In this episode of the M&A Launchpad Podcast, hosts Ben Suttles and Casey Minshew sit down with Jason Kruger, President at Signature Analytics (a Citrin Cooperman Company). Jason shares his journey from Deloitte to entrepreneurship, scaling Signature Analytics, and ultimately navigating its acquisition.
This conversation digs into the fundamentals of building a business with the end in mind—why intentional growth, strong documentation, and client diversification are critical to maximizing valuation. Jason also unpacks how AI is transforming accounting and decision-making, and what entrepreneurs should do today to position their companies for a smoother, more profitable exit.
Whether you’re buying, selling, or still scaling, Jason’s insights will give you a clear roadmap for creating enterprise value that lasts.
Key Takeaways
- Intentional Growth – Plan for your exit early and build a company that operates independently of the founder.
- Systems & Documentation – Formal processes add tangible value and buyer confidence.
- Diversification – Avoid client concentration risk to stabilize revenue and valuation.
- AI in Accounting – Emerging tools are streamlining reporting and empowering real-time decisions.
Connect with Jason Kruger
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-kruger/
Email: JKruger@citroencooperman.com
M&A Launchpad Conference
Join us at the M&A Launchpad Conference on October 25, 2025, at The Westin Chicago River North. It’s the premier event for acquirers, operators, and investors to connect, learn, and grow. Use code LAUNCH at malaunchpadconference.com for $150 off your ticket.
Additional Resources:
- Access our full archive of podcast and video interviews: https://www.malaunchpad.com/podcast
- Connect with the hosts at Equity Launchpad: info@equitylaunchpad.com
- Learn more about M&A opportunities: https://www.equity-launchpad.com
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�� Have a question or want to work with us? Reach out to Casey and Ben: info@equity-launchpad.com
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Transcript
00:00 All right. Today on our show, we interviewed Jason Krueger, who is a not
00:06 only very interesting in the sense of not only a business owner, sold his business, and like living the dream being an
00:13 accounting background, uh, but man, just a ton of nuggets from somebody that had an exit,
00:18 uh, had an intention to grow his business over 15 years and now now helping business owners in in the
00:24 accounting space. So, Ben, what were your thoughts? Yeah, I mean I think that the the big takeaway for me was that I mean he how intentional he had been over
00:30 a 15 year span. Most most business owners I even called it out on the show I was like hey most people don’t think
00:35 about that think about like hey I want to start a company it’s fun it’s it’s it’s like my new thing he was from day
00:40 one because he had come from deote you know really like what are the things I need to do how do I need to build this
00:46 company what are the key things that I need to track um you know in order to be able to
00:52 eventually exit and and so he had that all planned out and so I think it was it’s it’s it’s it was an interesting story now he’s working for the company
00:59 that bought him so you know he’s also he’s back to working for the man and and you know how that transition goes. So I
01:04 think it’s it’s very interesting because you know I mean he’s a younger guy he’s got he’s still got some young kids and I think you know he looks at it like hey
01:10 what was I gonna do for the next 30 years right you know and so now he’s he’s living the dream kind of back to
01:16 doing sales and and and growing that business but touching on that intentional I mean
01:21 that for those listeners that are getting into this space I mean you’ve got to know why you’re doing this. Yeah,
01:26 he was really focused. You’re right. But also in the mindset of documenting. Yes. Documenting what he did, building
01:33 systems and processes in the business because it makes your company more valuable. And so for our listeners that are
01:39 thinking about buying a business, what are those things you’re going to be looking for due diligence for systems and processes and then where can you
01:45 make those improvements to make the value go up? Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s I mean it’s all about documentation, bringing on the
01:51 right team, getting your accounting stuff in line. Obviously, he’s an accountant, playbooks, like all that stuff.
01:57 Yeah, he he he really he really did a great job and probably one of the more methodical business owners that that
02:02 we’ve interviewed on this show. So, a lot of great golden nuggets. It’s going to be it’s an interesting episode. So,
02:08 we look forward to Yeah, let’s get right into this. [Music]
02:16 Hey there, this is Casey with the M&A Launchpad podcast. Want to let you know about October 25th. Put it on your
02:23 calendar. This is a do not miss one day event. There’s going to be incredible headliners, but really at the end of the
02:30 day, you’re going to get a chance to talk to people that have made acquisitions, learn from some of the
02:35 challenges that they’ve made because this is definitely a challenging process, but more importantly, there’s going to be people there that can help
02:42 you and support you along the way from great vendors, quality of earnings, how to run the due diligence process, and
02:48 how do I get financed, how do I raise capital, how do I structure all of these things? October 25th in Chicago, we’re
02:54 going to be gathering. It’s going to be hundreds of people that are all focused, like-minded people. And man, everyone
03:01 that’s come has given us incredible feedback. So, mark your calendar. October 25th in Chicago. We look forward
03:06 to seeing you. Jason, welcome to the show. Thank you, Casey. I really appreciate
03:12 it. Yeah, we’re glad to have you here. You got a great background, a lot of things here to cover. Why don’t you jump in,
03:17 give us a snapshot about yourself? Yeah, sure. So my background is in the
03:22 finance and accounting uh field. Uh spent the last 20 what’s it? Yeah. I
03:28 guess I don’t like to that’s a bad word to me but yeah uh hopefully I can add a little bit more
03:34 value than that. Yeah. Um but uh spent the last 25 years in that space. Uh started my career uh at
03:41 mostly with Deote. So in the big four uh on the financial statement audit side. So got a lot of exposure to companies
03:47 and their financial information and what you know kind of really understanding companies from the ground up. Um, you
03:55 know, I I learned at an early age, uh, you know, when I my t I talked to my dad, he was in business and he would
04:01 say, you know, finance is looking at a company from the top down and and accounting is looking at a business or a
04:07 company from the bottom up and so there’s a lot of value there and, you know, has really helped in my career and
04:12 really helping to understand businesses, how they operate, um, how they’re successful. Um I left Deote in 2008 and
04:20 I started a company called Signature Analytics which was basically outsourced accounting CFO advisory support for
04:27 companies in the 10 million to $100 million range. Um they that are looking
04:33 to grow uh they lack uh sophistication. They’ve outgrown their existing team.
04:39 They have a bookkeeper that they call a controller but uh really isn’t you know isn’t meeting those expectations.
04:46 Um and so providing that accounting financial leadership to companies filling in the gaps so they have
04:52 confidence in their financials and they can uh confidence in confidence in the
04:58 financial process and they can produce good timely financial information they can trust and make decisions off of. Uh
05:04 we built that company up to about 75 full-time employees. Nice. Uh supporting our clients and then we uh
05:12 were acquired in November of 2024. Congrats. By Citroen Coopermanman. Thank you. Uh
05:18 and uh at that point I became a partner at Citroen Coopermanman within our what we call BO business process outsourcing.
05:25 So same thing outsourced accounting uh practice. It’s been growing. It’s probably the fastest growing uh division
05:34 of our firm. And so they had grown it internally. They were looking to
05:39 expedite that growth. Um, and we we matched up really well with them on how
05:44 we serviced our clients, our culture, those types of things. And so now Citroen Coopermanman is a national firm
05:51 about 15 uh top 15 as far as size, focuses on, you know, core uh audit and
05:57 tax work for clients. Uh really focus on the small or the mid-market. Uh so we’re
06:03 not really, you know, there’s some overlap maybe between like a big four, but really our focus is that small mid-market. That’s where we we really
06:10 thrive. Uh companies you know that you guys same types of companies you guys work with. Um and then we also have an
06:17 advisory function which is the services that I mentioned I perform but also transaction advisory you know supporting
06:24 companies through the due diligence and the M&A process uh so they can you know
06:29 uh ultimately succeed in their sale. um along with other you know anything you can think of from a a consulting and
06:35 advisory side on the finance financial and accounting side of a business. Love it Jason. No, I mean, you know,
06:41 obviously a lot of experience over the last kind of 20 years and, you know, I mean, I guess how was that just to kind
06:47 of kick it off, you know, were you a were you looking to sell? Mhm.
06:52 You know, and b how was that process, right? And and now you’re now you’ve sold and now you’re you’re working for
06:58 the man again, right? You know, like how was that, you know? I know. You know, I mean, and just kind of talk to us because I think
07:04 that’s one of it’s one of the strategies that we’ve heard on from other guests, right? But I’d love for your kind of perspective as to you know how did this
07:12 all kind of come about and you know how is it kind of switching gears not no longer being the owner but now being a
07:18 partner. Yeah. Yeah. So when I left Deoid I was a senior manager at Deote and my next step would have been to you know go the
07:26 partner route and uh at the time I was thinking yeah I don’t want to be a partner at a public accounting firm. I
07:31 want to go off and you know do my own thing and um and then now go full circle you know 15 years later or six 17 years
07:38 later I’m I’m now a partner at a CPA firm. So um I so I’m you know I’ve gone
07:44 full circle but um when I started in 2008 um I was fortunate in that you know
07:51 I was one of the earlier adopters early to market for the types of services that we performed. Um, and a lot of CPA firms
07:59 also at the time, you know, their their for their co for f focus was audit tax
08:05 and so I was able to develop good relationships with CPA firms, bankers in the market. Started in the San Diego
08:10 market. Uh, San Diego is a very general market. Um, there’s only one Fortune 500
08:16 company. It’s really run by the mid-market, small mid-market business owners. So, it’s a great place to start
08:21 a business like what I did. Um, and you know, learned a lot. Uh, flying by the
08:28 seat of my pants at first, trying to figure everything out, playing every role in the company as every business owner does, I’m sure.
08:34 And then over time, I was always looking, you know, at my ultimate goals,
08:39 which was ultimately to exit at some point in time. Um, and so
08:45 from the beginning, I always was looking at, okay, how do I maximize value of this business? uh what are the long-term
08:51 metrics I want to be focusing on to be able to do that um so that I can position myself to be a
08:57 val very valuable business for a potential buyer and you know really separate myself from separate myself
09:04 from anybody anybody else they might be considering. So I was curious, do you think that that that Deote, you know,
09:10 experience and kind of I mean, obviously they they work with other firms that are probably looking to do M&A as well,
09:15 right? Do you feel like that kind of put the bug in your ear to because not a lot of business owners
09:21 start off day one being like, you know what, I’m going to going to maximize the value because I eventually want to sell. Most people are like, I’ve got this idea
09:27 or I’ve got this problem that I think I can fix, you know, or I have this hobby that I want to turn into something, you know,
09:32 like that’s how they look at it and then it’s down the road somebody might encourage them to sell and then they’re
09:37 stumbling their way through a sale process, right? Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Good point. Absolutely. I mean I I
09:43 learned in my career spent 10 years in you know in public accounting beforehand
09:50 you know where the you know what was important and so just the high level key parameters are um one you have to be
09:57 able to build a business that is not relying on Jason right so you have to build the infrastructure so day one yes
10:05 it’s only Jason’s flying by se doing everything but over time you have to be able to build a business that is self-
10:10 sustaining and you build the infra infrastructure, the management structure, the layers, etc. So that
10:16 Jason ultimately can walk out of the business or leave and it still operates
10:21 effectively. And so that’s that’s huge, hugely important and really drives
10:26 business value up. Um the second was, you know, for our type of firm was, you know, we wanted to not be a single
10:33 location in San Diego. We wanted to be multilocation. And so this was in 2008 when it was a lot more, you know,
10:41 everybody was in the office. Zoom was I don’t even know if Zoom existed back then. Did not. Uh yeah. And so, you know, it was a lot
10:48 of that. And so we started to establish office presence in uh Orange County, in Los Angeles. Um we we built out offices
10:56 there. We actually had some trial and error with some other offices in Arizona. Uh that didn’t pan out. Um but
11:02 we started to expand beyond our just our our core you know our local presence and
11:07 then as technology ramped up you know through COVID we started to then focus
11:12 on you know supporting clients fully remote and being able to support them all over the country. So we started to
11:18 diversify our client base from that perspective as well. um which is always something that I wanted to be able to to
11:25 show um that we were you know multilocation uh we had diversification of clients and
11:32 th that’s very important as well but those are probably the two you know two of the three of the bigger things which
11:38 is or two which is building the infrastructure so that you have you know
11:43 processes defined processes documented processes playbooks um all of that stuff
11:48 just adds value and separates you from your you know anybody else that you might be might be looking to uh be
11:55 acquired or or be competing against. And Jason in in the audit world, you
12:01 know, so I I’m able to call you a bean counter. I went to school for accounting, you know, I understand that
12:06 we’re not, you know, that that but I accounting really helped me when I did my first business. I realized everything
12:11 I did not learn in school uh on a book and then all of a sudden I had to apply it. But when you start thinking about
12:16 the audit process, um, have gone through an audit before, you know, it really makes you think about your accounting
12:23 systems, your processes, and those kind of things. So, I can imagine 10 years of doing that
12:28 when you went into your own business, you’re like, “Hey, I’ve got to immediately create all of these processes at some point, right? We’re
12:34 going to build into it.” Y and and and document it. because I heard you say document and record and do all
12:40 these things so you’re not going five years later and going, “Oh crap, I got to go find all
12:45 that stuff which can kill you.” So having that mindset right off the bat is like as an auditor, man, we’ve got to
12:52 build systems and processes and and document them. And I think the one thing that that I think was interesting too is, you know,
12:59 because again, when you’re trying to sell to maybe a bigger firm, right, a private equity, I mean, they really do
13:04 look for that diversification of clients, too, right? They don’t want to have that constant customer concentration in one thing. So, I think
13:10 any business owners that are like listening to the podcast today, right, be taking that into consideration,
13:16 right? If you’re if you’ve only got five or a handful of clients and they’re all in one market, you know what happens if you know one of
13:22 those goes away. You just lost 20% of your revenue, right? Or what if that
13:28 market that all of your clients are in goes bad, right? Now, you’ve just lost potentially 100% of your revenue. So I
13:35 think it’s all in the same industry and you know all that stuff as well. So I think it’s very important when you’re starting a company or or or
13:42 you’re looking for a company to potentially buy to really have those in mind right you know have do they have
13:48 processes so it’s not wholly dependent on you know the Jasons of the world to be running it post acquisition you know
13:55 do they have the diversification right I think that that’s important. Yeah. Yeah. I mean ultimately a buyer is
14:00 looking at risk, right? And risk drives the value and the ultimate purchase price. So the goal of the business owner
14:07 is to get into a a point where they’ve derisked the business as much as
14:12 possible to maximize the purchase price or the valuation. And so I I like to use
14:18 a you know I like to talk about you have um you have a business owner says hey I
14:24 want to sell my business and you say okay the first thing is what industry are you? How does the outside world
14:30 value your type of business? And a lot of times we always, you know, it’s it’s usually a multiple of of IBIDA or maybe
14:37 a revenue multiple, but let’s just say it’s IBIDA. So on a on a million-doll
14:42 business, if you’re 20% IBIDA, you’re may your bottom line is, you know, a after some depreciation interest back,
14:50 you know, backing out, you’re at uh 200 grand. Um well if you’re at if you’ve
14:56 built a business uh and your industry you may hear that well the multiples in your industry are between four and eight
15:02 times IBIDA. Well if you’re four times IBIDA you’re going to get 800 grand for
15:07 your business. If you’re eight times IBIDA you’re going to get 1.6 million.
15:13 And and so what what I talk to clients about and and myself is how do we move
15:19 you to the higher end of that range? Mhm. You may have the same profitability or
15:25 revenue as a competitor, but you may be able to sell for twice as much or, you
15:30 know, a multiple higher because you’ve done all these things that derisk you
15:35 that want in which will want a buyer to to pay that higher multiple for you. And
15:41 so those are things that are important is one, you know, I didn’t even talk about knowing your numbers is critical.
15:47 knowing what those targets are, knowing how to maximize profitability, but knowing how to do it as it relates to,
15:54 you know, what your ultimable ultim ultimate goal to sell at is as well.
15:59 Yeah. And you think financials, right? So, you want to make sure that you can be be reviewed and you’re audit ready. I
16:06 would think those are you don’t necessarily have to have an audit depending on size, but wow, we’re about to go through our
16:12 opening balance sheet on a company that we closed, which we should have done the opening balance sheet audit when we closed.
16:18 Now we’re going back cleaning up the balance sheet so we can do the opening balance sheet audit next month. And so it’s been a seven month seven
16:25 months that we have been cleaning up the balance sheet, right? So, it’s it’s it’s it’s it’s really important
16:30 because you got to do that opening balance sheet because the bigger financing like the private credit guys, this group,
16:36 they’re going to ask 100%. Like, yeah, did you are you audit ready? Have you done your audit?
16:41 And it’s just a different level of the game. Now, the two million the 200,000 EBA business probably reviewed financials, right?
16:47 Yeah. But that’s one box you check. Then there’s operating systems. So, in your business when you were developing the
16:53 the accounting firm, did you have an operating system to use? Were you using EOS? Were you did you
16:59 have some kind or did you just kind of create a process yourself? Yeah. Uh I’m familiar with EOS. I’m
17:05 familiar with the process. Uh we didn’t use that. We actually did uh work through um scaling up which is
17:13 uh basically is from it’s related to EOS. Same con similar concept same I
17:19 think some of the same people actually. Uh so uh scaling up is a great program. EOS is a great program. um help helps
17:26 you to hold you accountable and create structure in your business. Um some of the the best things that we ever did is
17:34 uh we hired a consultant a number of years ago to help us define and document
17:40 our sales process. Um and so we developed a sales playbook
17:45 and how we were going to market, how we were you know what what how we would approach things and that was one of the
17:52 best investments we ever made. And then we also invested in building out a client service playbook, meaning how we,
17:59 you know, operations, how we service our clients, um, and how that ties into the technology that we use, um, and how we,
18:09 um, you know, ultimately the value that we drive to our clients. And so those
18:15 things were were critical. Love it. So to take a step back, Jason, so you’ve been building the company up
18:22 for, you know, what, 15 years, 15, 16, 17 years, right? You know, was did somebody approach you
18:30 or did you go through, you know, an investment banking process or a business
18:35 broker? Kind of talk to us about like how that that sale process worked and and maybe some of the the the pros and
18:41 cons, right? Yeah, of course. Yeah, for sure. I think uh I had been keeping my eye out. Um I had been uh
18:48 talking to other kind of bigger or firms that were similar to us in the market.
18:54 Um so I had a sense for you know what was going on. There’s been a lot of consolidation in the CPA world. Uh CPA
19:01 firms are looking at u diversifying outside of just tax and audit to other service lines as we see a lot. There’s
19:08 you know even more recently uh you know Moss Adams and Baker Tilly just merged
19:13 together which was a big trend huge transaction private equity is getting in the space and so you know there’s the
19:20 demand has been up um which also was you know part of the decision-m process to understand um we did not hire uh an
19:27 investment banker I did we did talk to a couple um but um ultimately you know
19:33 through just kind of general relationships that I had in the market we were able to, you know, um, uh,
19:40 communicate and and build a relationship with Sister Coopermanman over a period of time. Um, everything that that we
19:46 heard and and talked to them about, um, was, you know, felt like it was really in alignment. Um, and the great thing
19:55 is, you know, that it’s been seven or eight months and, you know, they Citroen Cooper’s lived up to everything that
20:00 they’ve said uh, during that process as well. So, it’s been a it’s been a great relationship. Um the firm is is very
20:07 collaborative has a very collaborative approach uh to everything. Um it’s not
20:12 you’re not siloed. Uh they want us working together because ultimately we know that we have a lot of services that
20:19 can provide value to our clients and uh we want to be able to work collaboratively there as well. And that was another big draw to the company is
20:26 the culture that they have or that we have now. Absolutely. And running a business it’s exhausting.
20:32 Um, so I could imagine after 15 16 years of doing what you were doing, it was probably
20:37 and and you tell me if I’m wrong, but it was kind of like, hey, I I’ve I’ve gotten to a point where I’m happy
20:42 and I’m ready to I’m ready to not be the business owner, right? Yeah. So, was that really also another trigger
20:49 event for you as well? Yeah. I mean, that we were at a point where it was, hey, do we, you know,
20:55 reinvest heavily to take it to that next level? um or do we look to join a firm
21:00 like Citroen Coopermanman? And you know where we were at that point uh we
21:06 decided that it made sense to to join Citroen. Um but yeah, I mean there’s
21:13 it’s a you have a lot on your plate as you know when you’re running a business and you’re you’re trying to you know you
21:18 have you’re in charge of making sure you’re covering payroll for all the employees and I mean there’s a lot that
21:23 goes to that. Um, obviously being part of Citra now has allowed me to to focus in a new role within the firm. Um, and I
21:31 that I’ that I’m excited about as well. Um, but um, yeah, for us just it was a
21:38 combination of a lot of things, you know, timing, the market, uh, what we were looking to do with the company, um,
21:44 our employees and how we could continue to help them to grow in their careers. Um, and you know, we’ve always had a
21:51 growth mindset and for us the next step in that growth was to join a firm like Citroen who’s also looking to continue
21:56 to grow and has continued to grow as well. Were your customers were they were so I
22:02 would take it from being outsourced? Was it pretty sticky? Like these were customers that are going to stay with
22:08 you? Um, so you’ve got really good sticky revenue. Um, you’ve got, you know, all of those a recurring revenue model. Yeah.
22:14 So it was a recurring revenue model. multiples change very different when you’re trading recurring revenue to
22:21 transaction. Yeah, unfortunately it’s not 97% like software um because it is you know
22:27 professional service but it is a recurring revenue model and um you know there’s there’s a lot of things that
22:33 happen with businesses too. I mean we would celebrate successes of our clients that would sell or exit as well. I mean
22:39 they might leave us they’re not a client anymore but that that would be a success. we can talk about that with new
22:44 opportunities and our existing clients. Um so we um yeah our our goal is to work
22:52 consistently uh with our clients on an ongoing basis to support and really
22:57 provide the leadership that they don’t have in finance and accounting to ensure that yes the day-to-day activities are
23:03 being done. There’s good processes around invoicing and payables. Um, but then ultimately, do you have a good
23:08 monthly close process? And then what’s critical to ownership and and and the
23:14 executive team is do I have visibility into my numbers? Am I getting good financials, good reporting, good KPIs?
23:21 Do I understand the cash flows of my business so that um I can make decisions ultimately to achieve the results and
23:28 goals that I have as I move forward. Love it. So the question is, so how are you seeing AI playing a role in accounting
23:35 right now? Yeah, because we’re seeing a lot of great tools. Everybody talking about it. Everybody’s talking about it. But how
23:40 are you guys seeing it with for your customers and clients? Are y’all are y’all on the forefront of helping to
23:45 implement systems and processes around these tools? How are you seeing in the world? Yeah. So we have uh we have a digital
23:53 team uh as part of Citroen Coopermanman that is focused on uh that has a an AR AI um
24:03 team as well that really helps our clients to get their foot in the door.
24:08 And so when you’re talking about the the small mid-market um AI means different
24:14 for them than it does to Apple, right? Or Amazon or whatnot. So, a lot of it is
24:20 like what what really is AI, right? And how do I uh a lot people say you hear
24:28 AI, but you know, how do you actually define it, right? And so, um we’re we we
24:35 partner with Microsoft. Um so, a lot of the tools we use um with from an AI
24:42 perspective are Microsoft like Copilot. Um, and some of the easy or basic things
24:48 that we’re able to do is really improve process flows uh for our clients on kind
24:56 of the the mundane things that happen or to free up time of their free up their
25:01 existing time in in what they’re trying to accomplish on a day-to-day basis. Um,
25:06 so things like where it can um, you know, uh, scan emails for certain
25:13 information. uh file emails for you appropriately or summarize certain emails so that you
25:19 don’t have to go in each email one by one. You know, just just different process flows um based on the company um
25:27 that we can really create efficiencies over. And so the first question is really it’s you know every business is
25:33 different. So talking to the business owner or the team actually that’s doing the work and saying hey you know where
25:40 do you where are you spending a lot of time that you feel is a manual process or help us understand how your what your
25:47 invoicing process is what your bill pay process is customer support is a huge
25:52 area of you know AI change in AI um you know as it relates to customer support
25:58 or how you support your clients in certain way um so so those are some of the things that our digital team is
26:03 focused ing on from that ties into the accounting function as it relates to
26:09 accounting processes of course. Um but then and then also also streamlining
26:14 ultimately the day-to-day the monthly close and then reporting and that’s and that’s what and that’s
26:21 the stuff that I’m seeing with the AI where where I’m not talking about like all this magic guru stuff but like we
26:27 now have one controller at H&M that’s able to consolidate three divisions. Um,
26:32 QuickBooks has gotten really advanced a as well as automatic recording. So, closings much simpler. Uh,
26:40 reconciliation has been much simpler. There’s all these different things that we’re watching and witnessing right now
26:45 that are going, “Hey, man, that’s really speeding it up.” Where I used to need three or four people to manage all of
26:51 this. Now, we can really get it down to having one person managing a lot of the business, which is powerful.
26:56 Yeah. And that’s what I was Oh, sorry. Sorry, Ben. No, no, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. I was I say that’s what I was getting at
27:02 too is our digital team is doing customized solutions but on the accounting side a lot of the systems now
27:08 are improving you know every day and so they’re le we can leverage the AI within the system whether it’s a QuickBooks or
27:16 we have a couple of different technologies we leverage for reporting that will tie into a QuickBooks or
27:22 Netswuite or other system to be able to to pull out all of the information into
27:27 the reporting structure and format that you want it to And then ultimately basically help you analyze that data and
27:34 the trends of that data as well. So that’s the direction that we’re going is one is if you have it it all you got to
27:42 have good data of course you got to have it set up appropriately but once you do you can pull that data out you can get
27:47 instantaneous reporting and then you can start to analyze and leverage this you know the AI to analyze but then
27:53 ultimately you know help you to make the decisions you want to achieve or to to make to achieve the goals that you have.
27:59 Yeah, I mean I think data analysts analysis that is is really where I I see
28:04 and especially in your space or really in any company, right? You know, as long as like you said, you got good data in,
28:10 right? They can they can determine trends and and do better projections and do it instantaneously. And I think that
28:16 that’s going to be really the power of it moving forward is how do you leverage it in an effective way, right? You can make real-time decisions. I
28:22 mean, instead of like when you close at the end of the month and you’re looking at your data, that’s the past. Yeah. Right. You can’t make any real decisions
28:30 projections. Now we can make decisions every day the data and there’s really no excuse and I’m telling anybody that’s listening
28:36 right now there’s no excuse not to have a great set of books like there’s just so much opport there’s just so many
28:43 things nowadays to help people have a very good accounting process without having to hire you know the top level
28:49 out there. The tools are getting so good and so that’s probably one of the big selling points for you guys. I get an outsource
28:54 group, help me get this set up, help me get going, and now I can take my controller and really take everything
29:01 out of that person so we can really be a very efficient machine, right? Yeah, absolutely. And we’re
29:07 leveraging, you know, even like Microsoft PowerBI is a is a great tool. Um, but to your point, you have to have
29:13 everything in place and and accurate and and timely. You have to get processes to
29:19 get there or else the data is not going to be good enough to be able to to to do anything with. But if you have the right
29:26 processes in place and you’re set up and structured the right way, then you can pull that data like you said on a real-time basis and you can have
29:32 real-time information that you’re analyzing every day. Um, so that you understand what’s happening with your
29:38 business now versus waiting until 15 days after month end to get some basic
29:43 level reports. Yep. So taking a step back, so you you sell the company, right? You know, and
29:50 and did they encourage you to stay in as a partner? Did you want to stay in? And then the second the followup to that
29:57 question is, you know, how has it been? And and you know, are you excited to to, you know, be a part of this bigger thing
30:03 that’s continuing to grow? Yeah. Yeah. It’s both because um you
30:08 know, I saw a lot of opportunity within the firm. Um it’s exciting that now we
30:14 can partner uh we have so many different options and uh resources that we didn’t
30:20 have before. You know our focus was outsourced accounting and advisory support for companies and then we’d have
30:25 to work directly with their tax advisor to make sure their tax advisor was you know being uh was uh you know driving
30:33 value and now we have that internally and we have all these other solutions internally that we can provide even more
30:38 value to our clients. So that part is exciting. Um and the comp the firm as a
30:43 whole has been a fast growing firm both organically and through acquisition. So
30:50 that adds some layer of excitement as well um to hey you know there’s a lot of opportunity to do some fun stuff here.
30:57 Um and that’s what you know going back to when we were just running the company independently. That’s one thing that we
31:04 always wanted to have is we we were we said hey we’re a growth firm. Um, and that’s what excited our people to to
31:11 want to work with us. And that also, you know, we can also still say the same thing to our our people that, you know,
31:18 now are part of Citroen Coopermanman. Love it. Yeah. And I think I think the growth obviously, yeah, as a as a
31:24 business owner, right, you want to sell, you want to see your baby not only taken care of, but like how do you grow the
31:29 baby, right? You know, and how do you, you know, so it’s so it’s cool to kind of sell to a group that’s like, hey,
31:34 you’re you’re going to be one, but we’re going to continue to grow this. We see a lot of a lot of opportunity in the space and that that’s exciting too as a
31:40 business owner because you’re you’re always kind of like what is my next move? What am I going to do? But this also kind of takes away like oh I got to
31:46 go golf for the next 20 years. Right. Right. I think that’s the that’s always the seller’s dilemma is yeah
31:52 what the heck am I going to do for the next 20 or 30 years or maybe even in some cases more. Right. You know I can only golf or fish
31:58 so much. Um, but no, you can be a part of a of the bigger parent company
32:05 and go out and do some additional stuff, right? Some additional work while also having the opportunity to to exit that
32:11 company. So, I love it. Yeah. We’ve talked to a couple guests on the show that have done that. Yeah. Find your fit, right? I mean, you
32:16 you don’t want to be a square pegging around hold. So, you know, find where you can add value and hopefully the company that’s acquiring you allows you
32:22 to do that and you you can see where that is and then um you know, make sure you have alignment and and then go after
32:29 it. Absolutely. I love it. And that’s a great that is a great way for us to jump into our rocket round. Um so, Jason, this is some of the
32:36 So, for our listeners, this is the rocket round. We jump in and ask our guest three very important questions.
32:42 All right. So, Jason, first one, what do you like to do in your free time? Yeah. Well, I have three three girls,
32:48 daughters. Okay. Um, so I have a a 12-year-old, 11-year-old, and a seven-year-old. And
32:54 so that takes up a lot of my free time. Yes. Um, I uh I will say actually I I just uh
33:01 started working with a personal trainer for the first time in my life. I’ve always kind of worked out out
33:06 on and off and not been consistent. And that’s actually created a lot more um
33:12 that’s you know got me more energized about things and um has created actually
33:18 better structure. I think it’s you know made me commit to something like that and has been great too. And so you know
33:24 right now I’m in the thick of it with the three girls. So it’s hard to think of anything else outside of that right now.
33:30 It’s all matters right now. It’s that prime time baby. It’s that’s that’s incredible. And I also have an 11-year-old daughter.
33:35 So I’m I’m right there with you. Yeah, I feel like I’m a glorified chauffeur with with all the stuff. She had she just turned 11 on Monday. So
33:42 on Friday of last week, happy birthday to her. A birthday party and we had I think it was like 12 to 15 11 year olds over at
33:49 our house and it was it was interesting. I miss those days. My youngest my
33:55 youngest is about to be 17 and then we’re it I’m about I I can’t even believe that whole that that’s
34:01 happening that fast. But it is it is part of life uphill. Yeah. All right. So second question here
34:07 Jason. So most memorable moment in your business journey.
34:12 Yeah. Um I think uh well obviously you know the
34:18 transition from I had some significant transitions. So the transition from deote to starting
34:25 a new company. I was very ignorant as to what it really meant to start a new company. And I
34:31 would like to say I had a business plan and everything drafted, but I I didn’t. I had it kind of in my head. Um, and
34:37 starting a service company, I basically started a service company with no clients. I said, “Okay, well, we’re going to start it here. We’re going to
34:42 go and I’m going to go figure it out.” And so that was an interesting time and very memorable experiences that I
34:49 experienced trying to do that from the beginning. Yeah. Um and then the tail end of that obviously um is where uh the you know
34:58 where we joined Citroen Coopermanman. In the middle of that I I did we hired a CEO. Um I always feel that I could use
35:05 all the help I can get. Um put ego aside and let’s just go achieve the goals we have. And so that was a big decision and
35:12 a memorable point in my career as well when we brought on our CEO who’s now
35:17 also a partner at Citroen Coopermanman. Um, and we were able to, you know, take things to the next level from that
35:23 perspective as well. Love it. Beautiful, man. All right, last question. What is your favorite tool or resource?
35:30 Yeah, I um I guess I would say a couple. So, from a tool and resource perspective, I mean, I know you know you
35:36 get a lot of the chat GPT and and co- Microsoft Copilot. We use C-pilot at our
35:42 our firm. Um, so, you know, those are obviously great resources from a
35:47 business perspective. Um I’m also part of EO which is entrepreneurs organization.
35:52 Um and so I joined that before I we we sold and so um have developed a strong
35:59 relationship with the individuals in my group and so they’re a a good sounding board uh and good resources for me uh
36:09 just generally from a personal and a business perspective. Um, so I would
36:15 encourage business owners out there to look into entrepreneur entrepreneurs organization um because it can add a lot
36:22 of value to your business um and really provide the sounding board that you’re looking for as well.
36:27 That’s great. Love it. Love it. Very nice. Well, Jason, it has been great. How can people get a hold of you?
36:33 Yeah, I love talking to business owners. So, um, if they want to reach out, um, I
36:39 can easily be found on LinkedIn. Jason, it’s a, you know, Jason Krueger, K Ru G-r. Uh, and Citroen Coopermanman, and
36:46 probably pop up pretty quickly. Uh, you can email me directly, the letter J, Krueger, that’s Krug-er
36:54 at Citroencoopermanman.com, and I’d be happy to talk to anyone who wants to reach out. Um, I usually if I
37:01 don’t know the answer, um, I’m I’m pretty sure I would know someone who does, whether it’s in our firm or
37:06 outside, and I’d be happy to, you know, connect, uh, whoever I need to to to help them continue to grow their
37:12 business. It’s outstanding. We’ll put all that in the show notes as well so people can get a hold of you. But yeah, Jason, incredible stuff, man.
37:19 Congratulations to what you’re doing. Sounds like you’re continuing helping companies, which is even great. So, man, thank you for joining us today.
37:25 Oh, we appreciate it. Thanks so much, guys. Appreciate it. All righty. Thank you for listening to the M&A Launchpad podcast. If you’ve enjoyed
37:32 today’s podcast and would like to support us, please leave us a rating and a review after you listen. I’m Casey Menchu and I look forward to talking
37:38 with you next week.
