June 25, 2025 • 15 mins
Think bookkeeping is just reconciling bank statements and categorizing expenses? Think again.
In this episode, I’m breaking down exactly what a good bookkeeper actually does—and why it can completely change how you lead, grow, and make decisions in your business.
Whether you’re hiring a bookkeeper soon, already have one, or just want to understand what you should be getting from this relationship, this episode is packed with clarity, real talk, and next steps. Because you deserve support that goes beyond spreadsheets and truly helps you feel confident with your money.
In this episode, we cover:
✅ What a bookkeeper actually does (beyond just data entry)
✅ Why bookkeeping isn’t about being “bad with numbers”—it’s about building support
✅ How a good bookkeeper helps you prepare for taxes all year long
✅ What insights they offer that lead to real business decisions
✅ What it feels like to finally have financial peace of mind
If you’ve been second guessing financial decisions, dreading tax season, or wondering what’s really going on in your business behind the scenes, this episode will help you see how the right financial partner can change everything.
🎧 Hit play now and discover why bookkeeping isn’t just important—it’s essential for long-term growth.
🔗 Resources & Links
Website: https://www.firestormfinance.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firestormfinance/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@firestormfinance?hl=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-e-8796b6176/
Newsletter: https://firestormfinance.myflodesk.com/ajmiv1kyt1
📝 Want to see a specific topic or guest on the show? Submit your suggestion here!
📢 If this episode gave you a little “ahhh yes, this is what I’ve been missing” moment—send it to a friend, leave a review, and let more creatives find the clarity and confidence they deserve with their finances.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
samantha-eck_2_02-20-2025_120206:
Welcome to the Creative Minds Smart (00:01):
undefined
Money Podcast, where we turn financialconfusion into creative confidence.
I'm Samantha Eck, bookkeeper andfractional CFO for creative entrepreneurs.
Each week I'm sharing myfinancial expertise and actionable
strategies to help you builda thriving creative business.
Plus, you'll hear from industry expertswho bring fresh perspectives on growing
(00:23):
your business beyond the numbers.
Because building a successfulcreative business starts with
strong financial foundations.
Your next chapter starts now.
You are listening to the CreativeMinds Smart Money Podcast, and
today is all about why a goodbookkeeper can change everything.
We've talked about tons of topics, andit's been almost a year since this podcast
(00:48):
has launched, so I really wanna touchon the importance of a good bookkeeper
and why they can change everythingand not necessarily just for me.
But for other bookkeepers out there,because I wanna advocate for all of
us, and I want people to know thathow important the profession is,
but also how important it is foryou to eventually get to the point
(01:09):
where you can hire a bookkeeper.
A lot of people think hiring abookkeeper is because either you're bad
with numbers or you can't understandthings, but a bookkeeper isn't about
being good or bad with numbers.
It's not about beinggood or bad with math.
It's about building support and buildingconfidence in your business so that you
(01:33):
don't have to second guess your decisions.
So.
What I always tell my clients is thatwhen we're working together, I'm gonna
give you as plain as day the informationin these reports and helping you read
them and giving you opportunities whereyou can grow your business so that you
can make decisions out of clarity andconfidence instead of out of fear or
(01:57):
outta scarcity, or because you're notsure, you know, you can make six figures.
And still be completely confusedbehind the scenes and not know
if you can hire someone and notknow if you can afford something.
Because if you don't have theclear picture of your business,
you're not going to be able togrow it in a way that matters.
(02:19):
I. So this episode is for those of youwho have been feeling tired of guessing,
you are done dreading tax season everyyear because tax season comes around
every year and you're feeling disconnectedfrom your money, but you wanna be able to
understand it so that you can grow yourbusiness and make meaningful decisions.
You don't wanna be a statistic, youdon't want your business to have
(02:39):
to shut down in two to five years.
You wanna get past that.
You want to be someone who has a long-termsustainable business because a good
bookkeeper will not just track your past,but they help you shape your future.
They help you understand your future.
And I just wanna talk a littlebit and touch a little bit on that
as well of like how myself as afractional CFO can also help you.
(03:02):
So if you brain just goes completelyblank every time you open your
accounting software, this one is for you.
And let's get into each other into it.
So we wanna talk about what abookkeeper actually does that most
people tend to miss, first of all.
It's not just categorizing expensesand reconciling bank statements.
(03:24):
That is the utmost basic levelof what a bookkeeper does.
Like categorizing and reconciling bankstatements is so basic, like that's
not what bookkeepers do anymore.
And we don't actually like,yes, we do categorize.
We do reconcile your bank accounts,but it's not the baseline.
It is not the baseline.
That is the most basicbaseline a bookkeeper can do.
(03:47):
Strategic bookkeeping, which iswhat I offer and a lot of other
bookkeepers do as well, is consistenttracking of your income and expenses,
delivering your monthly financialreports, and then explaining what
they mean, not just sending them.
So if your bookkeeper right now isjust sending you reports and saying,
here you go, here's what your numberslook like, it's not good enough.
(04:08):
And I'm not trying to shame someoneor say like, leave your bookkeeper.
I'm just saying that you need more,you need more support than that.
You need to understand your numbers ina way that makes sense to you so that
you can make confident decisions andnot have to second guess a damn thing.
You don't wanna second guess anything.
(04:28):
You wanna be able to look at yournumbers and say, okay, I can afford
to buy this course this month.
And if you are looking at your numbersand you can't figure that out, then
you really need someone who's goingto help open up that box for you.
A good bookkeeper will alsohelp you prepare for taxes
all year, not just in April.
For me personally, I help my clientsprepare with quarterly taxes all year.
(04:51):
if they're sole prop or a single member,LLC, I'm in their inbox at the beginning
of the quarter when we are due our soquarterly taxes and I'm telling them,
Hey, your quarterly taxes are due.
Here's where you go and pay with them.
I will give you an updatednumber a little bit later on
closer to when it's actually due.
So then a couple weeks from then Iwill say, Hey, I did your numbers.
(05:13):
Here's the amount that Ibelieve that you should pay.
And they will go ahead and pay that.
Like one of my clients paidexactly what I told her to you.
Sometimes it can be a little bit extra,but, and I know that this is a bad
thing 'cause you don't want to paymore money to the IRS than you need to.
But at the end of the day,because we don't know how much
(05:33):
your business is gonna fluctuate.
Over the next, you know, six to ninemonths, I want you to get a refund from
the IRS rather than owe them money.
Do I really want you to overpay them?
Absolutely not, but I would preferthat you get money back than
having to owe them more money.
Come April 15th.
(05:55):
And then of course one of the last thingsthey do, like I've been mentioning,
is they offer you insights that leadto real important business decisions.
And I want that to be clear.
A good bookkeeper will offer insightsthat lead to real business decisions.
So what I was mentioning earlieris that what I do for my clients
is I show them their wins.
(06:16):
I explain their books in ways thatmake sense, and then I give them
what I like to call opportunities.
So opportunities are things that.
I think of that might improvetheir business and ways that we
can implement things that mighthelp them have a stronger business.
That's not to say, okay,you need to do this.
This is more being that strategic partnerand saying, here's what I'm thinking.
(06:37):
What do you think?
And if they're like, yeah,that, that actually makes sense.
And they do that for their businessand it helps 'em then great.
But if they're like, yeah,that doesn't really make sense
for my business, then okay.
But we base it based off of what youare shooting for in your business.
Raw real example, I had ameeting with a client yesterday.
I. Her goal is to hit$125,000 in revenue this year.
(07:00):
She did not hit her target every monthfor the first quarter, so instead of
being like, Hey, I'm just gonna continuegoing, she wanted to adjust her goal
for the rest of the year to make, tosee what she needed to make monthly
so that she can hit that 125,000.
So we updated the spreadsheet sothat her goal was now whatever else
(07:22):
was remaining so that she would hitthat 125,000 by the end of the year.
And that's what we wanna do,is we wanna help you to connect
your goals to your business.
And of course, again, this isn't just me.
There's tons of bookkeepers out there whowill actually help you do that and help
you understand your numbers in a good way.
So, of course we understand what a book,now that we understand what a bookkeeper
(07:43):
actually does, what can a bookkeeperactually like make you feel like, how do
they, how does it feel to have someonewho is supportive and can help you
grow your business in meaningful ways?
First of all, you're gonna have thatpeace of mind knowing someone is
watching the money side of your business.
There's so much anxiety and fear anddread and like terror around money,
especially as women business owners.
(08:04):
We just we're scared.
We're scared of talking about it.
It's taboo.
We don't wanna bring it up.
We're scared of givingit off to someone else.
We, but once you pass it off andyou actually give it to someone
and they actually talk about it,the peace of mind knowing someone
is watching the money side of yourbusiness is just gonna blow your mind.
You're gonna feel so atpeace, you're gonna feel calm.
You're not gonna dread when yourCPA emails you and says, Hey Amanda,
(08:27):
like, can I get your profit lossand your balance sheet, and all that
good stuff so I can do your taxes?
Because.
Your bookkeeper ideally will be there tosupport you and be like, Hey, I got you.
Here's your PL and your mail sheet.
Sometimes they'll communicatedirectly with your CPA.
Sometimes they'll give you exactlywhat you need to give your CPA.
It depends on who, whichbookkeeper you're working with.
(08:48):
Then you also have the freedom ofknowing what's working and what's not.
So let's trade.
Say you tried a new ad strategy, yourbookkeeper is gonna be able to tell you
if that ad strategy is actually bringingyou in more clients if they're not.
Because if we're gonna say, okay,like whoa, like your revenue went
up like six times this month.
And I noticed your adspending was also up.
So there's a correlation there.
(09:09):
Like we can see thatthat's connected, whereas.
You know, I'm not saying that you can't dothis as a business owner and look at that,
but you might not see that correlation,and that's not to say that you're blind
or you, you don't understand your numbers.
It's more to say that yourbrain works differently.
You know, your zone of geniusis in a different area than
a bookkeeper zone of genius.
(09:30):
You are gonna start feeling safe withyour money instead of confused or ashamed.
Because a lot of times when I have clientsthat come to me, they say that, oh, I'm
so ashamed I have all this mixing, Ihave all this going on in my business.
I'm just so confused.
So when we actually start to getinto it and we actually talk about
it and we really like connect.
They start to understandit on a deeper level.
(09:52):
And then of course you're gonna makemore confident decisions with pricing,
hiring, investing, because it's allgonna become clearer when you can
look at your numbers every month andsay, oh, hey, yeah, I understand that.
And when you can sit down and asklike, Hey, Samantha, do you know
if I can afford to hire someonethis month because I really need, I
really need a contractor this month.
(10:12):
Whatever it is, because I have a clientright now who, she's been talking about
hiring a contractor for a long time,and I told her and I said, Hey, like
you made a lot of money last month.
You have a lot of money left over afteryou paid yourself after your expenses.
If you wanna hire a contractor, youwanna hire a va. Now is the time.
You know exactly you, you know,this is exactly what you have.
(10:33):
And if you are wanting to plan forthe future, that's where that CFO
level service comes in because.
Bookkeeping looks at the past.
CFOs fractional CFO and CFOwork will look at the future.
So it's connecting the two of themand kind of bringing them full
picture so that you can reallylike transform your business.
I would say as someone who is a bookkeeperand a CFO, like you, a fractional CFO, you
(10:56):
need many people on your financial teams.
Like you don't just need oneperson, you need a CPA, you need a
bookkeeper, everything like that.
And I know a lot of peopleare saying like, you know.
You need two separateservices, everything like that.
I don't think you do.
You can have someone who is abookkeeper and someone who is tax
prepar in the same firm, as longas it's two different sets of eyes.
(11:17):
I think that that's importantto notice that I think that two
separate people, or multiple peopleshould be looking at your books.
It shouldn't just be oneperson because we're all human.
So me as a human could miss somethingthat someone else might see.
And then let's talk about how abookkeeper can support your growth.
So this is me advocating really hardfor why you need a bookkeeper, but
(11:40):
of course this is very importantbecause a bookkeeper is something
that's very vital for your business.
They help you track trends soyou can pivot intentionally.
Like with my clients, we don'tjust look at the profit and loss.
The single profit loss, like we look ata profit loss on a year over year basis.
We look at a profit loss on a year todate basis so that we can really see
the trend that their business is takingso that they can make those pivots.
(12:03):
Before it gets too far, you know,they help you plan for taxes, they
help you plan for big investments.
They help you plan for slow seasons.
So if we're, while we're looking atthese trends, we might say, okay, last
year, you know, you had a dip in March.
I don't know if that's expected again,but we should probably plan to see
if maybe we'll have another dip inMarch and do any bigger expenses in
(12:23):
February so that we are not kind ofgoing back into that dip in March.
They keep you in the loop of what'sreally happening in your business.
There have been many times withmy clients where I've lo noticed
software subscriptions and I've said,Hey, you know, like you have this
software, but did you know that thisother software can do the same thing?
And to them that's like, whoa.
(12:45):
Like I didn't even realize that.
Like, thank you for telling meNow I just save $15 a month.
And you might be like, okay, wellthat's just $15 a month, Samantha.
But imagine that compounded over thecourse of two to three years, you know?
So.
It just helps to have someone there.
It gives you visibility, whichallows you to have more power in your
business, which allows you to generatemore profit again, because you are
(13:07):
sticking to your zone of genius andthe bookkeeper is sticking to theirs.
It's just gonna give youthat better visibility.
And when you know your margins, you knowyour numbers, you know your burn rate,
you know everything that's going on behindthe scenes, you start to lead like a CEO.
So you're less stuck and caught up inthe behind the scenes and you're more
(13:30):
into what's going on as a business owner.
So I already talked about this in aseparate episode, like signs they or
times and signs that, you know, it's timeto hire a bookkeeper, but let's just.
Do the highlights.
Let's do the highlightsand talk about this.
First of all, you're making money,but you don't know where it's
going, and if you can't confidentlymake decisions from it, then you
(13:50):
absolutely know you need a bookkeeper.
You're avoiding your software, youraccounting software, like it's a plague.
I just zoomed in on me.
My camera just zoomed in on mefor no reason, but that's okay.
You're avoiding your accounting software.
Oh, it's 'cause I'm using my fingers.
You're avoiding your bookkeepingsoftware like it's a plague because.
You know, you don't wanna look at it.
(14:11):
It's the monster under your bed.
You're not setting an asideenough for taxes or you're
unsure how much to set aside.
'cause you, again, you've neverbeen taught this, you don't
know what you're looking for.
You're spending emotionally insteadof strategically because you feel
like you have that extra money.
You wanna grow, but your finances feellike chaos behind the scenes, and you
wanna feel supported and stop carryingthis alone because you're just not you.
(14:35):
You don't understand your numbers,and you need someone to explain them
to you in a way that makes sense.
Okay.
And I love that.
I feel like that's so important.
And I know this was an episode justbasically zing up what a, a bookkeeper
is, but that is, it's the core essence ofwhat a bookkeeper is and it's so important
to understand that and why it's importantfor you as a creative, and not just you
(14:58):
as a creative, but use a business owner.
So whoever's listening to this is abusiness owner, why it's important
because bookkeeping isn't justa service, it's a relationship.
And when you find the right personto walk with you, it'll change
everything in your business.
If you find this episode helpful,please leave the show a review
and share this with a friend.
(15:19):
And of course, if you need abookkeeper, I'm here for you.
Reach out and let's have a conversationabout how I can assist you.
If you, as always, if you have anysuggestions for the show or you wanna
see something else, another topic talkedabout, please, please, please fill out
the form in the show notes and let meknow what you wanna see on the show.
Otherwise, I wish you all thebest and we'll see you next week.
(15:42):
Farewell fellow Travelers.
undefined
Money Podcast, where we turn financialconfusion into creative confidence.
I'm Samantha Eck, bookkeeper andfractional CFO for creative entrepreneurs.
Each week I'm sharing myfinancial expertise and actionable
strategies to help you builda thriving creative business.
Plus, you'll hear from industry expertswho bring fresh perspectives on growing
(00:23):
your business beyond the numbers.
Because building a successfulcreative business starts with
strong financial foundations.
Your next chapter starts now.
You are listening to the CreativeMinds Smart Money Podcast, and
today is all about why a goodbookkeeper can change everything.
We've talked about tons of topics, andit's been almost a year since this podcast
(00:48):
has launched, so I really wanna touchon the importance of a good bookkeeper
and why they can change everythingand not necessarily just for me.
But for other bookkeepers out there,because I wanna advocate for all of
us, and I want people to know thathow important the profession is,
but also how important it is foryou to eventually get to the point
(01:09):
where you can hire a bookkeeper.
A lot of people think hiring abookkeeper is because either you're bad
with numbers or you can't understandthings, but a bookkeeper isn't about
being good or bad with numbers.
It's not about beinggood or bad with math.
It's about building support and buildingconfidence in your business so that you
(01:33):
don't have to second guess your decisions.
So.
What I always tell my clients is thatwhen we're working together, I'm gonna
give you as plain as day the informationin these reports and helping you read
them and giving you opportunities whereyou can grow your business so that you
can make decisions out of clarity andconfidence instead of out of fear or
(01:57):
outta scarcity, or because you're notsure, you know, you can make six figures.
And still be completely confusedbehind the scenes and not know
if you can hire someone and notknow if you can afford something.
Because if you don't have theclear picture of your business,
you're not going to be able togrow it in a way that matters.
(02:19):
I. So this episode is for those of youwho have been feeling tired of guessing,
you are done dreading tax season everyyear because tax season comes around
every year and you're feeling disconnectedfrom your money, but you wanna be able to
understand it so that you can grow yourbusiness and make meaningful decisions.
You don't wanna be a statistic, youdon't want your business to have
(02:39):
to shut down in two to five years.
You wanna get past that.
You want to be someone who has a long-termsustainable business because a good
bookkeeper will not just track your past,but they help you shape your future.
They help you understand your future.
And I just wanna talk a littlebit and touch a little bit on that
as well of like how myself as afractional CFO can also help you.
(03:02):
So if you brain just goes completelyblank every time you open your
accounting software, this one is for you.
And let's get into each other into it.
So we wanna talk about what abookkeeper actually does that most
people tend to miss, first of all.
It's not just categorizing expensesand reconciling bank statements.
(03:24):
That is the utmost basic levelof what a bookkeeper does.
Like categorizing and reconciling bankstatements is so basic, like that's
not what bookkeepers do anymore.
And we don't actually like,yes, we do categorize.
We do reconcile your bank accounts,but it's not the baseline.
It is not the baseline.
That is the most basicbaseline a bookkeeper can do.
(03:47):
Strategic bookkeeping, which iswhat I offer and a lot of other
bookkeepers do as well, is consistenttracking of your income and expenses,
delivering your monthly financialreports, and then explaining what
they mean, not just sending them.
So if your bookkeeper right now isjust sending you reports and saying,
here you go, here's what your numberslook like, it's not good enough.
(04:08):
And I'm not trying to shame someoneor say like, leave your bookkeeper.
I'm just saying that you need more,you need more support than that.
You need to understand your numbers ina way that makes sense to you so that
you can make confident decisions andnot have to second guess a damn thing.
You don't wanna second guess anything.
(04:28):
You wanna be able to look at yournumbers and say, okay, I can afford
to buy this course this month.
And if you are looking at your numbersand you can't figure that out, then
you really need someone who's goingto help open up that box for you.
A good bookkeeper will alsohelp you prepare for taxes
all year, not just in April.
For me personally, I help my clientsprepare with quarterly taxes all year.
(04:51):
if they're sole prop or a single member,LLC, I'm in their inbox at the beginning
of the quarter when we are due our soquarterly taxes and I'm telling them,
Hey, your quarterly taxes are due.
Here's where you go and pay with them.
I will give you an updatednumber a little bit later on
closer to when it's actually due.
So then a couple weeks from then Iwill say, Hey, I did your numbers.
(05:13):
Here's the amount that Ibelieve that you should pay.
And they will go ahead and pay that.
Like one of my clients paidexactly what I told her to you.
Sometimes it can be a little bit extra,but, and I know that this is a bad
thing 'cause you don't want to paymore money to the IRS than you need to.
But at the end of the day,because we don't know how much
(05:33):
your business is gonna fluctuate.
Over the next, you know, six to ninemonths, I want you to get a refund from
the IRS rather than owe them money.
Do I really want you to overpay them?
Absolutely not, but I would preferthat you get money back than
having to owe them more money.
Come April 15th.
(05:55):
And then of course one of the last thingsthey do, like I've been mentioning,
is they offer you insights that leadto real important business decisions.
And I want that to be clear.
A good bookkeeper will offer insightsthat lead to real business decisions.
So what I was mentioning earlieris that what I do for my clients
is I show them their wins.
(06:16):
I explain their books in ways thatmake sense, and then I give them
what I like to call opportunities.
So opportunities are things that.
I think of that might improvetheir business and ways that we
can implement things that mighthelp them have a stronger business.
That's not to say, okay,you need to do this.
This is more being that strategic partnerand saying, here's what I'm thinking.
(06:37):
What do you think?
And if they're like, yeah,that, that actually makes sense.
And they do that for their businessand it helps 'em then great.
But if they're like, yeah,that doesn't really make sense
for my business, then okay.
But we base it based off of what youare shooting for in your business.
Raw real example, I had ameeting with a client yesterday.
I. Her goal is to hit$125,000 in revenue this year.
(07:00):
She did not hit her target every monthfor the first quarter, so instead of
being like, Hey, I'm just gonna continuegoing, she wanted to adjust her goal
for the rest of the year to make, tosee what she needed to make monthly
so that she can hit that 125,000.
So we updated the spreadsheet sothat her goal was now whatever else
(07:22):
was remaining so that she would hitthat 125,000 by the end of the year.
And that's what we wanna do,is we wanna help you to connect
your goals to your business.
And of course, again, this isn't just me.
There's tons of bookkeepers out there whowill actually help you do that and help
you understand your numbers in a good way.
So, of course we understand what a book,now that we understand what a bookkeeper
(07:43):
actually does, what can a bookkeeperactually like make you feel like, how do
they, how does it feel to have someonewho is supportive and can help you
grow your business in meaningful ways?
First of all, you're gonna have thatpeace of mind knowing someone is
watching the money side of your business.
There's so much anxiety and fear anddread and like terror around money,
especially as women business owners.
(08:04):
We just we're scared.
We're scared of talking about it.
It's taboo.
We don't wanna bring it up.
We're scared of givingit off to someone else.
We, but once you pass it off andyou actually give it to someone
and they actually talk about it,the peace of mind knowing someone
is watching the money side of yourbusiness is just gonna blow your mind.
You're gonna feel so atpeace, you're gonna feel calm.
You're not gonna dread when yourCPA emails you and says, Hey Amanda,
(08:27):
like, can I get your profit lossand your balance sheet, and all that
good stuff so I can do your taxes?
Because.
Your bookkeeper ideally will be there tosupport you and be like, Hey, I got you.
Here's your PL and your mail sheet.
Sometimes they'll communicatedirectly with your CPA.
Sometimes they'll give you exactlywhat you need to give your CPA.
It depends on who, whichbookkeeper you're working with.
(08:48):
Then you also have the freedom ofknowing what's working and what's not.
So let's trade.
Say you tried a new ad strategy, yourbookkeeper is gonna be able to tell you
if that ad strategy is actually bringingyou in more clients if they're not.
Because if we're gonna say, okay,like whoa, like your revenue went
up like six times this month.
And I noticed your adspending was also up.
So there's a correlation there.
(09:09):
Like we can see thatthat's connected, whereas.
You know, I'm not saying that you can't dothis as a business owner and look at that,
but you might not see that correlation,and that's not to say that you're blind
or you, you don't understand your numbers.
It's more to say that yourbrain works differently.
You know, your zone of geniusis in a different area than
a bookkeeper zone of genius.
(09:30):
You are gonna start feeling safe withyour money instead of confused or ashamed.
Because a lot of times when I have clientsthat come to me, they say that, oh, I'm
so ashamed I have all this mixing, Ihave all this going on in my business.
I'm just so confused.
So when we actually start to getinto it and we actually talk about
it and we really like connect.
They start to understandit on a deeper level.
(09:52):
And then of course you're gonna makemore confident decisions with pricing,
hiring, investing, because it's allgonna become clearer when you can
look at your numbers every month andsay, oh, hey, yeah, I understand that.
And when you can sit down and asklike, Hey, Samantha, do you know
if I can afford to hire someonethis month because I really need, I
really need a contractor this month.
(10:12):
Whatever it is, because I have a clientright now who, she's been talking about
hiring a contractor for a long time,and I told her and I said, Hey, like
you made a lot of money last month.
You have a lot of money left over afteryou paid yourself after your expenses.
If you wanna hire a contractor, youwanna hire a va. Now is the time.
You know exactly you, you know,this is exactly what you have.
(10:33):
And if you are wanting to plan forthe future, that's where that CFO
level service comes in because.
Bookkeeping looks at the past.
CFOs fractional CFO and CFOwork will look at the future.
So it's connecting the two of themand kind of bringing them full
picture so that you can reallylike transform your business.
I would say as someone who is a bookkeeperand a CFO, like you, a fractional CFO, you
(10:56):
need many people on your financial teams.
Like you don't just need oneperson, you need a CPA, you need a
bookkeeper, everything like that.
And I know a lot of peopleare saying like, you know.
You need two separateservices, everything like that.
I don't think you do.
You can have someone who is abookkeeper and someone who is tax
prepar in the same firm, as longas it's two different sets of eyes.
(11:17):
I think that that's importantto notice that I think that two
separate people, or multiple peopleshould be looking at your books.
It shouldn't just be oneperson because we're all human.
So me as a human could miss somethingthat someone else might see.
And then let's talk about how abookkeeper can support your growth.
So this is me advocating really hardfor why you need a bookkeeper, but
(11:40):
of course this is very importantbecause a bookkeeper is something
that's very vital for your business.
They help you track trends soyou can pivot intentionally.
Like with my clients, we don'tjust look at the profit and loss.
The single profit loss, like we look ata profit loss on a year over year basis.
We look at a profit loss on a year todate basis so that we can really see
the trend that their business is takingso that they can make those pivots.
(12:03):
Before it gets too far, you know,they help you plan for taxes, they
help you plan for big investments.
They help you plan for slow seasons.
So if we're, while we're looking atthese trends, we might say, okay, last
year, you know, you had a dip in March.
I don't know if that's expected again,but we should probably plan to see
if maybe we'll have another dip inMarch and do any bigger expenses in
(12:23):
February so that we are not kind ofgoing back into that dip in March.
They keep you in the loop of what'sreally happening in your business.
There have been many times withmy clients where I've lo noticed
software subscriptions and I've said,Hey, you know, like you have this
software, but did you know that thisother software can do the same thing?
And to them that's like, whoa.
(12:45):
Like I didn't even realize that.
Like, thank you for telling meNow I just save $15 a month.
And you might be like, okay, wellthat's just $15 a month, Samantha.
But imagine that compounded over thecourse of two to three years, you know?
So.
It just helps to have someone there.
It gives you visibility, whichallows you to have more power in your
business, which allows you to generatemore profit again, because you are
(13:07):
sticking to your zone of genius andthe bookkeeper is sticking to theirs.
It's just gonna give youthat better visibility.
And when you know your margins, you knowyour numbers, you know your burn rate,
you know everything that's going on behindthe scenes, you start to lead like a CEO.
So you're less stuck and caught up inthe behind the scenes and you're more
(13:30):
into what's going on as a business owner.
So I already talked about this in aseparate episode, like signs they or
times and signs that, you know, it's timeto hire a bookkeeper, but let's just.
Do the highlights.
Let's do the highlightsand talk about this.
First of all, you're making money,but you don't know where it's
going, and if you can't confidentlymake decisions from it, then you
(13:50):
absolutely know you need a bookkeeper.
You're avoiding your software, youraccounting software, like it's a plague.
I just zoomed in on me.
My camera just zoomed in on mefor no reason, but that's okay.
You're avoiding your accounting software.
Oh, it's 'cause I'm using my fingers.
You're avoiding your bookkeepingsoftware like it's a plague because.
You know, you don't wanna look at it.
(14:11):
It's the monster under your bed.
You're not setting an asideenough for taxes or you're
unsure how much to set aside.
'cause you, again, you've neverbeen taught this, you don't
know what you're looking for.
You're spending emotionally insteadof strategically because you feel
like you have that extra money.
You wanna grow, but your finances feellike chaos behind the scenes, and you
wanna feel supported and stop carryingthis alone because you're just not you.
(14:35):
You don't understand your numbers,and you need someone to explain them
to you in a way that makes sense.
Okay.
And I love that.
I feel like that's so important.
And I know this was an episode justbasically zing up what a, a bookkeeper
is, but that is, it's the core essence ofwhat a bookkeeper is and it's so important
to understand that and why it's importantfor you as a creative, and not just you
(14:58):
as a creative, but use a business owner.
So whoever's listening to this is abusiness owner, why it's important
because bookkeeping isn't justa service, it's a relationship.
And when you find the right personto walk with you, it'll change
everything in your business.
If you find this episode helpful,please leave the show a review
and share this with a friend.
(15:19):
And of course, if you need abookkeeper, I'm here for you.
Reach out and let's have a conversationabout how I can assist you.
If you, as always, if you have anysuggestions for the show or you wanna
see something else, another topic talkedabout, please, please, please fill out
the form in the show notes and let meknow what you wanna see on the show.
Otherwise, I wish you all thebest and we'll see you next week.
(15:42):
Farewell fellow Travelers.
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