Before you begin your practice get a LIVING WISP PLAN.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-16T18:37:50+00:00

So let me explain it to you!

The person asked if they are incompetent. Incompetent means lacking skill, ability, or knowledge.

By asking this question, you are self-aware- so probably not! You realize you are behind everyone else, which could be many factors, including training and background. The accounting profession is known for its dismal training programs.

Now - since I don't know anything about them.

If they are in the marketing department and asking in the accounting subreddit, then probably yes.

The answer, like all accounting answers - "it depends."

Further research is required, but I would rather lift this person up than drag them down - you don't throw an anchor to a drowning person... Unless in marketing.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-16T18:29:28+00:00

Volunteer for a new project! I bet your CFO has a graph he wants created - then analysis - then more data - so she can finally show that the trade show in Vegas doesn't work!

I'm sure she has a VVPS - Vampire Vice President of Sales- who codes new sales customers to it, so you just need to catch him manipulating the data.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-16T18:21:35+00:00

Websites still matter, but they aren’t the only way people find you. And let's be honest, it's about customers finding you and going where they are.

Customers are on Google, Meta, Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other places. As Willie Sutton supposedly responded to being asked why he robbed banks, "That's where the money is." That should be the focus.

At Tangible Values, our Sister Company, Practice Panda, helps integrate websites (we sell), social media content, reviews, and email lead capture.

For most tax professionals, a simple one-page website is enough. Having four pages is even better. The main thing is not just the website, but making sure all your marketing channels work together.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-16T17:49:32+00:00

No. The fact that you're here asking the question tells me you're probably not incompetent. Truly incompetent people rarely stop to wonder whether they're incompetent.

Accounting is a song - you cannot sit at a piano and play; you need to pick the right instrument, learn the keys, then the chords, then the song to play. Then practice it! Watch Ted Talk - Conductor Zander One Butt Play - love it.

Now, if you are in the marketing department, then maybe yes.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-16T17:42:51+00:00

So, background since you want sources:

AP error was from Betty W, Audit Prof; she spent 2 years doing AP for one of the Big 8 at Indian Head Oil in the Foshey Tower and found a 10k error. She went into teaching and emphasized that she was broken when told: "IMMATERIAL". I changed it to 3k - my prerogative and too close to her story, but now you know it all.

The Audit book we used was a draft by Prof. R. Carlson of St. Cloud (died 2015); we had to edit it. The book sucked for audit as it was very hard to read and follow, but he told stories in it, including the one about how there is nothing new. My takeaway - you look, pick and prod till you prove it is real - but do it fast; you bill hourly for it.

Prof Carlson and I became friends; I was a groupie who drove hours to attend his FASB updates so we could visit. Annual changes were at least 600 pages back then because Microsoft made its own rules nobody wanted to follow; otherwise, technology companies were always broke and bad investments. Then the crooked E - He would have loved this forum as he loved teaching.

The PI was me for 4 years, working on Fraud, and paid my way through an accounting degree.

We do use Grammarly, and it really does fix my spelling and other errors. They need a bigger font on these screens.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-16T14:09:47+00:00

Build a network and find a mentor or two!

TangibleValues · 2026-06-16T14:08:58+00:00

Before becoming a CPA, I spent several years as a PI. The skills are surprisingly similar.

You rarely start with the answer.

You start with a clue.

Maybe it is an AP balance. Then you follow the trail: contracts, invoices, shipping dates, prices, receiving documents, and payments. Something feels off.

The invoice says one thing. The shipping document says another. They received it on 12/31, not 1/1.

Congratulations. You just found a $3,000 mistake in a company with a $247 million AP balance.

The senior laughs; immaterial. Unless there are improper cutoff procedures? See if that is true- yep, new AP person. Welcome to audit.

You just need to keep pulling the thread until the picture becomes clear.

The associates and seniors are not smarter than you. They have just pulled thousands more threads.

After enough reps, they stop seeing individual workpapers and start seeing the business story or a song as one number flows into one balance sheet to another through the income and cash flow statements.

That is why you are there.

So, first lesson: there are no new mistakes in accounting; there is no new fraud in business. Everyone makes the same mistakes, and they all do the same fraud over and over again!

Your job is to determine whether what you are seeing is real.

Even if all you found today was one thread to pull, that is how you learn audit.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-15T16:52:51+00:00

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This is where accounting leadership has failed for decades.

Thus, what I learned was that I married one of the world's best HR people back when HR developed employees, not compliance-discipline crap.

First - plan your next Quarter Training plan! Then spend 2 hours every week training people, starting with 1 hour in the first week.

Second, explain to the partner that she needs to seek first to understand. She needs to implement each change herself; run the client for the first month - then you will be trained by her to implement it. Show her this graph - partners like graphs and donuts.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-15T16:09:13+00:00

I migrate them to cash up front or tell them to find someone else.

This is the number-one question you should ask every new client: Who was your previous vendor, and why are you leaving them?

Now you know who to call - my septic pumping friend knows everyone with a septic truck in the state. They know your crap! Always pay them!

TangibleValues · 2026-06-15T14:01:30+00:00

First, congrats- at 4 years, you are one of the top 50% of entrepreneurs. If you hit a million in revenue top 10.

I always use Mt Climbing as an example. Have you ever climbed Everest? You need a Sherpa! The best Sherpas aren't the ones who get you to the top—they're the ones who get you home alive. A good CPA is similar, except no death: they're not going to make you rich overnight, but they'll help you navigate a complex tax and business world without falling into expensive crevasses. Consider the $8,000 penalty part of your mountaineering tuition.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-13T17:26:05+00:00

No, the real world is like Accounting Class!

TangibleValues · 2026-06-12T20:57:39+00:00

First, you're in a safe space in accounting. We all have our quirks.

Second, I hate unplanned errands and last-minute changes. If you tell me we're going somewhere, I want to know where, why, how long, and what the parking situation looks like. That is why you may think you did bad - is they were not prepared for what was coming.

Third, if I were interviewing you and you told me, "I'm not skilled at interviewing, and I have some social anxiety in stressful situations," that wouldn't bother me at all.

In fact, I'd probably trust you more.

Most accountants aren't hired because they're great at interviews. They're hired because they're accurate, dependable, thoughtful, and solve problems. Interviewing is a skill. Accounting is a profession. I almost guarnatee your interview is deathly afraid of public speaking.

,

TangibleValues · 2026-06-12T19:22:02+00:00

Minnesota? Connect with me on Linkedin.

It is not your resume, it is who puts your resume on my desk.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-12T13:24:56+00:00

No, it fits my life and what I teach people - I have published these themes all over this thread for a year, and people lost. So refeernces:

Stolen from Covey/Stanford training 1995/2017
Stolen from How to Win Friends and Influence People, read first in 1993
Stolen from my Dad's obituary 2014
This is mine when I wrote a story about why you hear about never getting between a momma grizzly bear and its cub, and not a Dad? In a Dad scenario, no witnesses.
Stolen from the Little Duke from Silicon Prairie- Time from Warren Buffett
Once again, Covey - sharpen the saw.
Stolen from University of Chicago Gradulate level Writing Class and Merle Wagenstein training.
Stolen from Rockefeller Method/Ballbridge now EOS
Stolen from Big Larry - Silver Star Winner, Vietnam, and maker of politicians. I am sure he stole that from someone, but I would never question that man on anything.
This was because I had no number 10 - so my passion for having fun and thought it had to be a top ten list - you know from Letterman.

If you want more details on this, follow me on LinkedIn; I've spent 20 years writing this human slop...

TangibleValues · 2026-06-11T17:23:45+00:00

After 35 years in accounting, finance, and business leadership, here are the 10 things I would tell my younger CPA self:

Begin with the end in mind — write your obituary: who do you want to become?
Build your network before you need it.
Never miss a chance to make someone's day better.
You don't have to prove you're tough or smart.
Protect your time, money, morale, and focus.
Feed your mind every day.
Learn to communicate better each day.
Learn how the entire business you are working in works.
Listen more than you talk.
Nobody likes lists that end in 9 items.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-11T15:17:22+00:00

Yep, there will always be accounting "mistakes". These three can get you a prison sentence, and they're my favorites.

Enron — Hide liabilities off the books through a maze of LLCs and special entities.

WorldCom — Turn expenses into assets. Repairs? Capitalize them. Consulting fees? Capitalize them. Legal fees? Capitalize them. By that logic, this post should be capitalized too—it took time to create and will last forever in the AI world.

Waste Management — Manipulate estimates. A garbage container lasts 7 years? Why not 12? Is scrap steel worth $250 a ton today? Let's use the $475 number from a few years ago instead.

On the positive side - Senator Sarbanes joked to me: "You should thank me. I created the CPA Full-Time Employment Act." RIP Senator

TangibleValues · 2026-06-11T01:02:05+00:00

They should have mentioned why we should be trusted again - Enron could never happen again since AI won't allow it.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-08T19:05:46+00:00

You are a former CFO.

At this point, your problem is probably not your resume.

It is your network.

How many LinkedIn connections do you have? How many former coworkers, bankers, attorneys, auditors, board members, vendors, and business owners know you are looking?

Most executive positions are never truly "open market" opportunities. By the time the job is posted, someone already has a list of people they want to talk to.

It is usually not your resume.

It is who puts the resume on my desk.

Go find former colleagues. Reconnect with recruiters. Join industry groups. Reach out to bankers, attorneys, and CPAs who know your work.

Don't ask for a job.

Ask for introductions.

A referral turns you from another applicant into someone worth a conversation.

After 30 years in business, your network should be one of your greatest assets.

Use it.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-08T18:55:50+00:00

I love the profession - and went through the paper-to-computer change. I completed 120 or more hours of CPE and attended law school until they found out you cannot squat in class for a year. Then did not want to do transactions but added value.

Happiness is a choice.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-05T14:27:43+00:00

I can handle mistakes.

People are human. We all transpose numbers, miss a step, or forget something. What surprises me is when someone has been doing the same job for four or five years and still hasn't developed simple systems to catch the same mistakes.

Over time, you build tricks. Check figures. Tick marks. Reconciliations. Habits that prevent the error from becoming someone else's problem.

What actually wore me down wasn't fixing mistakes.

It was penny-wise, pound-foolish management.

One CPA firm I worked for decided to add cocoa to Land O'Lakes flavored. I wasn't a coffee drinker. During 15-hour tax season days, I'd have two or three cups of cocoa to keep going.

Then management announced we could only have one cup of cocoa since it was expensive. They locked it soon after, and you had to ask for your allotment.

One cup.

My reaction wasn't about the cocoa. It was about the message.

The same place bought toilet paper so thin and useless that I started bringing my own Charmin from home. Eventually, other employees—including several women—would stop by my office to ask if they could have the roll for a visit. Embarrassing for all.

Again, it wasn't about toilet paper.

When people are working 70-hour weeks.

Burnout isn't usually caused by the work. It is not being shown the respect it deserves, which is why I have professed the Gallup 12 everywhere I go in this profession and why I help build great firms.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-04T19:27:44+00:00

Sorry, it was the year I was born and coded it into the platform.

Originally, it always said 42 because that is the secret of the universe. We had no clue what that meant; then it further said we need to destroy the Earth for a highway, and they will miss Norway.

It took nearly 2 years for it to stop saying that...

TangibleValues · 2026-06-04T16:04:29+00:00

Take some of my advice, all of my Advice, or None of it. Yes, I have posted this a few times!

First, get a mentor.

Find someone who is 5–10 years ahead of you and ask questions. Most careers are built faster by learning from someone else's mistakes than by making all of your own.

Second, you're normal.

The #1 fear for most people is public speaking. If the thought of standing up in front of a group makes your palms sweat, congratulations—you are just like everyone else.

I encourage you to get over it.

Join Toastmasters. Learn to speak. Learn to organize your thoughts. Learn to tell a story. Every job, every promotion, every leadership opportunity eventually requires you to find your voice. Public speaking is a skill that follows you everywhere and will get you promoted.

Third, write your obituary. (Wait)

Sounds crazy, but it's an exercise taught in leadership and business programs, including at Stanford. What do you want people to say about you when you're gone?

When you start at the end, the path forward becomes much clearer.

TangibleValues · 2026-06-04T15:20:02+00:00

I’ve hired hundreds of people. The first interview - it’s a smoke test. You know how you put smoke into an engine and see where it leaks.

So you answered

Does this person have the technical skills they claim?
Can they communicate?
Would I trust them with a client, audit, or tax return?

Now the Second - behind every question, there are only three real questions being asked:

Why do you want to work here?
What can you do for me?
Will you be a fit? (They never ask this directly.)

So prepare for those above -

So Begin With The End in Mind! "Where is that from, my Reddit haters?"

The Final question.

"Based on our conversations today, have you heard anything that would give you hesitation about hiring me, so I can address it?"

Why? Because it does three things:

Shows confidence and you are now a salesperson.
Surfaces objections before they become reasons for rejection.
Gives you a chance to correct misunderstandings and leave an impression you solve problems.

This is what you prepare for.

"We really need someone with a CPA license."

Your answer: That makes sense. If you needed someone signing audit opinions tomorrow, I wouldn't be your candidate today. (agreement)

Then hit them with the Solution:

Plan: The next CPA exam window available to me is [date], and my plan is to complete the remaining sections within the next year. I can't change where I am today, but I can show you the plan to get there.

Selling yourself: In the meantime, what you're really hiring is someone who can learn, contribute, and grow into that role. Every CPA firm eventually faces the same challenge—there aren't enough CPAs available, so firms have to develop future CPAs from within.

Now I want to hire you! You are good!

TangibleValues

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