Jody Grunden reveals how he built the first fully distributed Virtual CFO practice in North America — and the pricing mistakes, partnership lessons, and non-financial KPIs that transformed his firm.

If you're running an agency, accounting practice, or service business and struggling with profitability, pricing, or scaling, this episode is packed with practical insights. Jody Grunden, co-founder of Summit CPA Group (now Anders Virtual CFO), shares how he pioneered the subscription-based Virtual CFO model and the lessons he learned along the way.

In this episode, you'll discover:
• Why non-financial KPIs matter more than the numbers — and how focusing only on financials can lead to the wrong behaviors (51:40)
• The biggest pricing mistake Jody made early on — undercharging and giving away free consulting that hurt profitability (12:27)
• Why cash should be viewed as a safety net, not profit
• The partnership principle — finding people who are great at what you’re not (51:18)
• How Jody built the first fully distributed Virtual CFO firm in North America (23:54)
• Why subscription-based billing transformed his accounting practice
• The profit-focused maturity model he uses to help agencies scale sustainably
• Early entrepreneurial mistakes and what actually drives business growth (01:46)

About Jody Grunden:

Jody Grunden is a pioneer in the accounting industry and co-founder of Summit CPA Group, now Anders Virtual CFO. He introduced subscription-based billing to accounting firms and built the first fully distributed Virtual CFO practice in North America. Since 2002, he has specialized in helping digital and creative agencies improve profitability and scalability through his profit-focused maturity model.

He is the author of Digital Dollars and Cents and Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud, and has been recognized by CPA.com as one of the most innovative practitioners in the country.

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction: Hockey Talk and Business Mistakes
02:02 - From Accountant to Virtual CFO Pioneer
12:27 - Early Pricing Mistakes and the Free Consulting Trap
23:54 - Building the First Distributed Virtual CFO Firm
39:50 - The Partnership Principle
50:55 - Non-Financial KPIs and Cash as Safety
53:36 - Connecting with Jody and Closing Thoughts

Connect with Jody Grunden here:
https://anderscpa.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodygrunden/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/andersvcfo
https://www.facebook.com/vcfobyanders/
https://www.instagram.com/andersvcfo/
https://anderscpa.com/learn/podcasts/the-creative-agency-success-show/