My background:
It all started in the 1980’s…I’m kidding we aren’t going back that far 😉.
But I will bring up that prior to my professional accounting career, I worked a variety of jobs and volunteer positions, which I think is something that some of my CPA peers haven’t. This included working general labour and on the tools in residential construction, sales and estimation in the construction industry, and many years of bartending at restaurants, pubs, and nightclubs before, during, and a little while after university. In addition, I did some tutoring work, and coached minor hockey for a couple seasons, and spent some time living and working in Australia and Austria. Why does this matter now, as a CPA?
Well, it might surprise you, but in my experience earning my designation at PwC, there were many I met or knew of in the professional accounting space for whom their professional career was their first job. Or if it wasn’t their very first job, it was something that they always knew they were going to do. It was a career path they were striving for since they were a kid, and they worked relevant jobs leading up to it.
Now, it might seem by me saying that and differentiating myself from this, that I think this is a bad thing. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The people for whom I know this is the case for, are some of the most technically skilled and knowledgeable accountants I can think of. They work in massive public practice firms or multinational, publicly traded organizations, and are subject matter experts in their fields of specialization, no doubt. That they have always known they wanted to be a CPA, means that reading the CPA Canada Handbook and the Income Tax Act was their bedtime story since they were kids (probably… “citation needed” as they say 😂).
So, what is the point of me saying all this?
The point is that there are many different types of CPAs out there. My background of working various hands-on jobs and front-line problem solving, etc., impacted me as I became a CPA; and after as well. I earned my designation working at PwC, working with some of the folks for whom becoming a CPA was a lifelong expectation of theirs. And while I learned a ton from this time and those people, I knew that big firm public practice wasn’t for me.
My entrepreneurial side knew that I had much greater interest to work with privately held SME’s (“Small-Medium Enterprises”), and so that’s where my work took me next, working as the Controller for a group of restaurants in Vancouver. This was a short-term contract position, but it was still an incredible experience to navigate through what we did. After a whirlwind, non-stop 9 months, I left the position to start my own “crazy idea” business that had been percolating for some time.
This business was my freestyle sports airbag business, which provides training equipment access for the action sports community of BMX/Mountain bike, Freestyle Motocross (FMX), and ski/snowboarding. I founded it because I wanted work more closely aligned to my passions of mtn biking and snowboarding, and to tick that box in my head that said: “if you don’t at least TRY this crazy idea, you will regret it when you’re older”. And that metaphorical box was right.
Now this section isn’t about that business, but it is about what I did to launch that business. A type of business and an “industry” sector for which there was literally no guidance or comparable companies for how to start & operate this entity, no one to benchmark from, and no one to lean on for help. It all fell on me. Here is what that looked like:
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- Created business plan from scratch, to explain an entirely new concept/industry to operate from. I.e., this wasn’t a business plan for a Restaurant, or for a Bike Shop, or other things that exist already.
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- This business plan included everything needed to obtain start-up financing for all the equipment.
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- Which means I was presenting this to investors, to banks and lenders, etc. It had absolutely everything in it, from market analysis, pricing considerations, possible customers and project locations, SWOT analysis, all the equipment I would need and priced out to the dollar, timelines, etc.
- And of course, it had a solid set of financial projections and variance analysis, as well as a capital budget and working capital budget
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- All sales and marketing efforts, all logistical efforts, all construction of relevant assets, HR, hiring, and managing staff, etc., it was all me.
- This business plan included everything needed to obtain start-up financing for all the equipment.
After taking an enormous risk creating this company diving in with both feet, and ultimately realizing that the market was not quite there for the scale that I was trying to do it at, I downsized my ambitions with it. Now some may call this a failure, but I don’t – I have since found a wonderful balance for this company to exist alongside my CPA career, and it exists in a way that the business is absolutely a net positive on my life. And that is in no way a failure.
Since this time, I’ve spent an additional ~7 years between two Controller and Director of Finance roles, that each brought their own unique challenges and learning experiences, and that each helped shape the CPA that I have become. But still, my entrepreneurial instincts kept me thinking about the accounting company I had long envisioned starting…and that’s where I’m at today with Boost CPA.
What does this all tell us? What kind of CPA am I?
The picture I am painting, is that of me as an entrepreneurial-minded, adaptable, think-on-your-feet CPA. One that understands SME’s and the unique challenges private companies face, because I have well and truly worked in them and lived their experiences:
- both as a Labourer/Framer for a small construction company, and later as the Controller of a company with millions in annual Construction Revenue.
- Both as a bartender at busy establishments closing out the nightly tills at 1:30am, and later as the Controller of a company with over $10 million in annual Food and Bev sales.
- I know the struggles of starting a small business and navigating that minefield, because I have done it before with a (quite frankly) bonkers business idea, and now again by starting my own CPA firm.
I think in many ways this hands-on experience in small-medium businesses and starting two of my own, allows me to offer so much more value now as a CPA. I really do love small businesses, and trying to help them prosper. If you read some of my other blog posts about when to hire an accountant, and what does a CFO/Controller do, you will already know how I feel about this. But to quickly summarize, all too often smaller companies don’t hire a CPA to work in-house until they are well past the point when they should have. It is my goal to help change this, and to help give smaller businesses the same boost that bigger companies get from their in-house CPAs. Because the work we do is important and valuable for all companies out there.
Boost CPA – What we do, and what we’re about
Simply put, we are here to focus on the small- to medium-sized businesses that we feel could greatly benefit from working with an in-house CPA. This distinction – saying “in-house” – means that we are involved monthly, every week, and we act on your behalf. Yes, we can file your taxes at year end, personal and corporate. But we can do so much more for you than just that.
Being involved monthly, and being in-house, means we are on your team. Think of us as virtual team members, providing valuable services and being available when things pop up. No more looking at the clock every time you send us a question or chat on the phone, no more invoice shock at year-end when your taxes are performed, no more feeling like you are one of hundreds/thousands of clients your tax accountant has, and no more stressful once-per-year involvement and commentary from them either. One affordable monthly fee pays for a suite of services tailored to where your company is in its lifespan, that provides valuable analysis and insight to you all year long, and that is there with you for your journey.
I don’t want Boost to be a CPA firm that crushes out 1,000+ tax returns per year. I don’t want hundreds and hundreds of clients that I barely interact with. I want Boost CPA to work with a small group of clients that:
- are passionate about their businesses,
- appreciate balance in their lives, and
- are ready to invest in their financial systems to help align their personal and financial goals.
Because if your business is bringing you nothing but stress and negativity…what are you doing it for? Our lives are far too short for that sort of thing.
Does this sound like you? We are currently accepting client applications for monthly services, so reach out to us and book a consultation to see if we are a match for each other.
