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My Writings

Essays

aka Long-form rants

Why I don’t call myself a CFO:

Chief Financial Officer is more than a fancy title. CFOs play a very particular and important role in large businesses. I can help your business, but I’m by no means a true CFO (and I’m not going to lie about it just so I can charge you more).

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End the P&L:

Profit & Loss reports are the small business report. But, maybe they shouldn’t be. Read the pros, cons, and learn the P&L tricks.

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What you need to know before opening an S-corp:

The internet loves touting S-corps as an one-size-fits-all tax savings. But, in reality, they’re very complicated and, in some situations, may end up costing you money. 

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Free worksheets:

Various worksheets I use with clients that I’ve made available for free. Currently, that’s just a Profit & Loss worksheet for side-hustles and consultants, but more to come.

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The Tools I’m Using:

This is all the tech I use to run Resting Business Face (including the newsletter, LinkedIn content, and accounting practice). Feel free to rip it off.

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The Email Library

Updated Whenever I Remember

The four levers of cash flow 💸

I won an award 😊🎉 (and I'm gonna brag about it for the next few weeks 😋) - CPA Practice Advisor 40 under 40 The most common cash flow wisdom is to accelerate cash inflows and delay cash outflows. Or, in everyday terms, get paid faster and take...

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A (relatively) simple tax review for year-end

Pre-script: these are topics I discuss with year-round tax retainer clients during their year-end tax checkup. If you're a tax retainer client reading this, expect an email to schedule your call in a few weeks. If you're not a client and would like to have these sorts...

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How to fire bad clients

Last week's email - 'Why you should let bad clients go' - totally jinxed me (here's a link, in case you're the sorta monster that doesn't read every single one of these 😤). I hit send, checked my inbox, and was greeted with a client tirade. They were...

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Why you should let bad clients go

You should let bad clients go. But, you already knew that. The hard part is actually letting them go, especially when they're paying you a lot of money. Our egos and our monthly bills (both the business and personal ones) make letting clients go easier said than done....

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How to smoothly transition accountants

I may be biased, but accountants are one of the most important small business hires. At the very least, you need your taxes done. But, as you grow, you may also need help with other compliance chores, like payroll or bookkeeping. And, eventually, you may want their...

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Why you should write weekly memos

As kids, there's plenty of obvious milestones, events, and memories to mark our progress. There's semesters, tests, graduations, big birthdays, and all sorts of other major happenings. And, we keep all those report cards, syllabuses, exam grades, pictures, postcards,...

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Financial reports need context

Financials are relatively meaningless without context. The context is what gives them their real weight, significance, and, well, meaning. Otherwise, they're just numbers on a page. For example, the same set of financial statements that'd be good news to a...

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Cash vs accrual basis

Accounting seems simple, at first. It's just a bunch of transactions and numbers that need to be categorized and reported. But, when you report the numbers is a much bigger issue than you first realize. For simple transactions (like buying a slice of pizza), it's...

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How to build an emergency fund

Saving money and building an emergency fund isn't fun. In fact, it's pretty much the antithesis of fun. Saving is the ultimate delayed gratification. Instead of using money today for something you enjoy (or a surprise bill 😓), you're saving it until there is...

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4 ways to charge clients upfront

New entrepreneurs and business owners frequently fall for the Net 30 trap. They accept Net 30 payment terms (aka, getting paid 30 days after the invoice) because they think that's just how business is done. They don't realize there's another way (or don't quite...

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Back to basics: Profit & Loss vs Balance Sheet

The Profit and Loss report and Balance Sheet are two of accounting's most famous reports. Everyone's heard of them, every accounting software can generate them, and even the IRS is interested in them. And, they're famous for good reason. Together, they give you a big...

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What to look for in a Profit & Loss report

Accountants and finance people love going on about how important your financial reports are and how much can be learned by regularly reviewing them. And, that's true. You can learn a lot about your business just by taking a regular look at your numbers. You can learn...

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Throwback ⏰: Numbers lie like a dog

Mark Twain famously said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics," meaning you can manipulate statistics to prove just about anything. That's also true for every number you see out there. Every report, every graph, and every tax return can...

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