Is it possible that SLC Bookkeeping could be the best thing to happen to your business in 2014? A few weeks ago I was talking with a client about a situation.
I had recently referred them a service provider for something they had needed help with. Neither I nor the client was happy with the performance or service provided by said provider. I sent a follow up email to the client asking if things had been resolved to their satisfaction.
When they told me things still were not going well I apologized for making the introduction. You never want a referral to go poorly.
I apologized and told them that I understood that this might reflect poorly on us. The client then informed me that the performance of the person we referred did not reflect poorly on us. In fact the client said “SLC Bookkeeping is the best thing that has happened to us this year.
We are particularly impressed and happy with your responsiveness and willingness to help.” It made me think about what we had done for this client to receive such praise.
Took Responsibility From Owners
One thing we did to help this business was to take certain responsibilities off of the owners. They were at a critical point in their business where they were really starting to grow.
Additionally, they wanted to expand much further and knew they could not be handling the day-to-day bookkeeping tasks.
We were able to effectively take on some of the bookkeeping tasks, which allowed the owners to focus on higher-level growth-oriented tasks.
Set Up Systems
We set up systems that allowed the owners to step out of the bookkeeping process but still remain in control. Certain bookkeeping tasks should not be handled by owners and certain tasks should. One example would be accounts payable.
I definitely do not think an owner should be bothered with day to day bills. However, owners should definitely handle the tasks of moving funds or signing checks. You should not give your bookkeeper the ability to pay bills or move funds.
You are the final line of defense against theft and fraud. You should review the bills you are paying and make sure you handle the signing of checks and movement of funds.
Cash is another area you want to watch closely and control. While many businesses have moved away from accepting cash, certain types of businesses can’t refuse cash.
Cash is a really easy thing to steal so you want to make sure you put the proper procedures in place to eliminate theft. You want to put checks and balances into your bookkeeping system that eliminate the chances of theft.
Make sure to put the right system in place to ensure that your bookkeeper is not stealing from you.
Gave Owners Valuable Financial Information
Another way our bookkeeping services added value to this business was to give the owners valuable financial information. Accurate financial reporting is important for small businesses.
Those businesses that don’t regularly use financial reports to aid them in making businesses decisions are in essence running their business blind.
This particular client had very basic financial reporting in place. However, in order to grow in the manner they desired they needed much more sophisticated financial reporting.
We worked closely with the owners and management team to assess their financial reporting needs. We then built a series of custom financial reports that met their needs.
The reports are provided on a more consistent and regular basis. By keeping the bookkeeping system updated regularly we were able to meet the reporting needs of the client faster than they had received the information in the past.
Allowed For Scaling
Since stepping into the bookkeeping process we allowed the client the ability to scale their business. When you first start out scaling your business it can be a daunting task.
With so many things to do scaling can seem helpless. It is important to delegate non-essential tasks to trusted individuals or service providers.
You don’t want to waste your valuable time on menial tasks. If you try and do everything yourself scaling is literally impossible.
If you are a small business that is trying to grow you may want to consider outsourcing those tasks that you dislike or are not good at.
If you want to see what SLC Bookkeeping can do for your business please feel free to reach out.
