Accounting Does Not Suck with Nolan Bradbury

In episode 36 of Retail Checks and Balances, Kevin Spencer interviews Nolan Bradbury, founder of Bradfield Accounting and Advisory, as he shares the misconceptions surrounding the accounting profession, the importance of mindset in business, and how Nolan helps business owners achieve their personal and professional goals.

Tune in as we explore Nolan's insights into the accounting field and his passion for supporting entrepreneurs in their business journeys.

TIMESTAMPS

[00:02:20] Psychology with numbers.

[00:06:07] Family office light concept.

[00:10:03] Conscious decision-making in business.

[00:11:03] Workforce retirement and supply issues.

[00:15:03] Legacy and its impact.

[00:19:00] Success and client improvement.

[00:23:41] Financial improvement and consultations.

[12:34:56] The impact of social media.

QUOTES

• "I want someone to help me kind of buy back my time without sacrificing the things that are going to create a legacy for my family." - Nolan Bradbury
• "It's no longer my job to make you do the right thing. It's my job to make sure that you have all the information to make the best choice for yourself." - Nolan Bradbury
• "Whether you're a business owner or not a business owner, whatever your financial situation is, it can be improved and it can be changed." - Nolan Bradbury

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Kevin Spencer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kspencer007/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinspencer007/

Nolan Bradbury

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-bradbury/

WEBSITE

Rod Plus Solutions: https://rodplussolutions.com/

Bradfield Accounting & Advisory: https://bradfieldco.com/

Transcript

Welcome to Retail Checks and Balances, a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the bustling world of commerce and culinary delights to help you grow your business and win. Join us as we explore the fascinating stories, trends, and challenges that shape the retail and hospitality industry, from cozy corner cafes to sprawling shopping malls and everything in between. And now, here's your host, Kevin Spencer.

Okay. Welcome again to Retail Checks and Balances. Today, we have a special guest, Nolan Bradbury, founder of Bradfield Accounting and Advisory. Nolan, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.

Kevin Spencer 

Pleasure to be here.

Nolan Bradbury

So tell us about, give us an introduction about yourself, where you are today, you know, what inspired you to get into your professional field?

Kevin Spencer 

Yeah, so currently, like you said, founder of Bradfield Accounting Advisory. I got into this even though I went to college to be focused in psychology, somewhere along the way, got lured along by the very sexy field of accounting and transitioned to that. And went the path of, I graduated, got my license, worked for one of the large, at the time, big four accounting firms, did that for a couple years, but kind of found that what I was doing, it just felt like it was a necessary evil, and it wasn't necessarily actually helping people. And so I left and went into private, and helped take a company public, and worked on that for about six years. And again, though, kind of got to this point where I was like, I like what I'm doing, I like the people I'm with, but it just feels like there's something lacking. And so about that time, I transitioned and started working with founders and business owners to improve their goals and help them reach their goals and objectives by giving them better accounting and finance advice. And so I've been doing that for about 13 years. And the big thing I think that maybe didn't inspire me at the time to get into accounting, but what inspires me today is there's a lot of people out there who are working really, really hard to grow and scale their business. But it's often not for the purposes of just having a bigger business. They're doing it for another purpose. Usually it's something personal or family driven. And what I want to do is help them achieve both of those goals. So help them figure out how the business can be better and more efficient. so that they can have more time doing the thing that's most important to them.

So it's like psychology with numbers, right?

It is. And I would say that I get that a lot. People are like, you don't talk like a normal accountant. And then I tell them that story like, oh, that makes a lot more sense. Because I firmly believe that a lot of the things that hold us back, as business owners in particular, are mindset issues. They're limiting beliefs that we create for ourselves. And we have to sort of unpack that and rewire those. so that we can actually move through and do the things that we have to do, not just on the accounting and finance front and other areas of the business, but I do believe a lot of it comes back to sort of things we set up to hold us back.

No, that's interesting because, you know, most of the time business owners just fixate on how much sales they're getting, what's in the bank account, and not looking at what you can bring to the table in terms of forecasting and seeing friends and things like that. Which brings me to my next question. Can you talk about some of the misconceptions people have about your field?

Yeah. So when people hear CPA, they think of another three letter word tax. And the reality is that that is like a subset of being a CPA, but it's not the only thing. And so I actually don't do any taxes. I respect the people who do them. It's just not my area of interest. It's more compliance based and sort of how I said in the beginning that like I wanted to help people more. I feel like the compliance is less about helping people and again, more about that sort of necessary evil. And so I think a lot of it is that, you know, it's dispelling this idea that accounting is, is that a necessary evil? There's surveys out there that show that for business owners, accounting in particular is the least enjoyable part of running their business. I know that's shocking to anyone listening who has dealt with that. But it's true. And the unfortunate thing, though, is that when you when you have this thing that you don't like, human nature is that we avoid things we don't like. And so by formula, right, we avoid accounting, but it's like a cornerstone of your business. I think anyone gets given truth serum would say like, oh, I, even though I hate it, like I know that I need, it's important. Right. It's not about that. And so I think part of the misconception is how do we change the view through which you see accounting? How do we make it something that you understand actually can help drive profitability and drive improved cash flow and be an assistant to your business rather than something that sort of comes in at the end and says no about everything? So I think that is oftentimes how people think about accountants and accounting. It's the guy who says, I can't do what I want to do. Right? It's that negative mindset. And in actuality, it doesn't need to be like that. There are a lot of ways that we can make it be very, very helpful for you and not feel as negative.

Great. What would be something that would excite you in terms of a particular go-to project that you would like to have?

Yeah, so one of the things that we're we're building out right now, we've been doing it for a little while, is what I kind of call family office light. And so the idea behind it is as business owners, again, sort of scale and they're able to sort of step away from the business or that they they're able to get the business to a point where it's doing what it needs to do financially for them, that what they realize is that there's this tipping point where the next dollar they make is less important than the way they spend their next hour. And so what we try to do is help them understand how the same methods and applications that we applied in the business side can also be applied from a family and an individual perspective. And so what I mean by that is we come in and we analyze your family from a variety of different perspectives, estate planning, taxes, insurance, both P&C and D&I, entity structures, Families can have entities and they can be very helpful in that sense. And we put out sort of a path forward for you to optimize all of these things so that you can get these financial outcomes that you want for your family, not just on the business side. But then the other piece that's really critical to that is, that's great. But if you're not an expert in any of those fields, how do you execute on any of that? And so that's then where we help execute on it as well, is we source the subject matter experts for them. We bring the people into play. We help do all of that work. So that really they're only spending maybe a couple hours a month on average, but getting all the things taken care of that they know they need to. And so the reason it excites me is that it opens up an opportunity for a lot of people that otherwise wouldn't have access to that sort of opportunity. And that's great because as a business owner, it's what I would want as well. I want someone to help me kind of buy back my time without sacrificing the things that are going to create legacy for my family.

Yeah, I think that's awesome because it's a turnkey solution you're offering at a one stop. So I think that's an amazing initiative that you should be very excited about. Let's take a step into the sense of challenges and lessons learned, what you've faced in your career and how you've overcome them.

Yeah, there's been lots, let's be honest, right? The thing that I always sort of come back to is, and this probably stems from the psychological degree where I wanted to start, is at the end of the day, I really do care about the people I work with and I really want them to be successful. You should. Uh, and what's that? I said, we all should. Yeah. And it, the challenge, the right is that there are times, uh, in my career where I have cared more than the client. And that is as much as you want something for someone, you, you can't make them want it more. And so it's like the old adage, right? You can lead the horse to water, but you can't make it drink. And a younger version of me really struggled with that idea that Why do you not want this? Do you not understand how important this is for yourself? I just couldn't, I had a really hard time rationalizing the behavior or lack of behavior that I would see in clients. They're telling me they want this, and yet they don't do anything about it. How is that possible? And as I've gotten older, I've come to better understand that it's not that they don't care, it's just they care about other things more. And that's okay. Everything is a priority in life. Every decision we make has a consequence. Sometimes the consequences are great. Sometimes the consequences are not so great. Sometimes you don't even realize what the consequence is, but every choice has an offset to it. And that's okay. And what I've come to change my perspective on is that it's no longer my job to make you do the right thing. It's my job to make sure that you have all the information to make the best choice for yourself. And so I kind of refer to it as I want you making conscious decisions, not unconscious decisions. So it's OK if I tell you that all the data says you should do A and you want to do B, fine. So long as you know that the data says A and you understand that, I'm OK with that. That's your personal preference. It's your money. It's your time at the end of the day. What I don't want to have people doing is not know that A is what they should do and they pick B. that's what I want to help differentiate. I think that's been the biggest challenge in my life, but it's paid off hugely as I've gotten to that point because it allowed, it has allowed me to be better, a better server of my clients.

Great. And I guess that takes you into the trends in your industry, right? And what, what you think you're going to be heading to in the next five to 10 years?

Yeah. So, CPA accountant in particular is a very interesting industry right now because one, a lot of people who are CPAs are aging out, they're retiring. There was a study like seven years ago or so that said in the next five to six years, like 60 to 70% of the workforce was going to be retiring. That is an astounding number leaving the workforce in a very short period of time. And compounding that is nobody is entering the workforce. There's a very low number of people graduating with that degree. And so part of the challenge, right, is you have this supply issue. The demand is not necessarily changing, right? People still need taxes done. People still need help growing their business. People still need all of that. And so I think we're going to see probably more people come back into the accounting field because it's a market and there's an inefficiency. It always sort of shakes itself out. But I think part of that solution is going to be achieved on a global scale. I think we're going to see more and more work done internationally and across borders simply because that's where the people are. People moved out overseas. There are more accountants overseas. And I think another component of it is going to be AI. I mean, that's the answer to everything these days, right? It's like crypto from like three years ago. Everything is crypto. Now it's everything is AI. And I think that AI will solve a lot of the challenges because I think it will be able to take away some of the very mundane, repetitive tasks and allow accountants to be a bit more client centric and client focused. But it's also going to take a while, I think, for people to trust either of those options. Right. People are used to having things done a certain way and they don't like change. I totally understand that. So I don't think it's going to be a quick adoption on the majority of the marketplace. You know, there's always early adopters and laggards and the bulk are in the middle. Right. But I think that those two things are going to see we're going to see a lot of that in the future as as because there's just a shortage. You know, people are just not doing not going the same fields they used to.

Nice. Let's take a little twist here. Outside of work, what are some of your hobbies or interests and how do you maintain that work-life balance? Let's see.

Yeah, so, uh, I'm blessed to have a family. I have kids and they're getting to that age where soon they're no longer going to want to spend time with me. I'm well aware of that day coming here very soon. Uh, and so a lot of what I spend my time now is, uh, we travel, um, and I, I love to see the world with them and through their eyes, it's kind of like, I get to experience something twice. I get to see it myself and then I get to see how they interpret it. And that is like, if you're fortunate enough to be a parent, that is like an amazing thing to be blessed with. It just, it does not get cooler. Um, and then both my kids are pretty good athletes. Uh, one is very good at soccer. One is very good at gymnastics and, um, you know, the soccer one actually, he takes us internationally. So we travel abroad for him and we travel kind of all over the globe. And that kind of combines the two things at once. So it's, it's really amazing to get to see your kids be successful at something they really love, and then also get to combine that with the opportunity to sort of see the world. It's awesome.

It's like the best thing.

So hopefully it continues for a while before they no longer want to hang out with dad.

At least from a soccer perspective, you have a long career ahead of him. Hopefully. So let's talk about, you know, what do you hope your legacy would be in your field?

Yeah, that's a great question. Legacy is a really important word to me because it's the thing I talk actually the most about with my clients. You know, I talked about like how business owners, they get to this point where the next dollar they make is less important than the way they spend their next hour. And that mind shift is a lot of times about them starting to think differently about how their legacy is going to play out. And not in the sense of like, oh, what is like, how will people remember me? It's not like that sort of thing. It's about. How will how is all all of this work that I've done, everything I put my time and my soul into, how will it actually impact the next generation? My kids, my kids' kids, if that so happens to be the case, how will I, how will what I've done shape their lives? And it's both from the standpoint of like the money aspect, but also like, did I raise them the best way? Did the money actually make things worse? Did it, like, do they understand the importance of it? Right. And all those things. And so for me, the legacy I wanna leave is, I want that for myself, I'd be selfish, I'd be lying if I didn't say that as well. But I also, I want my legacy to be that I help others create their legacy. I want to be the person that helps steward them towards what they want, and that they got the advice that was the thing that helped them live the life they wanted. That sounds really cheesy, but it is 100% true. I genuinely want every one of my clients to reach every single goal they ever set out for themselves. I hope that that's the legacy I leave behind professionally. Personally, I hope that my family views me as a great husband and father. I hope that whenever the last day on this little green earth comes for me, that the people that are still here enjoy the time with me and that I gave more than I took. I think that would be my answer in terms of legacy, both professionally and personally.

And I mean, everybody should want that as far as I'm concerned, you know, and I like that you separated it from a work life and family life, you know, their two legacies.

It's hard, though, right? Let's be honest. It is.

That's why it impressed me, you know, is I have never heard anybody talk about legacy from a two form, you know, and, you know, it's it's good that you said that.

But I think part of the challenge, right, is that I think as business owners, so much of our identity is wrapped up in our business, right? And that it isn't that we don't care about our family. It's just that we oftentimes first identify as a professional. And yet, I think if we ask those people an honest question, they would say, what is most important? It's their family. Right. And that that's that is this conundrum that we face in society right now in a lot of cases, which is like what we say often differs than how we behave. Right. That phone call rings and it's dinnertime. Are you taking it or are you sitting there with your kids? There's not a wrong answer to that. But what is the does is what your behavior does, how you behave? Is that in alignment with what you say your most important values are? That's a hard thing for a lot of us. I know I'm guilty of it. I'm not calling. I would be a hypocrite if I didn't say it right. Like I there are times where I'm like, oh, and I find myself going, oh, that's you know, and our kids are great at calling us out on it, too. Right. Oh, yeah. Big time. They're like, hey dad, you want to get off your phone? Oh yeah, let me do that for you.

I'm sorry about that. Which brings me to another question, you know, how do you measure success in your work?

Yeah, it's a great question. As you can see by the big heavy sigh and pause in my response. I'm going to say there's multiple components to this. I think that there is naturally an element of financial success that whether you want to admit it or not plays into this. It isn't about like getting the biggest number. It's about is the number you have, does it allow you to do what you want to do? So there's an element of that that I think is part of success. But I also think that success is about for me, have I improved my clients' lives? That's a big hurdle, right? That's a very profound statement when you stop and think about it. That's not an easy thing to say, yes, and check the box and move on. But I would be lying if I said that I didn't care about that. I do care about that. I do want my clients to feel as though having worked with me, they've improved. Things are better than if they hadn't had worked with me. And then I think, you know, outside of that, like kind of like what we talked about from a legacy standpoint, like how does my family and friends view me when it's all said and done? Um, you know, did I, did I spend my time doing the things that were most important to me? Or did I get distracted by things that weren't the most important things in my life? I think success is very easy sort of to come down on. Oh, well, it's about, did you have the most things? I'll tell you, I'll be honest with you, some of the years I made the most, I was the most unhappy. And I don't think that was a coincidence. That doesn't mean that lacking a lot of money makes you happy. I don't think it's an inverse thing, but I don't think that just because you have a lot, that you're immediately happier. So yeah, I think success is a difficult question because I think it, It's not a single element. It's a multifaceted sort of component of like a lot of different things. And I think you kind of need to have all of them where you want to actually feel successful. Otherwise, I think there's a part of you that sort of feels like an area is lacking, even if you can't put your finger on it.

Very nice. Very cool. Um, so let's round up by, um, you know, are there any significant achievements that you've had from, from a business perspective as well as personal since we've been doing both?

Um, yeah, I mean, you know, like there are these moments where you help your clients and you're like, Oh, wow, that was, Like I know that I made things better. Like we recently were, we're working with a client who's in our family office light program. And when he came on, he was, uh, he was refinancing the building that he owned for his practice. Um, and he was paying a lot. And so he'd worked this deal and he was going to save like five or $6,000 a month. That's awesome. Like not, not take away from that. And like right before he's about to sign, I asked him, I was like, Hey, can we just take a look at this and make sure like we understand what's in there and that like, you know, we're good to, we're good to go on this. We did. And we called a couple of things out like, Hey, I'm not sure that this is the best thing for you. Like we should talk to the lender before you sign. And what was interesting is that the deal fell apart very quickly from the lender side. And that always sort of makes me go, why, why? Just because we asked a couple of questions. And so we started to get, we gave him some other options on the lending side. We gave him like three or four other options, one of which in the end is going to save him about, uh, about $192,000 a year. Uh, and that is not an insignificant amount of money to someone. And so like the, what he can do with that and where, how he can use that additional cashflow. Like, I'm really happy for him. I'm really proud of that, that we did a really great job and got him an even better offer that I think long-term will like pay him greater dividends. Personally, I'd be lying if I didn't say it was getting to see my kids be successful at things they're great at. I am always amazed at like, I watch them and there's like hundreds of eyes, sometimes thousands of eyes like on them and their ability to perform at the level they do in that moment, it's baffling to me. Like, I don't know that I could do it quite honestly, like having that kind of scrutiny. And so like, that is like an amazing sort of like, It's not my achievement, but the ability to get to see that is awesome.

Extremely awesome. I must say, Nolan, this has been very inspiring. And I like the fact that you portray this work and personal balance. And it's something that everybody should really be working towards. And I like the fact that you're so passionate about it. And it speaks to many, many voices when you hear things like that. Any takeaways you want to give your audience?

Yeah, you know, what I would say is if you're out there, you're listening to this one. Thank you for making it through all the accounting. I commend you for sticking with us on this. But two, I would say. Whether you're a business owner or not a business owner, whatever your financial situation is, it can be improved and it can be changed. You may not think so, but I promise you it can be. And not to pitch myself, but if you're at a place and you want some help or you just want to like talk through something with someone, like I do free consultations for people. Like I'm more than happy to like sit down with you and talk about like what you have and how we might be able to help you or how I can refer you to someone else who might be able to help you better. But don't accept where you're at as like where it's going to end. I promise you, you can improve things and make things better. It's just a matter of like, what do we have to change to make that possible? Change is hard, not gonna lie to you, not gonna be easy. But oftentimes, like some of the things we can do for people are very simple. And once they realize the difference it can make, it's a lot easier for them to do it and then they are on board and they're on their way. And so if we can help more people out there, I'd love to do it. So yeah, feel free to reach out to me. Find me on LinkedIn. Find us on our website, Bradfieldco.com. And love to be able to help more people, quite honestly. That's what I'm here for.

So LinkedIn handle?

Yeah, very creatively, Nolan Bradbury. So yeah, I am an accountant still, not the most creative person in the world. So that trait holds true for myself. So you can find me on LinkedIn at Nolan Bradbury is the handle. And then Bradfield, I know it's not my last name. There's a story behind that. I won't bore you with it, but the bradfieldco.com is the business.

Okay. Thank you so much. Really, really amazing time that we spent in and I'm sure people will love it going forward.

Thanks for having me, Kevin. I really appreciate you having me on.

Thanks so much for tuning into this episode. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show wherever you consume podcasts, so we'll get updates as new episodes become available. And if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Until next time, friends.