Bringing CPA Firms into the Future (with Jackie Meyer)

Listen to the Bigger Than Business Podcast’s interview with Jackie Meyer on your favorite podcast providers!

How can you shed 60% of your client base and still grow? How can a CPA take time off right before April 15, a notorious deadline in the industry, while others are sweating and working overtime? How can setting boundaries with your clients lead to a prosperous, more holistic business?

Listen as our guest, Jackie Meyer, tells us how she built her own practice after being fired for having too much of an entrepreneurial mind-set, what attributes led to her becoming a much sought-after consultant on best practices, and how what she calls Meraki Leadership leads to a fulfilling life in both work and at home.

Bio:

Jackie Meyer leads Meyer Tax Consulting, a team of top-tier talent across the US, that specializes in Tax Strategies Planning, Business Development and Leadership Coaching programs for a high return on investment. Jackie also founded TaxPlanIQ, a tax firm planning application that helps with calculations, planning and organization, and she has pledged to dedicate ten percent of the profits to charity this year. Jackie, a CPA, Certified Concierge Accountant, and a Certified Tax Specialist, is a member of the Forbes Finance Council and has written several published articles for Forbes, which can be found online. She earned a BBA Finance from the University of Texas at Arlington, a Master of Science in Accounting from Southern Methodist University, and is currently working on a Doctorate of Strategic Leadership at Regent University. Jackie is married to Mark, and they live in Southlake, Texas, with their two children.

Meyer Tax Consulting

Bringing CPA Firms into the Future

By Jeff Holler

What allows a tax accountant to let go of 60% of her client base, enjoy leisure time right before the April 15 tax deadline, and be a highly sought out business coach to other CPAs?

For Jackie Meyer, the secret lies in three factors:

1. Play from your strengths
2. Embrace innovation
3. Employ value pricing

Know Your Strengths

“I’m an introvert,” Jackie reveals, “and kind of a dork – I LOVE taxes!”

However, she confesses to never wanting to be a manager, which could have posed a limit in scaling her CPA firm beyond her own efforts.

“I’m not good at it. I’m good at ideas, I’m good at innovating.” The solution was to hire assistants to fill that gap.

“I have an office manager, I have an assistant that turned into my business development manager, and then I have two other assistants, all helping me on a day-to-day basis. I get to focus on my strengths while they run the show with the management, and our team is just phenomenal. Now we have about 12 staff in total and Meyer Tax Consulting is really kind of a well-oiled machine at this point.”

Innovate or Stagnate

Jackie is also a fiend for innovation, automation, and going paperless in an industry still very much tied to paper.

“If I showed you my phone right now, you would see hundreds of apps. I’m obsessed with finding the latest and greatest so that I can multi-task and just do seven things at once. I just love it.”

It’s one of the factors that appeals to her client base.

“Honestly, a lot of people get tired of the typical CPA – that almost retired old guy that comes in the door to help them with their taxes. Many people want fresh, new perspectives, and that’s what I brought to the table. You either liked it or you didn’t, and apparently plenty of people liked it.”

Jackie’s eye for bringing innovation to the tax industry also motivated her to change the fee structure used with their clients.

Pricing Based on Value Provided

Several years ago, Jackie’s firm shed 60% of her client base to intentionally refocus her business on where she could provide the most value to clients. That meant turning the focus toward tax planning rather than just preparation and filing.

“We actually won’t work with a client now,” Jackie shares, “unless we can deliver an ROI of our fees of at least 200% – 500%. As a CPA, we can’t charge a fee contingent on a tax refund. I can never guarantee tax savings, but I can guarantee people’s satisfaction.”

After carefully evaluating the client’s situation, Meyer proposes an upfront value-priced implementation fee to develop their tax strategy, followed by a maintenance fee each month to maintain that plan and do all the compliance work that goes along with it.

This shift to planning and ongoing maintenance is the reason that Jackie can take time off right before April 15, when most other CPA firms are scrambling to meet deadlines.

It’s also why her approach is in such high demand among other CPA firms.

To hear more about that, be sure to listen to our interview where you will also discover:

• How Jackie used down-time during Covid to develop her latest project, Tax Plan IQ – an app that automates tax strategy, savings calculations, planning and organization.
• How she manages to coach 120 business leaders around the country.
• Details on her ROI method of value pricing instead of fixed fees.
• What it means to be a Certified Concierge Accountant