Jody Grunden

Jody Grunden is an accounting visionary with over 20 years of experience. He has helped pioneer innovative changes within the industry, including the introduction of the first subscription-based billing method employed by an accounting firm. He is the author of two books, Digital Dollars and Cents and Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud.

Together with his partner Adam Hale, Jody co-founded Summit CPA Group (Summit) in 2002, which merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors (Anders) in 2022. Summit, now Summit Virtual CFO by Anders, was the first fully distributed firm and the leading provider of Virtual CFO Services in North America. With this merger, Summit brings to Anders a number of benefits which will help continue Jody’s vision of changing the way people think about accounting, including strengthening the now “hybrid” work environment, building out the advisory side of Anders with a Virtual CFO service model, and implementing weekly subscription billing rather than hourly billing. His specialties include Virtual CFO Services, Creative Agencies, and Remote Team Management.

Jody is part of many professional organizations including: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Indiana CPA Society, Member of the Forbes Finance Council, Member of the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), Pinnacle Business Guides Partner, and Member of Running Remote. Jody has also been recognized for his expertise through being awarded as a 2017 Indiana CPA Society Innovation Award winner, CPA.com’s 2017 Innovative Practitioner of the Year finalist, and CPA.com’s 2020 Top Innovative Practitioner of the Year winner. Community leadership is also important to Jody. He participates in several leadership roles including:

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
  • DCPA Advisory Board
  • DCPA 2022 Conference Chair
  • Tax Practice Resiliency Tax Force
    
• Bill.com Accountant Partner Council
• Divvy Task Force
• Indiana CPA Society
  • [Former] Board of Directors
  • Innovation Council
    
• CPA.com
  • CAS Client Advisory Counsel
• Coach for numerous youth sports teams

After graduating with his Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana University, Jody’s career in accounting began in the best way possible: Passing the CPA exam on the first try. He later refined and broadened his skills at Crowe Chizek and Company and Geo S. Olive (now FORVIS).

Jody has been happily married to his wife April since 1988. April is an estate planning attorney for Grunden Law Offices where she concentrates her practice on estate planning, succession planning, and business formations. They have two children, Tyler and Lexi. Their favorite activities are participating in a wide range of sports (from hockey to golf) with their children. Jody and April have enjoyed coaching their kids’ athletic teams. They also enjoy living in their hometown of Leo and spending ample amounts of time with their extended family and friends.