Better CAS Advisory: A Narrow Bookkeeping Experiment
Welcome to the CAS Cache, a podcast designed to help accounting firms grow their CAS offerings. This episode is sponsored by TeamUp. Did you know you don't need an outsourcing company to hire an accountant in The Philippines? You can hire someone who works for you and only you. No middlemen, no ongoing fees, just you and your team.
Luke Templin:Learn more at hireteamup.ph. That is hireteamup.ph. Now let's get into this week's episode. For five years, I built a fractional CFO firm that deliberately avoided bookkeeping. No payroll, no bill pay, no constant fires.
Luke Templin:In the last episode, I shared the backstory of how full service bookkeeping created burnout, unpredictability, mistakes that always rolled uphill. So when I launched my firm, I stayed focused on CFO and advisory work. It worked until it didn't. One client exposed a limitation. Their accountant gets pulled into tax season.
Luke Templin:Their books fall behind, and service line margins I need for advisory become guesswork. Direct costs are coded inconsistently. Some service lines look profitable when they are not, and others look weak when they are carrying the business. I've referred the client to trusted people, but they won't commit. At some point, I had to decide whether to keep working with unreliable data or rebuild bookkeeping components that matter most for advisory.
Luke Templin:The core issue is simple. The client can't make informed growth decisions without accurate service line margins, and we can't deliver strong advisory without reliable numbers. This engagement is not about becoming their bookkeeper. It's about restoring clarity so the advisory work has a foundation. We are tightening up the structure of their book so margin by service line are accurate every month.
Luke Templin:Instead of doing all data entry ourselves, we will design simple workflows for the client's internal team to follow, supported by clear SOPs and Loom videos. This keeps us focused on interpretation and decision support rather than transactional work, Just as important is to what we are not doing. We are not taking over payroll. We are not committing to the reactive, high urgency environment that made me avoid bookkeeping in the first place. Every part of the scope is defined by one objective: accurate numbers, a support advisory.
Luke Templin:The good news is the tech stack is already in place. The client is already on zero, bill, and gusto, so we can focus on processes rather than migrations. We may layer in something like uncat later or move them to a more streamlined proposal and invoicing system. But I prefer adding tech only after the underlying process is clear. Tools make sound systems faster, not broken systems better.
Luke Templin:One area where scope creep often begins is payroll. Their current bookkeeper has been processing bonus payrolls. It seems small, but it quickly pulls you in the kind of urgent break fix work that derails your team. We will not be doing that. Instead, we will build a simple Loom walkthrough showing the client to enter their own bonus payrolls in Gusto.
Luke Templin:My pitch to them is straightforward. You are already typing these bonus numbers into an email. You might as well type them directly into Gusto and keep the complete control. You do not need to revive full service bookkeeping to strengthen your adviser work. Start with one client and one objective.
Luke Templin:In this case, the objective is accurate service line margins. Build a narrow scope around that, keep transactional work with the client when practical, and use the existing tech stack before adding new tools. This lets you protect your team, protect your margins, and finally get the clarity you need to deliver meaningful advisory. Thanks for listening to the CAS Cache. For more, visit cascache.com.
Luke Templin:That's cascache.com.
