Who the heck is Erica Goode anyways?
I figured by now, if you only know me by my LinkedIn posts, you might be wondering who the heck is this Erica Goode chick is. (That’s valid)
What’s my background? What have I done? How did I get here?
The TL;DR is: Big 4 > Fortune 50 > Stay at home mom > Solo firm owner
I had a pretty traditional start to my career, guided by the wise direction of my fellow-CPA older sister.
I graduated with two undergrad degrees (one in accounting, one in finance) to get my 150 hours. From there, I followed the well-worn public accounting path to KPMG (Chicago office 2007-2009) where I worked in Audit until I made senior.
I was then recruited away to Walgreens by a former KPMG manager who had already made the leap to corporate.
(And I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that I married a fellow KPMG Boise audit associate before I left #betterthanapension)
At Walgreens, I jumped around roles and was put on a fast-track for succession, with an emphasis on finance, FP&A, and operational reporting. I also advocated for myself in the form of negotiating reduced hours (and pay) to work only 32-hr weeks when our first child was born and then later again when our second baby was born.
As it turns out, the fast-track can also take you straight to burn out (with an eye-twitch and alarmingly high blood pressure), which is where I ended up in 2012 at the ripe age of 27. I had golden handcuffs, in the form of stock options, that kept me at the company until 2016, but ultimately made the bittersweet decision to leave my corporate career with no plans to work in the immediate future.
I spent the next 2 years basking in the stay-at-home-mom life and recovering from the first 10 years of adulthood.
By 2018, I missed accounting so much, I was making financial reporting decks on our family finances to present to my husband. (That’s more than a little embarrassing to admit.)
One night on a whim, I asked our daughter’s Tae Kwon Do teacher if she needed any help with accounting in her business, because “I do that kind of stuff”. She immediately asked when we could meet.
And with that, I accidentally started an accounting firm.
I had never even see the inside of a QuickBooks file. I had never seen anything smaller than SAP. I had no example of anyone in my family being an entrepreneur.
Outside of knowing technical accounting, I had no idea what I was doing.
None.
But I figured it out and I’m still figuring it out as I go.
It’s not always easy, but we are all smart enough to figure it out.
That includes you.
Talk soon,
Erica
Happening in my business this week:
My sister and nieces are visiting this week, so I’m juggling work, family and hosting. I’m working in the mornings (while the kids play) and then Auntie Erica gets to be the fun adventure aunt in the afternoon. We’ll spend all Wednesday at the pool too.
“Week 1” in my close process mostly involves my contract bookkeeper, but I stay close to answer questions (both from her and from clients) and I do some invoicing for a client. I’m also trying out a Stripe-to-QBO integration this week called Acodei. I’ve not used it before but hear good things from other firm owners and am hoping I can carve some time off my close process. If you’ve used it, I’d love to hear about your experience.
Money back guarantee, if you get in there and don’t see the value. No questions asked.
More details in the link above.