(Jon Evans, Owner ProTailored Physical Therapy at the 40 Strategy Growth Workshop™)

When a Tax Client Discovers You Do More Than Taxes

With the growth of 40 Accounting, we have been adding clients who initially see us through very different lenses.

Some view us as their bookkeeping firm. Others see us as their fractional CFO. Still others know us simply as the firm that prepares their taxes.

Understandably, clients put us into a box based on the service they first hired us to provide:

“You prepare my taxes, so that must be what you do.”

Fortunately, as we work with our clients and earn their trust, we often have opportunities to discuss how we can help them in other ways. Our capabilities extend far beyond bookkeeping and tax preparation.

One of those clients is Jon Evans, owner of ProTailored Physical Therapy based in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Last year, we invited Jon to attend our first 40 Strategy Growth Workshop in Phoenix.

Unbeknownst to me, Jon had been reading my book, Lost at CEO: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Strategy, and finished it just before arriving in Phoenix.

Coincidentally, we arrived at the hotel at the same time. When Jon saw me, he said:

“What a great book. I can’t believe you wrote this just about me.”

Although Jon operates in a completely different industry from the example in the book, the message connected with him. He recognized that it was time to approach strategy differently if he wanted to grow his company.

“I think I might need to use you guys to help us with our strategy,” he told me.

The Growth Workshop helped Jon see that we offered much more than tax services. After the event, we agreed to work together through weekly strategy meetings and quarterly 10-week sprints designed to accelerate his company’s progress.

We began the process in March with a series of surveys and assessments, including our GrowthDrive Assessment, to identify the company’s most important gaps, risks, and opportunities.

I then traveled to Jon’s hometown to lead an in-person strategic facilitation with his team.

The team was fully engaged, and together we developed an aggressive but achievable plan to double the size of the company within three years.

(Carl J Cox & the ProTailored Team) 

Then the real work began.

We launched the first 10-week strategy sprint, meeting every week to review progress, address obstacles, and keep the team accountable.

We have worked with many leadership teams over the years, but Jon’s team has been especially committed. They have embraced the process and are even using artificial intelligence to improve their execution.

Because they consistently complete their work and come prepared, we have been able to move through the strategy faster than expected.

We have also made several adjustments along the way. That is one of the greatest benefits of meeting weekly. We receive constant feedback about what is working, what is not working, and what needs to change.

Remember, we originally entered this relationship as Jon’s tax firm. Today, he has also connected me with the strategic CFO responsible for the company’s bookkeeping and financial reporting, allowing us to better align strategy, operations, and financial performance.

In our most recent meeting, Jon shared some remarkable results.

July was the company’s most profitable month in its 13-year history.

The strategy is working, the team is executing, and the results are showing up in the numbers.

Jon recently described his experience this way:

“It is a big investment, and there is risk involved with that. But the results we’ve seen and the accountability you guys have provided, there is nothing like it. The weekly touchpoints, asking whether things are getting done, and the different ideas have been invaluable. The structured weekly accountability and having a third party provide insight into whether we’re making the right decisions have been huge.”

This story could be yours as well.

We guarantee a three-times return on investment because we are confident in the ability of the CAPTAIN Strategy process to help businesses make better decisions, execute consistently, and produce measurable results. The process is grounded in research and strengthened by years of real-world experience.

If you want to change how you plan, operate, and grow your business in 2027, I encourage you to join us at the next 40 Strategy Growth Workshop in Phoenix on November 2 and 3.

Attendance is limited to just 40 business owners and CEOs, and only a limited number of spots remain.

If you would like to learn more about our approach before attending, I would also be happy to send you a complimentary copy of Lost at CEO: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Strategy.

Simply reply to this email, and I’ll send you a copy.

(Trent Gillespie, Speaker)

The 40 Strategy Growth Workshop™, Phoenix, AZ - Nov 2nd & 3rd 

Trent Gillespie is a former Amazon executive who left one of the world's most powerful AI companies to serve the organizations it was disrupting. Now the founder and CEO of Stellis AI, he brings that insider perspective to every stage he walks onto, and translates it into something owners can act on before they leave the room. Not someday. Monday morning.

His focus is the shift most leaders haven't caught up to yet: moving from using AI as a tool to running organizations that work alongside AI agents. He argues the technology has reached a genuine watershed — AI that can improve itself — and that the businesses that win will build for their future customer, not their current comfort level.

A global keynote speaker, Trent has carried that message from enterprise stages to small-business rooms, including the 40 Strategy Growth Workshop in November 2025, where he returns this year.

For any owner who still thinks AI is a chatbot they use once in a while, Trent's message is a reset: the game has already changed, and the window to prepare is now.