I scaled and sold a 7-figure accounting firm in 5 years. Now, through my Future Firm newsletter, I'm giving 9,500+ firm owners the tactics, templates, and frameworks I used to do it.

Ryan Lazanis

A year ago, I launched my AI coaching clone, RyanBot, as an experiment.

I trained it on everything I know so users can chat with it and get "my" help.

It launched at $19/month on a standalone basis (free for Future Firm Accelerate members).

In 12 months, it's answered 10,371 messages (which is kinda crazy!)

On the flip side:

I also launched a $20,000 group coaching program that gave more direct access to me...

... and 18 firm owners snapped it up within a week (the max I was willing to accommodate).

Why would someone drop 20k when they could get the exact same knowledge for a tiny fraction of the price?

The answer:

The time that they get with me (a human).

Here's the interesting thing, though.

I've spent my whole professional life arguing against the billable hour.

And while the billable hour is certainly cold as ice right now in our industry:

All trends work in a circular fashion.

I'm not advocating for a return to the billable hour.

But I can envision a time in the not-too-distant future where the billable hour makes a comeback in a heavily AI-saturated world.

Because rather than speaking to a bot.

Your clients will place a premium on the time and access they get to a human they trust, just like you.

Something to ponder...

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Giving systems to firm owners to unlock freedom and growth

Who here is frustrated with their professional accounting body?

Mine is literally through the roof and when I submitted my annual declaration, there was a section for feedback.

Usually, I don't, but this time, I left this.

Valid?

"Very frustrated.

I understand the mandate is the protection of the public, but we are also paying members (ie. customers).

And as paying customers, we should be more supported.

The world is changing extremely fast and I can tell you that CPAs in this province (and country) are not even close to ready.

It's your job to get them ready, because if not, the profession becomes irrelevant.

As someone who engages with multiple accounting bodies around the world, I can tell you that we are very far behind. CA ANZ in Australia is a fantastic organization.

They support innovation, change and more than anything, they SUPPORT and HELP their paying members implement innovation and change. They have an open mind and they get stuff done.

Every time I have engaged with your organization, it's with a closed mind.

I have a large audience of CPAs in my network (literally thousands), and I can tell you that your members are VERY frustrated, and if the current attitude continues as is, membership numbers will continue to decline. Members don't want to just pay for the CPA title (which has less relevance now than ever, unfortunately), they want to pay for support."

Money means nothing if you don't have your health.

I learned that the hard way in 2025. 

So... I had a super rough concussion last April, and it lasted a good 7 months.

I canceled more things than I could count.

From a business standpoint, things were great.

From a personal standpoint, this was probably the hardest year of my life.

At some points, I was unable to walk.

Unable to work for a good chunk of time.

Couldn't train for my Triathlon races (which all had to be canceled).

It was an extremely frustrating time in my life.

But I learned critical skills to manage this frustration that will carry forward for the rest of my life.

• To sit with frustration instead of outrunning it 
• Let other people make calls 
• Watch some things move forward without my constant input 
• And to accept that sometimes, my job wasn’t to grow anything at all

And if your business can’t carry on without you... that’s worth thinking about.

AI hype is everywhere.

But when we actually surveyed 150 firm owners, something stood out pretty quickly.

Only a small group is using AI in ways that truly create leverage inside their firm.

The results of this survey reveal that these firms have moved past the obvious stuff.

They’re not just asking AI to write emails or summarize articles anymore.

Here are a couple of interesting examples:

• “We use AI to turn messy bookkeeping exports into a clean first-pass financial writeup before a human reviews it.”

• “We feed raw tax memos into AI and have it produce a client-friendly version that explains the issue clearly and simply.”

Rather than writing a simple 500-word newsletter summarizing the results...

I created an entire 16-page report, which you can get for free. 🙂

Inside the report you’ll see:

✅ How 150 modern firms are using AI, backed by real data
✅ The top AI tools accounting firms rely on
✅ The 30+ advanced niche tools and how firms are using them
✅ 10 practical AI workflows pulled directly from real firms
✅ Plus... a few more high-leverage AI workflows that aren’t widespread yet 😉

Whether you're sitting on the fence wondering where to start...

Or if you're an AI pro wanting some insights into what others are doing...

There's at least one valuable nugget (probably many more) that you can take away from this report to level up your AI usage in your firm.

If you want the report:

✅ Comment the word “NUGGET” below, and I’ll DM you the link. 🙂

Ryan Lazanis, CPA

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

If I were running a firm today...

My #1 goal this year wouldn’t be growth.

It would be this ⤵️

Focus. 

I’d ask myself:

What do I want my life to look like?

1) How much money do I need to be happy?
2) How many hours do I want to work?
3) Where do I want to be spending my time?
4) How much time off do I want to be taking?
5) What are some personal goals I’d like to achieve in 2026?
 
There’s always a trade-off.

You just want to make sure you’re choosing it intentionally.

In short, I’d start with the end in mind. Then build the firm to support that. 🙂

Jack of all trades.

Chief Everything Officer.

CEO... COO... IT support… and occasionally a therapist. 

If there’s one small shift I’d nudge you toward:

Delegate just ONE thing.

Not the scariest thing.

Not the most important thing.

Just one thing you’re holding onto out of habit.

Your simple guide to collecting client documents quickly / easily this tax season.

👇

Tax season would be a breeze if only clients gave you what you needed on time 🙂

The problem is that clients:

1) Ignore your requests
2) Submit incomplete information
3) Submit their info late

It means that you need to constantly follow up to get the docs you need to complete your work.

It’s frustrating.

Plus a huge waste of time.

And while you may be quick to blame your clients.

Are you doing everything you can to improve the situation?

My guess is...

No.

I look at this like a numbers game.

If 30% of your clients are submitting their info on time without any prompting...

How can we get this to 60%? 70%? Or even 90%?

Well, you can greatly improve your on-time client submission rates by following these 2 steps:

1️⃣ STEP 1: Improve Your Email Communications

When sending out your tax organizers, your goal is to send an email that gets:

- Opened
- Read
- Acted upon

✅ Improve your subject lines

A large % of your clients will simply not open your document request emails.

To get more clients opening them up, you’ll want to include a subject line that generates curiosity.

Instead of:

“2026 Tax Organizer”

Use something like:

“Need some info from you”

A very busy client won’t want to open the former because they know it involves work.

But they’ll be curious to know the contents of the latter 😉

✅ Cut down on word count

DO NOT write massive emails when asking clients to submit documents.

I’ve seen emails with crazy long instructions.

The longer your email is, the fewer conversions you'll get.

Instead, just a few short lines about what you need completed and a link to the tax questionnaire.

Keep it under 150 words!

2️⃣ STEP 2: Make Document Submission Easy

Do not, I repeat, do not, send clients a Word / PDF checklist of all the docs and info you need.

It’s too much friction for your client to submit everything neatly in the doc or by email.

Which means, they won’t get around to doing it.

Instead, use software like Smart Intake in Canopy (#sponsor) to help in a few areas.

✅ Auto-reminding clients to complete the questionnaire, eliminating manual follow-ups.

✅ An intuitive, no login experience to move through your requests and to submit information. This alone will improve submission/completion rates.

✅ Have AI auto-complete some of the questionnaire for your clients based on info you already have, reducing the time it takes your client to complete.

At the end of the day:

You not only want software that makes YOUR life easier, but you also want software that makes THEIR life easier.

The easier you make things for your busy clients, the more on-time submissions you’ll receive.

Solving this problem is just a numbers game.

Improving your email communication strategy and making document submission easy will stack the odds in your favor 🙂


What’s worked for you when it comes to getting clients to submit info on time?

Canopy

Here’s the easiest formula for pricing your accounting services:

1) Estimate your time
2) Apply the cost (not rate) for that time 
3) Add all costs of your services up 
4) Apply desired margin

Notice how I say this is the EASIEST formula to come up with a price? 

But... 

It is not the BEST formula... 

Because contrary to popular belief... pricing isn’t always math.

It’s human behavior. 

Sometimes, when you’re in front of a prospect, you’re not pricing a tax return. 

You’re pricing:

- Their urgency
- Their goals
- Their appetite for risk
- Their fear of making a mistake
- Their desire for peace of mind
- Their frustration with their current accountant

None of that fits neatly into a spreadsheet.

And this still applies even with 3-tiered pricing. 

Tiers give you structure. But understanding the human tells you:

• which tier to lead with
• what to emphasize in the conversation
• what outcome they actually care about
• which tier they’ll naturally choose

Two prospects can look at the same three tiers and pick completely different options.

A formula can get you a price.

But it can’t get you the optimal price.

Only by understanding humans can we do that.

So the next time you’re in a sales call, don’t obsess over the model.

Obsess over the person (a little).

✅ Ask better questions.
✅ Listen for the emotions behind the words.
✅ Understand what a “win” looks like for them.

Once you understand the human...

The “right” price becomes a whole lot clearer.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this might be it. 😉

That's bold Obed Maurice! Nice one.

CPA, CA, CFP® - Advisory NOT accounting

Not a sponsored post, but just want to give a shout out to Guy Vadish and the Artiffex Inc. team. They've personally handled my investment write-ups for the past 2 years. It's a seamless service with very fast turnaround times.

Back in September 2020, I was in my small home office in Montreal.

My newborn was in the next room.

The world was in lockdown. 

No one was leaving their homes.

(Heck, we even had curfews!)

And there I was... wondering if it made any sense to launch a membership program for firm owners.

My plan was simple to start: 20 private coaching clients at $595/month.

That was it.

But then 200+ people joined the waiting list.

I was shocked and terrified. 

(Not the reaction you’d expect, I know lol)

The reason was because I was unsure and had no clue if this would actually work.

The program didn’t even exist yet. 

All I had was my experience building and selling my firm... and a mission:

To help accounting firm owners unlock freedom and growth in their business.

So I started anyway.

Fast forward to today, and there are 700+ firm owners inside the program.

Looking back, the lesson was pretty simple:

You don’t need the full solution and full setup to get started.

You just need enough clarity to take the next step.

Having the right coach helped too, a lot. (Not optional in hindsight.)

Most of the rest figured itself out along the way. 

—

Who supported you when you were just getting started? 🙂

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Peace at 9am on a Tuesday.

In a warm country.

(My wife and I escaped Montreal winter for 2 weeks over the holidays... zero regrets)

That didn’t happen because I stacked my business with tools to “automate everything.”

Don’t get me wrong, I use them.

They help.

But this trip didn’t work because of a handful of tools that promise to run your business while you’re on vacation.

It worked because I’d already done the unsexy stuff before I left:

I offloaded content ahead of time.

I was clear on what to delegate (and to who).

I let go of control instead of hovering.

And I trusted a team I didn’t need to babysit.

The bottomline is this:

AI tools are helpful.

But they don’t replace judgment.

They don’t decide what needs to be done before you step away, or what needs to be locked down so nothing spills over.

That part still takes intention.

And because I did that work (with help from my amazing team) before leaving...

I was able to actually unplug… enjoy the warm weather, and read my book in peace from a hammock. 🙂

Below is a photo from outside my bungalow (it was a busy day that day, since 1 boat passed by, lol)

–

Did you get a chance to unplug or travel anywhere over the holidays?

Jason Staats, CPA and I were running a Q&A with his audience off the back of several events he invited me to be a guest at in late 2025.

Questions generally centered around improving pricing and packaging, marketing, and client acquisition.

One question came up from a busy firm owner:

“I want to grow by offering startups a discounted service offer so that I can increase my prices as they grow.”

I’ve heard this before.

My response is always the same:

Don’t do it.

In fact, never (with 2 exceptions) discount your services to bring a client on.

For 2 big reasons:

Reason 1:

The client will always remember that you discount. And they’ll always haggle with you on everything else you do.

Reason 2:

You have a finite amount of capacity.

Discounting not only directly bites into your margin, but your capacity as well.

If you are already busy, you are literally shooting yourself in the foot.

For me, the ideal is to have 10% excess capacity in your firm so that you can make room for some new (properly margined clients).

And by proper margin, I mean no less than 50% gross margin (at all times).
...

”But Ryan, I see other companies out there discounting services or products all the time, why can’t I?”

...
I’ll make 2 exceptions for when you can discount.

→ Exception 1: You Are Just Starting Out

If you have a ton of excess capacity because you’re just starting out and want to get the ball rolling, honestly, go wild.

Do what you need to do to get a few clients on board.

You have a lot of capacity and you can sacrifice a bit (not all!) of it to get some momentum.

But…

If you already have a bunch of clients and have limited capacity.

Like I said before when it comes to discounting your services:

Don’t do it.

→ Exception 2: You Provide Highly Leveraged Services

I think if you are a super modern firm offering online courses to its clients (ex: “how to do your own bookkeeping” course).

Or if you have any other kinds of services/products at your firm that have significant leverage…

Then you can offer discounts.

But if you don’t have that in your firm.

Once again, when it comes to discounting your services:

Don’t do it!

Hopefully that helps.

Ten years ago, posts like this didn’t exist.

If you were stuck, you didn’t ask questions (and had no reliable space to do so).

You just figured it out alone.

It was isolating... so seeing conversations like this in our Future Firm Accelerate community feels really good. 

Inside this community of 700+ firm owners, they are:

• Helping each other out
• Making intros
• Sharing what’s worked
• Jumping in if they see a chance to help

This is the part I wish had existed back then. 

I’m excited about what’s ahead for the community this year especially for the members already inside. 😉

—

Are you part of any accounting community like this right now? If so, which one?

Future Firm Accelerate Referrals Section

Mid-6 figures is one of the most dangerous stages of a firm.

I’ve seen a lot of firms stall right here.

You’re a 6-figure firm. 

5 people on the team. 

But you’re working a lot of hours, and you’re the bottleneck.

The reason?

You only have junior or mid-level team members.

Which meant you always ended up dealing with all the clients in more complex situations.

This doesn't scale.

Hiring a senior resource to alleviate the bottleneck situation, but that could make you a bit nervous. 

And now you have reached a major fork in the road.

🟢 Path A: Hire a Senior Resource Now

A senior resource should be able to handle A-Z with the client.

The problem at the mid-6-figure range is the following though:

It's hard to find this person

They're expensive, which can wipe out a big chunk of your profits

If this person leaves, you're back to square one (larger firms can shift the workload to another senior temporarily)

🟢 Path B: Wait Until The Firm Grows To Hire a Senior

You can acquire more clients, build more profits and then make the hire.

But:

It's still going to be hard to find this person, it will still cost $$$ to bring them on, plus you'll be working more hours until they come on board.

At each stage of business, there's a risk you need to take to get to the next step.

Plus, keep in mind there's ways to negate the risk:

Hire for attitude, not just skill (to ensure you're bringing the right person on board).

Make sure your cash flow can handle it.

Where possible, cross-train others on the team as you bring the new hire on board. If they leave, then at least the hole is not as large.

---

So... Path A or Path B? Which path would you take? 🤔

Most firm owners self-diagnose INCORRECTLY. 

When you say:

“I need better processes.”

Take a pause and see if what you really mean is:

“I’m trying to serve too many people in too many ways.”

No amount of tech fixes that.

Simplify what you offer first.

Then build systems around that.

And if you’ve been in those shoes before... congrats, you’re 100% normal, lol.

Quick gut check for firm owners at the start of 2026:

Which of these do you want more of ⬇️
 
1️⃣ Time
2️⃣ Profits

Pick one only. Don’t overthink it. 😉

I rarely see firms stuck because of bad systems.

In most cases, they don’t have a process problem or a "not enough tools" problem.

They’re busy.

Doing good revenue.

Falling behind in their work.

So they assume better systems or more tech will fix it.

When I dig in, the picture usually looks something like this:

• No senior resource on the team with 700+ clients
• 40% net margin
• Working 50+ hours per week
• 20% of clients are C-level or worse

On the surface, the 40% net margin is very good.

But it's being masked by the firm owner shouldering all the load.

So if they actually had the right team in place, the net margin would be no higher than 25%, though likely less, indicating a potential underpricing problem.

But here's the big thing.

Most firm owners come in asking for help with the wrong thing.

They think they need better processes.

Or a new tool.

Or another system.

But fixing any one of these would move the needle way more:

✅ Get rid of (or solve) 20% of your crappy clients = instantly gain capacity and headspace

✅ Bump prices up across a portion of your clients = instant margin gains

✅ Hire a senior resource = ability to pull yourself out of the bottleneck position

Fixing any one of those 3 things would have a much larger impact compared to fixing your processes.

If you see yourself starting to gravitate toward fixing processes or implementing tech as the solution to your growth problems...

Pause.

Make sure you’re not skipping over the foundational stuff first. 🙂

If even one of these signs feels familiar...

That’s your cue to take a fresh look at your pricing. 🙂

Data-driven leader who battles operational chaos and turns it into gold mines for teams. I spot inefficiencies, streamline processes, and save time so professionals can thrive.

At Portali, I'm helping accountants conquer back-office mess with AI tools that automate the grind and unlock productivity.

Connect if chaos is your enemy—let's optimize. See how at https://portali.tech

Jonathan Shkolnik

Bookkeeping has changed forever. There is no going back.
Portali is officially live and you can start breathing again.

No more months full of stress.
No more running around the clock chasing after invoices.
No more manual journal entries.
No more annoying subscription plans for your clients.

Simple. Clean. Easy.
Join us in revolutionizing bookkeeping for good.

Bookkeepers thank me because they work 4X less, and earn 4X more | VP of Growth & Revenue @ Portali | Your new unique bookkeeping environment

Forget MBAs. I’ve officially earned my ‘LinkedIn Top Reply Rate’ certificate -signed by my inbox.

LinkedIn gurus: "Post consistently!"

Me: "I'll post consistently… starting Monday.
Because who even opens LinkedIn on Saturday?"

Nailed it.

No more snacks for you. Its not your mom telling you this, it's the IRS.

A connection (Thanks, Kim Dudik) told me last week: “You should post about the 2026 meals tax changes.”  

So I went down and looked it up.

Here’s what caught my eye:

Office snacks and coffee?  
The free lunch program you set up for your team?  
That convenience perk you thought was helping morale?

Translation: All of these are probably 0% deductible in 2026 for most employers, unless you treat them as taxable compensation to employees or they fall into a really narrow exception.

Client dinners and business travel meals stay 50%. 
Company‑wide events stay 100%. 
But that daily on‑site food perk you’re offering?

Gone (from your deduction column, at least). 

I’m not a CPA.  
But I live in the world where this shows up in your books, your perks, and your runway.  

If you’re a founder or finance leader who’s been writing off team lunches all year, this one’s gonna sting.

Talk to your accountant before January ends.

Because 2026 is already here.

You don’t need an S‑corp.
You need your books to stop looking like a group project where nobody talked to each other.

Everyone’s asking, “Should I switch to an S‑corp?”
Meanwhile, their bank feed and Stripe are telling two completely different stories.

The real first step?
Get your bookkeeping so clean your CPA can open the file and not immediately question their life choices.

Most people worry about moving once every few years.  
This week, I moved twice in 24 hours. It was my sixth apartment in three months – in a country that isn’t even the one I grew up in.

I could’ve stayed in a regular house back home, followed the script, and pretended that felt like freedom. It didn’t. It felt like jail with nice furniture.  
So I chose digital‑nomad instability instead: new keys, new walls, new neighbors, again and again – and yes, it absolutely wrecks my “perfect” LinkedIn posting schedule.

It’s not glamorous. Some days I’m hunting for Wi‑Fi instead of writing a post. But dealing with lost bookings, weird hosts, and last‑minute moves is exactly how I’m building the ability to stay calm in “extreme” situations and create my own safe environment from scratch.

That’s the version of me I’m betting on – the one who doesn’t need comfort or a stable apartment to keep building and showing up publicly.  
If you’re also trading comfort for growth right now (and your consistency isn’t always Instagram‑perfect), tell me what that looks like for you.

P.S. Portali is going live in 48 hours! we're excited to see you with us on your way to transforming your bookkeeping!
DM me if you're stuck with 25 monthly clients and want to get it to 150 in the same amount of time.

1 year ago, I was dragging myself through 12-hour days, managing a team of 4.
I’d close my laptop feeling empty, not proud.
It was all responsibility, no ownership.

Fast forward.
I’m still clocking 12-hour days.
But now I wake up excited.

I get to be a real decision maker inside a small team I call family.
People who are sharp, honest, and in the mud with me.
In the last 2 months: 40+ demos, 12 companies actively testing Portali, partnerships and integrations moving into advanced stages, 4 podcasts/live sessions in January.

I even changed my phone screen lock.
Just “1,000,000.”
A quiet reminder:
Help 1,000,000 accountants modernize their work so they can actually live their lives.

January 2026 doesn’t feel like “busy season.”
It feels like the first chapter of a different life.

Sometimes the job doesn’t need to shrink.
Your ownership does.

Just wrapped up a conversation on the #MeetCoolPeople Podcast with Ely Delaney.

We talked about my path from Tel Aviv to Paraguay. And how I went from business intelligence to business development. The kind of questions that make you think. Not surface-level stuff.

We got into the pain points businesses miss when they look at their data. How bookkeepers can scale without burning out. And why getting out of your comfort zone matters more than playing it safe.

I shared my journey across countries and careers. What I've learned helping businesses at Portali see what their numbers are really telling them. And why being genuine in business relationships is everything.

If you're looking for real conversations about growth and taking risks, check it out.
https://lnkd.in/d96jQcDM

#MeetCoolPeople #BusinessDevelopment #PodcastInterview #Entrepreneurship #PersonalGrowth

Yesterday I started doing my monthly cleanup for the first time in a while. It wasn't the one you thought of. I didn't use QBO/Xero (or Portali if you're a pro).

2 months. 150 connection requests. The official "LinkedIn-cleanup" operation began. 

Main observations:
I am popular among Ex-Deloitte employees.
I am popular among CEO's/Founders.
Surprisingly, all of them are from a specific region.

Anyone experiencing something similar?

I was getting 1 like on my LinkedIn posts 2 months ago. I almost quit.
Then I changed everything.

Every day I block 30 minutes.
No scrolling.
Just sending targeted requests to a very specific group of people.

Last week, LinkedIn told me I’d hit my cap.
That banner was my real analytics.

Good posts matter.
But proactive outreach is what quietly builds the audience that sees them.

This is Tymone Green.

Professor. Bookkeeper. Builder.

He creates vibe-coding apps that help bookkeepers work smarter.
We created Portali - 2-hour cleanups instead of 8.

Together? Deadly.

Ty's our new ambassador because he shares our belief:
His tech + our platform = how you dominate QBO-only firms.

Want in? Join us or tag someone who needs to see this.

I used to open LinkedIn, write “valuable tips” about bookkeeping, then delete them because they felt fake.

Meanwhile, I was on calls with solo bookkeepers who were answering clients from their phones at their kid’s soccer game. That’s the reality I care about, not another “5 hacks” carousel.

So I stopped pretending to be a content guru and started being honest about what I’m building and why: to give those people their time back.
Portali is our answer: America’s #1 bookkeeping operational environment – a 3‑in‑1 tool for cleanups, invoicing, and practice management that attacks the nonstop work, pre‑holiday stress, and constant lack of breathing room.

We help bookkeepers save 4x time and earn 4x more, so “just one more client email” doesn’t steal another evening.
If you see yourself in this, hit reply and tell me what your week actually looks like.
P.S. In 8 days, Portali will be officially live 24/7 – we're excited to welcome you on board with us. Stay tuned.

Got a cold DM:

"Hey! Let's hop on a call to see if we're a good fit for a potential synergistic partnership opportunity!"

Translation: "Buy my services."

I replied:

"I love how you think outside the box, it's clear no one's ever invited you inside one."

They asked what I meant.

Exactly.

No. Extra. Words.
GrowCon 2026 is gonna be a blast.

If you're gonna be there, drop me a DM or comment 'GrowCon' - I'd love to have a coffee with you 😎

I've been talking with S for the last 2 months. 
Good and genuine interactions. 

She seems cool, she's funny, and sounds insightful.
I invite her to a mid-day brunch, and she accepts. 

The day before, we need to reschedule - life, ya know.
A few days pass by, and I'm sitting at the coffee shop, waiting with anticipation. 
5, 10, 15 minutes. She's not coming.

S is not my future date, and the coffee shop is virtual. 
S is just a business owner who ghosted me and didn't show up to our meeting. 
S didn't reply or apologize.

S was removed from my connections. 
Respect is worth more than money.
Don't be S.

5 minutes before going live.
40 CPAs waiting.
My speaker notes just broke.

Last week I presented on how Portali helps firms stay audit-ready.
Everything was prepped.
Slides locked in.

Then I hit "Share Screen" on the organizer's Zoom and realized my notes weren't showing.

Panic? For about 10 seconds.

Then the host jumped in. We fixed it. The presentation crushed.

Here's what I learned:

Prep is everything. But so is staying calm when tech fails.

You can have the perfect system, the cleanest workflow, the best tools - but something will break at the worst time.

The difference is how you respond.

Don't freeze. Adapt. Ask for help.

That's how you win when things go sideways.

(Will share clips and details soon - stay tuned.)

Last week was weird.

Demo 41, 42, 43.
Three different prospects.
All asked the same thing, the same day:

“Are you SOC 2 compliant?”

Before that?
Zero people had ever asked.

Here’s the funny part:
Most people asking for SOC 2 can’t actually explain what it is.

It’s basically a giant adult report card that says:
“We don’t just say we protect your data.
We can prove it, consistently, across how we secure, store, and operate on your data.”

So no, we don’t have SOC 2 yet.
But we do have many of the habits it measures: access controls, audits, backups, microservices separation, and clear processes.

The real question isn’t “Do you have SOC 2?”
It’s “Do you run your company like someone is watching, even when no auditor is?”

That’s the thing I care about.

I am not the guy with a beautiful 'Notion' dashboard.
I am not the guy with color-coded tags for every client.
I am definitely not the guy who enjoys 30 minutes of pre-call research.

I’m the guy who wrote one messy prompt.

I ran it.
Tuned it.
Saved it as a Perplexity task that emails me my prep every morning at 10am.

If that simple thing can give me back 200+ minutes a month, I’m betting it can do the same for a lot of bookkeepers too.

If you want the prompt + setup, comment ‘prep’ and I’ll send it over.

I blocked myself.
Not literally.
But close.

Two weeks ago: I connected with a lead on LinkedIn.
She replied "thanks" to my welcome message.
I put her in Category 3.
"Ready but not objecting."

Yesterday: I sent her the pitch.
Automated.
Salesy.
Desperate.

Today: She blocked me.

Here's what I learned:
Connection ≠ readiness.
A polite "thanks" ≠ "I'm interested."
Going live with Portali made me forget the fundamentals.

Real relationships take time.
Automation works when trust is there first.
Not before.

Now I'm using that 10 minutes I save every day (200+ minutes/month) to actually build relationships, not rush them.

What's the biggest marketing mistake you've made when launching something new?

I was scared when I got dismissed from my last job, but I felt that this was my opportunity of a lifetime to be truly happy.

In 10 years, I want to look back and say, “Wow! You helped more than 1,000 individuals see their families and friends more than before, without earning less.” This is much more satisfying to me than building dashboards, writing Python scripts, or managing teams.

We're building America's #1 bookkeeping operational environment: a 3‑in‑1 software for cleanups, invoicing, and practice management. But it's not only about AI, automations, and tech. It's about releasing people from non‑stop working, pre‑holiday stress, and a lack of time to breathe. 
We want you to be with your loved ones.

I would be glad to meet you, hear your story, and find ways to grow your business.
P.S. In 7 days, Portali will be officially live 24/7 – we're excited to welcome you on board with us. Stay tuned.

taplio

The Battle

Ryan Lazanis

Jonathan Shkolnik

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Performance ScoreRyan Lazanis's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJonathan Shkolnik's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Ryan Lazanis

Jonathan Shkolnik

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ryan Lazanis's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJonathan Shkolnik's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreRyan Lazanis's LinkedIn Performance