Carrie is a founding shareholder and President of The Whetstone Group, Inc. Since 2000 Whetstone has provided growth consulting services to hundreds of CPA firms nationwide. She has more than 20 years of CPA firm marketing experience.

Carrie helps clients:

• Build a sustainable growth culture and improve employee engagement
• Develop a firm vision for growth and effective top-line growth plans
• Establish systems of accountability for business development
• Improve sales results to maximize ROI on marketing

 

She is also a skilled trainer, providing group sales training, curriculum development, and one-on-one coaching that enables attendees to better understand the sales cycle and develop the personal skills necessary to close sales. Firm leaders, practitioners, marketing professionals benefit from her knowledge and dynamic approach.

Before joining Whetstone, Carrie was an in-house marketing director in the national marketing office of RSM McGladrey, Inc.

Carrie has presented for the AICPA, the Association for Accounting Marketing’s (AAM) Annual Summit, the Indiana CPA Society, DFK USA’s Annual Growth Summit, Moore Stephens North America, MSI Global Alliance’s International Managing Partner Con- ference, BKR’s Annual Marketing Meeting, Allinial Global, AGN MAP Conference and The International Group of Accounting Firms (IGAF). She has been published in the AAM’s MarkeTrends, The Journal of Accountancy and the CPA Practice Management Forum. She is a co-author of “Bridging the Gap: Strengthening the Connection between Current and Emerging Leaders in the CPA Profession”.

Carrie is Vice-President of the CPA Consultants’ Alliance (CPACA), a working group of thought leaders within the CPA profession. She is also the current Treasurer of the National Association of Accounting Marketing’s (AAM's) Board of Directors, past Chair of AAM’s Education Committee and a member of The CPA Consultants’ Trust.

About Us:

A Whetstone is a tool used to sharpen a cutting edge. Although a simple tool, it must be applied correctly to be effective. The Whetstone Group’s mission is to help our clients improve value drivers and hone their competitive edge. Each tool has been tested and refined by professionals with decades of experience in the accounting profession. When applied properly these tools can restore your sharp focus and offer you new ways to not only compete, but also grow.

In August of 2000 Larry Bildstein and Carrie Steffen founded The Whetstone Group. Combining their knowledge of the accounting profession, Larry’s experience as a regional managing partner with RSM McGladrey and Carrie’s leadership in the RSM’s national marketing office, The Whetstone Group offers CPA firms nationwide proven and effective tools for top-line growth and increasing firm value.