Your Path to Bookkeeping Liberation and Growth

One of the biggest misconceptions new business owners have is that one of these plates —bookkeeping— is a concern that you can quickly address on your way out the door. In reality, it’s a dynamic, ongoing process that requires dynamic, ongoing attention. And let’s be real, It also can get ridiculously complicated. 

The good news is that you don’t have to be that lonely, sweaty plate-spinner who eats every meal with a side of fresh stress. In fact, freeing yourself from the jump-scares and jagged edges of bookkeeping, or as we like to call it ‘Bookkeeping Liberation’, is a strong driver of early business growth.

Any new business owner will tell you that the early days are all about spinning plates. Like some entrepreneurial circus performer, you’re constantly darting to the next plate just as it starts to wobble. This intensity can be exhilarating for a while, but good cardio only takes you so far. 

The five stages of Bookkeeping Liberation

For some reason, us primates love making things more difficult than they should be. The upside of such a bizarre tendency is that it eventually leads to desperation, and desperation can spark emphatic decision-making. 

Most business owners walk a wonky path to Bookkeeping Liberation. They start off thinking they are every Marvel character rolled into one, then eventually realise that being one superhero is more than enough. 

Here are the five mental states that typically dot that wonky path. 

1. Optimism
   On day one, the novelty of steering your own ship sets you across uncharted waters with ease. New-business-owner tasks like ATO reporting and payroll obligations are but tiny waves that you happily sail through. Everything is going to be amazing from this day forward!
2. Excitement
   Rapid business growth gets those yummy positive chemicals flooding the brain. Yes, you’re burning the candle at both ends (and in the middle as well) —so much so that you’ve forgotten your own surname— but there’s no way that cracks are forming in the books because everything REALLY IS amazing!
3. Shock
   The cracks you didn’t notice are becoming caverns. The more your business grows, the more problems arise. Your books are full of TBCs and NFIs. Your cash flow does everything but flow. No longer able to coast on adrenalin, you’re always behind. Everything is THE OPPOSITE of amazing, but you just have to keep doing everything and hope for the best, right?
4. Acceptance
   You drop to your knees and finally admit you can’t do it all yourself. You talk to those who’ve been broken by business budgeting before, and they tell you how growth is only sustainable with the right helping hand. You learn that there’s power in humility and delegation, and the only way forward is to seek bookkeeping support.
5. Liberation
   Freedom! Handing over the keys to a bookkeeping service sends you straight back to calmer waters. You now have the time and headspace to focus on what you do best.

Finding the keys

Knowing you need to hand over the bookkeeping keys is one thing, but doing it in the right way is another.

Over our ten years of load-lightening for business owners, we’ve flagged four keys that unlock Bookkeeping Liberation.

 Business Mindset

An inflexible mind will never know true liberation. Many capable business owners fall down because they are unable to shift their mindset from employee to owner. Owners understand opportunity costs.  They are humble enough to admit when they need support. They are ready to change, and change-up the status quo for the greater good of their business. 

Strategic Delegation

Delegation is a superpower every business owner should learn to master, because it allows you to focus on your unique strengths, while relying on the unique strengths of others. In fact, delegation is key to successful collaboration. Embracing the essence of delegation will put you in a prime position to get effective bookkeeping in place.

Trusted Advisory

No human is an island. Everyone, even those on the throne, needs a springboard. Enlisting the services of an advisor helps you develop your business acumen, build effective teams, and see your company from a birds’ eye view. 

Simple Processes

Bookkeeping, like any aspect of the modern business, is all about air-tight processes. The human touch can go deeper when you find ways to streamline and automate processes. Putting these processes in place alleviates concerns, frees up time, and keeps operations running smoothly. 

At Dollars and Sense, we help business owners address each of these considerations.

We collaborate with you to grow your business mindset.

We serve as trusted advisors. 

We enable smart delegation.

We build simple, effective processes. 

The three Ss of bookkeeping success

You’ve suffered through the five stages of bookkeeping liberation. You have got your hands on the keys.

So what happens next? Excellent question.

Bringing the team from Dollars and Sense on board isn’t a matter of blind trust. While bookkeeping is no longer your responsibility, it doesn’t become some impenetrable silo. We share the keys, though you still own the car and know how it runs. 

We deliver an exceptional bookkeeping experience via three Ss.

Scope. 

Setup. 

Streamline. 

Let’s dig into each one. 

Scope

It all begins with a meeting of the minds. We sit down, grab a coffee, and drill down into who you are as a business and how you are different (and you are, even if you don’t know it – every business is unique). We identify pain points, virtues, and rooms for improvement. As we get it all out in the open, strategies form, balances are struck, and work is delegated between our team and yours. 

Setup

Now that we’re facing the right direction, it’s time to get our hands dirty. Utilising the latest integrations, technologies and processes, we simplify and optimise your setup – cutting the clutter, closing the gap between A to B, and saving you time, money, and resources from the jump.

Streamline

Primed and ready to go, the next step is to get those newly formed systems up and running. This includes documenting processes and providing tailored training. But this isn’t a set-and-forget situation. We continually monitor the efficacy of the new setup, revising and tightening processes so as to maximise growth. 

We do all of this and more because we are, above all, your partners in success.