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Mike Allen sits down with Eric Joern of Kaizen CPAs & Advisors and host of Under the Hood CPA to talk about the financial side of shop ownership that most technicians never signed up to learn. They get into disastrous QuickBooks files, surprise tax bills, R&D credits, ERC abuse, sales and payroll tax mistakes, buying versus selling business assets, tax strategy when selling a shop, and why your CPA needs to hear about major decisions before you make them. Eric also brings his background as a dealership service advisor into the conversation, leading to some extremely questionable water-pump sales advice from Mike. If you own a repair shop and have ever looked at QuickBooks and immediately closed the tab, this episode is probably for you.

Timestamps:
00:00 Brown Water and Being Confidently Incorrect
00:56 ASTA, STX & the Confessions Hospitality Suite
03:24 Meet Eric Joern of Kaizen CPAs
04:08 Tax Deadlines and Mike’s Financial Responsibility
05:43 How Bad Are Most New Clients’ Books?
07:36 Mike Confesses His Podcast Books Are Terrible
09:08 Paying Taxes Means You Made Money… Right?
09:40 How Aggressive Should Your Tax Strategy Be?
10:37 Is the R&D Tax Credit Worth Exploring?
13:04 The Tax Credit Eric Saw Abused the Most
15:34 Does Cheaper Mean More Trustworthy?
16:12 Eric’s Life as a Dealership Service Advisor
17:22 Mike’s Terrible Water-Pump Sales Advice
18:49 Don’t Solve a $3,000 Problem With a $50,000 Solution
19:05 Toyota Warranty Work and the 300% Rule
21:10 Why Does QuickBooks Online Suck?
23:20 Are There Any Real QuickBooks Alternatives?
24:45 Shops Still Running Everything Through QuickBooks
26:18 Is Saving $300 Worth Wasting Your Nights?
26:47 “My Wife Does the Books and She Loves It”
27:25 Why Eric Started Under the Hood CPA
30:11 Shop Owners vs. Other Small-Business Clients
31:18 “I Don’t Know What I Spent $50,000 On”
32:14 The $50,000 Amazon Bill
34:17 Shop-Owner Bookkeeping Horror Stories
35:07 The $60K–$80K Sales Tax Mistake
35:54 Mike’s Payroll-Tax Acquisition Nightmare
38:32 Buying Assets vs. Buying the Business
39:09 How Deal Structure Can Save Millions
41:06 Could Your Shop Eventually Be Sold Tax-Free?
44:28 Which Coaching Group Has the Hardest Financial Reporting?
45:50 Why Shop Owners Need Their Numbers Faster
46:08 What Is Live Bookkeeping?
47:33 The One Thing Your CPA Wishes You’d Do
48:03 Talk to Your CPA BEFORE the Big Decision
49:33 Mike’s Idea for a Personal Board of Advisors
50:44 Getting Your CPA, Advisor and Attorney on the Same Page
52:10 Every Financial Meeting Needs an Agenda
53:11 How to Find Kaizen CPAs
54:04 Free Financial Tools for Shop Owners
55:23 The Biggest Profit Leak in Mike’s Shop