Growing Your Firm | Strategies For Accountants, Cpa's, Bookkeepers , And Tax Professionals

Are your firm's internal processes starting to creak under the weight of new growth? When scaling a Client Accounting Services (CAS) or advisory practice, standardizing workflows, managing team capacity, and maintaining quality control become the ultimate operational test. In this live panel session from the Growing Your Firm Summit, host David Cristello brings together a "Council of Operations Experts" to discuss how to build sustainable systems that scale without causing team burnout: Amy McCarty – Director of Operations at Dillon Business Advisors (20+ years coaching firm leaders) AJ Zapata – Co-Founder & COO at Maverick (grew his book of business to $1M in 9 months flat) Melanie – Systems & Admin Lead at Soren Whether you are an operations manager driving software adoption, a bookkeeping firm owner, a managing partner, or a CPA starting a firm, this panel provides actionable blueprints to streamline practice management and elevate firm performance. In this episode, we unpack: Identifying

Is your accounting practice built to scale—or positioned for a high-multiple exit? In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host David Cristello welcomes back Geoff Bruskin, founder and CEO of White Tiger Connections. Geoff pulls back the curtain on the current "white-hot" public accounting M&A market in 2026. From the rise of Fractional COO engagements to 7x+ EBITDA multiples, Jeff breaks down what buyers are looking for and why private equity (PE) plays fail 40% of the time when they ignore the human element of change management. Whether you're an Operations Manager looking to optimize workflow, a Managing Partner eyeing a future exit, or a CPA starting a firm, this episode is packed with real-world deal structures, go-to-market strategies, and tech implementation blueprints. In this episode, we explore: The Fractional COO Model: Why $1M to $20M accounting firms are hiring fractional executive leaders to build infrastructure for scale rather than overpaying for full-time roles. Inside a 7.4x EBITDA Dea

Can you run a thriving, hyper-local accounting practice while living in Mexico for four months of the year? Most accounting firm owners and managing partners assume that running a local firm requires being chained to a brick-and-mortar office—especially during busy seasons. In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host David Cristello sits down with Nancy McClelland, CPA (widely known as The Dancing Accountant). Nancy shares how she built a highly profitable, 100% remote, hyper-local firm in Chicago that allows her to spend every tax season working from Mexico. If you are a bookkeeping firm owner, a CPA starting a firm, or an operations manager trying to fix a broken tax season, this episode provides a masterclass in firm boundaries, client selection, and bookkeeper-to-tax-pro collaboration. In this episode, we unpack: The Hyper-Local Strategy: How Nancy built a 25-year-old firm serving only small businesses within a few specific Chicago neighborhoods. The "No Bookkeeping, No Tax" Rule: Why Nancy refuses to

Are you running an accounting practice that can survive independent of your personal production, or are your key successors already looking for the nearest exit? In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host David Cristello sits down with Ira Rosenbloom, CEO of Optimum Strategies, known across the industry as the "Merger and Profitability Optimizer." With over 25 years of hands-on experience as a practicing CPA and managing partner, Ira pulls back the curtain on how to navigate the complex crossroads of generational change, standardizing client management, and securing maximum value for your firm. Whether you are a managing partner trying to transition equity, a CPAs starting a firm, or an operations manager driving software adoption, this masterclass changes how you view structural firm health. Inside This Episode, We Unpack: The Valuation Multiplier Trap: Why the fastest way to explosive growth isn't just jacking up client fees—it's analyzing fee tiers to identify where leakage actually occurs. Preventing

Whether you're a CPA starting a firm, an operations manager, or a managing partner looking at succession options, understanding what actually drives firm valuation in today's intense M&A market is critical. In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host David Cristello sits down with Mike Payne, a veteran M&A consultant who has spent nearly two decades facilitating accounting firm mergers, acquisitions, and private equity investments. Mike pulls back the curtain on transactions ranging from $1M to over $100M to explain exactly how buyers evaluate practices and why the traditional metrics you read about are often just hearsay. In this episode, we explore: The Revenue vs. EBITDA Shift: Why the accounting world has fundamentally shifted from gross revenue multiples to Adjusted EBITDA valuations. The Private Equity (PE) Reality: How the massive influx of outside capital is reshaping deal structures, increasing cash at the table, and forcing traditional firms to change. The CAS and Tax Premium: Why a str

Can you run a hyper-profitable tax and advisory firm while heavily restricting your personal work hours? Most accounting firm owners and managing partners assume that scaling past six figures requires sacrificing their personal life to the grind.   In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host David Cristello sits down with Yuri Kapilovich, Managing Partner of Kapilovich and Associates—known across social media as "The Fun CPA." After spending over a decade handling high-net-worth clients at giant tax firms, Yuri stepped out on his own to build an ultra-lean, highly optimized practice.   Yuri pulls back the curtain on how he structure-built his firm to generate nearly $290k in gross revenue while working only 15 to 25 hours a week! If you're a bookkeeping firm owner, a CPA starting a firm, or an operations manager, this step-by-step masterclass reveals how pricing alignment directly builds lifestyle freedom.   In this episode, we explore: The "Fun CPA" Blueprint: How leaning into raw, honest, and unconventiona

Are you a firm owner trying to break past that next big growth plateau? Many managing partners and bookkeeping firm owners find themselves stuck in the daily grind, struggling to build a practice that can survive independent of their personal production.   In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host Dave Cristello sits down with Adam Shay, CPA, a dad, entrepreneur, and high-performance firm coach. Adam pulls back the curtain on his own journey of building, scaling, and ultimately selling a multimillion-dollar accounting firm. Today, through Share the Knowledge LLC, he helps fellow owners design companies built with intention—and positioned perfectly for a future exit.   Whether you are an operations manager trying to optimize workflow or a CPA starting a firm from scratch, this episode offers practical, data-driven strategies to maximize structural efficiency.   In this episode, we unpack: The Firm Snapshot: What Adam's firm looked like two years prior to a successful sale (10 team members and nearly $2M in

Are you running an accounting practice that relies entirely on your own personal production, or have you built a scalable business that can exist independently of you? For accounting firm owners, managing partners, and CPAs starting firms, understanding how to shift from manual operations to an acquirable business model is the ultimate goal. In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host David Cristello sits down with Joe Manganelli, the former founder and CEO of Calculate. Joe shares his incredible journey of launching, scaling, and successfully selling his outsourced CFO and accounting firm in under seven years. He pulls back the curtain on his aggressive top-line growth strategies, pricing models, and how he scaled his team to nearly 45 headcounts with zero outside funding. In this episode, we explore: - The Bootstrapped Blueprint: How Joe scaled Calculate to a $10M run rate without taking on venture capital or outside investment. - Top-Line Growth vs. Profitability: The strategic decisions behind running a hi

In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host David Cristello sits down with Isaac Perdomo, founder of Opzer, to discuss the practical application of AI and low-code/no-code tools in modern accounting practices. Isaac shares real-world case studies of firms drastically reducing manual workloads and increasing their capacity for high-value advisory services.   In this episode, we explore: - The "Window of Opportunity": Why the next 12–24 months are critical for firms to adopt AI before the market settles. - Beyond the Hype: Moving from generic ChatGPT use to building bespoke internal tools with Claude, Replit, and Lovable. - The 15-Minute Close: How a case study firm reduced bookkeeping time from 2 hours to 15 minutes per client using automated workflows. - Quality Assurance (QA) with AI: Using LLMs as an additional layer of review for financial statements and deliverables. - Vibe Coding & Custom Apps: Why the era of the "30-app tech stack" is evolving into firms building their own specialized internal softwa

Is the traditional general ledger dead? As small businesses and startups demand real-time data, the standard "wait two weeks for a black-and-white P&L" model is becoming obsolete. In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host David Cristello sits down with Jeff Seibert, co-founder and CEO of Digits and former Head of Consumer Product at Twitter (now X). Jeff reveals why he spent over five years and $100M in venture capital to rebuild accounting software from the ground up to be AI-native. Whether you're a firm owner looking to scale or a tech-forward CPA, this conversation explores how "Agentic Accounting" is moving the profession from manual data entry to high-level advisory. In this episode, we discuss: The Genesis of Digits: How Jeff's experience scaling Twitter exposed the massive data gap between engineering and finance. What is an Agentic General Ledger? Moving beyond "bolt-on" AI to a vector-graph data model where the intelligence is baked into the ledger itself. Automating the Month-End Close:

Are you tired of the "compliance grind"? Most accountants overlook a goldmine sitting right in their current database: Tax Resolution. With over 27 million Americans currently facing IRS issues, the demand for representation has never been higher. In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host David Cristello sits down with Michael Rozbruch, founder of Roz Strategies and a pioneer in the tax resolution industry. Michael shares how he grew a practice from his dining room table to a $23 million-a-year powerhouse and why now is the best time in history for firms to enter this space. In this episode, we explore: The "Stealth" Referral Letter: How to generate $5k–$10k cases from your existing clients without spending a dime on ads. The 4 Collection Alternatives: Michael simplifies the IRS maze into four main outcomes (Installment Agreements, Offer in Compromise, Penalty Abatement, and Currently Not Collectible). The $6,000 Marketing Campaign: A step-by-step breakdown of the "Old School" direct mail strategy that

Are you building a firm to last, or building it to sell? Whether you're a CPA starting a firm or a Managing Partner eyeing retirement, understanding the current M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions) landscape is critical for your largest wealth-generation tool: your practice.   In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host Dave Cristella sits down with Doug Lewis, Managing Director at The Visionary Group, to pull back the curtain on how buyers are actually evaluating accounting and bookkeeping firms in 2026. From the impact of Private Equity (PE) to the "sticky revenue" of Client Accounting Services (CAS), Doug breaks down the metrics that determine your firm's valuation.   In this episode, we discuss:   1. The Shift in Valuation: Why firms are moving away from gross revenue multiples and toward Adjusted EBITDA.   2. The CAS Premium: Why Client Accounting Services and outsourced bookkeeping are trading for higher multiples than traditional audit or tax.   3. The Talent Shortage & M&A: How the pipeline sho

Are you an accounting firm owner, managing partner, or CPA starting a firm who wants to achieve rapid growth without losing your sanity? In this episode of Growing Your Firm, host David Cristello sits down with Ben Curtis, co-founder and CEO of Good Measure Financial. Ben shares the inside story of how his firm transitioned from a slow, intentional build to adding 4 full-time employees in just 90 days during a massive growth spurt. Whether you are an operations manager looking for better workflow systems or a leader interested in the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), this episode provides a tactical roadmap for scaling a remote-first accounting business. What You'll Learn in This Episode: 1. The 50/50 Partnership Model: How Ben manages a firm with a "fractional" co-founder while maintaining clear role definitions and a healthy 50/50 ownership split. 2. EOS Lite for Accounting Firms: Why Ben uses the Vision Traction Organizer (VTO) and L10 meetings to keep his team of 10 aligned, and what parts of EOS he

Burnout is often misdiagnosed as a lack of effort, but the true culprit is usually a lack of infrastructure. From excessive rework to murky processes, operational friction is what actually drains a team. The solution isn't to work harder; it's to transition from an owner-dependent model to a robust operating system that scales without requiring the founder's constant intervention. Get the full breakdown and see the process in action on our blog.

If your firm's growth has hit a plateau, you might be looking for answers in outsourcing or capital infusions. However, Jennifer Wilson suggests a different perspective: the primary constraint facing firm leaders today is the people-power behind the work. Success in the modern landscape is less about the "how" and entirely about the "who." Check out the blog here to learn more.    

Discover why industry leaders are feeling more optimistic than ever about the future of professional accounting. This roundtable discussion explores a pivotal shift from a culture of burnout toward one centered on high-value advisory and long-term client success. The experts dive into how emerging technologies like AI can automate compliance tasks and free up practitioners for strategic leadership roles. By embracing modern business models and intentional change management, firms can unlock new opportunities for growth and personal satisfaction.

Matt Gardner scaled Hiline by moving beyond referral-only growth and building systems designed to scale. By niching down, investing ahead of demand, restructuring sales roles, and embracing automation and technology, Hiline created a predictable growth engine that does not rely on founder hustle. Scaling an accounting firm beyond referrals is one of the hardest challenges firm owners face. In this episode of Growing Your Firm, Matt Gardner shares how Hiline grew by niching down, investing ahead of growth, and building a real go-to-market engine instead of relying on referrals or founder hustle. Resources: Matt Gardner's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgardnercpa/n

Growing accounting firms often misdiagnose turnover and capacity issues. Erin Daiber explains why these problems usually start at the partner level, how trust breakdowns create hidden churn, and what firms must fix first before hiring or offshoring. The firms that stabilize fastest focus on leadership alignment, clear expectations, and disciplined workflows. Resources: Erin Daiber's LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/cpacoacherin

On an episode of the Growing Your Firm podcast, David Cristello spoke with William Hamilton IV, founder of SmartPath, about why pricing problems often sit underneath many operational issues firms experience. William has spent more than a decade studying how accounting firms price services and where those models tend to break down. Rather than focusing on theory, the conversation centered on how firms can think more clearly about pricing, packaging, and value in real client situations.

Justine Lackey built a sellable bookkeeping firm by staying hyper focused on one service, one platform, recurring revenue, documented systems, and ethical leadership. Long before selling in 2023, her firm was structured to operate independently, making the transition successful for clients, employees, and buyers.   Key Takeaways Focused service offerings help firms stand out in M&A discussions Recurring prepaid revenue improves cash flow stability Standardized systems support smoother transitions Ethical leadership enables better client and team outcomes during exits Reducing owner dependency supports long-term firm continuity