I scaled and sold a 7-figure accounting firm in 5 years. Now, through my Future Firm newsletter, I'm giving 9,500+ firm owners the tactics, templates, and frameworks I used to do it.

Ryan Lazanis

A year ago, I launched my AI coaching clone, RyanBot, as an experiment.

I trained it on everything I know so users can chat with it and get "my" help.

It launched at $19/month on a standalone basis (free for Future Firm Accelerate members).

In 12 months, it's answered 10,371 messages (which is kinda crazy!)

On the flip side:

I also launched a $20,000 group coaching program that gave more direct access to me...

... and 18 firm owners snapped it up within a week (the max I was willing to accommodate).

Why would someone drop 20k when they could get the exact same knowledge for a tiny fraction of the price?

The answer:

The time that they get with me (a human).

Here's the interesting thing, though.

I've spent my whole professional life arguing against the billable hour.

And while the billable hour is certainly cold as ice right now in our industry:

All trends work in a circular fashion.

I'm not advocating for a return to the billable hour.

But I can envision a time in the not-too-distant future where the billable hour makes a comeback in a heavily AI-saturated world.

Because rather than speaking to a bot.

Your clients will place a premium on the time and access they get to a human they trust, just like you.

Something to ponder...

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Giving systems to firm owners to unlock freedom and growth

Who here is frustrated with their professional accounting body?

Mine is literally through the roof and when I submitted my annual declaration, there was a section for feedback.

Usually, I don't, but this time, I left this.

Valid?

"Very frustrated.

I understand the mandate is the protection of the public, but we are also paying members (ie. customers).

And as paying customers, we should be more supported.

The world is changing extremely fast and I can tell you that CPAs in this province (and country) are not even close to ready.

It's your job to get them ready, because if not, the profession becomes irrelevant.

As someone who engages with multiple accounting bodies around the world, I can tell you that we are very far behind. CA ANZ in Australia is a fantastic organization.

They support innovation, change and more than anything, they SUPPORT and HELP their paying members implement innovation and change. They have an open mind and they get stuff done.

Every time I have engaged with your organization, it's with a closed mind.

I have a large audience of CPAs in my network (literally thousands), and I can tell you that your members are VERY frustrated, and if the current attitude continues as is, membership numbers will continue to decline. Members don't want to just pay for the CPA title (which has less relevance now than ever, unfortunately), they want to pay for support."

AI hype is everywhere.

But when we actually surveyed 150 firm owners, something stood out pretty quickly.

Only a small group is using AI in ways that truly create leverage inside their firm.

The results of this survey reveal that these firms have moved past the obvious stuff.

They’re not just asking AI to write emails or summarize articles anymore.

Here are a couple of interesting examples:

• “We use AI to turn messy bookkeeping exports into a clean first-pass financial writeup before a human reviews it.”

• “We feed raw tax memos into AI and have it produce a client-friendly version that explains the issue clearly and simply.”

Rather than writing a simple 500-word newsletter summarizing the results...

I created an entire 16-page report, which you can get for free. 🙂

Inside the report you’ll see:

✅ How 150 modern firms are using AI, backed by real data
✅ The top AI tools accounting firms rely on
✅ The 30+ advanced niche tools and how firms are using them
✅ 10 practical AI workflows pulled directly from real firms
✅ Plus... a few more high-leverage AI workflows that aren’t widespread yet 😉

Whether you're sitting on the fence wondering where to start...

Or if you're an AI pro wanting some insights into what others are doing...

There's at least one valuable nugget (probably many more) that you can take away from this report to level up your AI usage in your firm.

If you want the report:

✅ Comment the word “NUGGET” below, and I’ll DM you the link. 🙂

Ryan Lazanis, CPA

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

Money means nothing if you don't have your health.

I learned that the hard way in 2025. 

So... I had a super rough concussion last April, and it lasted a good 7 months.

I canceled more things than I could count.

From a business standpoint, things were great.

From a personal standpoint, this was probably the hardest year of my life.

At some points, I was unable to walk.

Unable to work for a good chunk of time.

Couldn't train for my Triathlon races (which all had to be canceled).

It was an extremely frustrating time in my life.

But I learned critical skills to manage this frustration that will carry forward for the rest of my life.

• To sit with frustration instead of outrunning it 
• Let other people make calls 
• Watch some things move forward without my constant input 
• And to accept that sometimes, my job wasn’t to grow anything at all

And if your business can’t carry on without you... that’s worth thinking about.

If I were running a firm today...

My #1 goal this year wouldn’t be growth.

It would be this ⤵️

Focus. 

I’d ask myself:

What do I want my life to look like?

1) How much money do I need to be happy?
2) How many hours do I want to work?
3) Where do I want to be spending my time?
4) How much time off do I want to be taking?
5) What are some personal goals I’d like to achieve in 2026?
 
There’s always a trade-off.

You just want to make sure you’re choosing it intentionally.

In short, I’d start with the end in mind. Then build the firm to support that. 🙂

Jack of all trades.

Chief Everything Officer.

CEO... COO... IT support… and occasionally a therapist. 

If there’s one small shift I’d nudge you toward:

Delegate just ONE thing.

Not the scariest thing.

Not the most important thing.

Just one thing you’re holding onto out of habit.

Your simple guide to collecting client documents quickly / easily this tax season.

👇

Tax season would be a breeze if only clients gave you what you needed on time 🙂

The problem is that clients:

1) Ignore your requests
2) Submit incomplete information
3) Submit their info late

It means that you need to constantly follow up to get the docs you need to complete your work.

It’s frustrating.

Plus a huge waste of time.

And while you may be quick to blame your clients.

Are you doing everything you can to improve the situation?

My guess is...

No.

I look at this like a numbers game.

If 30% of your clients are submitting their info on time without any prompting...

How can we get this to 60%? 70%? Or even 90%?

Well, you can greatly improve your on-time client submission rates by following these 2 steps:

1️⃣ STEP 1: Improve Your Email Communications

When sending out your tax organizers, your goal is to send an email that gets:

- Opened
- Read
- Acted upon

✅ Improve your subject lines

A large % of your clients will simply not open your document request emails.

To get more clients opening them up, you’ll want to include a subject line that generates curiosity.

Instead of:

“2026 Tax Organizer”

Use something like:

“Need some info from you”

A very busy client won’t want to open the former because they know it involves work.

But they’ll be curious to know the contents of the latter 😉

✅ Cut down on word count

DO NOT write massive emails when asking clients to submit documents.

I’ve seen emails with crazy long instructions.

The longer your email is, the fewer conversions you'll get.

Instead, just a few short lines about what you need completed and a link to the tax questionnaire.

Keep it under 150 words!

2️⃣ STEP 2: Make Document Submission Easy

Do not, I repeat, do not, send clients a Word / PDF checklist of all the docs and info you need.

It’s too much friction for your client to submit everything neatly in the doc or by email.

Which means, they won’t get around to doing it.

Instead, use software like Smart Intake in Canopy (#sponsor) to help in a few areas.

✅ Auto-reminding clients to complete the questionnaire, eliminating manual follow-ups.

✅ An intuitive, no login experience to move through your requests and to submit information. This alone will improve submission/completion rates.

✅ Have AI auto-complete some of the questionnaire for your clients based on info you already have, reducing the time it takes your client to complete.

At the end of the day:

You not only want software that makes YOUR life easier, but you also want software that makes THEIR life easier.

The easier you make things for your busy clients, the more on-time submissions you’ll receive.

Solving this problem is just a numbers game.

Improving your email communication strategy and making document submission easy will stack the odds in your favor 🙂


What’s worked for you when it comes to getting clients to submit info on time?

Canopy

Here’s the easiest formula for pricing your accounting services:

1) Estimate your time
2) Apply the cost (not rate) for that time 
3) Add all costs of your services up 
4) Apply desired margin

Notice how I say this is the EASIEST formula to come up with a price? 

But... 

It is not the BEST formula... 

Because contrary to popular belief... pricing isn’t always math.

It’s human behavior. 

Sometimes, when you’re in front of a prospect, you’re not pricing a tax return. 

You’re pricing:

- Their urgency
- Their goals
- Their appetite for risk
- Their fear of making a mistake
- Their desire for peace of mind
- Their frustration with their current accountant

None of that fits neatly into a spreadsheet.

And this still applies even with 3-tiered pricing. 

Tiers give you structure. But understanding the human tells you:

• which tier to lead with
• what to emphasize in the conversation
• what outcome they actually care about
• which tier they’ll naturally choose

Two prospects can look at the same three tiers and pick completely different options.

A formula can get you a price.

But it can’t get you the optimal price.

Only by understanding humans can we do that.

So the next time you’re in a sales call, don’t obsess over the model.

Obsess over the person (a little).

✅ Ask better questions.
✅ Listen for the emotions behind the words.
✅ Understand what a “win” looks like for them.

Once you understand the human...

The “right” price becomes a whole lot clearer.

Not a sponsored post, but just want to give a shout out to Guy Vadish and the Artiffex Inc. team. They've personally handled my investment write-ups for the past 2 years. It's a seamless service with very fast turnaround times.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this might be it. 😉

That's bold Obed Maurice! Nice one.

CPA, CA, CFP® - Advisory NOT accounting

Back in September 2020, I was in my small home office in Montreal.

My newborn was in the next room.

The world was in lockdown. 

No one was leaving their homes.

(Heck, we even had curfews!)

And there I was... wondering if it made any sense to launch a membership program for firm owners.

My plan was simple to start: 20 private coaching clients at $595/month.

That was it.

But then 200+ people joined the waiting list.

I was shocked and terrified. 

(Not the reaction you’d expect, I know lol)

The reason was because I was unsure and had no clue if this would actually work.

The program didn’t even exist yet. 

All I had was my experience building and selling my firm... and a mission:

To help accounting firm owners unlock freedom and growth in their business.

So I started anyway.

Fast forward to today, and there are 700+ firm owners inside the program.

Looking back, the lesson was pretty simple:

You don’t need the full solution and full setup to get started.

You just need enough clarity to take the next step.

Having the right coach helped too, a lot. (Not optional in hindsight.)

Most of the rest figured itself out along the way. 

—

Who supported you when you were just getting started? 🙂

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Peace at 9am on a Tuesday.

In a warm country.

(My wife and I escaped Montreal winter for 2 weeks over the holidays... zero regrets)

That didn’t happen because I stacked my business with tools to “automate everything.”

Don’t get me wrong, I use them.

They help.

But this trip didn’t work because of a handful of tools that promise to run your business while you’re on vacation.

It worked because I’d already done the unsexy stuff before I left:

I offloaded content ahead of time.

I was clear on what to delegate (and to who).

I let go of control instead of hovering.

And I trusted a team I didn’t need to babysit.

The bottomline is this:

AI tools are helpful.

But they don’t replace judgment.

They don’t decide what needs to be done before you step away, or what needs to be locked down so nothing spills over.

That part still takes intention.

And because I did that work (with help from my amazing team) before leaving...

I was able to actually unplug… enjoy the warm weather, and read my book in peace from a hammock. 🙂

Below is a photo from outside my bungalow (it was a busy day that day, since 1 boat passed by, lol)

–

Did you get a chance to unplug or travel anywhere over the holidays?

Jason Staats, CPA and I were running a Q&A with his audience off the back of several events he invited me to be a guest at in late 2025.

Questions generally centered around improving pricing and packaging, marketing, and client acquisition.

One question came up from a busy firm owner:

“I want to grow by offering startups a discounted service offer so that I can increase my prices as they grow.”

I’ve heard this before.

My response is always the same:

Don’t do it.

In fact, never (with 2 exceptions) discount your services to bring a client on.

For 2 big reasons:

Reason 1:

The client will always remember that you discount. And they’ll always haggle with you on everything else you do.

Reason 2:

You have a finite amount of capacity.

Discounting not only directly bites into your margin, but your capacity as well.

If you are already busy, you are literally shooting yourself in the foot.

For me, the ideal is to have 10% excess capacity in your firm so that you can make room for some new (properly margined clients).

And by proper margin, I mean no less than 50% gross margin (at all times).
...

”But Ryan, I see other companies out there discounting services or products all the time, why can’t I?”

...
I’ll make 2 exceptions for when you can discount.

→ Exception 1: You Are Just Starting Out

If you have a ton of excess capacity because you’re just starting out and want to get the ball rolling, honestly, go wild.

Do what you need to do to get a few clients on board.

You have a lot of capacity and you can sacrifice a bit (not all!) of it to get some momentum.

But…

If you already have a bunch of clients and have limited capacity.

Like I said before when it comes to discounting your services:

Don’t do it.

→ Exception 2: You Provide Highly Leveraged Services

I think if you are a super modern firm offering online courses to its clients (ex: “how to do your own bookkeeping” course).

Or if you have any other kinds of services/products at your firm that have significant leverage…

Then you can offer discounts.

But if you don’t have that in your firm.

Once again, when it comes to discounting your services:

Don’t do it!

Hopefully that helps.

Ten years ago, posts like this didn’t exist.

If you were stuck, you didn’t ask questions (and had no reliable space to do so).

You just figured it out alone.

It was isolating... so seeing conversations like this in our Future Firm Accelerate community feels really good. 

Inside this community of 700+ firm owners, they are:

• Helping each other out
• Making intros
• Sharing what’s worked
• Jumping in if they see a chance to help

This is the part I wish had existed back then. 

I’m excited about what’s ahead for the community this year especially for the members already inside. 😉

—

Are you part of any accounting community like this right now? If so, which one?

Future Firm Accelerate Referrals Section

Mid-6 figures is one of the most dangerous stages of a firm.

I’ve seen a lot of firms stall right here.

You’re a 6-figure firm. 

5 people on the team. 

But you’re working a lot of hours, and you’re the bottleneck.

The reason?

You only have junior or mid-level team members.

Which meant you always ended up dealing with all the clients in more complex situations.

This doesn't scale.

Hiring a senior resource to alleviate the bottleneck situation, but that could make you a bit nervous. 

And now you have reached a major fork in the road.

🟢 Path A: Hire a Senior Resource Now

A senior resource should be able to handle A-Z with the client.

The problem at the mid-6-figure range is the following though:

It's hard to find this person

They're expensive, which can wipe out a big chunk of your profits

If this person leaves, you're back to square one (larger firms can shift the workload to another senior temporarily)

🟢 Path B: Wait Until The Firm Grows To Hire a Senior

You can acquire more clients, build more profits and then make the hire.

But:

It's still going to be hard to find this person, it will still cost $$$ to bring them on, plus you'll be working more hours until they come on board.

At each stage of business, there's a risk you need to take to get to the next step.

Plus, keep in mind there's ways to negate the risk:

Hire for attitude, not just skill (to ensure you're bringing the right person on board).

Make sure your cash flow can handle it.

Where possible, cross-train others on the team as you bring the new hire on board. If they leave, then at least the hole is not as large.

---

So... Path A or Path B? Which path would you take? 🤔

Most firm owners self-diagnose INCORRECTLY. 

When you say:

“I need better processes.”

Take a pause and see if what you really mean is:

“I’m trying to serve too many people in too many ways.”

No amount of tech fixes that.

Simplify what you offer first.

Then build systems around that.

And if you’ve been in those shoes before... congrats, you’re 100% normal, lol.

Quick gut check for firm owners at the start of 2026:

Which of these do you want more of ⬇️
 
1️⃣ Time
2️⃣ Profits

Pick one only. Don’t overthink it. 😉

I rarely see firms stuck because of bad systems.

In most cases, they don’t have a process problem or a "not enough tools" problem.

They’re busy.

Doing good revenue.

Falling behind in their work.

So they assume better systems or more tech will fix it.

When I dig in, the picture usually looks something like this:

• No senior resource on the team with 700+ clients
• 40% net margin
• Working 50+ hours per week
• 20% of clients are C-level or worse

On the surface, the 40% net margin is very good.

But it's being masked by the firm owner shouldering all the load.

So if they actually had the right team in place, the net margin would be no higher than 25%, though likely less, indicating a potential underpricing problem.

But here's the big thing.

Most firm owners come in asking for help with the wrong thing.

They think they need better processes.

Or a new tool.

Or another system.

But fixing any one of these would move the needle way more:

✅ Get rid of (or solve) 20% of your crappy clients = instantly gain capacity and headspace

✅ Bump prices up across a portion of your clients = instant margin gains

✅ Hire a senior resource = ability to pull yourself out of the bottleneck position

Fixing any one of those 3 things would have a much larger impact compared to fixing your processes.

If you see yourself starting to gravitate toward fixing processes or implementing tech as the solution to your growth problems...

Pause.

Make sure you’re not skipping over the foundational stuff first. 🙂

If even one of these signs feels familiar...

That’s your cue to take a fresh look at your pricing. 🙂

Shubham Shrivastav is a Chartered Accountant with over seven years of professional experience, specializing in audit procedures, financial reporting, and compliance. He has worked with both private and public sector clients across India and the UK, leading audit teams and managing diverse areas including payroll, revenue, trade receivables, leases, financial instruments, and expenses.

With hands-on expertise in conducting Tests of Controls and data analysis, he ensures every engagement upholds the highest standards of audit quality and integrity. In addition to his audit work, he has successfully handled GST and Income Tax assignments, ensuring timely compliance and delivering valuable financial insights to support business growth.

Currently, he is expanding his focus to the emerging domain of Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) in India - aiming to integrate his financial expertise with sustainability practices that drive long-term organizational excellence and value creation.

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