Building a profitable firm you can grow with Joe Woodard

After the First Million

Running a firm takes more than expertise—it takes strategy, leadership, and the right mindset to scale.

For Joe Woodard, CEO of Woodard, that mindset has been key. After starting as a practitioner, he built a career helping accountants break free from underpricing, inefficient processes, and technician thinking. He’s seen firsthand that success isn’t about working harder—it’s about structuring your firm for sustainable growth.

In this episode, Joe shares why the right clients matter more than volume, how firms can move from bookkeeping to advisory, and what AI and offshoring mean for the industry. Whether you’re a bookkeeper, accountant, or firm owner, his insights on pricing, efficiency, and scaling are invaluable.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The math behind a million-dollar firm: Why the right pricing and service mix can get you there with just 32 clients.
• How to transition from bookkeeping to advisory: The steps to move beyond compliance work and into high-value services.
• The future of firm efficiency: How AI and offshoring will change the way accounting firms operate in the next 24 months.

Jump into the conversation:
(00:00) Meet Joe Woodard
(01:49) The three key ingredients for building a million-dollar firm
(05:58) Pricing mistakes accountants make (and how to fix them)
(09:58) Why differentiation matters more than competing on quality
(13:56) From bookkeeper to fractional CFO: the controllership advantage
(14:50) The simple math behind reaching $1M with 32 clients
(24:29) AI vs. offshoring: what’s shaping the future of firm efficiency
(35:33) Avoiding the ‘Frankenstein’ tech stack: how to build the right tools
(44:50) Why now is the best (or worst) time to run an accounting firm