Business Tips from CPA Charles Read—The Inside Scoop For Payroll Entrepreneurs
Salim Omar interviewed Charles J. Read, author of The Payroll Book, A Guide for Small Businesses and Startups and the founder of GetPayroll. He has been working with accounting firms since 1991. Read has an impressive portfolio and an interesting past, including joining the United States Marine Corps. He began his first business with his wife, a mobile accounting service with a payroll subset group. Deciding to specialise in payroll, he sold the accounting side of his business to his partner. His company currently handles payroll for small and medium sized businesses in all 50 states. You can find Read at GetPayroll. His book is available at thepayrollbook.com with the discount code from our podcast. If you're interested in referring clients or in white labeling for your clients then give him a call on 972-353-0000. He is always happy to chat.
How Does Charles Read Stand Out From His Competitors?
According to Read, compliance is GetPayroll's unique value proposition. Not only does his company provide payroll services, but they cover ancillary issues, taking full professional responsibility for their clients payroll. As a CPA he takes a 2848 on every client so he can advocate for his clients with the Internal Revenue Service. He maintains open communication with his clients so that he can be aware of their problems, mistakes and issues.
"You and I understand that the IRS cannot penalize you for a simple mistake. Yet, they do this all the time. It's a matter of fighting and appealing over and over and over until you get the right answer and you win. These things can take years."
Read says that compliance is an insurance for his clients payroll. "We all know being in the profession, the IRS makes mistakes all the time, but they'll never admit it."
Using his unique skill set, Read solves problems with the IRS so his clients don't have to.
Read also works with CPA clients. With regards to CPAs, both parties have a referral system where they can refer clients to him, or use a white label system where his company handles the compliance issues that may arise.
Read guarantees all of his services. "We take care of our clients, we bend over backwards. Thats's the way I was raised. Customer service is first."
How Did You Grow Your Payroll Company to Seven Figures?
A successful CPA, Read realized that his weakness lay in marketing. He initially grew his company by word of mouth, and referrals. When his company got big enough he hired a marketing professional to come in and handle the marketing.
This helped his business grow substantially.
- His marketing team includes:
- Client development
- Salesperson
- Marketing Director who oversees everything and does all the planning
- Videographer who handles all the technical aspects, writes a lot of the scripts, shoots all of our videos.
Read creates both educational and fun videos on YouTube.
What Are Some of The Things That You Would Do Differently?
Marketing
"If I were to go back and do it from scratch, I'd hire marketing and if I could afford it day one, and if I couldn't, the first day, I could afford it. I would. And we'd be a lot bigger today than we are, no doubt about it."
Author More Books
Books are like a business card. "Now I keep a box in my truck and I am always ready to hand one out. If somebody's interested enough to want a copy of it, they're potentially a payroll client, or they know somebody who's a payroll client."
How did you identify your niche and your ideal client?
Read stumbled in the beginning, but eventually realised his sweet spot was working with clients who have under 50 employees. "We don't go after the big firms, our competitors do, and they're welcome to them. In many cases, they're more trouble than they're worth. Now, we have a few big ones that we've grown internally or picked up here and there. We market to the under 50 and really the under 25 market, we love that market, because they stay forever, even if the owners change."
Final Words of Wisdom from Charles Read
Be realistic about your goals. Read confirms that business is not a sprint, it's a marathon.
"Over the long term your aim should be to build a wonderful business with a great staff. It's you taking care of your family. It's amazing what you can do in the long term."
Catch the CPA Marketing Genius podcast with Salim Omar as he interviews more business superstars. To learn more valuable tips for CPA firms from the experts visit our website. Our services are geared towards helping CPA firms and CPA firm owners grow their businesses.
Charles J. Read is the author of The Payroll Book, A Guide for Small Businesses and Startups and the founder of GetPayroll.
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Salim Omar
Salim is a straight-talking CPA with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and accounting experience. His professional background includes experience as a former Chief Financial Officer and, for the last twenty-five years, as a serial 7-Figure entrepreneur.
Salim Omar
Salim is a straight-talking CPA with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and accounting experience. His professional background includes experience as a former Chief Financial Officer and, for the last twenty-five years, as a serial 7-Figure entrepreneur.
Salim Omar
Salim is a straight-talking CPA with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and accounting experience. His professional background includes experience as a former Chief Financial Officer and, for the last twenty-five years, as a serial 7-Figure entrepreneur.
Salim Omar
Salim is a straight-talking CPA with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and accounting experience. His professional background includes experience as a former Chief Financial Officer and, for the last twenty-five years, as a serial 7-Figure entrepreneur.
Salim Omar
Salim is a straight-talking CPA with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and accounting experience. His professional background includes experience as a former Chief Financial Officer and, for the last twenty-five years, as a serial 7-Figure entrepreneur.
Salim Omar
Salim is a straight-talking CPA with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and accounting experience. His professional background includes experience as a former Chief Financial Officer and, for the last twenty-five years, as a serial 7-Figure entrepreneur.
Salim Omar
Salim is a straight-talking CPA with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and accounting experience. His professional background includes experience as a former Chief Financial Officer and, for the last twenty-five years, as a serial 7-Figure entrepreneur.
Salim Omar
Salim is a straight-talking CPA with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and accounting experience. His professional background includes experience as a former Chief Financial Officer and, for the last twenty-five years, as a serial 7-Figure entrepreneur.
Salim Omar
Salim is a straight-talking CPA with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and accounting experience. His professional background includes experience as a former Chief Financial Officer and, for the last twenty-five years, as a serial 7-Figure entrepreneur.
Salim Omar
Salim is a straight-talking CPA with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and accounting experience. His professional background includes experience as a former Chief Financial Officer and, for the last twenty-five years, as a serial 7-Figure entrepreneur.
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