GWCPA Brand Book

Empowered leaders empower leaders.

Brand Book

Bringing others along About us

We are GWCPA. A proud and passionate CPA-lead organization.

We’re on a dual mission:

To make public accounting better for the next generation.

To enable and empower family run businesses. Our legacy is their legacy.

We achieve our mission by bringing others along. We share and transfer our knowledge so that we can break down the barriers to achievement and do remarkable things together.

Every day we put puzzle pieces together to create a financial picture for our clients. We pull information from various areas to help them make informed decisions about their business. Every single member of the GWCPA team contributes a valuable puzzle piece.

We believe individual brilliance is mighty, but an empowered team is unstoppable.

Who We Serve

We champion family-owned businesses wanting personalized guidance to help them build their legacy. Our clients aren’t looking for people to “just do the taxes”, they want a partner to lean on, learn from and grow with. They care about their business and want it to yield a good living for the people it’s providing forthemselves, their families and their teams. Like us, they’re bringing others along. Our ideal clients need our support to keep up with current demand and create a clear plan for their desired future.

Characteristics:

Kind Understanding

Compassionate

Reasonable

Value relationships

Growth/learner mindset

Open to change

Our Values

At GWCPA we value:

Empathy

We understand and appreciate what it takes to run a business.

We want to help, and we know a true helper leads with open ears and eyes. We build our community by seeing everyone we interact with as a real person - team, client or professional partner. Empathy means showing up with compassion and accountability, knowing boundaries are good for everyone. You can’t help others if your cup is empty.

We’re dealing with someone’s livelihood and we don’t take that lightly.

We always look for a better way to do something. Never settle.

Foresight

We don’t get held up in the past. Our ability to think forward comes from our culture of continuous learning. We believe there’s always something more to learn - from books, conversations, relationships and experiences. We’re naturally drawn to entrepreneurial people who are invested in personal growth. Our own growth mindset allows us to seek better solutions through innovation and prepare our clients for the future.

Empowerment

Our leadership model is based on empowerment. Empowerment happens when people have the trust and the tools to do remarkable things. We guide and mentor our team to elevate them to their highest potential so they can foster meaningful relationships with our clients. We invest in building our clients' knowledge so they have agency to make the best decisions for their business. We’re not about imposing limitations. The sky’s the limit!

We see the best in others and help them see it in themselves.

Accountability

We know an innovative environment must hold space for trying, failing, improving. Accountability means stepping up to our commitments and owning our learnings. It doesn’t mean blame or heavy shoulders - we work together to solve problems and ask for help when we need it. We hold ourselves accountable to an ethical standard and work with clients who value integrity. A GWCPA client takes ownership of their goals and obligations. We do what we say we’re going to do. No passing the buck.

Tone of voice

Encouraging

We speak passionately about our clients businesses and goals, while acknowledging it takes hard work. We’re hopeful and motivational in our content and communication. As a partner to our clients, we highlight opportunity, rather than bark orders. As leaders, we want to inspire and influence.

Encouraging is: real, motivational, optimistic. Encouraging is not: avoidant, toxic positivity, fake.

Honest

We’re not afraid to tell the truth. We’re straightforward about a situation, and will tell it how it is. We don’t sugarcoat things or only share what we think our audience wants to hear. We will say what we believe is right when it comes to business and accounting, rather than sitting on the fence. Our audience deserves clarity, and we know honesty builds trust. It’s not personal, it’s productive.

Honest is: straightforward, realistic, helpful. Honest is not: needlessly blunt, unkind, unproductive.

Human

Not stuffy. We distil complex topics so they’re easy to understand. We don’t talk over people’s heads or use overly technical language. We’ll share analogies, stories and relatable experiences to help our audience understand key concepts. We want our content to invite people in. We’re a partner to our clients, not a vendor or authoritarian.

Human is: relatable, open-minded, conversational. Human is not: oversharing, slangy or foul language, unethical.

Confident

We share our expertise for the good of our audience. We don’t downplay our strengths and skills. We talk about our fellow team and clients in high esteem. We’re secure in our solutions and unapologetic about our belief in learning and growth.

Confident is: assured, dependable, collaborative. Confident is not: egotistical, dog eat dog, inflexible.

Style tips: Emojis sometimes when content calls for it - i.e in a social post. No swear words - “this sucks” is okay, but no foul language.

GWCPA speaks directly to their audience using ‘you’ and ‘we’.

Use contractions in written voice to mirror spoken voice. Team is referred to as team-members or co-workers. Avoid: war analogies, stereotypes, tired cliches.

Tone of voice taster

A real life example of GWCPA TOV in action:

How can an accountant help when your business is struggling because of the economy?

If we had a magic wand to grant all new clients one instant wish, it would probably be this: to make business infinitely predictable.

We all wish we could anticipate what’s coming down the road so we could plan for its arrival. But as Eleanor Roosevelt once said:

“If life were predictable it would cease to be life”.

A fluctuating economy can have a big impact on the stability of your cash flow, and on your personal feelings of safety and security.

We don’t have a magic wand or crystal ball. But we can make business more predictable. We help owners plan for the future, manage risk and build strong strategies to get them through unpredictable times. Profit and cash ebbs and flows for all businesses. You are not alone.

Running a business is a brave and exciting venture, but it isn’t an easy one.

The internet can easily have you believing every business owner out there is crushing it. Hustling. Maximizing their profits. Smashing all their goals out of the park with ease.

But your cash flow can take a hit for lots of different reasons. Some outside of your control.

The bad news is you can’t control things like the economy.

The good news is you can survive almost any storm with the right infrastructure and support. The even better news - instead of just surviving, you could actually be thriving.

Here’s how…

Logo Guidelines

Primary Logo

Clear space

In order to gain maximum visibility, the logotype should always appear with a minimum area of a clear space around the logo. This area should be free of any type or graphic elements.

Inverse Logo

White Logo

Greyscale logo Black logo

Typography

These fonts have been selected to best represent the brand image, and should be used to retain consistency.

Replacing fonts with alternatives should not be done without consultation.

The logo uses a custom wordmark.

Use the following type hierarchy as a guide to set type in your layout. Adhering to these styles will ensure a consistent style across all GWCPA communications.

Type Sample Fonts Weights

Kantumruy Pro Ag

Open Sans Light

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

0123456789

!@#$%^&*()

Open Sans Medium

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

0123456789

!@#$%^&*()

Open Sans Medium

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

0123456789

!@#$%^&*()

The Hierarchy

Typesetting Example

Font source:

https://fonts.google.com/ specimen/Kantumruy+Pro

Headlines / H1 Titles

Kantumruy Pro Semi Bold

Subheadlines / H2, H3 etc

Kantumruy Pro Medium

Article Title

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua ut enim ad.

Body Copy

Kantumruy Pro light

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris

Color Palette

Color is a primary visual tool used to create a powerful emotional response.

The GWCPA color palette is designed to connect with their ideal audience. It’s calm and focused, but also optimistic and energetic. The denim blue portrays trust and confidence. The cool blue color ads a soft aspect that gives a human touch. The coral color gives vibrance and envokes a fresh energy that is uplifting while still calming. The dark blue and grey colors add versatility and support to the color palette.

A guide to choosing imagery for GWCPA

Imagery Guidelines

Focus on collaboration

When choosing photos for GWCPA, look for images that show people collaborating, having conversations and building relationships/connections. Including brand colors is always a plus.

Avoid photos of individual people sitting in coffee shops or the small start up entrepreneurs. More unified, less siloed.

Focus on fun

There are a variety of different work atmospheres that fit GWCPA’s ideal client. You might show a group out to dinner or lunch, in the office brainstorming or at a retreat.

Focus on legacy

Making an impact on the next generation and creating a legacy is important to our brand. Include people in their mid to late 30’s as well as 50-60 year olds.

Mockups

Waterbottle

Ipad Cover