Coaches' Corner

Accounting 101

Do you want to get a better grasp on the concepts behind your bookkeeping and accounting? Or are you ready to get registered and submit your balance sheet to the state? Join Becca Huyard, CPA to understand the accounting equation, debits & credits, and the basics of understanding what goes into your financial statements.

Basics of Bookkeeping & QBO

Quickbooks Online is a great tool for your bookkeeping needs. However, as with all software, there is a learning curve that can lead to frustrations and bad books. Are your bank balances off? Do you have items showing on your balance sheet that shouldn’t be there? Is the profit and loss accurate? Do you trust that your books are accurate? Let me help you sort through the problems you are having in your books. Sit down with Rhonda Moore, XY Bean Counters Account Manager, to take a look at your specific issues and solve them together.

Conducting a Firm-Wide Risk Assessment

When was the last time you took a step back to assess the effectiveness of your compliance program? Does it adequately cover the risks that are present within and across your firm? Regardless of firm size, CCOs must periodically conduct risk assessments to identify any risks, determine if current policies, procedures, and internal controls adequately mitigate against those risks, and then adjust or amend the specifics of the compliance program to protect against those identified risks. Sound overwhelming? Luckily, it doesn't have to be—XYPN Compliance Consultant, Shelby Brown, will walk you through every step of the process. Compliance handled.

Making Your First Hire - Compliance Implications

Adding your first employee or another partner carries some important compliance obligations. As a solo-advisor, it is almost inevitable that you wear many hats, including Chief Compliance Officer (CCO). As CCO, you are ultimately responsible for the supervision of your firm’s compliance program and your firm's advisory services. This supervision responsibility grows as your team grows; your compliance program must evolve with these new dynamics. XYPN Compliance Consultant, Terria Heng, will take you through the compliance obligations every CCO should be aware of when adding their first employee. You'll walk away with a comprehensive understanding of the supervision and training requirements, recommendations for annual procedures, knowledge of how to maintain the employee file, and more. Best yet, you'll gain confidence when hiring your first employee.

When & How - Requirements for Updating Your Compliance Documents

As a registered investment advisor, it's up to you to ensure your disclosure brochure, supplements, and all internal compliance documents remain current and up to date at all times. This can be a challenge for fast-growing firms that are evolving and going through transitions in service offerings, fee structures, staffing structure, and even office dynamics. Some changes may only require updates to your documents once a year, while other changes require you to update your documents promptly once the current information is no longer accurate or up to date. As a former financial examiner and analyst, XYPN Apprentice Compliance Consultant, Tyler Braman, is well-versed in the requirements for investment adviser disclosures and how to navigate those requirements smoothly.

Preparing to Register an RIA - State & SEC

Getting your firm registered is a big step toward launching your business. Lucky for you, XYPN’s in-house Compliance Team is stacked with experts like our Manager of Investment Advisor Registrations, Kendra Rehm-Dehn, who routinely helps advisors prepare for and navigate the state and SEC initial registration processes. Developing your services and determining how you will be compensated carries many compliance considerations that vary across state and federal jurisdictions. Kendra can help you better understand these nuances and how they impact your desired service and fee arrangements. She’ll work with you to understand the initial registration process and provide you with the guidance you need to get your firm state- or SEC-registered.

Year-end renewals and annual ADV updates are all part of the process when you're a firm owner. At XYPN, Senior Compliance Specialist, Krystal Schmitz, has guided countless advisors through these processes and can't wait to do the same for you. She'll walk you through every step of the process, like updating necessary information such as your number of clients, amount of assets under management, and the required breakdown of those figures as needed to update Form ADV Part 1 and Part 2A. Join Krystal to discuss how to best prepare for these annual tasks and get them done efficiently, and most importantly, on time.

A client service calendar is one of the most powerful ways to create client awareness and appreciation for everything you continuously do for them outside of client meetings. It’s also been proven to increase closing ratios for prospective clients while increasing stickiness for current clients. Connect with our Financial Planning & Process Coach, Kathleen Boyd, CFP®, to get tips on how to craft your own annual service calendar in a way that’s comprehensive and lets your clients know you’re actively taking care of their financial lives, even when they don’t hear from you.

Assets under management (AUM) can contribute to the significant growth of firms. Thomas Kerney, Senior Director of XY Investment Solutions, will review your unique circumstances and then discuss why and how you can leverage the success of your planning practice to lay the groundwork for gathering assets that can impact your bottom line.

Looking Into the Crystal Ball

How do you answer client questions about predicting the future of financial markets after you’ve told them you can’t predict the future? Chief Investment Strategist of XY Investment Solutions, Mario Nardone, recognized the unique position that advisors find themselves in regarding making predictions about an uncertain future and will show you how to navigate these types of conversations with ease—no crystal ball required.

Supervision and Management: How to Be a Better Boss

Transitioning from a solo advisor to having a team can be intimidating. No one wants to be a bad boss, and most of you don’t want to get bogged down in managing people when you’d rather be planning for clients. Let’s talk about getting your team established and on the right track to work well together, elevate your client service, and grow your business. Sit down with XYPN Executive Business Coach, Arlene Moss, and discuss the challenges you are facing so she can help you create a game plan for managing your team.

Finding, selecting, hiring, and onboarding your next team member is an overwhelming process. Hiring requires strategic and pragmatic thinking while staying human-centric. XYPN Talent Acquisition Manager, Manju Rajendran, and Chief People Officer, Ryan Watin, are here to share helpful tips to find the right talent, expand and build a talent pool, discuss how diversity is directly related to increased productivity and culture enrichment, refine your candidate and new-hire experience, share best onboarding practices, and so. much. more. Join Manju and Ryan to learn everything you could ever need to know about hiring and successfully growing your team.

The Ins and Outs of Internships

Let's face it—being an intern is not easy. And being a manager trying to help interns not only find their footing but grasp the knowledge needed to succeed under your tutelage can be even more daunting. How and where do you start? What do you need to consider along the way? Join XYPN People Operations Manager, Pearl Michalson, to get answers to these questions and more. You'll walk away with a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to set up a successful internship program for your firm.

Join XYPN Total Rewards Specialist, Bri Slingsby, for a deep dive into Gusto, XYPN's payroll platform of choice. She'll show you everything Gusto has to offer—including integrations and how state and federal reporting is handled—as she walks you through how to effectively and efficiently set up a payroll process for your firm. Whether you need to run payroll for yourself or a team, Bri has you covered. Join Bri to learn more about how Gusto can help you streamline your payroll process and, better yet, save time and energy.

Developing Your Ideal Client Avatars

From your email campaigns to your blogs, if you don’t have clearly defined client avatars, you’ll find yourself up the creek without a paddle. Client avatars are a non-negotiable part of your marketing strategy and will help you not only define the best prospects for your firm but also inform your marketing content. Your client avatars will set you up for success and give you the insight you need to communicate in a way that will resonate with prospects and drive them to action. Meet with Lindsey White, XYPN Email Marketing Manager, to learn how to discover, define, and create the ideal client avatars for your firm and grow your business.

Color wheel got your head in a spin? Marketing materials making you queasy? Aligning your business and brand is no easy feat. In this coaches’ corner, we’ll talk through your brand as it stands—from basic ideation around your vision and mission to practical feedback on-brand collateral. After going through a foundational branding exercise, XYPN Brand Designer Audrey Moss will provide actionable feedback on building a brand that resonates with your clients. Whether you’re building your brand from scratch or looking to boost your branding to the next level, you’ll walk away with expert advice on setting up a brand that speaks to your vision.

As an RIA, marketing can feel like the last thing on your mind. Your passion lies in connecting with clients to help them achieve their financial goals. But attracting those clients is essential to growing your business. By harnessing the power of marketing automation, you can build repeatable processes to help streamline your marketing efforts—freeing up your time to do what you do best. Sit down with XYPN’s Marketing Systems Administrator, Katie DeMars, to learn the fundamental marketing processes needed to support your firm. You’ll walk away with key processes you can implement right away to help market your firm.

Social media is a big player in digital marketing, but there’s a lot to figure out. Whether it’s YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or others, social media provides the tool, and it’s up to YOU to use it effectively. Feeling like it’s time for your firm’s strategy to get a revamp? Bring one of your most promising social media profiles to XYPN Marketing Coach Carolyn Dalle-Molle and get her expert input on how to breathe fresh life into your firm’s strategy, content, and overall marketing approach.

How to Confidently Ask for the Sale

Asking a prospect to do business with you can feel terrifying, with doubts running amuck through your brain. Together, with XYPN Sales Coach BB Webb, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss systematic steps that work up to your big ask, making "popping the question" a natural and expected part of the process. Learn how to create a safe place for your prospect to share and how to collect the information you need while sharing your unique value and expertise. Through sharing stories of how you’ve helped others while demonstrating your leadership ability and passion through your sales process, you’ll soon have your prospects asking you, “Can we work together?”

In his corner, XY Tax Solutions Tax Manager, Dan Ritter, CPA, will cover everything from capitalization policies and accountable plans to common startup deductions to those extra special business owner deducatons you want to be sure you're taking advantage of (we're talking home office, reimbursable expenses, mileage—the whole nine yards). He'll also dive deep into the nitty-gritty of documentation, such as filing a 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC.

Your Tax Planning Questions, Answered

Employee stock options. Asset location and tax implications. Roth versus traditional. Cryptocurrency taxation. End-of-year tax planning. Have these tax topics left you scratching your head wondering which way's up? Then be sure to join XY Tax Solutions Senior Tax Manager, Sam Nguyen, CFP®, EA, who will deconstruct and demystify complex tax questions—and make it look oh so easy.