Top Firm

04/25/2025

You still haven’t heard the $50K hiring story?

Chris Johnson of CJ CPAs did something bold: he offered a $50,000 sign-on bonus to attract the right hire.

No tricks. No clawbacks. Just a strategic fix for one of the accounting industry’s biggest problems—finding values-aligned talent in a challenging market.

In this launch episode of the Accounting Talent Podcast, Chris joins TopFirm CEO Nick Sinclair to unpack how this bold bet actually saved him money—and why it’s about more than just the dollars.

➡️ The funnel he built to attract top talent
➡️ The real ROI behind the $50K offer
➡️ What happened when someone asked for $100K instead
➡️ How one hire moved countries to join the firm

This episode is packed with real tactics and a whole new way to think about hiring.

🎧 Full episode is live now—comment “50K” and we’ll send you the link!

04/22/2025

Most firm owners hate meetings.

But meetings aren’t the problem. Leadership is.

On this episode of 7 Figure Accountant Tactics, Nick Sinclair shares the 7 meeting rhythms that turn chaos into clarity:

✅ Daily Huddles – Build leadership skills every day
✅ Weekly Leadership Meetings – Align on metrics and priorities
✅ Monthly Deep Dives – Solve bottlenecks fast
✅ Workflow Meetings – Boost production without micromanaging
✅ All-Hands Culture Meetings – Celebrate wins and loyalty
✅ Quarterly Offsites – Set bold strategic goals
✅ Annual Planning – Make the 1–2 key moves that change everything

If you want your team rowing in the same direction—and hitting bigger goals—start here.

🎧 Listen now: https://the-7-figure-accountant.captivate.fm/listen

04/17/2025

Most team meetings are a waste of time.

Not because meetings don’t work—but because they’re not led well.

One of the biggest pain points I see with firm owners is the lack of structure and consistency in their meeting rhythms.

The meetings are too long, too boring, too reactive… or they simply don’t happen at all.

When I implemented the right meeting rhythms in my firm, it changed everything.

Alignment went up. Accountability increased. Culture improved.

And we started moving the needle every single week.

Here’s what I’ve learned from 20+ years of building and growing teams across multiple businesses:

✅ Daily huddles (3 mins per person): wins, focus for the day, where you're stuck. Keep it short. Keep it sharp. Train your team to communicate with clarity.

✅ Weekly leadership meetings (30–60 mins): track key metrics, check in on team performance, and keep projects moving.

✅ Monthly deep dives: identify the biggest constraints, analyze key data, and turn problems into process fixes.

✅ Monthly all-hands: celebrate wins, recognize values-driven behavior, and bring the culture to life.

✅ Weekly workflow meetings: between account managers and the workflow lead—NOT you. These are the engine room of delivery and efficiency.

✅ Quarterly and annual planning (offsite): no distractions, only strategy. This is where the real growth decisions happen.

Why does this work?

Because when meetings are consistent, focused, and led well, they create alignment.

And alignment is what drives high-level performance.

If you’ve ever felt like your team is out of sync, rowing in different directions, or not owning outcomes—this is where you start.

I break down all these concepts in detail in a short video.

Comment “RHYTHMS” below and I’ll send you the link.

04/16/2025

Most accounting firm owners think they have a workflow issue—

But what they’re really stuck in is a workflow trap:

A system that keeps them busy but stuck, productive but not progressing.

One minute you're reviewing work.

The next, you’re dealing with a team issue.

Then chasing deadlines, fixing mistakes, replying to emails…

Everything relies on you.

You’re doing everything to keep things moving—
But the more you grow, the more chaotic it gets.

Sound familiar?

That’s exactly what we’re going to fix in The Efficient Firm Workshop.

✅ The 20-Step Workflow™ system that will transform how your firm operates.
✅ How to break the bottlenecks costing you time, profit, and peace of mind.
✅ The biggest workflow traps we see in accounting firms — and how to eliminate them.
✅ The six key roles every efficient firm needs to boost productivity by 15–25%.
✅ How to build a firm that delivers consistent, high-level service—without burning out.

If you’re:

✔️ A firm owner with $500K to $5M in revenue
✔️ Profitable, but the business relies too much on you
✔️ Wanting to systemize your firm without burning out your team (or yourself)

… then you need to be in the workshop.

This is normally a paid session, but we’re running this one FREE to help more firms build stronger foundations in 2025.

Register here to secure your spot → https://hubs.ly/Q03hmNkH0

✔ Transform your day-to-day with The 20-Step Workflow System™ ✔ Break bottlenecks that are slowing your team and costing you profit ✔ Eliminate hidden workflow traps that are stealing time and revenue ✔ Boost productivity by 15–25% by installing 6 Key Roles your firm needs ✔ Delive...

04/15/2025

Clients don't leave because you make mistakes. They leave because they feel forgotten.

Want loyal accounting clients who stay—and send referrals?

This week on 7 Figure Accountant Tactics, Nick Sinclair shows:

✅ How to transform your client experience from average to outstanding
✅ The hidden problems costing you loyalty and profit
✅ The CARE Framework to build client trust
✅ How better service delivery can boost your profitability by 67%

You don’t need more clients—you need happier ones.

🎧 Listen now: https://hubs.ly/Q038kkKh0

04/10/2025

It’s rarely about Lamborghinis and private jets.

Here’s what most firm owners actually want:

Time to be present with family.

A team they trust.

True time off—without checking Slack.

Clients who value and respect their work.

A business that enables freedom—not more hours.

However, too many have been led to believe that more success demands more sacrifice.

And that being a business owner means being the bottleneck, the technician, and the firefighter.

It doesn’t.

There’s a better model—where the business becomes an asset, not just a demanding job with a different title.

That’s why the TopFirm Academy exists.

To help firm owners shift from operator to actual owner.

From doing the work to building a firm that works for them.

P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 2 ways I can help you grow your accounting business:

1. Listen to the 7 Figure Accountant Podcast

I recently launched a new podcast — the 7 Figure Accountant — where I interview firm owners who’ve scaled past $1M and share practical insights on leadership, pricing, and building a strong team. You can check it out here: Easily listen to 7 Figure Accountant Podcast in your podcast app of choice

2. Work with me and my team privately

If you’d like to work directly with me and my team to take you from being an operator stuck in your business to an investor working on your business... Just send me a message and with the word “Private” ... tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details.

04/09/2025

Talent acquisition is a draining endeavor for many accounting firm owners.

Chris Johnson of CJ CPAs knows the pain of trying to hire the right people. The time wasted, the money lost, the endless cycle of hiring and rehiring.

After coming up short again and again, he knew something had to change.

So, he did something bold: he offered a $50,000 sign-on bonus to attract top-tier talent to his firm, CJ CPAs.

No tricks. No clawbacks. Just a clear, upfront investment in the right person.

But this strategy wasn’t about throwing money at a problem — it was about rethinking how firms approach talent altogether. Chris turned recruiting into a marketing funnel, refined his messaging, and doubled down on culture. And while the bonus got attention, it’s what happened next that really matters.

If you’ve ever struggled to find the right people — people who align with your values and want to grow with your firm — this episode of the Accounting Talent podcast is for you.

Comment “PODCAST” and we’ll send you the link to the full episode!

04/09/2025

Imagine this: a blank whiteboard and the freedom to build your ideal accounting business from scratch.

No legacy clients. No underperforming team members. No burnout. No chaos.

Just clarity.

What services would be offered?

Who would be served?

What would the team look like?

How much time would be spent working?

What would the owner earn?

Most firm owners never ask these questions. They're too busy reacting to the business they already have.

But reinvention doesn’t require starting over. It simply requires intentional design.

The business—and the life—that's truly wanted can be built from exactly where things stand now. But it starts with asking better questions.

Because without a clear picture of the firm that’s actually desired, the current one is what will keep being built.

Stay tuned for our post tomorrow on what most firm owners truly want—even if they haven’t said it aloud yet.

P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 2 ways I can help you grow your accounting business:

1. Listen to the & Figure Accountant Podcast

I recently launched a new podcast — the 7 Figure Accountant — where I interview firm owners who’ve scaled past $1M and share practical insights on leadership, pricing, and building a strong team. You can check it out here: Easily listen to 7 Figure Accountant Podcast in your podcast app of choice

2. Work with me and my team privately

If you’d like to work directly with me and my team to take you from being an operator stuck in your business to an investor working on your business... Just send me a message and with the word “Private” ... tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details.

04/08/2025

Most people who build multi-million dollar accounting firms have a background in public practice.

Daniel Gertrudes didn’t.

No CPA. No time in a Big 4 firm.

Just 15 years in corporate M&A… and the guts to acquire a bookkeeping firm and rethink how the whole thing should run.

TopFirm CEO and host of the 7 Figure Accountant podcast Nick Sinclair sits down for a chat with Daniel Gertrudes, founder of GrowthLab, who’s been through two complete reinventions of his firm over the last 10 years.

If you’re a firm owner who’s:

✅ Outgrown the way you started
✅ Thinking about acquisition
✅ Or wondering how to actually evolve your model beyond compliance...

You don’t want to miss this insight-packed conversation with Daniel.

We get into:

➡️ Why he left corporate and bought a firm
➡️ How he rebuilt the service mix from bookkeeping to tax, FP&A, HR, and AI
➡️ What most firm owners get wrong when they try to evolve

Comment EPISODE and we’ll send you the link!

04/08/2025

There was a night that could have changed everything.

Evening. Office lights are still glowing. But energy—completely gone.

This is the breaking point many firm owners quietly hit.

Long hours.

Constant pressure.

Endless firefighting.

No space to breathe.

The business that once felt like a dream starts to feel like a weight.

It’s easy to normalize the discomfort.

Convince yourself that this is just how it is. That the grind is the trade-off for running a “successful” firm.

But that’s not the only way. And it shouldn’t be.

TopFirm works with accounting firm owners who are ready to stop owning a job and start building a business. A business that works for them—not the other way around.

Here’s one question we encourage every firm owner to ask:

What if it could be better?

P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 2 ways I can help you grow your accounting business:

1. Listen to the 7 Figure Accountant Podcast

I recently launched a new podcast — the 7 Figure Accountant — where I interview firm owners who’ve scaled past $1M and share practical insights on leadership, pricing, and building a strong team. You can check it out here: Easily listen to 7 Figure Accountant Podcast in your podcast app of choice

2. Work with me and my team privately

If you’d like to work directly with me and my team to take you from being an operator stuck in your business to an investor working on your business... Just send me a message and with the word “Private” ... tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details.

04/07/2025

A $50,000 sign-on bonus.

No clawbacks. No gimmicks. Just a bold move to solve one of the toughest challenges in accounting: hiring great people.

To kick things off on the Accounting Talent podcast, TopFirm CEO and host Nick Sinclair sits down with Chris Johnson of CJ CPAs to break down the strategy behind it — and why it’s about way more than money.

Their conversation covers:

✅ How the $50K bonus actually saved him money
✅ Why traditional hiring wasn’t working
✅ The funnel he built to attract values-aligned talent
✅ And how one team member moved countries to join the firm

If you’re tired of losing great team members, struggling with recruitment, or feeling the pressure of today’s talent crisis, the Accounting Talent Podcast with Nick Sinclair, TopFirm CEO, is your go-to resource.

Brought to you by TopFirm and TOA Global, we’re featuring industry leaders who have cracked the code on recruiting, managing, and developing world-class, high-performing accounting teams. When your people thrive, your firm thrives.

The episode with Chris Johnson launches SOON! Stay tuned.

04/07/2025

He’s not a CPA.
He didn’t grow up in public practice.
But he did acquire a small bookkeeping firm...
and turned it into a multi-million dollar finance powerhouse.

Up next on the 7 Figure Accountant: Daniel Gertrudes, founder of GrowthLab, joins us to share how he went from corporate M&A to building a modern firm offering bookkeeping, tax, FP&A, HR, and AI-powered services.

This one’s raw, strategic, and full of real talk on:
✅ Reinventing a traditional firm from the inside out
✅ Leading through team turnover and tough transformations
✅ Where accounting is heading next—and who’s going to get left behind

If you’re running a firm, thinking about acquisition, or building beyond compliance—you won’t want to miss this.

Stay tuned—episode drops soon.