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Some clients first come to me expecting the relationship to revolve around tax returns. The more useful work often begins with a conversation about how the business runs.
I want to understand how money moves through the company and where the owner still has to step in because the process depends on them. Once I have that context, I can give better accounting advice and have more productive tax conversations.
An audiobook distribution client I have worked with since 2021 is a good example. The company manages royalty payments to authors, narrators, and other rights holders. When we started working together, those calculations were being handled in Excel, while the owner paid bills whenever they arrived.
The process had grown alongside the company, and it had reached the point where too much of it depended on manual work and the owner’s attention.
A process can work and still create problems
The owner was getting the bills paid, and royalty recipients were receiving statements. From a distance, the process appeared to be doing its job.
The strain showed up in the time it took to maintain everything. Each royalty agreement could have different terms, so the monthly calculations required careful review. As more titles and recipients were added, the spreadsheet became more complicated, and the owner continued to spend time on routine payments that pulled him away from the rest of the business.
This happens in many growing companies. A process is built to solve an immediate need, then stays in place as the business becomes larger and more complex. The owner adapts by checking more work, answering more questions, or filling the gaps personally.
Because the work still gets done, there may never be a clear moment when everyone agrees the process has stopped fitting the company. The owner simply feels more involved in financial administration than they should be.
My role is to notice where that dependence has developed and determine whether the current approach can continue without creating more work every time the company grows.
Before changing the system, I need to understand the work
For this client, recommending new software was only part of the job. Royalty payments sit at the center of the business, so I needed to understand the agreements and the monthly sales information behind each statement.
We found royalty software that could receive the sales data and apply the relevant contract rules. I helped configure the process so the information could move from the royalty system into Ramp , where the payments were issued.
We also moved the company’s regular bill pay into Ramp. The owner had been paying bills throughout the month as they came in, sometimes almost every day. We replaced that routine with two scheduled payment cycles on the 5th and the 20th.
The change gave the company a repeatable process and reduced the number of finance tasks competing for the owner’s attention. It also improved the consistency of the royalty calculations, where the previous Excel process had created opportunities for contract details to be missed.
Since then, the number of people receiving royalties has grown from a few dozen to more than 100. The company did not need to reinvent the process each time a new recipient was added, and the owner did not have to absorb the additional workload personally.
That is the part of back-office work I find valuable. A good process should make it easier for the business to take on more activity while keeping the owner focused on the work that requires their judgment.
Knowing the business changes the tax conversation
The operational work also gave me context when the client later received a large advance connected to a successful title.
We had already worked through an earlier income event and set up a 401(k), which created additional retirement contribution opportunities. When the larger advance came along, we revisited the available planning options and considered whether a change from the cash method to the accrual method could improve the timing of income recognition.
The answer depended on how quickly the advance was expected to be earned through future sales. The title was selling at a pace that made a long deferral period unlikely. A change in accounting method would have added complexity while producing limited benefit, so it did not make sense based on the information we had.
We continued looking at other opportunities connected to the owner’s broader financial picture, including whether cost segregation could be useful for certain real estate activity.
Large income events can create pressure to find an equally large tax strategy. I prefer to work through the numbers and the timing before recommending a change. Sometimes the analysis leads to a planning opportunity. In other situations, the most useful advice is to leave the current structure alone.
I could have reviewed the advance as an isolated tax question, but the answer was better because I already knew the company. I understood the source of the income, how quickly it was being earned, and what we had done during the previous year. We were able to discuss the decision in the context of the owner’s business and investments.
The relationship should become more useful over time
A CPA relationship loses much of its value when every conversation starts from scratch. I want to know enough about the client’s operations that we can move quickly when a new opportunity or problem comes up.
Current books are part of that. The deeper value comes from understanding what sits behind the numbers and knowing which changes are being considered before they appear in the financial statements or tax return.
For a growing business, that may involve redesigning a payment process that has become too dependent on the owner. For a high earner, it could mean discussing the tax consequences of a major contract or investment while the details are still being negotiated.
Those conversations become easier when the accounting and tax work are connected. I do not have to spend the first meeting reconstructing the history, and the client does not have to explain the business from the beginning every time something changes.
The relationship with this audiobook distributor has covered far more than bookkeeping or annual tax preparation. We have worked through a core operating process, adapted it as the company expanded, and used what I knew about the business to evaluate significant tax decisions.
That continuity is what allows me to give practical advice. I can recognize when a familiar process is starting to create friction, and I can raise tax questions early enough for the owner to consider the available options.
Business owners usually know which finance tasks keep finding their way back onto their desks. When that starts taking time away from running the business, I can help untangle the process, so it stops pulling you back in. Schedule a 30 min call with me to get started.
About Dark Horse CPAs
Dark Horse CPAs provides an integrated suite of services including tax , accounting , fractional CFO , and wealth management to small businesses and individuals across the U.S. The firm was established to transform the client experience by offering personalized, high-quality services that small businesses and individuals deserve. As Dark Horses in their industries, these businesses benefit from advanced tax strategies and accounting insights typically reserved for larger companies. With a nationwide presence and a team of dedicated professionals, Dark Horse CPAs is committed to your success. Get a quote today.
