Michelle Golden
President
+1 661.360.7968
Blogs: Fore What It's Worth
Mission: “To teach firms why—and how—to always price in advance"
Michelle Golden, CPF is a growth and profitability strategist. With a strong background in CPA-firm marketing, she honed subspecialties in pricing and positioning. She educates CPAs to assist them in implementing new pricing models based on outcomes they affect, rather than charging for time spent.What she does best—differently from others—is energize people while she shows them how to do hard stuff. She clarifies the complicated. She sheds new light and instills confidence. She sets people up to make big progress possible.Michelle is recognized industry-wide for her original ideas and success with practical implementation. Some recent acknowledgements:
Ten Most Powerful Women in Accounting in Accounting Today
25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting by CPA Practice Advisor
Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today
Top 25 Thought Leaders in Public Accounting by CPA Practice Advisor
Association for Accounting Marketing Hall of Fame
Michelle is a skilled meeting and retreat facilitator who holds the International Association of Facilitators’ Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) designation. Her deep knowledge of firm operations and sharp observation skills allow her to grasp a firm’s nuances quickly. She then guides firm owners and their teams toward improved profitability, smoother operations, and stronger cultures.Since 1999, she’s helped more than 130 firms.
Background
In 2017, she launched her newest venture, Fore LLC, that provides education and implementation consulting to CPA firms committed to converting from a time-based billing model to pricing their work in advance, based on the worth of outcomes and results that they help customers achieve.2012-2017: partner of K·Coe Isom (#60 among Top 100 CPA firms) where she served as Growth Leader and member of the firm’s five-person executive leadership team.1999-2013: impacting the profession through her consulting firm Golden Practices Inc and acclaimed Golden Practices blog. She introduced CPAs to blogging and social media, and authored Social Media Strategies for Professionals and Their Firms (Wiley, 2011) and the AICPA’s Social Media Toolkit. She was the inspiration or developer of most of the first 100 CPA-authored blogs that emerged.1994-1999: in-house marketing director in a 400-person law firm and an 80-person CPA firm.1985-1993: accountant with two publicly traded healthcare companies.
Professional Associations
Digital CPA (DCPA): Advisory Board memberInternational Association of Facilitators (IAF): Lifetime sustaining member, former global board of directors, and US Regional Representative.Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM): Inductee into AAM’s Marketing Hall of Fame (2015); past board member; former conference chair and committee member (1995-2003), and 2001 AAM Volunteer of the Year.VeraSage Institute, senior fellow and faculty
Speaking and Teaching
Michelle leads workshops and speaks professionally for many organizations. See her speaking credentials.
Publications
Michelle’s acclaimed (retired) blog GoldenPractices is still live and chalk full of evergreen content. Read what people say about her blog.Social Media Strategies for Professionals and Their Firms (Wiley, 2011) is Michelle’s timeless guide to modern marketing. Covering firms’ comprehensive marketing strategy, it’s filled with practical ideas for integrating social media into your marketing mix. It’s tailored to professional services marketing (order Social Media Strategies).In 2010, she developed the Social Media Toolkit for AICPA PCPS members and authored “Guide to an Effective CPA Firm Website,” a chapter in Bull’s Eye! The Ultimate How-To Marketing & Sales Guide (AICPA, 2010).Past columnist for CPA Practice Advisor. Her work and opinions also appear in: Forbes.com, Accounting Today, AccountingWEB, CCH Partners, CCH First Choice, CCH Journal of Tax Practice Management, CPA Insider, CPA Trendlines, CPA Marketing Report, CPA Managing Partner Report, INSIDE Public Accounting, Journal of Accountancy, Managing Partner, MarkeTrends, Practical Accountant, WebCPA, CGA Canada Magazine, Wealth Management Insider, ABA.com, National Law Journal, Law.com, Lawyer Marketing, MPI’s One+ magazine, and various AmCity Business Journals.See some of Michelle’s past articles.