How To Reduce Your Tax Liability w/ Barbara Schreihans - Your Tax Coach

SPEAKER_00 0:04

This is the Beyond the Story Podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story. And now, Sebastian Frost. Barbara, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Great to see you again. Well, I mean, this is a podcast, but I'm looking at you here. So we met in uh the uh the the very uh incredible and always uh interesting city of Las Vegas uh during Super Bowl. Good times.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Vegas is very interesting.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

I'm good with Vegas. If I never go back there again, it'll be too soon. That's what I left with. Oh, I like the experience. I love the experience, but I didn't need Vegas for I mean, I did because that's where it was at, but I didn't I didn't play one card game and I love gambling. Weird.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

I love Vegas in 24 hours since. Like I don't even like to stay in a room. It's just like go there in the morning, do what you need to do, get out.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Yeah, right, exactly. So uh interesting. Maybe it's part of adulting. I don't know. Who knows? Right. But uh you and I had a couple of conversations over the course of a couple of days. It was a good time there. We had a good time there in the in the penthouse during the during the uh during the Super Bowl. And I I had heard of you, and then we met um uh obviously in in Las Vegas learning about you know what you do. And I thought, well, let's get you on the let's get you on the podcast because you know, CPA, that that type of work, money, accounting, like it's really boring shit most of the time. I don't get that vibe with your brand. First of all, the brand is um, you know, it's it's it's easy to understand and digest. And I think that's really, really easy. I mean, I'm really easy to just good, especially when it comes to things like CPAs and numbers and accounting, because I think most people avoid it, don't know that they need it until it's too late that they need it. But you've been able to uh to to really create a digestible way uh in my experience thus far. So I'm excited uh to learn more uh about what you're doing. But before we get into all that, let's help people better understand a little bit more about you and your backstory and how you became so cool.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Oh, thanks. I mean, man, I could go back to like childhood, right? Whenever people are like, how did you become an accountant? Or did you always want to be an accountant? I'm like, dude, if anyone ever tells you they grew up wanting to be an accountant, they're lying, right? Um, but I was always really good with numbers. So I knew I would wanted to do something with that. And then like, man, I just grew up really poor. Like my parents were arrested for stealing groceries poor, right? And so I always knew like I wanted to help people with their money and their money mindset. And my major in college was business. I got pregnant in college, I went to my career counselor and I was like, I'm pregnant. I need a major where like 100% when the day I graduate, I'm gonna get a job. And they were like accounting. And I was like, shit, like, I don't want to do accounting. That's boring, right? Like you said, it's not sexy. Who who like wants to be an accountant? But that's what I did because I was having a baby. And when I got to like the corporate world, I was like, man, this sucks. Like accounting firms don't actually help people, right? And so, you know, 10 years later in the corporate world, I was like, that's it. I'm starting my own brand where like all we do is educate business owners on how to save money in taxes and help them save their money. We're helping families, like getting back 10, 20,000, $100,000 in taxes. And that's like life-changing, you know. So I really turned a major I didn't want to do into my life's work as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

So it's kind of it's funny how that ends up working out. It uh you didn't want to do it. And of course, then again, you probably didn't expect to get pregnant in college either. So life's full of all kinds of different surprises on here. So, how long have you been doing it for yourself and had your own brand?

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Um, just over two years. So I started 1-1-2020. Again, we talked, you and I talked about like I need certain numbers. My number was like gotta start January 1st. And uh, you know, two months later, the pandemic hit. And I was like, well, that's shitty timing to start a business. Um but again, we pivoted like because of COVID, there were so many government programs that could help business owners, right? Like PPP loans, EIDL loans, ERTC credits that we just advertised that, like, hey, let us just help your business. And that's really how we grew. Like we kept businesses open, and so they referred us to everybody, and our business just blew up.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Amazing. So you've had some some explosive growth over the past two years.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Well, because when you do a good job, I mean, you're that's the type of you're in the line of work where when you do a good job, uh, the referral base is is extremely lucrative, um, which is great. That's fantastic. I love hearing stories of you. Jumped out on your own, it was a couple of years a couple of years ago, and uh and you're already seeing uh you know the results uh uh of your efforts. So let's talk a little bit about what you actually do for people. So if I found you or was introduced to you and I didn't know that I needed a CPA, well, I guess it's a two-prong question. One is what's your approach to people that don't know they need a CPA? And number two, what's your approach to people that know that they do? Maybe they need a better solution.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Yeah, I think a good example, like 90% of our leads come from Instagram. We're really heavy on Instagram, and they just start following us and they see our stories every day of like all we do is share client wins. You know, we're saving people money. We saved this person 10,000, this person 20,000. So they eventually DM us and they're like, hey, how are you doing this? You know, like I'm doing taxes myself, so I'm not really saving money, or I have an account and they're not telling me that they're saving me money. So what are you doing different? And really, we're just giving them the deductions that they should have had and adding in some tax strategies that maybe they don't know about, and they're saving a ton of money. So we always go from it from like, we don't cost you anything, we're just basically a return on your investment.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

Oh, I like that. It's not gonna cost you anymore. Yeah, exactly. You're getting a return on on the work that we're doing. So, do you work with solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, large corporations, small companies? What who's your avatar?

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Yeah, really any business owner, non-public. So we have super small startup companies. We have companies like making a hundred million dollars. Um, any of them we can save money on taxes.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Amazing. And it's it's pretty much all the same work. It doesn't matter if they're doing 100 million or 1 million, it's still the same type of work for you, or is there more work involved the more money they make?

SPEAKER_01 7:00

There is a little bit more work, of course. Um, there's more strategies we can add in, the more money people make, but um, it's generally all the same, right? It's just having your back as a business owner, digging into your books, finding ways for you to save.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Amazing. What would you say has been the toughest part of jumping out on your own and creating your own brand?

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Oh gosh. I think at the very beginning, believing in myself.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah. That's a tough thing, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 7:34

That was like, and I would have never even started my business if my husband wasn't like, why don't you just start your own? And I was like, oh, light bulb moment, you know? Yeah. Um, and then and then once I did, I honestly didn't quit my last firm for months because I had to like hold on to something. I still wasn't believing in myself. And eventually I cut the tie. But but yeah, I think that's the struggle for most business owners, or why people don't become business owners is because they just don't believe that they can do it.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Yeah, I mean, if you don't believe it, nobody else is. It took me a long time too. I mean, I launched my brand 12 years ago. It took me seven to start believing in myself and what I was doing. It was all just a bunch of noise and smoke and mirrors. But once you, when you somebody say when you step into your power, I'm like, I'm in my power. And like, you know, until you actually are in it and living your passion and doing work that matters and solving problems and serving people, um, you know, you're it's it's tough to go and figure that all out. But believing in what you do. I fact it's funny that you say that. I I I was I was had a conversation earlier this week, and somebody was saying, help us but understand a little bit more, you know, about what you do and about you too. And I said, um, and one of the main things that I remember saying, I remember everything I said, but specifically was that uh it this becoming my passion and my life's work with podcasting and the stuff that I'm doing. And I'm like, I and I say that to you with absolute certainty. And I don't believe that a lot of things in this world where people can say that, that when you are living in and working in your zone of genius with absolute certainty, you know, uh, it's a good feeling. And I think things flow just a little bit easier. There's always going to be hiccups and hurdles, you know, because that's the world of entrepreneurship, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Right. And like you're helping other entrepreneurs believe in themselves that they can have a podcast, right? So it's all like full circle.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Correct. Correct. It is absolutely full circle. And uh so uh we talked about the challenging parts. What's been the best part outside of the monetary success of having a growing good business? What's been the best part about it? Who have you become in this process?

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Um honestly being someone that, and it sounds weird to say, but like that business owners can look up to, like our clients really, really confide in us. And to have someone like basically take care of your finances, that's really scary, you know. Um, but when clients come to us with, hey, we're buying this new Airbnb, or hey, I have this opportunity or that opportunity, like the the trust that our clients have in us is really, really cool. Um, and then just like celebrating their wins. Like my whole team and I, like last week, someone was like, the money you saved us is paying for our entire wedding. And the whole team just like celebrates. We're like, that's so cool, you know, it makes our long hours worth it.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

It totally does. That's that's outstanding. I guess you never really think about that. Like the money that you're saving based on having a CPA, where is that being allocated in life and in business? I mean, wedding, like, yeah, that's that's uh yeah, but can I get that on video real quick?

SPEAKER_01 10:41

We did, we did, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Yeah, I was gonna tell can we tell the world this? I think there's you know, I think that's uh extremely important. So how big's your team?

SPEAKER_01 10:50

We have 10, 10 full timers.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Amazing. And is everybody in the same location or is there people spread out everywhere?

SPEAKER_01 10:56

No, we're all remote. So we can help people in any state. So it doesn't really matter where my people work. I think we're in we're in six states in terms of employees right now.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Amazing. So, and what's on deck for 2022? I mean, that's when we're recording this podcast episode, at least at this time. So we're somewhat in the beginning of it here. So what's what's on deck? Are you looking to expand the team too? Or are there new products and services that you're rolling out? Besides a podcast, of course.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Yes, a podcast. But yeah, I think you know, we'll probably add on four to six new team members this year before next tax season. I can't believe we're already like talking about next tax season, but um four to six new team members. We we have already done retreats, but we're adding we're having a huge retreat in the fall.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Oh, let's talk about that for a second here. Not just that. We'll we'll talk about the details of that, but why would you have a retreat based on being a CPA? That's very interesting.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Yeah, so it's called Wildly Wealthy. Historically, it's been all women because what I found with our clients is that really entrepreneurs in general, but specifically female entrepreneurs are really scared to talk about their money. Yeah. Um, and this retreat, it's like very holistic. It's like woo-woo and strategy. So, like, we'll get to your self-limiting beliefs, your money mindsets, your blocks, um, what your life goals really are, what's your dream life? How do we like reverse engineer that in terms of money? And how do we retire early as well? So it's a lot of like woo-woo and finance. Um, our retreat this fall will be a couple's retreat. I love that. Because totally. I mean, we have like sound bath healers, like breath work, breath work crying.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Like it's crying's good, crying's good, purge. Let's go. Get it out.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

I might go. When is it? I want to go.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

When?

unknown 12:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

It's this fall. Um, and it's this one's for couples. So money is the number one reason why people get divorced. So that's why we want to have a couples retreat next.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

So that'll be cool. All right, I'll work on the girlfriend and uh you let me know what the date you let me know what the dates are. Uh well, this is great. I I have a friend of mine that's in uh my my networking group, my BNI networking group, and she helps people organize a budget. In fact, I just went through a program because I was like, how do I pay myself a salary? How does that all work? And those legitimate. So she's not a CPA and she's not an attorney. Uh, she's actually a very young entrepreneur that it just has the just the world by the horns uh very early on at the age of 26, uh, and it's just crushing it. And I went through her program. I'm gonna introduce you to her. Her name is um Amelia Bender, but we call her Mills for short. And we had a casual meeting three years ago, and I'm like, why don't you call your company Mills Knows Bills? And that's exactly what it became. And she has just exploded her brand, 26 years old, crushing the game. And uh, she's the president of our of our BI chapter too. And uh I love it. I'm gonna make a contact too because I know you guys are definitely gonna have some sort of like crossover with being able to help each other because again, she's not a CPA, so she's the one that could tee the people. She preps the people, gets them all organized, and then sends them over to use for even more organization. So perfect. I'm gonna make that introduction. I love the correlation there. When I think money is funny, top of mind, branding, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:15

See, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Uh so um you're you you took some time. You're on vacation right now, so you took some time to hang out with me. I appreciate that. You're in Sedona, Arizona. I'm a little envious. I my daughter's in Phoenix. She said it's very hot though.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

I mean, Phoenix is very hot. Sedona is less hot because it's in the mountains.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Oh, good, good, good. Well, that's a that's a that's a good one. I'm hoping you're getting some some some good RR. It's hard not to do out in that uh uh area of uh of of of the desert. Um, but I sure appreciate you hanging out with me and telling your story a little bit about what you got going on here. I love what you got going on. I want to know more about your business and maybe we can do some business together. Um because I'm not slowing down by any stretch of the imagination. So um, but I do appreciate your time. It's been fun to hang out with you. I want to I don't want to take any more of your time once you get back to vacation on here, but I'm like, I gotta get you on. I want to continue our conversation from Las Vegas. I want to learn about what you do um and learn a little bit more about you, and we've been able to do that. So um we have to come back sometime soon to the show. Um, I look forward to your podcast. I'm gonna be on your podcast and talk about all the amazing things you did for my business. Perfect. Thanks again, Barbara. And um, friends, if you're listening to this right now, you're like, hold on a second. I didn't even know I needed a CPA, or I've got a CPA and they suck. You're gonna need to connect with her. So either reach out to me and I'll make an introduction personally. Her contact info is all of her socials will be in the show notes. That's the description of this podcast episode in case you're wondering what in the world a show note is. So thanks again, Barbara. Enjoy vacation. Uh, and uh until next time, friends.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story Podcast. Be sure to appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Signing off from the podcast, launchlab.com studios,