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In this episode of In The Harbor, Jason Johns and Scott Lindsay sit down with Lacey Shrum — attorney, former RIA CCO, and founder of SmartKX — to unpack one of the most overlooked drivers of RIA enterprise value:

Billing. Revenue. Fee transparency.

Most firms treat fee billing like “something that happens in the back room,” powered by Excel, muscle memory, and a lot of exceptions. Lacey argues that’s not just inefficient — it can be a quiet drag on revenue, client experience, compliance confidence, and valuation.

We get into:

• Why quarterly-in-advance billing creates hidden friction (especially around cash flows and volatility)
• The real-world issue of “snapshot billing” vs. what actually happened across the quarter
• Why billing methods can materially impact revenue (and what that means in a valuation / M&A environment)
• How firms can use better billing infrastructure to reduce client fee disputes and improve advisor recruiting
• The “three-part billing loop” Lacey focuses on: documentation → calculation → analysis
• What implementation looks like across different firm sizes (from sub-$1B to multi-custodian enterprise)

And because it’s In The Harbor, we close with some rapid-fire fun — Montana ranch life vs. RIA billing, NFL chaos, Chiefs vs. Lions diplomacy, and why certain rivalries feel a little… one-sided.

If you’re an RIA operator, CFO, COO, CCO, or anyone who cares about margin, scalability, and enterprise value, this episode will make you look at fee billing very differently.

Learn more: smartkx.io
 

(And follow SmartKX on LinkedIn for ongoing billing + revenue content.)

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