some team members, you
pay your software, and like yourun.
That's what it was the firstcouple of years.
And then as we continue toscale, it's like, oh shit.
(05:55):
Like, I I'm I'm not doing thatgreat at managing the money.
I feel very blessed working inthis industry and getting to
speak to professionals like youand all the amazing guests we've
had on and our clients, but itis a huge learning curve.
And it I find it insane thatmore businesses don't have those
professionals in their corner toreally give them the insight
(06:15):
that that you guys carry becauseit's hard.
It's hard to manage the money ofa business and all of those
aspects when you're doingeverything else.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (06:25):
And I even think even in our even in our industry
though, James, like I know somany firm owners that this time
of year, they are they're broke.
I don't know.
I mean, I don't know if I haveto put it shout-ups to all my
firm owners, but because we getthis large amount of cash
injection that happens the firsthalf of the year, but then the
(06:47):
latter part of the year, youknow, we don't have as much.
And if you don't, if you don'tgovern yourself accordingly, I
like to say that a lot, thenyeah, November, December, you're
like, oh my God, what am I gonnado?
Um, so even in our industry,like we are the people who talk
about managing money.
And I have peers who are on thestruggle bus, man.
(07:08):
So it's it's it's a real deal,it's a real issue.
SPEAKER_00 (07:11):
That's wild.
It yeah, I mean, it happens.
Um so tell me, as an enrolledagent, you specialize in
bringing knowledge gaps and intranslating tax and financial
language into actionabledecisions for your clients.
Can you share any specificexamples of how that has helped
some of your clients and helpedother business owners?
SPEAKER_02 (07:33):
Yeah, um, you know, I think I'm gonna break the mold
a little bit.
I have my credentials ofenrolled agent, which means, you
know, I can represent my clientsbefore IRS and the state boards,
but that's that's a certificateon the wall, honestly.
(07:54):
Um, I I think that being ableagain, being able to have those
conversations with folks, andand I've had this one
conversation that's coming to mymind.
Um, I'm gonna protect the thethe innocent, but they were
bleeding bad.
(08:16):
Um and it was a situation wherethey were they were living
paycheck to paycheck, if youwill.
And and what I mean by that isthey they had subscription
revenue, if you will, on thefirst and the 15th.
But it was just like by the timethe money came in on the first,
unfortunately, it was alreadygone two days beforehand.
(08:36):
Same thing on the 15th.
And so we had to sit down andhad to have a conversation and
say, hey, you're bleeding.
Like it feels good becausemoney's coming in, but just
because money's coming in,you're not profitable.
You don't mean it's keeping thatlosing money.
And so it's and I don't want tobe Debbie Downer, but it was a
negative Nancy or whatever youwant to call it.
(08:58):
Um, we had to have theconversation to say, hey, we
have to fix this and we have tofix it immediately, or you're
only going to get deeper anddeeper into the hole.
Um, and then shortly after wehad that conversation, who comes
knocking on the door?
IRS.
Because like clockwork.
(09:18):
They, you know, if you'restruggling to pay your daily, if
you're struggling to keep thelights on, one of the things
that you have not been takencare of, unfortunately, are
these tax issues.
And so it's this compoundeffect.
The light bill, you can probablybuy a little bit of time.
Rent, maybe you can buy a littletime.
When the Fed boys come knocking,or the Fed girls, whoever they
(09:40):
might be, um, it's at that pointyou you you're in some deep
trouble.
And so, you know, just kind ofhelping them to navigate that
piece.
Um, put the Fed boys at at bayuh and rearrange some things
internally, especially from aspending standpoint and even
from a billing standpoint, toget them to a place that we were
(10:03):
closer to being profitable.
Um things got really interestingtowards the end, and they may
watch this episode and be like,why are you gonna talk about me?
But uh things got reallyinteresting towards the end
because they were wanting to dosome very, we'll call it
interesting um transactions.
And I was like, hey, you know,this is this is how I roll, I'm
(10:26):
not gonna do that.
Um, and so we decided to go outour separate ways.
Uh real good, real goodcolleague, real good friend.
Um, but apparently I was doingthings uh by the book and they
didn't, they didn't like that.
They wanted something that wasvery risky, uh, which is how
they got into the situation thatthey were in.
But uh, but that, you know, Iwhen I think about like, hey,
(10:47):
someone that was in a terribleplace, I helped them to get
again, by the time we wrappedup, they weren't fully in the
black, but they were way closerthan when they were when we
first started, man.
And and for me, that continuesto inspire me to keep pushing
forward and and keep helpingfolks out.
So that's like a long answer,man.
(11:08):
But it's real, it's real.
SPEAKER_00 (11:10):
Well, I got I got two questions that come from all
of that.
One, I 100% want to revisit youmore or less firing a client
because it didn't feel right.
I think that's really importantthat I want to pick your brain
on a little bit more to hearyour thought process on that.
So remind me after this nextquestion.
But one thing for me that weimplemented this year, and I
(11:31):
wish I just I wish I did thisyears ago because it will
probably have saved so muchheadache.
And I feel like it's a littlecontroversial from the
accounting side of things, butprofit first.
We we implemented profit first,and that has been an absolute
game changer the last two and ahalf months or so.
Um, what's your take on theprofit first strategy?
(11:54):
And maybe one tip or strategyyou helped implement for this
particular client that didn'tentirely get them out of the
black, but put them in asignificantly better position so
that they were not where theycurrently were.
SPEAKER_02 (12:07):
Yeah.
So so Profit First, I think is agreat platform.
There's some great principlesthat are in it.
Um, we don't necessarily do itwithin our firm.
The folks that we work with, umto have that many accounts just
makes it more difficult tomanage from a day in, day out
(12:28):
standpoint.
But then also because you havemore accounts, that means that
there's more work that we needto do, and you're gonna have to
pay extra for that.
But I think, you know, and thisis profit first, it's great, but
it's nothing that's that's likeearth shattering.
It's what we've been doing foreons.
(12:49):
You get paid, and people wouldput money into envelopes.
So now we're doing it digitallyand it helps out.
Um, you have to be in a placewhere you are profitable.
Profit first.
You have to have profits.
And so if you are notprofitable, having those
different allocations and thosedifferent accounts to put funds
(13:13):
is actually, and I might getsome enemy fire on this, is
shooting yourself in the foot.
Because cool, I've separatedstuff, I got my profit, got my
taxes here, got my expenses, allthat.
But then on Thursday, money iscoming out of my account for
insert bill name.
(13:33):
And what do I have to do?
Go and pull it from another oneof those accounts that I had the
auto transfer on.
Remember to put it back, but Iforget to put it back because I
ran out of cash, and then it'sjust like it's this constant
hamster wheel.
And so, you know, for thosefolks that are that have the
(13:54):
that have the profit and theyhave the discipline to let those
funds go where they need to goand and pay the bills where they
need to come from, then itworks.
But if every week you're tryingto figure out where is this
money gonna come from, you gottago snatch it from the other
envelope or digital envelope.
(14:16):
What are we doing?
SPEAKER_00 (14:18):
Yeah, that makes sense.
SPEAKER_02 (14:19):
I'm gonna take enemy fire for that, James.
You you put me in a place whereI had to, but and I got I got
folks who who love profit first,and and kudos to them.
Um, but you know, for for ourside, we we tend to not get too
involved with it because it doesseem to cause more challenges
than help.
(14:40):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_00 (14:41):
Yeah, it's um I feel like it's more most most firm
owners I've spoken to feelsimilar to you.
I feel like maybe it's moreattractive to the business owner
who's not handling all of thedifferent accounts.
Like to me, it's cool.
Money's put away for tax.
I don't have to worry about theCRA being in Canada coming and
(15:02):
knocking on the door.
It's there, and I'm not gonnatouch it.
I can be strict enough to notmove it.
Cool.
SPEAKER_02 (15:07):
But that's it right there, Jay.
Strict enough to not touch it.
That's the problem.
SPEAKER_00 (15:12):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (15:13):
Your discipline.
SPEAKER_00 (15:14):
That's okay.
That's fair.
Yeah, if you just move it andthen you move it back because
you got to you want to buysomething else or you gotta pay
something else, it doesn't work.
But I I'm also in the mindsetnow of like, cool, we got this
implemented.
I know it's going to cost usmore on the bookkeeping side of
things because there's just moreto reconcile.
That's fine.
To me, it's peace of mind, but Itotally get where you're coming
from with that.
(15:35):
I do want to go back to thatfirst question.
So you had a client you weredoing by the book, you were
putting them in a betterposition.
They wanted to stretch that, youknow, draw the line a little bit
further.
You said, no, we're not doingthat because it's me, it's my
name signing off on that.
Would love to hear how youapproach that situation for
(15:56):
other listeners, other firmowners who may have been in a
similar spot before, or arecurrently in that spot, and
they're like, This doesn't feelright, but I either I the
revenue is helpful right now, orI I've been working with this
person for years.
Like, how did you approach thatdifficult conversation?
SPEAKER_02 (16:13):
So interestingly, it they approached me with it
because I had told them no onmultiple occasions.
Um and so one day they was like,hey, I'm I'm thinking about
doing this, and I was like, No.
The next day they was like, hey,I know you said no, but I went
ahead and I did it, and I waslike, hey, I don't like we can't
(16:35):
do this anymore.
Um, and so I keep saying theybecause I'm not gonna say he or
she.
Anyway, but uh so then theycalled and they was like, hey,
um I don't uh I like we we'vebeen good, but it just it seems
like you are you're you'reyou're too straight and narrow,
(16:59):
is what they is what they saidto me.
And for me, that was validationof the authentic person that I
am.
And I tell people this, I tellmy team this, I tell anybody
that I work with, if myreputation in the industry or in
these streets is that I'm goingto be straight and narrow,
(17:21):
present and accounted for.
Like I'm I'm I would take thatreputation any day over somebody
saying, yo, you want to gocommit some fraud, go holla at
your boy Tony.
Uh-uh.
Because guess what else happens?
If that is my and this happened,if that is a reputation on the
streets, when I have a meetingwith a revenue officer and
(17:44):
they've heard that this is how Iroll, then there's an extra
layer of credibility that Ibring not only on my firm, but
also on my clients' behalf.
Yeah.
So if that's who you are andthat's how you roll, then then
stay who you are.
Do you.
Um, and but but the conversationis difficult.
(18:05):
I it sounds good for me to belike, oh yeah, it was all good.
I because it was it was a it wasa good amount of revenue.
But if with with with that goodamount of revenue, are they
gonna bring some other people tothe table?
Yeah, they probably will.
But guess what?
Burrs of a feather flocktogether.
So if they are trying to do someweird stuff, then their homies
(18:28):
are trying to do weird stuff aswell.
And so now you end up in asituation where you're you're
too you're in too deep.
Yeah.
And so now, how do I come out ofthis?
I would rather come out of itearly on than to now have 25
people that are trying to commitfraud, and now here I am with
you, and now they're making amovie about how I got too deep
(18:50):
in with you, and and I don't Idon't want any parcel of that,
James.
SPEAKER_00 (18:54):
So I don't blame you.
I don't blame you.
But yeah, it it also comes down,it sounds like you also just
we're not you're not worriedabout having that difficult
conversation.
It was just like, look, this isnot gonna work, and I I don't
care if if I'm not the guyanymore, if we're not the team
for you, because like this isjust not that's not the way
(19:14):
things are gonna happen.
Yeah, so if anyone's in thatsimilar situation, take a page
from Tony's book, and it's notthe worst to be called
authentic, genuine and honest.
Absolutely.
Um, so Tony, I would love toflip the script just a little
bit here with it being amarketing podcast.
Would love to know how you howyour firm, how you guys are
(19:35):
growing.
How do you guys find clients?
What works for you?
What can what can other firmowners do out there that you're
like, yep, this works for us,you should 100% be doing this.
SPEAKER_02 (19:42):
Yeah.
Um, again, it it what I was justtalking about, that that
authenticity.
And so, you know, I think a lotof times we try to be something
or someone that we aren't, andit ends up causing us more hurt
than help.
And so for us, we this is who weare.
This is how we roll, this is howwe talk to our people.
(20:04):
We have a client portal.
Do you want to play in theclient portal or do you want to
be able to text and phone callat 10:30 at night?
If that's how you roll, that'snot how we roll, and so that's
not the place.
So being authentic.
Um, but that that spreads.
Now, I you know, embarrassingly,have we done an amazing job at
(20:27):
marketing?
Maybe not.
Um, but I also recognize thatwe've been in the game for
almost two decades.
And so to have made it this farwith limited marketing
activities, if you will, um, I Ithink the the word of mouth, the
the folks that are out theresaying, hey, you want to be on
the straight and narrow, go seeTony and his team.
(20:50):
Um, I think that that works.
Um, social media, there is a lotof stuff on social media.
Good, bad, and different.
Um, but I think when I've shownup, when my firm has shown up as
who we are, we look, everybodycan run QuickBooks reports.
(21:13):
Everybody can pick up the 10-keycalculator and and and have tape
that's eight miles long.
But when we have a conversation,do I feel like you care?
Do because we're not we're notbuying services, we're buying an
experience, right?
We we all hear that.
Um, and there are some firmowners that's like, hey, I don't
(21:35):
like all that fluffy language.
It's it is what it is, and I'mgonna tell my clients this is
what they need to do.
And that works.
We are like, hey, client, it'slooking a little rough for you,
bruh.
What you what you want to do?
And they can appreciate that.
Um, and so I think that's wheresocial media has come in.
The tips and all that stuff,it's it's all good, but being
(21:58):
that authentic person andshowing who you are as a human,
um, I think allows the the doorsto open, but then also having
right people in your in yourcorner that can send the the
traffic your way um so you canclose on those deals.
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00 (22:16):
Yeah, I mean, I I back the the authenticity part
that you're talking about andjust being you.
I've I've seen you speak onstage, I've had conversations
with different events, havingthis conversation, it's the same
Tony every single time.
So that that to me is the thecoolest thing about it all, and
just yeah, being real and peopleknow this is what you see, this
(22:37):
is what you're gonna get everysingle time.
Every single time.
So tell me about the stuff thathasn't worked, or what you guys
are trying to work on now that'smaybe like the biggest hurdle or
the bottleneck in the firm rightnow as you go into 2026.
SPEAKER_02 (22:51):
Yeah.
So the thing that that didn'twork many years ago, I think
this is probably right beforeCOVID or maybe leading into it,
I got this bright idea to do aradio ad.
Um, and it was it was fivefigures.
(23:12):
Um and I literally had I thinkmaybe four or five people that
indicated to us that they heardthe radio ad.
All five of those people wereour current clients.
And I was like, wait, I justspent all this money, ads
(23:35):
everywhere.
And five, and I I I'm imaginingway more than five people heard
it, but the five people that Iknow heard it were like, hey,
current client, I I I heard youon the radio.
I'm like, that's that's that'scute, but but I I need somebody
who who is brand new.
So that was a disaster.
If anyone ever asked me to doradio, I'm sorry, ain't gonna
(23:59):
happen because been there, donethat, got the tattered t-shirt
to say won't do it again.
SPEAKER_00 (24:06):
So that's already hear that happened.
SPEAKER_02 (24:08):
Man, it was it was listen, people be like, y'all
think about doing ads on theradio.
I'm out of the, I'm not gonnatell you not to do it.
I'm just gonna say I ain't gotnothing to say.
I'm throwing my hands up, Iain't got nothing for you.
SPEAKER_00 (24:21):
But now you know, okay, we can check that one off
the list.
We don't need to ever wonder, isthat going to be the way to go?
So you you've 100% you learnfrom the scars.
SPEAKER_02 (26:21):
100%.
And so now, as we go into 2026,um, I think that one of the the
key initiatives is going to begetting our name and face out
there.
Because what I what reallygrinds my gears, I don't know
what else to say, is when wehave a great conversation with a
(26:45):
prospect, and then we get acrossthe line and we close, and they
say, My goodness, I didn't evenknow that you guys were here, or
you know, when did you when didyou guys arrive?
Or you knew, how long you'vebeen around?
I've been like, oh, it's beenalmost 20 years.
They're like, what?
And so it's one of the worst,one of the worst things is being
the best kept secret.
This is not where you want to bethe best kept secret.
(27:07):
Um, so we definitely are goingto expand our exposure, um, but
also making sure that thesystems are in place to handle
the influx of traffic, becauseone of the worst things that we
can do is open the wholepipeline, let the flood come in,
(27:30):
and then we are not able tohandle it or to fulfill um,
which now we have we've marketedourselves that we're a failure.
SPEAKER_00 (27:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (27:41):
And it's so much more difficult to kind of claw
back from not being able tohandle something than to just
kind of do it outright the theright way.
So exposure, making sure thesystems are in place, um, and
being more intentional about whoit is that we work with and and
starting to cater the messagetowards them.
(28:04):
Um, again, can we run QuickBooksreports for many businesses?
Yes.
But the ones that we really wantto rock with, let's kind of
cater the message towards themso that we can get them in the
door.
SPEAKER_00 (28:17):
100%.
I think there's so manyimportant things you touched on
there.
Don't just go and sign up formarketing, quote unquote, just
to be like, yeah, we're workingwith this new company.
Because if you can't handle theinflux, you don't have the
systems to take theappointments, you don't have the
systems for your proposals goingout.
What does your sales processlook like for closing once
(28:39):
they're in?
Can you onboard people?
Can you now fulfill it?
Do you have the staff?
We speak with a lot of firmsacross the US who are always
reaching out to us to learnabout our strategies, how we can
help them.
We turn away a lot of firmsbecause it it would they
wouldn't be set up for success.
So we're doing them adisservice.
They only get one first chanceto impress that new potential
(29:01):
client, but also it's for usbecause if we bring on someone,
we do our job really well and wesend them a ton of
opportunities, doesn't work forthem, they're not gonna keep
being like, wow, James, yourteam's amazing.
Thanks for all this, but weactually now kind of ruined our
reputation and we spent a bunchof money doing it.
So it's it's knowing who is, andto your point, who is the best
(29:24):
fit for our firm?
Who do we want to work with?
Who's who do we want to sendthat message to?
So I love what you're sayingabout, yeah, we have plans in
place, we're getting othersystems set up, and then we can
we can attack.
Yeah, slightly on the other sideof that coin, I'd add, and
you've been around for 20 years,so I'm sure you know this
through and through, but thereis no perfect time either.
(29:47):
And trying to wait foreverything to be 100% lined up,
that's also not the play.
But knowing, okay, is this isthis me being scared versus
trying to wait for the perfecttime, or do we truly need a
better system so we could handleit?
So that's I'll just add that inas a little asterisk because I
think that's really important tonote.
SPEAKER_02 (30:05):
No, that that's extremely valid.
And I think really quickly onthat, I had a conversation with
someone about, you know, likewhen when do we go?
And so we the question outsideof this industry is like, when
do we have kids?
Well, there's no perfect time,like there's not enough money,
there's not enough space.
However, if you were preparingto have a kid, then you can no
(30:28):
longer still ride around in yourtour, your two-door coop.
Like, at least let's get a sedanthat's got so you know, you
gotta start making someadjustments.
Even when you get the sedan, areyou ready to have a kid?
Maybe not.
I don't know.
We don't know when the perfecttime is, and so that's where we
are.
I told my team, like, hey, let'sat least make sure that we have
(30:49):
the right car to bring the babyhome.
SPEAKER_00 (30:52):
That's such a good analogy.
That's so good.
I love that one.
I love that.
Well, Tony, what what would belike the number one thing you
would want someone who'slistening to this episode to
leave with?
SPEAKER_02 (31:08):
Um, that's hard, man.
I didn't know with that.
Put you on the spot with thatone.
So I think that it's it'sprobably two-pronged.
One, B you.
Like, that sounds so cliche, butit actually, you may not even
(31:30):
realize it, but it wasvalidation for me to be like,
yo, the same Tony that's onplatform, the same Tony that's
at the bar drinking a sprite onthe rocks, the same Tony that's
on the podcast, like you'regonna get the same Tony wherever
you are.
So be you, don't try to.
(31:50):
Be somebody else just so you canget some business in the door
because you can't maintain it.
It's like when you tell yourkids, like if you lie once, you
have to keep lying to keep upthe original lie.
So don't do that.
Two, this, this, this world ofbeing a firm owner has peaks and
valleys.
And so just know that whereveryou are, there's an up, but then
(32:13):
there's also a down.
And so if you feel like you'reat the lowest, there's still you
can go up.
On the flip side, though, if youfeel like, oh, this is great,
we're living the dream.
It's just one client that cantake you from living the dream
to like, oh shoot, well, what weabout to do.
So just, you know, main, Iguess, I guess in humility.
(32:36):
That's probably what the thetrue word is.
Just remember that this is ajourney.
Um, and the destinationcontinues to get further and
further away, and just keeppushing, man, um, and and make
it do what it do.
SPEAKER_00 (32:50):
Well, 20 years of experience of running your own
firm, that's there's a lot ofweight behind those words.
So I appreciate you sharingthat.
I'm curious, um, before we getto the very last question, I
want to wrap this up with, tellme what your plans are for 2026.
Are you we're gonna see you backat GrowCon?
Are you attending any otherconferences?
Where where will people see youout and about?
Because it's always a pleasurerunning into you.
SPEAKER_02 (33:10):
So, my goal for 2026 is to be out there.
Um, you know, I'm working ongetting things uh I'm not gonna
say stable, because it's notlike that's not stable, but I'm
I'm working to make sure thatthat the that the crib, the
office, that it can run, notnecessarily because it can run
(33:32):
without me, but for me to be outand doing what I love, having
conversations, doing the thingsthat I do, being on stages, um,
I got to make sure that thefoundation is solid.
So 2026, I'm gonna be out there.
Um, even if I I trip up and Imight miss an opportunity, I'm
(33:53):
going to be out there because Irecognize that there is a
segment of the population thatis assigned to my voice.
And if I'm not out there toprovide that to them, then I'm
doing them a disservice.
Um, and so that's that's thegoal for 26.
Lock the foundation and makesure the firm is solid and get
(34:15):
on stage and give the peoplewhat they need.
SPEAKER_00 (34:17):
I love it.
You're it's is you're superintentional about it.
And I mean, you're one of thegreatest, greatest guys I've met
in the industry.
So I hope you're at more eventsbecause it is always great
catching up with you.
We'll definitely be at Grocon.
I hope to see you there.
We're also gonna be at scaling,so come by the booth, say hi to
us.
It'd be great to see you againthere.
Um, last question for you, Tony.
(34:38):
I'm gonna put you on the spotagain.
So big drum roll to build up.
All right, all right.
What is the best piece of adviceyou've ever received?
SPEAKER_02 (34:47):
The best piece of advice I've ever received.
Um I'm not sure if it'snecessarily advice, but it's a
saying, um one of my formerpastors said to me, keep living,
son, keep living.
(35:08):
And and what he was saying thatto me, or what it was in
reference to, is kind of almostwhat I was just talking about.
Like the things that you haveexperienced are putting you in
position for the things that youare about to experience.
And so I think about it, becauseI, you know, I did something to
(35:31):
my knee, probably trying to dotoo much on the Peloton or on
the trademark.
I don't know what happened.
But my sons, like my sons of 14to 18, was like, yo, dad, what
happened?
And I'm like, and it and it cameout of me.
I was like, keep living.
Because right now, you can youcan jump everywhere, you can run
everywhere.
But as time goes on, you startto realize, oh, I can't do it
(35:52):
the way I used to.
Um however, I can still outsmartyou in other ways.
So when he told me to like keepliving, I was like, oh, I may
not be as physically agile as Iused to be, but I'm way more
mentally agile than I ever was.
And so for me, like I continueto replay that.
(36:13):
And I and again, I think aboutthe peaks in the valley.
Sometimes, and I think anybodyin my seat has been like, you
know what?
Flip the table up.
I'm out of here, I'm done, I'mgonna go be a Walmart greeter.
But then there's some times thatyou're like, yo, this is
amazing.
I love it.
Let's let's keep doing more.
Um, keep living, keep livingbecause you're gonna have a time
(36:36):
when you you're questioningevery decision, and then you're
gonna have times where you'relike, Oh, I love it.
This is the greatest thing ever,man.
SPEAKER_00 (36:41):
I love that.
That's so cool.
Thank you so much for sharingthat.
Tony, thank you so much forcoming on and spending time with
us here today.
Um, it's always a pleasurespeaking with you.
You have so much insight and somuch knowledge.
I can't wait to see you atwhatever that next event is, but
I know we'll be crossing pathsagain soon.
Um enjoy the holiday season asit's as we're very much coming
(37:04):
up on it.
And yeah, just thanks again forcoming on.
Absolutely.
I appreciate it, James.
Thanks so much, sir.
Thanks for tuning in to 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.
First, make sure to subscribe tothis podcast so you don't miss
any future episodes.
(37:24):
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-end clientsyou deserve, head over to
accountingleadsnow.com or clickthe link in the show notes to
book your strategy call.
It's time to position yourselfas the advisor your clients
need.
(37:44):
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 topics comingup, so stay tuned for the next
episode of CFO Chronicles.
Until then, keep pushingforward.
Your growth is just onestrategic move away.
SPEAKER_01 (38:01):
Thanks for listening to CFO Chronicles, the secrets
behind success.
We hope today's episode providedvaluable strategies to help you
attract more high-payingclients.
Be sure to subscribe, follow,and share with fellow
professionals.
Connect with us on LinkedIn andleave a review or comment to
join the conversation.
(38:22):
Your feedback helps us bring youthe best insights in finance and
marketing.
Until next time, keep strivingfor success and unlocking your
business's potential.
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