When I was fifteen, I began my first “real job” selling denim at The Buckle. I’ll never forget one of my first lessons at The Buckle – the importance of helping a customer find the perfect pair of blue jeans. We learned about the quality of denim, quick sizing, and when to suggest free alterations. This taught me interpersonal skills and how to suggest the right pair based on their needs.
The goal? To help the customer look and feel fabulous about themselves.
There was something magical about helping a timid lady become a denim-rhinestone-studded goddess or finding the perfect boot-cut jeans for a guy's (who hated shopping) first date. They felt great about themselves, and, for me, it felt like I was doing a little more for them than selling a pair of pants.
Finding the Perfect Fit
It matters in pants, and it matters in our partnerships. When I consider how I make purchases now, I usually have criteria that help me ultimately choose the right solution. We all have different things that are important to us when we choose a partner, so it’s important for me to own here that we’re not the right fit for every small business.
We can’t be all things to all people, but we can be THE thing for SOME people. If you’re reading this, my guess is that you're considering an outsourced or virtual-style bookkeeping situation for your small business, and wondering if Patrick Accounting is the right fit.
This article will help you understand the type of owners who love working with us and those who might not.
Here’s what you need to know.
Our Goals for You as Our Client
We want you to have that Rocky moment at the top of the steps, arms up in triumphant celebration about your business. That is why we do what we do—to help you thrive.
We Have Two Main Goals For Our Clients:
- Help you make more money and keep more of it.
- Provide timely, consistent financial insight on a monthly basis and help you strategically plan for your tax liability to avoid any tax surprises.
Who is a Good Fit to Work With Patrick Accounting?
Business owners tend to have some big professional goals in mind — whether it's adding locations, trying to get out of the day-to-day business operations, or even hoping to sell in the next few years. They may even have bigger personal goals like buying a beach house, funding their children’s college, or leaving a legacy to future generations.
If You’re A Growth-Minded, Service-Based Business Owner — We Are A Great Fit For You.
Small business owners who want to do things the right way and have a plan in place to grow to $500k-$10,000,000 in annual sales, often enjoy our approach and mindset to their finances.
Industries We Excel In
We’ve had over 20 years to work with a variety of industries, so chances are we’ve run into a business or two that are similar to yours!
Some industries that we service really well include:
- Restaurants
- Hospitality Businesses
- Franchisees & Specialty Contractors
- Automotive, Tire, and Car Repair Shops
- Hair, Nail, and Medical Beauty Salons
- Lawyers, Closing Attorneys, Tech Companies
- Medical Practitioners and Private Practices
- Pest Control, HVAC, and Plumbing Companies
- Non-Profits
Who Are Our Clients?
We love helping Memphis-based companies, but we have clients all over the U.S.!
From a geographic standpoint, we’re not limited by state to helping you, but most of our clients are in the regional midsouth of the United States. Again, we have clients in all states, but our focus tends to be close to home. We specialize in restaurants and hospitality businesses.
Find out more about who we help and how and read testimonies of our current clients.
If you’d like a referral from a current client, just let us know—we’re happy to provide a list.
When Should You Consider Outsourcing Your Bookkeeping and Tax Work?
Many of our clients come to us when they’ve outgrown their in-house or DIY bookkeeping. If you’re spending more time managing your books than growing your business, it might be time to outsource.
We find that owners doing $500,000 or more in annual revenue reap the greatest benefits from outsourcing their accounting because it is a fraction of the cost of a part-time hire. At this stage, managing finances becomes more complex, and the value of having a dedicated, expert team outweighs the costs.
If your goal is to scale operations, improve profitability, and maintain compliance, outsourcing your bookkeeping and tax work to Patrick Accounting could be a smart investment.
When Patrick Accounting Might Not Be the Best Fit
While we love helping small businesses, we might not be the best fit for everyone. Here are some situations where our services might not align with your needs:
For Tax Services Only
If you’re just looking for someone to do your business or personal taxes, we’re the wrong fit.
We aren’t set up like your normal accounting firm; we don’t work with individuals’ annual tax filings unless you’re a business owner client of ours. Also, we don’t handle tax only work for business clients. We can’t help you keep more of your dollars at tax time if we’re not tuned into your books throughout the year which is why we won’t just do taxes like traditional CPA firms.
If you’re in Memphis and looking for a CPA, look over this referral list for CPAs who might be a better fit for you if you want tax-only help.
For Accounts Receivable Management
We do not take care of any A/R for our clients.
We do handle all accounts payable (bill pay services), but if you want someone to invoice your clients, collect, and receive payments, we cannot help you. This is a job that’s best left in-house, from our standpoint.
For Custom Job-Costing Reporting
For businesses in a heavy job-costing industry that need this level of detail in their financials, an in-house accountant is a better solution.
We often work with construction and blue-collar companies, but if you want to manage your jobs, detailed costs, and profitability of jobs as codes in your accounting books, we’re not a fit.
For Brand-New Start-Ups with Less Than $500,000 Annual Revenue
Start-ups are very exciting, and we work with many fast-growing start-ups and franchises that need bookkeeping and tax services, but if your first-year revenue is less than half a million dollars, the ROI of our services is marginal for you.
As you scale and grow, we could become a perfect fit for you.
For Bookkeeping Services Without Payroll
Many companies have a part-time bookkeeper, payroll company, and year-end CPA helping them. We prefer to consolidate those relationships into one strategic partnership because it allows us to be efficient and gives you one true partner who can help you with everything in your back office.
If you would not consider changing your payroll company, then we’re not the best fit.
For On-Site Bookkeeping
We do not offer on-site services for your business. If you’re looking for a bookkeeper to handle additional tasks for you like answering phones or other administrative work, an in-house bookkeeper may be better for you than our outsourced service.
How to Get Started with Patrick Accounting
Initial Conversation
First, we’ll have a conversation to learn about your business, goals, and back-office needs. We’ll ask questions about your current financial setup, any challenges you’re facing, and your long-term objectives.
This is also a great opportunity for you to ask us any questions about our services, our approach, and how we can help you achieve your goals.
If you decide to move forward with us, we will request some documents to prepare a service engagement. These typically include:
- Your most recent business tax return
- QuickBooks Online access or most recent financials
- A couple of months of bank statements and credit card statements
After receiving these items, we’ll plan an alignment call, to review what we discovered in our books and possible ways we can help based on your goals for your business.
We’ll discuss pricing during this call, so if you’re ready to move forward, we’ll schedule your initial strategy session with your accounting and payroll teams.
Strategy Session
Once you’re ready to start, we’ll schedule an initial strategy session with your accounting team. This is designed to align our services with your specific needs to set the foundation for our working relationship and identify any immediate areas for improvement.
During the strategy session, we will also set up the necessary tools and systems to streamline your accounting processes. This includes setting up QuickBooks Online or Restaurant 365, integrating your financial data, and establishing a workflow that supports timely and accurate financial reporting. This allows us to thoroughly review and clean up your existing books for year-end taxes and ensures accuracy for future reporting.
New clients usually see their first financial statements from us 30-60 days after this session.
By the end of your initial strategy session, you’ll have a clear understanding of what to expect from our services, how we will work together to achieve your financial goals, and the next steps in our partnership. We’re excited to help you and your business get one step better!
Are You a Good Fit for Patrick Accounting?
If you’re still reading, we might be the right fit for you!
Next Steps
At this point, you probably want to know how much this is going to cost.
At Patrick Accounting, we offer a range of service packages to fit your needs:
Core Package: Essential bookkeeping and payroll services to simplify your financial complexities.
Advanced Package: Builds on the foundational services of our Core package by offering more frequent interaction and deeper involvement in your financial processes.
Ultimate Package: Full-service financial support that focuses on driving profitability and establishing long-term financial rhythms.
Ready to Get Started?
If you think we might be the right fit for you, Let's Chat! Click the button to schedule a 45-minute discovery call with us, and we’ll go over how we can individualize our services to meet your specific needs.
Let’s chat
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