S01 E01: Kellie and Roman Roast a Bookkeeping Firm’s Workflow and Provide Live Feedback

Kellie Parks:
Oh, we’re live! And we’re good to go.

Roman Villard:
I’m Roman, and I’m excited to roast today.
But first, I want to hear you say your last name—because it’s beautiful.

Kellie Parks:
It’s Roman Villard. How do you pronounce it?

Roman Villard:
It’s pronounced “v-lar.” The “D” is silent, like “V-lar,” of French origin. I’m sure it could be roasted in many ways, though.

Kellie Parks:
Not by Canadians! We love the province of Quebec, its food, and its beautiful old buildings. I’ve got a question for you, though. This isn’t part of the roast, and you don’t know it’s coming, but I do know the answer. How old were you when you realized your father spoke English?

Roman Villard:
Oh, I like that. Fun fact: I was embarrassingly old—probably around eight—when I realized my dad spoke English. He spoke English around me, but he only spoke French. I don’t know how it took me so long to connect the dots, but my brain had a broken process.

Kellie Parks:
(Laughs) We’ll roast that process later! I know we’re roasting workflows, but I find that story interesting. It’s great that you’re fully bilingual, though, right?

Roman Villard:
Well, I’ve got the fluency of about a 12-year-old in French. I can hold a decent conversation with a kid, but I might struggle a bit with nuanced business language.

Kellie Parks:
But you have the maturity of more than a 12-year-old boy, right?

Roman Villard:
Well… it depends. (Laughs)

Kellie Parks:
(Laughs) We know each other well, so I’ll let that one slide! I’m Kellie Parks, and my last name is “Parks.” I run Calm Waters Cloud Accounting, and our firm uses Financial Cents. What about you, Roman?

Roman Villard:
I run a firm called Full Send Finance. We’ve been around for a few years and focus on building efficient processes using technology. We don’t have all the answers, but we work hard to be as efficient as possible for our team and clients. Today, we’ll be diving into client management processes. Even though I prefer being nice, we’ll have fun roasting some workflows!

We’re constantly learning and improving, and we’d love feedback. If anyone has questions, please leave them in the comments, and we’ll address them. Today’s focus is client management.

Kellie Parks:
I’ve had the chance to see some of the work you and Stacey are doing at Full Send. I love how intentional you guys are, even though you’re “building the plane while flying it.” It’s something to behold!

Roman Villard:
Thanks! We’ve had our fair share of failures, but they’ve helped us improve our internal processes and rhythms. We’ll dive into some of those failures as well as the wins.

Kellie Parks:
Perfect! Oh, I think we have a question. Hi Vahid, we’re glad you’re with us.

Roman Villard:
Yeah, welcome! Let’s dive into the first topic. I’m going to screen-share the question so we can all follow along.

Kellie Parks:
Awesome—great for our visual learners.

Roman Villard:
So, this question comes from a group discussing client management workflows. The situation is that after a client signs the contract, the firm sends a request for a deposit and a link to set up monthly payments. The person asks, “Should I wait for the deposit to hit before sending the documents I need? And do you send a secure link for them to upload their passwords?” This part of the workflow isn’t well-documented, so they ask for advice on improving it. Kellie, what are your thoughts?

Kellie Parks:
I see two things happening here. When they say, “waiting for the deposit to hit,” I don’t think they mean the money physically landing in the bank. I believe they mean confirmation that the client has signed off. Would you agree?

Roman Villard:
Yeah, I think we could interpret it either way. Still, I’m leaning towards them referring to the deposit for ongoing services—, approval of the payment, not the actual funds hitting the account.

Kellie Parks:
Exactly. So, let’s assume they’re asking whether they should move forward after the client approves the payment, not necessarily after the money hits the bank.

Roman Villard:
As soon as it’s approved, you can move forward, even if you’re waiting for the funds. It’s more about confirming the agreement.

Kellie Parks:
Agreed. I’m a bit strict on this. If a client can’t sign the payment agreement during the engagement process, it’s a red flag for me. If they do it before we start, they won’t get me what I need once we work together. So, for me, payment processing needs to happen first—it’s a good indicator of how they’ll behave later.

Roman Villard:
That’s a great point. As a growing firm, we also want to protect ourselves and ensure we’re working with clients who will follow through. You should never start work without confirmation that the client is committed to paying you. It opens you up to unnecessary risks. I’d suggest making it part of the workflow to confirm payment methods or deposits before scheduling kickoff meetings or requesting documents.

Kellie Parks:
Absolutely. Let the technology do the heavy lifting when it comes to things that might otherwise cause friction. You mentioned that you use Ignition to handle payments, right?

Roman Villard:
Yes, exactly. With Ignition, clients must input their payment details to sign the contract. We don’t start anything until that’s complete. It can be intimidating at first because you worry about losing a deal, but setting those boundaries usually gains more respect from clients. Plus, it gives you peace of mind.

Kellie Parks:
And it shows that you’re running a professional operation. Sometimes, apps like Ignition or other tools help enforce the rules so you don’t have to say “no” yourself.

Roman Villard:
Yeah, exactly. We rely on apps and automation to manage these processes and reduce risk.

Kellie Parks:
I also want to touch on NDAs or confidentiality agreements. I’ve had people ask why I send those out; honestly, it just adds a layer of professionalism. It shows you’re thinking about things your client might not have considered. But that’s a bit off-topic, so let’s return to the workflow. What do you do after the payment is confirmed, and how do you handle passwords?

Roman Villard:
Sure. We’re a growing firm, so we prioritize protecting our team and capital by ensuring we’re working with the right clients. The first part of this process is never starting work without a solid payment confirmation. You open yourself up to a lot of risk otherwise.

For us, payment is required before starting any workflow. I’d even suggest integrating that into your workflow so nothing kicks off without that payment confirmation. There are no kickoff meetings, no document requests, nothing until the payment method is approved.

We accomplish this through Ignition, where signing the contract requires clients to input a payment method. We don’t even have conversations with them until that’s done. It may feel uncomfortable, but most clients will respect you more if you hold that firm line. Plus, it reduces your risk and reinforces the professionalism of your process.

Kellie Parks:
I agree. As you said, sometimes the app or the process can be the “bad guy” for you, letting the technology manage the approval flow. You don’t have to personally say “no” or feel like you’re being tough.

Roman Villard:
Exactly. We’ve baked these steps into our workflow to eliminate manual decision-making, and it works. As you mentioned, tools like Ignition help us maintain this standard.

Kellie Parks:
One more thing before we move on: I send out confidentiality agreements or NDAs before receiving any documents. It’s small, but it adds professionalism and reassures the client that their data is secure. Now, let’s discuss the second part of that question—passwords. How do you handle that?

Roman Villard:
For password management, we use Dashlane. It’s great for internal password storage and ensures that all our passwords are secure, random, and 16 characters or more. We also use Practice Protect to access various client systems securely.

Ideally, we don’t want to store clients’ passwords on our end. Instead, we try to establish our own access points through email aliases for apps like Shopify or Gusto so we can control access and limit liability. We avoid having our clients’ personal login information whenever possible.

Kellie Parks:
That’s a good approach. We use 1Password internally, and I’m a big advocate for password management apps. I’ve even written documentation to help clients implement them. If clients insist on giving us their login information, we try to minimize exposure by storing it securely in our 1Password vault.

Roman Villard:
Yeah, it’s a tricky situation. We try to stay as secure as possible, but sometimes, we still have to collect logins for certain clients. When we do, the information is stored securely in our password vault, and only specific individuals have access.

Kellie Parks:
It sounds like we’ve both got systems in place, but it’s always evolving. Let’s move on to the next question: How do you track client receipts? They’re asking for ideas on streamlining the process of collecting receipts, ensuring transactions in QuickBooks are updated, and pulling transactions needing clarification or receipts.

Roman Villard:
Sure! But Kellie, you should take this one since you’ve got more experience with Canadian VAT requirements.

Kellie Parks:
Right! So, in Canada, we have a VAT tax, and the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) insists we have receipts to back up our claims. You can’t claim certain tax deductions, like GST (Goods and Services Tax) without proper documentation.

QuickBooks Online (QBO) now has a receipt management feature, but it’s designed for small business owners who want to do their own books. It’s not ideal for collaborating with an accountant or a bookkeeper. If you can, I recommend getting out of QuickBooks for receipt management.

I like two products: Dext and Hubdoc. Both OCR (Optical Character Recognition) receipts are sent to QuickBooks Online, where they’ll match the bank feed. From there, you decide how to handle coding and categorizing those transactions. It comes down to how much you want to manage things manually versus automating them.

For example, Dext has a feature that emails missing receipts directly from the bank feed—super efficient if you don’t want to handle unknown transactions. If you prefer a hands-on approach, Financial Cents has a great VCats system that lets you communicate with your client through a client portal. You can request missing receipts or clarifications, and the client can upload directly into the system, which flows back into QuickBooks.

Roman Villard:
That’s a solid process. In the U.S., we focus more on materiality. The IRS won’t be knocking on your door for a $20 Starbucks receipt, so we don’t overburden clients by capturing every small expense. We use Ramp for spend management, which automates receipt collection and approval processes within set thresholds. All the data syncs back to QuickBooks, making it simple.

I love Financial Cents’ VCats feature for handling uncategorized transactions. It allows you to batch-process these items, so instead of sending individual requests, we send a weekly batch of all uncategorized expenses. It’s efficient and helps clients stay on top of their records without overwhelming them.

Kellie Parks:
Exactly. Batch processing uncategorized expenses makes life so much easier. And you’re right; it’s about balancing efficiency with a great client experience.

I also want to emphasize the importance of materiality. Compliance is a big deal in Canada, but I don’t make my clients track every tiny expense, either. For meals and entertainment, for example, I send clients an annual reminder to be cautious—those categories often trigger audits. I warn them not to claim daily $20 breakfasts—it’s a clear red flag.

Roman Villard:
That’s a great point. We use similar strategies to streamline receipt collection and approval through tools like Ramp, but the key is having that communication rhythm with clients.

Kellie Parks:
Managing receipts through something like Dext or even QuickBooks can be very efficient for larger engagements. It’s important to think about not just the cost of the app but the time saved and the consistency it brings to your workflow.

Roman Villard:
I totally agree. And one more tip: adding spend management services to your offering can be a great way to increase revenue. You can position it as a high-value service for clients who want to tighten their expense processes.

Kellie Parks:
That’s a great point, Roman. Accounts payable (AP) and spend management can become high-value services. My world changed when I started using Dext, Hubdoc for AP, and Pluto for payments. We went from spending hours sorting through mail, entering data, and getting payments approved to having everything streamlined and efficient. A process that used to take days now takes just a couple of hours—and the client is over the moon because it’s so much easier for them, too. That’s high-revenue, high-value work.

Roman Villard:
Exactly. Anything related to cash—coming in or going out—should be super intentional and well-managed. And if you can communicate that value effectively to your clients, you can charge accordingly. It’s a win-win for both sides.

We’ve got a couple of minutes left, so if anyone has questions, feel free to drop them in the comments, and we’ll try to address them live. I’ll take down the screen share for now.

Kellie Parks:
I’m working on something pretty specific right now. I already handle accounting for a few other firms, but I’m looking to offer a service that helps those firms clean up their internal workflows, particularly for client-facing processes. So, I’m learning how to make that service’s intake and payment process smooth before I officially launch it. It’s all about perfecting the back-end systems before going live.

What about you, Roman? What are you working on?

Roman Villard:
Well, I tend to dive headfirst into things and hope they work out! (Laughs) We’re currently focused on developing our “Full Send Formula.” A big part of that is aggregating data across the firm—from client service and task management to internal metrics. We want to get all that data into one place to have a holistic view of the firm’s health. We’re building a custom solution for this with our data team, and it’s a long-term project. Hopefully, once it’s done, we can share it with other firm owners and help them do the same.

Kellie Parks:
That sounds like an amazing project, and I can see how it would benefit other firm owners, too. Will you be rolling this out to your clients as well?

Roman Villard:
Absolutely. Our data team will provide full-service data aggregation and analysis for our clients, helping them build custom solutions. Right now, most firms only focus on financial reporting, but we want to go beyond that by bringing in operational data, client data, and more. It’s definitely where the industry is heading.

Kellie Parks:
That’s fantastic. I’m interested to see where that goes. Oh, it looks like we have a question from Sarah! Hi, Sarah. I’m a huge fan. I hope things have been going well in Texas!

Roman Villard:
Hey, Sarah! What’s on your mind?

Kellie Parks:
Sarah’s asking about AP services—specifically, if there’s a way to triage, review, and push bills through MakersHub. Honestly, MakersHub is still pretty new to me, but I’m excited about it.

Roman Villard:
Yeah, this is new to me, too. I’m interested in learning more about it.

Kellie Parks:
Same here. I first heard about MakersHub from a video by Jason Staats and then saw them at Scaling New Heights. They’re doing some really interesting things, especially with line-item extraction for bills. For example, if you’ve got a convenience store with lots of different categories, like groceries and candy, MakersHub can pull out those individual line items for reporting.

Roman Villard:
That’s cool. In the spend management world, line-item extraction is becoming an expectation. It’s similar to what we do with Ramp, which pulls out specific line items and consolidates them on the back end. It makes the reporting process so much easier.

Kellie Parks:
Yeah, exactly. Dext can handle some line-item extraction, but it’s not as robust as MakersHub’s approach. I’m really curious to see how they develop.

Roman Villard:
Same here. Thanks for introducing us to it, Sarah!

Kellie Parks:
Sarah also mentioned using MakersHub for nonprofits, where job costing is crucial. That detailed extraction would be a game-changer for those kinds of organizations.

Roman Villard:
Totally. It’s great to see new tools like this coming into the market and offering solutions that make our lives easier.

Kellie Parks:
Absolutely. Well, Roman, I think we’ve covered a lot today and got some great questions from the audience. I’m excited for our next episode.

Roman Villard:
Me too. Next time, we’ll roast firm management workflows. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll gather feedback and questions from firms, so if anyone has specific workflows they want roasted, feel free to send them our way.

Kellie Parks:
Right! We’re back in two weeks, though I’ll have to double-check. I’ll attend some events, including the Tax Twitter Retreat and Bridging the Gap in Nashville. Are you going to ZeroCon?

Roman Villard:
I’ll be at Bridging the Gap but not ZeroCon this year.

Kellie Parks:
I got it! Thank you to everyone who joined us today, especially Sarah, Debbie, and Vahid. We appreciate your presence and engagement!

Roman Villard:
Yes, thank you all. Stay tuned for updates on YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn about the next live session.