2022 PASBA Winter Newsletter

WINTER 2022

PASBA INSIDER Quarterly Newsletter for the Professional Association of Small Business Accountants

WHAT'S INSIDE: Grow Your Business With CloudBased General Ledger Technologies

By Matthew May, Founder, VP Sales and Marketing | Acuity It was so nice to be in Nashville live with PASBA last November and we look forward to more in person events in the future.

Xero was proud to be reintroduced to several PASBA members in our breakout session and throughout the week as people stopped by. Interest in cloud-based general ledger technologies is at an all-time high because of some pandemic people keep talking about, but the PASBA attendees got deeper than the general ledger features quicker than most.

Here were our three biggest takeaways from November.

Additional Revenue Streams PASBA members get it! One of the first things the crowd identified were a couple of the revenue streams they could add to their practices by moving to Xero.

Merchant Processing Rev Share One of the unique things PASBA attendees noted was that Xero does not limit merchant processor selections. Unlike some other platforms, Xero is open and allows the accountant user to select the merchant processor. That opens a new (Continued on page 2)

Cloud-Based Technologies - p. 1 President's Message - p. 4 Member Highlight - p. 6 New Member Spotlight - p. 9 2021 Award Winners - p. 10 Spring Conference Agenda - p. 12 Conference Progression - p. 14 FRGs Explained - p. 15 Master Calendar - p. 18 Regional Meetings - p. 19 New Members - p. 21

The Insider provides PASBA members with updates on current topics and association news. Since 1982, PASBA has represented Certified Public Accountants, Public Accountants, and Enrolled Agents who provide accounting services to small businesses throughout the United States. PASBA membership gives accounting firm owners everything they need to succeed to become the premier providers in their communities.

Grow Your Business With Cloud-Based General Ledger Technologies (Continued from page 1) revenue stream to firm owners by allowing them to enter into rev share agreements with merchant processors. PASBA firm owners have the opportunity to help their clients leverage merchant processing rates and relationships while adding a new revenue stream to their practice.

Partner Program Rev Share Members also dug into the rev share opportunities and the flexibility of the Xero Partner Program. They particularly liked the flexibility of still being able to value bill clients with Xero increasing the discounts to the firm as volume increased.

Also, many were excited to learn about the two Xero customer tiers for the simplest customers that aren’t accessible to customers directly from Xero. Xero Cashbook and Xero Ledger provide sub $12 / month licenses and aren’t advertised on the Xero pricing page. The conversation quickly moved to clients they were avoiding moving to the cloud who might be able to handle single digit technology fees.

Community PASBA members are supportive of each other!

During the demo of our custom reports feature, we were showing the crowd how a report can be customized. We demonstrated how once a report was finalized, the format could be replicated throughout a firm’s client base. The discussion quickly turned towards exporting those and sending them to fellow FRG members so they could also benefit from each other's top reports.

What a great culture, we think PASBA members will love the Xero Ambassadors resources. Xero Ambassadors are current or former firm owners who support firm owners that use Xero. It sounds like a very similar way that small groups at PASBA help each other.

Accountant Centered Philosophy Once all the talk about features and resources started to dwindle, the PASBA audience forced a very focused discussion around how some of our competitors have started encroaching on their services.

At Xero, the notion of XeroLive is not how we want to grow. We have always held an accountant centered philosophy and business model. Some take our philosophical stance as lip service, so we’ll cut to the chase: it is better for our business model. Our research has shown that clients stay with us longer if they are connected to an accountant, that leads to greater lifetime value of that relationship, which allows our partner rev share program to be mutually beneficial. It also showed that our customers connected to accountants survived longer and had better financial success. Looking around the room in November reinforced that as the group form PASBA was committed to supporting their clients.

We were so excited to meet so many like-minded PASBA members and are looking forward to working together in the future. (And many more in person meetings!) Become a Xero Partner.

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President's Message Happy 2022, everyone! With all that has transpired over the last couple of years, I look forward to welcoming a new year and all the hope it holds. I certainly hope you, your families, and your teams are staying healthy and on top of all the work that the first quarter brings us.

I was so happy to see so many of you in Nashville in November. After two long years, we were finally reunited!

The education, the camaraderie, the fun on Broadway…it was one for the books! Thank you to the conference planning committee and all the presenters who made this event possible. And, congratulations to the award winners, well-deserving recipients for sure!

As you have seen the last several months, we have been bringing additional programming by way of webinars to you and your managers. Last month, we had a major focus on understanding and implementing the incentive pay system.

While one of the pillars of the PASBA model, incentive pay can be one of the most difficult systems to bring into your firm. Our panelists took time to explain how it has worked in their practices and how everyone, including team members, has made more money because of it. Be sure to watch the recordings of our Lunch and Learns and register for the February edition, led by Edward Clarke discussing the process of the Initial Strategy Session and back work strategy and pricing. You can register for this webinar here.

Thank you, Edward, for hosting!

In April, we’re proud to bring a fresh face to the membership with Marcus Sheridan, author of They Ask, You Answer for our Lunch and Learn. For almost a decade, Marcus has been teaching the principles of They Ask, You Answer to audiences around the globe. Its incredibly unique approach to inbound and content marketing contains easyto-apply teachings written for sales and leadership teams alike. This begins with understanding the answer to one question: “What is my customer thinking?” We all want to be our clients’, and more importantly, our prospective clients’ most trusted advisor. In order to land those prospects, we need to fixate on the way our customers think, act, talk, and search as they move through the buying process. Marcus will encourage us to drop the

Matthew Patrick "marketing speak” and simply answer questions to build trust. This is a can’t miss opportunity, so save the date of April 28 at 1pm eastern.

I am beyond excited to escape to one of our favorite conference locations in May! Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch has been calling our names since we were originally set to go there in May of 2020.

Hyatt has been a great partner to work with throughout this process and we are so happy to finally make this event happen! If the location weren’t enough, the conference planning committee has secured Ron Baker, Firm of the Future, as keynote speaker. This has been a long time in the making and I cannot wait to actually hear him in person. Be sure to check out the agenda included in this newsletter and make plans to be in Scottsdale May 23 – 26.

Registration opens February 23.

While we have brought additional educational opportunities to you over the last year, any seasoned member will tell you that the conferences are where the real Teach – Share – Learn begins. If you haven’t experienced one yet, please consider making it a priority. It will get you on track to start the Blueprint courses, which leads to Financial Review Group participation, and the list goes on. You truly get out of the organization what you put into it. I hope to see you there!

Best, Matthew Patrick, PASBA President

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Member Highlight Jason and Dawn Eger Eger CPA Fort Collins, Colorado

By Cindy Carroll Since founding the full-service accounting firm Eger CPA in 2009, Jason and Dawn Eger have helped their small business clients create a better financial future by taking a proactive approach to helping clients create wealth and achieve their business goals. Since joining PASBA on a whim in 2017, this husband and wife team has grown from a staff of five to 15 while serving small business clients in the Fort Collins, CO area.

Entrepreneurs are Jason’s favorite type of people. “I love people who are motivated, fight complacency, are passionate and dedicated to accomplishing lofty goals, but taxes, payroll, and finances might not be their strong points. We are here so clients can leverage our expertise to create wealth and achieve their vision of business success.”

After graduating from Northern Arizona University and becoming a CPA, Jason thought he would be in the accounting profession for about 2 years or so before finding his true calling. “I love everything about business and entrepreneurship and figured being a CPA would give me a sneak peek into how the real world works and then figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. But I fell in love with what I was doing and made the switch from working for others to owning my own firm in 2009.”

Dawn comes from a family of entrepreneurs and was a third grade teacher before joining her husband in his business endeavors. “I dove right in and have done everything but tax returns.” She is currently the Payroll team lead and assists in business development as well as keeping the Eger team organized and accountable. Jason and Dawn have a daughter (14) and a son (12) who keep them busy when not working or enjoying their many outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking, biking, camping, and really any event that gets the family together.

“Prior to joining PASBA, we thought we were doing pretty well and were already utilizing some PASBA type systems before we joined,” said Dawn. “I was working on our new website and needed to link to a reputable accounting association for better SEO. As I was researching, I found PASBA. After reading the description, I told Jason this is just the kind of organization we should be a part of.”

Considering the business was doing well, they were a bit skeptical of the initiation fee but joined and attended their

Jason and Dawn Eger first conference in Baltimore. “We needed a trip away from the kids, figured it would be a good tax write-off, and we might just learn something new,” she added.

“It was by far the most memorable conference we have attended, and it changed the direction of our firm,” Jason stated. “Tom Bowman kicked it off with his infamous ‘Bowritas’ as he called his margaritas. He then generously took all 100+ attendees on a tour of his office with each department having its own station and sharing invaluable information on how they are organized and how they operate. We were blown away with their organization and his office setup. This helped us envision the setup of our new office we were designing at the time.”

“We couldn’t believe they were willing to share all their trade secrets,” said Dawn. “With some tweaks, we thought we can do what they are doing, too.”

Team Eger was hooked and jumped right in implementing a lot of what they learned, receiving PASBA’s New Member of the Year award in 2018. Prior to this in 2016, the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce recognized Eger CPA as Small Business of the Year. More recently, the practice was winner of the NOCO’s Best Accounting Firm in 2020, and in 2021, Teresa Fitch, CPA, MAFM, was named as one of BizWest’s Notable Women of Accounting.

The team also learned along the way to remain true to themselves and their business. “You start to meet all these successful people and want to be just like them,” Jason said.

“Don’t drink all the Kool-Aid and copy and paste all the ideas. Sometimes they aren’t the right fit for your firm.

Listen, learn, meet amazing people, take great notes, and then add on to and perfect what you are already doing.” He tells of switching software because others were using it without attaining the same positive results, and this set them back as they ended up reversing back to the old software.

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Member Highlight (Continued from page 6) Since 2019, Jason has served on the PASBA Board, leads the Marketing Committee and is part of the FRG Committee. He is also on the board of 911 for 911, a local group helping first responders during these difficult times. Dawn is an ambassador and business member for Realities for Children, an organization helping at-risk and abused children. Eger CPA is very active in its Chamber of Commerce and supports a variety of other community causes.

Last year, Eger CPA moved into the Large Practice category with over 150 clients and more than 200 tax clients. “We never dreamed of having a firm like we have now and we are having more fun now than ever running it,” continued Jason.

“So many people in PASBA have helped us immensely with our business, but I would give an extra shout out to our FRG and our local CASBA (Colorado PASBA) group,” he credited.

“I am in touch with these folks throughout the year. Especially this past year as we have had to deal with the PPP, ERC, and local law changes as well. We never could have helped our clients as much as we did without their guidance and insight throughout these turbulent times.”

One of their most impactful takeaways from PASBA is the monthly set fee schedule. Jason remembered the words of Tony Fiore at the Baltimore conference: “If nothing else, implement this first in your business.”

“Now our monthly fee is the core of everything we do, it ties everything together,” Jason said. “It made us think about and clarify all the services we offer, the type of client we serve, and it holds us accountable to our clients.”

Implementing a good practice management software is key to having a firm that can manage your client and staff workloads. The firm is currently in the middle of converting to the cloud-based Qount practice management software.

“This is helping us make better business decisions every day, like when to market, when to hire, and so much more,” he explained. “With Qount and Excel, we have all the data at our fingertips. We are finding so many efficiencies and things we want to change. That is the beauty of Qount; it is customizable to our business needs. The developer is listening to PASBA members' wants and needs and incorporating our feedback into the software.”

Currently, Eger CPA is creating a Sales & Marketing department with the addition of Nate Grossnickle in 2021.

With a background in web design, marketing, and sales, he is taking over much of Dawn’s marketing responsibilities and assisting Jason in sales efforts. Nate recently initiated a referral program rewarding monetary bonuses for new business leads.

“We are doing this in steps,” explained Dawn, “because we are finding lots of adjustments need to be made where we thought we were ready to add the role. We are streamlining fees, onboarding, and other processes even more. Because Jason and I were doing these roles automatically without thinking about them, we had to create the system and tools to empower someone else.”

“This is a leap of faith,” added Jason, “but we are laying the ground work to add more salespeople to the department in the future. We have to do this in order to continue to grow.

PASBA has given us the confidence to make these kind of growth decisions.”

Jason’s goal is to double in size, continue to excel in service, and implement even more technology into the practice.

“We’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg with Qount and other pieces of technology. We are now delivering financial statements and tax returns for clients using videos through our portal system instead of just paper. They love that they can go back and rewatch anytime they want.

“Our big goals for 2021 and 2022 were to focus on our people so we have implemented the Gallup-based StrengthsFinder (now CliftonStrengths) coaching program. Similar to a MyersBriggs analysis, the program clarifies how individuals go about tasks. Treating people as your greatest asset is essential to a firm’s success.”

“This has been invaluable for our company’s teams,” Dawn said. “Eger CPA is broken up into 3 teams – Accounting, Tax, and Payroll. We have focused on individual strengths to improve communication and production within the different departments and firm wide.”

With employees spread out across a large region in Northern Colorado, Eger CPA is moving to a remote/hybrid working model, too.

“Of course, COVID sped up this plan,” she continued.

“Employees are loving a break from long commutes, the safety working from home brings, and the overall flexibility.

We learned a lot from what other PASBA members were doing to make this work in their organization. We are leaving it up to employees to decide how often they want to come into the office. Adapting to what they want improves job satisfaction.”

“Clients seem to be embracing cloud-based technology, too,” concluded Jason. “They enjoy not having to come into the office to speak with us when we can Zoom or video conference. And technology has given us the ability to help more small businesses, no matter where their location.”

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New Member Spotlight Name: Tracy Jones Company name: Tracy Jones CPA LLC Company address: Houston, TX When did you join PASBA? January 2021 How long have you owned your practice? Since December 2011 How did you hear about PASBA? Craig Hausz Number of PASBA style accounts: 50 How do you charge your business monthly accounts? Monthly ACH or credit card charge Number of live payroll clients you process: 2 Number of Owners: 1 Number of non-owner employees: 7

Tracy Jones

In a normal work week what percentage of your time is spent in production? 10%. Getting out of production was the first change I made after the last conference!

Describe any marketing plans in place: Currently none. Google reviews have done the most. We did a lot of social media marketing for a year but stopped it to reduce costs.

Describe your non-PASBA practice: 1040's (200 non-PASBA), 1041's(10), annual business returns (65 non-PASBA) and 990's (16).

Describe any initial areas of your practice that you may need help with: Marketing and growing more PASBA style revenue for volume; initiating an incentive plan, general practice management.

Welcome, Tracy!

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Congratulations TO

THE

2021

PASBA

AWARD

WINNERS

Lifetime Achievement Award Vincent Howard New Member of the Year Cherokee CPA Services PC, Hope St. Clair Accounting Firm of the Year, Small Robinson CPA Firm PLLC, W. Hunter Robinson Accounting Firm of the Year, Medium Paragon Accounting & Tax Solutions, John Drawdy Accounting Firm of the Year, Large Lucier CPA, Inc., David Lucier Vendor of the Year NatPay

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Registration opens February 23rd!

Check your email for registration link.

AGENDA Monday, May 23 9:00am - 5:00pm 9:00am - 5:00pm 9:00am - 5:00pm

Blueprint University, Tyler Thompson, Vince Howard, Rich Schwartz Blueprint Mastery, Tim Nolan Sales University

Tuesday, May 24 9:00am - 9:15am 9:15am - 12:00pm 1:30pm - 2:45pm 3:00pm - 4:15pm 5:00pm - 6:30pm

Annual Member Meeting, Matthew Patrick Value Pricing Keynote, Ron Baker Converting Prospects to Clients, John Drawdy, Tony Mauro, Ali Raza Successful Client Onboarding and Transition to Production, Yuriy Akopyan, Kim Corneliuson, Bryan Cremeen Networking Reception

Wednesday, May 25 9:00am - 12:00pm

1:30pm - 4:30pm 3:15pm - 4:30pm 6:30pm - 7:00pm 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Roundtable Discussions: Issues Facing ALL Practice Sizes Creating Online Funnels - Matt Patrick, Brian Paulson Successful CRM Implementation - Brian McGinn, Rich Schwartz Low Cost Marketing That Results in Leads - Craig Carr, Robb Hurst Practice Size Discussions: Small, Medium, Large New Member Strategy Session Cocktails Awards Dinner and Celebration

Thursday, May 26 9:00am - 10:15am 10:30am - 11:15am 11:15am - 11:30am

Building & Marketing a Consulting Division, Jason Eger, Barb Gay, Vince Howard Training Your Staff to Be Consultants, Jamie Beane, David Lucier, Kurt Rickhoff Conference Close & Session Topic Ideas

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PASBA Master Calendar February Lunch & Learn Go Proposal Platform - Edward Clarke February 24, 2022 @ 1pm Eastern Click here to register April Lunch & Learn Marcus Sheridan, Author of They Ask, You Answer April 28, 2022 @ 1pm Eastern Registration opens in April Spring Marketing & Technology Conference May 23 – May 26, 2022 Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch, Scottsdale, AZ Registration opens February 23 National Training Meeting - Virtual September 22 – 23, 2022 Fall Management Conference November 2022 Orlando, FL

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Regional Meetings California February 9 Additional dates TBD Group Leader: Renee Daggett AdminBooks Morgan Hill, CA 408-782-9640 to call or text Renee@adminbooks.com

Florida February 4 April 29 July 29 September 30 Group Leader: Vincent Howard Howard, Howard & Hodges Lake Mary, FL 407-333-8110 vincent.howard@howardcpas.com

Central March 4 June 3 September 9 December 2 Group Leader: Steve Simons Dennen & Simons LLC Buffalo Grove, IL 847-518-8977 steve@dasacctg.com

Mid-Atlantic Dates TBD Group Leader: Jim DiFilippo, Jr. DiFilippo & Company CPAs Toughkenamon, PA 19374 610-268-2217 Jr@DiFandCo.Com

Colorado April 20 May 18 June 15 July 20 August 17 September 21 October 19 November 16 Group Leader: Stephanie Kimak Unify CPA Fort Collins, CO 970-484-9655 x101 skimak@unifycpa.com

Southeast Dates TBD Group Leader: John Drawdy Paragon Accounting & Tax Solutions Woodstock, GA 30188 770-928-7229 johnd@paragonat.com

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PASBA New Members Alan Ashworth, Alan M. Ashworth CPA PLLC Angie Bhasin, FinTax CPAs Brandy Bieren, Bieren Bookkeeping Solutions Keith Cole, Cole Tax Services David Daniel, Daniel CPA LLC Eric de Arrigoitia, de Arrigoitia & Co., PA Brian DiBella, Mugford & DiBella, LLC Patra Francis, Francis and Reeves CPA Erin Johnstone, Vivid Numbers PLLC Carol LeBlanc, Love Your Numbers Now LLC Ashley Loftin, Ashley E. Loftin, CPA, PLLC Dawn McFarlane, GoVirtualCPA John Watson, Watson Accounting Solutions, LLC Cedrick West, C. S. West & Associates, PA Kim Whisler, The Numbers Crunch Elaine Yue, YYL CPA P.C.

New Associate Member Infinity Globus

Contact Us

President: Matthew Patrick Patrick Accounting and Tax Services, PLLC 9045 Forest Centre Dr., Suite 101 Memphis, TN 38138 Cell 901-848-9490 mpatrick@patrickaccounting.com Term Ends: May 2023

Sarah Berry Sarah Berry, CPA, PLLC 1208 Pine Street Texarkana, TX 75501 903-824-7899 sarah@sarahberrycpa.com Term ends: May 2024

Past President: Barb Gay Watson & Co. Inc. 4643 South Ulster Street, #325 Denver, CO 80237 303-368-9912 barb@watsonaccounting.com Term Ends: May 2022

Kim Corneliuson Corneliuson and Associates, Inc. 15 10th Ave., South, Suite 201 Hopkins, MN 55343 952-920-2313 kimc@corneliuson.net Term Ends: May 2022

Vice-President: Zach Bryant Bryant & Associates, PC 5533 S 27th St. #104 Lincoln, NE 68512 402-423-0404 zach.bryant@bryant-associates.com Term Ends: May 2023

Jason Eger Eger CPA 2726 Illinois Drive, Suite 201 Fort Collins, CO 80525 Cell: 970-219-6616 jason@egercpas.com Term Ends: May 2022

Secretary: Tyler Thompson TMA Small Business Accounting, P.C. / TMA Payroll 9595 Whitley Drive, Suite 102 Indianapolis, IN 46240 317-571-8080 tthompson@TMAaccounting.com Term Ends: May 2023

Stephanie Kimak Unify CPAs PC 185 N. College Ave. 2nd Floor Fort Collins, CO 80524 970-484-9655 x101 skimak@unifycpa.com Term ends: May 2024

Treasurer: Yuriy Akopyan Akopyan & Company, CPA 315 – 1st Ave West, Ste B Seattle, WA 98119 206-838-3800 yuriy@ygacpa.com Term Ends: May 2023

Asif Sharfi Accounting Advantage 2700 North Military Trail, Ste. 200 Boca Raton, FL 33431 561-687-6466 asif@advantage.cpa Term ends: May 2024

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