Greg Tirico

June 27, 2022

Episode #396: Live from Scaling New Heights - THRIVE

Greg Tirico

June 27, 2022

Ron and Ed took the Mainstage at Scaling New Heights where they were joined by Joe Woodard and over 1,000 audience members who will be providing the questions. Conversations include subscription pricing, Marxism, and ESG! No we are not kidding.

This show was LIVE. Really live. Not sort of live. It was on stage with Joe Woodard at Scaling New Heights in front of over 1,000 attendees. Here are some of the great questions from the audience:

On the recent show that you did with Dr. Robert Sirico, you made the comment that they're practicing Marxists when they bill by the hour. I want to understand what you meant.
If you are a sole practitioner, and you offer advisory, bookkeeping and tax preparation, how do you fit in the subscription billing in that platform?
How does a firm leader train their team on better judgment?
In a session earlier this week, you said that our firms will be identified by the clients we don't have in the services we don't provide, if that's a good paraphrase. Can you expand on that a little bit?
Which KPIs or metrics have you found very useful or practical for tax or accounting practices?
You shared with me that you're not a big fan of ESG. And I would love to hear why.
So if [subscription] is something we're interested in, what resource, book, podcast, or show will help us model towards that approach? How do I make that transition? What are the steps involved?
You mentioned the employee that got the work done in one hour when there was a four hour budget, and then you mentioned 92% effectiveness. Isn't that a judgment? And if it isn't a judgment, why isn't it or isn't that a bad thing?

Joe Woodard also asked SEVERAL questions throughout the show and acted as a gracious host to Ron and Ed.

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits.

Greg Tirico

June 19, 2022

Episode #395: Father Robert Sirico on The Economics of the Parables

Greg Tirico

June 19, 2022

Ron and Ed were thrilled to have one of their favorite guests back for a fifth time on the show, Fr. Robert Sirico of The Acton Institute. He along with Rabbi Lapin inspired the name of our show. This time we discussed his new book The Economics of the Parables.

Before we get to the show notes, here is a bit more about Father Robert Sirico…

Rev. Robert A. Sirico is the president and co-founder of the Acton Institute and the pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, both in Grand Rapids, MI. A regular writer and commentator on religious, political, economic, and social issues, Rev. Sirico's contributions have been carried by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Times, CNN, ABC, CBS, NPR, and the BBC, among others.

Here are the show notes. Use them to follow along with the audio.

For the FIFTH TIME, we welcome Rev. Robert Sirico to the show. His previous episodes were #16, 134, 226, and 318. Use TheSoulOfEnterprise.com “slash show number” to find any of those episodes.
Ron asked about Jimmy Lai's struggles at the top of the show. THE HONG KONGER is a documentary by the Acton Institute. More here https://thehongkongermovie.com
So let’s talk about Rev. Robert Sirico’s new book. But first, what is the difference between a fable and parable? A fable usually is something that deals with fantasy. A parable comes from the latin/greek which means to “put side by side” (or is a comparison).
One of the chapter’s in Rev. Robert Sirico’s book covers the parable of the hidden treasure. Treasure is often a metaphor for wisdom in scripture. Hidden treasure uses the capacity of human beings to speculate.
In “The Economics of the Parables”, Rev. Robert Sirico pulls back the veil of modernity to reveal the timeless economic wisdom of the parables. Ron and Ed devoured the book! https://www.amazon.com/Economics-Parables-Robert-Sirico/dp/1684512425
For each parable in his book, Rev. Sirico tries to bring economic awareness and theological awareness together.
“Economic value is subjective. But virtues are objective values.” — Rev. Robert Sirico
Check out our Patreon channel and become a member at Patreon.com/TSOE. Now sponsored by @90minds. Be kind to your mind, hire one at 90Minds.com!
Ed talked about the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard and its economic lessons on the show today. For those note familiar, here is an overview of the parable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Workers_in_the_Vineyard
“They’re practicing Marxists when they bill by the hour.” —Ed Kless today on the show.
What is it that sends some workers home without a feeling of content in the Parable o the Laborers in the Vineyard? “It’s their envy.” —Rev. Sirico
The Parable of the Rich Fool is a parable of Jesus which appears in The Gospel of Luke. It depicts the futility of the belief that wealth can secure prosperity or a good life. This is also covered in Rev. Sirico’s new book. https://www.amazon.com/Economics-Parables-Robert-Sirico/dp/1684512425
At a certain level, out Patreon members get a shoutout just like Blake Oliver from EarmarkCPE.com. Check them out and also his recent guest spot on The Soul of Enterprise! https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/388
To paraphrase a Winston Churchill speech referenced by Rev. Sirico today: “The socialists of the early church said everything that I have is yours. The socialist today says everything you have is mine.”
From “The Tragedy of American Compassion”: Compassion is not giving to, it is suffering with. https://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-American-Compassion-Marvin-Olasky/dp/089526725X
Also in Rev. Sirico’s book is “The Parable of the Talents” in which a master puts his servants in charge of his goods while he is away on a trip. Upon his return, the master assesses the stewardship of his servants.
“The Parable of the Two Debtors” reminded Ron about the current debate surrounding student loan forgiveness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Two_Debtors
Rev. Sirico mentioned this poem during the show today - “Tom Smith and His Incredible Bread Machine” https://mises.org/library/tom-smith-and-his-incredible-bread-machine
“The wealth of the wealthiest people is invested in businesses”….not their luxury goods. —Rev. Sirico
A big THANK YOU to Rev. Robert Sirico for joining us today for his FIFTH appearance. His new book, The Economics of the Parables, is available most everywhere books are sold including this link https://www.amazon.com/Economics-Parables-Robert-Sirico/dp/1684512425

The Economics of the Parables

By Sirico, Robert

Buy on Amazon

Bonus Content is Available As Well

This week was bonus episode 396 - “An elephant is NOT a person” and here are a few links discussed:

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits.

Greg Tirico

June 12, 2022

Episode #394: Susan Bryant and Janet Haston on Jettisoning the Billable Hour

Greg Tirico

June 12, 2022

For the second week in a row Ron and Ed welcomed practitioners who are changing their business models. This week they spoke with Susan Bryant and Janet Haston, principals of The MB Group about their jettisoning the billable hour in January of this year. The conversation provided insight into the effects on the firm, particularly the relationships with customers and among the team members at The MB Group.

Before we get to the show notes, here is a bit more about both Susan and Janet…

Susan Bryant's passion is to transform businesses and the lives of their owners by professionalizing the finance function in their organizations. This looks different for every business/owner and can encompass everything from designing and implementing efficient, effective and disciplined accounting processes to developing highly-customized strategic tax plans as well as the many, many things in between. She works with business owners whose mindset is focused on building the company of their dreams and they do that by leveraging the knowledge, expertise and resources at the firm to propel their organizations forward.

Raised by two teachers, Janet approaches every client’s individual tax needs with the heart of an educator. Her goal is to ensure each client has the insight and confidence to make the best financial decisions for their business or family. At MBG, she oversees all tax services as well as providing tax consulting when complex issues arise. Presenting creative tax solutions is one of Janet's favorite ways to help her clients succeed. Away from work, Janet loves spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren.

Here are the show notes. Use them to follow along with the audio.

Susan and Janet trashed their timesheet as of 2022. How is it going? Great! There are some complexities with abandoning the traditional firm mindset.
“It’s kind of liberating because we don’t have to account for every 15 minutes of the day.” —Susan and Janet
We’ve completely eliminated what was a mind boggling amount of time. We’ve simplified it, streamlined it, and really gotten back some of our time.
Not having to track time has forced us to think about what we are really doing for our clients. We are more thoughtful and intentional about the work we are trying to create for the client.
What has been the reaction from the staff at MB Group after ditching the timesheet? Two words. “Thank you.”
Susan and Janet can think of one person for which the billable hour was difficult to walk away from. The rest of the MB Group staff understood that there were some things to figure out and that training would be needed. Overall, it was absolutely a net positive (see the prior tweets today).
Regarding the billable hour: We can go back to 2012 and see what I was doing down to the 15 minute interval. That’s crazy! What other job makes you do that?
From marketing to internal auditing to public accounting. That’s quite a path for Susan!
Janet didn’t start her career until in her 30s. She started with a big four and it was a very natural transition for her.
“One advantage of trashing time sheets: Humanizing work” — That’s the title of the INC Magazine article written about Susan, Janet, and the MB Group! https://www.inc.com/magazine/202205/lindsay-blakely/the-mb-group-employee-benefits.html
Susan felt quite a bit of microagression and talked about it in the INC article: “I've been in situations where the partners wouldn't even look at me or introduce me to the clients," Bryant says. "You don't exist."
Susan is listening to a book right now called “Machiavelli for Women” — link is here https://www.amazon.com/Machiavelli-Women-Playbook-Getting-Ahead/dp/1982121750
“We just want to give an opportunity to everyone based on the opportunities we did NOT have.” —Susan and Janet
At one point, someone was spending 10 hours a week at MB Group tracking PTO. Now Susan and Janet have “flex PTO” which is effectively unlimited PTO.
Susan and Janet’s path towards value pricing all started with a podcast. Help the ones you love who are stuck in a billable hour relationship and tell them about The Soul of Enterprise.
Standardizing on packages is the way that MB Group pitches clients now. They talk about what is included and what is not included. But they don’t talk about hours anymore.
The original podcast that turned Susan and Janet on to value pricing was from Ryan Lazanis, a former TSOE guest! https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/tsoe/lazanis
“They care about our business and they care about us as people.” That is how customers view MB Group now because they have moved into a more trusted role.
How do you know if you are making any money on this customer without timesheets? Susan and Janet refer to The Firm of The Future for their business metrics. https://www.amazon.com/Firm-Future-Accountants-Professional-Services/dp/0471264245
What does the future hold for MB Group? They are figuring out who they work best with and avoiding the things that are outside of what they are great at.
What other KPIs do you look at that are non-financial? Susan and Janet take a look at the number of times they are interacting with their customers.

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits.

Greg Tirico

June 6, 2022

Episode #393: Interview with Brian Terrell

Greg Tirico

June 6, 2022

Ron and Ed welcomed Sage Intacct Partner Brian Terrell to the show to talk about his transition to offering implementations as a subscription service. The BTerrell Group has offered this option for over a year and we talked with Brian about the results thus far.

Before we get to the show notes, here is a bit more about Brian…

Brian Terrell founded BTerrell Group in 1991 and oversees management and strategy for this Dallas based provider of Sage Intacct financial management software. Sage Intacct is the only accounting application ever to be designated by the AICPA as their Preferred Provider of Financial Applications. In addition, BTerrell’s experienced developers tailor the application’s business functionality to exact customer requirements, when necessary. Born in Plainview, Texas, Brian grew up on a farm where he learned the importance of a strong work ethic and conservative principles. From there, he received his Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University before starting a career with Arthur Andersen & Co. In February 1991, Brian and his wife Nancy began practicing public accounting with Terrell & Terrell, CPAs. Within a year, the firm refocused all professional services exclusively on accounting software and business automation and eventually rebranded as BTerrell Group in 2008. Brian rides 125 miles a week as an avid cyclist and ride leader for the Plano Bicycle Association. He and his wife Nancy live in Dallas and recently celebrated the birth of their third grandchild.

Here are the questions Ron and Ed presented to Brian during the show.

How did you go from farming to being a CPA?
I have to ask you, Brian, because I was asked this recently and it just kind of stuck in my mind. If you were starting your practice over, what would you do differently?
When did you pivot to subscription? And why did you do it? What was the motivation?
What's the difference between a subscription and taking an annual price and dividing it by 12?
What has been the reaction that you've gotten from some of your fellow Sage partners that you've talked to about doing this?
Have you been asked to go back to doing implementations the old way by some prospects?
When charing for implementations by subscription, what happens after they're implemented? Aren't customers going to want to lower price?
What has been the reaction of the folks inside your organization as you made this transition to subscription? Let me ask it a little bit differently: Did they think you were crazy, too?
Talk to us about what you consider a cost of goods sold. Why would you why would you think that that's the right way to go with an implementation as a subscription?
What does subscribing to your firm do to the customer from a psychological perspective? I think there's a huge psychological difference between entering into a transaction with a professional or getting a bunch of services, versus subscribing to their firm.
Do you also find the subscription business model to be a competitive advantage in that it's very hard to compare your offering to the competition?
Have you found better pricing power with the subscription model?
Have you found a way to model customer lifetime value?
Do you use any specific software to track your financial subscription KPIs?
What other KPIs do you look at besides the financial ones?
What is the future of ERP software maybe five or even 10 years out? What's your thinking on that?