The Growth Minded Accountant
Hosted by Lee Reams II and CountingWorks PRO, "The Growth Minded Accountant" is your go-to podcast for independent tax and accounting pros ready to level up. We’re here to show you how AI, digital marketing, and cutting-edge tools — the kind that only the big guys had access to — can help you save time, win new clients, and keep your practice thriving. From leveraging AI agents to boosting ROI on every client interaction, we cover it all. Tune in to stay sharp, learn strategies that work, and make sure you’re always one step ahead. The playing field just got a lot mo...
Stop Scaling Accountants. Start Scaling the Firm.
How Tax & Accounting Firms Can Grow Without Adding Complexity at the Same Rate as Revenue
For decades, the basic growth formula for a tax and accounting firm was fairly predictable:
Win more clients.
Hire more people.
Add more software.
Try to make everyone more efficient.
It works, until it doesn't.
As firms grow, something unexpected often happens. The most experienced people in the organization become the bottleneck. More client work creates more questions, more reviews, more exceptions, more supervision, and more decisions that eventually work their...
Does Social Media Actually Grow a Tax & Accounting Firm?
Why Social Media Is Becoming Part of Your Firm’s Trust, Referral, Search and AI Footprint
Most tax and accounting professionals aren't trying to become influencers.
They're busy serving clients. Many already generate business through referrals. And spending five hours a week creating Instagram posts or learning the latest TikTok trend probably isn't high on the priority list.
So the skepticism is fair:
Does social media actually help grow a tax and accounting firm?
In this episode of The Growth-Minded Accountant, Rebekah Ba...
Why the Future of Accounting Firm Marketing Is a Living Website, Not More Content
For years, tax and accounting firm websites followed a familiar pattern.
Design the website. Launch it. Add some service pages. Maybe publish a monthly article or newsletter.
Then leave it largely untouched until the next redesign.
Templates made websites more affordable, but they also created another problem: thousands of firms began looking and sounding remarkably similar. The same service descriptions. The same stock photography. The same tax articles. The same promises about being a “trusted advisor.”
Now AI has introduced a third possibility.
Instead of publishing the same content occa...
The New Tax & Accounting Marketing Funnel Has No Funnel
How AI Is Compressing Awareness, Consideration and Decision Into One Conversation
For decades, marketing followed a fairly predictable funnel.
A prospective client discovered a problem. Searched Google. Read a few articles. Visited several websites. Downloaded a guide. Received a few nurture emails. Checked reviews. Compared firms.
Eventually, they scheduled a consultation.
AI is beginning to compress that entire journey.
Today, a business owner can ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or another AI assistant:
“I own a construction company doing $4 million a year. My accountant handles my ta...
The New ROI of Reviews: Why Your Reputation Is Becoming Your Search Strategy
For years, reviews played a fairly predictable role in growing a tax or accounting firm.
A prospect found your firm. Visited your website. Checked your reviews. And then decided whether to call.
AI is beginning to rewrite that sequence.
Today, prospects can ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or another AI assistant a much more valuable question:
“Which accounting firm should I hire—and why?”
That means discovery and due diligence are starting to happen inside the same conversation.
Your reviews are no longer just something prospects read a...
How Should Tax and Accounting Firms Measure AI Success?
Time Saved Is Only the Starting Point
Artificial intelligence can draft an email in seconds, summarize a meeting, organize client information and reduce the time required to complete routine work.
But does that mean the firm’s AI investment is succeeding?
Not necessarily.
The AI conversation in tax and accounting is increasingly divided between two competing visions. Silicon Valley sees the opportunity to rebuild firms around AI-native systems and autonomous agents. Professionals working inside real firms see clients, deadlines, compliance obligations, established workflows and decades of processes that cannot si...
AI Has Become the Gatekeeper Between Your Referrals and Your Next Client
For decades, referrals were the most dependable growth engine in tax and accounting.
A client told a friend, “You should call my CPA.” An attorney made an introduction. A financial advisor recommended someone they trusted. And in many cases, that recommendation led directly to a phone call.
That is no longer how the process works.
The referral may still begin with a person, but before the prospect contacts your firm, they validate the recommendation. They search your name, visit your website, read your reviews, and increasingly ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or Google AI ques...
AI Gave Your Firm Time Back. Now What?
AI is already changing tax and accounting firms, but not in the simplistic way the headlines suggest.
On one side, the hype machine says AI will replace accountants, eliminate compliance, and automate the profession overnight. On the other side, some professionals are still acting like nothing meaningful is going to change.
The truth is more practical and more important.
AI is beginning to remove real production drag from tax and accounting firms.
Document review. Client follow-up. Meeting notes. First drafts. Research support. Workflow reminders. Repetitive explanations. Client education. Internal training.
AI Can’t Recommend What It Can’t Understand
Most tax and accounting firms are not invisible because they lack expertise.
They are invisible because the market cannot clearly understand what makes them different.
For years, tax and accounting firms focused on ranking on Google for searches like “CPA near me,” “tax preparer near me,” “bookkeeper near me,” “small business accountant near me,” or “tax advisor near me.”
That still matters.
But the way prospects search is changing.
Today, people are asking ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google’s AI-powered search results much more specific questions:
“Who is the best accountant f...
The Future-Ready Firm Makes Every Client Feel Known
Most firms think they have a responsiveness problem.
Clients don’t send documents. They miss reminders. They go quiet. They wait until the last minute.
But what if the real issue isn’t responsiveness?
What if it’s uncertainty?
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton talk about why the client experience is not the same thing as your internal task list. Your workflow may be organized. Your process may be efficient. Your team may know exactly where every return, report, or projec...
Good Firms Become Invisible When They Sound Like Everyone Else
Story Beats Sameness in the AI Era
Most accounting firms don't struggle because they lack expertise.
They struggle because prospects can't quickly understand why they should choose them.
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams and Rebekah Barton explore why so many talented firms become invisible online—not because they're bad at what they do, but because they sound exactly like everyone else.
As AI tools, online referrals, Google, and platforms like ChatGPT increasingly shape how prospects discover and evaluate firms, generic messaging has become more than a br...
What Premium Brands Understand About Value That Most Accounting Firms Don’t
Why can a Rolex cost exponentially more than a $50 watch when both tell time?
Why can Ferrari, Hermès, Apple, and Ryan Serhant create such strong demand, trust, and pricing power?
And what can tax and accounting firms learn from them?
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton unpack what premium brands understand about value that most accounting firms often overlook.
The big idea: clients don’t buy expertise the way accountants think they do.
Most prospects cannot evaluate technical abi...
Google Just Changed Search Forever: What AI Search Means for Your Firm
Google’s latest AI Search updates may represent the biggest shift in online visibility since local search.
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton break down what Google’s AI Search evolution means for tax and accounting firms — and why the future of visibility is moving from rankings to recommendations.
They discuss Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, why generic websites and template-style content may become less effective, how reviews and authority signals help Google understand your expertise, and why firms need a clear narrative to stand out in an AI...
The Real AI Race in Tax & Accounting Isn’t About Prompts
Everyone is talking about AI prompts, ChatGPT, agents, automations, and saving time.
But what if the real transformation happening in tax and accounting has very little to do with prompts at all?
In this cornerstone episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams explores why the future of successful firms will not be defined by who adopts the most AI tools — but by who builds the strongest operational intelligence.
Lee breaks down:
Why operational friction is the real bottleneck inside firmsThe hidden dangers of disconnected AI stacksWhy “faster chaos” is still chaosThe growin...Same Team. Bigger Outcomes.
Most tax and accounting firms aren’t running out of talent.
They’re running out of capacity.
In this solo episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams shares a candid perspective on where the profession is heading — and why the firms that thrive over the next decade may not be the firms with the biggest teams, but the firms that learn how to create bigger outcomes with the team they already have.
Lee breaks down:
why operational drag is quietly limiting firm growth how AI is being misunderstood across the industry why human e...Cookie-Cutter Is Dead: Why Accounting Firms Are Becoming Invisible in the AI Search Era
Most tax and accounting firms still market themselves the same way they did a decade ago.
Generic messaging.
Generic positioning.
Generic websites.
The problem?
AI-powered search is changing how clients discover and choose accounting firms — and sameness is becoming invisible.
In this special presentation episode, Lee Reams II (CEO of CountingWorks) and Rebekah Barton (Chief Visibility Officer) break down why modern firms must rethink visibility, authority, trust, and positioning in the AI-search era.
You’ll learn:
• Why AI compresses generic firms into the same result
• How acco...
This NBA Insider Stole Millions — And It’s a Warning for Every Business
A former NBA executive was sentenced for embezzling millions. Here’s what the case reveals about internal controls and business risk.
How Accounting Firms Unlock 2–5X More Revenue From Existing Clients
Most tax and accounting firms think growth comes from more clients.
More referrals.
More SEO.
More tax returns.
More volume.
But what if the biggest growth opportunity is already sitting inside the clients you already serve?
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams and Rebekah Barton break down why the future of accounting firms is shifting from reactive tax preparation toward proactive tax advisory, year-round strategy, and deeper client relationships.
Using a powerful “dentist office” analogy, they explore why most firms never build the “second room”...
Why Your Accounting Firm’s Old Playbook Isn’t Working Anymore
Most accounting firms aren’t stuck because they’re not working hard enough.
They’re stuck because their model hasn’t caught up to the opportunity.
In this episode, Lee Reams breaks down why the traditional compliance-first approach is limiting growth—and how firms can start unlocking more value from the clients they already have.
Lee walks through a real-world example, explain why advisory services often go underpriced, and share how better systems, communication, and AI can help firms shift from reactive work to proactive strategy.
If you’ve ever felt like your fi...
AI Isn’t a Tool. It’s Your Next Hire
The tax and accounting industry doesn’t have an AI problem.
It has a hiring problem.
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton unpack one of the biggest shifts happening in firms right now:
AI isn’t just a tool—it’s a role.
With fewer accountants entering the profession and client demand continuing to rise, the traditional growth model—hire more people—just isn’t working anymore.
So what replaces it?
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why most firm...The ROI of First Impressions: Why Clients Decide in Seconds—and What It Means for Your Firm
Tax season is over.
Now comes the real question:
What would you change before next year?
Most firms think the answer is more staff, higher prices, or fewer clients.
But in this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams and Rebekah Barton break down a different—and often overlooked—lever for growth:
Your firm’s first impression.
Because before a prospect ever speaks to you…
Before they understand your services…
They’ve already decided:
If they trust you If you’re worth your fees ...The Most Dangerous Week for an Accountant
The week after April 15 is a trap. You’re exhausted. Your team is checked out. And every instinct you have is telling you to just move on and forget the chaos. But here’s the cold, hard truth: If you don’t capture the data while the pain is fresh, you are choosing to repeat it next year.
In this episode of the Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton sit down for a "post-game" strategy session that every firm owner needs to hear before they head out on vacati...
Capture Advisory Insights Without Slowing Down Tax Season
Every tax season, your clients tell you exactly what they need.
They mention hiring plans.
They’re thinking about selling assets.
They say things like, “I wish I had known that sooner…”
And in the moment, you recognize it:
👉 That’s important.
👉 We should come back to that.
But then the next client starts.
The next return.
The next fire to put out.
And just like that… it’s gone.
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton break...
The Tax Season Diagnostic: What’s Broken (And Where AI Actually Helps)
Tax season has a way of revealing the truth about your firm.
The long hours, the constant client follow-ups, the repeated questions—it all starts to surface the same thought:
“There has to be a better way to do this.”
In this solo episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams breaks down why tax season isn’t the time to fix everything—it’s the time to see what’s actually broken.
Because under pressure, your systems don’t hide.
They fail.
And when they fail, they...
The Secret to Being More Responsive Without Burning Out
One of the most common complaints clients have about accounting firms isn’t about mistakes or pricing.
It’s responsiveness.
In this episode of Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams and Rebekah Barton explore why communication breakdowns happen in many tax and accounting firms—and how growth-minded firms design systems that allow them to stay responsive without burning out.
Most accountants want to be responsive, but when every email, message, and request depends on the accountant personally responding, communication quickly becomes overwhelming—especially during tax season.
Lee and Rebekah discuss how mode...
Bridge Loans & SBA 504 Financing: How Advisors Help Clients Access Capital | Dave Manser
Bridge loans, SBA 504 financing, and alternative lending solutions are becoming essential tools for small business owners who can't access traditional bank financing.
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, host Lee Reams sits down with Dave Manser, President & Chief Lending Officer at Business Loan Capital (BLC) to discuss how business owners are filling the growing capital gap and how advisors can help clients access financing faster.
Traditional banks are approving fewer small business loans than ever before. Many entrepreneurs face long underwriting timelines, strict lending standards...
The 3 Tax Season Signals That Reveal Your Firm’s Next Growth Opportunity
Tax season isn’t just the busiest time of year for accountants.
It’s also one of the most revealing.
In this micro-episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams and Rebekah Barton break down the three signals that show up repeatedly in client conversations during tax season—and what those signals reveal about the future growth of your firm.
They call them the SUC Signals:
Surprise – “I wish I had known that earlier.”
Urgency – “I need this done by Friday.”
Confusion – “W...
Micro Episode #3: Stop Walking Into Tax Meetings Unprepared (5-Minute AI Prep)
Tax season doesn’t excuse bad preparation.
In this solo micro-episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams shares a practical 5-minute AI workflow to help you walk into every client interview informed, confident, and positioned as an advisor — even during your busiest stretch of tax season.
Most accountants don’t feel underprepared because they don’t care.
They feel underprepared because they’re overloaded.
Back-to-back meetings.
No time to reread prior returns.
No mental space to spot planning opportunities.
In this episode, Lee explains:
• Why “directional aw...
The One Question That Turns Tax Prep Into Advisory Revenue
There’s a moment at the end of every tax interview that most firms rush through.
And it’s quietly costing them six figures a year.
In this episode of The Growth-Minded Accountant, Lee Reams shares a simple but powerful framework — the Post-Tax Bridge — that helps tax and accounting firms turn compliance conversations into advisory opportunities without selling, pitching, or slowing down tax season.
You’ll learn:
• Why most firms unintentionally close advisory doors in March
• The exact question to ask that creates continuity instead of closure
• How to sequence th...
The Tax Interview Mistake That Keeps You Stuck in Compliance
Most firms treat the tax interview like data collection.
The smartest firms treat it like positioning.
In this micro episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee breaks down a simple shift that can fundamentally change how clients see you. Not after tax season. Not when you launch a new advisory package. But in the first few minutes of your tax interview.
Clients decide what you are very quickly. If the conversation starts with forms, documents, and checklists, you are framed as a processor. If it starts with context, change, and forward-looking questions, you...
Capital Advisory for Accountants: How Smart Businesses Actually Fund Growth
Capital decisions are some of the most important—and irreversible—choices a business owner will ever make. Yet many tax and accounting professionals don’t get pulled into the conversation until after the deal is already done.
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, we break down how small and mid-sized businesses actually access capital today—and why accountants are uniquely positioned to guide these decisions before funding is locked in.
Host Lee Reams is joined by Sven Nelson, Founder & Owner of Aevi Business Capital, who brings o...
Positioning Gets You Found. Relatability Gets You Chosen.
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, host Lee Reams II is joined by Rebekah Barton, Chief Visibility Officer, for a timely conversation on what actually drives firm growth in 2026—and why positioning alone is no longer enough.
Most tax and accounting firms understand positioning. They’ve defined their services, clarified who they serve, and invested in looking professional. But in a market crowded with competent options and shaped by AI-driven discovery, clarity alone doesn’t convert.
Once a prospect knows a firm might be for them, the real d...
Why Pricing Keeps Breaking in Tax & Accounting Firms (It’s Not Your Rates)
Most tax and accounting firms don’t actually have a pricing problem.
They have a pricing system problem.
In this episode of Growth Minded Accountant, we break down why traditional pricing models — hourly billing, fixed fees, even “value pricing” — keep breaking as firms grow, adopt AI, and move toward advisory services.
👉 Download the Pricing System Playbook (Free PDF):
https://tinyurl.com/CWPwhitepaper
You’ll learn:
Why hourly billing collapses as efficiency increasesThe hidden costs of broken pricing systems, including partner bottlenecks, advisory burnout, and revenue without leverag...Overtime Deductions, Client Confusion & Smarter Tax Prep
Overtime deductions became one of the most misunderstood tax topics coming out of the last election cycle—and that confusion is heading straight into tax season.
In this episode, Lee Reams II and Lee Reams Sr. break down what actually qualifies as deductible overtime, why state overtime rules don’t automatically apply for federal tax purposes, and why the 2025 tax season will be far more labor-intensive for firms than most people expect.
This isn’t about complicated tax law.
It’s about time, communication, and preparation.
<...Your Best Advisory Revenue Is Already on Your Client List
It’s 2026—and most accounting firms are still trying to grow advisory revenue by chasing new clients.
More leads.
More traffic.
More strangers.
But the most profitable advisory opportunity most firms have isn’t out there.
It’s already inside their client list.
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton explain why existing clients are your biggest advisory advantage—and why firms that understand this grow faster, charge more confidently, and build advisory practices that actually scale.
You’ll learn:
Your Tech Stack Isn’t the Problem — The Experience Is (2026 Reality Check)
In 2026, most tax and accounting firms don’t have a software problem.
They have an experience problem.
In this solo episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams II explains why stacking “good tools” has quietly become the biggest source of friction inside modern firms—and why AI-first firms are already pulling away.
You’ll hear why:
Most firms only use 20–30% of the software they pay forTraining doesn’t compound—it resetsClients aren’t difficult—they’re overwhelmedStaff has become the invisible integration layerTraditional software is becoming the bottle...The Third Layer Tax and Accounting Firms Are Missing
Most tax and accounting firms are not broken.
They are incomplete.
In this episode of The Growth-Minded Accountant, Lee Reams and Rebekah Barton introduce a simple but powerful framework that explains why so many firms feel harder to run than they should.
Every firm has three layers.
The Work Layer handles compliance and deliverables.
The Team Layer organizes people, tasks, and workflow.
The third layer, the Client Experience Layer, is where most firms struggle, not because they are doing something wrong...
2026 Predictions for Accountants: AI Will Be the Standard. Relationships Decide Who Wins.
As we close out the year, this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant is a little different.
No guest.
No hype.
Just an honest look at what’s coming next for tax and accounting firms.
In this year-end solo episode, Lee Reams II shares his 2026 predictions—not based on headlines or fear-driven narratives, but on patterns he’s seen repeat over the last decade.
The short version:
By 2026, AI will be the standard.
What will separate winning firms from everyone else won’t be technolo...
AI Search, the 2026 Tax Reset, and the End of Generic Tax & Accounting Firms
AI-powered search is fundamentally changing how people discover tax and accounting professionals — and the 2026 tax law reset is about to separate firms that are prepared from those that aren’t.
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams and Rebekah Barton unpack two major forces converging at the same time:
• Why AI search tools are reducing visibility for generic tax and accounting websites
• How discovery now works when search engines synthesize answers instead of ranking pages
• What the 2026 tax reset means for client expectations, planning demand, and advisory opportunities
• Why n...
Top of Mind Is Your Moat: Why “Being Busy” Isn’t a Growth Strategy for Accounting Firms
Most accountants say the same thing:
“I’m already too busy… why would I need marketing?”
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, hosts Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton break down the real reason fast-growing firms keep winning—while others unknowingly fall behind:
👉 Being busy today doesn’t keep you remembered tomorrow.
👉 Visibility—not workload—is what protects your firm.
👉 Top of Mind is the moat every accounting firm needs in 2025 and beyond.
Lee and Rebekah explore why so many firm o...
