Held Together With Super Glue

THE BESTIE BRIEF

For women bookkeeping firm owners who get it.

Issue No. 6 | November 8, 2026

Title: Held Together With Super Glue

Behind the Scenes: Life Lately

Super Glue, a Recliner & What Actually Made the List

Well hello again, friends! It's been a minute since you've heard from me (September, if we're counting), and I want to be honest about why.

I've been holding things together with super glue over here. I'm currently waiting on a surgery date for some neck issues that are causing some neurological things to go on. Right now that looks like numbness in my right hand (my dominant one, of course), headaches, fatigue, and the brain fog that comes along with the medication. It's also meant I haven't sat at my desk with all my screens in over a month. My office these days? My recliner.

Here's the thing, though. We ALL go through seasons like this. Health stuff, family stuff, kid stuff, the stuff nobody posts about. And when it happens, we have to decide what takes priority. I had to look at everything on my plate & get really honest about what HAD to happen and what could wait.

And this brief? It didn't make the list. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. My clients, my team, my coaching calls & my health came first, and I'd make that same call again. Choosing your priorities on purpose is part of being the CEO, especially when life gets loud.

I also have to say how grateful I am that I was able to retire my husband over a year ago. He's been holding down the house so I can focus on healing & keeping the businesses moving. He even traveled with me to our Key West CEO Weekend, the first one he's ever come along to, and he was SUCH a big help. (And that weekend was so good, by the way. I'm still smiling about those women.)

Life at home has kept rolling right along too:

• Football season is winding down, but we made it to the playoffs, so we've got a little more football ahead of us!
• Grayson is traveling all over the state right now with his photography, and I'm so proud of him.
• Cooper is in Color-guard and dual-enrolled, which is taking up his time as well.
• Leo keeps growing & has officially earned the nickname "the house hippo." He's still my favorite recliner buddy - don't tell Duke 😉 

CP Corner: Inside My Own Bookkeeping Firm

My Firm Didn't Skip a Beat (and Double's Autoclose Has Me Saying HELLO!)

Want to know the best part of running a firm from a recliner? Calculated Profits has been running like usual. No hiccups. Clients are taken care of, the work is getting done & my team is doing exactly what we built them to do.

I don't say that to brag. I say it because a month like this is the real test of whether your systems & your team can carry the business when you can't. Years ago, a month like this would have broken my firm. This time it didn't even dent it.

We also keep adding new AI tools, and I HAVE to talk about this one. Can we talk about Double's new Autoclose?! HELLO!! It's AMAZING. Autoclose lets you hand the work of the close over to AI agents, and Double's AI workflows sort bank activity by confidence, build balanced entries from a plain-language request or a source document & dig into reconciliations that won't tie so you're not stuck down a two-hour rabbit hole.

Here's what I love most, though: every close is still reviewed & approved by a human. You know how I feel about this. I use AI all over both of my businesses, but AI should never be fully relied on. A human is always the last check. Double gets that, and it's built right into how the tool works.

So a big shoutout to the Double team. If you've been curious about Double, or you're ready to see Autoclose in action, book your demo through my link here. That's how you get signed up, and it lets Double know I sent you so you get your discount too! 🩷

And the CP Team Growth Initiative is still moving right along. We're rolling out something new to the team every single week (slow & steady, just like we promised ourselves), and we're set to fully launch on January 1st. I can't wait to share more as we get there.

Double is a partner of Rescue My Bookkeeping Business. In full transparency, this is an affiliate link, which means I may receive compensation if you sign up, at no additional charge to you. 

Besties Making Moves

A Biggest-Ever Client & a Million-Dollar Milestone

Okay, this is my favorite part. While I've been in my recliner, my besties have been out there doing BIG things.

BESTIE CLUB SPOTLIGHT: A Bestie Club member just signed her LARGEST client ever, a statewide nonprofit! And the best part? The referral came from her former supervisor. Can you imagine how good that feels? Someone who watched you work up close trusting you enough to send you their people. That's not just a new client, that's proof of the reputation you've been quietly building all along.

NEXT LEVEL BESTIE WIN: One of our Next Level Besties just crossed $1 MILLION in lifetime revenue in her firm. One million dollars, built one client, one hire & one hard decision at a time. I've had a front-row seat to so much of that journey, and I could not be prouder.

And the wins kept coming:

🩷 A Bestie Club member’s one-location trial client loved her work so much they expanded to all seven of their QuickBooks files, plus bank & POS access. That’s what happens when you show up well from day one.

🩷 A Bestie Club member held the line with a “faux urgent” client. She stopped jumping on every ping, kept her scope & invoicing firm, and guess what? The client complied. Boundaries WORK, friends.

🩷 Three different Bestie Club members chose rest this season: one took a real vacation, one took a full day off for a friend’s birthday & one spent a weekend on the coast. Choosing rest IS choosing your priorities, and I’m so proud of them for it.

🩷 A Next Level Bestie signed three new business cleanups in one stretch.

🩷 A Next Level Bestie converted a 279-lot HOA after a six-month nurture. Proof that follow-up pays off, even when it takes a while.

From signing your biggest client yet to taking a guilt-free day off, THIS is what happens when you stop building alone & surround yourself with women who get it.

Got a win of your own? Hit reply & tell me. I read every single one, and I want to celebrate you too.

So proud of every single one of you.

The CEO Corner

Make Your Priority List Before the Season Makes It for You

I didn't get to choose my priority list this fall. My health chose it for me.

But here's what I want you to hear: your list is about to get chosen too. Between the holidays, year-end closes, 1099 & tax season prep and the January onboarding rush, the next eight weeks will decide your priorities for you, unless YOU decide first.

The reason my firm kept running while I was in the recliner is that the "must happen" work already had systems & people behind it. That's the difference between being the hardest working employee in your own company and being the CEO of it. So before Thanksgiving, I want you to block one hour & walk through this:

1. Brain dump EVERYTHING.

Client work, team stuff, business projects, home & holiday obligations. All of it, on one page. You can't prioritize what's still swirling around in your head.

2. Sort it into three buckets.

Must Happen (client deliverables, payroll, year-end work, anything with a real deadline), Can Wait Until January (the project that matters but isn't urgent) and Can Go (the stuff you keep carrying out of guilt or habit).

3. Ask "does this need ME?"

Go through your Must Happen bucket one item at a time. If it doesn't need you specifically, delegate it, template it or hand it to a system. Bestie Club members, this is exactly what the Bestie Bots are for. Start with the Daily CEO Desk & the Time Reality Check.

4. Calendar the Must Happens first.

Before anything else gets a spot on your calendar, block time for your Must Happen list. Then add buffer days around Thanksgiving & Christmas, because something WILL come up.

5. Tell your clients early.

Send your holiday hours & year-end document deadlines now, not in mid-December. When clients know the dates ahead of time, their urgency stops becoming your emergency.

6. Drop one "Can Go" item this week, guilt-free.

Just one. Watch the world keep spinning. It's the proof you need that you don't have to carry it all.

7. Park the "Can Wait" bucket on purpose.

Put a date on your calendar in January to revisit it. That way it's parked, not forgotten, and it stops nagging at you all season.

8. Keep it simple day to day.

Three big moves a week. Three tasks a day. Define what "done" looks like for each one so you know when to stop.

You don't have to do everything this season. You just have to do the RIGHT things, on purpose.

📆 What’s coming up

A Few Things Worth Putting on Your List

Now that you're deciding what makes your list, here's what's coming up if you want to put yourself on it.

11/10/2026 🩷 Next Level Year Weekend: LAST CALL

We only have 2 spots left, and this is going to be a VERY small group on purpose, so I can give personalized attention to every woman in the room. We'll map out your next year together, in person, in Savannah. The deadline is Tuesday, November 10. Grab one of the last spots here.

11/18/2026 🩷 FREE Training: Still Chasing Clients for Documents? Fix Your Onboarding Before January

If onboarding & missing documents are on your Must Happen list (hello, year-end catch-up clients), come fix it with me live on Wednesday, November 18 at 3pm ET. We'll walk through how to vet, onboard & set clear expectations with clients like a CEO. Show up live & I'll give you my Client Intake Form & Client Welcome Packet. Save your free seat here.

🤖 NEW: Bestie Bots, My AI Membership

Bestie Bots are officially OPEN to everyone, not just Bestie Club members! These are the AI bots I build for my own team at Calculated Profits & for my coaching clients, the ones that come from “can you make a bot for that?” Think things like the SOP Bot that puts every SOP into the same clean format, or the Daily CEO Desk that helps you see what actually needs YOU today. You’ll get at least one brand-new bot every month, it’s cancel-anytime, and if you decide to join the Bestie Club later, you’ll get a credit toward your membership. All for $27 a month. Join Bestie Bots here

🩷 Besties in the Room: 2027 In-Person Events

Our 2027 in-person event details just dropped inside our free Facebook group, and they'll be announced to the public soon. Heads up, some events are already close to selling out! Check them out & grab your seat here. 

🩷 Black Friday & 12 Days of Christmas Are Coming Back

Mark your calendar: Black Friday deals run November 27 through 30, and 12 Days of Christmas kicks off December 1. One tip from me: every promo will be at its BIGGEST discount on the first day it's announced, so keep an eye on your inbox.

Thank you for sticking with me through a quieter season. I'm still here, still showing up for my besties & so grateful for every one of you.

Keep Thriving 🩷

Stephanie