CEO Numbers Network with Danielle Hayden

Making money and understanding your finances are two very different things. CEO Numbers Network is here to close that gap.Hosted by Danielle Hayden, former corporate CFO and CEO of Kickstart Accounting, Inc., every episode breaks down the financial strategy that most business owners never had access to. Profit, cash flow, real decision-making. The kind of thinking that actually moves a business forward.

CEO Numbers Network with Danielle Hayden is a business podcast hosted by Danielle Hayden, with 292 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Danielle Hayden hosts CEO Numbers Network with Danielle Hayden, a business show with 292 episodes published.

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  Episode #22

  The 3-Part IRS Test for Every Contractor on Your Team

  Sep 29, 202610 min

  A signed contractor agreement only protects you if the way you work with that person matches it. The IRS has a clear test for this, and it's better to run it now than to find out during an audit. In this episode of CEO Numbers Network, I walk through the IRS three-part test for deciding whether someone on your team is a contractor or an employee. The three factors are behavioral control, financial control, and the working relationship. Getting the classification wrong can mean back payroll taxes and back benefits, plus penalties and interest. Since we're heading into the fourth quarter, this is also the time to plan for moving team members onto payroll as of January 1. You will learn how to test each working relationship against the three factors and how payroll taxes change for you and your team when a contractor moves onto payroll. If you have ever wondered whether someone on your team should be a contractor or an employee, this episode gives you a clear way to decide before year-end. Discover how our bookkeeping services can help you make team decisions with confidence: here Key Takeaways 0:00 Intro 2:21 The Three-Part IRS Test 4:31 The Auditor Test and Next Steps 7:35 Tax Impacts and Payroll Changes 9:02 Recap and Final Advice Resources Book a strategy call with Danielle's team at Kickstart: here Check your books here Visit the Kickstart website Follow us on Instagram Listen next Why Your Contractor's W-9 Can't Wait Until January 3 Questions That Separate a CEO From a Business Owner

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  Episode #21

  Why Your Contractor's W-9 Can't Wait Until January

  Sep 22, 202610 min

  Waiting until tax season to think about contractor paperwork is exactly what makes it so stressful. Every January, my team fields the same kind of call: a business owner needs a contractor's Social Security number, and that contractor already stopped answering. Find out what changed with 1099 reporting for 2026, including the new dollar threshold that determines when a contractor needs one. I break down what actually counts as a contractor for tax purposes, what a W-9 collects, and why the timing of gathering it matters more than most business owners realize. By the end, you'll know exactly what to check and request now, well before the January deadline. This is one of the few tasks where being early costs you nothing and being late costs you real money. Discover how our tax team can help you get ahead of IRS deadlines: ksataxpartners.com Key Takeaways 00:00 The January 1099 Scramble 00:43 Contractors and 1099 Series 02:26 New 2026 Contractor Threshold 03:09 What a W9 Collects 04:52 When to Request a W9 06:21 Building Your 1099 List Resources Book a strategy call with Danielle's team at Kickstart: here Check your books here Visit the Kickstart website Follow us on Instagram Listen Next The 30-Day Burnout Diagnosis Every CEO Needs to Run 3 Questions That Separate a CEO From a Business Owner

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  Episode #20

  3 Questions That Separate a CEO From a Business Owner

  Sep 15, 202610 min

  Revenue and team size get the attention, but neither tells you if you're running your business like a CEO. It comes down to three specific numbers, and whether you know them without guessing. In this episode of CEO Numbers Network, I get into three questions I ask every CEO about her own numbers: her year to date profit and profit percentage, what her business owns compared to what it owes, and whether her cash reserves are enough. I also cover three bookkeeping errors our team sees during onboarding that throw off each answer: draws coded as payroll or duplicated revenue, old loans still sitting on the balance sheet years after they were paid off, and point of sale systems that double record a sale with QuickBooks. I explain why a clean QuickBooks dashboard or a quick AI summary can't replace an actual review of your books. You will learn to recognize the errors that distort your numbers, and how to make decisions from data instead of a gut feeling. If you've ever felt confident about your numbers until someone asked a specific question, this episode shows you where that confidence was coming from. Find out if your books are accurate here. Key Takeaways 0:00 Introduction to the CEO Test 1:25 Question One: Year-to-Date Profit 3:02 Question Two: Assets Versus Liabilities 4:31 Question Three: Cash Reserves 7:11 The Dangers of AI and Misleading Data 8:47 How to Get Accurate Books Resources Book a strategy call with Danielle's team at Kickstart: here Check your books here Visit the Kickstart website Follow us on Instagram Listen Next The 30-Day Burnout Diagnosis Every CEO Needs to Run How to Know If You Can Afford to Hire Your First Employee

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  Episode #19

  The 30-Day Burnout Diagnosis Every CEO Needs to Run

  Sep 8, 202615 min

  A team member once asked me how we help clients who show up to their financial review calls completely burnt out. My answer surprised even me, and it led to a 30-day exercise I now recommend to every business owner I work with. In this episode of CEO Numbers Network, I talk about why burnout gets misdiagnosed so often in business ownership, and I walk through a real client example of growth mode colliding with family obligations. I also push back on trending labels like burnout and soft girl era, and I share five specific strategies for reframing pressure into something you actually have control over, starting with a 30-day energy audit. You will learn how to tell the difference between real exhaustion and simply being in a demanding season of your business, how to delegate what was never yours to carry in the first place, and how to make decisions from intention instead of guilt. If you have ever labeled yourself as burnt out without actually checking what was going on underneath it, this episode will give you a clearer way to look at it. Discover how our CFO services can help you build a plan around the season you're actually in: here . Key Takeaways 00:47 Burnout Isn't a Badge 10:14 Step 1: Run Your Energy Audit 11:00 Step 2: Delegate What Isn't Yours 11:54 Step 3: Build a Real Budget 12:24 Step 4: Do the Mindset Work 13:00 Step 5: Act Like the CEO Resources Book a strategy call with Danielle's team at Kickstart: here Check your books here Visit the Kickstart website Follow us on Instagram Listen Next How to Know If You Can Afford to Hire Your First Employee The 4 Step CEO Reset Method for a Stronger Fourth Quarter

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  Episode #18

  How to Know If You Can Afford to Hire Your First Employee

  Sep 1, 202614 min

  Your profit and loss statement can look fine, and your stomach can still drop when you think about hiring. I know that feeling, because it's exactly where I was the night I hired my first employee. I walk through the three methods I use to decide if a business can afford to hire: the look back method, the averages method, and the look forward budgeting method. I cover how profit and cash flow can tell two different stories, how much cash to have saved before hiring, and the real costs of bringing on a new employee beyond the paycheck. In this episode of CEO Numbers Network, I share exactly how to make that call with real numbers. You will learn what to look at before you hire, how to protect your cash flow, and how to move forward with confidence instead of guessing. If you have ever looked at a healthy profit number and still felt too scared to hire, this episode gives you the math to decide with confidence. Discover how our CFO services can help you build a hiring budget you can trust: here Key Takeaways 00:00 Why You Should Hire Help 00:44 Danielle's First Hire Story 03:10 Method One: The Look Back 04:20 Method Two: Calculate Your Cash 06:54 Method Three: Build Your Budget 09:00 How Much Cash To Save 11:30 The Real Cost Of Hiring 12:22 Final Encouragement To Hire Confidently Resources Download the free hiring worksheet from this episode. Build your own 12 month budget with the free template. Book a strategy call with Danielle's team at Kickstart: here Check your books here Visit the Kickstart website Follow us on Instagram Listen Next The 4 Step CEO Reset Method for a Stronger Fourth Quarter Can AI Actually Replace Your Bookkeeper?

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