Commitment & Vision
OUR PROMISE TO YOU
Level the Business Playing Field
As a business owner, you are expected to do a lot. You are responsible for operations, people, customers, and growth. But unlike large companies, you do not have a CFO and a team of advisors handling cash flow, taxes, and long-term financial structure behind the scenes.
That does not mean those things matter less for your business. It means you have had to carry them yourself.
Most owners learned their craft by working in the business. Over time, you realize that growth also requires working on the business. That includes understanding the numbers, planning ahead, and putting structure in place so the business can support you instead of constantly pulling you back in. As Michael Gerber points out in his book The E-Myth, many owners end up wearing every hat. CEO, CFO, HR, sales, and more.
The challenge is not effort or commitment. It is bandwidth and access. Full-time financial leadership comes with a full-time price tag, and most small businesses do not need or cannot justify a $150,000-plus executive on payroll.
That is the gap we help fill.
We help you run your business with the financial clarity and discipline larger companies rely on, without the overhead. We bring structure to your numbers, help you understand what is really happening beneath the surface, and support better decisions around cash, taxes, and growth.
When your business is stable and profitable, you win. And so do we. That is why we do not approach this as a transactional service. We are invested in your success, working with you to build a business that runs better today and holds up for the long term.
Kaizen is the process of continuous improvement through the stacking of small changes over time. One drop of water on a stone has little effect, but as time passes, its powerful persistence allows it to carve itself a pathway in the rock.
We believe in helping our clients implement manageable changes and learn new habits that yield powerful results for their futures.
A Message from Our Managing Partner
One of our goals at Kaizen CPAs + Advisors is to bridge the gap between the help that big companies receive from their CFOs to what small business owners need to thrive—and can afford.
As Managing Partner of Kaizen CPAs + Advisors, I truly believe in the importance of having someone you can turn to. Every business owner needs that. I invite you to take a closer look at our outsourced CFO approach, and our philosophy for “having the back” of every one of our clients.
– Clay Hamlin
The Five Pillars of Our Vision
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Attentiveness
We visit with our clients regularly so we understand their businesses and personal goals. Only with a good understanding can we give good advice.
As the onslaught of compliance matters continues to escalate ever higher, most accounting firms have to limit their service to financial statements and taxes. The compliance matters, and the training needed to attend to those matters, can be so time-consuming and complex, that most accounting firms today simply don’t have the time to discuss your business or (help you set) goals.
We have always viewed good advice as the foundation of our relationships. Therefore, we set aside time for you. With this in mind, we have fashioned our operations so that we can prepare your financial statements more efficiently than our competitors. This advantage gives us the opportunity to provide our clients with good advice, which is rooted in attention, all for a reasonable monthly fee. -
Leadership
We lead clients to develop and sustain smart accounting records and procedures that will yield accurate financial statements.
Businesses that lack adequate and competent accounting records are at a great disadvantage in obtaining “the right advice.” Without the bedrock of financial statements, it is next to impossible to know if they are “afoot or on horseback.” This is a common occurrence among new clients, and it is corrected by putting the proper procedures in place.
Like a CFO, our accountants will help you analyze your financial statements beyond simple, “You made or lost money this month” comparisons. Our interpretation of the numbers enables our clients to know what they did, why they did it, and where they need to spend their time making adjustments. Plus, we take things even further by extrapolating the numbers…enabling our clients to lead their businesses in the most profitable direction.
We see this function as the distinction between leadership and management. It can be the difference between working hard and working smart.
Like a CFO, we build a dialogue with our clients that goes beyond profit or loss statements. And very often, we are called upon to be involved with a wide array of problems including tax, banking, attorney, insurance, actuarial, matrimonial, and other relationships.
As an extension of our approach, we do not charge our clients every time they pick up the phone. We always remind them, “Don’t hesitate to call… that’s what we’re here for. As soon as you have a question, we’ll have the answer. If we don’t, we’ll suggest how to get that answer.” -
Learnedness
We conduct regular internal (and client!) training to maintain and enhance our level of knowledge in business, taxes, and accounting.
All of our professionals are required to spend at least one week per year enhancing his or her professional skills. As a practical matter, we spend much more than that. As a group, we are taking courses or programs in everything from accounting to auditing, computer sciences to statistics and probability, business law and management to employee benefits and administrative practices and payroll. This does not make each individual an expert in all these subjects, but it allows us to spot problems and opportunities.We also believe that a better-educated client is simply a better client. Knowledge is power. If that means connecting you with a labor lawyer, we will do that. If that means going over the general rules of the R&D tax credit, and how that credit could save you money, we will do that. This is your business and your financial livelihood. You can delegate the handling of certain technical matters to us but you cannot, however, hand over the responsibility to us of making sound decisions for you. We are partners in these matters. In order for us to help you, you have to have some understanding of variables. If you don’t have that understanding, we will help you get there.
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Support
We maintain a great circle of professional contacts needed to support and help clients when we are not in our area of expertise.
We maintain a wonderful circle of professional contacts in bankers, all sorts of attorneys, HR providers, financial advisors, computer software and hardware providers, website developers, marketing and advertising experts, insurance agents, security experts, commercial and home real estate agents, and business valuation experts. With easy access to a wide range of experts, no amount of professional guidance is out of reach.
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Betterment
We constantly improve our internal systems and procedures so that we will continue to handle compliance matters (financials, tax returns, notices) more efficiently than our competitors.
We have invested a great deal of time into determining the best ways to solve compliance matters like poorly implemented accounting systems and procedures. To deliver a package that includes financial fundamentals and sound advice at an affordable price for the business owner, we have developed and optimized how we collect information from our clients and how we deliver financials and tax returns.
As the business and regulatory environment changes, we continue to discover better ways of doing things. We change and broaden our systems and procedures. We then ensure those changes are communicated to our clients because we live in these systems and procedures together.