Josh Aharonoff, CPA

Fractional CFO | Founder & CEO at Mighty Digits | Follow Your CFO Guy for Finance & Accounting tips!

I build tools that make financial reporting effortless — starting with Model Wiz, the Excel-based FP&A platform used by accounting firms, founders, and CFOs. 

I also teach finance and Excel to a community of 400,000+ across YouTube, LinkedIn, and my newsletter. 

When I’m not creating, I work as a fractional CFO helping companies turn their financial data into action.

Check out some helpful resources here:

🔗 www.modelwiz.com - Get beautiful dashboards + forecast right in your excel file

🔗 www.yourcfoguy.com - Learn Finance & Accounting like you’ve never seen before

🔗 www.mightydigits.com - Get hands on support

CEO and Founder

Mighty Digits is a consulting firm specializing in Accounting and Finance services for early stage startups. Services include Financial modeling, Month end Close, AP / AR Management, Payroll, Compliance Filings and more.

33 roles in Finance & Accounting 👤👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👥👨👩
The opportunities in Finance & Accounting are never ending…

and the field continues to be one of the most versatile fields out there, 

yielding incredible ROIs for anyone who decides to pursue a background in Finance & Accounting.

Let’s dive into 33 roles spanning a wide range of areas & levels of seniority across the profession 👇

◼️ Accounting → Key tasks include creating financial reports and overseeing monetary operations.

👤 Bookkeeper

👤 Accounts Payable Clerk

👤 Accounts Receivables Clerk

👤 Payroll specialist

👤 Senior accountant

👤 Controller

👤 Cost accountant

👤 Financial systems analyst

👤 Inventory specialist

◼️ FP&A → Involves generating forecasts, comparing projected versus actual results, and in-depth analysis of margins and metrics.

👤 FP&A Analyst

👤 FP&A Manager

👤 VP of Finance

◼️ Auditing → Focuses on verifying the reliability and completeness of financial documents, ensuring compliance, and overseeing control mechanisms.

👤 Internal Auditor

👤 Forensic Accounting specialist

👤 External Auditor

👤 IT Audit manager

◼️Treasury → Manages a company's monetary assets, risk assessment, and investment strategies.

👤 Credit Analyst

👤 Risk Analyst

👤 Treasury Analyst

👤 Chief compliance officer

👤 Foreign exchange analyst

👤 Corporate Treasurer

◼️ Tax → Ensures adherence to tax regulations, aims to minimize tax obligations, and advises on tax-related strategies.

👤 Tax associate

👤 State and local tax specialist

👤 Tax director

👤 International tax specialist

👤 Tax attorney

👤 Tax research analyst

👤 Transfer pricing manager

◼️ Corporate Finance → Identifies investment opportunities and supports various financial goals.

👤 Investment Banker

👤 Head of Mergers & Acquisitions

👤 VP of Capital Markets

👤 Valuations Analyst

And then, of course, there's the ultimate position...

The Chief Financial Officer

Placing this role in a single category is challenging, as a CFO can be involved in nearly every aspect mentioned, depending on the company's size and nature.

===

These are 33 positions I've observed - and there are many more out there.

What would you add to the list?

Join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments below 👇

I live and breathe 2 things...

Finance & Accounting + Startups

Here's what I do:

--> I share Finance & Accounting Best Practices & Advice everyday 

Those usually involve suggestions for running a SMOOTH Finance & Accounting function...filled with some pretty design 


--> I'm also the CEO of an excited Fractional CFO firm (Mighty Digits), filled with some really great minds...

...accomplishing some real big things like:

- Building WORLD CLASS Financial Models for Startups that have gone on to raise over $400M (!) in the last few years 

- Building clean & appealing Dashboards giving VISIBILITY to the CEO, Board Members, and Investors FAST 

- Supporting 40+ high growth startups in everything and anything you could expect out of a Finance & Accounting function..

I'd love to connect and learn more about how we can work with one another - drop me a note at josh@mightydigits.com

4 Levels of Excel Mastery 📊
Excel is my favorite application...by far. 

I use it everyday, and when I don't, I easily feel withdrawal symptoms.

But not everyone uses Excel the same way. 

There are clearly defined levels of mastery, and knowing where you stand can help you understand what skills you need to develop next.

Let me break down the 4 levels of Excel mastery that I've observed in my career 👇

LEVEL 1: BASIC EXCEL FUNCTIONALITY

This is where everyone starts. 

You're getting comfortable with the interface and understanding how to navigate the basic functionality.

At this level, you're working with:

- The Clipboard tools to copy, paste, and format
- Conditional formatting to make your data visually meaningful
- Find & Select features to quickly locate information
- Text and data validation to ensure consistency
- Creating new comments, notes, and sheets

You're building the foundation for everything else.

LEVEL 2: KEY FUNCTIONS

Once you understand the basics, you move into the world of formulas and functions. 

This is where Excel starts becoming a powerhouse.

You'll master:

- References: Relative [$C5], Absolute [$C$5], and Mixed [$C5$]
- IF statements to create conditional logic
- SUMIFS to add values based on multiple criteria
- INDEX/MATCH combination for advanced lookups
- EOMONTH for date manipulation
- XLOOKUP, the new king of lookup functions that returns values from ranges

When you can wield these functions confidently, you're starting to harness Excel's true potential.

LEVEL 3: DATA STRUCTURES

At this level, you understand the difference between structured and unstructured data. 

You know that structured data is easier to manipulate, while unstructured data is easier to consume.

You become proficient with:

- Excel Tables - easy to turn into a pivottable with automatically extending ranges
- PivotTables - quickly slice and dice your data, add custom fields, and drill down into details
- Charts - visualize your data in compelling ways that tell a story

This is where reporting becomes powerful and insights start to emerge from your raw data.

LEVEL 4: DATA TRANSFORMATION

The highest level of Excel mastery is all about creating environments where you can easily refresh and transform data with minimal effort.

You'll work with:

- Power Query - an ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool that adds data from different sources
- Data Model - connects different tables of data together without complex formulas
- SPILL functions - like FILTER, UNIQUE, SORT, SEQUENCE, and TRANSPOSE that fill multiple cells with their results

At this level, you're not just using Excel - you're creating systems that automate your work and deliver insights consistently.

===

Where are you on this journey of Excel mastery? 

What level are you at, and what skills are you working on next?

Let me know in the comments below 👇

Which Accountant are you?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…

Accounting is one of the most versatile fields out there…

with no limits to what you can do with a degree and training.

Accounting is the language of business… 

and business is what makes the world go round 🌎

Here are some popular accountants:

☁️ The SaaS Accountant 

Software as a service has exploded in the last decade, and only became a thing in the 90s when the internet became widely accessible.

SaaS accountants are experts at revenue recognition, customer billings, and non GAAP metrics such as ARR, MRR, Net Dollar retention

🏠 The Real Estate Accountant

Real Estate is another huge industry…

and like all industries, there are complex accounting treatments requiring the right expertise.

Real estate accountants are pros at booking fixed assets, Depreciation / Appreciation, and special tax laws involving the sale of assets

🍔 The Restaurant Accountant

Enjoy being in the kitchen? Restaurant accounting may be for you…

only instead of spending your time sauteing vegetables, you’ll be analyzing pages and pages of transactions…

working with multiple departments to ensure each store is recording the right information on their financial statements

🧐 The Forensic Accountant

Like mysteries & detective work? Forensic accounting may be your calling.

Forensic accountants spend time analyzing records to detect fraud…

and can include interrogating key witnesses, and reporting to governmental authorities

🎬 The Film Accountant

Ever watch the ending credits of a movie?

Next time you watch a movie, stick around till the end, and pause the screen when you see the word “Accountant”.

Accountants are a key piece in any film, ensuring budgets are met, and payroll is being processed correctly.

🤑 The M&A Accountant

Acquiring or Selling a business is an exciting thing…

involving tons of complexities. And who better to handle these complexities than a strong accountant?

M&A accountants are familiar with areas such as the cost of capital, valuations, and goodwill

🤓 The Personal Finance Accountant

Have you set your personal budget for 2024? If so, you may be a proud personal finance accountant.

A personal finance accountant understands the typical expenses that you may face on a regular basis…

and the right level of tracking needed to ensure you hit your financial goals.

===

There’s no limit to what you can do with an accounting degree…

but as I always say, a degree may open door…

the knowledge & experience will give you the true power.

So…now that you know all of the accountants out there…

Which accountant are you?

Share your answer in the comments below 👇

I’ll go first 👀

I'll never forget my first board meeting, and if you scroll to watch the video, you'll see exactly what I wish I had known back then: https://lnkd.in/ek9Ny3dB

I was trembling.

The CEO was there.

His major investors.

One guy had sold his companies for millions and millions of dollars.

It was my turn to present and I froze.

I didn't know what to show them.

Sales?

Cash?

Both?

Something else?

Well, now over a decade later and dozens of board meetings, I've figured it out.

You only need about 10 dashboards to really understand a business.

So I just filmed a walkthrough of every single one I actually use when reporting to clients, investors, and board members.

Like how to show exactly when you're going to run out of cash.

In big, scary visuals that make it impossible to ignore.

Budget vs actual done right.

This is hands down my favorite one to show the board because it makes you look like you actually have a grip on the business.

The variance column trick that stops you from showing negative percentages when they're actually good variances.

Seems small but it'll save you from looking foolish in meetings.

Why your P&L is only half the story.

And which report gives you the context to know if your profits actually mean anything.

Plus how I stack all three financial statements together so leadership sees the full picture in one view.

Here's the thing.

Most people spend way too much time on manual data entry and not enough on actual insights.

These 10 dashboards fix that.

And if you stick around to the end, I'll show you how to get all of them connected to your data.

8 Ways to Value a company

1. DISCOUNTED CASH FLOWS (DCF)
 
 • How it Works: Calculates the present value of an investment based on its expected future cash flows.
 
 • Formula: CF_1 / (1+r)^1 + CF_2 / (1+r)^2 + ... + CF_n / (1+r)^n (CF = Cash Flow, r = discount rate, n = number of periods)
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: M&A, Corporate Finance, Investment Banking
 

2. MARKET CAP
 
 • How it Works: Values a company by multiplying its current share price by the total number of outstanding shares.
 
 • Formula: Share Price x Total Outstanding Shares
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Publicly traded companies
 

3. COMPARABLE COMPANY ANALYSIS (CCA)
 
 • How it Works: Compares the company's financial metrics to similar companies to determine value.
 
 • Formula: Based on multiples like P/E ratio, EBITDA, etc., specific to the industry.
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Useful for valuing both public and private companies, especially when comparable financial data is available.
 

4. PRECEDENT TRANSACTIONS
 
 • How it Works: Analyzes prices paid for similar companies in past transactions.
 
 • Formula: Valuation based on transaction multiples, adjusted for size, market, and timing.
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Used in M&A, particularly relevant for investment banking and private equity.
 

5. EBITDA MULTIPLE
 
 • How it Works: Applies a standard industry multiplier to a company's EBITDA.
 
 • Formula: EBITDA x Industry Multiplier
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Often used in industries where EBITDA is a key performance metric.
 

6. BOOK VALUE
 
 • How it Works: Based on the company's assets minus its liabilities as recorded on the balance sheet.
 
 • Formula: Total Assets - Total Liabilities
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Relevant for asset-heavy companies, like real estate or manufacturing.
 

7. 409A VALUATION
 
 • How it Works: Determines the fair market value of a private company's common stock.
 
 • Formula: Utilizes various valuation methods, often DCF or CCA, adjusted for private company specifics.
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Crucial for startups and private companies planning to offer stock options.
 

8. REVENUE MULTIPLIER (including ARR/MRR)
 
 • How it Works: Applies a multiplier to a company's total or recurring revenue.
 
 • Formula: Revenue x Revenue Multiplier
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Particularly relevant for SaaS and subscription-based business models.
 

===

Did you learn something? I know I sure did…

But there’s much more to it.

Got anything to add to the topic?

Join the discussion in the comments below 👇

The Guy Behind the Most Beautiful Dashboards in Finance & Accounting | 450K+ Followers | Founder @ Mighty Digits

10 Accounting Interview Questions 👇 
Answered by 10 Accounting Creators 👥 

1️⃣ What are the 3 financial statements, and how are they connected?

I’ll start off answering this one 🙋

“The 3 financial statements are the Profit and Loss, the Balance Sheet, and the Statement of Cash Flows. The P&L connects to the Balance sheet via an account called Retained Earnings, And the Cash flows pulls balances from both the P&L and Balance Sheet.”

2️⃣ What’s the difference between Cash vs Accrual accounting?

For this, I asked Bill Hanna, CPA

“Cash accounting for the most part means you classify money in as income, and money out as expenses. Accrual accounting means you classify income only when it’s earned, and expenses only when they are incurred”

3️⃣ What is Deferred Revenue?

Let’s ask Brian Feroldi about this one

”Deferred Revenue represents the $$ amount of goods or services you have yet to deliver to your customers who have paid you / owe you payment unconditionally”

4️⃣ How do journal entries work?

For this one, I asked Nathan Liao, CMA

“Journal entries help communicate which accounts on your general ledger are increasing or decreasing. They are denoted via Debits and Credits, and must always match one another”

5️⃣ What’s a bank reconciliation, and why is it important?

Let’s see what Ben Murray has to say about this one:

“Bank reconciliations allow you to compare & match the balance in your bank accounts to the amounts reported in your General Ledger.”

6️⃣ What is a accrued expense?

For this, I asked Nicolas Boucher:

”An accrued expense is an expense incurred, but not yet paid. It can also represent an expense incurred in which a bill has not been received, resulting in an estimate”

7️⃣ What are workpapers, and how should you organize them?

Let’s ask Anders Liu-Lindberg this one:

” Workpapers showcase the supporting calculations for entries recorded in your general ledger”

8️⃣ What are the chart of accounts, and how should they look?

Let’s see what Christian Wattig has to say about this:

”Your chart of accounts represent the line items that show up on your P&L and Balance Sheet, It’s important to aid the readers of the financial statements”

9️⃣ What’s a contra account and how does it work?

For this one, we’ll ask Pieter Slegers:

“A contra account is an account in a section that behaves in the opposite manner of the accounts in that section (eg: discount → contra revenue)”

🔟 How do you build a statement of cash flows?

And finally, let’s see what Jason Hershman has to say about this:

” You can create a statement of cash flows via the direct method, or the indirect method. Most companies opt for the Indirect method as it is easy to prepare.”

===

What other questions have you seen in a finance & accounting interview? 

Let us know in the comments below 👇

Old Excel vs Modern Excel
Which one are you using?

Excel is a completely different beast than what we used 5 years ago. 

But most of us still work in it like it's 2015. 

Let's fix that - here are the powerful features you might be missing 👇

💾 OLD WAY → Reference Functions

VLOOKUP ruled our spreadsheets for years, but it came with frustrating limitations. You could only search left to right, vertical searches were impossible, and error handling? Almost non-existent. Adding a column meant watching your formulas break in real-time.

💻 NEW WAY → XLOOKUP

XLOOKUP changed everything. Now you can:

✅ Search in any direction you want

✅ Use built-in approximate matching

✅ Handle errors intelligently

✅ Process large datasets at lightning speed

No more complex nested formulas just to look up a simple value.

💾 OLD WAY → Basic PivotTables

Remember when PivotTables could only handle basic summarization? One table at a time, simple calculations only, and those dreaded memory constraints that popped up with any decent-sized dataset.

💻 NEW WAY → Power Pivot

Power Pivot transforms how we analyze data:

✅ Connect multiple tables with real relationships

✅ Use DAX formulas for complex calculations

✅ Process millions of rows without breaking a sweat

✅ Built-in time intelligence functions that save hours

Your reports just got a serious upgrade.

💾 OLD WAY → Manual Data Cleanup

The old way meant endless hours of:

- Copy-paste operations that numbed your brain

- Find and replace marathons

- Manual data cleaning that took forever

- Constant risk of human error

💻 NEW WAY → Power Query

Power Query is like having a data cleaning assistant:

✅ Connects multiple data sources automatically

✅ Transforms data with reusable steps

✅ Cleans data with advanced rules

✅ Refreshes with one click

Set it up once, use it forever. That's work smarter, not harder.

💾 OLD WAY → Static Functions

Remember the CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER dance? Static functions meant:

- Single cell outputs that limited your analysis

- Array formulas that required special keystrokes

- Range references that broke easily

💻 NEW WAY → Dynamic Array Functions

Welcome to the future:

✅ Arrays spill automatically where needed

✅ UNIQUE, FILTER, and SORT work instantly

✅ Dynamic ranges adjust automatically

✅ Formulas actually make sense when you read them

Calculations that used to take hours now happen in seconds.

💾 OLD WAY → Basic Support

Getting help meant:

- Scrolling through endless forum posts

- Testing solutions that might not work

- Dealing with outdated answers

- Wasting time on trial and error

💻 NEW WAY → Excel Copilot

AI joins your team:

✅ Understands what you're trying to do

✅ Writes formulas in plain language

✅ Suggests improvements as you work

✅ Solves problems in real-time

It's like having an Excel expert on speed dial.

===

Which modern Excel feature surprised you? What's still on your learning list?

Drop your thoughts below 👇

13 Cash Formulas
Cuz It’s all about the cash monnayy 🤑

1. Operating Cash Flow (OCF):
 
 • Formula: OCF = Net Income + Depreciation + Amortization + Other Non-Cash Items - Changes in Working Capital
 
 • What it tells you: Measures the cash generated or used by a company in its core business operations.
 
 • Why it matters: More operating cash flow means better liquidity for day-to-day operations, investments, and paying off debts.
 
2. Free Cash Flow (FCF):
 
 • Formula: FCF = Operating Cash Flow - Capital Expenditures
 
 • What it tells you: Tracks cash that's available for distribution to stakeholders or for reinvestment.
 
 • Why it matters: Positive FCF shows a firm's ability to generate cash and fund expansions, pay dividends, or lower liabilities.
 
3. Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC):
 
 • Formula: CCC = Days of Inventory Outstanding + Days of Sales Outstanding - Days of Payables Outstanding
 
 • What it tells you: Calculates the time taken to turn investments in inventory and receivables into cash, less the time to pay off suppliers.
 
 • Why it matters: A shorter CCC implies effective working capital management and sufficient cash for meeting obligations and growth.
 
4. Net Cash Flow:
 
 • Formula: Net Cash Flow = Operating Cash Flow + Investing Cash Flow + Financing Cash Flow
 
 • What it tells you: Represents total cash inflows and outflows from operating, investing, and financing activities.
 
 • Why it matters: Positive net cash flow means a firm is generating more cash than it's spending.
 
5. Discounted Cash Flow (DCF):
 
 • Formula: DCF = CF1 / (1+r)1 + CF2 / (1+r)2 + ... + CFn / (1+r)n
 
 • What it tells you: Values an investment or a company by projecting its future cash flows to the present.
 
 • Why it matters: Higher DCF suggests greater future cash generation and increased value.
 
6. Present Value:
 
 • Formula: PV = CF / (1+r)t
 
 • What it tells you: Determines today's worth of a future cash flow.
 
 • Why it matters: A greater present value indicates a more valuable future cash flow.
 
7. Cash Burn

 • Formula: Cash from Operating Activities + Cash from Investing Activities
 
 • What it tells you: How much cash you are consuming, without factoring in financing activities
 
 • Why it matters: This helps you understand how much your business actually needs to support operations
 

===

There are even more cash formulas than the ones listed above, but I’m limited to only 3k characters.

Which ones would you add?

Let us know by joining in on the discussion in the comments below 👇

Learn about 77 Types of Accounting 👇

I remember when I first graduated… 

I thought Accounting only meant 2 things

Tax, or Audit.

Boy…was I wrong.

Accounting is easily one of the most diverse and versatile fields out there…

With tons areas & industries that you can specialize in.

Let’s dive in to some of my favorite areas of Accounting:

1️⃣ Cash Accounting

Cash is king…right?

Well, that’s especially true if you’re performing “Cash” accounting.

The idea here is pretty simple - you record all money received as income…

and all money paid as an expense.

There are some exceptions here, but that’s the gist of it

2️⃣ Public Accounting

This is where I started my career…and where many feel it’s the best place to launch your career as an accountant.

The main focus here is between 2 fields: Auditing, and Tax, often times for public companies.

The most popular public accounting firms are known as “The Big 4”…which are Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte, and Price Waterhouse Coopers

 3️⃣ Forensic Accounting 🕵️

Ever wish you became a private investigator, or a detective, instead of an accountant? 

Forensic accounting may be a perfect fit.

Forensic accountants investigate financial discrepancies and fraud, often times working on legal cases to uncover any irregularities with a companies financial records.

4️⃣ Accrual Accounting

Accrual accounting is much more popular amongst bigger companies…

and IMO tells a much better story of what’s ACTUALLY happening.

Here, you treat income EARNED as revenue…

and expenses INCURRED as an expense…

regardless of when cash was received

5️⃣ Operational Accounting

Here’s one of my favorite fields in accounting…

With operational accounting, you’re handling the accounting tasks that relate to “operating” a company, such as…

→ Managing accounts payable

→ Following up on outstanding invoices

→ Processing payroll

and much more

6️⃣ SaaS Accounting

For the most part, SaaS is just another industry, without too many nuances from any other industry…but it definitely has it’s quirks.

For example, with SaaS accounting, there’s a lot of emphasis on deferred revenue, and when something can be recognized as revenue.

Similarly, an extra emphasis is put on calculating KPIs such as Customer Acquisition Cost, Customer Payback, and Net Dollar retention.

7️⃣ Restaurant Accounting

Think you can easily transition to an industry like Restaurant Accounting? Be prepared for a lot of differences.

For example, instead of analyzing dozens of transactions a month…

you may be analyzing thousands of transactions a DAY…

each with their own complexities in reconciling and reporting

===

Those are just 7 of the 77 areas of Accounting identified below…

but even 77 types of accounting is an underestimation - the real number can be much much larger.

What are some other types of accounting you’ve seen?

And which is your favorite?

Let’s us know in the comments below…I’ll go first 🙋

Here’s EVERY Excel Chart, and When to Use it 👇📊📈
Charts are one of the most powerful features that Excel offers…

and each one has their own time & place for when you should use them.

Let’s do a walk through of each chart:

1. 📊Bar charts → helps you understand trends over time.
 
 • Bar chart → single series
 
 • Stacked bar chart → multiple series grouped together
 
 • Clustered bar chart → multiple series side by side 
 
 • Horizontal → alternate orientation
 
2. 📈 Line chart → helps you understand trends over time, requires 2 or more data points
 
 • Line chart → can show 1 or multiple series. I like to utilize 2 series when I’m trying to understand the intersection (like with a break even anaysis)
 
 • Area chart → highlights magnitude of change by shading the bottom
 
3. 🟡Pie chart → helps you understand the distribution between multiple categories
 • Pie Chart → shows the split / distribution between multiple categories
 
 • Donut → shows the % completion. This is in essence a hollow pie chart (my favorite for budget vs actuals)
 
4. Hierarchy charts → helps you understand the hierarchy of data
 
 • Treemap → provides a hierarchal view of data by color and size
 
 • Sunburst → provides a hierarchical data in a circular fashion
 
5. 🔢 Statistical charts → provide a visual representation of data distributions, trends, and patterns

 • Histogram → Shows the underlying frequency distribution
 
 • Box & Whisker → Shows distribution of data into quartiles, highlighting the mean and outliers.
 
 • Pareto Chart → displays both the individual and cumulative frequencies
 
6. Waterfall chart → Helps in understanding the cumulative effect of sequentially introduced positive or negative values

This is especially relevant when showcasing MRR and ARR

1. Scatter charts → often used to find correlations and patterns in the data
 
 • Scatter Chart → displays the relationship between 2 numerical variables
 
 • Bubble Chart → variation of the scatter chart, adding a third dimension using the size of the dots.
 
2. Combo charts → allows you to combine data from multiple series
 
 helpful when you have information across 2 distinct series (like Revenue and Gross Margin)
 
3. 🗺️ Map Charts → provide a geographical representation of data

4. PivotCharts → allows you to control chart data from a PivotTable
 
This may be the most powerful of them all, as it allows you to take any chart, and connect it to a PivotTable…
 
That’s my take on Excel charts, and when to use each.
 
There’s a whole lot more to be said about how to structure your data, and how to design your charts to captivate your audience 🤩
 
What would you add about Excel Charts?
 
Let us know in the comments below 👇

If you're running an accounting firm offering traditional services, you're leaving serious money on the table.
(This post is sponsored by Thomson Reuters)

Here's how to 3x your revenue without working more hours

Advisory services generate 3 to 5 times higher fees than compliance work.

Same clients, better margins, less time on repetitive tasks.

Advisory is a no brainer.

So why haven't you made the switch yet?

→ The Fundamental Difference

Advisory is about the future.

You're helping clients figure out what's coming next, spotting opportunities they can't see yet, steering them away from problems before they happen.

Accounting is about the past.

You're mapping where they've been, measuring what they've consumed, making sure every transaction gets recorded correctly.

You need both, but advisory is where the real money lives.

→ Advisory Services

When you do strategic finance, you're translating business ambitions into financial possibility.

Your client wants to expand? You show them the capital structure, timeline, and ROI to make it happen.

Tax planning means you're designing proactive strategies to minimize their tax burden.

Board reporting takes all that complexity and turns it into clarity.

You're presenting KPIs, market positioning, and strategic options so leaders can make decisions with conviction.

And when M&A comes up, you're evaluating targets, modeling synergies, negotiating valuations.

→ How to Get Started

So here's the thing.

Most accountants have the skills to do advisory work.

But they don't know how to position themselves as advisors or make the transition without making costly mistakes.

Thomson Reuters built Practice Forward specifically for this.

It's a business coaching program with over 290 tools...proposal templates, client deliverables, pricing calculators, the whole setup.

You get one on one consulting with an experienced advisor who walks you through the transition.

Plus there's a community of firms making the same move.

The results? Firms see an average 133% increase in billing for new clients in their first 12 months.

Check them out here: https://lnkd.in/er_Zzd8m

===

Making the switch from traditional accounting to advisory has been the best career decision of my life.

I'm not just enjoying my work more...I'm having conversations with CEOs and founders 

And getting into rooms I’ve never imagined I would be in

The money is better, which has allowed me to invest in other passion projects.

But honestly? The biggest change is that I'm excited about what I do every day.

What's holding you back from making the switch?

Let me know in the comments below 👇

Most CFOs waste hours building dashboards that nobody understands, and if you watch this video, you'll see exactly how to fix that with just five reports -https://lnkd.in/dyfbDCYi

I used to be one of them.

Hundreds of rows.

Dozens of tabs.

So much data that stakeholders would just nod and pretend they got it.

Then I figured out you only need five dashboards to run any business.

That's it.

Five.

I just recorded a complete walkthrough of each one and exactly how I use them with clients, investors, and board members.

The KPI dashboard that shows only eight metrics but tells you everything you actually need to know.

No information overload.

Just the numbers that matter.

Budget vs actuals is my personal favorite because it proves you're not just guessing.

It shows what you thought would happen versus what actually happened.
And when you miss, you have a story ready.

The three financial statements stacked together so leadership sees profit, cash, and balance sheet health in one view.

Most people show these separately and lose the narrative.

A full year trends dashboard that makes patterns impossible to miss.

You'll spot problems months before they become disasters.

Plus the exact formatting tricks that make your dashboards look professional instead of amateur.

Like how to show millions versus thousands versus percentages automatically.
The hard part isn't knowing what numbers to track.

It's making them easy to understand in a spreadsheet.

These five dashboards solve that.

Here’s EVERYTHING you need to know about CONDITIONAL FORMATTING 🎨🚦

Conditional formatting is one of Excel’s most popular tools…

and for good reason - there’s SO MUCH you can accomplish with conditional formatting.

Let’s do a deep dive into each area so you can become a pro 💪

➡️ What is Conditional Formatting?

The name says it all…

it allows you to format your cells based off of a specific CONDITION.

➡️ How do you apply Conditional Formatting?

Select the range, and navigate to HOME > CONDITIONAL FORMATTING

➡️ What are some examples of Conditional Formatting?

Here are a few:

⬆️ Greater, ⬇️less than, ↔️or between 

Here you can format cells that fall above, below, or in between certain thresholds.

ex: budget vs actuals, where positive cells are highlights in green…

and negative cells are highlighted in red

= Equal to, 🔍 text that contains →

This is especially useful when dealing with a range of text..

ex: highlighting your expense list for all expenses by a specific vendor

🗓️ A date occurring… 

This can be useful if you want to highlight date that is below, after, or in between a range.

ex: setting up a forecast, where all historical months get formatted one way..

and all projected months another way

👯 Duplicate values

This is one of the most useful…

as often times, duplicate values can pose an error in our data set.

📈Top or 📉Bottom values

This one is useful to quickly understand which values are the best performing in your data set…

and which are the worst.

📊 Data Bars

Data bars are like bar charts nested inside a cell…

kinda similar to a sparkline.

🎨 Color Scales

I love this one - in fact, I use it all the time in my business when analyzing profitability per client.

Here you can quickly comprehend which are the best performing values…

as well as the worst performing values.

✅❌ Icon sets

I love Icons…and you may not realize, but they are everywhere.

Adding them to your spreadsheet can add quick added comprehension on your data set

❔ Custom rules

Something not covered in the predefined list?

Don’t worry…the sky is the limit.

Simply enter in your formula as you normally would (like A3 > A4)…

You can then set the formatting rules for what happens when it’s true, and what happens when it’s false

===

Like I said…conditional formatting is one of the most popular tools available in excel.

You simply can’t become a power excel user without mastering this.

but lucky for you, I’ve boiled it down in a way in which you can quickly become a pro.

What’s your favorite usecase with conditional formatting?

Let us know by joining in on the discussion in the comments below 👇

Everything you need to know about Excel Tables 👇

Excel tables are one of the most powerful features excel has to offer…

and few people truly understand the magnitude of their power.

Be sure to download this image in high res along with the free excel worksheet right here
👉 https://bit.ly/3tC4DaW

➡️ What is an Excel Table?

An excel table is a STRUCTURED range that when activated as a table, unlocks a number of features not available under traditional ranges

➡️ How do you convert a range to a table?

2 ways:

1️⃣ Click CTRL + T

2️⃣ Navigate to Insert > Table

➡️ What’s so special about Excel Tables?

I’m glad you asked 😄

Here are 8 benefits:

1️⃣ Auto extend range

Anytime you add a new column to the right / left of a table…

or a new row to the bottom of a table…

the range will automatically update.

This is huge, especially for the reason mention below in #7

2️⃣ Enhance readability in your formula

Tables take a range like this:
F6

to instead look like this:
PnL[Budget]

This greatly enhances readability of your formulas

3️⃣ Easily select ranges

Simply hit CTRL + Space to select a full table column

Shift + Space to select a full table row

CTRL + A to select a full table

4️⃣ Create consistent & uniform data structures

This is how structured data references are set up, making it infinitely easier to use in formulas.

The more you familiarize yourself with data structures in this format, the more dynamic you can set up your spreadsheet

5️⃣ Convert to Pivot Table or load to Power Query

Set up a Pivot Table 👉 Insert > Pivot Table, or Table Design > Summarize with PivotTable

Load to Power Query 👉 Data > Load from Table/Range

6️⃣ Change Formatting

Change the look and feel with one click when you navigate to 
Table Design > Cell Styles

7️⃣ Automatically Extend References

Potentially my favorite. 

When you reference a range in a table…

your range will extend as you add more rows.

I especially love using this with data validation drop down 💪

8️⃣ Add a total row

Table Design > ✅ Total Row

Then you can easily add a sum, average, count etc. to the bottom of your table

===

As we learned from Spiderman…

with great power comes great responsibility.

And tables have their dangers!

Sadly, I only have 3k characters to explain it all, so to get more…

⬇️ Download this image in high resolution, and get the free accompanying excel worksheet via the link on the image below.

Got anything to add about Excel Tables?

Join the discussion in the comments below 👇

If your month end close takes longer than 3 days, you're wasting company money. 
There's no excuse for 20+ day closes anymore.

I've been there. Chasing receipts, coding transactions, reconciling accounts, fixing errors.

By the time you're done, the data is already two weeks old.

Leadership is making decisions based on outdated information.

There's a better way to do this.

→ Why Close Takes So Long

Day 1 through 5 is usually transaction processing.

You're manually coding every transaction, uploading receipts, verifying vendors, matching invoices to payments.

Day 6 through 10 is reconciliation and cleanup.

Bank reconciliations, balance sheet recon, journal entries, fixing all the mistakes from the first week.

Then you maybe get a day or two for actual analysis before you have to start the whole process again next month.

→ The 3 Day Close

What if you could compress all of that into 3 days?

Day 1 would be transaction processing, but automated.

Auto classification, bulk processing, receipt upload, vendor verification happening in the background.

Day 2 would be reconciliation, but most of it handled automatically.

Bank reconciliations, balance sheet recon, journal entries, receipt matching done for you.

Day 3 would be where you actually add value.

Flux analysis, margin review, balance sheet check, creating dashboards, telling the story behind the numbers.

→ How BILL Makes This Possible

BILL uses AI to automate the entire close process.

Their touchless receipts feature auto codes and reconciles transactions with 92% accuracy.

Smart invoicing extracts invoice data instantly from over 1.3 million documents it's been trained on.

The W-9 Agent automatically requests and validates W-9s, cutting manual work by 80%.

Their AI eliminates most manual entry errors, and they've saved customers over 650,000 hours annually.

Plus you get live dashboards for instant decision making instead of waiting two weeks for data.

They've also stopped 8 million fraud attempts, which is pretty impressive.

Check it out at https://lnkd.in/eQtCpDaw

→ What This Means for You

Cutting your close from 10 days to 3 days means you're not spending half the month on data entry.

You're spending that time analyzing trends, having strategic conversations, working on higher value projects.

The close happens in the background, you just review and approve.

===

What's your biggest pain point with month end close?

Let me know in the comments below 👇

EXCEL VS POWER BI 📊
The great debate continues...which tool should YOU be using?

Most professionals find themselves asking this question at some point. 

There's no one-size-fits-all solution, but there ARE specific situations where one clearly outshines the other.

Let's break down when to use each so you don't waste time with the wrong tool!

➡️ EXCEL: THE SWISS ARMY KNIFE

Excel is my daily driver. I open it first thing in the morning and it's usually the last app I close at night.

SPREADSHEET-BASED work is where Excel dominates. You get cell-by-cell control that just feels right when you're building something from scratch.

I absolutely love the FORMULA-DRIVEN approach. From simple SUM functions to complex nested IFs and XLOOKUPS, you can make Excel dance.

STATIC REPORTING doesn't need to be fancy. When you need a quick visual of data, Excel charts get the job done without the overhead.

FILE-BASED STORAGE has its pros and cons. You can email a workbook to anyone, but those 20MB files clogging up your inbox? Not so fun.

INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS is Excel's sweet spot. When diving into numbers alone or with a small team, nothing beats Excel's flexibility.

➡️ POWER BI: THE DATA POWERHOUSE

Power BI solves problems that make Excel crash or slow to a crawl.

DATA MODELING in Power BI is like Excel on steroids. Connecting sales data with inventory and customer info becomes actually doable.

DAX MEASURES - once you get them, you can calculate things Excel can only dream of.

INTERACTIVE DASHBOARDS make your data come alive. The ability to filter data with a click and watch everything update instantly is powerful.

CLOUD PUBLISHING solves the "which version" chaos. No more "final_v3_ACTUAL_final.xlsx" floating around company email.

DATA DISCOVERY lets anyone ask questions in plain English. Type "show me sales by region" without knowing a single formula.

➡️ WHEN TO CHOOSE EXCEL

-Creating ad-hoc numerical analysis
-Working with moderate data volumes
-Building financial models and forecasts
-Users need direct data editing capabilities
-One-off or infrequently updated reports

➡️ WHEN TO CHOOSE POWER BI

-Working with large datasets
-Creating enterprise-wide dashboards
-Need for real-time data connections
-Building interactive, self-service analytics
-Sharing insights across the organization

===

The two tools aren't competitors but companions in the data analysis journey. 

Excel remains the everyday workhorse for many financial calculations and models, while Power BI specializes in visualizing and sharing those insights at scale.

Many teams build initial models in Excel, then connect Power BI when broader organization-wide reporting is needed.

What about you? Are you an Excel die-hard or have you made the jump to Power BI?

Leave a comment below with which tool you use most often 👇

VLOOKUP is killing your productivity
🚫 STOP USING IT
Let me explain why..

➡️ HOW DOES VLOOKUP WORK?

Let's start with the basics - VLOOKUP is a function that searches for a value in the leftmost column of a table and returns a value in the same row from another column.

Here's the syntax:

=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])

Sounds simple enough, right?

But here's where things get messy.

➡️ WHY YOU NEED TO STOP USING VLOOKUP

First…you need to MANUALLY count columns, praying nobody inserts a new one in between, and crossing your fingers that you'll never need to look up data to the left of your lookup column.

Next, you can’t look up values to the LEFT of your first column in VLOOKUP.

But most importantly, you can’t use VLOOKUP to look up BOTH horizontal and vertical searches. 

Lookups are great for looking up both an X and Y axis (eg: look up the value in your P&L for a specific account in a specific period)

To do this with VLOOKUP, you end up with this frankenstein combination of VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP that nobody can understand – including yourself when you look at it a month later.

➡️ MEET XLOOKUP

This is where XLOOKUP comes in, and it's a game-changer.

Remember all those limitations with VLOOKUP? XLOOKUP solves them all.

No more counting columns - just select what you want to find and where you want to find it.

No more restrictions on direction - XLOOKUP doesn't care if your data is to the left or right.

Want to look up both vertically and horizontally? XLOOKUP handles it like a pro.

But here's where it gets really interesting...

You can nest XLOOKUP functions together to create powerful dynamic references. Imagine being able to look up values based on both row and column criteria, all in one formula.

It's like VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP had a baby, and that baby went to Harvard.

➡️ THE POWER OF INDEX MATCH

Now, let me introduce you to the heavyweight champion of lookups - INDEX MATCH.

This is my personal favorite, and here's why:

It's been around forever, which means it works in every version of Excel (sorry XLOOKUP).

The syntax is crystal clear - you're telling Excel exactly what range to look in, what to match, and where to find it.

Want to do a two-way lookup? INDEX MATCH handles it beautifully with a simple nested formula.

The best part? Once you understand INDEX MATCH, you'll start seeing opportunities to use it everywhere. It's like putting on glasses for the first time and realizing you've been seeing the world in low resolution.

The lookup function you choose today will impact every spreadsheet you build tomorrow.

VLOOKUP might feel comfortable, like that old sweater you can't bring yourself to throw away. But it's time to level up.

Whether you choose XLOOKUP or INDEX MATCH, your future self will thank you.

What lookup function are you using? Let me know in the comments below 👇

PS: want to learn more? Watch the FULL TUTORIAL here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eGkrfVVJ

🧪The Periodic Table of EXCEL FUNCTIONS
👨‍🔬 Where Spreadsheets Meets Science!

I nearly flunked chemistry in high-school...
But always exceled (pun intended) while working in a spreadsheet

While I can't go back in time to fix my GPA... 
I CAN mix my passion for Excel with the Lab.

Study these elements to become an Excel Scientist 👨‍⚕️ 

⚗️Basic Math "Elements":
-Su (SUM): Adds up all numbers in a selected range
-Av (AVERAGE): Calculates the mean value of a range of cells
-Mx (MAX): Returns the largest value from any range of cells
-Mn (MIN): Finds the smallest value in your dataset

🧬Logical "Elements":
-If (IF): Makes decisions based on conditions you set
-An (AND): Checks if multiple conditions are all true
-Or (OR): Tests if at least one condition is true
-Nt (NOT): Reverses TRUE/FALSE values

🔬Lookup & Reference:
-Vl (VLOOKUP): Finds and retrieves data from specific columns
-Xl (XLOOKUP): More flexible search that works in any direction
-Mt (MATCH): Locates the position of a specific item
-Ix (INDEX): Returns a value based on its row and column position

⚡Financial:
-Pv (PV): Calculates the current worth of future payments
-Fv (FV): Determines the future value of investments
-Ir (IRR): Finds the return rate for a series of cash flows
-Rt (RATE): Calculates the interest rate per period

⏱️Date & Time:
-Td (TODAY): Gets the current date automatically
-Wk (WEEKDAY): Converts dates to day numbers (1-7)
-Dt (DATE): Creates a date from year, month, and day values

📊Statistical:
-Sd (STDEV): Measures how spread out your numbers are
-Md (MEDIAN): Finds the middle value in your dataset
-Vr (VAR): Shows how far numbers are from the average

🧫Text Functions:
-Tx (TEXT): Converts numbers to formatted text
-Cn (CONCAT): Combines text from multiple cells
-Tr (TRIM): Removes extra spaces from text
-Up (UPPER): Converts text to all uppercase

===

So, which Excel element powers your spreadsheets? 
Join the discussion in the comments below 👇

Learn about 4 CRUCIAL metrics for any business

Gross Profit vs Net income vs EBITDA vs Cash Flows

Each one of these metrics tell you something different, and have their own time & place

Let’s do a deep dive into each

1️⃣ GROSS PROFIT

🤔 What it means

▪️ The amount that’s left over from your revenue after you subtract the cost to deliver your product or service

🔍 Where it’s found

▪️ The Profit & Loss

🔢 What’s the formula

▪️ Revenue - COGS

💡 Why it's important

▪️ It helps you understand the maximum amount of money your business can earn - if you have a negative gross profit, you don’t have a business!

2️⃣ NET INCOME

🤔 What it means

▪️ The net profitability of your business for a specific period of time - IE all income less all expenses

🔍 Where it’s found

▪️ The Profit & Loss

🔢 What’s the formula

▪️ Revenue - COGS - Operating Expenses + Other Income - Other Expenses

💡 Why it's important

▪️ This is the ultimate number that you are generating in profitability from your business - if you keep posting losses, you will need to raise capital to sustain your operations

3️⃣ EBITDA

🤔 What it means

▪️ Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization

🔍 Where it’s found

▪️ No where - it’s compiled separately and is a non GAAP Metric

🔢 What’s the formula

▪️ Net Income + Interest Expense - Interest Income + Taxes + Depreciation + Amortization

💡 Why it's important

▪️ Many feel that EBITDA is a good approximation for cash flows. It is also commonly used to value businesses

4️⃣ Cash Flows

🤔 What it means

▪️ How much cash went in and out of your bank account

🔍 Where it’s found

▪️ The Statement of Cash Flows (or by taking the ▲ in cash on your balance sheet)

🔢 What’s the formula

▪️ Cash from Operating Activities + Cash from Investing Activities + Cash from Financing Activities (Or ending cash - beginning cash)

💡 Why it's important

▪️ Cash is king - you can have the most profitable business in the world, but if your expenditures keep outpacing your receipts, you’ll have to raise capital to sustain your operations

===

Now that you know these 4 - which one is your favorite?

For me...Gross Profit.

Everything else falls into place once you have great margins...

But ofcourse, there are tons of factors to consider

How about you?

Let me us know by joining in on the conversation in the comments below 👇

Why do some dashboards make executives nod in approval while others get ignored?
https://lnkd.in/e8bnfzQS

It comes down to 3 mistakes most people don't even know they're making.

I made all of them when I started my accounting firm six years ago.

And they killed my credibility until I figured out what actually makes dashboards work.

Mistake number one is sending raw exports from your accounting software.

A profit and loss with 200 line items isn't a dashboard.

It's just data overwhelm.

Most founders don't even know how to read a P&L, let alone a balance sheet or cash flow statement.

You're not guiding them to what matters or what actions they need to take.

The fix is grouping everything into 5 to 8 summary categories so the story becomes obvious.

Now you can analyze at a macro level first and only drill deeper when something looks off.

Mistake number two is missing context.

Numbers without comparison are meaningless.

That's why budget vs actuals is the most powerful report you can show.

It proves you actually planned for something instead of just reacting.

Good variances show as positive, bad variances show as negative.

And when you miss your targets, you have a story ready that makes leadership sleep better at night.

Mistake number three is static dashboards.

If someone wants to see a different time period or metric, they shouldn't need to ask you for a new report.

Dynamic dashboards let viewers toggle between months, quarters, years, budget comparisons, all in real time.

One dashboard becomes ten different views depending on what they need to see.

Here's what changes when you fix these three mistakes.

Your dashboards go from data dumps to actual insights.

Leadership starts trusting your analysis.

You spend less time answering questions because the answers are already visible.

taplio

Josh Aharonoff, CPA's Linkedin Analytics