βI began working in accounting right out of high school. Grandma said, βGet a job that you can always rely on.ββ
Carla Caldwell did just that. In 2015, she founded Caldwell Consulting & Training to help accountants improve their processes and implement cloud technology. Fast forward to 2020, many more business-owners are relying on her and her team for real-time accurate information and conversations on cash-flow that matter.
We talk to Carla to find out how she is helping her team and clients navigate the next few months.
Supporting clients through a crisis
βBetween Covid-19 and going into lockdown, there was no transition for us really. The only change is that now our families are with us in the home. We continue to serve clients because they donβt feel disconnected.β
As the world navigates a generation-defining global crisis, Carla Caldwell is prioritising her small business clients with real-time data and a closer understanding of their cash-flow, plus ways they can run their business more effectively.
βWe want to continue to grow and serve our small business clients as we emerge from this Covid-19 downturn,β says Carla. βWeβre not afraid of technology and weβre not afraid of helping people through their processes. Itβs going to be even more important that accounting professionals can assist businesses, wherever they are.
Carla does not stop there. For accountants and bookkeepers, she is on hand to help firms of all sizes learn how to improve their processes with technology.
βRight now, people that have not already embraced technology are now scrambling to make sure their team can work from home, interact with clients online and keep up with receipts. Iβve been in firms that feel like theyβre stuck in the old ways and want to do things how theyβve always done them.
βI like that we can show them another way: a way in which they can really present their value. Itβs about being willing to learn differently and to be ok with the apps and technology that make our firms better. Ultimately, technology is all about making our industry more valuable, not less.β
Real-time information meets empathy
Weβve never faced such massive disruption as we do now. Now, more than ever, I think we need to spend more time in our clientsβ shoes. Many of us do but we also often forget.
βWe recently onboarded a property management company and asked them, βWhat does this tell you? How do you normally read this?β from a line on the P&L. Our client answered, βI donβt. It doesnβt mean anything.β If Iβm preoccupied with data entry, I wouldnβt be able to have this conversation that helps my client make sense of their report. Iβm now able to sit down with them and show them what it all means, without making them feel ignorant or bad at numbers.β
βOur value is not in the data entry. Our value is in explaining it to our clients and providing an outside perspective to help guide their businesses. Help them be a partner to their business rather than a vendor. Compliance is never going to go away – we still have to do those things and people will still need people to guide them through it. Yet, we must position ourselves beyond tax returns. Beyond data entry. We are helping people run their businesses better.
βJust compliance is a commodity. Weβre all better than that – we have to get ourselves out of the hole weβve got into.β
Hereβs just one of those ways sheβs helping those businesses run better: giving more control and ownership over expenses.
βDinky receipts flying about the deskβ
Remember George Costanzaβs infamous wallet scene?
βOur clients would often pull out these huge wallets of receipts, knowing that they canβt prove them to anybody or account for them. Accountants would sometimes ask them to tape them to sheets of paper or keep them in a drawer even though they fade. Itβs a huge problem. Every time I heard someone mention Receipt Bank, I thought, βThis is what needs to change in small businessesβ.β
βAs accountants and bookkeepers, we tell business-owners to keep up with receipts because we instinctively know how. Telling them to keep up with it sounds so simple but for a business-owner juggling all the balls in the air, that can be super overwhelming.
βNow, I can give them a solution. Receipt Bank is a conversation-starter that changes their understanding of what an accountant can do for them.β
βNow, Receipt Bank is one of the first things we talk about with our clients. They see it as the tool that finally clears their wallet of receipts and makes their life so much easier. Itβs changed the way they keep up with things and feels like a way to handle a part of their business thatβs just annoying. Itβs a relief to them.β
βSometimes, the business-owner can feel like theyβre now doing more work. Yet, now theyβre keeping track of their expenses, theyβll have much more accurate information. It puts a little more onus on them as I believe it should. This is their business and it means theyβll be ready for all future audits.β
What was life like before Receipt Bank?
βBefore I had Receipt Bank, clients would need to declare each transaction as a business or personal expense. It was a risk on them, plus painful on our end. We knew that it was probably inaccurate. And we wanted to make sure we were advising the best we could.
βOne client in particular asked us to come into their office to log into QuickBooks Online. They said, βHow else can we tell you about these bills, or send you expenses to reconcile the credit card, or tell you about these deposits?β Receipt Bank gave them a digital ethos. It meant they could upload photos of their deposits, bank statements and receipts. Even if it didnβt go into QuickBooks, they at least had photos and knew that their paperwork was backed up to save them having to keep a copy.
βBefore Receipt Bank, we literally had to get information onsite. Several clients also had international teams so expense reporting used to be very manual, requiring them to look up the exchange rate, put that on the receipt, convert into US dollars then submit. Receipt Bank does that for us automatically. Itβs made it possible for us to work with various types of clients without massive amounts of overhead.
As simple as it is, the fact that Receipt Bank knows which credit card has been used is a really important piece. Many business-owners will have several different credit cards, and to say to them, βAll I need you to do is just take the photoβ, gives them one less thing to worry about. It makes us more efficient and effective in what we do.
βAlso, having an email address specific to a user that we can forward paperwork to means that receipts and invoices are automatically sent to Receipt Bank. It makes the whole process smoother and means we donβt have to hunt those things down.β
Why do you think some businesses are reluctant to use technology?
βA lot of small businesses were actively being discouraged to embrace technology by their accountants. When I asked them to use automation and integrate their technology, it was a very different message to what theyβd heard before. When you talk about the benefits of technology with your clients, itβs a great conversation to have.β
βI think that many accounting and bookkeeping professionals are reluctant to change because of the amount of change already going on inside the industry, such as new tax laws and legislative changes. As a profession, weβve been burnt in the past by some changes. There is now a weariness in trying to embrace everything thatβs shiny and new.β
βWhile yes, Receipt Bank sorts out the date, expense amount and – to a certain extent – what that expense is for – it does not negate the analysis and work we need to do. We would never say that a parent is bored at home because they canβt make clothes for their children. Thereβs so much more for them to do. Itβs just the same for us. We are elevating our services and providing more value-add with the tools available.β
Looking forwards
Carlaβs story shows how accounting and bookkeeping is perhaps far more than just a reliable job; itβs a profession that thousands of business-owners rely on for continuity in these changing times. Carla describes the benefits of the profession as three-fold.
βWhen I started out in business, my goal was to surround myself with amazing people. During a meeting last week, my screen filled up with all of these awesome women. And I thought, βThey are amazing. They really care about our clients and they want them to succeedβ. Thatβs what Iβm proudest of. With Receipt Bank, we get to take on more clients and more team members. I want to help people achieve their dreams, to help stay at home parents work remotely without sacrificing family time. Thatβs so important.β
βFor small business-owners, I love that weβre able to help them run their businesses better and feel like they have someone that has their back. And I love that I can work from home, take kids to school and pick them up off the bus in the evening while running a very successful business. Itβs the best of both worlds.β