“I had somebody who’s a friend of mine, an amazing person, an amazing entrepreneur kind of whisper in my ear one day, ‘I’m not getting the information I need to run my business, I don’t really know what information I need…I just know I’m not getting it.’” – Spencer
As members of Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) Spencer and I have time and time again spoken with successful business owners who are desperate for a simplified and tactical expression of their numbers. They want clear reporting.
Business owners want their accountants to help them navigate their financials so they understand how to use them as a planning tool to improve the management of their businesses. Simplicity is key. The problem is that most CPAs don’t even offer simple advisory. This is also the opportunity. Business owners love these insights when they can actually get them.
In this episode, we quickly connected on how important it is to have a simple explanation of the numbers even for our own businesses. If you stop for a moment and think about what’s possible when you as a business owner get a solid, tactical expression of your numbers, the world gets a whole lot bigger. With better reporting , you can properly formulate a growth plan for your business over the next year, three years, or even 10 years.
Without a simple explanation of numbers , your perspective is too narrow. Spencer helps widen the scope of what’s possible with his team at Shift Financial Insights.
It was a pleasure getting to connect and dive into the value of these insights with Spencer, if you’d like to connect with him you can reach him on ; LinkedIn, Facebook, or by emailing spencer@shiftfinancial.co
Here’s one last golden nugget from Spencer before you listen: “Nobody cares about financial statements they care about the stories inside the financial statements.”
Go watch the podcast here, or take a listen on the player below:
Time Stamps:
2:00 – How do you get into cold storage in the CPA industry?
3:30 – Spencer’s Backstory
6:45 – What is Shift Financial Insights and how’d it start?
13:00 – What’s been surprising about your journey with the business so far {related to growth}?
15:30 – Have you found that you imposing some discipline on certain clients, does it spread into other parts of the business?
17:30 – Spencer’s Model – you said you’re not fully fractional CFO, can you speak to that a little bit?
20:30 – Looking at the industry of cloud-based outsourced CFO – What are you seeing other as mistakes that other companies are making?
24:46 – As far as automation – what are companies to watch?
27:00- If you were to talk to someone starting out cold in the accounting industry – what advice would you give them?
30:00- Book recommendations: Willpower doesn’t work – Benjamin Hardy – Moonwalking with Einstein – Joshua Foer
34:00 – One life lesson to share with the listeners.
37:00 – Connect with Spencer – LinkedIn, Facebook, Website – spencer@shiftfinancial.co
Enjoy,
Brannon
PS – Whenever you’re ready, here are 4 other ways we can help:
- Seller FAQ: Answers to the questions sellers are asking. From practice value, to timing, we’ve got you covered.
- Strategic Guide to Selling your CPA Practice Video: The how-to of selling a CPA firm.
- Accounting Practice Academy: If you’re looking for benchmarks, our 8-week workshop has a community of established firm owners that will help you get perspective, reduce your owner hours, and raise your bottom line. Reply to the email with “APA” and we will fill you in on the details.
- If you want to chat about your exit strategy, reply to this email with “strategy call” or request a call here.
