From Lost to Leading: How Garrett Paul Built a Thriving Accounting Firm Without a CPA License

Garrett Paul once faced a crossroads marked by uncertainty and professional drift—but it was that very discomfort that sparked his transformation. Now at the helm of a growing accounting firm, Garrett plays a pivotal role in scaling operations and deepening client relationships. In this Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight, he shares how choosing to build something of his own laid the foundation for lasting personal and professional success. From narrowly escaping a misaligned merger to embracing relentless networking, Garrett’s journey is a testament to trusting your instincts, finding the right partners, and refusing to settle for less than your full potential.

Hi, Garrett Paul! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?

I own a CPA and Accounting Firm. I am not a CPA. My business partner Matt Jones is the CPA. I am more focused on the business and client side. Making sure we are operating smoothly internally and ensuring our clients are being taken care of externally. As well as having a presence in the market to always find new business for our firm. We mainly help business owners and entrepreneurs who are looking to grow their business. We can assist with everything from the creation of an entity, to the accounting and taxes for our business and personal, CFO and business advisory, and then getting you in touch with someone in our network to one day sell or pass down your business to the next generation, and assist on the tax side of M&A.

Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.

The moment I felt this would be the moment I realized that I NEEDED to do something or my life was going nowhere professionally. I needed to grow a business like our accounting firm that would set the foundation of my life personally. I am very lucky to be partnered with my childhood friend Matt Jones. 

Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.

I was kind of lost professionally. I had no clue what I was doing or what I was going to do. I had so much uncertainty. I look back on that time and am so happy that Matt and me decided to double down and make this firm so successful to what it has become today. And we are still only in the early childhood phase of our business. 

Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?

I use Trello personally. I use it every hour of every day. If I did not have it, I wouldn't know how to track my commitments I make to others both personally and professionally. I wouldn't have a way to track reminders, follow ups, deliverables to clients, and everything in between. As a firm, we use Airtable for our workflow software. It is a really great software for what we need right now. For file sharing and e-filing/signing, we use Box. We are very pleased with Box in the short amount of time we have been using it since making a switch from one of the major file sharing companies. 

We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.

At one point, Matt and I almost merged with another firm. It would've been a sellout point before we would've never seen what our full potential was going to be. If anyone is looking to merge or sell their business, I believe they must make sure that it is 100% what they want to do before making that decision. We dug into the deal prior to it closing and realized that for the income we would be getting, the ownership percentage did not make any sense. It was an absolute win for them, and would have been a huge loss for us. Not to mention the fact that the deal took 13 months until we decided to pull the plug. Matt and I just recently acquired another firm over a 4 month period, and by the end of 2026, we project that we will be a larger firm than the firm we nearly merged with in early 2024. Do not sell out!

What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?

Networking, networking, networking. If you own a small business, I cannot stress this enough. Your network can never be too big. Never stop networking, just elevate the level in which you do. If you are in a networking group for more than 3 years, I believe it is possible that you are limiting yourself. Especially if the group is not growing or expanding. If you are the best business in a room, you are in the wrong room. 

What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?

Find someone that has opposite skill sets as you that you trust, get into business, and build a future that you never thought was possible. 

Want to dive deeper into Garret's work? Check out the links below!

• Visit The Jones Group's website: thejonesgroup.us
• Connect with Garrett Paul on LinkedIn: Garrett Paul
• Subscribe to The Jones Group Youtube channel: @thejonesgroupadv