IAM1383 – Accountant Helps Business Owners Accelerate their Financial Mindset

Shona is a Christian, philanthropic certified public accountant, who evolved into an entrepreneur, real estate investor, wife, and mom. Her passion is using her gifts to help individuals and business owners accelerate their financial mindset and business goals. She has worked for the top Public Accounting firms in corporate America, with nonprofits, for herself, and also coached many people in starting their own entrepreneurship journeys. She is currently the founder and owner of a financial coaching and CPA firm and will be launching a Financial Mindset Bootcamp, tax strategy eBooks, and a host of other products in the near future.

• CEO Story: What inspired Shona to become a business owner was from the movie Boomerang. Seeing the executive woman on top of the building with power. Obsessed with having her own business and helping others create their own businesses discovering and empowering other people’s potential, thus creating future CEOs of their own companies.
• Business Service: CFO Services. Bookkeeping. Help clients with cost and budget planning, targets, financial insights, etc. Tax planning.
• Secret Sauce: Asking the why’s of the client's business operation.
• CEO Hack: App mention – Monday.com (client management tool) and Loom (videorecording).
• CEO Nugget: Knowing what your gift is and standing in that. Then try to do it all on your own.
• CEO Defined: Being a leader, willing to share yourself and your gifts for the better of a team and clients.

Website: www.beyondacountingtax.com

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Transcription

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00:17 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEO's without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:44 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Shana Bell of Beyond a County in the tag. Shauna, it's great to have you on the show.

00:54 – Shona Bell

Thanks for having me. Great to be here.

00:56 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, super excited to have you on the. Before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Shauna so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Shawna is a Christian philanthropic certified public accountant. CPA evolved to an entrepreneur, real estate investor, wife, and mom. Her passion is using her gifts to help individuals and business owners accelerate their financial mindset and business goals.

She has worked for the top public accounting firms in corporate America with nonprofits for herself and also coached many people in starting their own entrepreneurship journeys. She is currently the founder and owner of a financial coaching and CPA firm and she will be launching a financial mindset bootcamp, tech strategy ebooks, and a host of other products and services in the near future. Shawna, great to have you on the show. Super excited to have you and all the awesome things you're doing. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:46 – Shona Bell

I am so excited. Let's go.

01:48 – Gresham Harkless

Let's make it happen. So, to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock here a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

01:56 – Shona Bell

I just wrote that too. So I asked myself that question a couple of weeks ago, and this is going to be pretty funny. Do you remember the movie Boomerang with Eddie Murphy?

02:12 – Gresham Harkless

Yes. Way back in the day. Yes.

02:14 – Shona Bell

So, you know, as a child, you're always like, well, what do you want to be? I never really knew, but when I saw that movie I saw Robin Givens in that red suit, and she had that corner office overlooking the city and like all those windows, and I saw power. I didn't know. I didn't understand then what she did, but I knew she had power and she ran stuff and she was a woman, and she left out all the other nonsense that happened in the movie. I'm just talking about, she was a businesswoman. She had the power. She had the corner office. And then from that point, I was like, I want to do business. I want to do business.

And that evolved to going to school for marketing, which I didn't really understand what that meant. Then that evolved into accounting. That evolved to getting my CPA, in public accounting. But all throughout that, I was just obsessed with, like, business running, like imagining what it would be like to have my own business, and then accidentally started helping other people start their businesses. Didn't understand why everyone didn't believe they could do it. Like, what do you mean you don't know what you could do? Like, of course, you can run that. Of course, you can do that.

And then I woke up and I'm like, wait a minute. I helped a bunch of people figure out how to monetize themselves and their talents. And now I'm still obsessive over it. I can't. Like, my next, I mean, you read off things that I want to do here in the near future, but what wasn't listed there, it's like, I mean, I'm always wanting to do too much, but I want each one off, I have three kids. I want each one of them to have their own business. Like, I'm just like, hey, we're living life. We're spending time together. Sure, let's go sit at the park.

But on Tuesdays, we're going to talk about building and making them little CEOs. So I'm just like, obsessive overdose its shark tank and like, undercover boss when that came out, like, kind of looking at behind the scenes of how businesses were run, like these huge corporations that show fell off. But anyway, that's hope. That answers the question.

04:06 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, it definitely does. And I appreciate you sharing. You know that, that even the movie, that segment of the movie, that part of the movie and how. Yes, I definitely can because I was funny as you said it. I was going to say that the power dress that she was wearing and the suit that she had on and how she kind of commanded the room, you just kind of are captivated by that. And it's so important to kind of remind ourselves of that because those quote-unquote small things become big things.

And as you're talking about your kids, you're talking about the clients that you worked with and helped out those quote-unquote small things that we're doing to help them out is creating in and of itself, like future CEOs, future entrepreneurs, people that are empowered to kind of take over themselves and take over things financially and, you know, take over the business.

04:48 – Shona Bell

Yeah. So it's, all of us are unique. And I learned that there were things planted in me. There are things planted in you, there are gifts, there are just certain things that, and then they're not planted in other people. But not to say that they can't develop it. So if you have something it could be starting a business or it could be supervising a business, like being the CEO.

You know, like when I worked for corporate and I had people under me, I kind of implanted in them certain things that they didn't consider. Like, yeah, this is possible, this is doable, let's do it this way. And a CEO that's, I don't know if it's, I don't know. I'm not a psychologist, but I mean, I feel like it's teachable, but it definitely takes influence coaching if it's not already in there, you know what I'm saying?

05:45 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. And I'm a big believer in that as well. And I think I'm a big believer in entrepreneurial skills being needed. Whether you are a supervisor, CEO, entrepreneur, small business owner, or solopreneur, these skills are essential for evolving and thriving in the current and future economic climate. At the heart of it, it's about creating solutions for problems.

And you could do that in politics, you could do that in business, nonprofit, everywhere around. But if you start to look at it from that perspective, I think those skills that you're talking about and things that you have taken in and watched and all those things start to build that foundation towards moving towards that and being able to do that.

06:28 – Shona Bell

Absolutely. Creation and solving problems. I love it.

06:33 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more to hear how you're creating, and how you're solving problems. Could you take us through a little bit more on how you're serving your clients and how you're making that impact?

06:42 – Shona Bell

So the services, currently we're providing CFO services, I don't call it bookkeeping. However, we do bookkeeping, and it's because we close the books, we record the transactions. But the piece that's important that a lot of people miss is actually looking at the story that the numbers are telling, like actually having a budget, actually reading those financial insights that tell you, are you on target? Do you have a target? I realize that it's easy to close the books and all that, but so many clients or people that come to me, they're not looking at the numbers. They just think it's an exercise.

Because I know at the end of the year I'm going to have to get my taxes done, and they might have already gone through that painful process. They go to a CPA and they're like, they have spreadsheets or, Lord knows, boxes of receipts, like, no. And then they have to do the painful process. So some people just do it as an exercise. But what we do is actually make it make sense, use those. Use it and answer those questions throughout the year so that you understand. And I personally love sales. Like, I'm. I got. I mean, these courses I want to build.

Sales is going to be in it because we also do tax prep, which is just a legal obligation to get your taxes done or meet the obligation to the IRs. And then also tax planning, which is how you pay, legally pay the least amount you need to pay in taxes, which a lot of people don't understand the difference between tax prep and tax planning, where it's what you do. Tax planning is what you do before the end of the year, and then tax prep is what you do after all is said and done at the end of the year. And then those are the core services.

And of course, there's other fun stuff that I'm looking to get into here shortly with courses. And just when you speak to business owners and they have the same questions, and I'm like, on a phone call with all my clients at different times on different days, I'm like, let's just bring this all together. Let's just get together in a group and just over the audience, I have to just be more impactful and not spread myself too thin.

08:55 – Gresham Harkless

I absolutely. It's so powerful when you start to kind of ask yourself, why that, why the question of why you're doing x, y, and z, why you're doing it, what you're ultimately hoping to do? And I was wondering, is that part of what I like to call your secret sauce, the thing you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique? I heard shades of I don't know if you've heard of the highly effective, the seven habits of highly effective people. But one of them is to begin with the end in mind. You got it on your bookshelf. I almost wonder, is that really what you feel? Kind of maybe even set you apart or make you unique? It's not just doing the bookkeeping, doing the CFO, really just, I think drilling down to more of the human aspect of businesses and organizations, like, why you're doing what you're doing, what your goals are, and really, really asking those questions. Do you think that sets you apart? It makes you unique?

09:39 – Shona Bell

I think I would say yes. There are a lot of CPA firms and stuff that just take on clients, take on clients, take on clients. And clients come to me with so many of them. Like, I can't get anyone on the phone. I haven't talked to my tax person and just want to talk over email, you know, like, you know, they. They're paying for a service, and they think they're getting books reconciled, and then they realize that, oh, it didn't happen, you know, so at a bare minimum, we need to do better, y'all. If you're a CPA listening to me, and you have a big business and people are just kind of. Just, like, again, we said earlier, people just kind of put this process of their business on autopilot. Like, okay, the books are happening, and I'm paying someone, and by the time it's time to do, you know, my taxes, I'll be able to send a file, but then that's not really happening.

So we got to do better. We have to raise the server. We have to raise the bar. But then I feel like there's a higher bar to raise. Like, let's not just do the bare minimum. Let's. Where are we all going? Like, what is it for? Like, let's have that conversation. Why don't you want to look at your books? Why don't you want to talk about your tax, you know, you know, why is your business not producing the way that you want it to and. Or what do you want?

So, yes, I'm very passionate about business in general, or just, like, the operation of it all, and it doesn't matter the business. Like, my family and friends, every time I have a different experience, like, I just had my landscapers. Like, for the first time, we hired professional landscapers, right? And then the whole time, my brain was just like, okay, I paid this much. He hired three guys. I wonder how much their hourly rate is. It took them 2 hours to do the job. He came and talked to me twice. I wonder how much he profited on, you know, like on that, how many jobs they're going to do per day.

So hopefully he has someone doing those numbers for him. But then ultimately he should have a goal. Like, how many of those do I need to do in order to reach my savings goal, my financial freedom goal, my retirement goal, do I want to retire early? That type of thing. I love having those conversations. And my understanding is a lot of bookkeepers, CPAs, sorry, CPAs don't really go into that. So, yes, that is my secret sauce.

12:11 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I love that.

12:12 – Shona Bell

Understanding what you're good at, knowing what your gift is, and standing in that, versus trying to do it all. There are things I am not good at, and I waited way too, too long.

12:22 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I love that. And you're in the right place because it's the perfect place to talk. And almost, I love that because it sounded like a CEO nugget, which I was going to ask you about. Something you might tell your younger business self.

12:32 – Shona Bell

Yeah. And in this day and age, it's not necessarily always hiring a person. There are so many softwares and systems that do stuff. You just got to spend a little bit of time. That was another mistake I made. Like, it's ridiculous how many software people get and then they send you the good ones, send you webinars training, get you on the phone, because they recognize if you don't use my software the way fully, you'll probably quit. Like, I get their thing. And in the beginning, I didn't do that. Like, I feel like you need to if costs if you're trying to replace income. No, maybe not hire the person, but get the system, get that piece of software that allows you to take you out of this equation. You know, I did so many things manually.

13:17 – Gresham Harkless

You were kind of touching around, you know, I was going to ask you around. CEO hacks. So that's apps, books, habits, something that makes you more effective and efficient. What's one of those software or habits that you think has been most impactful for you? What I like to call your CEO hack.

13:30 – Shona Bell

So Monday, there's a ton of them, but I leaned into Monday.com and loom if I have those two things. Day one where basically all your clients, and all the to-dos, and for us, we can rent and repeat to an extent, but every client is different. But then it's like you build it out. Like every client has its own thing. And this is where you got to go to get this report. This is what you have to do for this specific client. And then, oh, and by the way, let's record a loom for that because guess what? You may not be the person the next time. Or those are my software hacks. And then I guess the day one gets help or actually has them in position. Like if you can't, if you need two clients to be able to share the revenue, we'll already have the person identified.

14:24 – Gresham Harkless

So I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEO's on the show. So, Shawna, what does being a CEO mean to you?

14:33 – Shona Bell

Being a leader, willing to share yourself and your gifts for the better of a team and clients. So you serve two people as a CEO. You serve a team, your employees, and you serve the clients. And you're willing to share yourself, your gifts to just bring everybody up, make everyone better. It's like your responsibility to make people better and a business better, clients better, selflessly, just sharing. And if. If it's your gift and you're standing and it's not hard, you're gifted. It. It was given. It's what you do.

15:14 – Gresham Harkless

Sean, I truly appreciate that. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I wanted to do now was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people can get ahold of you, and find out about all those awesome things you're working on.

15:28 – Shona Bell

My website, which is under development, is beyondaccountingtax.com, and then I'm on Instagram as she's a CPA. She's a CPA. And yeah, that's all I got. I mean, I'm on LinkedIn and all those things. But yeah, you can reach out to me if anything here lands on you and you want to chat more about it. I like to talk help and serve. So, yeah, that's what I did.

15:56 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I definitely love that. And we will have the links and information, of course, in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you as well, too, to make it even easier. Thank you so much for doing that, of course, for us today and for all the work that you do. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:10 – Shona Bell

Thank you so much. I had an amazing time.

16:13 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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