FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Finance is one of the most common topics that people wish they understood or were educated on earlier in life. The reality is that getting a basic understanding of your finances can be very simple. While our goal is to provide you an excellent bookkeeping service so you don’t have to worry about finances, we also do our best to educate you so you can use your financial statements as tools.

If you considering starting a new business it is always a great idea to speak to a professionals such as a lawyer and accountant/CPA/Bookkeeper. We offer consulting services for new businesses and startups to ensure you can start your business with a plan for financial success.

Making the switch to QuickBooks Online is often very simple, especially if your business is already using QuickBooks Desktop or another similar accounting software. Our professional team helps ensure that the transition is not only simple for you but does not result in lost information which is important to your business. We have a step-by-step transition guide which we use to ensure complete satisfaction.

At this time we are not providing tax service. While we do understand the ease of having a one-stop shop for an CPA/Accountant/Bookkeeper, we strive to provide value at a rate which these larger offices cannot compete. Further, by specializing in Bookkeeping and Accountant we are able to ensure that there is no sacrifice in the quality of the services which we provide.

In the bookkeeping world nearly everything is processed online or has a transaction record which is accessible online. By keeping our operations 100% remote we can keep our costs low allowing for the great pricing on our packages. For those transactions which do not have an online transaction record, we have a very efficient process to get them recorded/tracked.

All to often we hear business say they have a good understanding of how their business is performing followed by them mentioning they do not have a bookkeeper or accounting software. Once we get them into our system customers/clients often are surprised to find out how their business are REALLY performing. Until you have a true financial statement, such as an Income Statement or Balance Sheet it is nearly impossible to have a financial understanding of your business. Simply watching the bank account move up and down is NOT sufficient. ​ Having confidence in your businesses financials is a must for businesses of any size. Not only is it necessary to prepare annual reports and compile tax return information, but it also allows you to get financial insight on your business. This could be catching double charges, increased subscription costs, missing expenses and so much more. With our help we will ensure that you can track your finances and use that information to make better informed business and financial decisions.

Often our clients will initially tell us they already currently work with an accountant or CPA. While we are happy to hear they have a financial advocate who is looking out for their best interest, there is often a bit of confusion on how our services are different than an accountant (CPA). A Bookkeeper maintains the daily transaction records in an accounting software, such as QuickBooks Online. This ensures the accuracy and completeness of the financial information throughout the year. A bookkeeper is able to provide you insights into your business through Financial Statements such as the Profit & Loss Statement and Balance Sheet. The reality is that every great business needs a Bookkeeper and an Accountant (CPA). The bookkeeper will help you day-to-day while the Accountant (CPA) will often serve you Quarterly/Annual for taxes or other complex transactions.

7 Reasons you SHOULD hire a bookkeeper: 1.Focus on the Business: Running a business is already a LOT of work and managing your finances is just another layer of complexity and confusion. By hiring us you get to focus on what you know best, running your business! 2.Outside Perspective: Sometimes you just need another point to view to see what a glaring issue or opportunity may be. By hiring us you get another perspective of your business, specifically from a financial perspective. 3.Work-Life Balance: Running your business is a full-time job. Now add hours of uncertainty and research to properly track your business finances. By hiring us you get to better manage your schedule and not spend weekends working through your finances. 4.Outsource Tedious Work: Every Income, Expense, Asset, and Liability needs to be properly tracked. If you have 50+ transactions a month these can be very cumbersome to go through yourself. By hiring us you can have it completed without adding tedious non-revenue producing activity to schedule. 5.Have Confidence: While Google, YouTube, and educational course can be a great resource for you to learn a lot about finance and accounting, it will still never replace the confidence a professional can provide. By hiring us you can have confidence in your financial records when reviewing your statements, applying for a loan, or filing your taxes. 6.Business Insights: Having a financial statement can be a huge improvement in understanding for most business owners. By hiring us you have a professional who not only understands how to interpret the financial statements but can function as an advisor helping you better understand these metrics/trends as well. 7.Reduced Costs: The cost of NOT having your finances well organized is far more expensive than keeping up with them on a regular basis. By hiring us you can ensure your finances are up-to-date and you can avoid expensive back accounting charges and potential fees/fines imposed by government agencies.

A Bookkeeper is responsible for maintaining daily transactions and performing reconciliations on a monthly basis. Bookkeepers keep your businesses finances organized and provides financial statements for you to review. This is our niche, and us focusing on bookkeeping primarily helps us ensure we are providing the highest level of service at reasonable rates. A Accountant is responsible for reviewing work performed by a Bookkeeper and performing monthly adjustments/entries. Accountants often have conversations with clients and ensure that any complex transactions are being properly recorded or tracked. A CPA (Certified Public Accountant) is responsible for providing financial advice along with guiding clients through complex business transactions and often preparation of governmental/tax filings. *While the list of services provided by each of these roles vary and are much more extensive than those listed above, the purpose of this response is to provide a basic understanding of the roles.

The sooner you get a bookkeeper or accountant the better off you will be. Doing this sooner than later can help you avoid hundreds to thousands of dollars in back accounting and governmental agency fees/fines. We offer very reasonable priced fixed rate packages which can be customized to fit any businesses needs regardless of their size, budget, or industry.

QuickBooks is our recommended resource to nearly ALL our client(s), with few exceptions based on unique industries or business structure. With that said, QuickBooks provides a vast number of tools which make it extremely useful for business owners. This includes but is not limited to the following: Automated Bank Integration, Application Transaction Integration, Financial Statements / Reports, Income/Expense Classifications, Online Platform, Interactive Dashboard, Payroll Processing, 1099 Issuance/Tracking, Cash/Accrual Accounting Options, Payment Processing, Accounts Payable/Receivable, and SO much more!

Every business regardless of budget, industry or size should have an Income Statement (sometimes called the Profit & Loss Statement) and a Balance Sheet at an absolute minimum. There are hundreds of unique reports which can be created to provide business insights (which we can help you identify), but you should review your business financial statements mentioned above as often as it will provide useful information. (We recommend monthly to almost all our clients) Depending on the complexity of your business, there may be other statements necessary to provide you business insight or maintain proper status with governmental agencies. We will talk about these at greater depth on a client-by-client basis.

Cash Basis Accounting: Income is recorded when payment is received. Expense is recorded with payment is made. ​ Accrual Accounting: Income is recorded when the service is performed or the good is provided, NOT when payment is received. Expense is recorded when the service is performed or the good is provided, NOT when payment is sent. ​ Note: These are general rules as there are some slight variations depending on the situation and classification (i.e. asset, liability, equity, etc.)

The Profit & Loss (sometimes called the Income Statement) is one of the most important statements for a for-profit business. While watching your bank balance move up each month may signal you are making money, it does NOT provide you an in-depth understanding of your costs. The Profit and Loss Statement shows you a compiled list of all your Income and Expenses for a set period. With this format we can track variations from month-to-month an identify changes/trends that would be valuable for a business owner to understand. We recommend that almost all of our clients review their Profit & Loss Statement monthly to ensure they understand how their business is performing.