James Kennedy sits down with Rachel Phillips of Fully Accountable – a trained M&A attorney who now helps lead a 52-person outsourced accounting and CFO services firm. Rachel shares how a background in competitive Irish dancing shaped her endurance and consistency as an operator, why she chose entrepreneurship over a traditional law career, and how Fully Accountable evolved into a metrics-driven, values-led team built for modern businesses. They also dig into 13-week cash-flow forecasting, budget discipline (without rigidity), purchase orders as a control mechanism, and what founders should know when preparing to sell a business.
About Rachel Phillips:
Rachel Phillips is a lawyer by training with a background in mergers & acquisitions, and the co-owner/operator behind Fully Accountable – an outsourced accounting and CFO services firm supporting fast-growing businesses. Rachel entered the accounting world after helping launch Fully Accountable in its earliest days, then stepped into operational leadership to rebuild the business with a data-driven model, strong client communication standards, and a values-based team culture. Today, she helps founders use finance as structure – especially when decisions are emotional, complex, or high-stakes.
What You’ll Learn:
● From Law to Leading an Accounting Firm: Why Rachel walked away from a traditional legal track to build Fully Accountable.
● Irish Dancing & Entrepreneurship: How endurance, perseverance, and consistency translate into running a high-performing firm.
● Building a Metrics-Driven Service Business: The KPIs that matter most (and what they reveal when teams are underperforming).
● Values-Based Hiring That Scales: How Fully Accountable hires for culture first and why “competency comes second.”
● The 13-Week Cash-Flow Forecast: How to build it using real data, make it granular, and keep it useful week-to-week.
● Budgeting with Reality Checks: When to adjust budgets (and when to hold the line).
● Purchase Orders & Spend Controls: The moment POs become essential – especially when purchasing and bill-pay split across roles.
● Selling a Business Without Losing Leverage: Why narrative + clean financials matter more than founders realize in M&A.
Episode Highlights:
“Entrepreneurs are always betting on themselves – Irish dancing taught me how to endure through the hard parts.”
“The kindest thing you can do sometimes is let someone go – so they can land in the right role elsewhere.”
“People build forecasts on pipe dreams – start where you are, or you’ll never get where you want to go.”
“As soon as purchasing and bill-pay are separated, POs become crucial – otherwise you’re inviting surprise bills.”
More About Rachel’s Role:
At Fully Accountable, Rachel helps business owners move from reactive decision-making to structured, data-led operations – using financial reporting, KPI tracking, cash forecasting, and strategic CFO support to guide growth. Her team specializes in e-commerce, digital businesses, SaaS, professional services, real estate, and M&A support (valuation and due diligence). Rachel’s approach blends operational clarity with human empathy – helping founders make better decisions without losing sight of the people involved.
