CFOToday

It all started with a vision to help other small business owners realize their dreams.

John Harrison knew it was lonely out there for small business owners. He set out to provide support for these owners, and has gone on to develop a franchise that is revolutionizing accounting for small businesses. This is John's account of how he began CFOToday .

In 1983, I owned a successful CPA firm. Although I probably should have been content, I began feeling frustrated and wondered if I was truly making a difference in the success of my small business clients. I remember one day specifically when a client who had become a personal friend received his financial statements. He picked them up, and like most clients immediately turned to the third page, the income statement. I saw a confused and frustrated look on his face as he declared, "Something must be wrong! You keep telling me that I'm making all this income, yet I don't have any cash! Where's my cash?" At that moment my frustrations as a CPA became clear. I realized that my fees were more than my client and friend could really afford; moreover, he did not even understand the reports the CPA profession required me to give him. Further, my client was not receiving vital financial and business consulting to help him succeed in his business. At this point I decided to change careers — to find a profession where I was truly helping others to achieve their dreams.

This career change led me to create a business that allowed my clients to gain control of their personal finances to become financially independent. As this required providing seminars throughout the state of Florida, I had a great deal of time to reflect on the CPA profession. Consequently, I questioned why there was not a profitable way to provide services necessary services to small business clients. At this time, my brother, Tom, was working with me on a unique recordkeeping concept which I implemented into my personal financial planning seminars for individuals. It allowed individuals to easily track personal receipts and disbursements in an understandable manner.

One night I was reflecting on several things: my personal financial planning business, the CPA profession, and the recordkeeping system that was working so well for my individual clients. Suddenly, I had a vision and realized my destiny. I was going to revolutionize accounting for small businesses by providing meaningful financial records at an affordable price. More importantly, since I could use a para-professional to produce those financial records, I was going to be able to provide the financial and business consulting services those clients really needed — at no additional charge. My excitement was overwhelming as I called my wife, "Arden, we're getting back into the accounting profession."

Before I could share my vision with other accountants, I first had to prove that my system was both efficient and effective. This meant creating a model accounting practice based on my system. Within six months, my model practice serviced 59 monthly business clients — a benchmark unheard of in the accounting profession. Even more impressive than the number of clients was the fact that I was now truly making a difference to the success of those clients.

This was confirmed as I was gathering testimonials from several of my clients, specifically, John Peterson. Tekey's Pest Control, a family-owned business had been named after the owner's oldest daughter, Tekey. As his testimony was being recorded, he looked straight into the camera and stated, "If it weren't for CFOToday, I wouldn't have a business today." This was the reason I had started CFOToday!  There were no clients in my original CPA firm who could have said I made that kind of difference. Conversely, I knew there were countless other "Tekey's Pest Controls" across the country needing an accountant who could provide services to help them survive and thrive. I knew it was lonely out there.

While my system has been refined and enhanced, it retains the basic form/structure of my model practice. It utilized a revolutionary accounting system that allows a para-professional to produce client reports in a fraction of the time it took to produce traditional financial statements. These reports were truly understandable and therefore useful. In addition, my time was freed to provide meaningful financial and business consulting services to my clients. Once I had proven the system's success, the next step was to share my vision and system with accountants across the country. CFOToday, a national accounting/tax/payroll franchise, was created to allow other accountants to duplicate my system and success. To this day, I continue to look for others who share my vision and want to help other small business owners realize their dreams.

For more information on how you can open your own CFOToday Business Center office, contact us today at 1-888-643-1348. Offering by prospectus only.