Advisory meetings

Let me ask you something. When was the last time your accountant helped you make a decision before it was too late to change anything?

Not after the year closed. Not when the tax return finally showed up. Before. While you could still do something about it.

If you are drawing a blank, you are not alone. Most accountants who say they do advisory are really just handing you a rearview mirror with better lighting. A nicer dashboard. A prettier report. A monthly call where someone reads you your own numbers from ninety days ago.

That is not advisory. That is a record of the past.

Advisory looks forward. And the way we do it at MireGroup comes down to three steps we run in every single advisory meeting. I want to walk you through all three, because once you see them, you will never look at a monthly report the same way again.

Step 1: Where have you been?

Yes, we start by looking back. You cannot plan on a guess, right? So the first thing we do is look honestly at your numbers. Your books. Your results. How you actually did.

But here is the catch. This only works if the numbers are accurate. Not close. Not roughly right. Accurate. That is why we are so serious about clean, timely bookkeeping. If the foundation is shaky, every decision after it is built on sand.

When the books are clean, this step gets good fast. We can finally see which jobs made money and which ones just kept you busy. We can break your revenue into service lines and find the category that is quietly losing you money. We can pin down your real breakeven, the actual number you need to clear every month before a single dollar counts as profit.

That is what looking back is for. Not to relive last year. To learn the truth about it, so the next step stands on something real.

Step 2: Where are you going?

This is the fun part. This is where we turn around and look through the windshield instead of the mirror.

Now we talk about your goals. The real ones. What you want this business to do this year. Where you want your own pay to land. What you are actually building toward.

And part of my job here is to tell you the truth. Sometimes a goal is too small and you are capable of a lot more. Sometimes a goal is not realistic yet, and we need to shape it into something you can actually hit. Either way, you walk out with a target that is both ambitious and real.

This is the part you almost never get from a once-a-year preparer. A preparer takes last year and files it. An advisor sits across from you and asks where you want to go next. And by the way, this is where tax strategy quietly takes care of itself. When we know your goals and your numbers, the smart moves become obvious. We end with tax. We do not start there.

Step 3: How do we actually get there?

Setting a goal is easy. Hitting it is the hard part. So the last thing we do is build the road map.

We take your goal and break it into the numbers that actually move it. And there are two kinds that matter.

A lag measure is the result. Your revenue. Your profit. The thing you are trying to move. The problem is, by the time a lag measure moves, the work is already done.

You cannot change it anymore.

A lead measure is the activity you can control right now, this week, that drives that result. It is the thing you can act on before the final number ever shows up.

We track both. So you are not waiting until the quarter ends to find out whether you are on track. You see it coming. The goal is the target. The numbers are how you aim. And we are the coach walking the path with you.

What this actually gets you

Put those three steps together and here is what you walk away with.

A clear, honest look at where you have been. A real plan for where you are going.

And the numbers and the accountability to get there.

That is advisory done right. Not a report. Not a dashboard. A relationship with someone who knows your numbers all year long and helps you make decisions while there is still time to act. We do this on a steady rhythm through the year, and we are in your numbers in between. It is a fixed fee, so there is no meter running when you pick up the phone. You just get the help.

I broke this whole thing down on camera too, in a short three-part series. If you want to see exactly how a meeting runs, start with Part 1: The First Thing We Do in Every Advisory Meeting. Check out the full breakdown here.

And if you have never had a CPA sit down and walk you through where you have been and where you are going, we would love to help. Work with us.

#MakeItCount

Marcus Mire, CPA

MireGroup CPAs | Lafayette, Louisiana

P.S. If your current advisory is really just a monthly report you skim and forget, that is the rearview mirror. Let us get you looking through the windshield instead. See how we work.