🚀 Get smarter faster by learning with other firm owners: https://www.rlz.io/
📩 Want a simple way to keep up with accounting firm and AI? I break it down every week in my newsletter: https://www.jasononfirms.com/newsletter
☎️ Leave me a voicemail at (1)516-980-4968!
📧 Email me! jason@jasononfirms.com
In this episode, I share a practical framework to fix productivity in accounting firms, from planning your day and reducing distractions to structuring your team for better output. I walk through a real bookkeeping firm doing $800K and break down why they’re hitting a ceiling and how to restructure using pods and incentive pay. I also cover where AI actually fits in running a firm today, why most firms are focusing on the wrong things, and how to balance AI curiosity with building a profitable business.
🎤 I’m going live! We’ll announce new dates and cities. Stay tuned for the presale
🔥 Here’s that Roast-My-Firm intake form: https://airtable.com/appZ7dtNz3oaTWWZT/shrybn5166E9t12ag
📚 A curated list of the apps I actually use and recommend: https://www.jasononfirms.com/apps
💰 Today's Sponsors
Soraban: https://www.soraban.com/
TeamUp: https://www.hireteamup.com/jason
Financial Cents: Book a demo at https://hubs.li/Q03PYVrp0 or sign up at https://hubs.li/Q03mLr_x0 and use code Jason10 to receive 10% off the Team or Scale annual plan for firms with 2+ users.
Verito: https://verito.com/
MakersHub: https://makershub.com/get-started?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=jasonstaats
// Chapters:
00:00 Intro and productivity framework setup
02:04 Why most accountants feel unproductive
02:25 Building a daily plan
03:50 Prioritizing your own work vs email
05:00 Structuring your day for energy levels
06:10 Managing distractions and focus
09:16 Maker vs manager schedules
12:56 Structuring meetings for productivity
16:57 Health, sleep, and performance basics
18:57 Starting hard tasks effectively
20:31 Firm culture and productivity
21:00 Roast a Firm: bookkeeping firm breakdown
24:37 Identifying the growth ceiling
26:07 Moving to pod structure
27:10 Contractors vs full-time employees
28:50 Incentive-based compensation
31:05 Workflow and scaling challenges
34:00 Business model reflections
36:55 Mailbag: AI agents and software
41:00 Security and real-world AI limitations
44:40 AI vs running a firm
46:12 Business fundamentals vs AI focus
51:00 ChatGPT vs Claude discussion
55:00 Future of AI in accounting
57:30 Closing thoughts
🗣️ Continue the discussion on social!
X https://twitter.com/jasononfirms
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstaats/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jasoncpa
