bonus: a case study with lots of specifics.
by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers
i love the question i get when i set up someone on back office support systems. “what do i need to have to get this started?”
more: accounting tech tools to minimize your pain | strengthen client ties with workflow tools | understand your online marketing options | narrow your prospects by choosing a vertical | build your team, then choose your clients | how back office support adds value
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i tell them i need to know your name, address, phone number, ein/ssn and your passwords. except for the guy who closed his bank account and had to have the old statements mailed to him, i run with a chromebook and make sure there is accessible wi-fi when i go onsite. if i need to collect documents that have never been digitized, i just have them download dext and start snapping pics. no paper, no pen, no mess and typically a stunned prospect who wants to become a client. see, i can’t sell, so i let the technology do the selling for me.
i use ledgersync to collect statements, and set them up on their choice of a cloud-based gl. we get an initial coa started based on my new client checklist of questions, give them a little training and then a few recommendations on procedures to keep paper to a minimum.
for future invoices, we send a simple notice to vendors that all invoicing is required to arrive via email to a specified email. and don’t forget to use the accounting software email functions to send sales receipts and invoices to customers.
direct feeds from banks, credit cards and merchant services populate accounting programs, leaving the bos’s staff to review and reconcile. ledgersync automatically retrieves those statements so that reconciliations are done on schedule and are fit into the load leveling of work. leveraging these platforms leads to real-time data, reconciled in real time, allowing you to produce clean, valuable information, which means the business owner can make intelligent bos/cpa-informed decisions.
technology allowed your clients to enter their own accounting data. technology also gave us “garbage in, garbage out” (gigo) accounting. as the bos, you add value to your clients by giving them good numbers to run their business.
working with your client’s technology
once you have decided on the type of clients you wish to provide services for, you can narrow in on some applications that fit into this type of work. new apps appear all the time and as we move forward, knowing how apps work and which programs integrate with accounting software is essential.
open api (application programming interface) is a method used to permit communication between programs. the typical accounting programs such as qbo, xero, waveapps and accountingsuite have programs connecting to them via an api. many accounting programs have limitations that are specific to a particular business need. for example, neither qbo nor xero handles job costing very well, or minimally at best. so, for business owners wishing to utilize the great accounting features of either of these programs along with the need to use job costing, a second program that specializes in job costing is an addition that will enhance the capabilities of either program to provide full accounting information. because both qbo and xero are open to the api world, finding programs is relatively easy.
inventory and distribution can use qbo and xero if they have additional apps added on. accountingsuite does this as part of their basic cloud-based program. finding a niche means you may end up using a cloud-based software program that is not qbo or xero as your go-to. our oregon client that does bos for a training company chose to focus on intacct for that client and other larger clients. to allow for new, incoming smaller business, she also uses xero so she has the ability to handle similar clients of differing size and needs. if a client grows beyond the capabilities of xero, it’s an easy switch to move them over to intacct.
third-party integrators
something to be aware of is that the api may or may not require a third-party integrator. companies such as zapier, onesaas and webgility are common third-party integrators in this arena. be aware that this does increase the billing for the software because you’ll be paying the monthly integration fee as well as the add-on software fee. finding add-ons that do not require a third party to allow communication to occur is optimal but not always possible and these companies fill that niche. the key indicator of making this choice is does it save time? time is money and they should balance.
many accounting programs have limitations that are specific to a business need. for example, neither qbo nor xero handles inventory well. quickbooks desktop includes inventory; advanced inventory is available in the enterprise version. however, there are still limitations for some types of companies. accountingsuite handles it better in one program.
rule of thumb: if the add-on was built as a cloud app, it will work better with a cloud accounting system.
having said all that, we occasionally remove integrations if they are pulling in unnecessary data and causing duplications. a batch number from the additional app is all that is needed and provides a detailed enough report, then we do not connect and just access the feeding app directly to get the numbers and reconcile with that app.
sometimes you need a more complicated tech stack to accommodate the client’s preferences. we set up a client with xero, gusto and homebase. that client could have had a full end-to-end integration with just one push using tsheets (now quickbooks time) instead of homebase. however, they already had homebase and were comfortable with it, so the appreciable time for homebase push was not an issue for long as the homebase integration improved.
ai is not perfect, and neither is api. it is getting there. to rail against it is to waste time learning and adapting. again, perfect should not stop progress. newer businesses tend to be savvy, regardless of age of ownership.
time is the key as well as ebok, which is the error between operator and keyboard. for every click of a keystroke, i have options for error. less time spent keying equals fewer mistakes and more time for reviewing the numbers.
case study: moving to the cloud at the changing of the guard
two years ago, a long-existing process server company that covered two western states came to us for help moving into the cloud. the owner was retiring, and his children were taking over the business. his daughter ran the back office and she used only a local version of qb desktop. they had paper timesheets and did payroll manually. it was the retiring dad who contacted us and asked us to move them to the cloud and then train his daughter. we moved them to qbo, gusto and tsheets. we trained the daughter and figured we were done.
his local cpa was against all of this and they ended up calling again to ask us to find a new cpa who would work with them. i had to go 150 miles from their location to find a cpa who would do this. we only had to show the cpa how gusto worked, then transferred the admin of the accounts to the cpa. now the cpa outsources the work to my old outsourcing company in bangalore. the daughter is happy, as she has a lot on her plate handling work across two states. the dad is fly fishing. all is right in that world.
case study: even veteran cfos need help with today’s technology
in late 2020, i received a call from a gentleman located down the road. ted said he got my name from craig. craig was a client we helped over five years ago. since then he had sold that business and we are still working with the company that he sold to.
ted needed help in setting up bookkeeping systems for a new company doing protocol studies for cbd. i laughed and asked if craig recommended me because of my work with cannabis companies. he said no, but that craig told him i just was the right person for his needs. lesson number one is you never know when your good work will pay back and the reverse is also true.
ted is the new cfo and has a board of directors who are medical doctors and scientists. he said they will have testing all over the u.s. and will need a way to manage money, time tracking, payroll, budget forecasting and projecting case study costs. as of now, this is still a work in progress. even though ted was the cfo, and this was 2020, he first had to have a lesson on how to use zoom, how to access online banking and a multitude of technology help. my team handles all the accounting, thank the universe, while i handle ted.
almost two months in, we have qbo up and running. we’re using relayfi for banking so we can easily track projects and fund them in separate bank accounts. the full concierge program of gusto handles both payroll and contractor pay. yeah! gusto filed the 1099s for us. we only have to handle the other 1099s for non-contractor payments. the 401(k) is also set up and tracked through gusto.
time is being tracked by tsheets – now quickbooks time – against the projects we set up in qbo. relayfi is used for paying for project/case costs directly out of the associated accounts with their assigned debit cards. the final kick is the kpi for budgeting, forecasting and cash flow projections. in this, ted really sings and i just sit back and watch while he works with his dedicated supervisor, dheepitha. the two of them are in their comfort zone running those reports and trying out various applications. not my happy place and glad to have them do that. my part is to keep the relationship with ted, teach him the technology (even how to use his own new laptop) and make sure that communication lines are open. this is a team effort.
creating a mapping of interconnected programs
how do you, as the bos/accountant, plan out the flow of the interconnected data? as an example, i have provided a diagram of some of the programs that distribution companies can use to manage the day-to-day of running the business and for reporting on kpis.
example: distribution business
- client has internal and external employees.
- client needs to implement sales quotes and track the workflow for each.
- client needs to track pos generated from sales quotes.
- client needs to track time of 20 onsite employees.
- client needs to track expenses of 30 employees while traveling or working away from the office for reimbursement.
- client then needs to prepare payroll with time data as well as base salary options.
- client is currently using quickbooks desktop but wants a fully cloud-based system to manage time expenses and quotes issued away from the office.
- the client also wants vendors to self-manage pos and invoices.
our solution uses these apps:
- salespad: for inventory management; this syncs bi-directionally with qbo
- dext: for travel and non-production expenses
- quickbooks time: for time tracking of all employees
- gusto payroll: to pay everyone, including reimbursing employee expenses
- qbo: the gl
- jirav: for management reporting
recommended technology apps
| sales/purchases | app | costs | notes |
| inventory | salespad | $55 per month per user; $1650 for 30 users | partners receive 10% on signup and 5% thereafter; client pays direct |
| expenses | dext (formerly receipt bank) | $40 per month | can opt not to charge for this with base pricing from dext, which syncs to both qbo and gusto for easy reimbursement to employees |
| time tracking | quickbooks time (formerly tsheets) | $40 per month | can utilize pro discount
|
| payroll | gusto | $39 per month plus $6 per employee; $180 for 30 employees | give client the 10% discount direct (client pays); reimburse for expenses via the sync with dext; hourly employee time syncs with qbtime |
| accounting | qbo plus | $35 per month | prepay for client for 50% discount |
| reporting | jirav | $100 per month | to combine financial and managerial reports from salespad and qbo |
| total cost | $2044 per month |
please note that prices change all the time, so check websites for the most current pricing.