Anders Virtual CFO

Getting called out on LinkedIn is not fun. But it might be exactly what your agency needs.

Richard Muscat Azzopardi of Switch tells Jamie Nau how one blunt comment from a well-known industry voice changed everything. He was told Switch looked just like every other agency out there, and that comment stuck. It became the push to finally choose a real niche instead of trying to be everything to everyone.

If your agency is still trying to be all things to all clients, watch the full episode with Richard Muscat Azzopardi. URL in comments.

At 27, Joey Kinney was told to stop shaving. The reason says a lot about this industry.

Adam Hale opens with the real tension firms are facing: younger, AI-fluent advisors are ready for senior seats faster than ever, but clients still want to see some experience in the room. Joey's story makes the point: "I had a guy tell me I wasn't allowed to shave anymore because no one wanted to take financial advice from someone who looked 12. That's a real conversation that happened in my life."

Listen to the full episode of The Modern CPA Success Show. URL in comments!

AI will always tell you your plan is brilliant. That's exactly the problem.

Adam Hale and Joey Kinney get into why AI-generated advice tends to flatter instead of challenge. "The problem is Chat just glad-hands you," Adam says. Joey's response: "I didn't need you to tell me that. I need you to tell me the 15 ways this isn't going to work."

Watch the full episode of The Modern CPA Success Show. URL in comments!

If you're tracking 50 KPIs, you're tracking zero.

Joey Kinney explains the trap of letting AI hand you a dashboard full of every metric it can find: more data isn't the same as better decisions. "You need to whittle that down to the five to ten things that are going to matter," he says, and that's exactly where a CFO's judgment earns its keep.

Tune in to The Modern CPA Success Show. URL in comments!

The org chart every CPA firm has been built on for decades is about to flip.

Adam Hale explains that the traditional pyramid, a wide base of junior staff supporting a narrow group of partners, isn't going to hold. "It could very easily be an inverted pyramid, or maybe even a diamond shape," he says, as more of the work at every level shifts toward advisory. The reason is coming straight from clients, not the tech: "Chat's not challenging you."

Watch the full episode of The Modern CPA Success Show. URL in comments!

The firms with the biggest AI budgets are not as far ahead as you think.

Adam Hale just got back from a live Basis AI conference packed with the top 100 accounting firms, and the biggest surprise wasn't the technology. It was how little of a head start the PE-backed players actually have. "One of the biggest takeaways is they're not very far ahead either in this entire space. Smaller firms really have an opportunity here to make up a lot of ground," Adam says.

Joey Kinney adds the real reason why: "They're so spread out across so many different things that it's going to be difficult for them to implement. A small practice can just hit the ground running."

Catch the full episode of The Modern CPA Success Show. URL in comments!

The ideas business is really the failure business.

Scot Keith says great creative work requires an environment where people can say what they really think. Most ideas will not be the winner, and that is the point. You keep working through the misses until the one killer idea shows up.

If you want a more honest look at how strong creative work gets made, watch the full episode with Scot Keith. URL in comments.

The wrong client is still the wrong client.

Scot Keith compares ONE23WEST to a really good sushi restaurant. If someone wants what the agency does well, great. But if they want something completely different, the answer is not to reshape the whole business just to win the work.

If you are trying to get clearer about who your agency is for, watch the full episode with Scot Keith. URL in comments.

More hours do not always mean better work.

Jamie Nau talks about diminishing returns, and Scot Keith shares how he learned where his best thinking window actually is. For Scot, the deep work happens early, with quiet, coffee, and focus. After a certain point in the day, he knows he is better at reacting than creating.

If your agency still treats long hours like a badge of honor, watch the full episode with Scot Keith. URL in comments.

A foosball table does not create agency culture.

Jamie Nau and Scot Keith talk about what actually makes people want to work somewhere. It is not the coolest office or the perk that looks good on a recruiting page. It is whether the people, expectations, and way of working actually make sense every day.

If you want to build a better agency culture, watch the full episode with Scot Keith. URL in comments.