Leading the next chapter

Leading through change

Katie Lomness is the owner and founder of Lomness CPA, where she’s passionate about educating clients through advisory and tax planning services. Her mission centers on coaching small business owners through critical financial topics often overlooked in traditional practices. Now, Katie is preparing to take over a practice that has not yet adopted advisory services — bringing with it a whole new set of clientele and a unique opportunity to expand her firm’s impact. As her firm grew, Lomness recognized the need for an innovative solution that could streamline advisory delivery, empower her team, and deliver even greater value to clients.

The roadblocks to advisory expansion

Lomness’ firm was thriving in advisory services, but several challenges remained:

• Proposal creation and tax savings calculations were manual and time- consuming, often falling solely on Lomness’ shoulders
• Scaling advisory services to new clients would require her staff to participate in the advisory process
• Less experienced staff needed support and training to deliver advisory services effectively and independently

A solution you can trust

Lomness was immediately enthusiastic when she learned that Thomson Reuters would be launching Ready to Advise. Knowing it would be built on the trusted Checkpoint content, she felt confident in its credibility and reliability. “I knew I could trust you guys,” she said, further adding that accurate and up to date tax laws is something that AI, in general, is lacking right now. That trust, combined with the platform’s promise of up-to-date, accurate tax guidance, made her decision easy — Lomness joined the initial rollout of Ready to Advise without hesitation.

Seamless integration and staff enablement

Lomness quickly moved to introduce the tool to her team through a demo session, ensuring they could see firsthand how Ready to Advise would support their work and strengthen their confidence in delivering advisory services. “I think that the ability for it to show step by step how to implement the advisory services is going to help our younger, less experienced staff be able to upskill,” she noted.

The platform’s features addressed her pain points by:

• Automatically calculating and displaying estimated tax savings for clients, enhancing the value proposition and aiding in closing new business
• Providing a step-by-step roadmap for advisory implementation, empowering less-experienced staff to deliver services confidently
• Integrating trusted tax content via Checkpoint, ensuring up-to-date and reliable advice.
• Enabling administrative staff to build proposals, freeing up Lomness’ time for higher-level strategic work
• Supporting the firm’s focus on small businesses and integrating well with their workflow

Real-time value and long-term impact

The implementation of Ready to Advise brought immediate improvements to Lomness’ firm. One of the most noticeable benefits was the time saved during the initial prospecting phase. “I think it’ll save at least five to 10 minutes on the initial prospecting,” Lomness shared. By allowing her operations team to run proposals without her direct involvement, Lomness was able to reclaim valuable time and focus on strategic growth.

Beyond time savings, Ready to Advise helped enhance the quality of advisory delivery. “It can show the numbers with it,” Lomness explained. “So the time savings will come from not having to build out a projection on a spreadsheet on the side.” The platform’s ability to automatically calculate estimated tax savings added a layer of professionalism and precision to client proposals, helping Lomness’ firm close deals more effectively.

Equally important was the confidence it instilled in her team. “It’s definitely going to train my lower-level staff and give them the confidence that they need to start delivering advisory,” she said. With Ready to Advise, her staff can follow a clear roadmap, reducing their reliance on senior leadership and enabling them to contribute meaningfully to the firm’s advisory services.

Lomness also emphasized the strategic value of the platform in helping her firm scale. “The true value is saving with the new prospects and being able to deliver a more accurate proposal without having to spend a lot of time building it,” she said.

New firm acquisition

• 600 new prospects
• 10 minutes of partner time saved per initial prospecting
• 100 hours of partner time savings on initial prospect evaluation and proposal generation for acquired clients

Ready to lead with Ready to Advise

For Lomness, Ready to Advise has become more than just a tool — it’s a strategic partner in her firm’s growth. As she transitions into leading a newly acquired practice and expanding her client base, the platform has empowered her team, streamlined operations, and enhanced the value delivered to clients.