Firm of the Future profile series about thriving firms who are benefitting from the cloud and QuickBooks® Online Accountant (QBOA) to better serve clients and find new revenue opportunities.
Mindy King: Kathy, tell us about your accounting and/or tax practice.
KR: We offer bookkeeping, payroll and tax services on the compliance side. We are also QuickBooks experts so our clients don’t have to be, specializing in QuickBooks cleanup and training. Clients are great at what they do, but when it comes to the financial aspect of their business, they don’t know what they don’t know. That’s where we come in. This quote comes to mind: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” We strive to educate our clients on why keeping good books is so important, and then work with them on how to use those numbers to achieve their dreams. Teamwork makes the dream work, and my team includes the client, Intuit® and our firm.
Our firm is Intuit-centric, as it offers us the best integrations for our clients’ needs and provides us with the tools needed to help us manage all aspects of our clients’ business. We use Intuit Online Payroll for Accountants, TSheets by QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online (QBO) and now offer tax services with Intuit® ProConnect™ Tax Online.
MK: How long have you been using QBOA?
KR: I have been a QuickBooks ProAdvisor® since 2005, but shied away from QBO until two years ago after attending my first Scaling New Heights conference in the Bahamas, when I jumped right in and moved my firm’s books to QBOA.
MK: What convinced you to make the move to QBOA?
KR: I had created a very good “job” for myself, but it had stopped there, until being at that conference and seeing where our industry was heading. It was really an eye opener for me. I realized that I could be at the forefront of our industry by striving to be a Firm of the Future and grow beyond a firm of one. I can create a firm that will be worth selling.
MK: What are your goals for your practice this year?
KR: This year, I have taken the steps to become an enrolled agent so I can offer tax preparation and planning for my clients, as it will complete the circle of client prosperity.
MK: What’s your favorite away-from-the-office place to get work done?
KR: I usually don’t do client work away from the office; however, I do have a favorite coffee shop where I go to relax and work on my thoughts about my business. The networking is also great there.
MK: Where’s the craziest place you’ve done work for a client?
KR: I did process a payroll on the exhibit floor of QuickBooks Connect, but the craziest place was in the RV on our way to Niagara Falls last year!
MK: What’s your number one timesavings tip?
KR: The best time saving tip – using QBOA, I can switch between clients with just a click! No more backup and restore, or logging into a different site. This, alone, has helped my productivity tremendously! In January, I got so much work done using cloud-based apps … and then I had to deal with the desktop clients that were left on my to do list. And, man, that was painful and took so much longer. You can’t imagine it until you experience it.
MK: When you’re not working, what’s your favorite way to spend your time?
KR: I love to read and spend the summer camping, making memories with my family. I also have a newfound passion for travel.
MK: What advice do you have for peers that are still on desktop?
KR: I couldn’t promote QBO without using it, so the first thing I did was move my firm books to QBOA. Next step, select a minimum of five clients that would be a good fit for QBO and work towards moving them over. Get QBO certified and then go for the advanced certification – Intuit has awesome trainers. Since QBO is constantly changing and adding new features, sign up for the monthly QBO In the Know webinars. Yes, there is a learning curve, but there was with desktop when you first learned it!
