Accountant's Flight Plan
Welcome to The Accountant's Flight Plan, where we guide you toward building a top-tier CPA firm that you would want to buy. With over 20 years of working with accountants in mergers and acquisitions, Brannon Poe, CPA delves into engaging and vital topics with industry leaders. Unpacking everything from transition planning and accounting practice sales to practice management and firm development, Brannon equips you with the tools you need to build the practice of your dreams. Whether you are navigating firm growth or exploring the nuances of succession planning, join us to learn actionable insights that will empower and inspire you to love your firm again.
Accountant's Flight Plan
How Niching Down to Veterinarians Built a 15X Practice
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Greg Toner kept only his best clients, raised prices, picked one niche, and grew his practice 15X.
While many CPAs accept any business that comes their way, Greg found success by being highly selective. He looked at his client list, identified the bottom 10% who weren't getting value from his work, and let them go. Then he raised fees on the clients who remained. His team didn't complain. His revenue didn't drop. And the capacity he created allowed him to focus exclusively on serving veterinarians across Canada.
Today, Greg works with 360 vet practices from coast to coast. He doesn't prepare tax returns anymore. He doesn't do bookkeeping. His role has evolved into technical sales and high-level tax planning because he built systems that allow his team to handle the rest. When you niche down and get really good at solving the same 15 problems over and over, referrals fly and close rates skyrocket.
This is the third episode in our Power of Focus series, where we explore how CPA firm owners use focus as a strategic advantage. Greg's story proves that the riches really are in the niches, but only if you're willing to make the hard decisions first.
Timestamps:
01:55 - How firing the wrong Accounting clients changed everything
03:18 - The APA spreadsheet that made the decision obvious
04:14 - Why his team was happy to see clients leave
04:57 - No revenue loss, not even in the short term
05:19 - The dam holding back good clients
06:17 - Why he joined APA (opportunistic, not desperate)
07:01 - From sole Accounting practitioner to 15X revenue
07:28 - Evolving from doer to technical sales role
09:11 - The mental leap of hiring high-salary staff for your CPA firm
11:07 - Solve the same problem 100 times, become a hero
12:23 - Why niching down made CPA Firm growth rapid
13:26 - 10 leads a week, high close rate
13:50 - How 15 vet clients became 360 across Canada
15:18 - The horror film basement full of paper files
16:56 - Book: 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan