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Outsource my Bookkeeping with Hayden Huff · Budget Your Business

• 0:00
  Scott: Hello, and welcome to Budget Your Business, the podcast for small business owners who want to learn how to financially plan for every aspect of their business.
• 0:10
  Scott: I'm your host, Scott Geller.
• 0:13
  Scott: Today I'm joined by Hayden Huff of Supporting Strategies to talk about outsourcing a small business's bookkeeping function.
• 0:22
  Scott: Hello, Hayden.
• 0:23
  Scott: Hi, Scott.
• 0:24
  Scott: Thank you for having me.
• 0:25
  Scott: Absolutely.
• 0:27
  Scott: Glad you're able to join us today.
• 0:29
  Scott: So, Hayden, you you and I have known each other for a couple years through networking and in some companies.
• 0:37
  Scott: But for folks who are just meeting you for the first time, could you share a little bit about who you are and what you do?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would love to.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for having me.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's been awesome getting to know you over the last couple of years.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I truly hope there's someday that I can meet you in person, even though it's obviously such a virtual world.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yes, I'm Hayden Huff and I'm the director of business development at supporting strategies.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: But beyond that, I just I love people.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I was wasn't really somebody that was like, oh, I have to be an accountant because I'm definitely not that, or you know, um a doctor.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: I I was like, what am I gonna do?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: And um I just love people.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think they're fascinating.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: I love how they're wired, I love the psychology behind you know, conversations that you have with people.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's really what my passion is.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's people and being a connector to those in my community.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: I really love because a lot can happen just from one connection of people that wouldn't have met otherwise.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's incredibly powerful.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um in my free time, oh my gosh, well, I I don't know, this sounds so lame, but I really love to walk.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like addicted to it, especially you know, when we sit so much, it feels really good and just being outdoors and skiing and that type of thing.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but well, do you want me to go into supporting strategies or sure, yeah, please do.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um so supporting strategies, that's what I do, you know, as my as my career have been here for the last three and a half years, um, and really have seen a lot of incredible and exciting changes within the organization, especially a lot stemmed from COVID.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: But we've been a um 100% virtual outsourced accounting bookkeeping group since 2004.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And that really is what makes us the most unique is it it wasn't a pivot to anything like COVID.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: It just is what we've always known and how we've been.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we really provide a wide range of back office accounting services for small to medium-sized companies in all different types of industries.
• 2:36
  Scott: Okay.
• 2:37
  Scott: Now, everybody, well, not everybody, a lot of people have different definitions of small, mid-tier size businesses.
• 2:44
  Scott: So, what what does that mean for you and supporting strategies?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is true.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: There is just such a range of what that does mean to people.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I would say even just since the world became a lot more virtual, we've seen a bigger companies come into play and and enter our client base.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: But I would say most of the companies that we work with are pre-revenue to you know 20, 25 million in in revenue.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: There could be some that are north of that, but we might just fill a small function of their back office, for example.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um but a lot, you know, in the smaller or lower, lower middle market type companies, because that's who would need, you know, a part-time or fractional kind of resource.
• 3:32
  Scott: Understood.
• 3:32
  Scott: You mentioned, you know, the bookkeeping as well as some other back office functions.
• 3:37
  Scott: What are some of those other back office functions?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: So the bookkeeping really is the core of the business.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: But obviously, within accounting, there's a lot, you know, a lot of other jobs that need to be done.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: So in addition to the bookkeeping and the month end close, obviously people want to gain visibility and financial insight into their business.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: So um working alongside people like you, we can really make sure that we have the good infrastructure there so that you can do the types of reporting and financial modeling and budgeting that you want to create.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, we can really help with a lot of the standard financial reporting and maybe some industry-specific type of reporting or some reporting that boards or um people who are investing in the companies might want to see, for example.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then beyond that, just really helping keep a company uh compliant.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: So obviously, you know, working as a liaison between them and their CPA, because that is something that we we don't do.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: We do not play in the CPA space at all.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we just really believe in staying in our lane of what we do best.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a very different type of business.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Back office accounting is super, super high touch.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas, you know, being a CPA, you're not, it's not a daily thing with your client as much.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so working with the CPA, you know, helping with prepare for an audit, for example, could be one companies that have sales tax filing and doing the the administration behind that, any regulatory or personal property filing requests.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then being the um accounts receivable department, um you know, helping with invoicing, billing, sales order like management and contract type of management, um, all the way to accounts payable and uploading bills, paying, paying vendors, maybe dealing with purchase orders or employee expenses.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then finally, like payroll and benefits administration, which is a really hot one, I would say, right now.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um it is.
• 5:33
  Scott: I see, yeah, that's that's definitely one as well.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a good one.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: I like it.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, it's around the people.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's like the area that's the most not the people, but um, not a lot of people like to do the the payroll function.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: So something that comes across our desk frequently.
• 5:50
  Scott: Okay.
• 5:51
  Scott: Now one thing that I tell everybody that'll listen that's has a small business and my clients as well as anybody else is do not do your own bookkeeping.
• 6:04
  Scott: Yeah.
• 6:04
  Scott: Now, maybe if you're independent or or you're an accountant by trade or the finance by trade, maybe that works.
• 6:12
  Scott: But for I would say 99% of everybody else, please don't do your own bookkeeping.
• 6:18
  Scott: But that's my reaction.
• 6:20
  Scott: Well, why do you see outsourced bookkeeping?
• 6:23
  Scott: Well, why do you see that as something that helps businesses?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, first of all, everybody has to do it.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a necessary evil.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's it has to be done.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: And you're right, it's most people who have businesses, they usually aren't accountants.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: And out of the hundreds of people I talked to in just a year, most of them are not.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: The even some of them who might have had an understanding or taken a course in college or something, even, but really it's not their passion.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: And their time is really just way better served somewhere else in the business.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's to do it, you know, correct, like it's so important to be within compliance because you can really suffer consequences from that later.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Or, you know, when you want to um make different moves, like you might not be able to because you haven't had that type of financial insight or that kind of support.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I don't know if this is kind of going into like, you know, why somebody would outsource bookkeeping or just yeah, definitely.
• 7:26
  Scott: And that that's kind of my next question.
• 7:28
  Scott: I I I come across a lot of businesses that might have somebody doing their bookkeeping in-house.
• 7:33
  Scott: Yes.
• 7:34
  Scott: Probably not their skill set where even if it's not the owner, maybe it's an office manager or an admin role.
• 7:41
  Scott: So explain to me how outsourcing it um works a little bit better than having somebody that is just doing it because they do it without the experience.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, there's a there's a lot of benefits to it depending on what your goals are.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you kind of alluded to a couple things where, yeah, you know, a company like supporting strategies could be the entire back office accounting team, but there's a lot of scenarios where we would also work to support somebody like an office manager that you manage.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: There might be somebody internally that is, you know, holding some responsibility of the back office accounting, and we fill in the gaps of where help is needed.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, why a company would even really outsource the bookkeeping is a lot of times there it might be more, you know, of a cost savings.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it helps give you access to specific expertise, um, people who have specialized knowledge, like they are truly accountants.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: And at supporting strategies, we don't hire a bookkeeper level, but a senior staff accountant controller level, five to 15 plus years of experience.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: So you'd be getting a higher caliber a lot of times of accountant um with more of a skill set.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um and just I think a lot uh the the scalability piece.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know, I mean, a lot of the companies that you work with, they they are in growth mode.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I think if there is um, you know, if you have an internal person, maybe they're stellar, but maybe their experience is limited.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so having an outsourced team, there's more access to more different types of people, specialized.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's truly all that they do.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so it's just more agile.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and in the know with like different technology and tools and that kind of thing.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I would think those are some of the reasons of you know why somebody would outsource, or even if they're having like um turnover in one specific area of their accounting function or overall, um you can kind of think, oh okay, maybe it would be good to hire, you know, an outsource solution because the turnover is high in accounting right now, and there aren't a ton of professionals going into the field as there were years and years and years ago.
• 9:59
  Scott: It does, it does.
• 10:01
  Scott: And so you you touched on uh maybe you're seeing some turnover in your company, uh, you might be in a growth mode.
• 10:09
  Scott: What as a business owner, when else should I think about outsourcing my accounting function?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's just different depending on what somebody's scenario is.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: But I think for you know, early stage businesses, when you're first starting to do it a little bit by yourself and then, you know, outgrowing that quickly as you're getting more involved in more, not necessarily important aspects of the business, but yes, more important for you as the business owner or the leader to be spending your time in.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I think early stages is it just that's a good time to think about it when you don't need a full-time person and you want to set up proper financial systems and controls and have that infrastructure.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then, as we mentioned, really in a growth phase when your business is expanding, you know, the financial transactions, the volume, things are becoming more complex, um, or having a certain industry where you really need more expertise in that specific industry.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think too, um, you know, we talked about just like the turnover.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then in addition to the turnover, is maybe if you have an employee that you just love and you value them so much.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I see this all the time actually, um, people will come and they want to evaluate sporting strategies because they just love their internal accountant and they want to protect them from leaving.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so they're like, you know, what areas can we offload of this person and partner with you for?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: So having an overwhelmed internal team is definitely another time uh where we could come in and help and the staff is stretched thin or doesn't enjoy an area of their work.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I guess just if there's, you know, of course, cost concerns.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I know it's unfortunate um this year I've had a lot of conversations that are centered around cost concerns um and what are ways that an organization can scale back and you know have a cost savings.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's an area too of when somebody should think about outsourcing, and then um just overall having a shift in your focus of what you're doing in the business.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to focus on more strategic business activities or other elements, or you've got you know scalability plans, or just want to further develop your product, or just you need financial insight.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so uh, and then the other one is before scrambling to um you know get your taxes done.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of rights that I have where, like, yeah, they have to file an extension, now like the house is burning down, they're gonna fall right away, they have a mess to clean up.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: But those are really typical times of when somebody should consider outsourcing.
• 12:44
  Scott: That that that's really helpful to understand some of the examples and reasons uh to go down the outsourcing path.
• 12:52
  Scott: So let's talk about the process a little bit.
• 12:54
  Scott: And how much time does it take, say, to to on to up to to um out onboard supporting strategies for your services?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, so it's a great question.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a little, I'll give some examples, but um, you know, every company is completely different and industries are different.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um obviously companies' tech stacks are different, and so that also has an impact on the timing.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: But just overall, let's say you went through your sales process.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: I hate like saying that, but whatever you did.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if a if a client decides they want to move forward, they authorize the agreement.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: It typically takes us only three to five business days to get a team assigned and to reach out to schedule the launch call.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, you're not onboarded just in the launch call, but that's where we talk about um what are the priorities, what are the biggest areas of help that are needed and how we're gonna start, you know, getting going.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of companies that run QuickBooks Online, for example, it would take us four to six weeks to be fully up and running and self-sufficient.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: And once we start, we really just dive into it right away.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: But of course, there's gonna be a lot more questions that we have in the beginning as we're documenting all of the policies, all of the procedures, because again, every business is unique.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: But typically, we would say four to six weeks.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: If a company is larger, you know, maybe we're doing a lot more areas or all of the areas of their back office, it could be a little bit beyond that.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it really just depends on what's the complexity of the individual, of the individual business and how large of a scope um are they putting together.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: But four to six weeks is usually the the average.
• 14:38
  Scott: That makes sense.
• 14:39
  Scott: So if I if I called you up, it was like a couple of phone calls, three to five days, you're you kind of turn the switch on, if you will, and then within four to six weeks, you're up and running and and on on a normal normal progression, so everything's everything is uh is is rolling smoothly at that point for the most part.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yeah.
• 15:00
  Scott: So who would I who would I work with?
• 15:03
  Scott: Um is it one person?
• 15:06
  Scott: Is it a team?
• 15:07
  Scott: Is it somebody different every single time I need something?
• 15:10
  Scott: How how do you how do you manage that part of it?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so at supporting strategies, I know every company is different because I am interested in learning what other groups who do what we do, how they operate.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so I do ask when I'm talking to different respective customers.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: But um supporting strategies, we hire um accountants that have 15, five to 15 plus years of experience, a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related industry.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, this is definitely not their first rodeo.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: They've worked at other companies before.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's really the level of expertise that we hire for.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: Some of these people have had their CPA in the past, or they still have it, or they have their MBA.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really the level of the of the accountants that we hire.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then we really believe in the relationship.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is personal, it is personal.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: And um, our favorite clients are the ones that are communicative back to us.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, we give a direct point of contact.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so our clients will work with one single accountant 90% of the time.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, one of the other benefits we kind of touched on before is that um, you know, you have redundancy.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's a it's um it's a turnover proof solution because we also back that accountant with a manager who is available onto the account, and then a third cross-strained member.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that's you know, someone's on PTO, you know, they have an emergency, they quit.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: Doesn't happen all the time, but turnover is turnover, it happens everywhere.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we are not caught flat footed.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's kind of more or less what the the service model looks like here.
• 16:46
  Scott: And and those individual, your your accountants on staff there, they will they bring accounting is can be a very technical field.
• 16:56
  Scott: And as we mentioned in the beginning, not everybody is an accountant, very few people are accountants.
• 17:02
  Scott: So are you gonna help the business owner?
• 17:04
  Scott: How do you help the business owner bringing some of those accounting tech um the expertise to them?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, we we're pretty industry agnostic too, but we actually have different centers of excellence, if you will, where we'll have teams that focus on specific industries, so like SaaS or life science, for example, or professional services, um, which I know with the group that we work with together would fall under that area.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Umprofits.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I just, but in terms of the expertise, like, yeah, they have the technical accounting experience, but they also come with the industry, uh specific industry experience and are able to lean on other team members for that.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so again, them being a higher caliber, a higher level of accountant, that senior staff accountant controller level, they do have more of that technical expertise that they can offer and give suggestions, make you know, be proactive.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: And we have our hands in so many different accounts.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: So we can really create, you know, storytelling of what other companies are doing and what are the benefits, and we can bring that proactively to the client after listening to their goals and what they want to do and how they want to see their financials and for what purpose and that kind of great thing.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I mean, again, this is like they're specialized in in back office accounting, and um that's what they do, and it's what they do every day, like all day.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they're not business owners of their own business doing a thousand other things, like this is truly what they do.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: So um they'll just provide that expertise.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then again, you know, we work with people like you in the CFO space and then and then CPAs, so it's really um an all-encompassing, fluid like approach where um, you know, CPAs know the tax laws that are ever changing, and um, that's not our area of expertise.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we will lean on them and we'll follow um whatever processes just to make sure that the client is staying you know compliant.
• 19:03
  Scott: The the the big question that's always part of planning for something like this is if I'm outsourcing my accounting function, how much is it gonna cost?
• 19:11
  Scott: Can you give us an idea?
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it depends on a few factors.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it really just is okay, well, what's the size and the stage of the business?
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then at supporting strategies, we have six different service areas and we don't have any like packages or anything.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: Everything is customized to the specific client at the specific point in time.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um and we do work with a lot of emerging and scaling businesses.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: So, like I mentioned earlier, we have to be super agile and what they need today might be different than what they need in six months.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, then the volume and the complexity, but I would it's at least here, it's it's not less than a thousand dollars a month.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, it could go up to hmm, like 7,000 a month.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I actually have a really, really, really large opportunity right now where it wouldn't typically be something that you would outsource.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: But the um this the executive director really just wants to run lean and she wants to just fully always outsource the accounting department and not add accounting head headcount.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know that was a larger engagement because we're the entire thing of a you know a very pretty sizable organization.
• 20:28
  unknown: Right.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: But that's kind of a range, yeah.
• 20:31
  Scott: And in comparison, if I'm hiring a bookkeeper, I mean it's I don't know what you're seeing today, but you're probably you're spending a good fifty thousand dollars a year on salary as well as benefits and everything else, uh, to just to hire somebody um full-time.
• 20:47
  Scott: Uh yeah.
• 20:48
  Scott: So this that that that that's a bit of a range of anywhere sounds like say$15,000 a year to maybe$70,000 on the on the very high end, probably.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay for most organizations.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, our even our our average engagement is far below the$70,000 a year.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: But there could be ones like I mentioned, if it's they're not, they don't happen all the time, but some people like to run lean and they just want to have their whole entire uh accounting outsourced.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um so those could be a little bit north, but typically no.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's typically not that.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:24
  Scott: And it and also based on what you're saying, it sounds like if a a business could ramp up or maybe even ramp down with their services.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Is that yeah, this is like it's it's just really flexible and really scalable, up or down.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and for a lot of groups, like we just say, like, let's start small.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta build the trust, build the credibility.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: And if they they don't just like if they have things that are working, don't fix things that aren't broken and don't you don't need more than just start small.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, we just really do put our money where our mouth is here on our engagements.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Are actually month to month because we really believe in the service we'll provide and we want to feel like an extension of the team and people can add or take away to their service anytime.
• 22:11
  Scott: Well, what what are some do's and don'ts?
• 22:13
  Scott: If I'm looking at outsource my my bookkeeping and my accounting, what what are some do's and don'ts to think about mine?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh some do's and don'ts.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's it's a hard question to answer because um what's important to somebody is different than someone else.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I mean it's just really about like what what you value.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um and like yeah, it's really what you value.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, because there's lots of different options and companies offer different things.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I would, if you do want to outsource bookkeeping, um I would take time to really, you know, take inventory of what is it is that you currently have and what's working well and what's not, and really also just before you even get into the nitty-gritty of um what kind of help you need, thinking more high level and globally about overall, like what type of partnership it looks really successful to you, or what does a successful partnership mean with vendor and like thinking about like if you ever had experience before outsourcing, what worked really, really well.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so not even getting super like into the accounting, high level, what matters to you and what's important, and find a company that can align with those values.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: So that's definitely my biggest do because it's a big relationship and it is a high touch, like you'll be in you'll be working with these people as an extension of your team.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the do.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um don't, hmm, I don't know.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, don't for you know, if somebody doesn't want to work with, you know, offshoring, then don't go to an offshoring thing, but some people do.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: So it just kind of it just kind of is dependent on what the person's own goals are.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I never try to come into any conversation with what I would assume or what my way of thinking is.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm always very curious as what are the people's goals?
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then from there I can really help identify what some of the what the don'ts would be for them.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I would say just rushing into it, um, not giving it much thought, definitely don't do that.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh or partnering with somebody maybe that's gonna lock you into a long time type of agreement.
• 24:33
  Scott: Right.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't have the flexibility if it isn't working out as anticipated.
• 24:37
  Scott: And I I I like the the due recommendation of you take your time and and take the inventory of what you of what you really want and what you really need.
• 24:46
  Scott: Yeah, that honestly that that that could that applies to just about anything, right?
• 24:50
  Scott: Um it's good advice, not only if you're looking to outsource your bookkeeping, but any vendor that you're that you're you're assessing.
• 24:59
  Scott: Yeah.
• 25:00
  Scott: And and one one um one quick question.
• 25:04
  Scott: So we you touched on systems here and there.
• 25:07
  Scott: Now, what accounting systems do you typically do?
• 25:11
  Scott: Are there accounting systems that you do or do not work with with their with your clients?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: So 90% of our clients are in QuickBooks Online because it typically works for most industries.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: Even companies who carry inventory, if they have an inventory management system that's integrated, it can work.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we really just approach each engagement on a case-by-case basis, but we can work in a multitude of different ERP systems.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we have a we have a medical device company that has some GL that we've never ever ever heard of, and all of their funding is is through government, but our team has learned it.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, it's really we can really work in in any system.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: And if there is a system that we identify that we can, we would be very upfront about it.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, ERPs, but typically most of our clients are in our own QuickBooks Online.
• 26:03
  Scott: And do you see that as maybe kind of the I m most most clients or most businesses I see are QuickBooks as well.
• 26:14
  Scott: Do you see QuickBooks as being uh uh you know one of the better tools for the ERP or the accounting?
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: I just think it's it has a lot of good functionality, and like at least the art that that's what our accountants say, it really works for most businesses, and there's only a few that it wouldn't be good for.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's just it's quick, it's on the cloud, it has so many integration capabilities, they're constantly working on it and improving it.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, we really just feel like it's a sufficient tool that we love working, working in.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Works for most businesses totally.
• 26:49
  Scott: It does.
• 26:50
  Scott: I agree.
• 26:50
  Scott: I think it it's uh not perfect.
• 26:52
  Scott: I will say that up front.
• 26:54
  Scott: Uh it has its uh its warts here or there, but it's a really good application for for most small businesses.
• 27:01
  Scott: Yes.
• 27:03
  Scott: Well, Hayden, this is this has been really interesting.
• 27:06
  Scott: You you've you've done a nice job of laying all this out for us.
• 27:10
  Scott: And I really like to do at the end of the shows is wrap it up with one to three takeaways.
• 27:15
  Scott: Takeaways so that our listeners could literally, as soon as they turn off this podcast, they could go take action on.
• 27:22
  Scott: Um it might be something you already mentioned, and that's fine.
• 27:26
  Scott: Or it could be something, something else.
• 27:28
  Scott: So uh what what can you share with us today?
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, right now for business owners, um, practical takeaways if they feel that they might want to outsource or that their back office accounting isn't going as um, you know, as well as it could be, I would really say to just take inventory of your current back office.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: So know what you currently have in place, what technology you have, what systems, what controls are all in place.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then look at those and ask yourself what seems to be working really well.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: And if it's not you as the functionary doing the work, if you have, you know, an office manager doing it, sit down and talk to them and ask them what they think is going really, really well.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: And then um together come up with a plan and try to identify what's not working well.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: Where are the deficiencies overall?
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then those are the areas that you probably want to focus on.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and within those areas, then you can start learning about different technology that's out there that could help automate and take unnecessary work off of your employees or off of yourself.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and maybe then have a conversation with an outsource provider, even if you just want to scope it out and have a conversation, learn what technology their clients are using.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, a lot of times technology will help you keep the cost down, even with your outsource provider.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: So it's good sometimes if you do feel like you want to outsource to lean on them to for recommendations of what technology they might want to work in or what they would recommend that you do.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, if you're looking to hire a bookkeeper, just some things that to think about when selecting the vendor is really what is their experience with your industry?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um are they task-oriented?
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Are they organized, proactive?
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: Are they documenting all of your policies and procedures?
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, were you connected to them?
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: How did you find them?
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do they have what are their qualifications or education, like you asked me earlier?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, the adaptability to willing to and the willingness to learn.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, that really depends too on what the goals are for your organization.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: If, you know, you know this needs to be somebody that's an agile partner.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then again, like we touched on, that can provide different ideas for integrations, ways to streamline processes, and um, you know, speaking to references.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I would think that those are some of the top things I would recommend when um looking to hire a bookkeeper.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: So those are my actionable takeaways.
• 30:06
  Scott: Thank you, Hayden.
• 30:07
  Scott: That's that's uh very useful.
• 30:09
  Scott: So just kind of taking inventory of what you have, asking you, figuring out what is working well, figure out what's not working well, and then you know, work with whoever's on your team or the in business to focus on what to outsource, maybe how you can leverage technology, and then a couple of really really good points on hiring a bookkeeper.
• 30:31
  Scott: Thank you.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no problem.
• 30:34
  Scott: You you mentioned uh early on that you really like to walk.
• 30:37
  Scott: Uh I I do as well, whether it's with the dog or or jogging.
• 30:40
  Scott: When I'm when I'm walking or jogging, I always enjoy good podcasts or uh is so.
• 30:46
  Scott: Do you have a good podcast or book recommendation for us?
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: So my favorite book of all time is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever read that?
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: I have not.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's so good.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's something that I um I love to revisit it every so often.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's really like a self-help and personal development book that really outlines key principles for achieving success and wealth.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: And really, Napoleon Hill, he studies individuals that have been really successful in history, like Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it really just outlines um that people move in the direction of their dominant thoughts, and thoughts really can become things and the law of attraction.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and wealth and success can doesn't need to mean money, it could be whatever it means to you.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's interchangeable.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: But it's it's it's pretty fascinating, like the things that you can do with your brain.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um just this thing called auto-suggestion, which is like the practice of influencing your subconscious mind through like repeated positive thoughts or affirmations and um really believing and then gaining specialized knowledge in something, remaining persistent around it, forming like a mastermind group of other really um influential types of people and individuals who can provore provide like support, advice, um, and like kind of developing almost like a like a sixth sense, like a higher intuition.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know, I think it's pretty fascinating.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I also there's a lot of stuff in there about like like how connected everyone really is, like way more than we even begin to understand.
• 32:34
  Scott: Yeah, I I believe that one that that seems to happen all the time, does help uh all right.
• 32:39
  Scott: So so think and grow rich.
• 32:41
  Scott: Uh yeah that's yeah it's on the list now.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: I know it is, it's so weird, and like the one thing like I don't know if you've ever experienced this, but have you ever like thought of a song in your head and then all of a sudden it like comes on in the radio?
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: Or yeah, or you've um like you've been thinking about somebody and then all of a sudden like they text you the next day or call you.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's like we have some type of sense where like it's not a coincidence, it's like there's something more there, right?
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: There is, and I think it's gonna get really fascinating here when we learn how much more energy really is responsible for in this whole like quantum entanglement stuff, like how you can move one particle here and then on the other side of the universe another particle move.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's I don't know enough to speak on that, but it is wild.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: It is so I'm excited to see to see what comes out about that and learn more about that in the future.
• 33:31
  Scott: Absolutely.
• 33:32
  Scott: Yeah.
• 33:32
  Scott: Well, this has been great, Hayden.
• 33:34
  Scott: Um, where can people find uh find out more about you?
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm always willing to have a conversation and learn about people.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_01: And like I said at the very beginning, I love to connect people.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: So just it doesn't even need to be about the accounting piece.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's a small part of your business, even though it's a it's a big part, but there's other things going on.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm always happy to have a conversation about anything.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you can find me like on LinkedIn or or on my email, um, which is my first initial, my last name Huff at supportingstrategies.com.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so yeah, that's how you can find me.
• 34:07
  Scott: All right.
• 34:08
  Scott: Well, thank you.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 34:11
  Scott: All right, folks, uh that's it for today.
• 34:14
  Scott: I'm Scott Geller, and I hope you join me next time for budget your business.