Company: Sandra L. Leyva, Inc., Plano, TX USA
Entry Submitted By: Sandra L. Leyva, Inc. and Long for Success, LLC
Company Description: Sandra L. Leyva, Inc. & Long for Success, LLC, a partnership between two accounting industry thought leaders, was formed in 2012 to produce the industry-breakthrough virtual event, the Ultimate Accounting vCon. It leverages entrepreneurial, marketing, & accounting technology wisdom of 2 women CPAs into actionable intelligence for small accounting firm owners who want to serve clients better.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Maverick of the Year

Nomination Title: Sandi Smith Leyva, President, Sandra L. Leyva, Inc.

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated woman since the beginning of July last year (up to 525 words):

Sandi Smith Leyva, CPA and founder of Sandra L. Leyva, Inc., has introduced breakthrough change in the accounting industry by introducing several new products and services to boost the results of the smallest of accounting practices, those earning under half a million in revenue each year. What’s great about helping accountants change is that they can pass on the ideas they learned to each of their 200 (on average) small business clients, making a ripple effect of financial success across a large number of small businesses.

Sandi co-founded, co-produced, and co-delivered the First and Second Annual Ultimate Accounting vCons in November 2012 and May 2013, which were not only some of the first well-attended virtual conferences in the accounting industry, they were also created and run entirely by women, and 75% of the vCon attendees were women. For each event, over 300 accountants attended the 2-day conference, learned new revenue streams, chatted with peers, met vendors of innovative products, and most importantly, discovered how to serve their clients better while making more money for themselves. Eighty-five percent of vCon participants said they would “highly recommend” the conference.

Sandi currently works with over 1,000 clients. She has a current direct following of about 20,000 accounting professionals who subscribe to her blog or follow her on social media and an indirect following of about 100,000 accounting professionals. More than 80% of her clients are female.
In her Accountant’s Accelerator coaching program, clients learn ways to work less, make more, and serve their clients better. The program is delivered virtually via webinar software and community forum software and combines self-study materials with internet-based training and coaching, turnkey marketing materials, and lots of checklists, forms, and templates. There is much that is new to the accounting industry about this: many accountants have not joined a webinar before, they have never heard of coaching, they have never seen a program bundle like this, and most of them do not have any kind of systems and processes in their businesses. Clients that join Sandi’s program discover a whole new level they can take their business that they never realized they could before.

Sandi has rolled out four new service lines since July 1, 2012, including her Accelerator Website packages, a new client newsletter that accountants can purchase and use for their newsletter called Cloud Accounting News, her new outsourced CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) services for clients that want to turn everything over to Sandi’s team, and several workshop series on Packaging, Project Management, Online Marketing, New Revenue Streams, and a JumpStart program for new entrepreneurs.

Sandi is a virtual manager as well. Her staff is located in San Jose, CA while she works from Plano, TX. In the past year, her company’s sales have increased by 55%, and she has hired one employee and one contractor.

Client comments include: “If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have a business here today,” “There seems to be no end to the benefits of your program,” “My income is up 25% over last year,” “Sandi Smith Leyva has helped me work more efficiently, grow my business, and increase profits!”

Provide a brief biography of the nominated woman (up to 125 words):

Sandi Smith Leyva, CPA, MBA, and founder of Sandra L Leyva, Inc., is a well-respected and influential author, trainer, and coach to accounting professionals starting or growing their accounting practices. Over 100,000 accountants have heard her speak, read her books, taken her courses, or read her articles over the years.

Sandi authored four books and several CPE courses for the American Institute of CPAs in the 1990s, speaks frequently at accounting conferences, and has been writing articles for Intuit since 2000. She’s authored and self-published roughly a dozen books and CPE courses.

Sandi has two accomplishments you might not see on any other accounting resume: she copiloted a single-engine airplane around the world, and she has a Master’s degree in neuroscience.