Every Day Hundreds - Of business owners across the country are arriving to work with a full work load of projects that "Absolutely, Positively Must Get Done Today" and they are hit with a dose of bad news:
"The Bookkeeper Is Gone!" - Disappeared! Quit! Found a better job! Moved and left no forwarding address! Evaporated! Abducted by Aliens! Replaced you with more important customers! Gave up bookkeeping to become a chef! Or perhaps retired on the money they embezzled from your company!
The list Is Endless - All you know is paperwork is piling up and your business is about to go out of control and end up like a train crashing through a wall!
At This Point You Need - Someone to step in and take control of the situation ASAP! NOW! RIGHT NOW! You need Fast Easy Accounting Emergency Bookkeeping Service Call Sharie 206-361-3950, email Sharie@FastEasyAccounting.com and she will get your business on the right track!
Now Lets Figure Out - What happened that got you here in the first place. This situation reminds of several clients who have experienced similar situations and one client in particular comes to mind that should help bring some clarity and understanding to the situation. The names have been changed and enough details left out that you will not know who this person.
Here Is Bob Along's Story - He started his construction business doing a few light handyman type projects, building a few fences, updating kitchens and baths and finishing out the basement of split-level houses that were built in the 1970's and 1980's.
His Wife, Mary Started Doing - The bookkeeping to help Bob save money on bookkeeping fees and very quickly she found she hated every minute of it. Bookkeeping is not easy as it looks and it is only a small part of accounting. Just like framing walls is important; however, it is only part of the carpentry skills required to build a house.
Nobody Told Mary - That accounting is made up of two parts and that Bookkeeping has to be done with both parts in balance at the same time. Bookkeeping is like doing Chinese math in the dark...it can be done, but it is not easy!
Internal Accounting - The part that provides information for the Business Process Management system and generates reports for business owners to read and make decisions about what jobs are profitable and what jobs are not and the reasons why it is that way.
External Accounting - The part that provides information to process Payroll and fill out Monthly and Quarterly Tax forms and the Annual Tax Return and to fill out Bank Loan Applications.
And Worst Part Is - She had no idea that Construction Accounting is the hardest bookkeeping of all! It is like herding balloons on a windy day, while wearing a blindfold, with no shoes and socks, in a parking lot, in the summer, at high-noon, with the sun beating down, and the temperature is 102 degrees.
After A Few Months - In business the bank started bouncing Bob's checks. He tried to explain the situation to the bank how he was going to be paid a large sum of money as soon as he finished the job he was doing...his story fell on deaf ears...the bank said unless he had a line of credit they had no choice. And to add insult to injury they charged him hundreds of dollars in bounced check fees and the stores and suppliers that accepted his checks did the same.
Bob Used Bad Words - And spoke to Mary with his usual "Deep Noises From The Chest Made To Sound Like Important Messages From The Brain Voice" because he was spending time with the wrong crowd of people who were still thinking like a construction worker, not a business owner, and blaming her for the bounced checks. He "forgot" she was not hard of hearing". She responded equally loud and angry suggesting he could perform a certain impossible "Circus Acts On Himself" and said "I Quit, you $@!&*#$ go find yourself a bookkeeper!"
Bob Met With Us - And a dozen other bookkeeping services and decided we were all way to expensive.
Bob Found A Cheap Bookkeeper - That charged less than half what any other bookkeeping firm wanted to do the work and here were the results after six months:
The Bad Bookkeeper managed all the money for the business.
The Bad Bookkeeper filled out several new credit card applications for Bob to use as "Working Capital"
When the credit cards came The Bad Bookkeeper gave Bob some and kept some for her personal use.
A number of checks were written to "dummy accounts" in QuickBooks and the checks were deposited into a bank account controlled by the The Bad Bookkeeper who kept just enough money in the bank to avoid bouncing checks.
The Bad Bookkeeper - Did not reconcile any of the bank or credit card accounts.
In the end just over $100,000.00 had left the company in the form of cash, credit card debt, unfiled and unpaid sales tax payments, unfiled and unpaid payroll tax payments and unauthorized charges on his supplier charge accounts.
Bob Decided To Come Back - To us because in our first meeting I emphasized these things:
We never, ever touch your money! You get paid from your customers, you put the money in the bank and you pay your bills when you are good and ready.
We employ Professional Bookkeepers and we have a system to do all your bookkeeping, process payroll, fill out the tax forms, we will sit with you and help you understand what bills you owe; however, we will not make any decisions on who gets paid, how or when. What we will do is make it as easy as possible for you pay everything online or with paper checks. (Initially Bob wanted someone else to manage his money, now he understood why we do it that way and he loves it!)
We believe it is in your best interest to: "Trust But Verify" Which means trust us that we are doing what is best for you and verify that we are by having someone else prepare your Annual Tax Return that way they will review what we are doing and give you an independent report.
We believe all construction business owners need a Board of Advisors to guide them in achieving their definition of success.
We believe all construction companies need a Business Process Management System in place in order to Optimize their profits because that is one of the benefits of owning and operating a construction business; profits after paying the owner a living wage!
Bob's Story Is Having A Happy Ending - After several years of planning his work, working his plan and paying attention to the Five Key Indicatorshis business has turned around and he is doing well and much wiser man today than he was when we first met.
For Construction Company Owners who do not need the full power of QuickBooks for contractors and want 24/7 online access we offer Xero Accounting Online and we have custom setup for construction companies. Click Here For More.
This Is One More Example of how Fast Easy Accounting is helping construction company owners all across the USA including Alaska and Hawaii put more money in the bank to operate and grow your construction company. Construction accounting is not rocket science; it is a lot harder than that and a lot more valuable to people like you so stop missing out! Call Sharie 206-361-3950 or sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com and schedule your no charge one-hour consultation.
Profitable Contractors and Construction Company owners have known about the value of outsourced bookkeeping services and contractor coaching services like ours for a long time and now you know about it too!
We Scan Your Receipts And Invoices link the appropriate transactions to QuickBooks or Xero Accounting Online depending on the construction accounting service you are using and provide ongoing Cloud Based Contractors Bookkeeping Services by accountants who understand construction.
About The Author:
Our Co-Founder Randal DeHart - Is a Certified PMP (Project Management Professional) with several years of construction project management experience. His expertise is construction accounting systems engineering and process development. His exhaustive study of several leading experts including the work of Dr. W. Edward Deming, Michael Gerber, Walter A. Shewhart, James Lewis and dozens of others was the foundation upon which our Construction Bookkeeping System is based and continues to evolve and improve. Check out our Contractor Success Map Podcast on iTunes and Follow Randal on Google+