The Accountant’s Office: You Can Outsource Just About Anything

At the National Small Business Week festivities, I met Carolyn Brown, owner of  The Accountant’s Office.  She was one of the SBA award winners — named the “Women in Business Champion.”

The Accountant’s Office helps small businesses that want to outsource their accounts payable, accounts receivable, financial reporting and similar tasks.  Even though you may already have a CPA who helps with your tax preparation and accounting needs, Carolyn’s company can still help with bill payment services, invoicing, bookkeeping and other services.  As she says, 50% of their business is referred from CPAs who know their clients need hands-on help.

Her company serves small businesses in a range of sizes — from solopreneurs, to mutli-state retail concerns.  Many are in “caring or creative” industries:  doctors, life coaches, photographers, etc.

Carolyn’s business is nine years old, having started it right before 9/11.  She runs the business from Phoenix, Arizona.  But she’s quick to say it’s a virtual business.  When I asked what she meant by that, she said “virtual” is the way her business operates.  Her staff can be located anywhere.

Her typical employee is a skilled professional who also happens to be a stay-at-home Mom or sometimes a stay-at-home Grandma.  Staff members  may be accountants or CPAs or former company controllers. They value the flexibility and freedom of being able to practice their profession from their homes.

Customers exhibit a lot of trust when they use a service like the Accountant’s Office, because it involves revealing sensitive financials — and handling  your money and/or bank accounts.   They are a professional service firm.  Trust is at the core. According to Carolyn:  “We start with trust.”   She goes on, “But we  sell peace of mind.”  As she notes, her firm will free you up to work ON your business, instead of IN it.

YourVirtualAccountingOffice.com explains the many services that can be outsourced.  There’s also a company blog.

Note:  This is part of our coverage of National Small Business Week.  Informal coverage from throughout the day can be found by searching on Twitter.com for the hashtag #DYMOandENDICIA and #SBW.  For a list of related articles see Coverage of National Small Business Week.

* This coverage was made possible through the generosity of DYMO and DYMO Endicia, which sponsored my attendance at National Small Business Week. *

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