Realize


Where Accounting Leaders Build Confidence Through Community


We believe high-effort communities are an essential part of every accountant's personal growth stack.

We're doing the same work in parallel. Let's come together, and share what we're learning in community.

We're Investing in community to enable a more efficient value exchange for our profession.






Your Private Community

You don't need another water cooler community


Join a high-effort community that isn't underwritten by your software vendor.



🧠 High-context mastermind groups
📚 Paid community managers
💾 PM Software meetups
📈 Advisors in residence
🎓 Ongoing workshops
🌟 A bespoke platform


Realize has helped over 500 accounting leaders grow into more confident, sustainable versions of themselves



The Best== Live Events ==on the Web

We organize ongoing series' with the most influential thought-leaders in the profession. Sessions are run for members in an intimate, interactive format.In addition to Realize-organized sessions, members organize events internally as topics arise that merit live discussion.AMAs
Book Clubs
Live Coaching
Monthly Workshops
Software Demo Days
Quarterly Karbon Meetups
Quarterly Keeper Meetups
Quarterly Canopy Meetups
Quarterly TaxDome Meetups
Quarterly Financial Cents Meetups



Past And Current Series'



Book Club with Kate Presto

Kate leads us in a weekly series, diving into the most influential business books for accountants. Past books have included The Win Without Pitching Manifesto, Atomic Habits, Radical Candor and Traction.

EOS-ish With Rachel Fisch

Rachel joins Realize to discuss her relationship with EOS, the business operating framework outlined in the book Traction. What are the best bits? What are the bits she doesn't leverage? This series will run you through what EOS means for firms like yours, and your small business clients.

Hall Pass with Brandon Hall

Brandon Hall joins Realize for a series on scaling resilient firms. He'll run us through identifying a niche, service design, sales & marketing, growing an advisory offering from scratch, building a fulfillment system and more!

Into The Chadiverse with Chad Davis

Join Chad in a new monthly session designed to introduce accountants to intermediate-to-advanced automation topics, and new developments from apps like Zapier, Make and Airtable.

Role Play with Nayo Carter-Gray

Get ready to have some fun and role-play your way through sticky situations with Nayo! Each session will have a different theme and we'll act out various scenarios to show you how to handle real-world conversations like a pro. Kicking off May 2023.

Swiping Right with Kellie Parks

Kellie joins Realize for a monthly masterclass on the lifecycle of a client engagement. From discovery & booking, clear through to re-engagement (and dis-engagement), Kellie shows us what dating a client looks like in 2023, in a series she's developed just for Realize.

The Content Farm with Jason Staats

A series about writing & producing your own content, as a long-term asset for your firm. Jason runs you through ideation, writing, and the various ways to put your content out to attract & educate clients, while building your personal brand.




Take A Step Back

Geraldine Carter joins Realize for a monthly session, coaching three firm-runners LIVE on how to find a new niche, or further develop an existing niche.

Who Runs The World with Twyla Verhelst

Twyla Verhelst joins Realize for a series on women in leadership! These sessions are just for women, and will be accompanied by a private space in the community.



There's More

What else can you do when you have a member-funded, vendor-independent community? As it turns out, quite a bit.


Software Demos

We have a growing library (40+) of recorded demos Realize has produced with the most popular software vendors in the space. Giving you the opportunity to explore new tech without being sucked into the sales process.

Mastermind Groups

Each quarter we matchmake high-context mastermind groups. They run 6 months at a time, and are made up of 5 members each. These are groups of people who run very similar firms, and these sessions have proven to be transformative for many.

Show & Tell

We often get together to privately share our live client setups. One of the best things Realize enables is having the opportunity to swap ideas with other practitioners who are equally motivated to share otherwise sensitive information in a private, high-trust setting.




Past Live Sessions

Where privacy and vulnerability aren't an issue, we generally record our live sessions. We've built a large library of valuble content over the last few years on topics such as presenting better on camera, Airtable training and much more.


Hi, I'm Jason Staats

Five years ago I switched my firm to a new practice management system. We spent a year of work researching, planning and training a team of 40 for the change, and in three months I realized we'd chosen the wrong system.The reason? We made decisions according to what colorful brochures and commissioned sales people told us.We were left with an impossible decision. We'd thrown away two years on this project, only to start the process over again. The ultimate cost would be years of lost productivity, and more sleepless nights than I could count.

I needed to ensure I never made the same mistake again.


Flip on a webinar to learn, and you find the same people who are sending you cold emails. Sit down at a conference talk, and you find the CEO of the same company, who bought a hefty sponsorship package to get on the main stage.
Don't get me wrong, I adore the software vendors I work with, but their job is to sell software. My job is to get home by 5:20 to make dinner and try not to piss off my staff with more software changes.It wasn't until sitting at in-person conferences that I realized I'd rather talk to the guy across the aisle. The lady I'm sitting next to who tried this app six months ago. Why I was addicted to conferences was the people, the lunch conversations, the person you run into who understands your pains unlike anyone else in your life. I needed to bottle that inspiration.Twitter DMs were sent, and an idea was hatched. I gathered my favorite folks in the profession. The types of people who could be vulnerable, would share their wins and losses, and we created a private space for discussion.We raised money so we could go back out to our favorite experts, and pay them well (better than conferences do, as it turns out) to run private sessions without the vendor filter.And we found there was more to be learned in a room of people who run firms just like you than anywhere else.Two years ago I changed practice management software again. I knew every tool in the space. I sat down with 10+ firm owners, who in the last 18 months made the same transition I was considering. They walked me through their live client setups, and told me what it did and didn't do well. The transition went well 😊These days I have the unique opportunity to invest in making Realize into the space I needed when I was on an island, wondering what the hell I was doing, creating everything from scratch.Finding community, in all its forms, is the greatest personal unlock I've ever discovered. It's the reason I'm still in this profession. Because we're better off sharing what we've learned along the way, and growing together.



Pricing

We aren't underwritten by a product company. As a result we're able to see the world through the lens of fellow practicioners, rather then that of our vendors. To enable this== we charge $180/mo ==for membership, and to be fair to members we don't have sales.


In exchange:

You never see an ad
You never talk to a vendor
We invest in the platform itself
We pay advisors to deliver coaching at no add'l cost
We hire the profession's brightest minds to run live sessions
You will work alongside like-minded high-output professionals


The Realize community will be capped at 500 members in 2024, to prevent the group from growing too large and losing the intimate format that makes it great.



FAQs

What happens after I sign up?

You'll get an email confirmation with a link to get access to the community, along with a scheduling link to book a 1-on-1 tour of the community.

I'm busy. Is this for me?

It's a community of successful firm owners, we're all busy 😆 Events are designed to be concise & impactful. Wherever possible events are recorded if you can't join live.

I'm concerned about price increases

The price of the community is never increased for existing members. It's only increased for new members over time to ensure the group doesn't grow too large.

Why does Realize need a paywall?

The best communities are those that are full of people willing and able to share value. A paywall raises the stakes. It's not only the price you're paying, it's the price everyone else is paying to be there alongside you.

Is this a way to hang out with Jason?

Not really, it's a way to hang out with a bunch of other cool accounting leaders, many of whom also found the community through Jason. Which objectively is a cool crowd.

What sort of firms are in Realize?

Currently about 50% of Realize is 1-3 person firms, with the other 50% being of every other size, up to 150 or so. It's split fairly evenly between folks running accounting practices and folks running tax practices.

Do I sign up as a firm or as an individual person?

Memberships are on an individual basis, but the membership price for additional members of your firm is 50% off whatever the current rate is.

I think I'll sign up [X future date]

We all go through seasons of life that enable more latitude than others, but Realize has been built around a core group of folks who are never too busy to grow. Because making the decision to stop investing in yourself is a slippery slope.

I'm kinda sorta an accountant

If you have any other questions about whether Realize is for you, send us an email. In order to maintain Realize as a safe space for accounting leaders, there are no exceptions to the requirement that you're a practicing public accountant.





Realize

A collaboration community for accountants & advisors


Getting the whole band together, I see:


Welcome to Realize, we look forward to collaborating with you.In the meantime, if you have any other colleagues that may benefit from being part of the community, here is a link to your team signup page:rlz.io#teammembersignup



Before we cast off, please certify three things:


✔ You are an accountant or advisor
✔ You do not represent a vendor in our industry
✔ You will not solicit other members




Free signup

Before we cast off, please certify three things:

✔ You are an accountant or advisor
✔ You do not represent a vendor in our industry
✔ You will not solicit other members

Before we cast off, please certify three things:


✔ You are an accountant or advisor
✔ You do not represent a vendor in our industry
✔ You will not solicit other members


Before we cast off, please certify three things:


✔ You are an accountant or advisor
✔ You do not represent a vendor in our industry
✔ You will not solicit other members


Welcome Aboard


You should receive an email with instructions to set up your account. If you run into any issues, please shoot me a message at jason@launchfa.com.


Is there someone you've always wanted to collaborate with? Would Realize be valuable to a friend or colleague? Share Realize with them and starting building your collaboration dream-team.


Every person you refer to Realize banks you a free month of membership. Pull 6 friends into Realize? Realize is free to you for 6 months.


Additional team accounts are half-price. If you have a team-member you want to bring along, have them sign up via this link: rlz.io/#teammembersignup


We look forward to collaborating with you!


Back to Realize

Welcome Aboard


Thanks for choosing to follow along on our journey. If you ever have questions about joining our community, don't hesitate to send us a message.




Back to Realize


On Demand

Tech Workshop Series

The 8 week series that kicked off Realize


You know how to wrangle your accounting tech stack. Learn adjacent no-code automation technology that will automate your services, and begin to build product-based revenue streams.• Hands-on live workshops
• 60 minutes once a week
• Edited-down recordings
• Accessible for all levels of expertise
• Non-accounting tools to enable your accounting stack


Check out the week 1 recording to preview the series:



Workshop Recordings Available



Free for Realize members

Sign up to become a Realize member and in addition to the workshop series, gain access to a community of collaborative practitioners.


Already savvy with APIs & automation tech?

This is the workshop series I needed to enable my team. If you're already a Realize member, use this link to set up half-price Realize memberships for your teammates.


Workshop Series



Week 1 - The Automation Landscape


• What are the options out there
• API connectors, RPA, web forms, web scrapers
• What are APIs and Webhooks
• What's the right tech for the job
• What is the most robust option that won't break


Week 2 - Intro to Airtable


• Get to grips with Airtable
• Learn what it is, and what it isn't
• Learn why it has become the backbone of automation
• Visualize work in terms of databases
• Build ready-to-use client-facing applications


Week 3 - Intro to API Connectors


• Learn several connector options & their differences
• Learn what can and can not be done via APIs
• Explore how to enable your team to leverage connectors
• Build controls to ensure data security


Week 4 - Web Forms for Automation


• Get comfortable with Typeform and Airtable forms
• Learn to dynamically generate forms via API connectors
• Set up branching logic in your forms
• Leverage forms to simplify info gathering
• Build a process around web forms


Week 5 - Image Generation APIs


• Learn how to generate custom reporting automatically
• Create bespoke, automated scorecards for your clients
• Shorten feedback loops by generating daily reporting


Week 6 - Robotic Process Automation


• Learn to leverage RPA for legacy applications
• Build RPA utilities to interface with legacy tools like your tax suite
• Build your own API to interface with legacy tools
• Use modern web tools as middleware for legacy software


Week 7 - Advanced Airtable Automation


• Turn Airtable into the engine that runs your services
• Leverage the tool as a engine that drives automated workflows
• Build bespoke client applications on top of Airtable


Week 8 - Building a Fully Automated Service


• Begin building product-based revenue streams
• Take what we learned to introduce a new service
• Ensure the service can be automated from end-to-end
• Build a client onboarding workflow
• Build a marketing funnel for your service




📢 Sign-ups for 6 month masterminds closed on May 20th - Stay tuned for the next cohort



Community Program

Mastermind Groups

Join 40+ accountants who have signed up for the 6 month initiative


Whether you're just starting out or a seasoned pro with thousands of clients, collaborating with pros in a firm like yours is difficult.Realize is matchmaking pros in similar situations, offering similar services, to drive your personal growth.• Small groups of 5
• Meetings once a month
• Groups last 6 months
• High-context support
The first cohort of mastermind groups are now underway. Stay tuned for updates on a second cohort.



The format:

The meeting format is simple: each member spends 20 minutes talking through what's going well, and what isn't. It's a rare opportunity where you have 20 minutes of permission to talk about yourself, your struggles and your ambitions.This space doesn't exist for most professionals, and the opportunity to talk through those challenges with other pros that understand exactly where you're at is a powerful experience.You'll learn what challenges your peers are going through, and glean wisdom from their journey along the way.


Why join a mastermind group?

18 reasons why members have signed up so far:


Ready to take part?

Sign up to the Realize accountant community, and complete the Mastermind onboarding form to be notified when the second cohort begins


What's a Realize?

Realize is a first-of-its-kind community for accounting & tax pros to come together, and build the future of the profession in community. Learn more over on the Realize community homepage.

👈 Back to Realize