My business was growing. I was making good money however I didn’t know, in any given month, how much money I’d made or what my profit was. I could tell you how much I brought in overall, but I also wanted to be on top of my business financially; I wanted to keep my finger on its pulse.   I knew for sure it was costing me stress, and I knew that it had to be costing me money.

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Ann Hession : Soulpreneur Success Code

My business was growing. I was making good money however I didn’t know, in any given month, how much money I’d made or what my profit was. I could tell you how much I brought in overall, but I also wanted to be on top of my business financially; I wanted to keep my finger on its pulse.   I knew for sure it was costing me stress, and I knew that it had to be costing me money.

I had for several years come to the end of the year, not knowing how much money I had, what my profit was, and whether it would make sense for me to pay expenses at the end of the year.  For instance, what would be the impact on my taxes if I just spent an extra five grand?  Would that put me in a lower tax bracket?  That would be so helpful to know; and at that time, I had no idea. And it felt like it was really costing me money by just not knowing.

My difficulty with accounting started when I was in third grade and we were doing some kind of math lesson. Someone said something about it being hard or being complicated. I remember, clearly, the teacher and the student teacher looking at each other, and sharing that, adult-to-adult look in front of the kids. One of them said to the other, “oh, just wait till you grow up and you have to pay taxes and keep track of everything.” My little nine-year old mind student made up in that moment that once I was a grown up, I was going to have to keep track of every single penny that I spent. And I was going to have to account for it at the end of the year for this thing called taxes. I also made up that that was impossible, and then if I didn’t, I would be in a lot of trouble.

These nine-year old thoughts affected my whole adult life; I just resisted accounting so much that I would only do the bare bones by keeping track of all my expenses so that I could deal with it at the end of the year as best I could.  There was this place of feeling like a little kid that something impossible is expected of me. I just never want to deal with it. Taking charge of my accounting system, learning about the software, and reading reports…this was a “big thing!” This was me finally conquering my nine-year old self. This is about breakthrough, the breakthrough. It’s a great feeling…I’m really doing it now!

One monetary win from taking control of my accounting system was when I realized that I was being charged every single month for a merchant processing fee that I was not using and had been paying it for over three years. It was around $120 or so a month. So, what’s one hundred and twenty times? Twelve times three years. That’s a few thousand dollars. I was in a contract with them, so I was I was supposed to keep paying it for at least another year and a half; I never would have caught that unless I learned to be comfortable with my numbers. So not only did I see this; I was able to contact them and negotiate with them so that I’m not being charged anymore.

Emotionally I feel like such a grown up; it’s a great feeling, and I also feel a real peace of mind.   I know that I can actually now I can log into my books at any given moment. And, I actually know how to look at my numbers, my reports and I can understand them!  I love how easy it actually is!

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As someone who was new to not just QuickBooks, but also to accounting concepts, Marie was so incredible in helping us understand the language of accounting.

And that helped us to keep our books nice and clean; and to understand what different entities needed from us. I was able to create reports and get them sent right away because I was able to speak that accounting language.

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Catherine & Michael Eardley, Tanglewood Productions

As someone who was new to not just QuickBooks, but also to accounting concepts, Marie was so incredible in helping us understand the language of accounting.

And that helped us to keep our books nice and clean; and to understand what different entities needed from us. I was able to create reports and get them sent right away because I was able to speak that accounting language.

Before working with Marie, it felt like I was almost drowning because I didn’t understand the language of accounting; I didn’t understand how to look at the numbers, I didn’t understand how to get the information clearly. It felt like I was I was constantly chasing, trying to fulfill the needs of keeping my business going.

Currently, I feel more comfortable looking at my books, creating reports; I feel more at ease with our numbers and how they are reflected in the work that we’re doing and whether we’re working smart. That’s been a huge help for us.

Having our full financial reports and showing our financial health is so easy to do; it doesn’t take hours and hours. We can go into our software and get the information right away.

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‘The workshop I took was a valuable tool in the success of my family’s new start up business.  I thought I knew the basics of my accounting program but, in the QuickBooks workshop, I quickly learned that there was still so much more it had to offer.  Marie’s ability to show the ins and outs of accounting in a fashion that I could easily understand and follow, allowed me to walk away feeling confident about accounting.  Marie’s knowledge has gone far beyond the workshop setting as she continues to be a wealth of information with a willingness to offer follow-up support.  Marie has been an invaluable asset to the organization and success of our new business.” ~ Carissa Martinelli, Anatomie

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Testimonials from grateful workshop and Conference students

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn how to stay ahead of my business!” ~ National Notary Conference

“ShoeBox 101 is a wonderful way to share these concepts with ‘non-bookkeeping’ people!” ~ Make a Difference Conference

“Now that I understand how the QuickBooks program works, I can help my clients use it better” ~ SCORE (Service Corp of Retired Executives) training meeting

“Thanks for taking complex concepts and making them easy to understand” ~ Sierra Economic Development Corporation 

“This workshop removed the scariest part of business—finances—and made it not so scary.” ~ Nevada Small Business Development Center 

“Great job bringing accounting to people with no background…thanks!” – Institute of Managerial Accountants 

“I feel confident that we can set up our business books in an organized manner.” ~ Rural Nevada Development Corporation 

“Thank you for making bookkeeping less frustrating.” – BNI, Reno

“This workshop was great…she broke accounting down into easy, understandable terms!” – UNR Extended Studies 

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