Building a Remote eCommerce Firm with Meryl Johnston of Bean Ninjas

Learn how Meryl built a 30-headcount bookkeeping firm in eight years that can operate without her. We also get Meryl's take on the PwC scandal in Australia. Earn free NASBA-approved CPE credits for listening with the Earmark app. Learn more at earmarkcpe.com. Sponsors Relay - https://cloudaccountingpodcast.promo/relay FinDaily - https://accountingpodcast.promo/findaily Earmark for Teams - https://accountingpodcast.promo/freeshirt Chapters (00:04) - Preview: Why can't the US tax deadlines be as relaxed as Australia's (00:50) - Welcome Meryl Johnston to the show and some background on Bean Ninjas (05:49) - Tell us a little about the growth of Bean Ninjas, remote work, and taking a step back from day-to-day operations (10:26) - How does Meryl track employees' work when they're remote? (12:13) - Can you tell us about Bean Ninja's journey of niching? (22:46) - How do you deal with communication challenges with remote work and different schedules (28:31) - What is the current size of your firm, and what type of work do you now do? (35:16) - What do you tell accountants who are afraid to niche? (39:20) - Is the accounting talent crisis also happening in Australia? (41:19) - Meryl gives her take on the PwC scandal in Australia (47:38) - Are 2 new Australian tech companies coming for Xero's throne? (55:25) - Is software plus a service the future of accounting tech? (59:02) - Wrap up and how people can listen to Meryl's podcasts Need CPE? Subscribe to the Earmark Accounting Podcast: https://podcast.earmarkcpe.com Get CPE for listening to podcasts with Earmark CPE: https://earmarkcpe Show Notes Fuel Up the Bus, PwC Australia Has Named and Shamed Eight Partners Tied to the Tax Leak Scandal https://www.goingconcern.com/fuel-up-the-bus-pwc-australia-has-named-and-shamed-eight-partners-tied-to-the-tax-leak-scandal/ PwC Sold Off Its Scandal-Plagued Government Consulting Business For 67 Cents - Going Concern https://www.goingconcern.com/pwc-sold-off-its-scandal-plagued-government-consulting-business-for-67-cents/ PwC Sold a Part of Its Australian Business for $1 Because of Tax Leak Scandal - CPA Practice Advisor https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2023/06/29/pwc-sold-a-part-of-its-australian-business-for-67-cents-because-of-tax-leak-scandal/81609/ A new threat to Xero? The rise of Hnry: a one-stop shop for sole traders, ft. Karan Anand https://www.raskmedia.com.au/2023/06/27/xero-risk-hnry-accounting-karan-anand/ Exclusive: PwC Australia ties Google to tax leak scandal – sources https://www.reuters.com/technology/pwc-australia-ties-google-tax-leak-scandal-sources-2023-07-05/ Thriday swings at big accounting platforms with AI expense tool https://www.smartcompany.com.au/finance/tax/thriday-business-expense-bank-ai-artificial-intelligence/ Meet Our Guest, Meryl Johnston LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meryl-johnston-3a483728/ Website: https://beanninjas.com/ Get in Touch Thanks for listening and for the great reviews! We appreciate you! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary . Find us on Facebook and, if you like what you hear, please do us a favor and write a review on iTunes , or Podchaser . Interested in sponsoring the Cloud Accounting Podcast? For details, read the prospectus , and NOW, you can see our smiling faces on Instagram ! You can now call us and leave a voicemail, maybe we'll play it on the show. DIAL (202) 695-1040 Need Accounting Conference Info? Check out our new website - accountingconferences.com Limited edition shirts, stickers, and other necessities TeePublic Store: http://cloudacctpod.link/merch Subscribe Apple Podcasts: http://cloudacctpod.link/ApplePodcasts Podchaser: http://cloudacctpod.link/podchaser Spotify: http://cloudacctpod.link/Spotify Stitcher: http://cloudacctpod.link/Stitcher Overcast: http://cloudacctpod.link/Overcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CloudAccountingPodcast Classifieds Uncat - https://www.uncat.com/ Nett Tracker - h ttps://www.nett-tracker.com/ FinDaily - https://findaily.io/ Forwardly - https://www.forwardly.com/ Want to get the word out about your newsletter, webinar, party, Facebook group, podcast, e-book, job posting, or that fancy Excel macro you just created? Why not let the listeners of The Cloud Accounting Podcast know by running a classified ad? Hit the link below to get more info. Go here to create your classified ad: https://cloudacctpod.link/RunClassifiedAd The full transcript for this episode is available by clicking on the Transcript tab at the top of this page