If you’ve been around a while, you know that I’ve sent a quarterly email called “Family / Health / Books” to help us remember that we can goals outside of work and keep me accountable to mine.

In late 2024, I had the opportunity to interview Jillian Johnsrud, author of Retire Often, on my Consultants + Money podcast.

I can’t believe it, but the first season of Life First Accounting Firm is officially in the books!

Is it summer by you? I write this as the windows are thrown up, my kids are at VBS for a couple hours, and I’m debating if I want to hike up a mountain or kayak down a river this weekend.

Yesterday in Aligned Accountants, we hosted a panel discussion on tax scheduling. (Tax scheduling = having your clients sign up for a specific week they want you to complete their tax return.)

How do you run 6-figure accounting firm in only 15 hours a week? How do you do it? What’s the magic formula?

I’m at a local networking event all day today (I wrote this yesterday). After years of focusing on national and virtual reach for finding new clients, I now have a growing itch to focus locally for lead generation.

A couple weeks ago, I got out of my office and met up with a bunch of accountants celebrating the end of tax season.

Last week, fellow subscriber Lori Yearwood, CPA asked this question and I think the answer is worth sharing more broadly…Curious – what types of services are you providing to clients that you would consider CFO type services?

Admittedly, I was really nervous when I hit ‘Send’ on last week’s newsletter. Maybe I was totally off base. Maybe it was just me…And then you flooded my inbox with replies.

I think there’s downward pricing pressure facing our industry right now. Full stop. (All the value-pricing spokespeople just unsubscribed. It’s fine.)

Hey 15 Hour Accountant Newsletter Crew! I’m excited to let you know that the Life First Accounting Firm podcastis LIVE today! Season 1 is called Starting Stories and are interviews with solo firm owners that have started accounting, tax, and bookkeeping firms in the past 3 years.

I’ve been a ChatGPT user since 2023. I’m not an AI junkie. And I don’t think AI is going to cripple the accounting industry. But I do think as AI rapidly evolves, we’ll see it affect the industry’s competition, pricing, and available efficiency - all of which will affect all of us.

Last week, I enjoyed a week away from work / home / the US with our family for Spring Break > cute family photo on LinkedIn here. This LinkedIn post spawned a comment-conversation about how I don’t feel bogged down by email when I get back from a no-email-checking vacation.

Once in a while, I’ll get a DM conversation like this:

Accountant: I want to go to an accounting conference this year! Which one is the best?

Me: Depends. What do you want to get out of it?

Accountant: Um…accounting conference…stuff?

I’m launching a brand new podcast. It's called the Life First Accounting Firm podcast, and it's for solo firm owners (and accountants thinking about starting their own firm) who want success without giving up their life outside of work.

With absolutely nothing to do with accounting, here’s what’s going on with…

Your accounting firm can stay ultra-small…and you can hire. Both can be true. You don’t have to do it all yourself. And you don’t have to feel like you’ve lost a battle if bringing someone into your work would help you.

A few weeks back, I shared my firm’s 2025 P&L details. You can catch up here, if you missed it. I also asked for you to hit reply for any and all questions you had.

At a high level, I think there are 2 ways to grow an accounting firm…Option 1: Fast & Furious or Option 2: Slow & Methodical