Why You Should Choose Birch Accounting & Tax Services Ltd!
Many entrepreneurs focus on the sales and marketing or the operational aspects of their business as these are often front and center in acquiring new business, generating cash flow and keeping their customers satisfied, and yet with only a finite amount of time available often times the role of bookkeeping is not properly addressed. Therefore, it's critical to enlist the services of a professional bookkeeping organization to maintain the day to day accounting function of the business, providing timely and critical financial information to assist with the decision making process.
If you’re looking for an accountant to handle your books, you need to put in a sufficient amount of research to find someone that meets your expectations. As you want someone who is reliable, experienced, and qualified, you also need to go through reviews you find online and speak to people who’ve worked with them.
At Birch Accounting & Tax Services Ltd, we are confident about the services we provide and will not shy away from giving you references. Besides, we will be happy to tell you why we are the top name in accounting and tax services.
We have been in the accounting and tax services for over a decade and have several happy clients. If you’re looking for an accountant to assist you with the financial aspect of your entrepreneurship, here are a few reasons why we stand out from the rest.
We offer fixed monthly pricing for all our bookkeeping packages.
We’ve all heard the saying ’You get what you pay for!’, but here’s the thing, don’t you want to know what you’re paying?
Pricing is almost always the first question that I get when speaking with a prospect. The problem is, they don’t ask the question in the right way, and that leads to ambiguity, which typically then leads to an adversarial relationship. So what do I mean by this? Usually, the pricing question is ‘What is your hourly rate?’ The prospect will then multiply that rate by some amount of hours they think it will take to complete their work each month, after which they make their decision. The problem is, what the client REALLY cares about is the actual dollar amount they will owe each month. When they receive a surprise bill that is larger than expected, they question how effectively their bookkeeper is doing their job.
The solution to this problem is to answer the question the prospect really cares about, which is, ’If you are going to deliver the service you’ve described, how much will that cost me each month?’
Yes, the number of hours required to complete the bookkeeping will be high in some months and low in other months, but why should our clients need to worry about that?
Our clients HATE surprises, but they LOVE having the confidence of knowing that the size of their bill is predictable.
We have developed systems that allow us to respond to inquiries in a timely and predictable manner.
When we ask our prospects why they’re looking for a new bookkeeper, one of the top reasons we hear is that their existing bookkeeper won’t answer their calls. From the perspective of a client, this can be an extremely frustrating experience, especially when deadlines are concerned, such as filing Sales Taxes, or Tax Returns.
The solution to this problem is actually quite simple, however, it requires a very different approach to the bookkeeping business model than what we’ve typically experienced.
Despite what we often hear, most bookkeepers really are great people. They are technologically advanced, they are detail-oriented and extremely disciplined. Their fault, however, is that they often sell their services based on price as opposed to value, which typically leads to taking on more work than they can handle on their own. When this occurs, it becomes very difficult to keep up with the workload, and additionally, they are unable to hire the help they need because they don’t have enough revenue coming in to be able to pay for that help.
Our simple solution looks like this. At Birch Accounting, we sell our service based on value. This means that our Fixed Monthly Pricing is usually higher than most bookkeepers, but that higher rate allows us to hire bookkeeping staff sufficient to keep up with the monthly work. We monitor the workload of our staff using a utilization rate that helps us ensure they are not overloaded. If the utilization rate indicates that our capacity is getting tight, our revenue is sufficient to hire additional staff. Having taken control of this major cause of stress, we are then capable of ensuring we always have sufficient time to answer the phone whenever it rings, and we have the capacity to respond to our clients’ requests in a timely manner.
We have systems that allow us to guarantee timely financial reporting.
Let’s not dance around this one. Bookkeeping is a deadline-driven business. It always has been. A business must file their taxes within a certain time frame to stay in compliance. And, if as a business owner, you want to actually gain value out of your accounting system, deadlines are even more important because to properly manage your business using actual financial information, you need to review that financial information on a regular monthly schedule.
So, why then, do bookkeepers fail to deliver timely financial reporting? There are many reasons for this. In some cases, bookkeepers still see themselves as data entry clerks (although with a few new tools that help them do data entry faster). In some cases, they find themselves overloaded and can’t keep up. And in some cases, there is simply a lack of having clearly defined roles.
At Birch Accounting, we differentiate ourselves by offering a full-service solution that we call “The Outsourced Accounting Department.” What this means is that we take responsibility for handling all aspects of their accounting: from software systems to the developing and implementing necessary accounting processes to data entry, AP and bill payment, AR and collections, Payroll, Sales Taxes, and of course, Reporting. As noted earlier, because we use a Value Pricing Model, we have ensured that we have sufficient bookkeeping labor to keep current with all of our files (this includes follow up with clients to as required) and of course we have a detailed onboarding process that outlines the responsibilities of each party (including in some cases 3rd party CFO services).
We are prepared to demonstrate our technological expertise and provide examples of how that will benefit your business.
Technology is great. Advancements in accounting technology have helped to streamline processes and reduce the amount of manual labor required to complete our work. But technology alone is not sufficient.
As bookkeepers, we must be prepared to demonstrate our technological expertise (i.e., proficiency with certain accounting software), demonstrate why we’ve chosen to use one set of software over another, stay current on new software developments, understand the limitations of the software we’re using as well as what manual requirements are necessary, and provide real-life examples of how this software will benefit your business.
At Birch Accounting, we use Quickbooks exclusively as our accounting platform of choice. We believe that Intuit is not just the leader in providing accounting software solutions, but they continue to invest in the advancement of their technology in a way that ensures they will remain the industry leader well into the future. Focus on the Intuit platform exclusively allows us to be experts at one and not generalists at all. All our bookkeeping staff is put through the Quickbooks ProAdvisor Certification to ensure that they are able to use the software at an advanced level. Birch Accounting invests continuously in researching and testing new applications that work together with Quickbooks so that we can stay on the leading edge. We also understand that all software has limitations, which means that we can not rely 100% on the software to do the accounting work for us, which means that we invest in manual labor processes to ensure accuracy of our work. Finally, we are always prepared to share real examples of how we’re using our software, not just theoretical examples of how it may work.
Our sales process and our onboarding process clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each party and where necessary training is provided.
Accounting for an organization is a complex service. There are many different tasks that must each be completed effectively and efficiently to provide a consistent and dependable outcome. Depending on the level of involvement in the accounting process that each client desires, there may even be increasing levels of complexity. To ensure that this process runs smoothly, all individuals involved in the accounting process must have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities as well as a firm commitment to those roles.
Within the clients’ organization, there may be one or many individuals involved in the accounting process. It could be as simple as the owner scanning copies of his receipts, dropping them into our receipt capture software, and providing access to bank statements, or it could involve administrative personnel responsible for tracking hours or creating customer invoices, or field staff responsible for submitting expenses for reimbursement. Each individual must have a clear understanding of their required tasks, and appropriate training to know how to complete those tasks.
Within Birch Accounting, we may have one bookkeeper responsible for coding transactions, one responsible for payroll, and one responsible for review of the file at month-end. Again, each individual must have a clear understanding of their required tasks and appropriate training to know how to complete those tasks.
At Birch Accounting, we clearly outline the levels of responsibility required in each of our bookkeeping packages so that our clients can choose the level of involvement that they would like to have in the process. We even prepare a CLIENT SPECIFIC PROCEDURE MANUAL for each client to ensure consistent, accurate, and timely reporting is maintained. Furthermore, our onboarding process is detailed and includes a clear definition of what tasks are required to be completed by whom, when they are required to be completed, and what training is required in order to ensure a great level of service.
As a leading accountancy firm in Leduc, Alberta, we ensure that we exceed expectations and always put you first. We have been providing accounting and tax services, including bookkeeping, personal taxes, corporate taxes, business plan, etc., to clients for over a decade. Our team consists of experienced and competent accountants who work relentlessly to ensure that our work is in compliance with the rules and regulations. We serve across Leduc, Calmar, Nisku, Devon, Millet, Beaumont, Wetaskiwin, Camrose, and Edmonton, Alberta.
To learn more about the services we offer at Birch Accounting & Tax Services Ltd, please click here. If you have any questions about how we can help you, get in touch with us by clicking here.