eth Fineberg spent most of his professional career writing for the accounting industry. In this episode, he joins Stuart to share his new business venture, and how he's going to help bridge the gap between tech vendors and the community they serve. Episode notes: Gaining the trust of customers is more important than ever for tech vendors (04:20) Helping all boats rise by supporting small businesses (05:30) Seth's business venture into Accountants Forward (08:25) Using quality content to help...

Alasdair McGill, Managing Director at Ashton McGill brings his client Colin Munro, Founder of Miconex, to share the journey they went on together that turned a small, local Scottish startup into growing global business. How Alasdair developed a service-oriented mindset at EY (02:00) Bringing a bespoke designer approach to accounting at Ashton McGill (04:34) Colin's journey from marketing to restaurants to a small business startup (07:30) The accelerated consumer desire to support the local...

Jennie Moore wears two professional hats: one as an accounting firm owner, the other as Ignition's Partnerships Manager. In this episode, Jennie joins Stuart to discuss all things accounting and technology—from what can be done to make the accounting industry attractive again, to how technology can be used to augment accountants' capacity. When Jennie met Stuart (00:45) Balancing life as Ignition's Partnership Manager and accounting firm owner (02:30) 'Numbers accountants' vs. 'purpose...

Anton Colella's journey in accounting is unconventional. After 18 years as a religious teacher, he joined Scotland's Institute of Chartered Accountants and later became the CEO of Moore Global, one of the world's largest accountancy networks. In this episode, Anton shares his story as a religious teacher, a leader, and a man with a strong sense of a higher purpose. Episode notes: Anton's 18 years as a religious teacher and a sports coach (01:00) The profound fulfillment of being an educator...

Candy Bellau grew up with an unconventional father who applied his genius in all the wrong ways. In this episode, Candy candidly shares how others' mistakes enlightened her to live a life of integrity, and what she's doing to maintain work-life balance for herself and her staff. Learning how to do bookkeeping at 14 years old (01:20) Uncovering major accounting fraud while working as a bookkeeper (03:00) How Candy's evil genius father shaped her moral and ethical codes (05:00) Reconnecting...

Carla Caldwell, Stuart's long-time friend and ex-colleague, joins him for a delightful conversation about her journey in accounting, accounting technology, consulting, and entrepreneurship. Reminiscing together (00:05) How family and mentors influenced Carla's accounting journey (01:55) Finding her superpower in accounting and technology (05:20) The game-changing opportunity to be a part of Xero's early days in the US (12:10) Carla's post-Xero venture as technology and process consultant for...

Rob Santos and Rory Henry of Arrow Root Family Office join Stuart to discuss how accountants are primed to be strategic advisors in the wealth and family management space. Together, they talk about: Why accountants are well-positioned to get involved in wealth management (02:15) The origin story of Arrowroot Family Office (07:00) Creating a personalized financial advisory experience (09:40) Diversifying an accountant's portfolio with wealth management (12:00) Are accountants the future of...

Meghan Blair lives and works in Nantucket, Massachusetts, a tourist town with a close-knit community. In this episode, Meghan and Stuart discuss COVID's impact on seasonal economies, what accounting professionals can do to help, and an exciting update for Meghan's firm—Fogged in Bookkeeping. The unforgettable experience of living on a cattle farm in Australia (03:17) The cultural and economic diversity in Nantucket, Massachusetts (09:20) COVID's impact on service-based, seasonal economies...

Stefan van Duyvendijk is the Accounting Operations Evangelist at FloQast. In this episode, Stefan chats with Stuart about the pains that drove FloQast's founders to building their own solution, and what sets the company apart from its competitors in the marketplace. Together, Stefan and Stuart discuss: Living and skiing in Utah (02:00) A fed-up accountant's quest for changing the status quo (05:32) Stefan's career journey before FloQast (08:08) Adopting new skill sets as a brand evangelist...

Natalie Lennon, accounting firm owner, automation guru and podcaster, joins Stuart to discuss her career journey that led to Two Sides Accounting. They also chat about the talent shortage and what Natalie is doing to live the '4-day work week dream'. Natalie’s winding journey in accounting (2:00) Becoming a partner at 28 years old (6:10) The light-bulb moment that birthed Two Sides Accounting (7:15) A passion for working with startups and progressive businesses (9:00) Work smarter, not...

Dan Luthi is a partner at IgniteSpot Accounting, a virtual accounting and fractional CFO service firm. In this episode, Dan shares IgniteSpot Accounting's journey, his favorite client stories, and how accountants can provide a sense of clarity for clients in an increasingly unfathomable world. The genesis of IgniteSpot Accounting (01:00) Helping clients achieve 100x growth within 5 years (03:25) IgniteSpot Accounting's ideal client profile (05:26) Dan's preferred accounting tech stack...

Leah Roe is a CPA-turned-leadership-coach and organizational trust expert. In this episode, Leah and Stuart chat all things 'trust'. Leah shares how she unexpectedly got into the people and cultures space, the five behaviors that build trust in the workplace, and she turns the table on Stuart to find out how Karbon is rebuilding trust after a difficult company-wide layoff. From VP of Finance to VP of People Operations (00:30) Getting laid off during maternity leave (06:34) The evolution of...

Jason Staats—accounting firm owner, content creator, automation expert and online community champion—joins the latest Accounting Leaders Podcast episode. Jason shares his journey in accounting, the power of surrounding yourself with like-minded people, automation and no code development, and why vendors need to make more data accessible.

Ben Taylor, a CPA-turned-tech-entrepreneur and founder of SoftLedger, sits down with Stuart to share his company's origin story, the landscape of a mid-market GL solution, how to enable accountants to 'do more with less', and the saving grace of having your best friend as your co-founder.

Karen Reyburn is no stranger to change. She grew up in Arizona yet found her home-away-from-home in Scotland. She began her career as an auditor but discovered her true spark in marketing—a realization that ultimately led her to founding The Profitable Firm, a creative agency dedicated to serving accountants. In this episode, Karen shares her journey of living in two worlds, the power of marketing for accountants, and her growth philosophy of 'better over more'.

Karen Reyburn is no stranger to change. She grew up in Arizona yet found her home-away-from-home in Scotland. She began her career as an auditor but discovered her true spark in marketing—a realization that ultimately led her to founding The Profitable Firm, a creative agency dedicated to serving accountants. In this episode, Karen shares her journey of living in two worlds, the power of marketing for accountants, and her growth philosophy of 'better over more'.

Adam Pritchard of UK firm, Linford Grey, joins Stuart to share his unique journey from touring the country appearing in on-stage musicals to starting his own accountancy practice. Adam talks about the challenges of helping his clients navigate the global pandemic, moving from one crisis to the next, and how he is building the type of business that he is proud of, enjoys, and provides a platform for his staff to develop and grow.

Zach Gordon is the VP of Accounting at Propeller Industries, an enterprise-grade financial service firm for high-growth startups. In this episode, he shares how he developed a speciality in cannabis and crypto accounting, the intricacies of serving clients in these highly regulated industries, and his plan for making accounting an attractive profession for young people again.

Digital transformation expert, self-declared geek and fellow podcast host, Ryan Pearcy, joins Stuart to share his accounting journey. Together, they discuss the joys of empowering clients with the right business insights, the impacts of technology in accounting over the last two decades, and why the four-day workweek is less likely to be adopted by accounting firms than other businesses.

Lynda Steffens found her calling in accounting at a young age. She saw the impact of a good accountant early on through her family's farming business. In this episode, Lynda sits down with Stuart to look back at her journey from running her own practice to uplifting other accounting firm owners. They exchange thoughts on the image problem of the accounting industry today and share ideas on how we can make accounting sexy again.

Greg Daley is the Chief Visionary at Parable, an accounting firm focussing on the church niche. In this inspiring episode, Greg discusses his journey from being a pastor to starting an accounting practice with his wife and growing that into a business that serves 230 churches across 42 US states. He shares why churches are similar to any business, his plan to grow to 1,000 clients, why the journey to the cloud has never been more apt, and the literal life-changing impacts that his firm has on...

Pedro Noyola is the CEO of Balanced Business Group, an outsourced accounting and bookkeeping firm serving small boutique wineries. In this episode, Pedro shares his career journey from working at Deloitte, to acquiring his 10th business. Stuart and Pedro also chat about cars, serving winery clients, and balancing family, fun, and career as an entrepreneur.

Susan Bryant is the Principal of MB Group, a public accounting firm headquartered in Plano, TX. Susan and her team are dedicated to transforming businesses by maturing their finance function. In this episode, Susan chats with Stuart about her journey to public accounting, leadership insights, and the secret recipe that consistently delivers financial success for her clients.

Jamie Johns is the CEO & Founder of Australian firm, Sky Accountants. He also co-founded Wize Mentoring, along with Ed Chan and Brenton Ward to provide business coaching and personal development services to accounting firm owners who want to elevate their practice. In this episode, Jamie and Stuart discuss Jamie’s entrepreneurial journey to accountancy and business coaching, the life-changing impact of good mentors, and how Wize Mentoring is shaping the next generation of accounting...