If you missed it last week, make sure to download our financial wellness quiz for a quick and easy assessment of your company’s financial health and bookkeeping needs!
Download NowBringing on a new position can be a hefty investment for any business. Most small business owners shy away from bringing on a bookkeeper because they aren’t sure how to get the most bang for their buck. What they don’t know, yet are the many ways a bookkeeper can bring value to a small business.
In this episode, Melissa Baggett, the senior client success consultant at BELAY, and Melissa Tidwell, solutions consultant, continue their talk about the surprising ways a business can use a bookkeeper to grow their business while saving money along the way.
The financial side of your business may be taking a lot of brainspace, time from family, and other activities from you. Depending on where you are in the business, getting relief from those things might bring more than a virtual assistant could offer. So don’t miss out on the value of a bookkeeper.
They love to do that stuff! And there’s actually a lot of value in letting them do it because they learn so much about the business and can make informed suggestions.
As you develop trust and step away from the books, and as you have more confidence in what your bookkeeper can do, you’ll see more and more peace of mind. And that can only help as you grow your business.
(01:59) The Melissas talk about the fashion trends they would like to see come back around again.
(05:18) Both Melissas talk about some of the success stories they’ve seen with bookkeepers and clients.
(09:52) Don’t overlook the peace that you can get from a bookkeeper. You may get more relief hiring a bookkeeper before a virtual assistant.
(13:00) Don’t try to get everything in order before you hire a bookkeeper. Let them do that for you.
(17:21) What are some ideas about process improvement and efficiencies that bookkeepers can help with?
(18:51) It all comes down to finding the right “partner” for your business as a bookkeeper.
(21:01) Is there a big difference between for-profit and nonprofit clients who want to hire bookkeepers?
(25:22) This week’s download: Our financial wellness quiz for a quick and easy assessment of your company’s financial health and bookkeeping needs.
Melissa Baggett:
They were all just very stretched and they just really could not find good local help. They just needed a good bookkeeper. They’d gone through so many. The wife’s jumping in. She’s doing her best, but she’s so stretched. So they came to us, and I’m not going to say it was easy right out of the gate. There was a lot to clean up. But you guys, bringing in this bookkeeper for them and quicker than I think they ever imagined, they finally had clarity that they’ve never had across all businesses.
Ryan Fitzgerald:
Welcome to One Next Step, the most practical business podcast in the world. You’re now one simple tip, practical tool, and small step away from growing your business. One Next Step is brought to you by Belay, the incredible 100% remote organization, revolutionizing productivity with virtual assistance, bookkeepers, and social media managers. Accomplish more. Juggle less. Modern staffing. From Belay. And now to your hosts.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Welcome to One Next Step, the practical business podcast that helps you run your business so it stops running you. I’m LZ. And today we’re going to continue our conversation with our senior client success consultant, Melissa Baggett, and our success consultant, the one and only MT, Melissa Tidwell, about the surprising ways that you can use your bookkeeper to bring value to your business. Both Melissa’s are powerful members of our Belay team and together they help guide our clients to effectively work with their bookkeeper. They have seen up close what works, what doesn’t work, and what is possible. They’re going to help us understand some of the surprising ways you can use your bookkeeper to bring more value to your business. Welcome ladies!
Melissa Tidwell:
Thank you.
Melissa Baggett:
Thank you, LZ. Thanks for having us.
Lisa Zeeveld:
I love that you are back. And last time I teased that all together, we could conquer the world and I still believe it. So.
Melissa Tidwell:
Yes.
Melissa Baggett:
Absolutely.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Well, I want to start us out with another fun question. And this fun question is if you could bring back any fashion trend, what would it be? And MT, you kind of let the cat out of the bag. You said you were ready for this. So I want to hear from you first.
Melissa Tidwell:
I think we need to bring back the fashionable hats of the thirties, forties, and fifties and gloves. I just think bringing the fashionable hats back would be so much fun for everybody. I thought they showed a lot of personality when you look back at old photos.
Lisa Zeeveld:
I love that answer. I would be all for that too.
Melissa Baggett:
I love that. I should have gone further back because I’m stuck in just bad eighties fashion trends, you know what I mean? I’m thinking to myself, fashion trends die for a reason, right? I mean, parachute pants, mullets. Who’s allowing these to come back by the way is my question.
Melissa Tidwell:
Those are back.
Lisa Zeeveld:
The mullet. Oh my gosh. Business in the front, party in the back.
Melissa Baggett:
Right? So I don’t know what I would bring back, but I will say this. Can we all agree leggings for life?
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah.
Melissa Baggett:
Can we just all commit to keeping those forever? I mean leggings, oversize sweater. UGGs that will be me, thank you very much. So we can just all agree to keep that going.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. It’s funny. You know, I have a daughter who’s 18 and she’s dressing like I did in high school.
Melissa Baggett:
Yes.
Lisa Zeeveld:
So we’re sort of at this fun age difference where I’ll pull out pictures. I’m like, I literally wore that outfit. Like she has on the, oh my gosh, the duck boots. So it’s like duck boots and leggings and big sweaters. I’m like, I wore that. That was me.
Melissa Tidwell:
I’ve done that.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. I’ve done that look before.
Melissa Baggett:
I will say I am appreciating the higher waist jeans, okay. Coming back. I’m a fan. I can do that.
Melissa Tidwell:
Yes. Yes.
Lisa Zeeveld:
But Melissa, why did the leggings go away back then? What happened? All of a sudden, remember they just went away one day.
Melissa Baggett:
I’m just, I’m hanging on for life. I they’re here to stay in my house. That’s all I’ve got to say.
Lisa Zeeveld:
And sweatpants are back too. Sweatpants were big in the eighties, and now those sweatsuits are back too.
Melissa Tidwell:
Oh yeah.
Lisa Zeeveld:
The suits, the sweat suits.
Melissa Tidwell:
That was actually my daughter’s going away outfit from her wedding, was they had coordinating groom and bride sweatsuits. And it took me a moment to process that, like we’re leaving our wedding in a sweatsuit. But yes.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. It’s a big thing. I remember in the eighties, for Christmas you got a new sweatsuit.
Melissa Tidwell:
Yeah.
Lisa Zeeveld:
That’s what everybody wanted. So I can’t believe they’re… I would say that’s probably one thing I don’t want to come back. I don’t know that I love those, but comfortability wise they’re pretty awesome.
Melissa Tidwell:
Right.
Melissa Baggett:
Right. Totally.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Gosh. Well speaking of things coming back around, you ladies were nice enough to share just fabulous ideas and misconceptions. We just debunked a whole bunch of stuff around when prospects and clients come to us about what a bookkeeper can or can’t do. And I just think this would be a really great time to kind of extrapolate on that and give some more detail. So, I would love to hear before we get started, maybe what’s a good favorite success story about one of our bookkeeping clients, or somebody who was maybe reluctant to come on and hire a bookkeeper and their success with that now.
Melissa Tidwell:
Well, I have a great story from the church side that I always love to share. And that was a young pastor starting out and did not really understand the value of reports and understand the value especially of looking at a budget to actual report. And so what was really fun was to watch our bookkeeper help build that. And through that, he was able to continually cast vision to his team because they had great benchmarks to look at and they could see this vision growing and expanding. And then with that, it really expedited their timeline into a facility because they had great reports and they had this understanding of where their funds were coming and going. And so they were able to move into a facility faster. And then even from that, they were able to expand and launch three additional campus to become one of the largest churches in their community in just a very short time period.
Melissa Tidwell:
And it really came from the factor of him being willing to understand the report from the bookkeeper, helping them, but also just allowing that to get instituted. A lot of times churches are funny about financial reports. They don’t want to seem too businessy, but she really, the bookkeeper really helped them keep the vision in front of the people about where they were and where they were going. And so it’s been very exciting to watch them just continue to grow, launch more campuses and then impact more lives for their community.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Wow. I love, love, love that. Yeah. That’s fantastic. Building more churches, giving more opportunity for people to hear about the love of Jesus. Amen to that. That’s great.
Melissa Baggett:
Right. I mean, talk about the why.
Lisa Zeeveld:
That was a slam dunk.
Melissa Baggett:
That’s it? I’ve going to follow that?
Lisa Zeeveld:
Well, good luck.
Melissa Tidwell:
Your turn.
Melissa Baggett:
No, really. It is hard to pick a favorite because honestly, immediately several just kind of flood my mind. But I will never forget this couple still with us today that I met three years ago, came to us, a husband and wife in very rural Iowa running multiple agricultural businesses, also raising five kids and homeschooling. Don’t you feel under accomplished, right?
Lisa Zeeveld:
That was the word. Yeah.
Melissa Baggett:
So obviously they were all just very stretched and they tried unsuccessfully. They just really could not find good local help. They just needed a good bookkeeper. They’d gone through so many, the wife’s jumping in, she’s doing her best, but she’s so stretched. So they came to us and I’m not going to say it was easy right out of the gate, there was a lot to unravel. There was a lot to clean up, but you guys, bringing in this bookkeeper for them, and quicker than I think they ever imagined, they finally had clarity that they’ve never had across all businesses while also being able to step away from the day to day transactional details. And they’ve been wildly successful over the last three years. But more than that, they’ve been given bandwidth to be with their family more and make their family a priority. And that just, I just love that.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah, no, that’s so great. And I think you bring up a good point. You know, we are fortunate that in our business of Belay that we get to serve in a lot of different capacities for businesses. Whether it’s, you know, our social media managers, bookkeeping, website specialists, and of course our virtual assistants. And a lot of times people think they’re going to get the biggest bang for their buck on the virtual assistant. It feels maybe more like an umbrella coverage is what I want to think of it, maybe that’s the wrong terminology. But a virtual assistant can do a lot of things, which they absolutely can. So I think that some people think that how do I get the biggest bang for my buck? And they go right after the virtual assistant, because this is more so like a Jack or Jane of all trades, you know.
Lisa Zeeveld:
But I think you’d bring up a good point, that let’s not overlook the peace that you can get for from having a bookkeeper. And that it’s very similar to all the other services we offer where you, especially depending upon the complexity of your business, you actually may get more relief hiring the bookkeeper first than thinking to hire the virtual assistant. Because the finance side of your business may be taking up a lot of brain space and time away from your family and your kids and your extracurricular activities. And so I don’t want to miss that point of that how much value a bookkeeper can bring. Again, we love our virtual assistants. We love our VAs. But that’s not the only area in your business where you’ll feel relief. It could be that you need a bookkeeper first.
Melissa Baggett:
That is so great that you said that, and you didn’t even know this, but the couple I’m talking about actually did end up about a year later adding a virtual assistant.
Lisa Zeeveld:
No.
Melissa Baggett:
Yes. To the team to again, gain more bandwidth. So absolutely it was… The bookkeeper was a perfect first step for them. They added to their virtual team.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. Yeah. And that was totally not planned guys. Honestly, I have no idea that was the case.
Catherine Bowman:
So one of my favorite things is getting on a Zoom call. And a couple of times I’ve looked into the eyes of some exhausted and tired leadership. I implemented really a focus for my clients on delegation. And had one leader in particular who just held it all in. I said, let’s start with delegating and doing that from a financial perspective. And so we built his budget and his chart of accounts around what ministry head is going to own this. I challenged him to not look at the nitpicky line items, just look at the overall budget for a couple of months. And he quickly became relieved of that stress. And that was a huge win for that client. I remember talking six months later and he was not the same person he was six months ago and it was a win-win for both of us because I could do my job, and his people could do their job, and then he could do his.
Ryan Fitzgerald:
Their story can be your story too. And all it takes is One Next Step to get started. You shouldn’t have to do everything. And with a Belay bookkeeper, you don’t have to. Visit belaysolutions.com today to start accomplishing more and juggling less.
Lisa Zeeveld:
But we see it all the time. We see that people go straight after the virtual assistant because they think of delegation, delegation, and they forget that they might be carrying a huge burden on the finance side of their business. And that may be the area that they need to let go of first before they let go of some other things. So what a great story.
Melissa Tidwell:
Absolutely.
Melissa Baggett:
Yeah.
Lisa Zeeveld:
So kind of, let’s jump into maybe some additional ideas on where our clients and prospects can see some relief by hiring a bookkeeper. Last time we talked about chart of account review, budget draft support, vendor management, and QuickBooks. What are some additional things that you might think of or, or maybe even go deeper on those?
Melissa Baggett:
Yeah, I think a first step when onboarding a bookkeeper again, we talked last time about things don’t have to be perfect. We can help you clean up. We love creating order out of chaos.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah.
Melissa Baggett:
The bookkeepers really do enjoy that. It doesn’t have to be in a perfect place. I would also add there’s value in having the new bookkeeper do that work.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Right.
Melissa Baggett:
Because they sure learn a lot in that process. They’re digging through history. They can see… They learn a lot about your business and that process. So I think there’s value in having them do that for you because in that process too, they can also identify some gaps that might be there. So I just think that’s a huge opportunity for our clients, for sure.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Absolutely.
Melissa Tidwell:
Well, I know I always keep talking about reports, but I just think that’s such a value that’s brought from an end product piece is having this information about your business. And you really can see where the bookkeepers can really identify. I call them the quick misses, right? When they’re just previewing the reports they can see, well, we haven’t paid insurance in six months. What’s going on with that? Or where this rent check hasn’t come in. Or just all the different income streams a lot of businesses have. And so I feel a lot of times they can identify just those really quick areas where things are not coming in or not going out before it turns into a catastrophe. So I think they’re, I call it their 3,600 foot view, when they’re just looking on the outside, looking through things really quick. And they know things, see the transactional, what should be happening. Or if something comes through that really is a fraudulent charge on their credit card. They know, well, he’s not planning a trip to Hawaii. Why do we have all these airline tickets for Hawaii? So I think just because they’re in it every day and they’re consistently looking at it, they can really help identify some pitfalls or some quick misses on things.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. And I think that ties back to your story that you started the episode with about that you had this church client who, because of the reporting that they were a little apprehensive to even start or to understand, gave them so much visibility and clarity that they could grow and reach more people. And I think that we miss an opportunity when we don’t understand what should be in the reports. Or afraid to ask questions to our bookkeepers. So there’s just missed opportunities. And it may not be, you know, if you are a church or a nonprofit, you’re not going to be in business long if you don’t make money.
Melissa Tidwell:
Yes.
Lisa Zeeveld:
You know, that’s sort of a misnomer. You feel bad for making money, but you should never feel bad for making money. You just have a different outlook outcome that you’re looking for. You want to be able to grow more campuses in order to serve more people.
Lisa Zeeveld:
If you are a for-profit business, you might be wanting to grow that business more to build a legacy for your family. Whether that’s to pass it on or to sell it someday. And so I think that the reporting on both sides ends up being the key to success regardless. And sometimes, although I hate to admit it, I think sometimes you also find, you talked about perhaps charges that you weren’t aware of. You know, maybe you signed up a subscription. This happened at Belay. We had a technology and we thought that team was using the technology. It was minimal, 49.99 a month. Oh, somebody’s using that technology. Somebody’s using that technology. Finally, like what, this is six months who in the heck is using this technology? You dig in deeper and you find nobody’s using it anymore. It’s been replaced by something else. Why do we have four texting technologies and those types of things. And that’s an area that your finance professional, your bookkeeper can really help you out there.
Melissa Baggett:
Yes. Absolutely. And not just on the expense side, on the income side. How many times do we get in there and there are old receivables. I mean, literally money sitting there.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yes.
Melissa Baggett:
That they don’t know. So how about making part of your monthly process an aging report so you can stay current and know who owes you what.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Right? Everybody likes to find money.
Melissa Baggett:
Yes. That’s the fun part.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and tell me a little bit just about maybe some ideas around process improvement or efficiency. Do you guys see that?
Melissa Baggett:
Yeah. And when we’re talking about misconceptions or things that people are surprised at, I think this is an area that they’re not considering perhaps. They think this is maybe a plug and play for, again, a specific, very transactional role that they need. Plug in this data, create these reports. But what’s wonderful is again that fresh perspective, having someone come in and just because you’ve done something a certain way, there might be a smarter way to do it. We might be able to really find efficiency, maybe introduce a new tool. I certainly think there’s value in the first month, maybe several months to learn obviously current processes. Why they do things the way they do. That’s certainly important. But then to have someone make suggestions and recommendations that really might just make the whole workflow way more efficient is huge value that I see all the time.
Melissa Tidwell:
Well, and since Belay serves so many different types of businesses, both in the for profit and nonprofit, we get a bird’s eye view of all types of technology that’s out there. And then, because that is our heart to be current with technology, we’re constantly evaluating that as well. So it’s just a wealth of information that can be available to them without them having to take the time to research it and figure it out. We already know how it works.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love how it all comes down to me about finding the right partner for your business.
Melissa Tidwell:
Yes.
Lisa Zeeveld:
I know in our last episode, we talked about those who maybe choose an out-of-the-box solution to kind of start with. And the idea that ultimately you want your bookkeeper to know your business. It’s not just, I think this is everything in life, don’t choose the cheapest solution, choose the best solution.
Melissa Tidwell:
Yes.
Lisa Zeeveld:
And, and sometimes the cheaper one seems better. But especially somebody that has so much knowledge and understands your business, a consistent person, that consistent in your financials is going to be the one that’s going to be able to help understand and grow and find efficiencies in all of that versus you trying to do it yourself, or maybe a pool of bookkeepers might miss some things.
Melissa Baggett:
Yeah. Agree. And we have such a phenomenal talent pool of people. These bookkeepers are so passionate, honestly, about serving their clients and they’re invested. They really are. And people think, we talk about our intentional matching process. And I think sometimes people feel that component may not be as important for a bookkeeper. And they may say, oh, I just need someone who’s good at bookkeeping. Well, okay, well obviously we’ve got that covered. But it is important because you need them to be on the same page and speak the same language. And I tell people, frankly, just enjoy having a conversation with them. Right? I mean, and that, communication’s just as important, like with any virtual engagement. Communication’s key, it really is. So that match is important.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah.
Melissa Baggett:
Because ultimately what they’re getting is not just a bookkeeping service. They’re really, it’s peace of mind. When you really watch them develop trust, they’re stepping away. They’re starting to really have confidence in what this person’s providing for them. And that is peace of mind for them. And then that allows them to grow their business and really focus on things that they need to focus on.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. I love that. MT, tell us a little bit, because I know that you get these calls because you talked to all of our prospects, is there a big difference in our for-profit clients and our nonprofit clients?
Melissa Tidwell:
There is.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. I mean obviously, but do you feel like the concerns are how they are served at Belay? I mean, we talked about finding the right partner and obviously this is not meant to be a commercial, but I’m pretty proud of what we do.
Melissa Tidwell:
Agreed.
Lisa Zeeveld:
But you know, as far as when our bookkeepers go out to serve them and the knowledge that they bring to the table, just maybe touch on a little bit, the differences of the two and maybe some things that we just have to…we’re aware of when talking to those different types of clients.
Melissa Tidwell:
Well, it definitely has a lot to do with the way income comes into these organizations because they receive a lot of their funds from a nonprofit side through grants. And grants have a lot of restrictions around them. So the management of that grant is very important, making sure we’re capturing the information correctly. And then even from our church standpoint or other nonprofits, they get a lot of gifts that come in under a restriction, or somebody wants it to go to something very specific. And not only from just being ethical and managing what the funds are coming in for, but you need to make sure that those restrictions are applied and that the funds do go out according to what’s been requested or to what that grant’s coming in. So we definitely see it from that income side that they have that piece of it.
Melissa Tidwell:
And a lot of individuals, again, going back to those reports that kind of see the funds coming in, but they’re not able to see trends. So when you get the right reports in front of them they can see those giving trends going up and down. Or if the coin is getting too flipped, are they getting too much money coming in under restricted sides of things and they’re not able to see, have general operating cash. So there’s a lot of elements from the report side on the income parts of that. And then with the funds that go out in a for-profit, they’re obviously gearing to make a profit. Now what they do with that profit might be reinvesting or to their shareholders, all the different ways on a for-profit.
Melissa Tidwell:
But from a nonprofit side, they’re, they’re there for a mission and same way from the church side. So spending to the budget is very important for them. And it’s a different philosophy about spending. They need to definitely have cash reserves, but they’re not there trying to build a tremendous amount of wealth because the funds are coming in order to accomplish the mission. So being able to see that in the reports and information and making sure the spending is falling appropriately is really where I see the biggest shifts in some of the relief that comes in. Once we get them started and they’re able to see the information, then they can see and understand where they are in their missions and their goals.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah, that’s good, right? I mean, listeners, come on. Everybody needs.
Melissa Baggett:
Well said.
Lisa Zeeveld:
That’s the kind of expertise you get when you come to Belay.
Melissa Tidwell:
That’s it. That’s right.
Lisa Zeeveld:
If you’re using another provider and they don’t talk like that, give us a call. Totally. I love that. So I think that we’ve done a really good job. It feels like we’ve done a good job. For those out there who are not using a bookkeeper, I think that we’ve spurred some interest and we have their wheels turning to actually have a conversation with some people about bringing a bookkeeper on board to their team. And so I really, really appreciate your time, but I feel like we probably need to share maybe just a little bit more to get them convinced. So would you guys mind staying around for another question?
Melissa Tidwell:
Absolutely.
Melissa Baggett:
Certainly let’s do it.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yay. Awesome. Awesome. Well guys, in order to hear that clip, you need to subscribe to our email list and we will send you the link to our bonus content. Or you can visit onenextsteppodcast.com where you can find a link to our show notes. Now what we’re going to be talking about is how bringing in an outside perspective can be the catalyst for growing your business and you don’t want to miss it. As always, we have a One Next Step for you to take. This week’s download is our Financial Wellness Quiz for a quick and easy assessment of your company’s financial health and bookkeeping needs.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Thank you for joining us today and join us next week. For more practical tips and actionable tools to advance your business, one step at a time. Start by making today count.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Join us next week for a special episode when we will hear an interview from The EntreLeadership Podcast, where our very own CEO, Tricia Sciortino is put in the hot seat as their guest. She will talk all about how finding a passionate, high-performing assistant, who thinks like a leader, can help business owners take back their time and focus on the bigger picture.
Tricia Sciortino:
I knew what my KRA was. I knew what I was marching towards and it was very measurable and easy for me to see success and easy for my leader to measure me against success. And so for me, it helped me know where to go and it helped me know what it looked like to be successful. And it helped me know how to exceed the expectation because I was driven by wanting the next thing. But first you have to know what the expectation is. And so constantly resetting those, you know, you hit the bar, then you raise the bar.
In this episode, Melissa Baggett, the senior client success consultant at BELAY, and Melissa Tidwell, solutions consultant, continue their talk about the surprising ways a business can use a bookkeeper to grow their business while saving money along the way.
