AFO|Wealth Management Forward

Rob and Rory are joined by the Chief Growth Officer of Holistiplan, Chris Fields. Holistiplan is a technology used by thousands of advisors to efficiently and effectively scale their business through tax planning strategies. He is also an author and CEO/founder of the mercy project, a nonprofit organization using sustainability and empowerment to help rescue children out of slavery in Ghana. In this episode, Fields highlights how incorporating holistic wealth management into your firm can deepen your relationship with clients by reassuring them you are making financial decisions in their best interest. He describes how advisors can use Holistiplan’s technology to read tax returns in minutes to create clean and easy-to-read client deliverables. Fields advise listeners to be leaders rather than followers and adopt these tax planning strategies now to ensure you are providing the most comprehensive financial advice for your clients. He also discusses some of the features that Holistiplan has incorporated to ease concerns people have with using their software, such as cyber security, and how these features can make clients more comfortable. This is sure to be an episode you don’t want to miss, especially if you are considering adopting a tax planning strategy for your business.

Rory and Rob are joined by Donny Shimamoto CPA, CITP, CGMA. He is the Managing Director for IntrapriseTechknowlogies, the Inspiration Architect for The Center for Accounting Transformation, and is the AICPA Chair for the National Conference of Lawyers and CPAs. In this episode, Donny talks about his work helping accountants with technology, business practices, and risk management through the adoption of technology and outsourcing. Find out about the AICPA’s, CPA Horizons Project 2025, and why they decided to remove “accounting services” when describing the profession. Donny also talks about how small and midsize accounting firms were crucial during the pandemic and how they play a vital role in powering the small business economy. Get insights on the flood of Venture back money and its drive towards market acquisition, his thoughts on ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Reporting, and why it can be advantageous to choose the safety of people over profit. Learn about the importance of recognizing patterns, as Donny explains the evolution of technology from The Mainframe to Cloud Computing to now Blockchain and AI. Lastly, find out why it’s important to treat technology with a “Glass Half Full” mindset while you surf the technological wave of change. Check out this informative and entertaining can’t miss episode!

In this episode, Rory and Diane Young, Managing Director at Arrowroot Family Office, are joined by Dr. Daniel Crosby, Chief Behavioral Officer at Orion Advisor Solutions, a leading turnkey Asset Management Platform that serves over 2100 Firms. He has a Ph.D. in Psychology from BYU, and he recently co-authored a New York Times Best-Selling Book titled Personal Benchmark: Integrating Behavioral Finance and Investment Management. In this episode, Daniel talks about the 3 E’s that finance professionals need to use when advising clients: Education, Environment, and Encouragement. As advisors, we need to educate our clients, set up the right environments and offer encouragement like personal trainers and nutritionists do. Find out why he believes we are working with an iPhone 1 brain in an iPhone 13 world since it’s been 150,000 to 200,000 years since our brains have been upgraded. We were designed to keep ourselves from scarcity and starvation but live in a world where, at least in the West, more people die of obesity than starvation. Daniel also touches on the importance of making financial decisions when in the right state of mind and uses the Acronym HALT to communicate how people make statistically worse decisions when they are (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired). Find out how research on criminals in the Norwegian Underworld has shown how people spend, save, and invest their money differently based on how they generate it. Don’t miss out on this exciting episode to learn more about the human condition and how we view and interact with money.

This episode features Rory with special guest Guy Pearson, the founder, and CEO of Practice Ignition, a technology company focusing on assisting accounting and bookkeeping firms by offering online proposals, automated billing, and other useful managerial tools. Practice Ignition works with over 5000 firms globally, with offices in Australia, New Zealand, UK, the US, and Canada. He touches on the differences in technology and how the US is few years behind their Australian and New Zealand counterparts, from real-time bank data feeds to their online filing system with AGI, which they’ve had since the ’90s. Guy talks about how technology enables firms to segment information to better understand their client base. Though robots are far from having qualitative conversations and identifying exactly what clients need, automated platforms such as Practice Ignition have allowed accounting firms to boost revenue and client satisfaction because of their bundled services. In this episode, Guy also lays out the foundation of what he looks for when deciding whether or not to invest in a company as an angel investor, emphasizing the importance of finding founders who have felt the pain of what they’re trying to solve. What makes an Uber driver more appealing to people than their accountant? Find out in Guy and Rory’s insightful discussion this episode. You can’t miss it!

In this episode, Rory and Managing Director at Arrowroot Family Office, Mark McCarron, are joined by Nick Sinclair, the founder of TOA Global. TOA Global is an outsourcing business that is 100% dedicated to serving accounting firms. They work with over 600 accounting firms globally, providing them with exceptional, highly-skilled offshore industry professionals at around a 70% cost saving. Nick identifies how communication and the large supply of accountants coming out of university make the Philippines an ideal location for offshoring accountants. He also emphasizes the importance of leadership, proper pay, office culture, and mentorship related to employee retention and attracting talent. With today’s growing influx of VC money from the $50 Million Series B round for startup Vic.ai to the $100 Million Round by Jeff Bezos in Pilot, Nick advises small and midsize accounting firms to “double down on the client experience.” Despite technology’s advancements, accountants will always be needed because clients still desire an expert opinion; therefore, it is imperative to keep the client journey seamless and use technology as an enabler. Nick also touches on key strategies for talent acquisition, the focus on adding value to a client through financial planning, and much more. Don’t miss out on these key insights as well as Nick’s outlook on the future of the profession. Listen to the episode now!

In this episode, Rob and Rory speak with the Director of Sales at Redtail Technology, David Mehlhorn. Redtail Technology is a core financial services solution offering thousands of advisors daily assistance with running their businesses. As the first cloud-based CRM for financial advisors, they continue to revolutionize the client-advisor relationship through a robust feature set that integrates with hundreds of industry partners. Mehlhorn provides insight into the onboarding process and emphasizes the importance of repeatable processes that helps establish a great user experience. He also explains how using their technology can enhance a firm’s marketing efforts by getting the right information in front of the right people at the right time. Mehlhorn also discusses the competitive advantage Redtail has over larger CRM platforms since they have specifically tailored their solution for financial advisors and have years of customer feedback to support it. David touches on how redtail integrates with over 20 planning software solutions to help advisors communicate that holistic picture to clients. Whether you are looking to adopt a cloud-based platform for your firm or you simply want to learn more about what Redtail has to offer, this is not an episode you want to miss!

Jody Padar, the Vice President of Strategy at Botkeeper and Author of “The Radical CPA”, joins Rob and Rory in their discussion about how firms can implement technology in their business model. Botkeeper uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide bookkeeping and pre-accounting solutions for accounting firms. In this episode, Jody talks about the evolution of the accounting industry and how many firms have included the use of the cloud in their services. She also touches on future predictions for the industry, emphasizing the significant role AI will play in the years to come as a solution for the repetitive, time-consuming work of an accountant. Additionally, Jody adds to the conversation of CPA firms transitioning to and monetizing advisory services. With 700,000 followers on social media, Jody explains the key to branding yourself to get exposure in the competitive marketplace - authenticity. Think you know what the future accounting industry looks like? Could Amazon be selling CPA services soon? Think again as Jody spills all her insights about what to expect in the next five or ten years. Listen now!

Rob and Rory are joined by the Editorial Manager/US team lead at AccountingWEB.com, Seth Fineberg. AccountingWEB.com is a premier publication for tax and accounting professionals, offering valuable insight, strategies, trends, and best practices through their publications to assist firms in improving their services. Seth speaks about the greatest challenge faced by accounting firms today, “Relevancy,” and how the growing influence of technology is forcing firms to re-evaluate their value proposition. He also touches on the concerning threats of cybersecurity and what firms can do to protect themselves. As new generations enter the profession, Seth mentions the importance of adapting the old accounting model to a more modern, entrepreneurial one that embraces technology because, as we all know, the pace of change isn't going to get any slower. He also calls upon the accounting industry to be a true reflection of the country’s demographics as the industry continues to expand. Listen to Seth’s interesting insights in Can't-Miss Episode!

Rob and Rory are joined by Daniel Hood, the Editor-in-Chief of Accounting Today. Accounting Today reaches over 325,000 professionals across the full breadth of public accounting, ranging from sole practitioners who prepare tax returns up to the Big Four firms that audit the largest multinational corporations. Even with the emergence of automation within the accounting industry, Hood shares key insights on what some of the top accounting firms are doing to retain clients and grow their business. Additionally, we discuss many of the changes we are currently witnessing at accounting firms from WFH policies to integrating new services to finding a balance between automation and advisory in your business. Daniel Hood also describes the recent wave of M&A activity within the accounting space as firms must begin transitioning to both a Post-COVID and more technology-based working environment. Tune in and learn more about an ever evolving accounting landscape.

Rob and Rory speak with Kristen Carlisle, the General Manager at Betterment for Business, as she highlights Betterment’s unique tech-enabled platform for managing 401(k) plans. Betterment integrates two arms into their range of services: Betterment for Advisors (check out the podcast with Jon Mauney!) and Betterment for Business. Betterment for Business is a simple and easy-to-implement software solution for businesses ranging anywhere from 2 - 1000s employees. Clients oftentimes find tax-saving strategies and 401(k) plans difficult to comprehend; Kristen gives key insights into Betterment’s platform, which provides advisors with the tools necessary to help service clients as a fiduciary expert advisor. Betterment has seen record highs with an increase in new clients by over 100%. Kristen attributes this to Betterment’s ability to increase outreach to advisors and implement a completely online pathway for small organizations to get started automatically as the key catalysts for their growth. In this podcast, you will learn more about Betterment for Business and better understand how you can easily manage 401(k) plans for your business clients, so don’t miss out!