Jonathan Reich 
Let’s be honest: most startup’s finance stack probably looks like a junk drawer: Plaid dongles next to Ramp cards next to a mystery Excel file named “final_FINAL_cash”. Puzzle is where we cut the crap and get down to running a business’s books the way that it’s actually supposed to be: Plaid for clean bank connections, … Read more
Alright, y’all, it’s time to put two very real-world tools on the line and see which one actually makes weekly payroll less of a fire drill for SMBs like restaurants, service-based businesses, or anyone else that’s running an hourly team. Homebase and Toast Payroll both promise a litany of things, such as clean hours, clean … Read more
Alright, guys, believe it or not, I wasn’t always a CPA. Before I spent my days surfing spreadsheets, I spent a period of my life doing something I think most people can relate to, which is waiting tables. While I worked at a couple of different restaurants, one thing always kind of stuck with me, … Read more
You may be asking yourself what’s a Digit and a Pilot? And why are we comparing them? Well, they’re not phalanges or ocean-faring vessel drivers, nope, you’re wrong there. They’re something way less engaging; yup, you guessed it, they’re accounting softwares! After all, why else would a CPA who’s certified in all things nerd ever … Read more
Alright y’all, let’s put two very different philosophies under the same light: Digits (AI-native, “autonomous GL” energy) vs Wave Accounting (the freemium crowd-pleaser for soloists and micro-teams). Both claim they’ll save you hours. Both can get your books into fighting shape. But they were built for different jobs and that’s totally acceptable. But today’s comparison … Read more
waiting for! We’ve got a new guy on the block who has a bone to pick with the legacy accounting platforms, and from what I’ve seen of the platform, Digits means business. Digits is not an overlay or a dashboard bolted onto somebody else’s ledger, it is the ledger, and it runs under a litany … Read more
What The Heck is Digits Anyway? Digits calls itself “accounting software for the AI era,” and unlike bolt-on “AI features” slapped onto legacy systems, the AI is the engine here. At the core is the Autonomous General Ledger (AGL going forward because that is indeed a mouthful) is purpose-built to automate categorization, reconciliations, invoicing, A/P, … Read more
Alright y’all, here’s the matchup everyone’s been waiting for: the entrenched incumbent vs. the AI-native upstart. Intuit’s QuickBooks Online is the 600 lb gorilla in the room, and is the most widely used small-business accounting platform in the U.S., and for good reason. It’s flexible, familiar, and can be configured for just about any industry. … Read more
As a CPA who spends a lot of time with owners at major crossroads, I’ve often helped guide business owners on what to do with their life’s work. Some arrive in my office with a tired look and a shoebox of receipts ready to toss in the towel, and others bring dashboards, excel sheets, and … Read more
As a CPA, I find myself advising clients on things I would’ve never even thought of as a possibility. One of those things is, “What do I do with my business now that I’m ready to hang up the mantle? Sell it? Shut it down? Piece meal it out?” The business owners are often tired … Read more
As a CPA who has cleaned up more ledgers than I dare admit, I judge automation by one thing: does it cut typing without hiding risk or just plain, flat out getting things wrong. In my experience, the best tools connect bank and card feeds, apply exceptionally clear rules, route bills for approval, and surface … Read more
What up, number crunchers and SMB owners? I’ve run a CPA for a while now and see how “small” workflow choices ripple into real costs like lost time chasing signatures, rescans because a seal isn’t clear, or a client who gives up halfway through identity checks. Remote Online Notarization (RON) solves a lot of that, … Read more
When clients ask me for “the best apps for tracking receipts,” what they’re really asking for is fewer late-night hunts for crumpled paper, fewer miscoded meals, and a cleaner year end tax filing. I’ve tried out a lot of tools as a CPA that primarily serves small businesses, contractors, and startups, and the right pick … Read more
If you’re like me (and every other accountant that walks the earth), you probably don’t like change. If things aren’t broken, they don’t need to be fixed. Normally, I’d wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, and luckily, I don’t run the world, otherwise we’d never have discovered fire, and we’d still be living in huts. Luckily, … Read more
I’m a CPA who’s spent years living inside payables and receivable doing things such as closing months, clearing audits, and rebuilding workflows when growth outpaced process. And let me tell you, small quality of life items like batch processing is where you win back hours. It sounds small, but it is absolutely worth thinking about. … Read more
What’s up bean counters, finance bros, and SMB owners? I’m a CPA, and therefore live in the weeds of payables, bills, managing invoices, you name it, I’ve handled it. I manage vendor payments for construction crews, retailers, and service shops, among others. When a vendor asks, “Did the ACH clear yet?” it’s my phone that … Read more