Year in Review: Our clients' big wins in 2015

People tend to think of bookkeeping as a necessary evil. Your business has to have it, so just find someone who will do a decent job and whom you don't have to pay too much.

We beg to disagree.

We like to use our service to do more than just keep our clients' books clean. We like to go beyond balancing books to growing businesses. In that regard, 2015 was a very good year for us.

Today we want to showcase three clients who had big "wins" in the last 12 months.

Client #1: A Money-Saving Solution

One of our client's businesses was facing some difficulties staying profitable. Looking at the books, we found some areas where expenses were duplicated and some cases of fairly extreme overspending. We met with the owner and devised a plan to cut expenses. Once the plan went into effect, we were able to increase the bottom line by over $30,000 a month.

Of course...big deal, right? Everyone knows accountants are penny-pinching killjoys. Let's look at our second story, and see how we can help a client without forcing them to spend less.

Client #2: A Long-Denied Loan

A different client desperately desired a consolidation loan. He had gone to three different lenders, and been denied each time. He was getting nowhere in a hurry.

So, we took over.

First, we received authority to act on his behalf. Then we got to work, combing through his financials and organizing the data for presentation. Finally, we were able to present the information to the bank in the way we knew they wanted it. This time it was approved, and we were able to get our client a consolidation loan at one of the same institutions who had previously rejected him.

Thanks to those efforts, our client was able to consolidate his debt under one payment, and greatly improve his cash flow.

Still, that story isn't as great as...

Client #3: Money from Thin Air

Sometimes, something as simple as developing better procedures can make all the difference to a business. This was the case with a client who didn't have a good system in place for managing A/R.

Specifically, there was over $102,000 in receivables of which the owner was not even aware. (Some of the unpaid invoices were over two years old.)

When we discovered this large balance of aged receivables, we immediately began developing collections procedures, including a series of formalized letters to the debtors. Using the practices we put into place, over $30,000 has been collected within the last four months, with payments continuing to roll in.

To re-cap, that's money that the client did not even know existed.

These are just a few of our highlights from 2015. We can't wait to see what we do in 2016.

by Courtney Barbee

Stop Eating Frogs

Mark Twain famously said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”  In recent years this has become a particularly popular sentiment amongst entrepreneurs, used as a reminder to not procrastinate in completing disliked chores.  Small business owners typically have to manage so many different aspects of their company, it's inevitable that there will be some tasks they dread.

For many, their "frog" is accounting.

But, here's the secret...for some people, frog is a delicacy.

We may be in the minority, but, at The Bookkeeper, accounting and finance aren't just something that pays the bills.  We actually find a lot of it fun.

Here are a few of our services which, though business owners typically find distasteful, we really enjoy.

You know the only thing more fun than reading a collections procedure manual?  Writing a collections procedure manual.  It combines several of the things we love, like research, technical writing, and custom-tailoring business practices to an individual company.  What's not to love?

Of course, we've heard some people refer to research as "boring" or technical writing as "tedious".  But we feel the same way about SEO optimization and, apparently, some people enjoy that.

Budgeting

Budgeting seems to have a negative connotation for a lot of people.  A budget is seen as something constraining.  But we think budgeting is awesome.  You get to look at all your revenues and expenses, and figure out where you can save or earn more money.  Who doesn't like having more money?  A budget lets you make plans and take steps to achieve your goals.  Not knowing your budget is like driving blindfolded.  Maybe exciting for some, but too risky for us.

 Debt Repayment Plans

A lot of people who are in a great deal of debt don't like to think about how much debt they're in.  Of course, ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away.

For business owners overwhelmed by debt, figuring out a way to repay it all is too big a frog to eat.  Much easier to just make the minimum payments and try not to think too hard about those rising balances.  Fortunately, we love writing debt repayment plans.

Like so many problem, debt seems a lot bigger when you're in the middle of it.  That's why we enjoy taking an objective, mathematical look at the problem, and coming up with a tangible, step-by-step solution to eliminating it.  And it is so exciting to show someone how they can, often without even spending additional money, be debt-free and have savings built up in, frequently, as little as five years.

 Profitability Analysis & Pricing Strategies

Some people may be put off from some aspects of accounting because of the math involved, particularly when it comes to things like calculating gross profit margins.  We at The Bookkeeper are huge fans of math, perhaps because of its consistency and objectivity or, perhaps, as the great philosopher Cady Heron stated, "Because it's the same in every country."  (Yes, both Mark Twain and "Mean Girls" quotes in one article.  Small business accounting can be very culturally relevant.)

Math is especially useful when it comes to looking at which products or services provide higher revenues or greater returns, and where prices can be raised to improve profitability.  Using a little bit of math and research to make more money, without having to sell more or perform more work?  That's fun.

These are just a few of the services we provide for our clients, not just because our clients find them difficult or loathe doing them, but because we actually do find them interesting.  Where the client sees a live frog, we see a perfectly seared filet mignon.

If there's some chore in your business which you simply despise completing on a daily basis, whether it's finance-related or something else, consider whether it's worth it to you to pay someone else to eat that frog.

You're in business for yourself, so why do something you hate?

by Courtney Barbee