The Accounting Leads Now Podcast

James Donovan
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Biweekly

The accounting industry has a growth problem. This podcast is the solution.The ALN Podcast is the premier show for firm owners and financial professionals who are serious about building something significant. Hosted by James Donovan, this is where the most successful operators in the industry stop gatekeeping and hand you exactly what's driving their growth.Every episode is built to be the most valuable 30-60 minutes of your week. Solo episodes deliver James's unfiltered analysis, field-tested frameworks, and the insights most people in this industry never get access to. Interview episodes go deep with elite firm owners, industry vendors, and the professionals quietly reshaping what modern accounting looks like, giving you a front-row seat to the conversations that used to happen behind closed doors.Lead generation. Client acquisition. Sales strategy. Pricing. Marketing that actually works. The real numbers behind fast-growing firms.If it moves the needle for ambitious accounting professionals, we cover it.This isn't background noise. This is the podcast you pause, rewind, and take notes on. Subscribe now and get an insider edge on the industry's most important conversations, before your competitors do. 

  1. Something Quietly Hit Accounting Firms in 2025. Here's What to Do About It. | Erica Goode

    Jun 4

    Something Quietly Hit Accounting Firms in 2025. Here's What to Do About It. | Erica Goode

    Your pipeline feeling a little thin? Clients suddenly asking more questions about price? You're not imagining it. And you're not alone. Since fall 2024, a perfect storm has been building, AI-assisted offshore firms, a softening economy, tariff anxiety, and clients who are now very aware there are cheaper options. The firms getting hit hardest? Bookkeeping and fractional CFO. And the old playbook of "raise your prices, show your value" doesn't always work when someone is genuinely watching their cash. Erica Goode isn't here to sugarcoat it. Former KPMG auditor. Former Walgreens finance exec. Now running a virtual fractional CFO firm from the Idaho mountains, on her own terms and founder of Aligned Accountants, the community for solo firm owners who want a real life AND a real business. In this episode: why she saw the pricing shift coming, what the actual conversation looks like when a client wants to spend less, and the one question that tells you whether to fight for the client or let them walk. 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.

    22 min
  2. The #1 Thing Accounting Firms Refuse to Do That Costs Them Clients | Drewbie Wilson

    May 21

    The #1 Thing Accounting Firms Refuse to Do That Costs Them Clients | Drewbie Wilson

    Your prospects already know they need what you do. So why aren't they signing? Most of the time, it's not your pricing. It's not your niche. It's that nobody picked up the phone. Drewbie Wilson built a movement around three words, Call the Damn Leads, after watching a client demand a refund on 100 hot leads he never once called. In this episode, Drewbie breaks down how to figure out whether your prospect values time or money, why "playing it safe" in sales conversations is quietly killing your growth, and the real reason your referral partner retiring could wipe out your pipeline overnight. You'll walk away with a two-step process to audit your time and a fresh framework for closing the clients who keep saying "I'll think about it." 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.

    30 min
  3. He Had a Stroke. Then He Built a Conference. Here's What Accounting Got Wrong | With Randy Crabtree

    May 7

    He Had a Stroke. Then He Built a Conference. Here's What Accounting Got Wrong | With Randy Crabtree

    You're exhausted. You keep telling yourself it's just tax season. But deep down, you know it's been longer than that. Randy Crabtree pulled over at a phone booth to quit his job and become a CPA. He built a firm, burned out, sold it, co-founded Tri-Merit Specialty Tax and landed on the Inc. 5000 three years running. Then a stroke in 2014 forced him to rethink everything. In this conversation, Randy gets real about what burnout actually looks like before it takes you down, why niching down accelerated his growth instead of limiting it, and the one client-list exercise that can change how you run your firm starting today. If you're running on fumes right now, this one's worth your commute. 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.

    37 min
  4. He Landed a Client Shooting Machine Guns | Sean Duncan

    Apr 23

    He Landed a Client Shooting Machine Guns | Sean Duncan

    A West Point grad invites you to shoot fully automatic machine guns and drink bourbon. You go. You meet a fractional CFO. Three months later, he's a multi-thousand dollar a month client. That's not a marketing strategy. That's Sean Duncan's life and it's only the opener. Sean built the largest accounting firm in Frisco, Texas, then torched two-thirds of his revenue on purpose and rebuilt around a fixed-fee, proactive advisory model before anyone in the industry had a name for it. In this conversation he breaks down exactly how he did it, what almost ended him in 2017, how he niched into medical practices and video game developers, and the one calendar habit he credits for every major decision he's made since. You'll walk away with his "Work On the Business Day" framework, a new way to think about who you actually want as clients, and proof that shooting guns in Texas is a legitimate business development strategy. 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.

    41 min
  5. She Left a 15-Year Career and Hit Capacity in Year One | Katie Helle

    Apr 9

    She Left a 15-Year Career and Hit Capacity in Year One | Katie Helle

    You're grinding through tax season wondering when it gets easier. What if the answer isn't working more, it's being more intentional about what you build and who you build it with? Katie Helle walked away from a 15-year career at a traditional firm, launched Scaled Accounting, and hit capacity faster than she ever planned. Her growth engine? Referral partnerships with financial advisors, real relationships built at conferences, and online communities where firm owners actually send each other business. In this conversation, she breaks down how she schedules tax prep to protect her 40-hour weeks, why she intentionally doesn't want to scale into a massive firm, and what happened when growth came so fast she didn't have SOPs ready for the team she had to hire mid-tax-season. If you're building a firm around your life instead of the other way around, this one's for you.  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.

    29 min
  6. The Real Reason Prospects Say “I Need to Think About It" And How to Fix it, With Brian Mayoral

    Mar 26

    The Real Reason Prospects Say “I Need to Think About It" And How to Fix it, With Brian Mayoral

    Most accounting firms don’t lose deals because of price. They lose them because they explain too much. In this episode, Brian Merrill breaks down why prospects say “I need to think about it” and what’s actually happening on your sales calls. Key takeaways: why too much information kills dealshow to simplify your offer so prospects say yes fasterhow to control the sales conversation without sounding pushywhat top-performing firms do differently when sellingIf your calls are turning into long explanations instead of closed deals, this episode shows you exactly what to fix. 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.

    33 min
  7. Why We Burned Down 70 Episodes and Started Over

    Mar 25

    Why We Burned Down 70 Episodes and Started Over

    We recorded 70+ episodes of CFO Chronicles. Incredible guests. Great conversations. And we still hit pause. Not because we ran out of ideas, because something wasn't working. So we scrapped the name, retooled the format, and came back with one rule: if you can't apply it by Monday morning, it doesn't make the show. Welcome to the Accounting Leads Now Podcast. In this episode, we break down exactly what's changing, what we're doubling down on, and what you can expect from here. Less theory. More leads. More clients. More episodes you can actually use. We also want to hear from you, who should we bring on the show? What topics matter most to your firm right now? Drop a comment or send us a message.  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.

    8 min
  8. This Accountant Built His Own Payroll Software, Because No One Else Would - With Brian Clare

    Jan 15

    This Accountant Built His Own Payroll Software, Because No One Else Would - With Brian Clare

    Most accountants talk about innovation. Brian Clare actually builds it. From killing time tracking to launching his own payroll software for Canadian accountants, Brian isn't just running a firm, he’s engineering the next wave of how firms work. In this episode: Why hourly billing is killing your marginsHow turning down the wrong clients changed everythingThe cost of hiring late and why he hired ops before he needed toBehind the scenes of building a brand-new payroll tool from scratchHow he manages two companies without burning out🔍 Whether you’re stuck in legacy pricing or flirting with product dev, this is a masterclass in firm design, ops delegation, and bold decisions. 📍 Learn more: https://www.xyblueprint.com 📱 Connect with Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangclare/ 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.

    32 min
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5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

The accounting industry has a growth problem. This podcast is the solution.The ALN Podcast is the premier show for firm owners and financial professionals who are serious about building something significant. Hosted by James Donovan, this is where the most successful operators in the industry stop gatekeeping and hand you exactly what's driving their growth.Every episode is built to be the most valuable 30-60 minutes of your week. Solo episodes deliver James's unfiltered analysis, field-tested frameworks, and the insights most people in this industry never get access to. Interview episodes go deep with elite firm owners, industry vendors, and the professionals quietly reshaping what modern accounting looks like, giving you a front-row seat to the conversations that used to happen behind closed doors.Lead generation. Client acquisition. Sales strategy. Pricing. Marketing that actually works. The real numbers behind fast-growing firms.If it moves the needle for ambitious accounting professionals, we cover it.This isn't background noise. This is the podcast you pause, rewind, and take notes on. Subscribe now and get an insider edge on the industry's most important conversations, before your competitors do. 

Information

  • Creator
    James Donovan
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    80
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Accounting Leads Now Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Accounting Leads Now Podcast

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