My specialty: Small Business Accounting - Overview
Help
Many times businesses come to me and know they need help . . . but they are still sorting through what kind of help and how much.
Some want their accounting to be handled – just taken off their plate. Others have a bookkeeper doing the day-to-day work like entering invoices/deposits, but they need someone to provide double-checks / guidance and more advanced accounting help.
Help Now
There are also times when small businesses need Accounting help right away.
Sometimes accounting is a mess — it hasn’t been touched in months (sometimes many many months). A business owner doesn’t know where to start. In these situations, I need to do a clean-up project.
Your Situation
We can sit down and talk about your specific situation.
We can talk about how to get you an accounting system — a good accounting system. My focus is to build a relationship throughout the year, so you feel you have a trusted advisor helping you get information to make the right decisions.
How I Can Help You - Specifics
I’ve broken down my services in to (3) main areas.
It’s a starting point as we work through what you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
An outsourced Accountant - How can you help ?
I am an outsourced small businesses Accountant which means I am an option if you need accounting help and direction but don’t have the budget for a full-time accountant. We can talk through issues and if you need a lot of help or a little help.
What if I Hate Accounting?
I’ve heard from friends, colleagues, and clients: “I hate numbers”, “That sounds hard”, “I hate accounting”.
I like accounting just like you like something else. We all have our strengths.
I believe the more you understand your numbers, the better decisions you can make. My thoughts: 1. Create good accounting processes 2. Track the numbers 3. and then Understand the numbers.
What if Accounting records are behind?
Be concerned, but don’t panic.
The good news is that I’ve seen businesses behind in their books and I have helped. I’ve done “clean-up accounting work” and the reality is: sometimes it’s not easy. But don’t give up hope – let’s get a plan.
The bad news, it’s not a good position to be in and the sooner you get the books up-to-date, the better. Being behind actually puts you at risk. 1. You can be at risk with the IRS if you don’t have your info together enough to do taxes – and you can start accumulating penalties. 2. you don’t have current information to make good business decisions.
Do you prepare Tax returns
Quick Answer: No.
There are many “types” of accountants and I believe that accountants should specialize and do what they are really good at.
Taxes. My niche is monthly accounting (and tax CPAs niche is taxes) . Small businesses go to a tax accountant at year-end to get their taxes done; I am the accountant for the other 11 months of the year — helping you have a pulse on your numbers way before tax time. Once we get your books in order I can work with your tax CPA for year-end taxes.
Do you perform Audits
I don’t do audits.
I actually started my career with a CPA firm and and was on the Audit team. But now I choose to work closely with small business AND I don’t want to jump over to being an independent auditor.
Note: many small businesses don’t need an official audit. If you need an independent audit, we can discuss your options.
What Accounting Software
QuickBooks Desktop is the accounting software I generally recommend for small businesses. Note: QuickBooks has an online version — I don’t think it’s as good — so my niche is QuickBooks Desktop.
Many times businesses can purchase specialty software that is tailored for their specific industry . . . we can talk about this.
I tell potential clients: which ever software you choose, get an accountant to set it up at the front end — the setup is key.
Can I use QuickBooks Desktop in the Cloud
Yes. Many don’t know this. But, Yes.
Many times potential clients think they need to use QuickBooks Online in order to share information remotely. However, there are ways to use QuickBooks desktop “in the cloud” so you can use it at your office and your home.
Can you prepare custom reports
Yes. My goal is to help you understand your numbers. QuickBooks has some standard reports plus we can work together to create customized reports to help you.
Also, if we need to, we can push the information to an Excel spreadsheet. You may think that is a horrible choice, but in some cases, it’s actually a good choice. Here’s the good news: I have years of experience creating spreadsheets not just for accountants, but for marketing and sales people — I customize them so they are user friendly.