The Good Measure Story

Built on Trust, Friendship, and a Better Way to Do Accounting

Most accounting firms start the same way.

Someone leaves a larger firm, hangs a shingle, and figures it out as they go. There's nothing wrong with that. But it rarely produces something that doesn’t already exist.



Good Measure started differently. Not by plan, exactly. By friendship first, and conviction second.

Two Perspectives, One Shared Frustration

Joe and Ben had known each other for over a decade through church in Knoxville before they ever talked seriously about working together.

In that time, they'd built careers on opposite sides of the accounting industry. Ben came up through audit and tax inside more traditional firm environments after earning his CPA. Joe grew up in bookkeeping, advisory, and CFO work, embedded in operations and the day-to-day reality of how businesses actually run.

Over the years, they compared notes. What was working. What wasn't. Where clients felt genuinely supported and where they felt like a number on someone's billing sheet.

No agenda. Just two people who cared about doing good work and were honest with each other about what they were seeing.

The Problem They Kept Running Into



Despite coming from different sides of the industry, they kept hearing the same thing from business owners.

The request usually sounded something like this: "I only need a few great hours a day, but I also want responsiveness, accuracy, and people I can actually trust. Does that exist?"

At the time, the honest answer was: not really. Tax firms did fantastic work, but typically only once a year or once a quarter, not as a true ongoing partner. Or a CFO was deeply relational but the knowledge wasn't transferable. Or the outsourced option that did exist was purely transactional.

The gap was obvious. The solution, not so much.

The Original Idea

In the fall of 2020, Joe and Ben started meeting seriously about building something together. The original concept was narrow by design: a hospitality-focused accounting firm, rooted in Joe's background growing up around hotel and hospitality operations.

The name Good Measure comes from considering a “proper measure, an accurate accounting, a correct analysis of the state of an organization and what the data tells you about an organization.” But, its roots go deeper.

It comes from Luke 6:38: "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap."

That verse shaped how Joe and Ben thought about the kind of firm they wanted to build. Not one that does the minimum required to keep clients legal and compliant. One that gives generously, does the work with care, and trusts that doing right by people produces something lasting.

The name isn't necessarily on the homepage as a faith statement, but it does show up in how the team works, how clients are treated, and what Good Measure refuses to compromise on.

As Joe and Ben sought counsel from mentors and peers, something else became clear. The real gap wasn't industry-specific, it was structural. Businesses across every industry were asking for the same thing: modern cloud-based systems, real-time financial clarity, proactive support, and real humans on the other end of the line.

The hospitality focus broadened and the mission sharpened.

The Garage Days

Good Measure officially launched in April 2021, out of a garage in Knoxville.

For the first six months, Joe and Ben worked side by side. They shared packed lunches, installed an AC unit just to survive the Tennessee summer, and took calls in any space they could fit. They learned fast, laughed often, and took real risks.

There were no delusions of grandeur. Just clarity of purpose and a lot of trust in each other.



Eventually they moved to a co-working space where they could engage with other entrepreneurs and keep a bit more separation between work and the garage. But they've never forgotten those early days, and it's part of why they love working with startups, church plants, and anyone scrappy enough to take the entrepreneurial leap.

Growing Slowly, On Purpose

From the start, Good Measure chose quality over growth. The firm grew intentionally slowly in its first two years; not because demand wasn't there, but because standards were important. They said no often. They took their time onboarding clients. They stayed focused on doing the work well before doing it at scale.

That patience mattered, and it shaped a culture internally that clients could actually feel on the other end.

Today, Good Measure supports hundreds of business owners, churches, nonprofits and leaders across the country who expect their financial operations to be handled with excellence. With more than 100 five-star Google reviews and a long-tenured team, we combine best-in-class technology with experienced professionals to deliver the same financial stability and operational clarity we’ve been building since 2021. 

What Good Measure Is Built On

Good Measure is unapologetically tech-forward. Through years of involvement in Intuit and QuickBooks councils, Gusto payroll communities, Karbon workflow leadership, other leading software organizations, and accounting conferences, Joe and Ben have stayed close to the best tools and practices in the industry.

Clients run fully cloud-based: QuickBooks Online, modern payroll and bill pay systems, digitized workflows, and clear financial reporting built for decision-making, not just compliance.

But technology has never been the main priority. People have been.



Clients talk to real humans. They get same-day responses. They work with professionals who are paid well and trained at the highest levels, because the quality of the work depends on it.

What “Good Measure” Means Today

Good Measure exists to give business owners back their time, their focus, and their confidence. And beyond that, to be a thought partner, to provide data that actually drives decision-making, to help leaders run a truly successful organization.

The goal has never been to only produce reports. It's been to give leaders something they can actually use: financials that make sense, a team they can trust, and one less weight on their shoulders every month.

It started with two friends comparing notes. It grew in a garage in a Tennessee summer. And it's still built the same way today: thoughtfully, relationally, and with care for the people and organizations it serves.



If that's the kind of accounting partner you've been looking for, we'd love to have a conversation.