--- title: How to elevate the conversation with clients description: Todd Serulneck explains how he uses Jirav as a fractional CFO to elevate the conversation with his clients and why it’s better than Excel for planning. image: https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/Todd%20Serulneck%20Featured%20Image.jpg --- ![](https://www.jirav.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported%20sitepage%20images/header-logo.png?width=98&name=header-logo.png) - [ Resources ](https://www.jirav.com/resources) - Menu / Resources - [Resource Center ](https://www.jirav.com/resources) Blogs and resources on all things finance, FP&A, and Jirav [Webinars ](https://www.jirav.com/webinars) Learn more about Jirav and FP&A from industry experts [Events ](https://www.jirav.com/events) See our upcoming calendar of events [Help Center ](https://help.jirav.com/) Guide on how to use Jirav - [ Company ](https://www.jirav.com/company) - Menu / Company - [About ](https://www.jirav.com/company) Learn about Jirav’s story and meet our leadership team [News Coverage ](https://www.jirav.com/news) See the latest news and highlights [Press ](https://www.jirav.com/press-releases) Recent company announcements and updates [Careers ](https://www.jirav.com/careers) View current job openings and learn how to join the Jirav Tower ![business_env](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/business_env.svg) [ For Businesses ](https://www.jirav.com/reporting-planning-purpose-built-for-businesses) ![accounting_calc](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/accounting_calc.svg) [ For Accounting & CFO Firms ](https://www.jirav.com/reporting-planning-purpose-built-for-accounting-cfo-advisory-firms) [ Get a Demo ](https://www.jirav.com/request-demo) [ Sign in ](https://app.jirav.com/) ![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/April2021/images/banner-shap.png) BLOG # How to elevate the conversation with clients [![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/April2021/images/fb-icon.png) ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://www.jirav.com/blog/video/elevate-the-conversation-with-clients/) [![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/April2021/images/tw-icon.png) ](https://twitter.com/share?url=https://www.jirav.com/blog/video/elevate-the-conversation-with-clients/) [![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/April2021/images/in-icon.png) ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.jirav.com/blog/video/elevate-the-conversation-with-clients/&summary=&source=CeBIT) 2 minute read ![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/Todd%20Serulneck%20Featured%20Image.jpg) [Todd Serulneck](https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddserulneck), Managing Director at [Acuity](https://acuity.co/), explains [how he uses Jirav as a fractional CFO](https://gojirav.wistia.com/medias/kq8ur4fm0s) to elevate the conversation with his clients and why it’s better than Excel for planning. ## How does Jirav help you as a CFO? As a CFO, when I get clients, they're typically not planning or budgeting — they're just surviving, and they're just going from one problem to the next, to the next. What I'm trying to do is [elevate the conversation](https://www.jirav.com/blog/advisory-services-financial-forecast) with the client to become more prescriptive with their business — to talk about what this business needs to look like in five years, how are we going to get there, and how do we know that we're on the road and that we're staying on the road? So a product like Jirav is emphasizing a process where we can do a [monthly forecast](https://www.jirav.com/product/financial-planning-modeling) and look at the business every single month in terms of being able to really understand the business, see it strategically, and then make adjustments — minor adjustments — every single month. And then every six months or every year, make a major change in the business — but it's not an accidental change. It's intentional, it's planned, it's measured, and it's understood. The little changes that you make today are going to be very significant swings in your business three years from now, and it could be the difference between being a $30 million company and a $100 million company. It's because of something you decided on three years ago. And so Jirav is all about looking at what you are doing today and what that means three years from now. ## How is planning with Jirav different than Microsoft Excel? When I'm in Excel with a client, and I'm trying to be on this process where we're forecasting every single month, the client's budget is being spent on Excel every month. Whereas now, that budget is dedicated to conversation. One of the best, most flattering comments I've gotten from a client is, "You sit down with me every month for two hours and all we talk about is my business." For two hours, we look at it, we take it apart, and we put it back together again. And we do this every single month. And he's like, "My CPA doesn't do that. My financial planner doesn't do that." We do that. And so from a [trusted adviser](https://www.jirav.com/finance-solutions-for-accounting-firms) perspective, Jirav is doing all the hard lifting in the background while making sure that I am the trusted adviser in that conversation. ## Are you ready to elevate the conversation? Join our Partner Program and get started planning with Jirav. [![Join Partner Program](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2567042/637d6984-15fa-4ce6-9941-fea4d8d5c868.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2567042/637d6984-15fa-4ce6-9941-fea4d8d5c868) ![Blake Oliver, CPA](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/61911ff6e9873ee6bb72cdcabb8bc2d2) ##### Blake Oliver, CPA Blake is a CPA, former Jirav marketer, founder and CEO of Earmark, and co-host of the Cloud Accounting Podcast. Published January 28, 2020 ###### Related topics - [Case study](https://www.jirav.com/blog/topic/case-study) - [Accounting firms](https://www.jirav.com/blog/topic/accounting-firms) ## Related blog posts ![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/A_heavy_load_(14026394702).jpg) Case study #### Tips & Tricks for Forecasting Fully Burdened Labor Costs in Jirav [ Read more ](https://www.jirav.com/blog/forecasting-fully-burdened-labor-costs) ![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/On-Demand%20Webinar_%20Covid-19%20SBA%20Loans.png) Case study #### How Businesses Can Survive COVID with SBA Programs | Webinar [ Read more ](https://www.jirav.com/blog/webinar-covid-19-sba-programs) ![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/covid-19-webinar-video-featured-image-1.png) Case study #### On-Demand Webinar: Forecasting the Economic Impact of Coronavirus [ Read more ](https://www.jirav.com/blog/webinar/forecasting-coronavirus) ![Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/joshua-earle-lKkD6DY7FVw-unsplash.jpg) Case study #### Making the leap from CPA to CFO with financial forecasting [ Read more ](https://www.jirav.com/blog/cpa-to-cfo-with-financial-forecasting) ![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/blog-main-header-6.21.png) Case study #### What’s New in Jirav: May 2021 [ Read more ](https://www.jirav.com/blog/product-update-2021-may) ![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/image2.png) Case study #### What’s New in Jirav: September 2021 [ Read more ](https://www.jirav.com/blog/product-update-2021-september) ![](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/just-press-report.jpg) Case study #### How to Create Better Custom Reports with QuickBooks and Jirav [ Read more ](https://www.jirav.com/blog/quickbooks-custom-reports) ![Sage Intacct Advantage 2020: That's A Wrap!](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/save-intacct-advantage-2020.png) Case study #### Maximizing the value of budgeting & forecasting on Sage Intacct [ Read more ](https://www.jirav.com/blog/sage-intacct-advantage-2020) ![Scott Orn, Jennifer Deroin, and Dan Gertrudes](https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/Accounting%20Advisors%20Step%20Up.jpg) Case study #### Accounting Advisers Step Up During COVID-19 [ Read more ](https://www.jirav.com/blog/accounting-advisors-step-up-during-covid-19) [Load more](##) ## Let’s get started! [ Request a demo ](https://www.jirav.com/request-demo) ![](https://ws.zoominfo.com/pixel/GayWM7nWYSEC9X3nq2tn) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Blake Oliver, CPA", "url" : "https://www.jirav.com/blog/author/blake-oliver-cpa" }, "dateModified" : "2022-11-02T18:05:42.547Z", "datePublished" : "2020-01-28T16:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "How to elevate the conversation with clients", "image" : [ "https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/Todd%20Serulneck%20Featured%20Image.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.jirav.com/blog/video/elevate-the-conversation-with-clients", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.jirav.com/hubfs/Jirav%20Logo%20-%20176x75%20(small%20logo).png" }, "name" : "Jirav" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "http://www.schema.org", "@type" : "AccountingService", "address" : { "@type" : "PostalAddress", "addressCountry" : "United States", "addressLocality" : "San Francisco", "addressRegion" : "CA", "postalCode" : "94102", "streetAddress" : "25 Taylor Street" }, "description" : "Jirav is a business planning software powering financial planning and analysis in the cloud with all-in-one forecasts, budgets, reports, and dashboards", "geo" : { "@type" : "GeoCoordinates", "latitude" : "37.782585", "longitude" : "-122.411255" }, "image" : "https://www.jirav.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Jirav_SitePageAssets_Feb2018/Jirav%20Logo%20for%20top%20nav.png?width=1200&height=510&name=Jirav%20Logo%20for%20top%20nav.png", "logo" : "https://www.jirav.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Jirav_SitePageAssets_Feb2018/Jirav%20Logo%20for%20top%20nav.png?width=1200&height=510&name=Jirav%20Logo%20for%20top%20nav.png", "name" : "Jirav", "openingHours" : "Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr 09:00-17:00", "priceRange" : "$100/month-$750/month", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.instagram.com/gojirav/", "https://www.linkedin.com/company/jirav/", "https://twitter.com/GoJirav", "https://www.facebook.com/GoJirav/" ], "url" : "https://www.jirav.com/" } ```