Jesse Timmermans

A Big Win for the Future of Accounting and for the Next Generation of CPAs in California Governor Newsom just signed Assembly Bill 1175, modernizing how CPAs become licensed in California. Starting January 1, 2027, aspiring accountants in California will no longer need to complete the dreaded traditional 150-credit-hour requirement, a barrier that’s discouraged countless talented students from pursuing the CPA route. Instead, the new pathway emphasizes what really matters: • A bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration • Two years of accounting experience • Passing the CPA exam As a CPA myself, I see this as a long-overdue reset for our profession. The fifth year of education has been one of the largest deterrents for entry, adding cost, debt, and delay at a time when the profession desperately needs new blood. Accounting didn’t “fall out of favor” because the work lost meaning, it fell out because the path became unnecessarily rigid and expensive, while other industries made their entry points faster and more flexible. AB 1175 recognizes that we can uphold quality without gatekeeping access. Even better, the bill strengthens mobility for out-of-state CPAs, streamlining practice reciprocity and reflecting how interconnected today’s business environment really is. And that’s how we revive the CPA pipeline not by lamenting the decline, but by evolving to meet the moment. If you’re a student, young professional, or considering a mid-career shift, drop me a note if you want to talk about what a modern accounting career looks like (especially in a transformation-oriented environment). I'm all for it. 💪 #Accounting #CPA #Finance #Leadership #TalentPipeline #FutureOfWork #California #CBA #PublicAccounting #LicensureReform #CareerDevelopment #ForgeOptima

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You can tell a lot about a PE firm by looking at its CFO. Every number tells one story. Every CFO tells another, usually about the partner they work for. After years of recruiting finance leaders, one pattern keeps showing up: the PE CFO starts to mirror the partner. Calm, methodical partner? You’ll see a CFO who plans two quarters ahead. Reactive, deal-chasing partner? That CFO’s running on Slack and caffeine. It’s not good or bad. It’s human. Two people share pressure long enough, and they sync up. That’s why “fit” in a CFO search isn’t about resume lines. It’s about wavelength. Does this CFO thrive under intensity, or burn out from it? Does the partner value process, or pace? The best pairings see the echo and adjust before it becomes noise. If you’ve lived this dynamic, what makes a CFO/partner pairing work? (And when it doesn’t, what cracks first?)👇 #PrivateEquity #CFO #Leadership #Finance #ExecutiveSearch #PEBackedCompanies #CFOLeadership

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Imagine stepping into your CFO role and realizing nobody trusts finance. That was me, 3 years ago. I walked into my first executive meeting, expecting strategic discussions. Instead, finance was treated like an afterthought; a "necessary evil," the "department of no." Management had zero faith: ❌ Not in the numbers. ❌ Not in the team. ❌ Definitely not in finance’s strategic contribution. And I didn’t have the typical CFO pedigree: No Big 4 background. No controller resume. Just years in banking, private equity; and a clear vision: Transform finance from a cost center into the strategic engine of the company. Here’s what I learned fast: You don’t rebuild trust with reports. You do it with clarity, speed, and results that shape decisions. I quickly made four critical shifts: ✅ Built a high-trust team focused on asking smarter questions ✅ Upgraded our data and reporting to drive faster decisions ✅ Became a business partner, not a financial gatekeeper ✅ Aligned finance with growth and strategy, not just control We stopped saying "no." We started saying: "What's the smartest way to make this happen?" That’s when finance finally got invited to the real table. This week, I'm sharing everything I wish someone had told me on day one: The real difference between legacy and modern finance Exactly how to become your CEO’s go-to strategic partner How to rapidly rebuild trust and reposition finance as a value-creator Because this isn’t just a job. It’s a movement. Welcome to The CFO Effect. What’s ONE specific action you took that finally rebuilt trust in your finance team? (Share your experience below.) #CFO #StrategicFinance #FPandA

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Another great insight from Secret CFO in the latest newsletter. Great CFOs don’t hide behind financial statements; they connect them. Because a P&L that looks strong can still mask a weak business. You can post record profits while your balance sheet is bloated with inventory that’s quietly bleeding cash. Warehousing costs go up. Discounting eats margins. And suddenly, what looked like “profit” turns into future losses. That’s why the best CFOs think in systems, not silos. They know every decision flows through all three statements: income, balance sheet, and cash flow. Revenue without cash is vanity. EBITDA without liquidity is fiction. And growth without working capital discipline is a ticking time bomb. The real game is integration: 🧩 The P&L tells you what happened. 📊 The balance sheet shows you what it’s doing to your future. 💸 The cash flow reveals how much oxygen you have left to play offense. That’s the essence of The CFO Effect: connecting the dots to create long-term value for shareholders. 💬 How do you make sure your team connects the three statements in practice, not just in theory? #StrategicFinance #CFO #FPandA

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We are thrilled to share the impressive results of our recent cost segregation study for the owner of a luxury car dealership in Southern California.  By leveraging our expertise, the owner was able to unlock an additional $1,750,000 in first-year tax deductions. Cost segregation is a strategic tax planning tool that allows businesses to accelerate depreciation deductions by reclassifying certain building components and improvements. This results in significant tax savings and improved cash flow. Additionally, we were able to save the dealership an additional $400,000 annually on their payroll taxes. #CostSegregation #TaxSavings #TaxPlanning #RealEstate #TaxStrategy #Automotive #CarDealership #payrolltax #smarttaxmoves #taxplanning #reducepayrolltax

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📢 Washington State to Implement Sales Tax on Professional Services Starting October 1, 2025 In a significant shift, Washington State will begin applying sales tax to most professional services—including accounting, legal, and consulting—effective October 1, 2025. This change, introduced through last-minute legislation, aims to address a projected $16 billion budget shortfall. Previously, many professional services were exempt from sales tax. The new policy expands the tax base, requiring service providers to collect and remit sales tax on their offerings. This move is part of a broader tax reform package that also includes increases in capital gains and business taxes. Businesses and professionals are encouraged to prepare for this change by updating their billing systems and consulting with tax advisors to ensure compliance. The Washington Department of Revenue is expected to provide detailed guidance in the coming months. #WashingtonTaxUpdate #ProfessionalServicesTax #TaxReform2025

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CFOs know compensation is their largest expense. A common mistake is treating it only as a cost. In my piece for CFO Dive, I explained why comp is one of the few levers we can actively control in a volatile economy. When managed strategically, it drives performance, retention, and competitive strength — and ultimately positions the business to scale.  https://lnkd.in/et2sZdRQ

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Welcome to Day 1 of "Former auditor says" For anyone who doesn’t know Rivet – our cofounder Kyle Christenson spent six years at the IRS's San Jose office as an auditor, working with individuals and companies around the Bay Area Day 1 of sharing some quotes from around the office... "Most audits aren’t triggered because something is wrong. They get triggered because something looks interesting on the return. After returns are pulled by the algorithm, they're put into large banker boxes, and auditors are called in to pull returns from the box to refill their inventory. The auditors choose what's interesting to them. A perfectly accurate return can still get picked if the ratios stand out. If you have $500 of income and 80% of your expenses going to advertising, that might be totally legitimate — but visually, that return jumps out of the stack. Auditors pick what jumps out."

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The accounting talent shortage is receiving a transformative solution. California has just become the 22nd state to pass legislation that establishes alternative CPA pathways, marking a significant shift away from the traditional 150-hour rule. Why this matters for your firm, right now: - New Core Requirements (Effective Jan. 1, 2027): Bachelor’s degree + CPA Exam + 2 years of experience. - Flexibility is Key: The law allows an approved accounting certificate program to substitute for 6 months of experience (or a Master's degree for one year). - Pipeline Impact: Momentum is building quickly, with states like Massachusetts and New Jersey poised to follow. This change underscores the necessity for flexible, targeted professional development that moves beyond the standard Master's degree. We are in an ideal position to assist firms in building high-quality talent pipelines by utilizing these new experience and certificate substitution pathways. Adapting to these changes is crucial. Let's discuss how to future-proof your recruiting strategy.

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Finance will not be valued if we only provide number Do we just throw numbers at people? Think about it. If I tell you, "Our revenue is $500 million," what does that even mean? Is that good? Bad? Compared to what? Numbers don’t speak for themselves. They need a story. I once sat in a meeting where a finance guy rattled off numbers like a robot. Everyone nodded, but I could see it, their minds were somewhere else. Finance is about making decisions. Numbers are just tools. It’s how we connect them to the real world that matters. → A profit report means nothing unless ↳ we know if that profit is sustainable. → A cost-cutting plan is useless unless ↳ we know where to cut without hurting growth. → A high cash balance sounds great until ↳ you realize that money is not working for the business. Don’t just present numbers. Tell the story behind them. Then show what’s next. Then help teams see the path forward. That’s when finance becomes powerful. Not just math. But impact. #Story

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