The Future of Tax Planning: Jackie Meyer on Innovation, AI, and Value Pricing
Welcome to another episode of The Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise Accountant. I'm your host, Heidi Henderson, and today we have a truly inspiring guest, Doctor. Jackie Meyer. Jackie is a 40 Under 40 honoree with CPA Practice Advisor and a pioneering serial entrepreneur and speaker. She founded an award winning CPA firm MyerTax and now leads Tax Plan IQ, a cutting edge SaaS strategic tax planning platform, which is part of the AICPA's twenty twenty three accelerator cohort.
Heidi Henderson:In addition, she's writing an upcoming book, The Balance Sheet of Life, or potentially a title similar to this, but really diving into achieving harmony between health, wealth, and relationships. Jackie's innovative ROI method of value pricing, which is trademarked, aligns pricing with client value while addressing the cultural challenges of burnout and turnover in accounting practices. Having spoken to tens of thousands of financial professionals and taxpayers every year, her practical solutions are transforming the industry. And her generosity in sharing tools and insights is truly commendable. Today, I'm really excited to learn from her.
Heidi Henderson:Today, we're excited to learn from her journey, her vision for modern tax advisory, and her insights on building a sustainable, thriving practice. Welcome, Jackie. Hi, Jackie. You have had such an incredible journey from founding an award winning CPA firm, then leading Tax Plan IQ, which is such an amazing platform. I would love to start with just hearing what inspired you to start this entrepreneurial path that you've been on and how your early experiences shaped your approach.
Jackie Meyer:Okay. Wow. Well, Heidi, thanks for having me. That's that's a loaded question.
Heidi Henderson:Yep.
Heidi Henderson:Let's
Jackie Meyer:question.
Heidi Henderson:Yep. Let's diving right in.
Jackie Meyer:Yeah. Diving right in. Okay. So inspiration. My inspiration kinda comes from pain.
Jackie Meyer:So it kinda reminds me of Simon Sinek. If you've seen his start with Why , and he had some pain. He had some depression, anxiety around what he was doing for a living. Mine stemmed from having kids and trying to run my own CPA firm and just how there's literally zero balance that you can get in that endeavor. And so my body started rejecting working nights and weekends and all the time, and I had some health problems.
Jackie Meyer:And so I went down this crazy path of like, how do I change my firm? Or do I just am I completely burned out and I need to get out of this profession? Right? And I did that about six years into my firm. My firm started at '10, '20 '16 after having my second kid is when I was finally like, okay, enough's enough.
Jackie Meyer:I went out, I found a business coach. His name's Chuck Bauer who I ended up doing coaching with him. He's a great friend. I was like, hey, I need help. I need to just change something in my practice or else I'm done with this.
Jackie Meyer:And he simply asked me who I like working with and why out of my clientele. And from there, I developed tax advisory packages around high net wealth executives and completely transformed my firm. Eventually got my hours down to four hours a week like Tim Ferriss. Wow. Yeah.
Jackie Meyer:And tripled my revenue. So it was quite the story. And so that's what inspired me was like my personal pain. And then I always had this like urge to help others. And I actually wanted to be a counselor growing up, but because of personal issues in my own life or counselors I knew that ended up being a little cray cray, I decided no, I'm gonna go down the business path.
Jackie Meyer:I don't want anything to do with this emotional stuff. I still need to help others. And so by discovering how I could transform my own firm, I found a way or that path for others. And so I developed a whole pricing methodology around it. I started coaching other accountants.
Jackie Meyer:And then, you know, the rest is history. I created Tax Plan IQ, the tax advisory software for tax advisors. And we're helping a lot of people now. So it is kind of a dream come true.
Heidi Henderson:It is amazing. So just as background, you know, we had the intro about your you know, really what you've built, your firm, and we're gonna dive into Tax PlanIQ, this platform about the industry, what's happening in accounting and the CPA space, because I think what you did is probably the epitome of of what many accounts want to do but don't see a path through. And then one personal reason I was real well, two reasons. Obviously, I was I was really excited to have you on the show is, one, I I have so much respect for what you've done professionally and the innovation with building this platform. But, also, this podcast was very much when I started this, it was totally a passion project.
Heidi Henderson:It was one of those where I think you get to a point in your life where you recognize that I'm willing to be really vulnerable even if people don't like it. Mhmm. And so for me, the healthy, wealthy wise, the balance and finding how to create that in life while we take care of ourselves physically and mentally and we take time for our families and we can still be successful has been a major passion of mine. And working in the CPA world made me so sad because I saw so many people. I've seen so many people who haven't been able to find that balance.
Heidi Henderson:And so that's something I wanna dive into before we start to dig into actually the the platform of what you've built. But I hear you're writing a book called The Balance Sheet of Life. Is that right?
Jackie Meyer:Yes. Yes. I I think I actually might be evolving the title. The Balance Sheet of Life tends to scare people because as soon as you're a balance sheet, you're like, I want nothing to do with this. So I think I'm thinking it's gonna be more like the balanced millionaire.
Jackie Meyer:And so I'll have kind of an accountant edition where we deep dive into how accountants can do that. And then a more kinda general edition where everyone has these like this weird love hate relationship with the word balance too. Yeah. Some people say like there isn't work life balance, there's only harmony and things like that. And I totally get that.
Jackie Meyer:But we I think that you still need to measure and optimize what you can in your life, what you care about, and that's what this concept is all about.
Heidi Henderson:I think it's amazing. And, you know, your CEO, I believe, Dave Lucas was on the show. And he shared that, you know, that it's more about harmony versus that, quote, unquote, work life balance. Yeah. And I love that.
Heidi Henderson:That was one of the things I wrote down as he and I were talking because it's like, yeah, you you do have to create some sacrifices. I think we know I was a parent as well when I was starting my career, and I made a lot of sacrifices. There were lots of games and dance recitals and things that I missed because I had to be at certain events or I had to do certain things. So there are sacrifices to be made. But in accounting, specifically in tax, I mean, it can be so demanding with tax deadlines, and burnout is a huge issue.
Heidi Henderson:I think it's also why the industry is struggling to actually add new professionals to the space. So looking to create more balance in their lives while still, like, growing a practice, what are some of the things that you're really honing in on to try to to advise people on?
Jackie Meyer:Well, there's several layers to that. First of all, you need to kind of reevaluate every aspect of your firm, starting with pricing. When are you doing pricing? How are you pricing? Are you making a lot harder on yourself?
Jackie Meyer:So there's really practical things like that. I advocate for value pricing and then created this ROI method of value pricing, which is just a proposal that you give the client visualizing tax savings and their return on investment in you. Right? It's not the like, it's not that revolutionary. It's pretty simple.
Jackie Meyer:It's pretty straightforward. People just, for some reason, aren't doing it. So it's important to really reevaluate those different processes in your firm and figure out how to make those easier. But the second component that is a lot harder for most people is literally just boundaries. Being able to say no.
Jackie Meyer:Being able to tell a client you're not the best fit for them because you're probably not. In a lot of cases, I see accounts just taking on any and every work thinking, oh, I feel so bad for them or they called me up on 414 and they're in a bad situation. Well, guess what? Got them in that bad situation. Themselves.
Jackie Meyer:Yeah. And so you're gonna by entertaining this, and then you working all night the night before a deadline, or you making your team work all night the night before a deadline, because someone else didn't have an appropriate boundary. So you really need to strengthen that that that boundary trait, so to speak. And a favorite book of mine that I think is really great about that is called boundaries by doctor Henry Cloud. So I'd highly recommend that to everybody.
Heidi Henderson:Love it. I will put that in the show notes as well because that and the the start with why, that I love that book. It's so it's so simple, but so powerful. And I think you're right. But with boundaries, it's interesting because I think with when we set boundaries, you you you know, people are afraid, and I think many accountants tend to be a little introverted.
Heidi Henderson:And, you know, they're they're not that strong. But the interesting thing is oftentimes people respect it more on the other side. So For sure. You know, if they decide not to work with you, it's probably not a bad thing because a lot of people actually will end up disrespecting someone who will bend over backwards and work all night to finish something, and then they think they can do it all the time. So it's a great point with boundaries.
Heidi Henderson:I mean, that's all things with life. Right? Even kids.
Jackie Meyer:Yeah. For sure. Right before this, I was teaching a webinar on four steps to, like, tripling your profitability during tax busy season. And there were a a lot of things we kinda deep dived around what we're talking about here in that session. But it was it was neat.
Jackie Meyer:There were a lot of, like, really hopeful people there. Whether you can do, you know, do a transition in the middle of busy season or wait until post busy season, that's up to you. But I think it's important to give people hope no matter what time of year it is that there there are a lot of resources out there
Heidi Henderson:to help them. I love that. So let's let's back up a little bit and dig into, first off, strategic tax planning and then into Tax Plan IQ and then the ROI pricing model because I I think it kind of segues all with how it flows. But this whole shift in the accounting industry, what you've done with Tax Plan IQ in creating a way for accountants to more easily create a strategic tax plan. I mean, it is I've seen more discussion, more disruption, more change, I think, in the last two to three years than I've ever seen in the last twenty plus years in this industry.
Heidi Henderson:What do you think is driving that shift?
Jackie Meyer:Oh, I think that COVID was a huge wake up call across air every area of our lives. People were thinking, do I really have to do put up with all this nonsense anymore? Right? And so I think the combination of that and the progress we're seeing with AI, chat GPT, large language models, the writing I mean, there's a fear factor and there's a hope factor of like, oh, I can find something better but I also could be out of a job if I stick with just compliance work. Right?
Jackie Meyer:So I think that combination of squeeze is like what's moving most people. And I'm okay with that because that's my literally my mission which I don't know why I care so much to help other people move into this. I'm gonna go through all the bad things I went through in the profession. Right? Because it it it can be really rewarding.
Jackie Meyer:And so, you know, that's that's why I I advocate for it. But it's my personal mission to move as many people as possible into tax advisory because I
Heidi Henderson:think it solves all our problems. Yeah. I I I it certainly looks that way. What do you think? I mean, you kind of you talk you touched on it a little bit, but what ultimately is holding firms back from jumping into more of a strategic tax planning versus just strictly compliance?
Jackie Meyer:Too busy, confidence in not understanding tax advisory, fear around regulations. Gosh. The list goes on and on. There's so many different things. Know, people ask me all the time, what's the one biggest reason to hold someone back?
Jackie Meyer:There isn't one reason. There's like five or six that are pretty evenly spread across firms. Whether you have the technical knowledge, you don't know how to do the sale. I mean, there's a lot of stuff involved there. So what we've done, I might be jumping ahead here, but at Tax One IQ last summer, we identified like, hey, a software loan isn't enough.
Jackie Meyer:People need that confidence and support and accountability from others. And so we actually created an entirely new subscription tier where we offer tons of CPE. We walk you through exactly how to do every step of the process. We have over a 30 tax strategies in our library, but we deep dive into them to help like hold your hand through it versus making you have to do it on your own. And so we've really tried to address all of those reasons why people can't move into tax advisory, and it's working really well.
Heidi Henderson:Yeah. So so let's dig in to, like, backing up assuming that our listeners are not familiar with Tax Plan IQ. Yeah. Dive in a little bit about what exactly have you built, and how are you helping tax professionals be able to shift their business? How does this platform essentially help them?
Jackie Meyer:Yeah. So TaxpayQ, I kinda say is like a a blue ocean, new type software. It doesn't do really anything other softwares do. We don't do just do tax projections, for example. It's all about visualizing the sales process and automating the tax plan and then automating and making more efficient implementation of planning and managing that client relationship.
Jackie Meyer:So it's a lot of like different products into one, but I was actually just putting together a case study of like how much time it saves through the different steps involved. So a quick example, if you're not quite following me yet as to what it does, you upload a client's last file ten forty. It'll automatically identify within about thirty seconds now over 50 tax strategy suggestions and amounts. You spend another ten, fifteen minutes maybe like fine tuning those results. You create an automated proposal for the client using the ROI method to visualize the tax savings, visualize the investment in you.
Jackie Meyer:It automatically creates a PowerPoint presentation to show the client because most people are visual learners. They're not necessarily huge number crunchers like we are. And it automatically produces a full tax plan report where each page is going through each strategy, how to implement it, what are their to dos and tasks. You can assign those out in the software and whatnot. So I don't know, Heidi, if you have a better way of describing it.
Jackie Meyer:But to me, a lot of people are like, I don't get it, what it does because it's not a tax projector. And so that's how I'm trying to kinda fill in the
Heidi Henderson:gaps. Yeah. No. I think that's a great explanation. Can you provide a few, like, examples and insights of what might someone might expect from what is reported in the in the report?
Heidi Henderson:Now I'll preface that with the fact that you you said how many 30, I think, is what you said are opportunities that it's identifying. You know, I'm always the devil's devil's advocate here. You know? I had a conversation with the CPA, and they're like, oh, you know, I mean, this is just like it says we should just apply the Augusta rule. I mean, you know, this is just small stuff.
Heidi Henderson:This is not what I'm interested in. So defend that because Yeah. I've looked at it. I'm using the platform, and I think it's just amazing. I'm your biggest reporter.
Jackie Meyer:You. I mean, I it's like this has never been done before. Like, I literally went one by one, like, analyzing someone's ten forty, figuring out what that formula is, what numbers to pull, and then how to suggest, like, how does it suggest if someone needs meals and entertainment deduction on a schedule c? Right? Yep.
Jackie Meyer:So there's, you know, there's a lot of estimation in that process. But to me, the simple stuff is just as important as the big stuff. If I'm going to bring a tax plan to the table for somebody, I'm gonna realize that I looked at it from a complete holistic perspective. And we're gonna get the home office deduction, Augusta rule, some of that basic stuff out of the way, alongside any other more advanced planning that we do. And it's up to the tax advisor how advanced they wanna be.
Jackie Meyer:I mean, they could literally just hone in on those super big ones, you know, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Or they could be more holistic and provide, like, three to five strategies that have a good mix of both so that you're not overlooking the smaller things for the client. I think it's a disservice to overlook those things. Yeah.
Heidi Henderson:I mean, being in specialty tax. Yeah. That that's preaching to the choir because one of the, you know, one of the struggles we have and I I tell this all the time. Like, we'll work on a a a project for a client. They'll be thrilled, and they'll say, wow.
Heidi Henderson:This was amazing. I saved so much money. How did I never know about this? What else should we be doing? What else can we be looking at?
Heidi Henderson:And we are not a tax compliance firm, so we're working with our CPA partners. We want to to manage those relationships. And so it's difficult when clients are begging for those opportunities. They are looking for strategy. And I know it's difficult because it's a timing issue.
Heidi Henderson:Right? So when we look at that, I mean, the fact that this creates a PowerPoint, it really is phenomenal because the way the way that it represents the the benefit and the opportunity is pretty dramatic. Mhmm. How are you seeing this help firms increase their revenue? And I'll then also preface that question with the fear of people feeling like they're price gouging or they're selling.
Heidi Henderson:And, you know, there's this kind of fear, I think, with many CPAs. Well, I don't want my client to feel like I'm trying to sell them other things just so that I can get more money.
Jackie Meyer:For sure. Yeah. So that's what's so cool about tax advisory is it sells itself, in my humble I mean, when you're able to quantify the estimated tax savings, you're obviously not guaranteeing the tax savings with a proposal upfront. Right? I mean, but you can guarantee the client satisfaction in your engagement.
Jackie Meyer:There's other ways you can make sure that you're taking care of that relationship. But yeah, I mean, value pricing upfront, especially with utilizing tangible tax savings and then looking at a few other intangible factors like the complexity of the work and stuff like that. It just makes it all really, really easy and it's win win. I mean, the client gets at least three times more savings than they did before. You naturally are getting paid at least three times more, and the client's netting more in their pocket.
Jackie Meyer:So no one loses here. And, I mean, it it's all about the end result is all about the bottom line that you're getting the client. If the cost benefit's not there, don't propose the work. You know? Yeah.
Jackie Meyer:Yeah. It it really is. It's incredible. One piece of this that you've developed, one of
Heidi Henderson:the most surprising things actually, was this ROI method of value pricing. So you have created an and I think you've termed that phrase ROI method of value pricing. And it's so interesting because we've got contingency rules within the CPA industry where there's a lot of concern about charging a percentage of savings or having our Circular two thirty compliance issues and how do we work around that or we're not allowed to do this or whatnot. You've developed this really interesting pricing model. Can you dig into that and kinda share how I mean, I'm, first off, really interested actually in how you developed it and then really how you've been able to implement that into the platform.
Jackie Meyer:Yeah. So let's start with how I developed it. I developed it because I was frustrated that I kept hearing over and over again how I need to be pricing upfront and I need to be value pricing. But it was so theoretical. It was always so theoretical.
Jackie Meyer:Like, what does that even mean? How do I standardize that? How do I make that fair across the board for all my clients? How do I make it to where my team can quote the same way that I would quote something? And then I kinda worked backwards with what can and can't we do as CPAs?
Jackie Meyer:Because, yeah, we can't charge contingent fees. And so what does that mean? Well, a contingent fee is charging on the back end for exactly the percentage savings you find on someone's tax return. Okay? So alright.
Jackie Meyer:Well, can't do that. Although, I think it's a pretty silly thing. I think that and they're actually doubling down on the contingent fee regulations now when attorneys and other types of engagements are just fine to use contingent fees. But okay, fine. We won't do them.
Jackie Meyer:So then it's like, okay, well, what is value pricing? And how does someone assess a value of something? Well, some people will say, you can never assess a value on a value price. Right? Engagement.
Jackie Meyer:I disagree. Because we have tax savings involved. Right? Mhmm. So I can figure out an estimate of a hundred thousand dollars of tax savings that I think I can get you.
Jackie Meyer:Again, I'm not guaranteeing it. I'm charging up front based on those proposed results, and I'm adjusting the price on the back end like a contingent fee would. And what's really neat is that the AICPA is actually on board with this method, and they're mass releasing it to their members this year. It was supposed to happen last year, but hey, you know how bureaucracy is. So I'm just kinda waiting around.
Jackie Meyer:I'm so thankful that they're embracing this methodology and that they're getting it out there. But I have a completely free workbook, Excel workbook that I spent hundreds of hours put my heart and soul into for anybody to use whether you wanna use Tax Plan IQ or not to use the ROI method. So I'd be happy to share that with your listeners. They can actually just go to taxplaniq.com forward slash ROI dash method, and you can download the workbook and give it a go. And I think people will really be like, wow, this just makes sense.
Heidi Henderson:That's an I I downloaded the spreadsheet, and I have to say, I was actually really surprised. Like, I can't believe they just gave this to me. There is because there really is so
Jackie Meyer:I've been I've been told maybe not to give it away for free. I didn't. I don't care. I I want it to be a gift to the profession. I wanna help people, and I want to alleviate any you know, one of those many problems they might have to moving to tax advisory, and I think this is one way forward.
Jackie Meyer:So Yeah. There you go. You're welcome, everyone.
Heidi Henderson:Well, it is I mean, I say that from the sense of it being so generous because it really does have so much in there. And it clearly it was it was a project that that took a lot of time to develop. So that's why I say that is that, you know, it it is a gift. And I think that's amazing that you guys are that you personally are working with AICPA and really creating more of that awareness and encouraging firms to do that. One issue with then creating a tax plan is what happens when you create this cool tax plan and there's these 15 things you recommend.
Heidi Henderson:Now the CPA actually has to do that or help their client set it up. How do you typically approach that? And how would you also then respond to a CPA who says, I just don't have time to do this. And now I have a plan that's just gonna create more
Jackie Meyer:work for me. Right. So it's up to the adviser what services they wanna offer. I have some of our top users of Taxman IQ actually charge a flat fee like $4,500 just to hand them the tax plan report that Taxman IQ produces. Mhmm.
Jackie Meyer:And then they don't implement for the client. They say, you know, look, here's what I'm recommending. Take this to your tax preparer or whatever and someone else can help you kinda thing. That's fine. I mean, it's super profitable.
Jackie Meyer:I personally preferred to do the implementation myself so that everything was done at a really high level, like what I call concierge level of service for my clientele. And it's gosh. It's so profitable too because it is the hardest part knowing how to do things. Although it is all in your learning. So the first time you implement a plan, it probably takes you twenty hours.
Jackie Meyer:The second time maybe takes you ten. The third time, I mean, by the dozen time you implement these plans with similar type strategies for similar types of clients, I mean, it's it's not that much work. It's a few hours of work and you're looking at, I mean, of tens of thousands that you can charge for this because other people can't or won't do it. So just know that you have that choice. You can charge a one time planning fee.
Jackie Meyer:You can charge ongoing subscription fees or you can do both. And we did both at Myer Tax and we were very successful with it.
Heidi Henderson:Yeah. Amazing. Have you guys used AI in the automation of the platform? Is that part of of, you know, what's powering it?
Jackie Meyer:We have. Yeah. So interesting enough, you know, AI is so new. We were really like an early adopter when it came to figuring out how it worked, but I knew there was opportunity there. And I'm an avid chat GPT user.
Jackie Meyer:Like, it's my BFF. I just saw deep research came out in the, like, $20 a month version this morning. And I had it, review 78 PowerPoint slides for me and help me figure out the script of exactly what to put on every single slide. It was fabulous. So imagine what AI can do if you if you tell it what to do with a tax return.
Jackie Meyer:Right? So that's the method that we took. We first went like full on large language model type learning with it and with the suggestion of strategies. Then we actually paired it back because at the end of the day, it's more these logical assumptions or what we call the deterministic approach of programming that is better when it comes to suggesting tax planning ideas off of someone's ten forty. So we have a chatbot named Jane, j a I n e.
Jackie Meyer:She's like a really smart tax manager in Tax One IQ that you can interact with. She'll help you come up with ideas and whatnot. But our strategy suggestions tool is actually more just programming than logic. And we found that that's a lot more reliable than, you know, the the LLMs can provide at the moment.
Heidi Henderson:Got it. That's so it's so interesting. I mean, the the inception of AI in our world has been unbelievable, and the speed with which it's moving is just incredible. I, like you, it has become my best friend. Yeah.
Heidi Henderson:And it's actually shocking to me how helpful it can be. So I love that. Can you have or do you have any success stories? I would love to hear of a couple stories of some CPA firms that you've worked with Yeah. That have seen really transformational results.
Heidi Henderson:Well, for sure. Yeah. I mean, I
Jackie Meyer:could I could pull up a list of things, but just off the top of my head, we had a first time tax advisor sell their very first tax plan that was saving a client a million dollars and they charged $70,000 for that plan. Do you think the client's upset with it? Heck no. The client is thrilled because they just netted 930 k in their pocket. Right?
Jackie Meyer:That's more than I ever charged for a tax plan. The biggest tax plan I ever sold at Meyer tax being the what someone said the goat the other day of this. There's so many other goats by the way. Like, we all learn from one another over the years. But, you know, the biggest tax when I ever sold was like about $50,000.
Jackie Meyer:So I was over the moon excited for that Tax One IQ user. They were super excited. Their client was super excited. That's the kind of results that we wanna see. And but it doesn't have to be that big.
Jackie Meyer:I mean, we have people that are selling tax plans for $5,000. But before that, they were selling $500 annual tax return engagements. Right? So they've increased the engagement by $4,500. Let's apply that to maybe 50 clients that you can upsell into a tax planning engagement.
Jackie Meyer:That's I believe over $200,000 that you can add to your firm just from adding that offering into things. So it adds up very, very quickly.
Heidi Henderson:Wow. It's it is incredible. We work with, as I said, a lot of CPAs, but a lot of tax advisers as well. And it is really incredible to see some of the results and how thrilled clients are. And this platform really has been so instrumental with that from what I've been seeing, but it's so interesting.
Heidi Henderson:So a shift away from the platform itself and back to you being the amazing human that you are and successful entrepreneur and doing all the things. What are what are next plans for you? Where are you going with this? Are you focusing primarily on Tax Plan IQ, or what are you what are your goals in the company and going forward?
Jackie Meyer:Yeah. Thank you for asking that. I don't get asked a lot about kind of my my personal plan in life, and I've got so many goals. Like, I'm sure you understand, Heidi, because I think you're a lot like me. But I know I had you on my podcast, The Concierge CPA, and we just like instantly jived.
Jackie Meyer:But I did write a book. I wrote a second book specifically for accountants on growing a 7 figure firm down to four hours a week. I wanna get that one out, think first, because I think there's so many more people within our profession and industry that I can still reach before I go outside of that to any entrepreneur about this kind of balance of life concepts. Mhmm. I'm kinda doubling down this year.
Jackie Meyer:We are trying to double Tax Plan IQ. We have almost 500 firms that are on it. We wanna double that before year end. We are having tremendous success, which is like, you know, mind blowing. You can't even fathom how amazing it is to create and run and grow a SaaS software.
Jackie Meyer:So if any thinking out there doing it, yes, please do. It's very, very rewarding and it's a lot of fun. And then, yeah, next year, I think I'm gonna really hone in on kind of helping all entrepreneurs a little bit more and speaking at maybe events outside of my industry, but still, of course, guiding the accountant and helping them. But I just reach as many people as I can with this messaging because I really think it will help them.
Heidi Henderson:Yeah. Absolutely. And what what are some of your biggest, you know, whether it's takeaways or, I guess, advice for any business? I mean, yes, CPAs, because I think we've both been in this industry for a long time, and we see and have a passion for wanting to see a change. But for any business owner, for and, you know, not to not to exclude anyone, but women, particularly.
Heidi Henderson:You know? And well, now I'm getting on a tangent. But, you know, one of the things I've actually struggled with is finding other women in my space that are really career focused and really wanting to aim for success and shoot for the stars and and really do all of that while they're still they have a family, and maybe they're raising children and going through all of those things. So what are some of the biggest things? There's a loaded question.
Heidi Henderson:But in your life, what have you learned that you would share with people on what matters and how to how to find the harmony since we're using that instead of balance?
Jackie Meyer:Yeah. Yeah. Oh gosh. Well, I'll tell you what I think about for women in particular. Like, I'm a huge advocate for women.
Jackie Meyer:I try not to exclude anyone in lessons learned because they do apply to everybody. So I try to teach everyone. And then really lift up women while I'm at it. Right? Because there are some things that are stacked against us and it just is what it is.
Jackie Meyer:So I would say like, find your people. Find that like inner circle of people and then have an outer circle of people. Our team's actually reading this book, John Maxwell's twenty one Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. And he talks about having like an inner circle of people that you interact with every day and then an outer circle of more like visionaries that you can brainstorm with, bounce ideas around with. And sometimes that outer circle becomes your inner circle.
Jackie Meyer:I was just complaining myself, Heidi, last week to a business group that I didn't have a lot of, you know, entrepreneurial women that I could, you know, rub elbows with either. So I think that this is a a common thing for us and we need to band together, figure out how to, you know, how to get together more often with people that we do jive with and really just go for it. But a grander like life guide that I always have in my mind is literally just do it. Stop overthinking. Start doing.
Jackie Meyer:And that's who's gonna actually, like, be successful. If you don't try, you're you're never gonna be able to do anything.
Heidi Henderson:That is awesome. You know, the old Nike slogan, just do But
Jackie Meyer:We should change. Because I saw in the Super Bowl, it was something totally new. And I'm like, I'm the old one. But
Heidi Henderson:You're like, wait. Wait. Wait. Go back. Like, that's that's forever.
Heidi Henderson:Yeah. Well, and and Dave and I Dave Lucas, when we were talking too, he was talking about, the principle of just making small changes and small incremental improvements. That, along with just making progress and taking steps, it's especially with accounting minded, know it's always been one of my biggest struggles is to overthink things and overprocess. And then you get analysis paralysis. So I love that.
Heidi Henderson:I love that principle of just do it and take the leap. So that is very cool. How can listeners connect with you to learn about Tax Plan IQ? We do have a discount link actually for listeners, which is amazing. You guys were so great to extend that to us.
Heidi Henderson:So we'll put that in the show notes. But how can they stay connected with you and stay updated on your upcoming book?
Jackie Meyer:Well, thank you for that. I would say LinkedIn is where I'm spending a lot of time these days. So if you find me, doctor Jackie Meyer CPA on LinkedIn, I'm starting to do some videos, which has been a hard thing for me. I love interviewing people on my podcast and being on other podcasts and just kinda shooting, you know what? But when it comes to staring at a camera and trying to give advice, that's a whole another story.
Jackie Meyer:Right? So I'm trying hard because I do wanna help, and I think that's probably one of the best ways to do it. So yeah, LinkedIn is a great spot. Facebook, I do have a group of about 8,000 accountants called Accounting Firm Influencers. So you can join us over there, or you can email me.
Jackie Meyer:So it's Jackie, j a c k I e at tax plan I q dot com. And definitely would love to hear from anyone that I've, you know, inspired or made someone give pause today and be like, have more questions. I'd love to help you out.
Heidi Henderson:That is so amazing. Thank you so much for sharing all of those details. We'll add all of that into the show notes as well as links to some of the books you mentioned because a couple of them are some of my favorites, but I have not read the 21 laws of leadership. I love that. And, again, thank you so much being our guest.
Heidi Henderson:I really appreciate it. And I have just been it's been amazing connecting with you and getting to meet you. So I hope that we can collaborate more in the future.
Jackie Meyer:For sure. Thank you, Heidi. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.
Heidi Henderson:Absolutely. Bye bye. What an incredible conversation with Doctor. Jackie Meyer. From her journey as a CPA firm owner to leading Tax Plan IQ, Jackie has given us some game changing insights on how CPAs and tax professionals can transition from compliance based work to strategic tax planning, and in the process, increase their revenue, improve client value, and create more fulfilling careers.
Heidi Henderson:We talked about the power of strategic tax planning, the importance of value based pricing, and how firms can use Tax Plan IQ to unlock tax savings for their clients while simultaneously boosting their bottom line. And, of course, we explored the bigger picture, which is Jackie's mission to help professionals find harmony in their work, wealth, and well-being, which is something I am passionate about. If you're a CPA looking to level up your practice and shift towards high value tax advisory services, now's the time to start. Tax Plan IQ is a really fantastic tool to help you identify, present, and implement tax saving strategies in a way that really resonates with clients. You will find links to the resources mentioned and a discount link to try Tax Plan IQ in the show notes.
Heidi Henderson:And for all of you listening, if you found today's episode valuable, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast with your fellow CPAs, tax professionals, and business owners who could benefit from these insights. Thank you for tuning in to the Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise Accountant, and I will see you next time.
