July 2020 Meeting Notes

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July 9, 2020 (Virtually held over Zoom)

By Jackie Haldorson

President Kim Boaz opened up the meeting with the announcements that the ASAP video presentation should be done by the end of the week. Member spotlights are almost done - we have spotlighted all members that wanted to participate. Please give 3 members some love in some way; give them a review, like their social media page, etc. It is important that we support each other because that is why this group was formed!

Also please review ASAP Facebook page!!

Introductions

Open Discussion

In a Crisis people become more of who they are. It's hard not to feel overwhelmed with fielding questions about PPP and EIDL 

What do you wish you had focused on in the beginning of the pandemic?

  • My Clients come with bigger picture tax questions - I feel like I have to read every time a new bill comes out. That's what I'm used to as a tax person (used to work for IRS) . I have to go to the code to figure that out. Videos are a nice way to get this information.

  • I wish I would have started a blog or created videos on YouTube. We dove head in and looked into the information, but ended up fielding the same questions and concerns over and over. We even had CPAs come to us to make sense of the info. It was a good reminder that we are not just the Bookkeepers & Accountants, we are also a sounding board. Clients come to us with “Is this a good biz idea?” questions.

  • I just focused on my clients and my relationships with them, they said I was a calm voice and it's what they needed. But i could have made a little more of an effort to make an organized Zoom meeting for anyone interested.

  • It reminded me that it’s important for our clients to have a sense of ownership when they request filling our forms and loan documents. We don’t want to excuse the Owner from participating in the conversation. We can remind them that we are a support, we may fill out the form but they are the owner and it is their signature on the document.

Have your ideas about your business changed for the future?

  • It has solidified that the type of clients/industry I have chosen is ideal for me and made me realize that in this stage of my career not much has changed

  • I would like to get more proficient in the tax side of things

  • I have ended up taking on lot of smaller clients but would like to transition out of that again. I prefer partnering with CPAs and cleaning up messes

Has anyone spent time learning new technology?

  • Zoom!


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When an old school Bookkeeper or Treasurer questions you for not printing out statements or keeping a paper trail, what can you say?

  • Our company is going Green! Also QBO has an audit log & backup, although if something changes in a financial system it is good to look at a pdf of a report before the data changed, but can save those digitally

  • Discuss the benefits of having online vs paper, more accessible , more secure & safer, etc.

  • The organization of the files is important whether digital or not. Need to have a good naming convention, spell correctly, etc.

  • For organizations, 1 tip is to have a treasurer email, that way when the new treasure steps on board they have access to the historical data

  • Remember to ask yourself “Why am I doing this?”. The point of record keeping is to be able to present it later when asked, both printed or online versions accomplishes this. Your record keeping is for your future self but you also don’t want to give your present self unnecessary work

  • Our job is now educating an older generation this is the new reality, and that it can be very flexible and bring a great deal of benefits

Tool recommendations

  • Scanner recommendation - Scansnap 5000 Fujitsu

  • The Edge ruler

  • Loom

Next Thur at 4 we have Zoom Happy Hour

Next luncheon meeting is Aug 6 - speaker will be our own Jaydra Perfetti discussing business entities!

The Portland Woodard group is meeting on 7/13 at 1:30