FAQs

Bookkeepers and accountants share a lot of the same duties but they are, in fact, not the same. Bookkeepers deal with day to day tasks, such as recording sales, organizing receipts, conducting payroll, and so on. Accountants focus on “big picture” things like reporting on the financial health of the company and suggesting what actions ought to be taken to improve it.

In other words, bookkeepers take all the loose financial information happening daily and record them, and the accountants take that already organized information and give advice based off of it.

Therefore, my job is to take all the transactions coming in and out of your business, make them nice and easy to understand. Then you take that information and make financial decisions yourself or you can take it to a CPA, tax preparer, or business coach that can help you cover the areas I cannot (at least for now).

No, I unfortunately do not offer tax services at the moment. I am, however, working on earning more certifications to one day become a tax consultant and CPA, so I will offer these services at a later point in time.

What I can do is refer you to other bookkeepers and accountants that currently do offer those services.

I offer bookkeeping for mostly service-based businesses as well as smaller product-based businesses located in the United States. Even if you don’t fall into this category, that’s okay! We can still chat and see if we might make a good fit. Remember, I can refer you to another trustworthy bookkeeper that has experience with clients like you.

I can also help startups as well as nonprofits.

Of course! I can definitely help you track and protect your books even if you have more than one business.

I use QuickBooks Online and have my Quickbooks Online ProAdvisor Certification. I am currently working on getting my certification for Xero and Freshbooks. If you use a different software, I can help you get setup with and then transfer your information to QBO.

Trusting a person online with your most important financial information is definitely scary, but the benefits are worth it! For one, you’re not limited or forced to resort to the nearest bookkeeper and can instead spread your options globally, choosing based on quality instead of simply distance. In addition, you will always be able to access your books and don’t have to wait for your bookkeeper to reply, schedule an appointment, and show you the information.

If you still feel uneasy, you can take steps to make sure the bookkeeper you choose is who they say they are. Check out their website, look for testimonials, ask for referrals, and see if they use trustworthy and secure methods of information transfer. Sending important documents through email, for example, is generally discouraged and should be encrypted, at least. A trustworthy bookkeeper cares for the safety of your information and identity and will always encourage you to use secure software, like HubDoc, DropBox, or GoogleDrive to send documents containing sensitive information.

I want you to feel comfortable and confident if you do choose to work with me, so feel free to contact me and address any concerns you may have. Perhaps meeting me will reassure you that I truly do have your best interest in mind and that your books will be done in the utmost quality, even if I am only virtual.

The reason I didn’t include my address is because I work from home so my business is located in my apartment, and for the sake of privacy, I didn’t feel comfortable releasing my location. This shouldn’t be an issue, however, since I am a virtual bookkeeper and can do everything online. I did include the city I’m living in to give a general idea of where I’m located and bring some comfort to those who want to verify who I am.

Remember, your books will never be affected by this!

That’s a legitimate concern. I’ll walk you through the interactions we would have if you choose me as your virtual bookkeeper:

1. We would meet through Zoom and talk about you, your business, your goals, and bookkeeping services you need. I will ask for basic financial information like the number of monthly transactions, loans you may have, large assets, and so on in order to get a good idea of the work required and how I could best serve you. The main purpose of this free consultation is to see if we would make a good fit OR if I should refer you to someone else.
2. If you decide you do want to outsource your bookkeeping to me, then I will put together a proposal that will outline the price and services included in it.
3. If you sign the proposal and engagement letter, then I will officially become your personal bookkeeper and begin either the cleanup or catchup process, if needed. You will send me all required documents through a secure platform, such as Hubdoc.
4. Once the cleanup/catchup has been completed, we will meet through zoom to review the changes that were made to your books as well as the first month of financial statements.
5. From that point on, we will meet up monthly via zoom to review your financial reports, answer your questions, and discuss the goals you have, so that you leave from every meeting with something valuable you can apply to your business.

Essentially, whenever we meet, we meet through zoom and any documents that need to be transferred will be transferred safely through a separate application. I can also record the review of your financial reports for you to view at your own time.

Unfortunately, I can’t give you an estimated price of investment until after I gather information during our first meeting. The specific price will be set during the proposal. The amount I charge is based mostly on monthly transactions and accounts I need to be monitoring. There are also one time fees for software setup plus training as well as catchups or cleanups, and the price for said cleanups/catchups depend on the number of months behind.

If you have a small budget for bookkeeping, then I can give you a “bare bones” kind of plan that only covers essential bookkeeping services like income/expense tracking, account reconciliation, and monthly financial statement reviews. You could also create a custom plan where you only select the the services you want.

No problem! I also offer catchup or cleanup services by themselves, in which I organize and clean the messy transactions you have in your accounting software or I simply take all the physical documents/information and upload it all onto QuickBooks Online. From there, you can do your bookkeeping with a fresh set of books.

If you ever change your mind and opt for ongoing bookkeeping, then I will be happy to assist you with that too!