Community Highlights: Meet Ashley Ingle of Profit Matters

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Ingle.

Hi Ashley, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m a CPA and entrepreneur, and Profit Matters really started from seeing a gap in the traditional accounting world.

So many business owners were getting financial statements and tax returns, but they still didn’t really understand what their numbers were telling them or what they should do next. I wanted to build a firm that felt different. I wanted our clients to have a real relationship with their accounting team and to know that we were looking beyond compliance and actually helping them build stronger, more profitable businesses.

What started small has grown into a full-service accounting and advisory firm working with businesses across the country. Today, we provide bookkeeping, accounting, tax, controller and fractional CFO services, and we’ve built an incredible team of CPAs, accountants and financial professionals who genuinely care about the businesses we serve.

Over the years, we’ve developed a particularly strong presence in healthcare, including dental, veterinary and optometry practices, while also continuing to serve industries like construction, real estate and other privately held businesses.

Technology has also become a huge part of how we operate. We’ve worked hard to combine really great people with better systems and technology so our clients can get answers faster, have better visibility into their businesses and spend less time worrying about the accounting side of things.

There have definitely been growing pains, pivots and plenty of lessons along the way, but I’m incredibly proud of what Profit Matters has become.

At the end of the day, the name really says what we believe: “your profit matters.” We want our clients to build businesses that are financially healthy, profitable and ultimately give them the life and freedom they started the business for in the first place.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not. I don’t think any business that grows in a meaningful way has a perfectly smooth road.

One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to grow from being the person doing everything to building a team, systems and processes that can carry the business without everything running through me. That transition is hard, especially when you care deeply about the client experience and want everything done a certain way.

We’ve also gone through the normal growing pains that come with entrepreneurship: hiring the wrong people, making investments that didn’t work out the way we expected, navigating slower sales periods, managing cash flow during growth, and having to make some really difficult decisions along the way.

There have absolutely been seasons where I questioned whether we were growing too fast, not fast enough, or heading in the right direction at all.

But I think those seasons are also where you learn the most. Every mistake has forced us to get better, tighten our systems, become more intentional about who we serve and build a stronger company.

I’ve learned that entrepreneurship requires a lot of grit. You have to be willing to adjust quickly, admit when something isn’t working and keep moving forward even when the path isn’t completely clear.

Profit Matters today is a much stronger company because of the difficult seasons we’ve had along the way, and I wouldn’t trade those lessons.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Profit Matters is a full-service accounting, tax and advisory firm built for business owners who want more than just someone to keep the books and file a tax return.

We handle everything from bookkeeping, payroll support and sales tax to tax preparation, controller services and fractional CFO advisory. What we are really known for, though, is helping business owners understand their numbers and use them to make better decisions.

We work with clients across the country and have developed deep experience in industries like dental, veterinary, optometry, healthcare, construction, real estate and other privately held businesses.

What sets us apart is that we try very hard not to feel like a traditional accounting firm. We are proactive, accessible and relationship-driven. We want our clients to feel like they have a financial team sitting beside them, not someone they only hear from at tax time.

We also put a huge emphasis on technology and efficiency. Accounting has changed so much, and I believe the firms that are going to serve clients best are the ones that combine really smart people with really smart technology. We are constantly looking for ways to give our clients better visibility, faster answers and more meaningful financial insight.

Brand-wise, I’m probably most proud of how true we have stayed to the name Profit Matters. It is simple, but it really is the heart of what we do. Revenue is exciting, growth is exciting, but if the business is not ultimately creating profit, cash flow and freedom for the owner, something is missing.

We care about the person behind the business just as much as the financial statements. We want to know what they are building, what they are working toward and what success actually looks like for them.

At the end of the day, our goal is not just to produce accurate financials. It is to help our clients build healthier, more profitable businesses and give them the confidence to make better decisions about what comes next.

That is what I want people to know about Profit Matters. We genuinely care about the businesses and people we serve, and we want to be the financial partner that helps them get where they are trying to go.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as having the freedom to build a life and a business that you are genuinely proud of.

Of course, financial success matters. I’m an accountant, so I’m always going to believe that profit, cash flow and long-term financial health are important. But I don’t think success is just about how much revenue you generate or how big your company becomes.

To me, success is building something that creates opportunity for your team, makes a real difference for your clients and still allows you to be present for the people and things that matter most in your life.

I think that is one of the reasons I care so much about helping business owners understand their numbers. A profitable business gives you options. It gives you the ability to invest, grow, take care of your people, support your family and ultimately create more freedom.

So for me, success is really a combination of impact, financial health and freedom. If I can build companies that I’m proud of, help other people succeed along the way and still have time to enjoy the life I’m working so hard to build, that feels like success to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.profitmatters.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyinglecpa/