What does working with Beyond look like?

You have determined that you need a bookkeeper. And you are seriously considering working with us. However, you may have some concerns. What should you expect after you complete the Get Started form?  

We want to make sure that we are a good fit for each other. That’s why we virtually meet with you prior to engaging us for our services. We want to get to know you and we want you to get to know us.

What can you reasonably expect if you work with us? 

What does a journey with Beyond look like?

All journeys begin with a single step. Working together is no exception. From the moment of contact, we embark on a journey to learn the story of your business. What does that journey look like?

No two journeys are exactly the same, but here is an overall roadmap of what you can expect:

• Initial inquiry – The Get Started form. We ask you to provide us a few details about your business so we can begin to learn your story and see if we might be a good fit for working together. 
• Initial meeting or meetings – We schedule a virtual meeting to get to know each other. An average meeting is 30-45 minutes in length. 
• Checkup – We review your existing accounting records and provide you with a detailed report of our recommendations. 
• Setup/Cleanup – Depending on our findings, we may recommend a cleanup of your existing accounting records or the setup of a brand new accounting file. 
• Ongoing Services – This goes beyond data entry and reconciliations, but includes reports and meetings to help you discover your business story. 
• Beyond Advisory Services – We offer future-focused advisory services specializing in such areas as Cash Flow Management, Year-end Projections, and Strategic Planning. 

A successful journey is based on trust

Your business is your life’s work. Bringing in an outside person can be uncomfortable. After all, we are talking about money, and money is personal. 

At Beyond, we want to earn your trust. The purpose of our initial meetings is to look beyond the business to the person at the heart of it – YOU. So our questions are less about the business and more about you, the business owner. 

We want to make sure that we are the right fit for you before we start on this journey. And we want you to feel comfortable working alongside us. For this reason, we clearly define our core values on our website. We work best with those who display the same core values as we do:

• Positive and kind
• Reasonable and respectful
• Eager to put advice into action
• Willing to take responsibility

Do you feel that you share the same values as we do? 

All good things take time

During this journey, we are building a long-term professional relationship. Therefore, patience is key. Why do we say this?

Think of building the foundation for a house. Building a strong structurally sound foundation takes time. If the foundation of your home is rushed, it may not be solid. If the foundation is not solid, sooner or later you will have serious problems. 

The same can be true for relationships. Any relationship, professional or otherwise, takes time and patience. If you put the time and effort into it, you have a strong sound relationship for years to come. Additionally, the benefits will be evident in your business. You will have the confidence to make decisions, have a resource when you face challenges, and be focused on the future instead of the past. 

Some real-life examples

We have great relationships with our clients. However, not every journey makes it to the end. Here are a couple of examples of what has worked and hasn’t worked with clients in the past:

We were approached by a prospect in December. Due to our schedule, we let them know that we could start their project in February. When everything was said and done, it took a total of six months from that first meeting to completion of the checkup and cleanup before transitioning them to ongoing services. It took some time, but the end result has been a good relationship for both them and us. Our client feels more confident about how the business is doing and has even reached out to request some additional advisory services this year. 

A new client needed a cleanup of 12 months of accounting data, but they wanted us to complete it in three weeks. A short timeframe like this is unusual. We actually were able to complete the project on time, but once we onboarded them to Ongoing Services, we never heard from them again. 

What is the lesson here? We are providing these examples to illustrate that patience can pay off. Because we are building a long-term relationship and want to work with you for a long time, taking adequate time to build a good foundation is worth it. 

Ready to get started on this journey with us? Complete the Get Started form to begin.