Not all businesses have the same bookkeeping needs, and with this, in mind, Deitz Consulting approaches every business with an open mind. We have had the unique opportunity to work with a variety of companies giving us some great insight into the challenges they face and how we can help.
Over the new few months, we are going to be taking a look at some real-world examples of verticals that Deitz Consulting has extensive experience working with. Let our experience save you from having to make your own mistakes!
Where it all began…
Many of the earliest customers for Deitz Consulting were service-based companies that worked in construction. These businesses could be roofers, builders, plumbers, remodeling companies, or any number of other companies within this sphere of business. These companies are where Phyllis got most of her early experience and she has been helping them for over 18 years!
As anybody who has ever worked in one of these companies can tell you, keeping accurate books and fully understanding your costs/margins can be the difference between years of lucrative projects, and going out of business. Tracking all the costs related to any given job is imperative in making sure that the job is profitable, and that future jobs are quoted as accurately as possible during the sales phase. Accurately tracking all these costs can be incredibly time-consuming considering that you have to take into account:
- Labor cost
- Materials/supply cost
- Fuel cost
- Inspection or other regulatory cost
- Cleanup and incidental cost
If any expense isn’t tracked, or placed into the right category, it can take a profitable job and turn it into a money pit very quickly! Deitz has proven processes for keeping track of all this information to make sure you know exactly how much each project is costing you and keep you on track to be profitable.
A tailored fit
There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to bookkeeping, so we don’t try to force every company into a single offering. Armed with the information we got during the 15-minute consultation we will start to zero in on the type of package that best suits the needs of your company. With packages ranging from the outsourcing of the most basic of bookkeeping functions all the way up to full-service bookkeeping; we will find a solution that meets your needs without frivolous services that aren’t relevant to your company.
Finding the right fit is the difference between an affordable solution that saves you time and money in the long run, and an expensive solution that leaves you paying for irrelevant services and eventually becomes a burden. In the end, we want to identify what led you to want to outsource in the first place, and what we can do to address those needs.
Categorizing Expenses
While tracking all these expenses is important, it is equally important that they all go into the correct category. As we have touched on during tax season, keeping expenses in the correct category can have a huge impact on the overall accuracy of your financial outlook.
Materials and supplies are very different from labor cost which can be tied to a project, which is very different from office personnel cost which is more administrative. All these different categories not only affect your bottom line differently but also will appear differently on your taxes during everybody’s favorite time of year, tax season.
Not only will inaccuracies in expense categories lead you to make decisions based on a faulty understanding of your costs and margins; but it can also negatively impact you should you need to borrow money for a project. Should you need to go to a bank they will look at everything from how much you have borrowed so far, how much has been spent on construction, and the overall financial health of the company. Mistakes when it comes to expenses and income could give the bank reason to increase interest rates or choose not to offer a loan/line of credit.
Receipts
Who doesn’t wake up every morning excited about the prospect of categorizing and tracking all their receipts? Let’s be honest, very few people feel anything other than dread or boredom at this prospect. Luckily for our customers, this is another area where Deitz Consulting shines!
With years of experience tracking these incredibly important documents, Deitz has several different processes by which we can take over all your receipt tracking so that you can put those days behind you. Our customers can choose between the following methods of providing us with their receipts:
- Email them directly to us
- Load them directly into QuickBooks
- Drop them off at our offices in a shoebox and let us handle the rest
If we are being honest, it doesn’t have to be a shoebox, just get them to us!
Get back to work!
In the end, it all boils down to allowing service-based companies to get back to work without worrying about letting their books fall through the cracks. Very few companies in this vertical have the time or desire to have somebody sit at a computer for endless hours to make sure everything discussed above is getting done regularly and accurately. Let the professionals take care of is so that you can focus on growing your business with confidence!
Deitz is here to help and we know that if you give us a chance, the only thing you will regret is not reaching out sooner! Reach out today to discuss how we can help!