When I was fifteen, I began my first “real job” selling denim at The Buckle in my hometown. 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, how to size up someone quickly for measurements, and when to suggest free alterations. They taught me interpersonal skills and how to suggest the right pair based on their needs.  

The Goal?   

Help a customer look and feel fabulous about themselves.   

There was always something magical to me about helping a timid, insecure lady evolve into a denim-rhinestone-studded-goddess or helping a blue-collar guy who hated shopping find the perfect washed-out boot-cut jeans for a Friday night first date. They looked great, felt great about themselves, and well, for me, it just felt like I was doing a little more for them than selling them a pair of pants.    

Fit Matters.   

It matters in pants, and it matters in our partnerships. When I think about my own buyer experience, not every brand is a good fit for me personally, and not every company will be one that I want to work with or even should work with.   

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 are trying to decide if an outsourced or virtual-style bookkeeping situation is right for your growing business.   

No doubt you have concerns about what that relationship could look like. You want to make the best decision possible for your business. And I want to help you do that, whether you end up working with our business or not.   

We want you to look and feel fabulous.   

We want you to have that Rocky moment at the top of the stairs with your arms up in triumphal celebration about your business. That is why we do what we do. To help you thrive.  

This article is designed to help you understand the type of owners who tend to love us and those who will hate us. If you are going to consider us for your team, here is what you need to know.  

If you’re just looking for someone to do your business or personal taxes, we’re the wrong fit.   

We have two goals for our clients:  

We want to help you make more money and keep more of it. We do that by providing timely, consistent financial insight on a monthly business AND helping you strategically plan for your tax liability to ensure there are no tax surprises. We can’t help you keep more of your dollars at tax time if we’re not tuned into your books throughout the year. So, we don’t handle business taxes only. If you’re in Memphis, and looking for a CPA, check out our referral list of CPAs who might be a better fit for you. 

If you want to outsource your accounts receivable (A/R), we’re NOT the company for you.   

We do not take care of any A/R for our clients. We do often handle all accounts payable (bill pay services), but if you want someone to invoice your clients, collect, and receive payments, we cannot help you.   

If you’re job-costing in your books and need specific, customizable job-costing reporting in your financial statements, we’re not a good fit.   

We often work with construction and blue-collar companies who need a second set of financials and who track their jobs in separate software from their books. Let’s say you’re a roofing company and you manage your materials, contracts, sales, and job profitability in Jobber. You still need a monthly financial statement, payroll processed, bills paid, and your bank and credit card activity reconciled. If that’s you, we’re a perfect fit, 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.   

If you’re a brand-new start-up and you’ll do less than $500,000 in annual revenue this year, we’re not quite a fit for you.   

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 in revenue, the ROI of our services is marginal for you. You may view our services as a cost center as opposed to a strategic partner, but as you scale and grow, we could become a perfect fit for you.   

If you only want bookkeeping services and would not consider outsourcing your payroll to our company, then we’re likely a bad fit for you.   

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 helping you with everything in your back office. If you will not consider changing your payroll company, then we’re not the best fit.   

If you want a part-time bookkeeper in your office, then we’re not a good fit for you.   

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.  

So, who would want to work with us?  
If you’re a growth-minded, service-based business owner, we are a great fit for you.     

Ideally, you are a growth-minded business owner with a big goal, whether you are adding locations, buying a beach house, trying to get out of the day-to-day business operations, or even hoping to sell in the next five years.   

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. Some industries that we service really well:   
   

• 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 (like physical therapists, dentists, dermatologists.)  
• Pest Control, HVAC, and Plumbing Companies  
• Non-Profits    

We also work in other industries, but this is a small list of the ones we have expertise in!   

When should you outsource your bookkeeping and tax work?  

To say EXACTLY when to outsource your bookkeeping and tax is different for every owner. Accurate bookkeeping and tax planning are vital to your business growth, AND they help you maintain proper compliance.  

As a business owner, you have a lot on your plate, and managing your finances can be a daunting task. When your business is in growth mode, you must focus on attracting new customers, expanding your operations, and increasing your revenue. Outsourcing your bookkeeping can effectively free up your time- or another vital staff member’s time – while ensuring your finances are managed accurately and efficiently. In addition to that, an outsourced solution can often provide the safety of redundancy for you and your team. There will never be a lapse in your bookkeeping because you won’t have to hire someone for this position ever again.  

As a general rule, most small businesses should spend between 1-3% of their top-line revenue on their accounting expense. 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.    

Who are our clients?  

We love helping Memphis-based companies, but we have clients in all states! We specialize in restaurants & hospitality businesses. You can find many of our clients at the bottom of our website page or check out our Google reviews. As you’re getting to know us, let us know if you would like a referral from a current client — we can supply a list. 

What does getting started with Patrick Accounting look like?

(aka, I’m ready to start – what do I do now?)   

If you’re still reading, we may be the type of jeans that would fit you. Our first step is to have a conversation so that we can learn about your business, your goals, and what’s going on in your back office. After discussing this, we will request some documents from you to prepare a service engagement if you decide we’re a good fit for you. If you’re interested in what pricing looks like, check out our flexible packages here.    

If you decide you’re ready to get started with us, we’ll schedule an initial strategy session with your accounting team and begin working together. Usually, new clients can expect to see their first financial statements from us 30-60 days after your first strategy session.  

Are You a Good Fit for Patrick Accounting? 

You genuinely have A LOT on your plate. Managing your finances is an essential part of growing your business, but with limited resources and a never-ending list of tasks, it can be challenging to keep up with the bookkeeping, compliance, and tax-related responsibilities of your business.  

Outsourcing your bookkeeping, payroll & tax needs can be an effective way to free up your time and energy while giving you peace of mind that your finances are managed accurately. By doing this, we hope you’re able to focus more on what really matters to you, whether that is growing your sales or spending more time with your family.  

Now that you’ve learned a bit more about Patrick Accounting, I hope you have a clear sense of whether or not we would be a good fit for you and your business. If you’re ready to take the next step with us, schedule some time to have a conversation with us. We’d love to help you get one step better.   

Ready to discover when it’s the right time to outsource your accounting needs? Check this article for expert insights and actionable tips on making this crucial decision. Don’t miss out on optimizing your financial management and saving valuable time for your business.