Mark Ferris

Finders, Minders, and Grinders: Unlocking Your Accounting Firm’s Potential

Earmark Team · January 27, 2025 ·

Every accounting professional knows the dilemma: you’re expected to handle complex client relationships, ensure top-notch technical work, and juggle operational tasks—all at once. This all-in-one approach often leads to burnout, stunted growth, and high turnover.

Enter the “Finders, Minders, and Grinders” framework, a well-known model in professional services.

During a recent webinar, Mark Ferris of Panalitix explained how aligning each person’s natural personality with the right role can transform your practice. Instead of forcing everyone to “do it all,” you identify and empower:

Finders (relationship builders who generate new business),
Minders (managers who oversee processes and teams),
Grinders (technical experts who dive into the detailed work).

By putting people where they naturally excel, you reduce inefficiency, nurture talent, and build a more resilient firm. Below, we’ll explore how to apply this framework to create an environment where team members thrive, clients receive the best service possible, and your business can scale sustainably.

Why Matching Personalities and Roles Matters

When people consistently act against their natural inclinations, they burn out quickly. “If we act contrary to our natural inclination—our personality—it takes quite a lot of effort,” Mark Ferris explains. “That is tiring, and it’s not something we can keep up forever.”

Many traditional accounting practices mistakenly assume everyone can (and should) wear multiple hats equally well—reviewing hundreds of returns, leading team meetings, chasing new clients, and more. While some staffers can manage briefly, over time, misalignment in roles leads to errors, missed deadlines, and unhappy team members.

Skills vs. Personality: It’s crucial to separate learned skills (e.g., mastering new accounting software) from the deeper personality traits (e.g., being comfortable with negotiation or thriving in a structured environment). People can gain new technical skills, but asking a naturally reserved, detail-oriented accountant to spend most of their time selling may not succeed in the long run.

The Three Roles: A Balanced Trio

Successfully running an accounting firm means tapping into three core roles, each with distinct personality traits that maximize productivity and satisfaction.

Grinders

Focus on technical tasks like preparing returns, bookkeeping, complex compliance, or advisory projects.
Excel with structure and detailed rules, working methodically to ensure accuracy and timeliness.
Often patient, diligent, and prefer minimal distractions when completing high-stakes work.

Minders

Oversee operations, manage workflow, and coach the team.
Share some qualities with Grinders—organized and detail-oriented—but also display strong people-management skills, diplomacy, and warmth.
Handle scheduling, capacity planning, and progress checks, ensuring that deadlines, quality standards, and budgets are met.

Finders

Excel at building relationships—both with current clients (for retention and upselling) and potential clients (for growth).
Socially confident, comfortable with change, and willing to engage in negotiations or tackle conflict head-on.
Key drivers of new business, strategic partnerships, and revenue expansion.

When these three roles blend smoothly, an accounting practice functions like a well-oiled machine: technical work is done right and on time, the team runs efficiently, and new business opportunities consistently flow in.

Putting the Framework into Practice: A Real-World Example

Mark Ferris illustrates how to structure an accounting firm around these roles, ensuring each group can handle about $1 million in annual fees before you replicate the model.

Production Team (Grinders)

Bookkeepers, accountants, or tax specialists focus on client work.
Supported by a Production Manager (Minder), who handles capacity planning, scheduling, and quality control.
A Senior Client Manager (Finder) focuses on nurturing client relationships, resolving issues, and spotting upsell opportunities.

Clear Role Distinctions

Administrative staff (e.g., office manager, client service coordinator) handles day-to-day tasks like data collection, engagement letters, or invoicing.
Each Production Team is shielded from distractions, so Grinders can do technical work, Minders can improve processes, and Finders can build strong client relationships.

Career Path Alignment

Team members see exactly how they could progress: a skilled Grinder with strong interpersonal skills might train to become a Finder; a Grinder who loves organizing and leading might transition into a Minder role.
Owners can also step into the role that suits them best—whether that’s business development (Finder) or operational leadership (Minder)—and delegate the rest.

With this structure, hitting $1 million in fees signals the formation of a second production group with its own Finder, Minder, and Grinders. This model avoids an unwieldy top-heavy partnership structure and instead grows in self-sufficient, scalable “pods.” As Mark notes, clearly showing these pathways and roles is critical for recruitment and retention—two huge pain points for many firms.

Taking a Business-Minded Approach

A crucial takeaway is to run your practice like a business:

Track Productivity: Understand how much of your Grinders’ time is billable, and ensure Minders have enough oversight bandwidth. Finders may have less billable work but drive overall firm revenue and strategic direction.
Measure Results: Regularly review profitability at the production-team level. Look for ways to optimize workflow, rebalance roles, or adjust pricing.
Plan for Growth: Once a team reaches capacity, replicate the structure. No need to weigh down the firm with too many partners at the top.

Self-Reflection for Leaders and Owners

Even if you’ve been “doing it all” for decades, it pays to pause and consider which responsibilities bring you the most satisfaction. You might discover you prefer Finder tasks—nurturing client relationships—while leaving day-to-day management to a dedicated Minder. Or maybe you truly enjoy the technical depth of the work (Grinder) but feel forced into too many sales meetings.

Realigning your own role can be transformational: you get to focus on what you do best, and you build a leadership team that covers every dimension of the business.

Additional Resources to Guide Your Transformation

Panalitix LearningHub: Mark Ferris’s organization offers a wide range of tools, templates, and short courses to help you implement the Finders, Minders, Grinders structure. You’ll find interview questions to hire the right personality type, training modules on capacity planning, and resources on workflow optimization.
Coaching & Mentoring: For firms wanting deeper guidance, Panalitix provides group coaching, one-on-one sessions, and specialized projects.
Free Webinar Replays: You can watch recordings (like the one linked above) for more detailed discussions of productivity tracking, org-chart design, and incentivizing your team.

The Path to a More Resilient Firm

Adopting the “Finders, Minders, and Grinders” model is about more than a neat organizational chart—it’s a mindset shift toward placing people where their talents shine. The result? More engaged employees, a better client experience, and an accounting practice that can grow without sacrificing service quality.

Whether you’re a solo practitioner looking to hire your first employee or a mid-sized firm aiming to double revenue, the framework helps you avoid the burnout trap and keeps your team energized. In an industry where talent is scarce and client expectations keep rising, this approach could be your edge.

Ready to dive deeper? Watch Mark Ferris’s full webinar replay to gain practical tips on structuring your teams, setting productivity targets, and charting clear career paths. Embrace this powerful framework, and set your accounting firm on a path to enduring success.

Why Top CPAs Embrace Strategic Productivity Over Time Management

Earmark Team · January 26, 2025 ·

Every accounting professional has the same 24 hours each day, yet some feel perpetually behind while others run efficient, profitable practices—and still have time to enjoy life. According to Mark Ferris of Panalitix, the difference often lies in how purposefully you structure your organization, communicate with teams and clients, and focus on high-value work.

In a recent webinar, Mark shares that moving beyond old-school time management toward “strategic productivity” involves three steps: (1) establishing effective organizational systems, (2) improving communication, and (3) refining individual mindset.

1. Establishing Effective Organizational Systems

Mark explains that “business is a team sport,” and even sole practitioners must consider how clients and contractors interact with their workflows. He emphasizes the importance of delegation and role clarity as the bedrock of effective time management. You can determine which tasks genuinely demand your expertise by identifying your workload in categories—administration, operations, production (basic vs. complex), management, client relationships, business development, and leadership.

He notes that using an organizational chart and job descriptions “prevents you from doing tasks that don’t require your specialized knowledge,” freeing up time to deliver advisory work or focus on firm growth. Mark also points out that routine procedures (such as client onboarding, payroll, and tax preparation) are best systematized via checklists. These checklists “ensure consistency and make delegation easier,” which allows key leaders to dedicate more attention to top-level strategy and client relationships.

According to Mark, strong key performance indicators (KPIs) bring structure and accountability to a practice. “Whether you track turnaround times, gross margin, client satisfaction, or productivity hours,” he says, “everyone should know how success is measured.”

He further highlights the importance of a consistent meeting cadence. In Mark’s view, “a daily huddle of 10–15 minutes can drastically reduce confusion,” because participants share top priorities, key metrics, and obstacles. He also recommends scheduling weekly or monthly meetings around production planning, marketing, or strategy and documenting actions so that discussions move the firm forward.

2. Improving Communication

“Email isn’t going away,” Mark emphasizes, “so we need smarter systems so it doesn’t run our lives.” One of his core recommendations is batching your inbox—setting specific times each day to tackle emails. He adds that if you open an email, “respond, delegate, or archive it immediately” rather than letting it linger.

To further prevent inbox overload, Mark recommends sharing documents in a central repository instead of sending attachments back and forth. He also highlights the value of a speed culture and response policies, noting that “slow response often undermines a client’s trust.” Setting a standard turnaround time (such as 24 hours for routine inquiries) and prioritizing A-list clients keeps projects on track and clients happy.

Mark advocates designating meeting-free zones each week to make headway on complex projects. “A day without meetings gives you uninterrupted time to focus,” he explains, “and it’s amazing how much more you can accomplish when you’re not constantly switching tasks.”

3. Refining Individual Mindset

Mark challenges practitioners to avoid the trap of filling newly freed-up time with more tasks. “What’s the point of being more productive,” he asks, “if we just keep piling on work until we burn out?” Instead, he advises using calendar blocking and setting deadlines to combat Parkinson’s Law—“work expands to fill the time available.” When you define strict time frames for tasks, you’re less likely to waste energy.

He highlights the value of chronotypes, referencing Daniel Pink’s research, and encourages CPAs to schedule complex tasks when their energy naturally peaks. This goes hand in hand with deep work concepts (from Cal Newport), where one to three hours of distraction-free concentration “dramatically boost both output and quality.”

Pointing to the idea of slow productivity, Mark urges professionals not to equate constant rushing with true progress. “By focusing on quality over quantity,” he notes, “you actually achieve more while protecting yourself from burnout.” He shares several stress-busting tips—like walking breaks, breathing exercises, or simply looking away from screens periodically.

The Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) also applies. Mark observes that “20% of your clients may be consuming 80% of your time,” despite not contributing meaningful revenue. He recommends offloading or restructuring those relationships so you can invest energy in A-list clients who value your services and are open to additional services or advisory work.

Bringing It All Together

According to Mark, practicing “strategic productivity” means joining organizational structure, communication mastery, and a focused personal mindset. Whether your goal is to take on higher-level advisory, grow your firm, or simply have more control over your schedule, implementing these strategies can help you work smarter instead of harder.

He suggests picking one or two techniques—such as instituting a daily huddle or revamping your inbox routine—and taking immediate action. Mark stresses the importance of documenting and sharing any new policies, checklists, or workflows so that “everyone is on the same page, and no one reverts to old habits.”

Mark also recommends exploring further resources, including short courses, events, and learning materials offered by Panalitix, which provide deeper dives into email management, leadership development, and operational process improvements.
To learn more about Mark’s approach and see these strategies in action, watch the full webinar, where he provides step-by-step advice for applying each concept. Get ready to discover how small, purposeful changes can free your time, delight your clients, and bring greater satisfaction to your accounting practice.

Is Your Expertise Holding Back Your Accounting Firm’s Growth?

Earmark Team · November 13, 2024 ·

What if the expertise that makes you a great accountant is actually what’s holding your firm back from reaching its full potential? It might seem surprising, but many owners discover that their strong technical knowledge can actually make it harder to grow their firms into successful, large-scale businesses.

In a recent webinar, Mark Ferris, Chairman and CEO of Panalitix, shared important tips on how owners can break away from being stuck in their own expertise to create more successful and scalable businesses. Drawing from his experience with many different firms, Ferris highlighted some surprising ways that being highly skilled can sometimes hold back growth.

Ferris offered simple strategies to help owners turn their practices from just a job into a valuable business. He challenged common ideas about what makes an accounting practice successful and provided a clear guide for firm owners who want to grow their businesses while also gaining more personal freedom.

The Hidden Barrier: When Expertise Limits Growth

Accountants are recognized for their strong knowledge, dedication to helping clients succeed, and commitment to doing their best work. These traits are crucial for building good relationships with clients. However, they can also create ways of working that make it harder for businesses to grow and expand.

Ferris, who has spent many years working with accountants, points out that the biggest challenge to growing an accounting firm isn’t a lack of technical skills or difficult market conditions. Instead, it’s the belief that being personally productive is the same as achieving success in business.

“The promise of professional services was that you train yourself, gain unique skills, and enjoy a long, lucrative business life deriving good fees,” says Mark. “But would we say that today to young people entering the profession?”

The main issue is that while accounting education teaches valuable technical skills, it doesn’t really help future business owners understand how to grow and manage a company. As a result, many owners find themselves trying to expand their business by simply working longer hours, taking on more clients themselves, and keeping a tight grip on every part of their service. This approach can be overwhelming and may not lead to sustainable growth.

The result is that the profits of the business are constrained by the owner’s time and energy. Even though they deliver great value to their clients, they might feel unappreciated and overworked. Instead of pushing themselves harder within the same old way of doing things, it’s time to rethink how an accounting practice can work for everyone involved.

Shifting Mindsets: From Doing the Work to Building the Business

The main difference between a traditional accountant and a business builder is how they view their work. While traditional accountants focus mainly on managing numbers and financial records, business builders see their role as helping to grow and improve a business. A traditional accountant might say, “I work to complete tax returns,” whereas a business builder says, “I work to build a business that completes tax returns.” This small change has a big impact on business value and personal freedom.

Think about celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. He began his career as a talented chef, but he found true success when he shifted his focus to creating restaurants and systems that ensure top-notch service, even when he wasn’t personally in charge. This kind of change can also happen in the field of accounting.

Business builders take a unique approach when it comes to planning and making decisions. Rather than just looking at short-term earnings and financial reports for the next year, they focus on creating long-term plans that span three to five years. This allows them to build valuable and successful companies that can thrive over time.

This involves creating systems, processes, and teams that reliably provide great service, whether or not the owner is directly involved.

“Successful businesses do not depend on the owners for much if anything,” Mark notes.

It’s not about choosing between being a great accountant or being a great business owner; it’s about gradually transitioning from handling all the tasks yourself to establishing a business that can operate effectively on its own. One CPA’s experience shows how this change can take place over time.

Case Study: A $550K Practice Transforms into a $10M Enterprise

Transitioning from a technical specialist to a business leader is possible with the right change in perspective. Take, for example, a certified public accountant (CPA) from Tampa. Over the span of ten years, he grew his small practice, which started at $550,000 in 2011, into a thriving business worth $10 million.

At first, he stuck to a conventional approach, putting in long hours and managing everything on his own. By 2015, he was working over 2,500 hours a year, taking care of all parts of the business while also trying to keep up with a growing number of clients. The big change happened in 2016 when he took a surprising step: he decided to spend $155,000 to hire a chief operating officer, even though it would hurt his profits in the short run.

“That was arguably a very bad decision if you’re focused on the short term and on the P&L,” Mark explains. “But he decided to invest in that and get a lot more things off his plate.”

The owner of the business made a choice to delegate responsibilities, which started a major change for the company. He slowly moved away from handling daily operations, production tasks, and finding new clients. Now, he acts as the chairman, concentrating only on providing valuable advice to six chosen clients, while the business continues to do well on its own.

The transformation wasn’t instant or easy—he “messed it up a couple of times”—but the result is what the business builder mindset promises: a valuable business that generates wealth without the owner’s constant involvement.

Your Path to Transformation

Transitioning from being a technical expert to becoming a business architect can be challenging, but the benefits of creating value for a business and gaining personal freedom make it a journey worth taking. The process starts with a change in how you think about your role. Instead of just viewing yourself as a talented accountant, start seeing yourself as someone who designs a system for the business. This system should be capable of achieving great results even when you’re not constantly overseeing everything.

The story of the Tampa CPA shows that it’s possible to change and improve how an accounting business operates. This change involves rethinking traditional ideas about what leads to success in this field. The outcome is a more valuable business, happier clients, a more satisfied team, and a sustainable work style that doesn’t rely on the owner being involved all the time.

Ready to Transform Your Practice?

Are you interested in turning your practice from a job into a valuable business? Check out the full webinar recording to learn about the changes in thinking and practical actions you can take to create a more sustainable accounting practice. Plus, by participating, you’ll earn free continuing education credits while discovering how to make your work better suit your life.