Referrals are great, but if they're your only plan, your growth is in someone else's hands. This week it's just me, no guest, and an announcement I've been sitting on for months.

Episode 96 is a solo episode with host James Donovan, founder of Accounting Leads Now. Four weeks out from episode 100, James shares what's been happening inside the business and makes the first official announcement of a new event for accounting and bookkeeping firm owners.

What you will take away:

1. Inner Circle Live: Nashville, November 20 and 21, co-hosted with Heidi Ryder of keepful and Jaime Rodriguez of Bookkeepers.com. Just 25 firm owners in a room, rolling up their sleeves to build what they keep putting off, with the goal that the event pays for itself before they fly home. This year's seats are spoken for, and next year's dates will be announced live in Nashville.

2. Gusto's business firm consultants program: Gusto is putting its own money behind its gold and silver tier partners, including on marketing. Here's what it is and how to check whether your firm is eligible.

3. Where to find James this fall: Women Who Count in Hilton Head, Intuit Connect in Las Vegas and the Tax Rep Network Summit in Orlando, plus a recap of Gusto Next in San Francisco.

James also welcomes Matt and Emile to the client success team and celebrates Ana Toro's two years with Accounting Leads Now.

Eliminate, automate, delegate.

Book a call with our team: https://accountingleadsnow.com

Grab my book, Booked Solid: https://a.co/d/02rch7Qz

Send us Fan Mail

Tired of referrals that only show up during tax season?

Most firm owners are one slow quarter away from panic. We fix that.
We help accounting and bookkeeping firm owners build predictable client acquisition systems using paid advertising, so qualified prospects are coming to you year-round, not just when it's convenient for them.

Book a free strategy call > accountingleadsnow.com We'll look at your firm specifically and map out exactly what it would take to build a pipeline that doesn't go quiet in July.

Grab my book, Booked Solid > Get your copy here The digital marketing playbook built specifically for accounting firms. No theory. Just what works.

Join our Skool community - 7 days free > Join here Get access to the exact systems we implement for our clients. Frameworks, templates, and a community of firm owners doing the work.

A fake Claude download. Three minutes later, the desktop was empty, the antivirus was off and every password saved in the browser was gone.

Episode 95 features Luke Kiely, founder of ComplyWise and a former law enforcement detective who spent his career investigating fraud, cybercrime and organised crime. ComplyWise is cybersecurity and compliance built specifically for accountants, bookkeepers and financial professionals, and Luke's GrowCon 2026 talk, Exploitation Economy, changed how a room full of firm owners thought about their own risk.

What you will take away:

1. Why nearly every attack Luke has investigated in the last two years started with a phishing link and no multi-factor authentication, and why cybercriminals smash and grab instead of quietly waiting.

2. What IRS Section 7216 means before you put client data into ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude, plus the technical and governance controls every firm should have in place.

3. How Luke sells cybersecurity without fear tactics, with a free assessment that runs like a business conversation, and what firm owners can borrow for their own sales calls.

Luke also shares the insider threat case where an organised crime gang coerced an employee into stealing card details, why the cybercriminals he tracked down were often teachers, doctors and business owners, and his one piece of advice for every firm owner listening.

Eliminate, automate, delegate.

Connect with Luke:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-k

ComplyWise: https://www.complywise.online

Book a call with our team: https://accountingleadsnow.com

Grab my book, Booked Solid: https://a.co/d/02rch7Qz

Send us Fan Mail

Tired of referrals that only show up during tax season?

Most firm owners are one slow quarter away from panic. We fix that.
We help accounting and bookkeeping firm owners build predictable client acquisition systems using paid advertising, so qualified prospects are coming to you year-round, not just when it's convenient for them.

Book a free strategy call > accountingleadsnow.com We'll look at your firm specifically and map out exactly what it would take to build a pipeline that doesn't go quiet in July.

Grab my book, Booked Solid > Get your copy here The digital marketing playbook built specifically for accounting firms. No theory. Just what works.

Join our Skool community - 7 days free > Join here Get access to the exact systems we implement for our clients. Frameworks, templates, and a community of firm owners doing the work.

Your clients are telling you what they need next on every call. Most firms never hear it, because the notes go somewhere nobody reads.

Episode 94 features Camden Bean, CEO and co-founder of Ping, AI built only for accounting firms. Camden is the son of a CPA, worked with accounting firms at Divvy (later acquired by BILL), and helped raise and run a $100M early-stage venture fund before leaving to build Ping. Recorded live at Bridging the Gap, this is the show's first in-person episode, and Randy Crabtree , CPA and co-founder of Tri-Merit, pulls up a chair halfway through to become our first two-time guest.

What you will take away:

1. Why note taking is "the very bottom" of what AI can do for your firm, and how meeting and email data can surface upsell and cross-sell opportunities your staff would miss.

2. Why "advisory" is too broad to sell, and how a specific playbook (like a sales tax practice built on tools like Zamp or Kintsugi) turns it into a real offer.

3. How to actually find advisory clients: Randy's relationship-first approach and Camden's top, middle and bottom of funnel view, where it all starts with new leads.

Camden also shares how a jacket covered in ping pong balls got him escorted out of Intuit Connect, why Ping said no to every industry except accounting, and his advice for firm owners tired of AI hype. Randy explains the one mistake he made when he started his first firm, and the simple phone test for spotting your ideal client.

Eliminate, automate, delegate.

Connect with Camden:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camden-bean

Ping: https://www.pingassistant.com

Connect with Randy:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randy-crabtree-cpa-1945a67/

Tri-Merit: https://tri-merit.com

Send us Fan Mail

Tired of referrals that only show up during tax season?

Most firm owners are one slow quarter away from panic. We fix that.
We help accounting and bookkeeping firm owners build predictable client acquisition systems using paid advertising, so qualified prospects are coming to you year-round, not just when it's convenient for them.

Book a free strategy call > accountingleadsnow.com We'll look at your firm specifically and map out exactly what it would take to build a pipeline that doesn't go quiet in July.

Grab my book, Booked Solid > Get your copy here The digital marketing playbook built specifically for accounting firms. No theory. Just what works.

Join our Skool community - 7 days free > Join here Get access to the exact systems we implement for our clients. Frameworks, templates, and a community of firm owners doing the work.