Can you tell us what type of business you run and how long you've been operating this business?

I have been maintaining financials for over 20 years and consulting for 7 years.  My business was started 3 ½ years ago.  We provide financial maintenance for small to midsize businesses through services such as:

Bookkeeping, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payroll, Payment Applications, Bank and G/L Reconciliations, Accounting Services (budgeting, forecasting, trend analysis etc.)

We also assist other firms and Bookkeepers with capacity/overflow issues by partnering to meet their clients needs. In addition, we provide other business support such as SOP (standard operating procedures) development and training manuals. 

My entire career has been maintaining financials, always dealing with debits and credits.  In some way my work directly affected information within financial reports. 

I started with the basic functions that all businesses need: billing/invoicing, cash application and receivables/collections. This was in the medical profession which is a more indepth billing then other industries.  While working full-time I went back to school to earn a BS in Business with a concentration in Accounting. I had the opportunity to work as a Cash Accountant as my first Accounting role. 

My years of experience working in different departments for mainly corporate entities worked in my favor and helped me to see the overall financial picture and why it is important to keep your books up to date and accurate.  It was interesting to see where the numbers came from, aging receivables and its effect of having access to capital via financial institutes, budgeting etc.

Yes there have been a couple challenges. One of the biggest challenges was letting go of the employee mindset with regards to fringe benefits I was used to getting.  Health and dental insurance, paid time off etc.  You know how it goes, when you don’t have it, is when you need it. 

I allowed my fear of not having medical insurance to deter me.  I eventually got out of my own way. I decided to start offering consulting (freelancer) under my name, basically filling a void a company had due to multiple reasons.  I also allowed an agency to utilize me for their clients.

The other challenge was I chose not to go into debt while building my business and my spouse also has a business that was not consistently making a profit yet. Someone had to bring in funds, so I put starting my firm on hold and continued working as a contractor under my name. I was still doing the same type of work my firm does, it just was not a contract under my firm. 

Making this sacrifice was not the challenge, it was that getting the other business to a place where I could remove the agency and do business under my firm was taking longer than anticipated. I was able to overcome this by having a very detailed plan, executing it and being very strategic.

We assist small/mid size service based businesses with maintaining their financials to have their books tax ready.

We provide the following services:

-Bookkeeping

-Payroll

-CFO Services

-Procedural Development/Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

-QBO setup, cleanup, catch up and training

-Personal and Business (Sch C) Tax Preparation

-Personal finance (financial literacy)

Here at GoalSetters, we like to say " A Goal Without A Plan is Just A Wish", what's your advice on the best way that people can go about accomplishing the goals that they set?



In closing, for those that may require your services or may need mentorship, how can they connect with you?