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

Came back from a 2-week vacation to a prank from the team.

Opened Missive and thought it was glitching... and everyone suddenly had the same profile photo.

MINE.

(I literally clicked refresh on my screen a few times to make sure it wasn’t a bug.)

Then I joined the Zoom call for our weekly meeting.

Every single person had Ryan Lazanis as their Zoom name. And everyone kept calling each other “Ryan.”

Needless to say... I was super confused for about 10 minutes. They got me good!

Hope everyone’s still having fun with their teams out there 🙂

Ryan Lazanis, CPA

Giving systems to firm owners to unlock freedom and growth

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There are 26,759 people in my LinkedIn network, and a good chunk are firm owners.

If you’re open to it, drop a link to your firm’s website below, happy to share feedback on a few if that’s helpful.

And also... let’s use the comments section to help folks who are just getting started or looking for ideas.

I’ll also post some firm websites I really like as examples. 🙂

Edit:

Ooof! 75+ websites to review!

I made 1 video that covers the basics of website do's and don'ts and then I reviewed at least half of the websites in this thread. Hope this helps!!!

https://lnkd.in/eKMu8kGK

Strangers pay $1,500 for a tax return. Friends and family pay $700.

Would you let that happen in your firm?

I understand why it does.

You don’t want it to feel awkward. 

You want to help. 

I’m actually a big believer in separating personal and professional relationships for that exact reason.

(I did it with my immediate family, didn’t charge them. But I didn’t want to work with friends.)

Because that $800 difference could be:

– the margin that funds your next hire
– the difference between a 35-hour week and a 50-hour week
– or the full-price client you now don’t have room for

Nothing wrong with favors and helping people you care about. 

Just decide in advance what that looks like.

Maybe it’s:

→ 2 pro-bono returns a year
→ a fixed “friends rate” that still protects your margin
→ or no discounts, but extra care

Just make sure it’s a conscious choice, not something you default to because it feels uncomfortable to say the number out loud.

Because over time, those small decisions quietly shape the kind of firm you end up running.

...

Serious question (but also not):
Do you have a rule for this... or do you decide based on how much you like them? 😂

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3 months after selling my firm, I tried being a “company of one.”

No team. Just me.

Well, seems I didn’t stick to that, because 6 years later I’m running a 10-person team, lol.

Some people are fine keeping things solo. Nothing wrong with that.

Others have a natural tendency to want to build, grow and bust through ceilings.

I fall into the latter category.

In the end, I didn't stay a company of one because...

→ There’s something in me that wants to bust through the ceiling even if it’s hard
→ I want to expand my impact on others
→ I don’t enjoy the status quo and staying at a certain level would make me anxious

I know plenty of people who want to grow, build a team, and scale.

But I also know people in my network who went solo and are crushing it (hi, Erica)

Both paths work. They just come with different tradeoffs.

Clients ain't gonna leave you because their books were off by $83.

They leave because they felt:

– confused
– judged
– ignored
– talked down to
– like a ticket in a queue

And accuracy isn’t a differentiator for your firm. It’s the bare minimum to stay in business.

So if your firm’s marketing is basically:

✅ “We’re accurate.”
✅ “We’re detail-oriented.”
✅ “We know tax.”

...you’re describing every firm -- and also every piece of software your client is already paying for. 

What clients actually pay for now?

CERTAINTY. 

The feeling that someone competent is driving and they can stop white-knuckling the steering wheel.

That’s the outcome.
 
Then communication is the mechanism.

Because your clients don’t experience your technical skill, they experience:

→ how fast you reply
→ whether you explain things like a human
→ whether you sound calm when they’re stressed
→ whether you give options instead of jargon
→ whether they leave calls feeling clearer... or smaller

I’ve said this before:

The firm that makes clients feel calm will beat the firm that’s “technically perfect.”

Every time. 🙂

Hey LinkedIn. I've been on vacay for 2 weeks. Other than nonstop talk about Claude vs. ChatGPT, did I miss anything?

Linda is your Tax Manager.

Linda is also your Director of Operations.

Linda is exhausted.

But you didn’t plan it.

She was good, she was trusted, she was there, so whenever the firm needed something, Linda got the call.

Next thing you know, Linda's doing two completely different jobs under one salary and telling everyone she's fine.

SHE IS NOT FINE.

Every single day she's choosing between the client work that's due and the operational stuff that's been sitting on the back burner since January. 

Client work wins. It always wins. 

→ So the processes never get built 
→ The team stuff gets half the attention it needs 
→ The internal fixes just keep waiting

And because she's good, because she never complains, never misses a deadline, never makes it your problem, you don't notice how unsustainable it actually is.

Until she burns out. Or leaves. Or both.

Linda deserves one job with actual focus and actual ownership and a to-do list that a normal human being could reasonably finish.

Go check on your Linda. 🙂

A hard truth: 

Your best team member might quit... even if they like you.

Because liking you doesn’t pay rent.

If you want to keep A-players, it’s usually not about perks.

It’s about 5 things:

1) Clarity

→ What does “great” look like here? 
→ What matters this week? 
→ What doesn’t?

2) Fair pay (above market)

High performers know their value. 
If you’re “competitive,” you’re competing... with everyone.

3) Flexibility

Just enough trust to live like a human. 🙂

4) No micromanagement

If you hired them for ownership… don’t take it back the second they do it differently than you would.

5) Ask better questions (instead of jumping to conclusions)

Before “why didn’t you do X?” try:

→ “What happened?”
→ “What got in the way?”
→ “What would make this easier next time?”

Most A-players don’t leave after one hard week.

They leave when they realize:

“This is just how it’s going to be here.”

…

P.S. Ever left somewhere you liked… because the offer was better?

Confession from a coaching client of mine:

“I love an accounting firm business, but I don't love accounting.”

Is that a problem?

My answer:

Heck no, it's not a problem! Some of the best firm owners out there are pretty terrible accountants.

Thoughts?

My #1 fan has read every newsletter since 2018. She’s 92.

And she doesn’t understand most of what I write.

I write 3 email newsletters a week.

I try my best to make them as insightful and as valuable as humanly possible, yet in a digestible way.

I will admit that sometimes, I write a newsletter because I think it'll be fun for me and at least one other person.

One of the newsletters I sent a few weeks ago is one of those... because I wrote it for one of my fans, who is my grandmother.

Otherwise known as Nanny.

She's been a reader of my newsletter since my very first edition on Nov. 28, 2018!

The photo below is of us playing jarts up north at the cottage.

(Side note: Jarts were banned in Canada and the US in the 80's after 6,100 emergency room injuries in an 8-year span)

She reads every single one of my newsletters, even if she doesn't understand what the heck I'm saying.

You'll no doubt have #1 fans in your business as well.

It's important you give them the recognition they deserve and make them feel important.

Thanks for being a #1 fan, Nanny!

P.S. If you want the newsletter (Nanny-approved-ish), you can subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/edg-g5T8

P.P.S. Who is your #1 fan? Give them a shout-out in the comments 🙂

I hired the most expensive option twice last year. On purpose.

In both cases, the person I chose was by far the priciest.

One was my coach (about 4x the next best option).

The other was a $35k software migration expert (roughly 10x the alternative I was considering).

So why do some people charge way more... and still get the deal?

One BIG reason:

Their marketing pre-sold me.

My coach’s newsletter + content hit exactly what I was dealing with. It felt like, “yep, this person gets my world.”

Same with the migration expert.

Before we ever spoke, I already felt confident they’d seen my problem before and knew the path through it.

Here’s what made those stand out:

When I actually got into sales conversations with other options... a lot of it felt transactional.

– Quick chats
– Scripted questions 
– Well-trained reps

It all felt like “a process.”

My coach’s process felt different. 

– Warmer 
– Human 
– Like a real conversation

And that’s what made me choose him. I trusted him. 

That trust didn’t start with the proposal.

It started months earlier… with content that hit exactly what I was dealing with, and a process that felt genuine.

That’s why clients will pay 10x more for some firms and not blink.

Because when your marketing pre-sells and your process builds confidence…

…price somehow stops being the deciding factor. 🙂

I often decline “good opportunities” in my business.

(Even when they’re enticing, and even when they pay well)

It took me longer than it should have to learn that sometimes the “best” opportunities are the ones that quietly knock you off course.

Especially when:

→ They’re not aligned with where you’re taking the business
→ They’re not aligned with how you want to operate
→ They create momentum in a direction you don’t actually want

So here’s a simple filter I use (and I give to firm owners I coach) to decide fast without overthinking:

Before you say yes, answer these 3 questions:

1) Does this move the one thing I’m focused on right now?
2) What will this steal time from? (Be specific.)
3) What momentum does this create?

If the answers aren’t a clear yes, it’s a no. 

But there are exceptions.

If it genuinely helps the people you already serve, maybe consider it.

If you’re truly curious and want to learn, maybe.

Some people thrive on being everywhere. 

Ten events in 3 months, 7 podcasts a month, partnerships coming out of their ears. That energizes them.

That’s great if that’s you.

Some of us are just not wired that way.

I just constantly remind myself (and the firm owners I coach) that every yes, even the good ones, has a tradeoff.

5 things that could make an angry client *happily* pay you double:

(And keep you top of mind.) 

1) Give them peace of mind.
2) Flag bad news early.
3) Avoid all the nasty surprises.
4) Make them feel taken care of.
5) Apologize when you mess up.

The last one is the big one.

Because when something goes wrong, most firms default to: “That’s not our fault.”

And maybe it technically isn’t.

When a frustrated client reaches out, there's almost always something you could have done better.

(I say "almost always" because there are some clients that just plain stink.)

We all make mistakes.

The difference is whether you defend... or you take ownership.

Clients don’t pay more because you’re perfect.

They pay more because they trust you.

And trust grows when you:

– Flag issues before they discover them
– Take responsibility without excuses
– Fix things quickly and calmly

If you apply that across the firm, something interesting happens:

You deliver a better experience, clients happily pay you more, you serve fewer of them, and still make the same (or more) money.

Win-win.

If my COO could have awarded me with a trophy soon after she was hired, it might have been this. 

She was hired because I detest anything related to operations.

Putting systems and processes in place.

Hiring, interviewing, and onboarding.

Managing a team.

All that kind of stuff...

Maybe 6 weeks in, she sent me a Loom which had a few of these lines in it:

→ “You hired me to get you out of the weeds. But you're getting yourself into the weeds.”
→ “You are holding on to those reins tight.”
→ “You are in the nitty-gritty weeds.”
→ “You have to take your hands off of everything.”

And this beaut:

→ “I need you to get out the way.” 💣 💣 💣

Point made!

Did I mention she's quite direct? 😂

It was a bit of a wake-up call for me, truthfully.

Because all this time I didn't think I was that bad.

But seems I was.

And the reason I share all this is because I actually see the same kind of "control freak" personality traits in those I coach.

They're involved in EVERYTHING in the firm, making sure things are perfect.

And it kinda makes sense:

Because accountants have been trained to get things just right.

To balance every penny.

(Can you imagine if the books didn't balance?!)

But that doesn't translate well into running a business where things don't actually need to be perfect.

That's because having control over everything means you'll bottleneck.

Which means you sacrifice freedom and growth.

In fact, my COO had this piece of advice, which I think may be helpful if you struggle with being a control freak:

✅ “It's OK to let things breathe.”
✅ “It's OK to let some balls drop.”

If you want to have the type of business where you're hands-off, the pivot starts with you. 🙂

When I was much younger, I’d take almost any job.

Didn’t care who it was for. 

I just wanted the experience.

A foot in the door.

A paycheck.

So when I tried to hire for my own firm, I assumed others felt the same. 

I thought:

Post a role, pick someone, done.

But here’s the part I didn’t think through:

(And one I wish more new firm owners would hear)

Just because people need jobs... doesn’t mean they’ll want yours.

Some firm owners post a role and expect applications to flood in, then they get frustrated when the “right” person doesn’t show up.

But hiring isn’t one-sided.

You have to work for it before someone says yes.

That means:
→ Clear expectations
→ A real career path
→ Flexibility (because yes, they care)
→ A reason they’d choose YOU over 10 other job posts that all sound the same

If your mindset is “someone will take this, people need jobs”...

You’re going to attract the wrong people and deal with way bigger problems later. 

Top talent doesn’t just want a job anymore. 

→ They want direction
→ Stability 
→ Flexibility 
→ They want to know what they’re walking into.

If that part’s unclear or not at all appealing, they’ll move on. 

So build something worth joining.

Then someone great will say yes. 

P.S. Any tips you’d add to help attract top talent?

I’ve met a lot of “successful” firm owners who aren’t happy.

And I don’t mean their business is falling apart because on paper, it’s doing great.

When they say that, I don’t doubt them.

But I usually ask a few quiet questions to get a fuller picture:

- Are you happy?
- Are your clients happy?
- Is your team happy? 
- Is the firm actually generating the profit you want?

If even one of those is off...

Then maybe things aren’t as great as they seem.

Because on the surface, things can look fine. 

But behind the scenes, things are barely holding it together.

→ Revenue is growing... but so is stress.
→ Clients are staying… but you’re not sure why. 
→ The team’s working… but burning out quietly. 
→ And you haven’t taken a real break in months (or years). 

This is more common than most people admit, especially in firms that are “doing well.”

It doesn’t mean that you’re failing. 

But it’s a sign to slow down and ask the right questions.

Not always fun to hear:

But if you want your firm to grow without everything flowing back to you, the work starts with you. 

Easier said than done...

Which is why I'm excited to present on this subject on March 25 during the Bookkeeping Workflow Summit with several other fantastic presenters.

My specific session is titled:

How to Stop Being Your Firm’s Bottleneck: A 3-Step Program

(It's free and virtual so you can attend in your pajamas. 🙂)

Register here to attend or catch the recording: https://lnkd.in/eTDVFkTE 

Also I’m excited to do this alongside some seriously good people: ⚡️Roman Villard, CPA, Kellie Parks, CPB, FCPB, Greg Scholten, EA, and George Abdelmessih.

A weird metric I love:

“How often does your team solve something without telling you?”

If the answer is “never”... that’s worth looking at.

Here’s why:

→ It usually means they don’t feel safe making decisions
→ They don’t have clear standards to lean on
→ They don’t have decision rights
→ They’re missing context
→ You’re too fast to fix

A few practical moves that don’t feel like babysitting:

1) Stop answering on the spot.

“Make the call and tell me what you decided.”

(Watch how fast ownership shows up.)

2) When they bring a problem, ask one question:

“What do you think we should do?”

3) Pick one area and fully hand it over.

4) Let them be wrong sometimes.

Never in a catastrophic way. But if there’s no room to miss... there’s no room to lead.

One more thing:

I’m not saying all this from some perfect leadership pedestal.

I still catch myself jumping in too fast sometimes.

But I’m just committed to improving them.

That’s the work.

POV: Different ways people handle tax season stress 🔥

Which one are you?

P.S. This was taken during our team retreat in Bohol in 2025. Yes, the fire was real!

Most firm owners try to prove ROI with numbers.

But the best ROI is often... 

Relief.

If your client sleeps better because you’re on top of their mess, that’s value. 🙂

I help accountants hire top accounting staff in The Philippines, directly.

When I started hiring in the Philippines for my bookkeeping firm, I saw how the big outsourcing companies operated... and it was ugly.

They’d hire someone for about $1,000/month, then bill the firm $2,000 or $3,000 every month for as long as that person worked there.

That’s $12-24k a year in ongoing fees...

Per employee.

(While providing both you and the employee with a worse experience than if you’d just hired them yourself.)

And here’s the kicker:

The person you hire isn’t even actually part of your team.
They “belong” to the outsourcing company.

If you try to hire them directly, you’ll face:

• Legal threats
• “Exit fees” in the thousands

And because most outsourcing companies quietly insert "gag clauses" into their contracts...

You won't hear many people talking about this publicly.

(But the conversation is entirely different behind closed doors.)

It’s the industry’s dirty little secret.

After building my bookkeeping team in the Philippines directly (without going through an outsourcing company)...

Other accounting firm owners started asking me about it.

→ "Why did you do it like that?"
→ "Why not use an outsourcing company?"

Then when I shared how the outsourcing industry ACTUALLY operates and all the shady tactics involved, they started asking:

→ "How did you do that?"
→ "Can you help me?"

And that's how TeamUp was born.

We do things differently.

We’re recruiters, not an outsourcing company. That means:

We help you find and hire great people in the Philippines.

• No middlemen.
• No ongoing fees.
• Just you and your team.

We handle:

→ Finding the perfect fit for your team
→ Helping you hire them directly

Then we leave you to run your team the way you want. 🙂
Just like it should be.

Firms save money.
Your team earns more.
Everyone wins.

So far, we've placed 250+ hires in the Philippines with 135+ firms.

Here's a breakdown of the roles we've hired for in our first 26 months:

• 98 bookkeepers/accountants
• 80 senior bookkeepers/accountants
• 42 tax accountants
• 11 team leads/managers
• 10 EAs/VAs
• Plus some others…

53% of our hires so far in 2025 have been for repeat clients.
And 77% of all of our hires are still with the firm we placed them in.

If you're curious about hiring in the Philippines, I'd love to share what we've learned.

Just DM me, and I'll share my calendar link with you.

Isaac Smith

I can't count how many firm owners tell me the same thing:
"We just need someone who is plug-and-play."
If that's the type of hire you want, you should know this:

People are not USBs.

They're not software.

They're not something you can "install" and expect immediate results from.

I get it -

You're swamped. You needed help yesterday. But every time one of our clients expects a new hire to instantly "get it," the same thing happens: 

Everyone ends up frustrated.

The firm says:
↳ "Why do they need so much attention?"

The employee says:
↳ "I'm still trying to figure out what you actually want from me."

When you bring in someone new (whether they're from the Philippines or Philadelphia), I tell firms:

Plan for 2 months of onboarding & training.

If someone gets up-to-speed faster?
↳ Great. It's a nice surprise.

If not?
↳ Great. You planned for it.

You're not assembling machines. You're developing people. And people don't just click into place. They grow into it.

Give them that opportunity.

Hire accountants in the Philippines, directly (without an outsourcing company).

I'm excited to be heading to the Philippines tomorrow! 
And this time is different because I'm bringing my wife and daughter.

This is where we'll be going - El Nido, Palawan (image from Google)

It'll be a nice spring break team retreat.  I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

See ya!

Our team celebrates when we sign new clients.
But they also celebrate when we don't.
For example:

We had a potential client who could have given us a lot of work over the next year or so. Like, at least $50k, but probably closer to $100k.

(Who knows, really, but that's my best guess.)

But this person did something that every. single. one. of our "bad" clients has ever done:

They tried to negotiate price.

Without fail:

Every person who has tried to negotiate on price has been a bad client.

So I turned them down.

And I told the team about it, and we celebrated it.

Why?

Because I know this client would have made the team's lives harder. They know it too. And the revenue just isn't worth the hassle.

That's not the type of business I'm trying to run.

Would the money have been nice?

Absolutely! 

But I place more value on having a happy team.

PS. I do this because it's right, but practically, I do think in the long run this approach will bring more money as well.

Here’s a lesson I’ve learned recently.
Optimism is self fulfilling.

Congrats to Josh Hall for making his first hire in the Philippines! He has an important message, which is that their "mission stays the same."

This echoes my main message about "offshoring". 
That is - hire great people. 

It shouldn't be any different than hiring in another state, except a few details.

Of course, I'm thrilled that our team made "the process quite literally the easiest thing [they] have ever done."

That's high praise! (Though it is the goal.) Thank you Josh for your kind words, and the opportunity to help!

Currently scaling an accounting, tax, and consulting company with awesome people, technology, processes, and clients 🚀

As of today, J. Hall & Company is officially in our 4th country, the Philippines! 

Major shoutout to TeamUp and Isaac Smith for making the process quite literally the easiest thing we have ever done.  

That being said, our mission stays the same. Our approach to accounting and tax work is grounded in empathy and real conversations. We listen before we advise. We actually answer emails and phone calls. We get excited to go have coffee and lunch and talk shop with business owners. We understand that behind every financial decision is a business owner who’s taking risks, making sacrifices, and trying to build something that matters.

AI can't change this. Does it help make things more efficient for our team to free up time to be able to stay true to our mission? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, we are working with real humans, and that is what we get excited about.

Here's to continuing to improve every day and continuing to work with as many business owners as we can!

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The Battle

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