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The Successful Bookkeeper Podcast

The Successful Bookkeeper Podcast

Di: Michael Palmer
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The Successful Bookkeeper Podcast is a weekly show to help increase your confidence, work smarter and build a business you love. Each week you'll listen to inspiring guests who will share their success secrets, so you can take your bookkeeping enterprise and life to another level. Some of them include New York Times Best-Selling Author of E-Myth, Michael E. Gerber, Pure Bookkeeping Co-Founder, Debbie Roberts, the host of The Productive Woman podcast, Laura McClellan and the author of *I Know How She Does It*, Laura Vanderkam. If you're a bookkeeping business owner who is looking for an uplifting, entertaining and informative podcast exclusively for YOU then you have arrived at the right place! Get ready because your journey towards success begins — now. Your Host Michael Palmer is an acclaimed business coach who has helped hundreds of bookkeepers across the world push through their fears and exponentially grow their businesses and achieve the quality of life they've always wanted.Copyright © The Successful Bookkeeper Economia Gestione e leadership Management Marketing Marketing e vendite
Episodi
  • EP538: Dr. Sabrina Starling - Work From Your Strengths: Build A Profitable Firm Without Burnout

    EP538: Dr. Sabrina Starling - Work From Your Strengths: Build A Profitable Firm Without Burnout
    Jun 30 2026
    See what the team at The Successful Bookkeeper has on right now → Dr. Sabrina Starling has spent over 20 years helping small business owners build profitable, sustainable companies without burning themselves out. In this episode, she brings her business psychology background directly to bookkeepers — walking through her $10,000-an-hour framework, the mindset shift that changed everything for her, and the practical steps you can take right now to stop trading hours for dollars and start building a business that works without you. Chapters [00:00] Opening and guest introduction[01:35] Burnout and starting a business[04:40] The E-Myth epiphany[08:10] The $10,000-an-hour framework[12:40] First hire and finding A-players[17:00] Time audits and glass ceilings[19:10] What has and hasn't changed in 20 years[22:40] AI and the human advantage[25:30] Serving your top clients and micro-innovation[28:50] The free download and closing thoughts From Burnout to 25 Hours a Week Sabrina started her business fresh out of a gruelling career as a psychologist in community mental health — working 40- to 50-hour weeks, taking on-call shifts, and running on empty. When she launched her coaching practice and started a family at the same time, she made what she calls a "very naive declaration": she would only work 25 hours a week. What felt like an impossible constraint turned out to be one of the best decisions she ever made. "Limits force innovation and creativity," she explains. That boundary forced her to be ruthlessly focused on only the work that moved the business forward. The $10,000-an-Hour Framework The turning point came when Sabrina started categorising every task in her business by its dollar-per-hour value — $10, $100, $1,000, or $10,000. She printed the chart and put it behind her monitor so she'd see it constantly. "Inevitably, I would be nose down working on something for a client, and then I would look up and say, oh my gosh, I've just spent 4 hours in $10 and $100 an hour activity." Blocking her highest-value work on the calendar first — before checking email, before firefighting — is what made the difference. She's made the chart available as a free download at tapthepotential.com/10k, along with two podcast episodes walking through how to use it for yourself and with your team. Hiring A-Players Into the Right Seats Sabrina's first hire was a virtual assistant — and the thinking she put into that hire became the seed of her How to Hire the Best book series. Rather than hiring fast out of desperation, she asked: what strengths does this role actually require to deliver results day in and day out? Her original VA, hired for her people skills and attention to detail, is still with the company 20 years later. "One A-player in the right seat working from their strengths will be 900% to 1,200% more productive than a warm body team member." For bookkeepers, payroll is already the biggest profit leak — and it's usually not optimised with A-players. AI, Adaptability, and the Human Advantage AI is reshaping bookkeeping, and Sabrina doesn't sidestep that. But her take is direct: when you offload $10-an-hour busywork to AI, you free yourself to do the work that actually can't be automated — deeply understanding your best clients, spotting problems they can't see in their own numbers, and delivering insight that goes far beyond the books. "When we convey to our team members that we want them doing $10,000 an hour work and we're going to show them how, they get so excited and they are relieved because they know they have job security at that point." The bookkeepers who will thrive are the ones having real conversations with their top clients and continuously innovating around their needs. Working From Your Sweet Spot Sabrina encourages bookkeepers to identify the 20% of clients driving 80% of revenue — and then narrow that further to the ones who are also a genuine joy to work with. Those are the relationships worth doubling down on. Use your natural detail orientation to tune in to what those clients are worried about, what's keeping them up at night, and where you can remove friction for them. She calls the result "micro-innovation" — small, consistent improvements that compound over time and make you genuinely irreplaceable. "Small steps forward taken in a consistent direction lead to big change over time." Links Mentioned Free $10,000-an-hour activity chart + bonus podcast episodes: tapthepotential.com/10kThe E-Myth by Michael GerberHow to Hire the Best book series by Dr. Sabrina StarlingProfit by Design Podcast (Tap the Potential)thesuccessfulbookkeeper.com About the Guest Dr. Sabrina Starling is a business psychologist, speaker, and author, and the founder of Tap the Potential LLC. She helps entrepreneurs build profitable, sustainably run companies by hiring A-players, building strong systems, and designing businesses that support their lives — not the other way around. Her entire team works ...
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    32 min
  • EP537: Teresa Gregory - Check Your Bias: How Mindset Shifts Help Bookkeepers Lead Better

    EP537: Teresa Gregory - Check Your Bias: How Mindset Shifts Help Bookkeepers Lead Better
    Jun 23 2026
    See what the team at The Successful Bookkeeper has on right now → Teresa Gregory has spent her career helping leaders find the hidden patterns that quietly shape every decision they make. In this conversation with host Michael Palmer, she turns that lens directly on bookkeeping professionals — the people who sit in a unique seat of trust with their clients every single day. Whether you manage a team, serve a full client roster, or are building your firm on your own, the mindset habits Teresa shares here apply immediately. Chapters [00:00] Introduction and Teresa's Background[03:13] Hidden Bias and First Impressions[07:00] Bias as a Biological Response[11:00] Working With Difficult Clients[14:30] The PAUSE Method Explained[19:00] Active Listening vs. Reloading[23:00] Strategic Client Check-Ins[27:00] Why Every Bookkeeper Needs a Coach[31:30] Positioning Yourself as an ROI Expert[35:30] Teresa's Resources and Wrap-Up Hidden Bias Is Running in the Background Every interaction you walk into carries invisible baggage. Teresa calls it the fight-or-flight response — a biological pattern your brain uses to assess safety and make quick judgments. The problem isn't that it exists; the problem is when you let a past experience cloud what's happening right now. "I'm reinforcing every time I have this engagement with them without identifying it and without saying, 'hey, this is what's going on,'" she explains. The first step is simply naming the bias before you walk into a meeting, a call, or a difficult conversation. The PAUSE Method for Breaking the Pattern Teresa teaches a five-step framework — Pause, Awareness, Unwind, Strategic, Effectiveness — that gives leaders a repeatable way to interrupt bias before it takes over. Pause and name what you're carrying. Build awareness of when it tends to show up. Unwind the reinforced pattern. Be strategic about what you'll do differently. Then evaluate honestly: did it work? "You have to identify it and say, 'this is what's causing me to do this,' and then look at how do I overcome it?" The method works whether you're prepping for a tense client review or walking into a room full of people you're slightly in awe of. Active Listening vs. Reloading Most people think they're listening. Teresa says they're reloading — nodding, making eye contact, and waiting for their turn to talk. Active listening looks different: you take in what the client actually said, reframe it back in your own words, and confirm you got it right. "What I heard you saying is…" followed by "Did I get that right?" This one shift builds more trust than almost anything else you can do. For bookkeepers — who already have deep, consistent access to business owners — it's a fast path to becoming a true strategic partner rather than a transactional vendor. Know What Your Client Actually Cares About Teresa is direct: you should have a running list of each client's core values and priorities. "If I cannot say to Michael, your number one important thing is ROI or bottom line or taxes, I need to be able to identify that. You should have a running list of what are the things that are important to that client so you can speak to those — and then any solution that you're proposing or any conversation you're having ties right back to it." Schedule intentional check-ins — monthly if possible, quarterly at minimum — to ask what has changed. Businesses change. Lives change. If you're not asking, you're missing it. Reposition Yourself as an ROI Expert One of the most practical moments in this episode is Teresa's challenge to bookkeepers to rethink how they introduce themselves. "If you were to tell me, 'I offer business owners a strategic advantage because I help them understand ROI' — now I'm like, whoa, I need that." Her own sister, a bookkeeper, spent six months practicing a new way of describing her work at local chamber events. The result: new clients in industries she'd never considered. You track every dollar that moves through a business. That is, by definition, the work of an ROI expert. Lead with that. Links mentioned Squared Success website: squaredsuccess.comTeresa Gregory on LinkedIn: search "Teresa L. Gregory"PureBookkeeping: purebookkeeping.comThe Successful Bookkeeper: thesuccessfulbookkeeper.com About the guest Teresa Gregory is the founder of Squared Success, a leadership strategy and coaching firm. She began her career in training and development inside corporate organizations — including supporting the finance team at Microsoft — before transitioning into executive coaching for business owners. Her work focuses on helping leaders uncover hidden mindset barriers, break bias patterns, and build the intentional habits that drive real results. Teresa is also a speaker and, notably, coaches her own bookkeeper sister to help her grow her firm. About the hostMichael PalmerMichael Palmer is the host of The Successful Bookkeeper podcast and co-founder of Pure Bookkeeping and The ...
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    42 min
  • EP536: Melissa Broughton - Buy Before They Close: Acquiring Bookkeeping Firms The Smart Way

    EP536: Melissa Broughton - Buy Before They Close: Acquiring Bookkeeping Firms The Smart Way
    Jun 16 2026
    See what the team at The Successful Bookkeeper has on right now → Melissa Broughton, founder of Busy Bee Advisors in Sacramento, has built a bookkeeping firm that grows not just through referrals and marketing, but through strategic acquisition of other bookkeeping practices. In this episode, she pulls back the curtain on her complete acquisition process — from finding firms before they shut their doors, to vetting the financials, to integrating clients without losing them. If you've ever wondered whether buying a book of business could be part of your growth plan, Melissa's experience — including the deals that went sideways — is exactly what you need to hear. Chapters [00:00] Cold open teaser[01:15] Melissa's growth journey since last episode[05:30] Launching an online bookkeeping course[09:00] How the acquisition strategy began[12:30] The 70% rule and the water test[17:00] Vetting financials and avoiding pitfalls[21:00] What makes a firm attractive to buyers[25:30] Client integration and transition lessons[30:00] Reading the seller's personality[33:30] Capacity, formulas, and skipping brokers How Melissa Got Into Acquisitions It started with a pattern Melissa kept hearing from tax professionals: a bookkeeper with a thriving practice would simply close up shop, send clients a farewell letter, and leave them scrambling. "There were bookkeepers who had successful, thriving practices and they just decided to retire — they just closed their doors." That gap between a bookkeeper ready to walk away and clients who still need service looked like an opportunity. The goal became getting in front of those owners before they pulled the plug. The 70% Rule and Other Benchmarks Melissa's core filter is straightforward: would the acquisition still be profitable if you only kept 70% of the clients? "We look at, is the business still profitable if you only retain 70% of their business? That's our benchmark." She calls it the "water test," and a surprising number of potential deals don't pass it. She also looks at minimum client roster size, client interaction levels, software alignment (her firm runs exclusively on QuickBooks Online), and whether all clients are under a signed contract. A book of business built on handshakes and mixed software platforms is a much riskier buy than it appears on paper. Vetting the Financials — Don't Take It as Gospel Because bookkeepers are numbers people, Melissa says they're actually well-positioned to do the kind of financial scrutiny most buyers skip. "Ask for proof of those deposits. Make sure that the income lines up." She requests bank statements alongside tax returns, digs into payroll breakdowns, and checks lease agreements — because taking on a seller's remaining lease obligations can quietly sink a deal. She also warns against letting a seller's likability cloud the numbers: "Nice has nothing to do with it." Integration: What Makes or Breaks the Transition The smoothest acquisition Melissa ever completed involved an owner who was fully ready to walk away and sent a clean, brief handover note to clients. The hardest ones involved sellers who couldn't really let go. "We generally will not have the owners stay on — I can only think of two situations where we've had the owners stay on, and I will say I regretted it both of those times." For every acquisition, she brings on extra team support and deploys what she calls a "client whisperer" — a trusted admin who calls each new client, makes the introduction, and asks the question most people avoid: what did your previous bookkeeper do that drove you crazy? What Sellers Should Know Melissa also flips the conversation for bookkeepers thinking about eventually selling their practice. The three biggest value drivers in her eyes are: signed contracts with every client, a reasonable level of ongoing client communication (not too hands-off, not so personal that clients will leave when you do), and consistent use of mainstream software. She also recommends having payment on file rather than invoicing after the fact — both as a business practice and because it signals a well-run, collectible revenue stream to any buyer. Starting negotiations, Melissa uses a 1.25x multiplier on receivables as a baseline and works from there. Links Mentioned Busy Bee Advisors: busybeeadvisors.comContact Melissa directly for her acquisition formula and checklist — email will be in the show notesThe Successful Bookkeeper: thesuccessfulbookkeeper.comPure Bookkeeping: purebookkeeping.com About Melissa Broughton Melissa Broughton is the founder and owner of Busy Bee Advisors, a fully remote bookkeeping firm headquartered in Sacramento, California, with team members spread across the United States. She has built and sold businesses across multiple industries and has applied those lessons to growing her bookkeeping practice through strategic acquisitions. In 2024, she launched an online course to help aspiring bookkeepers start their own ...
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    37 min
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