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

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

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.

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?

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

Last week, I talked through my 2025 Financials and historical trends at a high level (you can catch up here, if you missed it). This week, I’m diving into the details.

My books (and my clients’ books) are officially closed for 2025.1099s are filed and accepted. Now I just need to field or dodge all the “quick” tax questions from friends, neighbors, and extended family during the next few months.

About a month ago, deep inside one single line of The 15 Hour Accountant Newsletter, I casually mentioned that I’m pulling back on my newsletter (my firm newsletter called “Money Stuff”, not this one!) and my podcast. You can read the original mention here.

If taking the first step to starting your own accounting / tax / CAS / fractional CFO firm is on your 2026 resolution list, and you don’t know where to start, here are the 5 simple foundational steps to building the foundation of your firm:

Oh, 2025…what will I say about you? You were a doozy. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that after 8 years of firm ownership, 2025 was my most emotionally taxing (no pun intended) to date.

I’ll officially declare my 2026 planning session last week (that happened at my kitchen table, overlooking the valley and mountains) a booming success. Not because I plan to grow X% next year, quite the opposite actually, but because I felt like I walked away with clarity and peace.

It’s Wednesday, so I would normally be off from accounting firm work today, but I shifted my week a little due to the holiday. My parents were in town until yesterday, so I took most of Monday off to hang with them.

A few years back, I onboarded a new client that was big on running his company on EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System). At a similar time, some bigger accounting firm owners were talking about EOS for their internal firm operations as well.

A couple weeks ago, my car started making a funny noise (it’s 11 years old, so it’s allowed). I wanted to take it to my favorite mechanic in town, Mike, but he’s hard to get ahold of.

At the end of every month, I block 4 hours on my calendar to plan out the upcoming month. Every 3 months, that time includes planning the next 3 months as well. This past Monday, I planned October and Q4.

And now for a whole bunch of random stuff…