The Accounting Leads Now Podcast
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.
Episodes
79 episodes
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, C...
.png)
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-f...
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
.png)
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 tr...
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 sal...
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 c...
.png)
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...
.png)
Miss This Window and You'll Regret It: Why He's Buying Firms in 2026 - With Nik Watson
What if you could own a thriving accounting firm without a CPA, EA, or even industry experience?Nik Watson did just that at 23 years old. After four failed startups and zero accounting background, he landed his first acquisition u...
.png)
I Almost Shut It All Down in July. Here’s Why I Didn’t.
2025 nearly broke me.Clients dropped. Revenue cratered. My dream car? Totaled by a dump truck, with no one inside. At our lowest, we were bleeding over $12,000/month.But we didn’t quit. And by November, we closed 10 new cl...
.png)
You’re Losing Clients in Every Meeting and Don’t Know It - With Jordan Vickery
Most firms treat meetings like a checkbox. Talk. Wrap. Move on.But what if the way you run and follow up on meetings is quietly costing you hours each week and revenue you don’t realize you’re losing?Jordan Vicke...
.png)
The Anti-Hourly Firm Model That Clients Actually Prefer - With Dylan Fabbi
Hourly billing isn’t just outdated, it’s blocking your growth. In this episode, Dylan from Fabbi breaks down how his firm ditched time-based pricing, scaled past 500 clients, and became the go-to financial team for business owners wh...
.png)
The Business Model You’re Using Is Outdated (Here's How to Fix It) - with Michael Ly
Still billing by the hour and afraid to raise prices? That’s exactly why you’re stuck.Michael Ly, founder of Reconciled, joins CFO Chron...
.png)
Why So Many Accountants Are Broke by December, Even the Good Ones - With Tony Proctor
Why are so many firm owners flat broke in Q4, even after six-figure tax seasons?Tony Proctor’s been running a firm for 20 years, and he’s seen it all: tax pros who bleed cash ...
.png)
You Don’t Need More Leads, You Need Better Conversations- With Kwame Agyei
Most accounting firms are burning cash on cold leads and broken outreach funnels, but what if that’s not your real growth problem?In this episode, I sit down with Kwame Agyei, founder of Appoynt, to reveal what actually scales firm growt...
.png)
Your Bookkeeping Isn’t Broken. Your Strategy Is - With Cameron Williams
Most firm owners stay stuck under $10K/month because they think “good work” is enough. It’s not.Cameron Williams got fired while expecting his first child. Since then, he’s bui...
.png)
Still Billing by the Hour? It’s Why You Can’t Scale - With Debra Kilsheimer
Most accountants are losing business and don’t even realize it.In this episode, we break down the 3 silent killers that are costing firms revenue, retention, and referrals, starting with outdated pricing models and ending with wha...
.png)
Get a Flood of Inbound Leads with Zero Cold Outreach
You’re not invisible. You’re just not on Google.In this special workshop episode, you'll learn the exact strategy that's generated:$125K of new revenue in 49 days (Shaun)113 inbound calls in 16 days (Shalini)<...
.png)
AI Won’t Kill Your Firm, But This Mistake Will - With Justin White
Most accountants aren't losing to AI, they're losing to their own bad systems.In this episode, we sit down with Justin White, founder of JBookkeeping and a former trades busi...
.png)
The $3M IRS Fix You’ll Never Hear About on TikTok - With Brandon Adjei
Lost your office, denied by FEMA, and broke? Here’s how Brandon Adjei bounced back and saved his clients over $3 million in the process.In this episod...
.png)
Everyone Wants to Be a CFO. Here’s Why Most Will Never Make It - With Kevin Appleby
You’ve done the work. You’ve climbed the ladder. So why does the CFO title still feel out of reach?Kevin Appleby, COO of GrowCFO <...
.png)
You’re Not a Real CFO (Yet): Why Most Firms Never Land High-Value Clients - With Brett Frevert
“Are you a real CFO?”That’s the question clients are now asking, because not all “fractional CFOs” are created equal.In this episode, Brett Frevert<...
.png)
The Tax Strategy Rich People Use (But Never Talk About) - With Daniel Lake
$40,000,000. That’s how much Dan Lake’s clients have saved on taxes and most people have never even heard of the strategy.In this episode, Dan reveals how he helps CPAs and hig...
.png)
Most Accountants Are Giving Away Their Most Valuable Work - With Jackie Meyer
She sold her firm for 7 figures with just 56 clients. Here's how she did it.Jackie Meyer, CPA, founder of TaxPlanIQ and leader of the ...
.png)
Stop Building a Business That Steals Your Freedom - Jaime Rodriguez
He scheduled his wedding around payroll. That’s when he knew something had to change.Jaime Rodriguez, CEO of Bookkeepers.com, has helped over 17,000 students turn their skill into a scalable business. In this episode, he shares th...
.png)
.png)