That Bookkeeper

I have worked as an independent bookkeeper since 2004. That Bookkeeper offers excellent small business bookkeeping, consulting, and support.

Owner

Scott's Music

Bookkeeper from 2005-2009.
Purchasing Manager from 2008-2009.
General Manager 2009.

General Manager, Purchasing Manager, Bookkeeper

The Recycle Bin

Bookkeeper, Office Manager

Your New Bookkeeper | Saving 🇨🇦 & 🇺🇸 Owners Time & Stress | Fully remote bookkeeping for solopreneurs & small teams

If you’re reading my About section, you’re likely 1 of 3 people. 

1. A business owner
2. A bookkeeper

3. You’re just trying to figure out if I’m the Eric Matthews 
you remember from school, work, jail, etc. 
Short answer: I’m probably not. 

If you run a business, here are a few ways I can help. 

DIY, DWY, DFY

DIY (do it yourself): 

If you want to do your own bookkeeping, I get it. 

Every owner should know their numbers. 
Doing the work gives you a deep understanding on how your business runs. 
If/when you decide to outsource the work, you’ll know what to look for 
and you’ll be able to understand the monthly financial reports.

If that’s you, I recommend following me. 
I share content that will help you understand 
what to look for in your numbers, and tips on running a more efficient business. 

DWY (do it with you): 

If you’re not looking for a bookkeeper but just need some advice, 
I recommend connecting with me. 

Send me a message and let me know what you’re struggling with, like: 

- how to set up your software
- what to look for in your reports
- how to improve cash flow

I can answer most questions right in the messages. 
For bigger topics, we can set up a consulting call.

DFY (do it for you): 

If it’s time to outsource your bookkeeping, 
we can book a call and find out if I’d be a good fit. 
Not all bookkeepers are created equal, and only certain ones 
will be suited for your business and your needs. 
The important thing is finding one right for you. 

If you’re a bookkeeper, here’s how I can help. 

Please consider following me. 
I write content that most bookkeepers can relate to.
It’s not all about bookkeeping tips. There are plenty of places to find that. 

My goal is to give you tips on running a practice. 
How to deal with the pressure of running one by yourself, 
and some advice on doing it in an efficient way without burning out. 

If you’d like to get a deeper dive each week, you’d like my newsletter. 
It comes out every Monday morning, and it provides more advice 
than you can easily fit into a LinkedIn post. 

And, if you ever have questions that I haven’t covered, please connect with me. 
Send me a message. 
I’m always happy to help a fellow bookkeeper. 
In most cases, I can give you a quick answer in the messages. 
If your question needs a bit more time, we can book a consulting call. 
On a call, you’ll be able to explain your question in detail, and we can work together to find an answer. Or, if you just want to spend some time venting about a client, 
we can do that too.

Eric Matthews

Second Half Solopreneur | C.L.E.A.R. Purpose™ | Monetize Your Mind™ | live a profitable life

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗦Every week, I meet three types of business owners:Owner #1 just realized they should start thinking about selling "someday." They're 55+, tired, and terrified to look under the hood. Will they leave millions on the table?Owner #2 is drowning in due diligence, second-guessing everything, hasn't slept in weeks. The buyer went silent. Their attorney and banker are fighting. They're ready to walk away just to make it stop.Owner #3 sold six months ago. $30M+ in the bank. But they're sitting in their kitchen at 10am with nowhere to go, nobody calling, nothing urgent. They thought selling would bring freedom. Instead, it brought a void.Here's what nobody tells you: Only 20% of businesses that go to market actually sell. And 85% of those owners deeply regret it within 12 months.Not because of the price.Because they planned the EXIT but not the ENTRANCE.𝗜 𝗗𝗢 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧.For 21 years, I've guided business owners through M&amp;A—but my work doesn't start at the LOI and doesn't end at closing.I guide owners through three critical transitions:PREPARING TO SELL → So you don't leave $5-10M on the tableNAVIGATING THE SALE → So you don't get retraded or outmaneuvered by professional buyersTHRIVING AFTER THE SALE → So you don't wake up post-close with a full bank account and an empty soulThis is the SMART Exit Framework™—maximum value, minimum regret.𝗠𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬:I launched my first business at 20. Since then, I've owned or partnered in 9 companies—giving me the perspective of someone who's been in your shoes.21 years in M&amp;A. Hundreds of transactions. Global stages. Author of SMART Exit Advantage.But here's what drives me: I've watched too many owners sell and collapse. They got the money but lost themselves.My mission is to make sure that doesn't happen to you.𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗜 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛:→ Owners 50+ preparing for exit in 1-5 years→ Owners in-transaction feeling overwhelmed→ Recently exited owners searching for purposeYou deserve an exit that's valuable financially AND emotionally.𝗟𝗘𝗧'𝗦 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞:Read the book: SMART Exit AdvantageBook a SMART Exit Assessment: [link in profile]Your business is worth millions.Your life after should be priceless.

Paul B. Evans

What if the problem isn’t that you’re doing too little… but that you’ve been doing too much for too long?

This piece isn’t about quitting ambition.

It’s about understanding the grip of productivity as identity and how we got here...

Paul B Evans

Sell your company for 25% more | 21 Years of 7, 8, & 9 Figure Transaction Experience | SellReady 365™ | Get the book... SMART Exit Advantage™

Short answer: it wasn’t inevitable - it was installed. For the first twenty-five years of my working life, productivity was my religion. I bragged, of

Open article: The Origin Story of Productivity: How Did This Happen To Us? by Paul B Evans • 5 min read

The Origin Story of Productivity: How Did This Happen To Us?

You know you’re doing the work you’re meant to do when it feels like "home, not like survival.

Home doesn’t require permission.
Home doesn’t make you audition.
Home doesn’t keep moving the goalposts.

If your work constantly asks you to "prove your worth," you’re not building a career you’re cleaning someone else’s house.

The work you’re meant for:

* Doesn’t fracture you.
* Doesn’t demand a persona.
* Doesn’t punish you for being fully yourself.

It carries a quiet authority.
A grounded confidence.
A sense of “I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

You deserve work that meets you with familiarity, not friction.
Work that strengthens you instead of extracting you.
Work that feels like alignment, not endurance.

That’s the standard.
Not someday.
Now.

Where are you still tolerating in your work that feels foreign, when you were built for home?

Your firm spent $50K on AI tools this year and still can't figure out why clients are leaving. 

Here's why: 

AI exposed that your expertise was just expensive pattern matching. 

The CPAs winning right now? 

They stopped selling what they know and started selling what they see.

21 Years of 7, 8, & 9 Figure Transaction Experience | SellReady 365™ | Get the book... SMART Exit Advantage™

Most people don’t hate their job. They hate the lack of control.

AI is forever changing CPA practices. This newsletter helps you transform from compliance expert to strategic consultant by 2030 with practical insights to future-proof your practice and unlock high-value advisory opportunities...

The Brutal Truth AI isn't coming for compliance work. It's already here. And it's not replacing CPAs with robots. It's replacing CPAs who only do comp

Open article: The $4.7 Trillion A.I. Question: Why CPAs Who Don't Partner with M&A Advisors Could Lose Half Their Revenue by 2030 by Paul B Evans • 7 min read

The $4.7 Trillion A.I. Question: Why CPAs Who Don't Partner with M&A Advisors Could Lose Half Their Revenue by 2030

The weekend is a great time to explore... The AI Partnership Model

AI does compliance. 
You do advisory.

AI enforces rules. 
You architect solutions.

AI says "this is wrong." 
You say "this is possible."

This isn't automation replacing CPAs. This is automation freeing CPAs to do the high-value work they should have been doing all along.

The CPAs embracing this? 
They're not threatened by AI. 
They're partnered with it.

Most of us are outsourcing our inner life to the future.

"When this deal closes…"
"When I slow down…"
"When the money is right…"
"When things finally settle…"

We tell ourselves the future will fix what’s missing inside us now.

When we imagine the future it is rarely about a thing, it's usually about a feeling.

Peace.
Permission.
Enough-ness.
Freedom.
Joy.

But the future is a terrible place to store your inner life.
It never arrives the way you imagine.

The real question isn’t "when" things will change.

It’s what are you postponing feeling, claiming, or choosing today?

That answer usually starts the shift.

→ What are you waiting on the future to give you?

AI will replace you here within 3 years. Not because you're doing bad work, but because these clients are shopping on price, not value. That's the first type of client mentioned in this edition...

Tax season is here. You already know you're going to be buried. Returns stacking up. Client emails multiplying. That growing sense of dread every time

Open article: 03: The Hidden Data Set: Your Firm Is Running the Most Important Research Project of the Year (And You're About to Delete the Results) by Paul B Evans • 9 min read

03: The Hidden Data Set: Your Firm Is Running the Most Important Research Project of the Year (And You're About to Delete the Results)

If you’ve been thinking that 2026 could be the year to sell your business, now is the time to get started…

There are many conversations right now about the impact of AI on the CPA and M&A worlds. What shifts actually need to be made to avoid elimination? There's little doubt that many firms that refuse to make the shift will not be around in 5 to 7 years, but that is plenty of time for those who are willing to make the adjustments. As GenX, I am VERY excited about the future and believe that in terms of our ability to serve more effectively, A.I. will catapult, not crush our worlds! #cpa #mergersandacquisitions #ai

I am connected with 3000+ CPAs, and the biggest topic of conversation right now is the future of public accounting and artificial intelligence. How is

Open article: The Shifts in the CPA & M&A Worlds? by Paul B Evans • 7 min read

Without vision people still show up for work but feel dead inside. It's Night of the Living Dead in most companies. 

Where there is no vision, people don’t fail, their heart does. 

They pass away right there in the cubical.

Years ago, I helped a nonprofit struggling to raise funds. The director retained me for three days to attend and listen to every meeting. 

After the three days he asked, "Well, can you see anything I am doing wrong?"

"Yes. Your selling the organization and not the vision."

He was speaking to entrepreneurs and builders - people fueled by vision -
and talking about the organization and the great work it was doing instead of sharing something worth doing and building.

"Give them a vision that cannot be accomplished without them. Invite them to that work, not to be part of your donors club."

Growing a business is no different.
“If you work hard, you’ll be rewarded” isn’t vision.
"Let's get higher on the Fortune 500 list" isn't vision.

Those are points without a presence.
Vision is a future so clear it pulls people forward.

A reason effort feels meaningful.
A magnet that makes commitment make sense.

The days of blindly following a commander are gone. 

The days of loyalty to a company that in return isn't loyal have vanished. 

People want to know...

What hasn't been done before?
How will we change the world for the better?
What level of autonomy, trust, or mastery will I earn?
What kind of professional will I become?
What skills will I master?

When vision disappears, people don’t rebel.
They lose heart and checkout. 

Where there is no vision the people perish.

The CPAs most at risk are not the struggling ones. It's the comfortable ones.

They’re the ones who say:

   • “We’re booked solid”
   • “Tax season is insane”
   • “We don’t need to change”
   • “This is just hype”

These firms often:

   • Max out partner capacity
   • Depend on long hours
   • Operate on thin margins masked by volume
   • Are one tech leap away from disruption

They feel safe because the cliff hasn’t arrived... yet.

But cliffs don’t announce themselves.

The Abundant Advisor is for CPAs who know the it's on the way... https://lnkd.in/eDqGYVCB

For decades, the value was in knowing the code.
Knowing the unknowable. 

CPAs have been like priests in 1454.
The keeper of secret knowledge.
Voice of the ancient code. 

Then everything changed in 1455 with the Gutenberg Bible.

The sacred texts moved from the musty monastery libraries to kitchen tables. 

Access for all is leverage lost. 

AI is the Gutenberg moment for the public accountant.

Clients are starting to notice and ask for themselves.

They are starting to quote codes revealed by ChatGPT.

So who are you when the secret knowledge goes public?

That worked when labor was abundant, information was scarce,
and people needed permission to survive.

That world is gone.

Boomers are exiting.
GenX is watching + wising up.
The next generation is rising up.

In an AI economy, compliance is cheap.
Creativity, judgment, and trust are not.

Companies built on fear won’t evolve.
They’ll go extinct.

Not because they were evil
but because they were outdated.

The future doesn’t belong to the hungriest workers.
It belongs to the ones seeking meaning.
It belongs to the visioneers.

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paulbevans

Value Builder Certified

40 Days of Focus to Improve Productivity and Goal Setting

Goal setting and achievement for the undisciplined.

5 Stones Goals

Achieve Productivity : How to Become a Human Time Machine

Brain Washed: 7 Day Mental Detox

Discover the simple process to gain clarity. Designed for creators and entrepreneurs with too many ideas, too many plans, and too many directions.

CLEAR Purpose: CLICK HERE to Get It For Free

S.M.A.R.T. Business Exit™ | Million Dollar Exit Advisor™ - CPA Edition

My work focuses on two big passions:

1️⃣ Helping CPAs shift from compliance work to high-value consulting in the age of AI.

2️⃣ Guiding business owners through the S.M.A.R.T. Exit Framework™ to prepare, position, and profit when it’s time to sell their company.

I’m also deeply committed to something bigger than business—helping bring care, education, and opportunity to orphans worldwide.

If we work together, I’m not just your advisor. I’m your ally. Your sounding board. The guy who’s been there, made the mistakes, and found the paths that actually work.
 
How I Help CPAs Move from Compliance to Consulting (in the Age of AI)

•	Show you how to package your expertise into advisory services your clients actually want—and will pay high-ticket fees for.

•	Build service models that protect and grow your income as AI takes over repetitive compliance tasks.

•	Teach you how to spot opportunities with your clients before they ever mention selling.

•	Equip you with tools to confidently refer or represent clients in major transactions—creating bigger wins for them and for you.

•	Substantially reduce your hours while increasing your income.

_________________
 
How I Help Business Owners with a S.M.A.R.T. Exit™

•	Prepare your company for sale so buyers see maximum value.

•	Position your business to attract multiple offers and create competitive tension.

•	Navigate the process from interest to closing without losing momentum or control.

•	Avoid the “hidden” mistakes that cost owners millions when selling.
 
Why I Do This

Business is a vehicle—for freedom, for impact, for legacy. Whether you’re a CPA pivoting into consulting or an owner preparing to sell, my goal is the same:

Help you move from “good enough” to “best possible outcome,” without burning out or selling yourself short.

And if we do it right, the ripple effect reaches far beyond profit margins—changing lives, communities, and futures.

I’ve spent over 37 years at the intersection of business, strategy, and people.

I’ve owned 11 businesses, written 9 books, and walked alongside hundreds of entrepreneurs and advisors as they navigated their biggest opportunities and toughest decisions.

paulbevans.com/smart

6 years experience of managing and overseeing the work regarding orphanages in 9 countries.

Served 6 years as a board member to Ciudad de Angeles and orphan focused nonprofit in Cozumel Mexico.

Orphan care and educational growth in Lumbadzi, Malawi, Africa. 

Here's the uncomfortable truth most owners miss: Buyers aren't asking if YOU can run the business. They're asking if your TEAM can run it without you.

Last week, I watched a deal stall because the founder couldn't answer a simple question: "What happens if you get sick for a month?"

The silence said everything.

This owner generated $21M in annual revenue. Strong margins. Great reputation. But when buyers looked closer, they saw what always kills valuations: a 70-hour-a-week job disguised as a business.

- He personally managed the top 5 clients
- He approved every proposal over $100K
- He was the only one who could negotiate with key suppliers
- The team waited for his decision on everything

Buyers didn't see a company. They saw an expensive dependency problem.

Compare that to a business that sold last year at a premium multiple. The owner had built something different:

His COO ran operations. His sales director owned client relationships. His CFO managed the numbers. 

When he took a three-week vacation to Italy... the business actually performed better... because the team wasn't waiting for him to make decisions.

That's what buyers pay for.

Not your hustle. Not your relationships. Not your irreplaceability.

They pay for a management team that proves the business works without you.

Here's your reconnaissance mission:

Leave for 30 days. No email. No calls. No "quick check-ins."

What breaks? That's your dependency list.

What thrives? That's your value story.

The gap between those two answers is the gap between getting your number and getting crushed in negotiations.

Most owners spend decades building businesses where they're the hero. Buyers pay a premium for businesses where the owner has become optional.

Make yourself replaceable. That's how you become even more valuable.

If you're thinking about your CPA practice on a Saturday, you're either:

Anxious about what's changing
or
Ambitious about what you're building.

The difference matters.

One leads to better compliance systems.

The other leads to a practice someone will actually stay with you as the compliance world completely shifts by 2030.

The Abundant Advisor is for CPAs who know the difference and aren't interested in perfecting the wrong thing.

New issue just dropped: https://lnkd.in/eeGwS8zZ

CPAs build a $600K practice around a word that means "obey."

No business owner wakes up thinking: "I can't wait to comply today."

Yet CPAs have spent 40 years branding themselves as professional rule-followers.

The CPAs getting client referrals without asking? 

They stopped selling compliance and started selling what owners actually want: more profit, less risk, cleaner exits.

Toxic Workplaces Are Not Illegal

This surprises a lot of people...

Most toxic workplaces don’t violate the law.

They violate trust, clarity and basic human dignity - but not statutes.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

• Chronic stress is not illegal
• Broken *expectations* (vs. contracts) are not illegal
• Power hoarding is not illegal
• Moving goalposts are not illegal
• Poor communication is not illegal
• “Just keep your head down and produce” is not illegal
• Verbal bonuses that go unpaid

Even environments that slowly erode confidence, health, and peace of mind often fall well within what courts consider “normal workplace stress.”

The legal system sets a very high bar for emotional distress.

Why? Because if “toxic” were illegal, half the economy would be in court.

What *is* actionable tends to be much narrower:

• Written compensation promises
• Contractual obligations
• Wage and payment violations
• Clear misrepresentation
• Protected-class discrimination
• Retaliation

That distinction matters.

Because many high-performing professionals stay far too long trying to justify their pain legally instead of asking a more important question:

Is this sustainable for the person I’m becoming?

You don’t need a lawsuit to tell you something is off.

You don’t need therapy notes to validate misalignment.

You don’t need a high threshold to decide your nervous system has had enough.

Sometimes the most powerful move isn’t proving harm - it’s reclaiming agency.

If this resonates, you’re not weak.

You’re perceptive.

And that usually means it’s time for a different conversation.

As a boss told me once, "If you're not happy you can leave."

And so I did. :) 

Agree? Disagree? Got a story about it?

♻️ Repost if you have ever worked in toxicity.

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Eric Matthews

Paul B. Evans

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