No One Needs Bookkeeping…

‍

What is bookkeeping? As founders, CEO’s, business owners, and operators our businesses can’t survive if we don’t pay our bills, get paid, and find a way to track it all. On top of that, we rely on financial data to make decisions, analyze performance, and understand where our business is at any given moment. We generally call this “bookkeeping.” And…we’re wrong.

‍

In fact, if you polled 100 bookkeepers, and or accountants, and asked what is “bookkeeping” you’d end up with 100 different answers. Trust me, I’ve done it. One thing they’d agree on is that “bookkeeping” should be reconciling numbers in a ledger – the same way Ebineezer Scrooge (or Venetian merchants) used to do it. 

‍

You see the difference? To us, business owners and operators, we need help paying our bills, getting paid, and analyzing performance. To accountants and bookkeepers, it’s making sure the numbers balance. 

‍

So why is such a critical business function so poorly defined? Why are business leaders constantly disappointed by the results and outcomes? 

‍

The biggest issue here is the difference between operators and not. Operators want to make sure their businesses are operating well and they don’t have to worry. People that aren’t operators, think about taxes and reconciliations first. Both are important, but the priorities aren’t aligned. 

‍

The issue is that when you seek out these services you are locked into two options, bring it in-house or call your accounting firm. If your focus is on operations, neither group are operators. In fact, accountants like the work as much as you do. They call these essential functions a “loss leader.” An honest accountant will tell you they should focus on advising companies, not doing “bookkeeping”, their staff too. 

‍

That’s why Decimal is sick of hearing about bookkeeping, when we’re really talking about Financial Operations. That’s what operators want; it’s what they all need. Business owners need to pay their bills, get paid, and analyze their business performance. Those are essential components to continuing business operations. It’s not a luxury. It’s also what operators have been asking for when they ask for “bookkeeping”. You expect to find someone that will help you pay your bills, help you pay your people, help you get paid, probably help you find the right tools to use, and, whenever you need it, they’ll have reports up to date and on time to give you insights about your business. From a traditional accounting perspective most of this is way outside their services or even expertise. 

‍

What you are really looking for and in reality what you really need is Financial Operations. In the last 20 years the world has evolved beyond anyone's wildest expectations. More specifically, the internet and the speed of technology development have drastically outpaced the accounting services industry. For example, a small to medium sized business (SMB) today needs somewhere between 5-15 different software products to run what we call “Financial Operations”.  You need a ledger (Quickbooks Online as an example), a bill pay software, payroll software, credit card, expense reporting, etc. On top of all of those software products you still have a world of schedules, spreadsheets, checklists, and other documentation that doesn’t live in the software products. Oftentimes, in order to accomplish 1 task you need to log into 3 or 4 different places. That’s a lot of disconnected work. To pile onto this problem, no one gets into business to do accounting operations and no one enjoys it (not even accountants…shhh). That means business owners don’t want to spend time thinking through what to choose and why. Yet another gap in today's model: Bookkeepers & CPA firms are not technology experts. In actuality they are incentivized to move slower, do things manually, because this increases the hours you pay for in the end! 

‍

We started Decimal to fix this problem. To provide CEO’s, Founders, and Business Leaders with the support they not only require but the support they deserve. Financial Operations is the culmination of all of the work that goes into providing you with the visibility and financial reporting you need to make decisions. We focus on three core pillars: people, process, and technology. Decimal has a dedicated solutions team whose only focus is on aligning the right software tools for your business. There is no one-size fits all option. We focus on where you are as a business and the needs you have today. We surround you with a team that ensures every transaction is reconciled daily giving you an up to date view on your financials. Allowing you to make decisions quickly and focus on growing your business. 

‍

Finally, we are committed to constant process improvement. Every business is unique and every business is constantly changing. Our dedication to process ensures that your business has a “blueprint” allowing our team to track how we handle each and every transaction and corner case that comes up. We stay in constant communication with you and act as an extension of your team. There is no single point of failure at Decimal. We’re in it for you. Empowering you to achieve your goals. 

‍