[00:00:00] Kevin Stafford: Hello everyone and welcome to another fine episode of the Conversations with Coaches podcast. I’m your host Kevin and we are actually recording with Alicia Pollack on Thanksgiving day because there’s no rest for the wicked.
[00:00:12] Alicia Pollock: The only time I had available.
[00:00:14] Kevin Stafford: And actually, I’m quite thankful. I’ve actually gotten the chance to talk to Alicia a number of times at this point, and the conversation never fails to delight and get me thinking about things, or just sparks my brain in ways that I was quite looking forward to.
So let me reacquaint you with Alicia real quick, and then we’re going to dive into what she’s been up to lately, which is a lot. Alicia is a Top 10 QuickBooks Pro Advisor and member of the Intuit Trainer Writer Network. She writes QuickBooks text books, say that five times fast, and runs a training and coaching program at Royalwise for business owners and bookkeepers who use QuickBooks online.
Now, we’ve talked before about all the stuff that Alicia is up to, and it’s always a ton, and it’s always interesting, and it’s always going in the right direction. Alicia, thanks for sharing some Thanksgiving turkey with me, metaphorically speaking, and yeah, it’s just good to see you. It’s good to talk to you again.
[00:01:02] Alicia Pollock: Yeah, I’m happy to be back. Thanks for having me.
[00:01:05] Kevin Stafford: So you have two of the must haves for every business owner and coach. You have a new podcast and you are publishing or have published a new book. So I’ll let you choose your own adventure. Which one do you want to talk about first? Both and. How is that?
How is that going? How does that feel? How is that working for you? How is that? How what’s good?
[00:01:24] Alicia Pollock: It’s been amazing. And I’ve had some other developments along the line that I was going to spring on you that you haven’t heard about yet. But I’m starting with the podcast. I have started a new podcast called the unofficial QuickBooks accountants podcast with Hector Garcia and Hector is arguably the most famous QuickBooks trainer out there.
But He says that I’m a better trainer than him. So we make a great duo. And so we’re publishing a weekly podcast. That’s created by earmark who that’s Blake and David from the accounting podcast are the people who are producing the podcast. And so every week. Hector and I are breaking down the new features, the announcements talking about what’s happening at Intuit.
And it’s a lot of fun because neither of us technically work for Intuit, although we both are contractors with Intuit. So we have the insider information and we can say whatever we want. So it’s usually a pretty good lesson.
[00:02:23] Kevin Stafford: I really like that. It’s it’s also like you say that with a smirk on your face where it’s you’re just going off the board, going off script or whatever.
But I’m pretty confident that Intuit benefits from the sharing of your united wisdom because there’s just, again, there’s just. There’s always such a perceived barrier to entry for so many people when they try to dive into a solution for their bookkeeping, a solution for their accounting, a solution for the finances of their business.
And it’s very scary for a lot of people to dive into that side of things, even though they know that they have to, or they have to have someone that they can trust that can do that with them or for them or both, really. And so just the more. The more information, especially with a smile on your face and some wit in your words, the more that gets out and the more that people know about that, it’s easier it is for people to just get over some of those perceived fears that, it’s, yeah, there’s a lot to it, but.
Let’s make it simpler for you. Let’s make it easier for you and give you a little bit of guidance. And then before you know it, you’ll feel like a pro because you’ve got a pro.
[00:03:24] Alicia Pollock: Exactly. QuickBooks is an amazing piece of software. And it’s actually one of the few that has a whole industry built around supporting it and using it, which is interesting just in that dynamic alone.
But it’s not. Easy to use and it changes a lot because Intuit is so hell bent on improving it all the time that you have to be somebody who is used to change or is comfortable with change so that every time something does change out from under you, you’re like, Oh, okay, I get it. And here’s why. And not Oh my God, it’s different.
What do I do? So Hector and I really, we’re passionate about it and as they’re doing this development, we also know what the pro advisors need, what the bookkeepers need and the business owners need to really make it successful. So we’re in a really good place to, we’re hoping that Intuit’s listening in and writing down everything that we’re saying, because I guarantee if you actually put into place the suggestions that we have based on the direction that they’re already going, they’ll just shoot to the moon.
[00:04:24] Kevin Stafford: Awesome. That’s awesome. I really like. I like the fact that, and this is something that’s, it’s difficult to articulate for yourself, but what you really don’t want to do as like a business owner doing anything else, like whatever it is you’re passionate about and like the impact you want to have, is the last thing you want to do is become an expert in something else.
But there are certain things that require these require a kind of expertise, and I really, I’m really glad you point out how rapidly QuickBooks changes, even when compared to like general information technology, which, is constantly changing and people will roll their eyes and lament how, they don’t know, they don’t understand the algorithms on the new social, on, social media platforms anymore or yada, yada, whatever it happens to be. And QuickBooks is one of the speedier examples because there’s so many ways that it has to change just to keep up with, evolving laws and situations and corporate structures.
And they’re constantly improving it. And it’s, just to coin a phrase, it’s a full time job, just keeping up with all that, which is again, why it’s it’s so great that, I know I’ve praised you a bunch on this podcast before. I probably will again, but I really appreciate the space you occupy.
And I just a podcast seems like a perfect addition to your royal wise empire. Because again, it’s just. Barrier for entry. It lowers a little bit and makes people less scared and more informed. And also, it’s just a great way to talk about what you’re great at. Wins for everybody. Yeah,
[00:05:42] Alicia Pollock: It’s definitely a little bit of a geek fest because we really get into the weeds about the different features and how to use them.
And sometimes we pick obscure features and sometimes we pick really common features. But, that’s one thing that’s really important for business owners To understand is that Intuit has a goal of making the software user friendly and standalone for you. But the truth is that in order to do bookkeeping, there’s things that you have to know.
And, you alluded to this earlier that every business owner went into business because there’s something that they’re good at, That they’re passionate about that and they want to spend all their time doing it and the chances are very good that is not bookkeeping and accounting.
And so I can’t recommend to every business owner enough to find a bookkeeper finds. A financial professional to help you with your books and Intuit has their QuickBooks Live program that’s attached to your QuickBooks, but, honestly, I don’t really recommend it yet. I see it as a place for new bookkeepers to get their chops and gain experience, but I want every single.
Business owner out here to go to find a pro advisor. com and find a bookkeeper near you to help you review your books at least quarterly, if not more often, or take that burden off of your plate, because sure, you can categorize your expenses and you can make your invoices, but there’s more to it than that.
And so the field is in this flux where every business owner does need a bookkeeper and. New bookkeepers are not necessarily coming into the field. And so find a pro advisor. com is one of your best friends for finance. We’ll make
[00:07:22] Kevin Stafford: sure there’s a link to that in the show notes. And yeah, it’s it’s not going to go away if you ignore it.
[00:07:26] Alicia Pollock: And the longer you ignore it, the more expensive it is to clean up. So I always recommend, have somebody help you get it set up and dialed in and have somebody check it at least once a year before you go for taxes so that you didn’t wind up with duplicate income and paying too much. That’s so many little pitfalls.
[00:07:42] Kevin Stafford: Let’s pivot from the pod. And talk about your book. Tell me about this book you published. When did it come out? I know it was relatively recently. I know it was, in the last this year, 2023, as we’re talking. But yeah, tell me about your book. It’s
[00:07:54] Alicia Pollock: funny because in my head, I’m going, okay, which book is he talking about?
Because there’s there are always many underworks. I actually just republished a book. For QuickBooks desktop, as we’re sitting here talking about QuickBooks online QuickBooks desktop is the traditional desktop software for using QuickBooks, but Intuit has been moving away from it and they’re actually act actively trying to retire it.
But there’s still lots of businesses that need it. Either they don’t have internet access or they’re in manufacturing and then, or they need some capabilities that online doesn’t have, or they have 25 different companies that they’re managing. There’s still reasons for desktop. And so I figured that since they are.
That Intuit is actively moving people to QuickBooks Online. I might as well republish this desktop book because there are still people out there who need it and are using it. And so the book actually has a vast history. It was originally written by Doug Sleater and the Sleater Group who and was the book to educate most.
Bookkeepers who have been in the business for 30 years or more. And Questiva consultants bought it a few years ago and I completely rewrote it and modernize it because it didn’t have things like credit cards in it because it was written so long ago. So I had to put in how people really pay for things these days.
And then Intuit education. So the book was designed as a textbook for classes and, universities and vocational programs. And so the book is step by step and click by click, click this, type this, press this button and into it because they want people to go to QBO decided to end their desktop education program.
So we’re like, okay, what do we do with this book? So I revamped it again. So that it’s now a standalone book and so you can go to Amazon and search for Alicia Pollack and then you look for the QuickBooks desktop book and it’s like fully 600 pages of step by step, click by click instructions.
[00:09:58] Kevin Stafford: Nice. Nice. I, man, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the thinking that goes into even wanting to do that because, I understand that companies want to innovate and it’s also like they want to serve their own bottom line and what they can maintain the most and maintaining and providing support for older or less monetizable versions of software in particular.
I get why they’d want to migrate away from that, but like you just very clearly identified, there are so many use cases that are still very desktop dependent. And in fact, that’s still the right solution for them and is going to be the right solution for them for a while. And tell some other stuff to you until they’re forced to get rid of it entirely.
At least
[00:10:38] Alicia Pollock: for the next two years while it still exists. Exactly. Exactly. My thinking was that because, that other publishers are going to move away from desktop and just leave whatever they had. And I figured I might as well step into the space and be the only one standing.
[00:10:53] Kevin Stafford: And also provide them a very much needed service where people are just like, Hey, don’t forget about me.
I still matter. Please help me. And then that’s like you have a resource right there. That’s just, that’s refreshed. That’s actually current or at least very near current. And that’s just, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that kind of work. It’s very thoughtful and also very smart. If I may say so.
You know this, obviously, because you’re just like, Hey, there’s a little gap I can go in there and fill, which is again, every coach I ever talked to, anybody who does any sort of training, or it’s like really the kind of person that you are just looking for little gaps to move into. Little places where it’s just you know what?
This needs. Some light, this needs some attention. This needs some expertise. I’m going to do this, or I’m going to find somebody to do this with, or do this for. And it’s it’s just, it’s, I love it. I always get very geeked out by people just doing that kind of stuff. Cause I just I love bridge building.
[00:11:37] Alicia Pollock: And some other things about it. I also made a companion course at. At learn. royalize. com. So if you need CPE, if you need continuing education credit, you can actually sign up for the course. You get a copy of the book and then you take the quizzes and do the exercises and then you can get CPE credit for doing it.
And so we’re also now. Working on taking that same book for QB. Oh, that it’s actually already been written, but it’s still at the university level. It’s still a textbook, but the 2024 version, we’re going to release it to the public as well. So it will be available on Amazon by the summer. I would think.
Hopefully long
[00:12:17] Kevin Stafford: before that, but hopefully I was going to I was going to try and pivot because you’ve got so many balls in the air, which is fantastic. But I was going to try to like, cue you up and be like, what’s obviously we’re getting, as we’re recording the 2023 is winding down 2024 is already.
Picking up speed, as it were. I don’t know what’s one or two things that you’re really excited about that are coming around the corner for you? Obviously that other, that QBO revised book coming out, hopefully in the spring, ready for the summer. But yeah, is there anything else that’s that’s coming around the corner that you’re really like, extra special, excited about?
[00:12:47] Alicia Pollock: There’s actually been two things that happened this past year that I’m looking forward to leveraging. The first one is that Ignition, which is a software for contra, for running proposals, named me to their top 50 women in accounting. And so I got top 50 for this year, and that was because of the community that we build and elevating women in their roles and helping non standard learners become bookkeepers.
Like we have a lot of career switchers and stay at home moms who want to get into bookkeeping and the people that we hire in our own company. And so we were acknowledged both for the Training that we’re bringing to the world around QuickBooks, but then also how I’m approaching it and my goal of, helping people and elevating people.
Awesome.
[00:13:40] Kevin Stafford: Yeah, congratulations for that. That’s really, I was like, Ignition, I know that platform. I was like, Oh, I’ve used that before.
[00:13:46] Alicia Pollock: Ignition is awesome software. So thanks. Shout out to Ignition for that. And then the other thing just happened last week QuickBooks Connect is one of the largest QuickBooks conferences.
And for all of you out there listening who are bookkeepers, go to QuickBooks Connect next year. It’s just the most amazing conference. Anybody who thinks accountants are boring has just not been around the right accounts. I actually had somebody walk up to me in the casino in Las Vegas, say, wait, you’re wearing one of those badges.
Who are all you people? And I’m like, we’re accountants. And he’s what? Like apparently we’re cray for Las Vegas, even by Las Vegas standards. Anyway, so at the conference this past year two years ago, like I’m known for QuickBooks tips and tricks, like I’m known for deep product knowledge and how do you game the system and what are some creative ways of using it.
And so two years ago they took my proposal to do a tips and tricks session, turned it into a game show. Pitted me and my friends, Liz Scott and Deborah Kilsheimer against another team of three and my team won. And we even got like crowns and tiaras. So it’s official. And then this year they brought us back and pitted us against each other.
So I was up against Liz and Deb, who are two of my good friends. And even when they were presenting their tips and tricks in the contest. I learned something from each one of them. They both presented something that I didn’t know, but I still won. So I am like officially the queen of QuickBooks now. I have a title.
I am the queen of QuickBooks.
[00:15:24] Kevin Stafford: Oh man, that might have to be the title of the episode, the queen of QuickBooks. It’s got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
[00:15:29] Alicia Pollock: Yeah, so I’m super proud of that. And so what where that is leading me for 2023 is expanding my reach that we’ve been doing individual trainings for both business owners and bookkeepers on how to use different parts of QuickBooks.
And we’ve been doing this now for over 10 years. And we got, our portal is now All of the QuickBooks trainings are now CPE and continuing education credit authorized, so you get a reward and not just the satisfaction of doing the work, but we are now also leveling up to accounting firms. So we want to be able to be the training resource partner for accounting firms so that when they get new team members.
We can take care of the training and take it off of their hands, or they can leverage it for their clients as well. If they have a business owner who is hands on in their books and they’re getting the banking feed wrong, they can send them to us to learn how to use the banking feed. So we’re moving into a whole new realm.
I’m going to be going to the CPA conferences in 2024, not just the QuickBooks conferences, having some booths and tables and sponsoring some Joining the BDO Alliance, joining the AGN CPA Engage and the digital CPA conference in a couple of weeks. And so that’s actually what we’re doing now is moving us into a new space, not just the pro advisors and the business owners, but the CPAs now too.
So
[00:16:55] Kevin Stafford: smart. I really like that. Again, that’s another one of those gaps where it’s just it’s. that doesn’t get as much attention as it should. I’ve been under the umbrella of onboarding, but particular onboarding new people for these bookkeeping and accounting firms. Onboarding is always a tricky nut to crack for most companies, because there’s just, there’s, you, a lot of people will focus on finding the right talent or finding the right fit, but then they’ll get the right people.
Into the right spots, hopefully, but then they’ll just let them figure things out as they go, or they’ll let them like, watch some videos, or maybe they’ll have somebody over their shoulder or whatever. And there’s less attention, I think less valuable, less important attention paid to that particular gap.
And I just, I love, love, love the idea of you moving into that space and being like, Hey, look, onboarding, real, like effective onboarding. Even if you found the right people and gotten them in the right seats, doing the right work to succeed at your company, onboarding is still tricky. And it’s not just, it’s not just a light switch you can flick on or off.
No pun intended. Let me, let us, I’m all of a sudden, I’m like your brand advocate. I’m like let us take that off your plate in a way that’s going to not, it’s going to give you peace of mind and also let you know that, Hey. We’re going to put all the right tools and all the right processes and procedures into this person’s hands and they’re going to thrive from day one, not, in six months once they figure everything out about the nuts and bolts of your company and the way things work around here.
It’s just, that’s such a, that’s such a great. Area to move into. I don’t have a question there. I’m just like, I’m excited by that. That’s really, that’s good. That’s really
[00:18:26] Alicia Pollock: good. Yeah. There’s a lot of moving pieces with this. First of all, the, if a accounting firm is hiring a new bookkeeper, the bookkeeper is going to say, Oh yeah, I know QuickBooks and maybe they’ve passed their core certification, but passing their basic certification is really I know which button you click to start an invoice.
Not. I know what to do if we charge the customer sales tax, but we weren’t supposed to, and we need to refund it, which is a whole different level. And so there’s that factor of, you get the bookkeeper in there and you find out they don’t know as much as you think. Then there’s the idea of attracting younger talent.
That we, the millennials are the new workforce, but millennials are a completely different animal than Gen X, which is my generation or the boomers who are now in the traditional accountants and retiring millennials learn by video. They. Also really need to feel supported and empowered and their, how they feel personally is a lot more relevant where it used to be, leave in work at work and home is home.
Millennials want to live and breathe their passions. And so if you get a millennial in the door, you want to keep that person. And we believe that. Having a training resource like we offer is something that they can use to help thrive. That, if they don’t know how to do something, instead of being embarrassed to ask, they can go over to our library and search for, how do I do this in QBO Payroll, and then watch the video that shows them how to do the thing that they need to do.
So not just the onboarding, but the employee retention piece is where we come into the picture. Yeah.
[00:20:06] Kevin Stafford: You lose so much, not just lose talent, but you also just lose morale and lose buy in. Like you end up with a much lesser version of the person you hired when you don’t give them the resources that they need to thrive.
And there’s I, yeah, again, that’s a really smart place to put your light and your attention and be like, Hey, stop getting the least. Out of your best people, here’s an easy way, here’s a relatively easy way for us to help you do that, and yeah, it’s just, again, chef’s kiss as far as I’m concerned that’s a perfect place to really like, to shore up some of the cracks that people
[00:20:39] Alicia Pollock: fall through.
And it’s, A great mission to have to be able to support businesses and especially around something like QuickBooks, where it’s changing all the time. So even if an accounting firm does have an established training program and a resource library or routine, they’re constantly having to update it to go along with the new materials.
So I think of it as why should you spend your resources even putting together the trainings for your new hires? Why not? It’s going to be cheaper and faster just to use the materials that we all have in place, especially since they’re, authorized materials.
[00:21:14] Kevin Stafford: So I’ve got to ask the closing questions.
I just looked up at the zoom clock and we’ve already been chitchatting for a half an hour. I find it so fascinating. I feel like I could pick your brain on stuff for hours, but I’ll talk for hours. There’s already a lot. To learn, and there’s always going to be more coming down the pike, I’m certain.
Where can anybody listening go to find out what’s old, what’s new, what’s borrowed, what’s blue? This is not a marriage, but still, there’s just so much to learn, so much to access, so much to get started on. Where can we send people? Is there a good social media that they can find you at?
Is there, obviously there’s a website, I’m sure. There’s that learning portal, so yeah, give me the links. Yeah. So you
[00:21:49] Alicia Pollock: can basically search for my name anywhere you go and find me Alicia, A L I C I A cats, K A T Z Pollock. But the website’s royal wise. com. The learning platform is that learn.
royal wise. com. If you’re interested, if you’ve been listening to this and you’re like I’m interested in that partner accounting firm training, you can go to royal wise. com slash. Partner. And that talks about our quest portal and the custom branded portals and the memberships and the different ways that you can participate with our libraries.
The podcast again is the unofficial, let me make sure I get it right. The unofficial QuickBooks accountants podcast with me and Hector Garcia. And if you’re on Facebook training for QuickBooks users is my Facebook group.
[00:22:35] Kevin Stafford: Nice. Yeah. And obviously wherever you get your podcast, you can find that it’s always tricky picking a podcast name.
That’s actually going to be searchable, but, and also stand out where you’re just like, I get all the right information in there.
[00:22:46] Alicia Pollock: It’s yeah. I wanted something a little more creative or at least had an acronym and we really tried, but it really came down to. The easiest terms to define what we were doing.
[00:22:56] Kevin Stafford: Hey, this podcast is called conversations with coaches. I was like, I kept trying to come up with creative, like cool, fun, slick names. I got everything. And I was like, look, this is called podcast. What the podcast is,
[00:23:08] Alicia Pollock: I always think of it. I always think of this as coffee with coaches.
[00:23:11] Kevin Stafford: It’s just what started out as, cause we were just like, yes, I have a cup of coffee or whatever.
It’s it was a whole, like we wanted a gimmick. And then after a while it was like, it’s just. Let’s just be literal. We’re not, we tried to be creative. It didn’t work out. And literal is perfect because everyone’s so what’s this podcast about? It’s conversations with who?
[00:23:29] Alicia Pollock: No, it’s a great name.
It explains directly what you’re doing. You’ve, you’re a great host with a great knack for asking questions. So I’m always really happy to come and join you.
[00:23:38] Kevin Stafford: Yeah. I always have fun talking with you, even though it’s like you wouldn’t necessarily, the general public wouldn’t necessarily find it like, Oh, it’s an interesting conversation about bookkeeping.
Or about accounting, but there’s just, it’s, I don’t know, my, my brain starts going in like 17 different directions as I start getting excited. And I literally like nerd out in these conversations. So I always have a great time and always learn something too, even though we’re just scratching the surface.
So yeah. Thanks for sharing some Thanksgiving time with me as we’re recording this. Obviously this will probably post later on in the year, happy holidays to, to everyone who celebrates something around this time of year and happy holidays to you, Alicia. It’s just, it’s great to talk to you.
It’s great to
[00:24:13] Alicia Pollock: see you. Thank you very much. And, I’m really glad that we get to actually record this on Thanksgiving because this is the day when everybody goes introspective and thinks about the things that they love about their life and that they’re grateful for in their life. And, I have to just give a shout out to the whole podcasting community and bookkeeping community.
And I love being able to just not work a normal nine to five job where I get to. Be a thought leader and help people. That’s the biggest thing is that I’m grateful that people are learning and growing and becoming better people. And it trickles down that bookkeepers help business owners and business owners are helping clients and, it’s like coming down from the top that we make a better world together.
[00:25:00] Kevin Stafford: And I’m glad you say that on Thanksgiving because this is the time for that kind of sentimentality. But also, I always like to, I always like to burst. I was like, this isn’t sentimentality. This is this is the best part of being alive. This is the good stuff. And yeah, I just, I love that you’re committed to that.
And I love the way in which you articulate that very simply and very cleanly, because that’s just that’s in my, it’s in my heart on a daily basis. And it’s the same for every coach I talk to. It really is like every good coach, every coach worth their salt. Everybody is out there trying to.
Trying to have an impact and just help to be of service in some ways. Like I’ve got something that’ll help. I’ve gone on a journey that I think would be very helpful to you. Let me convert that into a form that you can consume and that will actually help you advance on your journey. And again, yeah, that, like that trickle down that sort of radiating effect where it’s you have no idea.
You’re like, you’re six degrees of Kevin Bacon away from somebody who you’ve actually had a positive influence on it. You’ve really helped because you helped a business, you helped a person. All the way down the line. So yeah I can I’m always here for sentimentality like that. 24, 7, 365, 6, 66 on leap years, which, I should let you go and I should let the audience go.
If you’ve been listening, you already probably have listened to Alicia before links will be links to everything we talked about will be in the show notes, like usual, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts as it were to the name. And I’m not going to try and repeat, but she said it twice and she said it perfectly.
So we’ll have that in the show notes as well. And yeah, do yourself a favor. And at the very, very least, go find some videos, go check some stuff out about Alicia. She’s got a lot to offer. It’s a pleasant conversationalist. So if you want to connect on a more, personal professional level, find her on all the socials.
Thank you so much for sharing some time with us today. Audience so grateful for you. I know it’s Thanksgiving when we’re recording this. It’s not when you’re listening to this, almost certainly. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all that you do and all that you’re thinking about doing. I hope this podcast is just a little tiny ray of sunshine for you.
So one more time. Thank you, Alicia. I want to close with a thank you to
[00:26:52] Alicia Pollock: you. Great to have you. It’s great to be here.
[00:26:55] Kevin Stafford: And we’ll talk to all of you again, very soon.
