On my next project I installed all of the company data for a food distributor in the MAS90^® accounting software program.  The General Ledger, Receivables & Invoicing, and Payables data all needed to be organized and input, but Inventory was the real challenge here.   Purchases of thousands of grocery items in different units of measurement all had to be properly entered, and hundreds of customers correctly billed.

            After this experience, I began working with a bookkeeping company as a full charge bookkeeper working with clients as diverse as a bed and breakfast inn, a landlord living overseas, a construction company and a real estate agency, as well as various individual’s personal finances.  In addition, I ran weekly payrolls for restaurants, beauty salons, retail stores, and a tennis club, and handled all of the associated payroll tax filings.  Naturally, given my prior experience, I was also asked to set up new client files in their American Business Systems^® professional accounting software, or in Quicken^®.

            My final step before going out on my own was to become an Office Manager for a luxury home construction and caretaking company.   This was where I first began to use QuickBooks^® and discovered how much better and more versatile it was than the other programs I had seen.   After a year, their Accountant was so impressed with my ability that he declared I was the equivalent of a CFO for small businesses, a comment that has been echoed by other clients.  Other accountants have commented that I am the best bookkeeper they have ever worked with, and that I do great work. 

            Along the way I’ve done much more than just the bookkeeping.  One client asked me to assist in the development of a customized database for tracking vacation rentals.  Another has given me power of attorney to run his business in case anything should happen to him, saying that no one understands it as well as I do.   I’ve interviewed and trained candidates for bookkeeping jobs, and developed office procedure manuals for companies.   I’ve given input on website design, organized filing systems, analyzed insurance policies, and set up phone system programming.   One question that seems to occur with different clients is how to print labels from various software programs.  Whether the question is small and simple or large and complex, I am happy to help solve it!  A few years ago a client hired me to do everything necessary to set up an office for their new company.   From finding office space to ordering office supplies, from registering with three states for payroll to having snacks delivered, and of course setting up their bookkeeping in QuickBooks^®, it was all up to me.   When that intensive job was completed I turned the ongoing duties over to their new bookkeeper.

           In 1999 I walked into a computer store owned by a friend and asked if she had ever thought of adding a QuickBooks^® class to her roster of training sessions.  She replied that she had a waiting list of students for such a class and had been looking for an instructor for over two years.  Thus my new career was born.  (I now offer my “Introduction to QuickBooks^®” class through the Alexandria City Adult Education program, and the Women's Business Centers in Northern Virginia and D.C.)   As I realized how much demand existed for the training, I began to offer customized consulting to businesses and I now devote myself to that occupation full time.  

           I am delighted to be able to draw on my wide range of experience to assist small business owners and non-profit groups with their accounting and business process questions, and to help them set up and take advantage of the power of QuickBooks^® or Quicken^® to organize their finances.  Some of my clients have years of data to organize and convert, others are just starting out.  All are saved countless hours of frustration and a considerable amount of money by having their finances straightened out for good.  Some clients ask me come back on a regular basis to answer new questions as they grow or to give their records a check-up.  Others are happy continuing on their own once the groundwork has been done.   Either way, I am glad to have made a positive difference.   Give me a call or send an email today to find out how I can help YOU!

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