Making Success Make Cents: The CPA Playbook

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[SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever heard financial terms or concepts, and thought, this doesn't make sense?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you're in luck.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Make It Make Sense, the podcast powered by a claim federal credit union where we break down the world of financial literacy.
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[SPEAKER_00]: At a claim our goal is to connect you to financial wellness, and this podcast is here to lead the way.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Whether you're just starting out or looking to sharpen your financial skills, we've got you covered.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Let's make it make sense together.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Here's your host, Christy Smith.
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[SPEAKER_02]: welcome to make it make sense our podcast where we attempt to make sense of financial concepts.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Today we have a very exciting guest, but I'm going to let Tommy introduce himself.
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[SPEAKER_01]: I'm Tommy Reagan some of the actually the board chair for a claim excited about being here.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm also an IT consultant during my day job.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And Chris, before we get started, I got to do a little shout out.
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[SPEAKER_01]: We just opened up a
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[SPEAKER_02]: It was great.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It was a great grand opening.
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[SPEAKER_02]: We had, um, we have tons of support from the citizens of Stoneville and Western Rockin'ham County.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And we're very excited.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Um, we're excited here in Greensboro.
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[SPEAKER_02]: We're excited in Stoneville.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And we are actually looking to see, you know, what are we going to conquer next?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because that's the mindset of a claim is we keep raising the bar.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So,
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[SPEAKER_02]: We're very excited and we just hope to be able to offer that products and services to meet the needs of our communities.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And the showing was great.
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[SPEAKER_01]: It was a ton of folks from Stoneville and just the overall support is just overwhelming.
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[SPEAKER_01]: For what I understand, we're really close to hitting our goal for the year, which is your board chair.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe I need to raise that goal.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I think we do, you know, I'm crazy to say that as your employee, but, you know, yeah, we're doing great as far as opening the counts.
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[SPEAKER_02]: We do need to get some loans, so we are a lending institution, so we will work on that, but we have a great start and I'm very excited about that, but Kim, I'm going to pull you in on a conversation.
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[SPEAKER_02]: as a woman.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So I want you to take my side on this.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Um, I want you to go to Tommy's LinkedIn and then I will all of our listeners to go to Tommy's LinkedIn and then I want you to look at every picture he's posted of me.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And then I want you to say, has he done me dirty?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because I personally think he has done me wrong.
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[SPEAKER_01]: However, oh my gosh.
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[SPEAKER_02]: He probably would say different because he's a man and men just don't quite get, you know, that we have to approve of pictures that go out on the internet.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to let you do that, that'll be homework for our listeners, get a Tommy's LinkedIn, go to a claims LinkedIn, and look and see the difference.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And then you can comment on our topic tell me a guilty of that he's there's a few pictures of me to on his Oh, so he's a repeat offender.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I get it.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Well, we shall see
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[SPEAKER_01]: You know, selfies may not be my skill set, so the intentions are good, but perhaps maybe what I need to do is start getting non-disclosure agreements or some kind of approval for the photos before you post them so.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, that's what you have to do for women.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You have to get their approval, you know, it'll, we're, we have to make sure that it goes through an approval process and that usually means that it's gonna friend.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You know, what do you think?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Do you think this is a good look?
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[SPEAKER_01]: Well, you know, as I've got an older, I've lost every bit of my vanity.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So there is absolutely no concern of how I look.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Just long as I don't have, you know, something hanging in on my mouth or and, you know, food and my teeth, I'm good to go.
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[SPEAKER_02]: There you go.
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[SPEAKER_02]: No, I appreciate the support, but I do laugh.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And we, it's a running joke around here.
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[SPEAKER_02]: We'll picture the Tommy, what did he post a few this time, Christy?
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[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, gosh, that's great.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So, okay, well, let me see if I can crawl my way out of the dog house and get to see if I think started.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.
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[SPEAKER_01]: We are flat out excited.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And I have the opportunity to bring somebody on for our podcast here that Chris, you know, I've been putting do us a brainstorming and trying to understand.
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[SPEAKER_01]: You know, who do we want to put, we want to put out there for our listeners that's got an up an entrepreneur or their busy schedule, or they have some skills and talent with finances.
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[SPEAKER_01]: What kind of vague, can we bring to our listeners?
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[SPEAKER_01]: And when I started thinking about some other folks, we had Allison Heuber, we tried it on her flight on on a last podcast and that was a great, great opportunity and I got to think
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[SPEAKER_01]: Um, probably about a year ago and she had just started to get her CPA practice started and I've seen her grow, um, grow her business, having office and employees, unfortunately, I felt to be her IT consultant.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So I've really been able to see some things happen.
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[SPEAKER_01]: I said, man, we got to get Kim on the show.
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[SPEAKER_01]: She's got some, she got some real talent with the numbers of what, not so, Kim, we're excited about having you to today.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you for having me.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I'm excited
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[SPEAKER_01]: Awesome, very good.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So, where do we want to get started, Christy?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Well, you know, for our listeners, we just want to make sure that we're having people on that will help you if you want to start a business or a nonprofit into here from very successful, you know, nonprofits businesses entrepreneurs and so for you can my question would be at what moment did you know this is what I meant to do like this is I'm going to do it and I'm going for it and this is what I want to do.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So I think it was widely driven by my family.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I have young kids.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I had started my career in public accounting, switched over to corporate America, had kind of climbed that ladder.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And then the family and kids came along and the work life balance was no longer there.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I, it's very important for me to be at their dance practices and baseball games.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So I think I just made it to a point that I needed the independence and control
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[SPEAKER_03]: to be there for my family.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Um, so I just made it to the point where I was like, you know what?
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[SPEAKER_03]: I think this is the right timing that it's ready to open the firm.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And that's fantastic.
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[SPEAKER_01]: very good.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So here's a question that previously I used to own my own business and having a CPA do our stuff made sense.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And so whenever I, my wife and I got married and we started thinking about doing our joint taxes and whatnot together, it just made sense for us to have somebody professional do it.
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[SPEAKER_01]: I have so many friends that
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[SPEAKER_01]: do their own taxes, do it online, do it whatever.
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[SPEAKER_01]: We should somebody really stop and think, you know what?
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[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe I'm not smart enough to do this.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Nobody's going to willingly go and say that.
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[SPEAKER_01]: But when's a good litmus test for somebody sort of thinking about, man, maybe I need to look at somebody else helping me out with this?
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[SPEAKER_03]: So I think it's when life gets complex that you're starting a business, you are getting into brokerage accounts and investments, you're getting ready to sell a house just when you have a significant financial event occur that it's time to ask for help.
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[SPEAKER_01]: How does that get started to somebody call you up and go, maybe they've got a CPA and they're going to switch over.
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[SPEAKER_01]: What's just somebody do for their homework before they come to see you?
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[SPEAKER_01]: Because obviously, you want to make your time valuable.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So just show up and go, I need some help.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So I think there's a difference between D or you have a CPA, we're not for the person who doesn't yet the show up.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I need help.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I get the phone call of, hey, I'm starting a business or I've had a business open for six months.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And I don't know what I'm doing.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I need help.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Usually from there, I set up a meeting with them.
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[SPEAKER_03]: We sit down in my office, face to face is really important to me.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So I sit down and we go over what's going on.
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[SPEAKER_03]: why do you need help?
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[SPEAKER_03]: And then let's sit down and start the financial planning side of doing need to make changes to your business setup and we got to go from there.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So you just take that and segue that off of the individual trying to understand their ramifications are doing it to their own or whatnot.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk about the business area because you do business as well, right?
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[SPEAKER_03]: I do a lot of business is correct.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So what is that like when they start your business, should they be in their talking to you and what are some of the things you help them out with?
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[SPEAKER_03]: So they should come speak to me before they start their business.
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[SPEAKER_03]: There is a lot with business entity set up of, are you gonna be an LLC?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Are you gonna be a partnership?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Should we do the S Corp election?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Are you gonna have employees?
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[SPEAKER_03]: There's also a lot of,
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[SPEAKER_03]: different registration numbers you need to apply for.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Do you have sales and use tax?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Do you have an employment if you have employees?
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[SPEAKER_03]: And working with a professional helps to streamline that process to make sure that nothing is missed along the way.
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[SPEAKER_01]: What's some of the biggest mistakes you see people doing?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Biggest mistakes.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Honestly, it's probably lack of planning.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So,
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[SPEAKER_03]: it's a lot running a business.
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[SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot of unexpected and I think a lot of people jump into starting the business thinking, oh, I'm good at this job, so I can I can run my own business and they don't understand their one year goal, their three year goal, their five year goal, their ten year goal.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And yes, they can do the job, but they don't have the financial stepping stones along the way of what do I need to do to get there.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And with understanding your expenses that are going to come along the way comes with also what income do you need to support your business.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Mmm.
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[SPEAKER_01]: That was good.
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[SPEAKER_01]: That's good.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, some of the misconceptions that I hear are, I don't need a CPA, I can do my taxes on the internet.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so I think understanding the difference in a CPA versus just fallen taxes in a lot of times, people correlate those as one in the same.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And could you kind of help our listeners understand the difference and the value that you add versus just a tax return?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so preparing your return yourself is just entering your information into the online softwares.
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[SPEAKER_03]: But it's not necessarily understanding what you're entering or why you're entering it.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So the strategic planning side is often missed.
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[SPEAKER_03]: where even if it's not a business owner of a rental property that not taking depreciation on the house because you didn't know that you could.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So just the education side of understanding what deductions you can take and what you can't.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think that's really important to get out is to understand the difference.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And you know, you're being very proactive and your advice versus reactive.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Yes.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And it does the big difference between like the tax planning side and tax preparation.
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[SPEAKER_03]: The preparation is being proactive in your approach with everything.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Hmm.
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[SPEAKER_01]: How often you see business owners co-mingling personal and business.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Way more often than they should.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I tried to help businesses that are already set up that don't have that separate business account.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I work with them to get them connected with a financial institution to get the Asian as account set up if they don't have the LLC and EIN applied for.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I assist with that.
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[SPEAKER_03]: When things are co-mingled, you find yourself at tax time with a highlighter and a bunch of printed out bank statements trying to highlight through what's business and what's personal.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And from an audit standpoint, it's really messy too to co-mingle.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Yes, it does happen far more often, but I do try to assist with getting people connected with the banks to help separate the finances.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, we just started opening business accounts.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so I understand we've had diversity of a lot of education and the different you talked about.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I'll see in different types of businesses.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And sometimes the business owners, they're not even sure what type of business they are.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And so it's been very eye-opening for us to be able to gather members in the best way.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I appreciate what you do in given that advice because it's very important that you, like you said, you may be good at something but running the business is a whole different thing and understanding it is sometimes can be a little bit more complex.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And I think, you know, shooting off of what you just said, understanding and running are completely different.
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[SPEAKER_03]: If you were to ask me to go fetch a fix at an HVAC unit, I will not know how to.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And vice versa, I wouldn't expect an HVAC technician to understand the financial side that we all have our own areas of expertise.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And that's okay.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, absolutely.
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[SPEAKER_02]: No, I agree with you.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And that's why we have people like you that we can
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[SPEAKER_02]: We can go to you with all of our documents and say, help, and then you can go to, so I think that's great.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Just circling back, so when you started, when you decided that you wanted to do this, what were some of the things that, you know, I guess pros and cons that I know it was the work life balance, but for you to start your business.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You know, what did that look like in case someone's, you know, maybe interested in starting their own CPA firm.
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[SPEAKER_03]: For me, it was just the initial change in financial situation, starting a new business.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I did not come from public accounting, so I came with no clients.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I had to build from nothing.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And I came from a corporate America position.
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[SPEAKER_03]: It was a manager position.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And then taking a step back from that and understanding, okay, I'm at Ground Zero now.
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[SPEAKER_03]: hard pill to swallow, but long-term growth, like I talked about having, you know, you're one year, three year, five year plan.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I understand what I'm getting into and I know the steps I need to take to get there.
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[SPEAKER_03]: But I think a lot of business owners don't realize you're
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[SPEAKER_03]: Most businesses, especially the trade businesses, where you have lots of equipment, machinery, the initial hiring of employees.
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[SPEAKER_03]: You're not going to be profitable.
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[SPEAKER_03]: You're first couple of years until you make that initial investment.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And I think it's really important for entrepreneurs to understand where they are personally and business for financials.
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[SPEAKER_03]: You may not take home a paycheck for that first year that you're open.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And it's kind of just the price you pay with starting
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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay.
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[SPEAKER_01]: But my brother and I were in the restaurant business for a while and actually I guess it's probably good.
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[SPEAKER_01]: We were in the restaurant business because we still had something to eat.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Otherwise I didn't have any money at all because we didn't take out anything for for for for for first year.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Everything went plowed right back in there.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So
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[SPEAKER_01]: you mentioned starting from ground zero and you did something to generate some business and I understand it was the story.
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[SPEAKER_01]: I'm kind of calling you out as a story you shared with me in Mark one day while we were having coffee.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So what was one of those catalysis to get your business started and get some clients reaching out to you?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so the catalyst that got me started with social media advertising when I opened the firm I made a social media post I did the boosted post I paid for the ad and I said new firm accepting new clients.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Fortunately, and unfortunately, a lot of CPAs are retiring and closing their doors.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So there was other CPA firms in the area who saw my post that they otherwise, they would not have known that I opened the firm.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And when they were getting new calls, they started sending clients to me.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So...
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[SPEAKER_03]: social media advertising.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I was initially against it being a CPA firm.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I didn't think it looked professional.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I was talked into it and I will say I was when I did not want to do it, I will say I was wrong that it has made a huge difference to my business and actually right before this this I did another social media paid out as great opposed to on this morning.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So a year and a half later, I'm still still running them.
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[SPEAKER_03]: They, that social media post is very successful, because that's just today's day and age that everything's on social media.
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[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And you know what, you'll have this podcast that you can push out as well.
17:30.115 --> 17:33.418
[SPEAKER_01]: So hopefully this will help generate some interest for you.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So we're excited for you in archdale.
17:36.261 --> 17:38.604
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe this is a good time talking about taxes.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody's flipping out on taxes, right?
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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so what's the difference between tax preparation and tax planning?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so tax preparation is entering the information into the system.
17:56.799 --> 18:03.669
[SPEAKER_03]: It's filling in the return filing, processing it, getting it submitted over to the IRS or to the state.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Tax planning is that proactive step.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So that's the decision making.
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[SPEAKER_03]: future planning.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So keeping it on the individual side, for example, if you have a house, you've lived in it for a year and a half, you decide you know what I need to move.
18:20.961 --> 18:27.034
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, the IRS has certain gain limitations, exclusions, if you live in the house for two years.
18:27.014 --> 18:40.468
[SPEAKER_03]: So the tax planning comes in with, you know, can you wait it out in extra six months because you are going to have a gain on the sale that you won't have to pay tax as long as you're under that exclusion amount of you can just wait.
18:40.968 --> 18:49.257
[SPEAKER_03]: So the tax planning is the being proactive, the tax filing and tax preparation is reporting what already happened.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Got it, okay, good, good, good.
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[UNKNOWN]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So I hear that you're a certified fraud examiner.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, it sounds really fancy.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Are you seeing any trends right now that people should be aware of?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Yes, biggest one is IT fraud that I have seen email fraud that somebody's email getting interjected and saying, hey, we're XYZ company.
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[SPEAKER_03]: We've changed our bank information.
19:24.388 --> 19:32.796
[SPEAKER_03]: Here's
19:33.603 --> 19:57.535
[SPEAKER_03]: Instead of the correct company ways to avoid that pick up the phone that if you get an email from a client even if the email looks legit call up your customer vendor and say hey I got this email did you guys change your email information and don't call the number on the email call the number that you've call previously that you've had saved.
19:57.515 --> 20:10.223
[SPEAKER_03]: Another area that I have seen fraud is check fraud that checks are being intercepted somewhere along the way through the post office and the names are being washed.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So if you write a check for $1,000, just the name is being washed.
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[SPEAKER_03]: and it clears the bank for a thousand dollars.
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[SPEAKER_03]: So you reconcile it, don't think there's any issues.
20:20.841 --> 20:23.966
[SPEAKER_03]: And then you get a call from whoever you were paying.
20:23.986 --> 20:26.951
[SPEAKER_03]: Hey, I never received the payment from your side.
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[SPEAKER_03]: You think they?
20:28.092 --> 20:29.114
[SPEAKER_03]: You did make the payment.
20:30.316 --> 20:41.933
[SPEAKER_03]: So one way to avoid that is just checking the check images as they come through the bank to make sure that the names on the check are match what
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[SPEAKER_01]: No, those are all good tips and Christianes are great questions.
20:45.457 --> 20:55.248
[SPEAKER_01]: And is there anything else, Kim, that people should watch out for, just from just basic digital banking, digital tracking, their records?
20:55.268 --> 20:58.712
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, we're not doing this on, we don't do anything with paper anymore.
20:58.752 --> 21:01.535
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, W2 forms and all that, everything's digitized now.
21:02.436 --> 21:11.886
[SPEAKER_03]: Um, I guess don't be naive that, you know, from the tax side, make sure when you go online
21:12.946 --> 21:18.892
[SPEAKER_03]: Actually, the IRS's website, one great way to avoid that is to create your ID me account.
21:19.533 --> 21:27.721
[SPEAKER_03]: It does the verification for that and then you can just log straight into your account and see your tax balance and pay directly from that.
21:29.323 --> 21:34.789
[SPEAKER_03]: But don't don't go pay a third party that appears to be just make sure the legitimacy.
21:35.530 --> 21:37.772
[SPEAKER_03]: If your CPA were
21:37.752 --> 21:42.907
[SPEAKER_03]: Um, taxpayer sends you a website link to make your payment use their link.
21:42.967 --> 21:48.623
[SPEAKER_03]: Don't go on Google and start searching who I make the payment to, um, so.
21:49.852 --> 21:53.558
[SPEAKER_02]: And we see a lot of that here at the credit union.
21:54.399 --> 21:57.263
[SPEAKER_02]: We have to be for all the detectors for our members as well.
21:57.744 --> 22:12.807
[SPEAKER_02]: And so, you know, it's either emails where people are trying to defraud our credit union or people are trying to defraud our members and even spoofing phone numbers and things like that.
22:12.887 --> 22:17.935
[SPEAKER_02]: So, we always let our members know, we're not going to ask you for personal information.
22:17.915 --> 22:23.203
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, over the phone like that, it's scary.
22:23.283 --> 22:38.187
[SPEAKER_02]: You really happen to be, you know, almost all of us have to be for all detectors and what I see a lot is it's the elderly because they're such a trusting generation that they get defrauded a lot.
22:38.347 --> 22:43.956
[SPEAKER_02]: And so we try to especially get that information out to our older members.
22:44.645 --> 22:56.799
[SPEAKER_01]: So much of it's just awareness, Christian can, it's just, it's, it's, it's, it always needs to be top of mind when you're doing anything that revolves around personal information data or finances.
22:57.842 --> 23:00.088
[SPEAKER_01]: As an IT consultant, let me see it.
23:00.068 --> 23:07.281
[SPEAKER_01]: We just had a couple of weeks ago where an email came in, they changed the dot com to a dot org.
23:08.203 --> 23:13.212
[SPEAKER_01]: And it got into their address book and then someone almost did an ACAx to a dot org.
23:13.232 --> 23:14.775
[SPEAKER_01]: And just at the last minute called it.
23:15.797 --> 23:23.832
[SPEAKER_01]: So those are the kinds of things you just got to be aware of and constantly be thinking about, especially whenever you're doing something with personal data or financial data.
23:23.812 --> 23:29.358
[SPEAKER_01]: And to your point too, Kim, if people get into a hurry, that's whenever they don't, they're not as vigilant.
23:29.378 --> 23:31.401
[SPEAKER_01]: So this has been fantastic.
23:31.421 --> 23:32.262
[SPEAKER_01]: It's been a great talk.
23:32.322 --> 23:33.903
[SPEAKER_01]: We've learned a ton of stuff.
23:34.804 --> 23:38.168
[SPEAKER_01]: This is kind of the part of the show where we like to do some rapid fire questions.
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[SPEAKER_01]: You want to get us started, Kristi?
23:41.572 --> 23:42.173
[SPEAKER_02]: All right.
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[SPEAKER_02]: First thing someone should know before tax season.
23:48.079 --> 23:51.203
[SPEAKER_03]: Reach out early.
23:52.280 --> 23:56.125
[SPEAKER_03]: CPAs are schedules often fill up pretty quickly during tax season.
23:56.345 --> 24:03.094
[SPEAKER_03]: So if you can reach out and get on a CPA's radar, if you don't already have one, get on their books early.
24:03.114 --> 24:07.139
[SPEAKER_03]: It helps the CPA firms plan appropriately for the upcoming tax season.
24:07.179 --> 24:08.420
[SPEAKER_01]: Excellent.
24:08.481 --> 24:10.723
[SPEAKER_01]: What's the best budgeting advice that you could give someone?
24:11.645 --> 24:14.769
[SPEAKER_03]: Have a discretionary planning budget.
24:14.789 --> 24:19.114
[SPEAKER_03]: So expect the unexpected as an individual side.
24:19.820 --> 24:43.988
[SPEAKER_03]: washing machines break HVAC systems break that make sure you have money set aside for when stuff comes up on the business side same thing machines break computers break somebody walks out of the office drops their book bag the computer breaks so having that money that set aside specifically for those like break fix types items aren't good deal.
24:45.267 --> 24:50.383
[SPEAKER_02]: One fundamental habit that separates thriving businesses from struggling businesses.
24:51.055 --> 25:12.429
[SPEAKER_03]: planning, like I've talked about, that understanding your short term goals versus your long-term goals of what is needed immediate versus what's needed in five years from now, that's probably the biggest area that I have seen small businesses fail, and that they have not done that long-term tax planning.
25:12.509 --> 25:17.417
[SPEAKER_03]: We're not long-term financial planning of where things need to be.
25:18.275 --> 25:18.736
[SPEAKER_01]: super.
25:19.357 --> 25:21.580
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what I'm glad I'm I'm taking this next question.
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[SPEAKER_01]: You do not fit the mold the typical CPAs that I have been across in my life.
25:29.631 --> 25:32.836
[SPEAKER_01]: Typically they're very introverted and reserved and came.
25:32.856 --> 25:33.717
[SPEAKER_01]: You're no way.
25:33.857 --> 25:34.879
[SPEAKER_01]: That's not you at all.
25:34.899 --> 25:38.284
[SPEAKER_01]: So what's some of the other misconceptions people have about CPAs?
25:39.666 --> 25:41.869
[SPEAKER_03]: That CPAs don't have personalities.
25:42.592 --> 25:45.456
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that was definitely not you.
25:45.656 --> 25:50.322
[SPEAKER_01]: I can tell that I've been around you coffee shops and ribbon cuttings or whatnot.
25:50.342 --> 25:51.464
[SPEAKER_01]: You do a very outgoing.
25:51.904 --> 25:53.807
[SPEAKER_01]: And you're the thing, I've watched you a friend of clients.
25:53.827 --> 25:57.612
[SPEAKER_01]: You are very warm and welcoming.
25:57.652 --> 26:01.056
[SPEAKER_01]: So anybody that comes in your office should be excited about being those sit down with you.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you.
26:03.179 --> 26:05.942
[SPEAKER_03]: But yes, we have loaves outside of the office.
26:05.982 --> 26:08.025
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's great.
26:08.731 --> 26:12.119
[SPEAKER_01]: So we kind of bring it all home at a claim.
26:12.179 --> 26:15.587
[SPEAKER_01]: We believe financial wellness is about education and partnership.
26:16.228 --> 26:22.663
[SPEAKER_01]: How important is for someone to have both a trusted financial institution and a trusted CPA in a corner?
26:24.226 --> 26:25.930
[SPEAKER_03]: No, um.
26:26.281 --> 26:52.845
[SPEAKER_03]: It's very important to have somebody I work with clients, financial institutions and financial advisors pretty frequently that whether they're opening up a business bank account, they need a loan for a new business endeavor having that person who you can call it personally and not just a customer service number, but having that personal connection who knows your business knows your.
26:52.825 --> 27:01.513
[SPEAKER_03]: financial situation definitely helps speed up the process and gives you that more individualized package of what your needs are.
27:01.553 --> 27:03.315
[SPEAKER_02]: It's good.
27:03.575 --> 27:04.536
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's really good.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Kim, this has been incredibly helpful and I appreciate you sharing your expertise and your stories about Tommy and I love to hear stories about Tommy then, you know,
27:19.437 --> 27:20.719
[SPEAKER_03]: Procing pictures.
27:20.739 --> 27:21.020
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
27:21.801 --> 27:22.702
[SPEAKER_01]: Keep it up, Kristi.
27:22.842 --> 27:25.306
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I spent the weekend with your husband.
27:26.508 --> 27:29.253
[SPEAKER_01]: Had the opportunity to share with him on a conference.
27:29.293 --> 27:31.717
[SPEAKER_01]: And so there was some story swapping going on.
27:31.737 --> 27:37.446
[SPEAKER_01]: So maybe on the next podcast, I'll share some of the insights that I had on you and some of your habits.
27:37.477 --> 27:39.200
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'm not worried about my husband.
27:41.124 --> 27:44.872
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not scared of him, sorry, but you're right.
27:44.912 --> 27:50.342
[SPEAKER_02]: Tommy and I have figured out that Tommy's wife and my husband are very similar.
27:50.403 --> 27:53.368
[SPEAKER_02]: And so they're very OCD about certain things.
27:54.070 --> 27:58.759
[SPEAKER_02]: And me and Tommy are just like, oh, it'll be fun.
27:59.735 --> 28:01.077
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I see to her pants.
28:01.317 --> 28:08.606
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, and you know, it's really fun to know that somebody else in, and we have great marriages.
28:08.987 --> 28:15.295
[SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, we, we compliment each other, and it's, it's pretty fun, but we didn't.
28:15.315 --> 28:23.145
[SPEAKER_03]: My husband is the one who is very like, go with the flow, loose, and I'm much more OCD, make the list for everything, plan everything.
28:23.185 --> 28:25.768
[SPEAKER_01]: And wait a minute, that doesn't fit the CPA.
28:25.828 --> 28:28.712
[SPEAKER_01]: He's a corporate CPA and you're telling me he's not OCD.
28:29.300 --> 28:31.886
[SPEAKER_03]: Now he is much more relaxed than I am.
28:32.207 --> 28:37.299
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so both of you are not fitting the CPA mold, so it gives me a fantastic.
28:37.319 --> 28:43.714
[SPEAKER_01]: So if listeners wanted to find you, if I listeners wanted to come get some advice, how what's the best way to track you down?
28:43.964 --> 28:59.248
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so on my website, www.kimhallcpa.com, there is a contact page, you fill out the contact page, name, phone number, email, and a brief message, and we respond to those within 24 business hours.
28:59.989 --> 29:00.990
[SPEAKER_01]: Awesome, fantastic.
29:01.010 --> 29:01.291
[SPEAKER_01]: So.
29:02.292 --> 29:11.727
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, thank you again for being a guest on our podcast and Tommy and our still figure in this out, and but it has been so nice to have a co-host, I will say.
29:11.909 --> 29:17.779
[SPEAKER_02]: and everyone knows how much I love Tommy, so it's going to be a good season and we're very excited.
29:18.360 --> 29:21.506
[SPEAKER_02]: And we wish you tons and tons of luck.
29:22.127 --> 29:30.762
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think you'll need it because I think you're going to be extremely successful with your endeavors, but we do appreciate you being on the podcast.
29:30.742 --> 29:32.244
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for having me.
29:32.625 --> 29:33.646
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely, thanks again.
29:33.706 --> 29:34.688
[SPEAKER_01]: And Christy, thank you.
29:35.289 --> 29:38.293
[SPEAKER_01]: Fortunately for you, I have very thick skin, so you can pick on me all you want.
29:39.155 --> 29:44.382
[SPEAKER_01]: So until next time, keep learning, keep planning, and keep making it make sense.
29:45.224 --> 29:46.405
[SPEAKER_00]: Bye, thank you guys.
29:48.148 --> 29:48.949
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening.
29:49.370 --> 29:53.135
[SPEAKER_00]: Please visit us at acclaimfcu.org for more valuable resources.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Remember to click the follow or subscribe button to make sure you don't miss future episodes.