Remote control: 3 tips from a firm founder and remote-work trendsetter

When Michael Ly launched his CPA firm in 2015, his then-revolutionary work model led to some unexpected, and hilarious, circumstances during interviews with potential employees.

“They’d say, ‘Hey, to be honest, I applied thinking that this job was a scam,'” Ly said.

The disbelief came from Ly founding Reconciled to be a fully remote firm, something unheard of in the industry 10 years ago.

That’s why Ly was chosen during the pandemic to provide perspective to a U.S. Senate committee looking into “modernizing telework” and why he’s a resource for firms working to build remote teams.

The reality is, few leaders have a decade of experience leading a fully remote operation.

“When the pandemic hit, remote work all of a sudden became relevant,” Ly said. “Everything we thought was impossible with remote work had to become possible.”

Of course, Ly had already been doing the “impossible” for five years. He recently shared some keys to success with attendees of the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Summit 2025.

‘Never assume that what they assume is what you assume’

“Everyone in your company that comes and works for you in a remote setting, they need to have very clear communication and transparent expectations,” Ly said. “The rule of thumb with remote work is that overcommunication is normal communication.”

Getting employees on the same page when they’re not in the same physical space isn’t easy, but Reconcile sets the tone with a curated journey for employees on their first day, from videos that walk them through the basics to a mentoring system.

“Most people had never had a remote-work job. They’re just not prepared for it,” Ly said. “So you have a mentor or buddy to say, ‘Hey, that question you’re thinking you want to ask, go ahead and ask it. It’s actually not a dumb question.'”

Leaders of fully remote teams shouldn’t assume that even their seemingly common-sense expectations are shared by employees. For example, while virtual meetings are the lifeblood of communication in a remote-work world, it’s important to carefully spell that out to new meeting participants.

“In an office, it might be normal for everyone to show up just a little bit after the start of the meeting because they’re grabbing their water, their cup of coffee, they’re going to the bathroom,” Ly said. “Well, in a remote-work setting, you might want to communicate, ‘Hey, we have to start the meetings on time.’ You need to look at your calendar, you need to click on Zoom or Teams five minutes early to make sure you don’t need to restart your computer, and you have to have your water, your coffee, your bathroom break all done before you come.

“You’d think that’s a common expectation everyone has, but it’s not. If you run a growing remote company, all the people that come to work for you have different expectations of what’s acceptable. You want to clearly define those things so you can have mutual trust and then hold people accountable to that.”

Establish a shared sense of purpose

How you conduct meetings is one thing; why you conduct meetings is the main thing.

“To have a thriving remote team, everyone in the organization has to understand: Why do we exist as a whole company? Why are we doing what we’re doing?” Ly said. “From my laptop in my house, how do I contribute to the company’s overall sense of purpose, direction, and goals?”

The vision needs to clearly tell employees they’re crucial to company success, like Reconcile’s mission statement that it aims to empower 10,000 entrepreneurs in small business and impact 100,000 jobs in their communities. And, in lieu of an office building where leaders can personify the company’s purpose and signage in the hallways can reinforce the message, Ly sends out a two-page “culture document” to all his employees. Laminated.

“You can send stickers or banners of your company to your employees’ homes and say, ‘Hey, you can put this up next to your computer to remind you who you work for and to create that environment in your space,'” Ly said. “You work for a purpose and a direction that we all share together. It’s really thinking about that intentionality so that everyone understands.”

Communicate beyond the company line

While it’s important to overcommunicate how things work at a fully remote firm, the same can be said for less formal forms of communication.

Ly learned that the hard way when a key Reconciled employee resigned. She was doing a great job; she just didn’t know it.

“You don’t give enough verbal affirmation,” she told Ly when handing in her notice. “That, for some people, is worth more than the thousands of dollars you can give them in raises or bonuses.”

Ly has about 50 employees, and each week he meets with one employee for 30 minutes to see how they’re doing and what he might be able to do for them. He rotates through the talent pool, starting over again once he reaches the end of the list.

In those settings and all other staff interactions, Ly leans on a specific type of communication.

“Be an inquisitive person that asks questions. Learn to be a master at that,” Ly said. “The more you do that, I guarantee you it changes the trust dynamics of your whole organization. I’ve seen it happen at Reconcile, and I’ve seen it happen in people’s families who take those lessons and they go and actually implement them in their families with their relationships.”

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.

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