The Wize Way

Episode 150: Wize Factor Chat: Gary Doran - Crescendo Accounting & Consulting CPA

• Wize Mentoring for Accountants and Bookkeepers • Season 2 • Episode 150

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In this week's episode of The Wize Way Podcast for Accountants and Bookkeepers, we have a The WizeFactor Chat with Gary Doran, founder of Crescendo CPA

Gary shares his journey from a solo practice to leading a thriving 11-person firm — without being stuck in the day-to-day operations.

Also, he reveals the key turning points that helped him step back from client work, the systems that allowed his team to run the business smoothly, and the mindset shifts that made it all possible. He also shares the biggest lesson he’d tell his younger self and why embracing leadership is the key to scaling sustainably.

If you’ve ever wondered how to build a firm that grows beyond you, this episode is a must-listen!

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PS: Whenever you’re ready… here are the fastest 4 ways we can help you fix and grow your accounting firm:

1. Take the Wize Accountants Scale Scorecard – Find out your potential to scale and the next steps you should follow – Start Your Scorecard

2. Download our famous Wize Freedom Strategy Map for FREE - Find out the 96 projects every firm owner must implement to build a $5M+ firm that can run without them - Download here

2. Need to Hire right now? Book a 1:1 FREE discovery call with our WizeTalent hiring coaches to help find your next team member the Wize Way – Click Here

4. Book a 1:1 Wize Discovery Session – Spend 30mins with our Wize CEO, Jamie Johns, a $7M firm owner who is ready to give you his entire business plan to build a firm that can run without you – Find out more here

Wize Mentoring:

From Wize Mentoring is The Wize Way Podcast for Accountants and Bookkeepers, a show about accounting and bookkeeping practice owners and the many stories, lessons, and tips from their experience of transitioning from a time- poor practice to a business that runs without them. I hope you enjoy and subscribe.

Wize Claudia:

Hi, Gary! Thank you so much for meeting me today. Today, I'm very excited to speak with you. I we just heard the news that you had an amazing thing happening in your family, so congratulations. So that's going to give us another energy for this wise factor chat session. I was very excited to talk to you and spend this couple of minutes just chatting about you and your business. Yeah, so I want to go all the way back and just ask you how Crescendo CPA started. When did it start, and how did it start?

Gary Doran:

Sure. So, Crescendo opened its doors on October 1st, 2014. It was a brand new office in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and I started by myself. We bought a very small book business. It wasn't very big, so there's not enough work to hire any other accountants, but within three to four months, I hired the first person, and today, I think we are 11 in our office. So, we've had pretty consistent growth throughout the history of Crescendo accounting and are just looking forward to the future.

Wize Claudia:

Wow, and there's actually a very cool backstory about the Crescendo CPA name that I would like you to share for us because it's very interesting Crescendo.

Gary Doran:

CPA is the name that I would like you to share with us because it's very interesting. Yeah, you know, selecting a name for any business or an accounting firm is always a bit of a struggle, in my opinion, but after brainstorming, we landed on Crescendo, and of course, many people know the meaning of the term. Crescendo refers to a musical note, and it's typically the highest note on a scale. And if you know how to read music, it's typically the highest note on that scale. And so we really liked the name crescendo, because we wanted. Our goal is to take our clients from where they are today to the top of the scale, so to the maximum of their productivity and their efficiencies and their profitability.

Wize Claudia:

So that's why we chose that. I love where it came from. It was really out of the usual names that accounting firms use. So, very on point, I wanted to ask you, Gary. So you started back then, and then some things happened. You started growing and evolving, and, as you were saying, everything went up from there. But where was the point in your business where you were not enjoying it that much, like you were facing challenges, and what were the challenges that you were facing at that time?

Gary Doran:

Yeah, and I think, like most accountants, I come from the traditional accounting firm structure where a lot of things were being done by the partners. Too many things are what I've come to learn now through Wize Growth. So, when it became not very enjoyable was when I was spending way too many hours working in the firm. As we continued to grow, the scalability was becoming more and more of a challenge because, again, under the traditional model of an accounting firm, so many things were going through the partner, the client relationships, the final reviews on files, just to mention a couple. So that was the biggest stumbling block. We wanted to continue growing, and I wasn't really prepared, nor did I have anybody in line to add another partner. So we really needed some help on how we can structure our firm to make it scalable and allow it to grow with only the one partner myself.

Wize Claudia:

Yeah, so you were having these usual growing pains that you get once. It's a good problem to have, you know, but it's not a good problem to feel because you don't feel under control. So that happened. That started happening at which phase of the business, like how many years since you started?

Gary Doran:

Well, I mean it started right at which which phase of the business, like how many years since you started? Well?

Gary Doran:

I mean, it started right at the beginning really. So, as you grow, and when you're only two people in the office before you can hire that third person, you almost have to both be working 150% before you have enough work to hire that third person. So it's, it was really right from the beginning. Do you know that we struggled with that? So, but over time, I probably was about three or four years in where I realized that I needed some, some help, and I'm trying to or some help, or trying to come up with a different plan on how we could structure this for growth, for, for future growth, because in my mind I kept thinking, if I could just continue to expand, I'll have less work.

Gary Doran:

But it wasn't working out that way. It was quite the opposite. So that's when we recognized that we really needed some coaching or some advice. We did use a different coach other than Wize in the beginning, probably for, I think, about 18 months. It turned out that this coaching company did give us some good ideas, but they weren't accountants themselves, they had never run an accounting firm, and they couldn't really help us with the structure, and that's really what we were lacking. So we were, when we did, discovered Wize and WizeG rowth and had a chat with Jamie and the team. Yeah, we basically signed up right away, and it's been fantastic since then.

Wize Claudia:

Wow, I had no idea about that, and you've mentioned a very important point. It's one of our kind of lags, if you will, that we say that we're accountants first and mentors second. So the things that our mentors have endured, basically all of the challenges that faced in the years being in the trenches basically they are now teaching them and I feel like that's very important, and not because there's not another person that can tell you what to do, because there's a logic between behind many other things, but I feel like that was the click that you were needing and it has happened to many other members, so I really get that. I wanted to ask you so, on the lines of starting with wise and then you've met these people who you felt were more of your kind and that they had the structure. Of course, Wize also has the component of leadership. So did you feel like there was a mindset shift since you started working with Wize up to now, since you started?

Gary Doran:

Working with Wize up to now, a hundred percent, and Wize not only provided that structure, like you said, but also provide guidance to our leadership, so future leadership leaders in our firm. So, with the Wize model and the coaching that we received, our coach was Thomas, who was amazing. He really helped us to give our, our leaders, confidence and uh, the ability to, to do what they needed to do in the firm and again, the the advice that we received from WizeG rowth and Thomas was invaluable and we are where we are today and honestly, my biggest pain point was the amount of time I was spending in the firm and I feel really good about where I'm at today and we continue to grow and I just see the potential for growth without adding more to my plate.

Wize Claudia:

I love to hear that because that's actually the reason why many firm owners come on board. They are really busy and time-strapped, and they want more time for their own lives. I actually wanted to ask you, and it was my next question. I wanted to ask you, if the phrase build a business that runs without you is the one that we always use, is it something that scares you, motivates you, or excites you? Is this what you're doing it for?

Gary Doran:

A hundred percent. It excites me, it's all of it. It motivates me. It adds clarity as to what the future holds. The office can almost pretty much run without me now. Actually, my role I'm not involved in really that much in the business. It's more strategic and more looking at value adds and so on and so forth. So it's been definitely a mind shift and, yeah, it allows me to spend more time with family, especially now with a new granddaughter that just arrived today. So that's pretty exciting. And you know, what's interesting is that it also opened up my eyes as to how we can coach some of our clients, because, although we wise growth definitely is focused on accounting firms, this is applicable to a lot of other industries as well and we have a lot of clients, for example, that are law firms, and just applying some of the tools that I learned through Wize Growth and teaching them to some of my law firm clients also provides us the ability to give our clients value add.

Wize Claudia:

Wow, that's very powerful. That's actually what we call the rule of 30% powerful. That's actually what we call the rule of 30%. I don't know if you've heard, but you probably heard it a hundred times while being here at Wize, which is to spend 33% of your time with your peers who're on your same level so you can share experiences and people. 33% of time with people who are above you so you can learn from them, and then below you, which is what you're saying Now you're in the, basically a coach to your clients, which is, ultimately, it might not be what they want or a service you offer, but it's very helpful that that they have this um from their accounting firm. I also wanted to ask you, seeing you as the Gary who had just started, was time-strapped and very stressed. Going back to that Gary and seeing him, which advice would you give to him based on what you know now and what you've done now?

Gary Doran:

Now, the biggest piece of advice I would say is don't follow the traditional model of accounting firms, and I still think that I don't know the exact number, but I'm guessing at least 95% or more follow that traditional accounting model and the structure. So, really think outside the box, and I would strongly recommend that they obtain the services of WizeG rowth because, again, you guys were just fantastic in transforming our firm into what it is and making it manageable and making it so that we can scale up and grow. Thank you very much.

Wize Claudia:

I love to hear that your journey has been so successful with Wize, and I actually have a last question that relates to everything that's happening to you today, and actually congratulations. So we talk about having more free time and building a business that runs without you. Was there a hobby that you wanted to get to or something that you enjoyed doing in your free time that you are looking forward to doing? It could be family time or any sport or anything that you enjoy.

Gary Doran:

Well, there's a couple of things. Certainly, winter travel was challenging because of the busy season in accounting firms, so my wife and I really want to do more winter traveling. So, we're looking forward to that and, of course, like I said, we just got a new granddaughter, so spending more time with her, that's what we're really looking forward to, so that's going to fill up a lot of my time.

Wize Claudia:

Yeah, and I'm so happy that you're now working less hours, so you're going to get to that special moment in your life. Congratulations again.

Gary Doran:

Not enough. Congratulations. Yeah, thank you to you, and thank you again to Wize Growth. I know we would not be where we are now without them, sure.

Wize Claudia:

It really makes all the efforts and all the work that we do every day here valuable, and it makes it worth it to hear what you're saying. So, thank you so much for sharing. Thank you so much for spending these minutes with me. Gary, I know that this is a special day and in the middle of your work day, so thank you so much for saying this.

Gary Doran:

You're welcome.

Wize Claudia:

Bye, thank you All right, have a great day.

Wize Mentoring:

Thanks for tuning in. If you like this episode, please remember to subscribe and leave us a five-star review. For more practical, Wize tips on how to build a business that runs without you, head over to wizementoring. com/ wizementoring. com podcast to download a free copy of the Accountant's 20-Hour Workweek Playbook. We've included a link in the show notes below. See you on the next episode.