Nancy McClelland CPA
The Dancing Accountant
Chicago, Illinois, United States
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With her CPA firm The Dancing Accountant, Nancy has been on a lifelong mission to support small businesses and their communities – as well as educate the professionals who serve them. Known for her fun, personal and direct style, it’s no surprise she insists that the future of accounting is built on relationships.
She also runs the 'Ask a CPA' community: a non-judgmental, safe space for bookkeepers who want to learn more about preparing tax-ready books, collaborating with CPAs, booking complex accounting transactions, and breaking into advisory services.
Named one of the Top 10 ProAdvisors by Insightful Accountant, as well as one of Ignition’s Top 50 Women in Accounting, she writes an award-winning blog with insights and resources for business-owners and accounting professionals, and is an engaging speaker… and 60’s go-go dancer!
Area of Expertise
Topics
The Tax-Ready Bookkeeper – Part II: A Year-End Review Checklist
Bookkeepers are intricately involved in business operations, well-positioned to catch important issues before tax-time, and often know details about a client’s situation the CPA may not think to ask… which is why it’s essential that they are able to prepare tax-ready books and communicate effectively with their client’s tax preparers. Since this foundation is built on quality financial statement review and clear workpapers, let’s learn how to make it so – by walking through a year-end book review checklist together, step-by-step.
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From prep work to building the workpapers, to collecting data and comparing prior years, to tying out and eventually presenting the books, we’ve got a road map to get you there. You’ll even receive a copy of the checklist that you can take back to the office and immediately implement with your own clients and their tax pros.
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Handing off clear workpapers that reflect the review work you’ve done on the books can add immense value and build lasting relationships with both your client and the tax preparer (your new favorite referral partner). Because everybody loves a Tax-Ready Bookkeeper!
Engage! Effective Collaboration Between Bookkeepers and Tax Pros
What do bookkeepers most wish tax pros knew… and what do tax pros wish bookkeepers knew? How do we take this historically tense relationship and rewrite it so that everyone wins – bookkeepers, tax pros: and especially our clients? What are the best technologies and tools for collaborating and communicating? What role does the client play? And what do you do when it goes wrong?
Our panel will discuss actionable solutions to these prevailing questions and explore strategies for how bookkeepers and tax pros can collaborate to deliver quality client services together.
Everyone has their horror stories – but instead of focusing on the negatives, let’s dig into lessons learned and build on them, to create effective workflows and learn to establish relationships that serve everyone better. Establishing the right accounting partners and processes not only makes tax-time easier, but can also lead to quality referral arrangements that help scale your firm efficiently.
“Keynote Break”: Scaling New Heights’ Fabulous Accountants of Fitness
Fabulous Accountants of Fitness
aka FAFB (Fabulous Accountants Fitness Break)
aka CPAs (Certified Public All-Stars)
Mainstage Fitness Break Takeover!
A 9-minute break on the mainstage between keynote sessions to get all 1700+ folks standing up and moving around with a fake-jazzercise group of SNH instructors onstage in 1980s-era workout clothing, doing simple but silly and fun side-to-side dance exercises to get people’s energy up and blood flowing before settling back down for another round of keynotes. 5-6 minutes of intro and instruction and 3-4 minutes of a dance-along.
And to preempt any concerns about people being too self-conscious to dance in front of their colleagues: that’s not an issue here, as the lights will still be down, and the focus will be up-front to follow along with the onstage moves, and the choreography will be largely side-to-side to accommodate folks being in their seats. We’ll make this clear in our presentation!
Nancy has loads of successful experience in this odd but fun realm as a member of “The Fabulous Ladies of Fitness”, a group of ladies that perform self-ironic audience dance-along choreographies in bars, clubs, and on mainstages throughout Chicago and Los Angeles: here’s an example of their work with her at the helm at Chicago’s famous SummerDance event a few years back, doing a dance-along with 500 attendees to Laura Branigan’s “Gloria”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq68QpoiG3s
I know Joe Woodard loves 70s/80s soft rock hits as much as I do, so there’s a personal connection as well as something that I think would resonate with the conference demographics.
Ideas for our song:
“She Works Hard for Her Money” – Donna Summer
“9-to-5” – Dolly Parton
“Working For the Weekend” – Loverboy
“Physical” – Olivia Newton-John
“Money Money Money” – ABBA
Or if we wanted to focus on our experiences with clients we could do one of these instead:
“This Is It” – Kenny Loggins
“Self Control” – Laura Branigan
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” – Twisted Sister
This would be a fun way to give the audience an unexpected short break, and get them ready to focus on the next speaker with renewed energy and perspective, and by following Nicole Davis’ lead and using SNH instructors as the performers, it would preserve the SNH budget and build camaraderie.
Adventures in S-Corp Reasonable Compensation: Be the Hero Your Clients Deserve
Are your S-Corp clients paying themselves the right amount for Reasonable Compensation? How do you know? Why should you care? And what can you do about it? Learn to stress-test shareholder-employee payroll and be a hero to your clients by saving them precious payroll tax dollars (or penalties for underpayment).
Contrary to popular belief, RC analysis is not limited to tax preparers – bookkeepers can (and should) also perform RC analysis as a high-value advisory service, or at least know what to look for so they can communicate potential issues to the client and tax pro.
We’ll walk through a real-world client interview and case study step-by-step and provide attendees with a ready-to-use questionnaire to take back to the office and make it happen with your own clients!
Best Practices for 1099 Preparation Services: Streamlined Reporting
Stay ahead of 1099 season by leveraging the latest technology and best practices for 1099 preparation services. This session dives into the latest IRS regulations, critical deadlines, and common mistakes to avoid. Learn how to efficiently manage 1099 forms for your clients, handle various types of income, and leverage tools to automate the process. Whether you're expanding this service or fine-tuning your existing approach, you'll leave with actionable strategies to ensure compliance, accuracy, and a smoother filing season.
Boldly Share: How Top ProAdvisors Build Stronger Practices By Asking For Support
Do you sometimes feel you're the only one who doesn't have it together? When you procrastinate, what is it you're putting off? Is there a part of running your business you’re embarrassed to admit you just can’t stand?
If so… would it surprise you to find out that leaders in our field routinely struggle with similar shortcomings and self-doubt? Hear frank stories of personal weak spots from top ProAdvisors and ask about their strategies for moving past them. Learning that you’re not alone can help you confront your weaknesses, amplify your strengths, and bypass your roadblocks to success.
This panel of accounting superstars has agreed to be bold: going into uncharted territory by confessing their struggles to us – and recognizing that being vulnerable enough to share their fears is what ultimately helps address them.
The Tax-Ready Bookkeeper
Why learn about tax? Bookkeepers are intricately involved in business operations, well-positioned to catch important issues before tax-time, and often know details about a client’s situation the CPA may not think to ask. By learning just a few tax tips and tricks, you can add value, lean into advisory, and boldly lead your clients where they need to go!
You are the "final frontier" when it comes to addressing topics that are brought up too late if clients wait to talk to their CPAs at tax-time. And you might also have insider knowledge that could help the client that a CPA wouldn't necessarily think to ask about, like plans for expansion or stepping away from the helm. Learning a few things about taxes can add value and allow you to charge more – and be a shining star.
As a bookkeeper, you have unique insight into your client’s universe. By going beyond the numbers and mastering these tax essentials, you will be able to explore new opportunities for your clients and yourself. Expand your services and increase your value and income. Excel in your profession by staying updated on the latest tax rules and best practices and building strong relationships with CPAs and clients. This session will help you launch your bookkeeping career out of this world!
Scaling New Heights®️ 2024 Sessionize Event
Nancy McClelland CPA
The Dancing Accountant
Chicago, Illinois, United States
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