Business
Business lessons from a CPA who has seen a lot of things go right and a lot of things go sideways. I write about what I have learned running a firm, managing teams, and working with family. "Building Your Financial Castle: A CPA's Guide to Protecting What You've Built" opens with a harsh stat: 65% of businesses fail within 12 months of a founder's death. I wrote it because most business owners do not want to think about this, which is exactly why they should.
When a Regional Plan Doesn't Fit a National Team
One of our clients had used a Kaiser Permanente plan for years. The company covered the full employee-only premium, and employees could…
Tearing the Operations Manual Down to the Studs After 15 Years
Over the last couple of months, I've been rewriting our SOPs. The documentation. The procedures for how we actually do tax and…
Why DIY Bookkeeping Almost Never Works for New Franchise Owners
I got off a call last week with a guy starting a franchise. Career salaried employee, first time owning a business. Smart,…
Your Tax Return Isn't the Finish Line. It's the Starting Line.
Most people see the tax return as the finish line. It's actually the starting line. That return is the whole year compressed…
Multi-Generational Wealth Strategies: Beyond the Trust Document
The data on multi-generational wealth is grim. Roughly 70% of family wealth is gone by the second generation, and 90% by the…
5 Common Wealth Mistakes Families Don't See Until It's Too Late
The pattern I see most in my practice isn't bad strategy. It's good strategy that was set up years ago and never…
Why Calling Your CPA a Week Before the Deadline Costs You More Than a Penalty
Most tax penalties have nothing to do with complexity. It's timing. Every tax season we get the same call. "Can you file…
The Family Blueprint: How to Plan 20 Years Ahead Without Losing the Next 12 Months
Most financial plans I see are stacks of statements. Allocations, projections, beneficiary forms. They're useful documents, but they aren't a plan you…
The Quarterly Retreat: How High-Performing Families Run Their Wealth Like a Business
The default cadence for most families is annual. A meeting with the CPA in March or April. Maybe a meeting with the…
Why Most Firms Stay Behind After Tax Season (And What We're Doing Differently)
After tax season, most firms are already behind again. Everyone's exhausted, everyone wants a break, and most teams move on without ever…
Tax Optimization vs. Tax Risk
Most people use "aggressive tax strategy" as a single phrase, as if every plan that lowers your bill carries the same level…
Why Tax Season Is the Best Teacher for Young Accountants
Tax season is one of the most intense times of the year inside an accounting firm. Long hours. Tight deadlines. Lots of…
Why Intentional Networking Beats Casting a Wide Net
Early in my career I went to every networking event I could find. Meetups. Happy hours. Anywhere I could go to help…
Why In-Person Relationships Still Win in Business
For a long time, business growth leaned heavily on digital channels. SEO. Online content. Paid ads. Those tools still matter, but something…
The Enterprise Agent System Is Knocking at Our Door
In several founder groups I'm part of, the same conversation keeps coming up. Tools people thought were three to ten years away…
Tax Season Is More Than Filing Returns: Here's What We're Really Doing Right Now
We're at that point in the year where roughly 20 to 25 percent of 2026 is already behind us. For a lot…
The Tax Season Bottleneck Between CEOs and Bookkeepers
One of the biggest tax season bottlenecks? The gap between the CEO and the bookkeeper. If your bookkeeping firm is separate from…
Why Every Question on Your Tax Organizer Matters
People sometimes feel like the tax organizer is a lot. It's a lot of questions. But every single question is there for…
Planning Ahead of 2026 Liquidity Events
Going into 2026, we're seeing a lot of liquidity events. Exits, mergers, acquisitions, and private investments are coming together. When that happens,…
Building Your Financial Castle: A CPA's Guide to Protecting What You've Built
Here's the harsh reality: 65% of businesses fail within 12 months of a founder's death. If 85% of your net worth is…
How Fresh Talent Resets Team Energy (And When You Know It's Time)
We're three weeks into 2026, and the energy in our office feels completely different. It's not just the typical New Year motivation—something…
What December Teaches Us About What Really Matters in Business
This time of year always slows me down in the best way. We spend months talking about growth, strategy, taxes, AI, and…
Family Business Changed My Mind
I used to think working with family was a mistake. I had seen the tension it could create, the mess it could…
October 2025 Business Updates
With the major tax deadlines of September and October behind us, our focus at Fusion CPA is shifting. This time of year…
Why You Should Check In With Your Business Partners
As a business professional who has worked extensively with various service providers, I have learned a crucial lesson about managing professional relationships…
Why Your Accountant Should Be Your Confidant
As a tax professional, I have heard this countless times: clients who dread talking to their accountants. But I firmly believe it…
The Future of Accounting
I've been thinking a lot lately about the future of accounting. And I don't think we're headed towards higher head counts in…
The Five-Figure Tax Mistake on a Cruise Ship
I was on a cruise talking shop with another CPA. He was a lifelong controller, but not a tax pro. We got…
The $30K Lesson That Almost Cost Me Everything
At 25, I was living what looked like the dream on paper. I started a golf club rental company that was pulling…