The Ambitious Bookkeeper with Serena Shoup, CPA

The Ambitious Bookkeeper with Serena Shoup, CPA We help bookkeepers grow their businesses.
🎙️The Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast

I help experienced and aspiring accountants start and grow their own virtual bookkeeping businesses so they can create their ideal life. Over the past few years of running my own virtual accounting firm, I've noticed there is an abundance of small businesses that need help from qualified bookkeepers and accountants so I started mentoring others who had the desire to help these businesses.

09/26/2026

Ever wonder why clients switch bookkeepers even when the books are tidy? 🤔

It's often because they feel a gap between numbers and action.

One question can make all the difference: "Do you send monthly reports?"

Do you offer this to your clients? Let us know! 👇

Hear more in Ep 251 🎙️
Connect with Katie
https://instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie
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09/24/2026

I've taken over clients from AMAZING bookkeepers.

Their books were clean. Reconciled. Categorized correctly.

So why did the client leave?

Because they weren't getting reports.

Here's what clients actually want, my friend:
📊 Reports at the same time every month
📝 An explanation of what happened
📩 Someone who emails them back when they have a question

That's it. That's the bar. And it's not always being met.

There is low-hanging fruit, y'all.

Do you send monthly reports? What's in yours? 👇

Hear more in Ep 251 🎙️
Connect with Katie
https://instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie
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09/21/2026

The tool Xero users have been begging for is finally here. And a former bookkeeper built it. 🙌

Hear me out, because this is a big deal.

If you've ever looked longingly at RightTool and thought "why is there nothing like this for Xero?", meet X2Uno. It's a Chrome extension that sits right on top of Xero and makes it dramatically more efficient.

People kept telling him they couldn't leave QuickBooks because Xero didn't have a RightTool equivalent, and he was over tying folks down. So he made one.

I've been using it while I take over some bookkeeping myself, and toggling between a client's many bank accounts went from a headache to easy.

Right now it's free (that won't last forever). Search X2Uno on the Chrome Web Store or grab the link in the show notes.

Xero friends, are you trying this? 👇

Hear more in Ep 250 🎙️
Connect with Mark
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markcorum/
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09/19/2026

Xero reporting: one click.

QuickBooks reporting: export to Excel, add my own formula columns, cry a little. 😮‍💨

In Xero I build a report ONCE at the firm level and run it across every single client. Done.

My one remaining QuickBooks client? Every month I export to Excel and add formula columns by hand, because I want gross profit margin running horizontal, not stuck in a vertical column QuickBooks forces on me. That's an hour of work versus a button.

Hear more in Ep 250 🎙️
Connect with Mark
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markcorum/
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09/17/2026

Is Xero slowly turning into QuickBooks? 👀

Xero is basically QuickBooks two years behind, not on the software side, but on the company decision side. The price increases. The market pressure features. The stuff that makes you go "wait, why did you add that?"

(If you know, you know. I nearly booed at XeroCon when they announced the reconcile period feature. 😅)

I still love Xero.

Are you seeing the same pattern? Tell me in the comments. 👇

Hear more in Ep 250 🎙️
Connect with Mark
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markcorum/
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09/14/2026

Before you tell your boss you're starting a firm, do THIS first.

I get this question constantly: "When do I tell my employer I'm going out on my own?"

Everyone wants to jump straight to the conversation, but there's a step before the conversation you should do first…

Check your documents! 📄

Pull up your employee handbook and every offer letter you signed to see if it says whether you can do bookkeeping on the side or not.

If you're in the clear? Have an honest, almost hypothetical conversation: "I'm interested in starting something on my own. Would that be a deal breaker, or could we build a referral relationship?”

Approach it with sensitivity, because your employer may be relying on your capacity more than you realize.

Hear more in Ep 249 🎙️
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09/10/2026

I give my team tax-free money every month and it's not a raise.

Medical expense reimbursement

I don't offer health insurance. As a small employer it's just really expensive, and my whole team already has coverage through a spouse or the exchange anyway.

So instead, I use a program called Take Command. My team submits qualifying medical expenses or insurance premiums and gets reimbursed up to $250 a month. Tax-free. 🙌

It's not taxed like a bonus, so more money actually lands in their pockets
I choose the amount and can adjust it every year
It kicks in after their 3-month probation, same as PTO

You want to retain great talent? Get creative about putting real money in their pockets.

Hear more in Ep 249 🎙️
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09/07/2026

Real talk about business partnerships, my friend. 👇

Most people go in on vibes and a handshake. Then when things get hard, they're trying to untangle it all in the heat of emotion. That's how partnerships get ugly.

Emily Bowie learned this the hard way. So the second time around, she wrote everything out up front. Compensation. Roles. How different clients get handled. And yes, the dissolution plan BEFORE it ever needed to happen.

Because clarity is kindness. When everybody knows where they stand and how it all works together, you protect the relationship AND the business. 💯

Planning for the end isn't pessimistic. It's professional.

Hear more in Ep 248 🎙️
Connect with Emily
https://www.instagram.com/thorneadvisors/
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09/05/2026

Most of your clients' BUSINESS money problems are actually PERSONAL money problems.

Think about it. You're helping them generate more income, but the moment they have free cash flow, it disappears. Why? Because they have no system at home.

So they pull more out of the business than they said they needed. Now the business is going into debt, and you're stuck wondering what happened.

Emily Bowie put it this way: the stress of their personal finances WILL leak into how they approach their business. So you'll ultimately have to deal with it. The only question is when.

The best thing you can do for most of your clients is a simple check-in on their personal finances.

And one more thing, my friend: being in debt doesn't always mean someone has a shopping problem. Sometimes it's a lawyer. Sometimes it's a medical emergency. Sometimes it's just life. Lead with that compassion. 💛

Hear more in Ep 248 🎙️
Connect with Emily
https://www.instagram.com/thorneadvisors/
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08/31/2026

Want to know when to hire?

Build your org chart for the firm you don't have yet.

So many of us get stuck on the org chart because we're doing ten jobs in one body. The move is to separate the ROLES first, even when one person is filling all of them. Then you just plug people in as you grow.

You cannot delegate what you haven't defined.

Hear more in Ep 247 🎙️
Connect with Nick
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickcobos/
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Prescott, AZ

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