Every female CPA has a story and every entrepreneur has one as well. This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Twyle Verhelst, CPA. Twyla is the head of Freshbooks Account Channel and the leader of the Accounting Professionals program with Freshbooks. She was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women in Accounting
Twyla is known for leading the charge when it comes to advocacy, change and community. She is an experienced CPA and a tech entrepreneur with a passion for helping women build their confidence.
During the interview we discuss:
- Like a lot of CPAs, she has a very non-traditional story starting out in terms of not intending to be an accountant when considering her education
- After high school, she didn’t know where she was headed but she did know it would be entrepreneurial
- She grew up with parents who were entrepreneurs and was embedded in their business
- Twyla decided to become and accountant as her “Plan B”
- She knew that it would never be a bad thing to understand accounting and finance in the entrepreneurial world where she always intended to wind up
- After becoming a CPA and working as a controller, she was approached about being a mortgage broker and had a very meandering path of various experience
- Eventually Twyla and a partner started an accounting, bookkeeping and advisory firm specifically for small business owners but using a lot of technology to serve her clients
- She wanted to embrace technology and use it to enhance the client experience
- She and her partner discovered a pain point when they were trying to do cash flow forecasting for their clients which put them on the journey of creating a cash flow forecasting tool
- Twyla then started a software development company to help the accounting community with cash flow forecasting
- She started having conversations with Freshbooks about the integration of her software tool
- She learned that Freshbooks was starting a new Accountant Channel and pursued the opportunity to be the head of the Accountant Channel and kick off their Accounting Channel Program
- In 2019 Freshbooks did a lot of research about what’s happening for accountants from a tech standpoint and where do they fit in for accountants to serve their clients
- After their extensive research, they launched the Accountant Channel
- Twyla explains that accounting professionals that embrace technology and see how technology is part of the overall client experience that you’re creating for your clients are becoming progressive accountants
- She shares that things have changed so much in terms of technology and that it really does contribute to the experience for the client
- Technology helps solve for various client pain points
- Twyla shares that among other things, the progressive accountant is someone who is open to seeing where technology can be utilized to support themselves and their clients
- The progressive accountant recognizes that there isn’t a “one size fits all’ when it comes to the technology that you’re using
- In her vast experience, there is no “perfect” tech stack that solves for every client’s needs
- A progressive accountant is open to seeing how technology can help their firm and their client’s businesses grow
- Twyla shares that if your client does even one piece of the workflow, like invoicing, then Freshbooks is worth exploring because it provides a simple, user-friendly experience for the client
- A progressive accountant understands how to match the best technology for the best client experience
- It’s about coming out from behind the numbers and focusing on your relationship and connection with your clients
- To add value and be perceived as a valuable partner with your clients will have a huge impact on their experience with you and then how they recommend you
- She explains that it’s also important when the time comes to sell your practice, that you have been a progressive accountant and integrated technology into your firm in order to be more attractive to potential buyers
- You can contact Twyla at twyla.verhelst@freshbooks.com