Learn how a payments technology company optimized complex financial processes with the help of a high-tech bookkeeping and controller services company.

As an operations expert, Chris Wheeler had a clear mission when he joined Paystri, a Massachusetts-based payment processing firm: Deliver better customer service via evolving technology solutions.

That mission became more complicated when the financial administrator left the company. Wheeler had to find a new solution for handling a series of exacting bookkeeping responsibilities.

An Opportunity in Disguise
What looked at first like an insurmountable burden turned out to be a blessing. Rather than find another financial administrator, Wheeler turned instead to Supporting Strategies for outsourced bookkeeping and controller services. Not only did this eliminate the need for a full-time hire, but it also introduced Wheeler to a highly capable, technology-proficient partner that could work with him in lockstep as he optimized Paystri's customer service solutions.

Ready to increase your sales numbers? In a recent podcast, Steve Schultz shares his tactics for selling bookkeeping and controller services during COVID.

How does a company achieve sales success in a challenging market? That was the focus of a recent Sales Game Changers Podcast hosted by Fred Diamond, Co-founder and President of the Institute for Excellence in Sales.

Diamond's guest, Supporting Strategies Chief Evangelist and VP of Franchise Development Steve Schultz, said success starts with a simple reality check. "Our goals didn't change," Schultz said of the company's approach during the COVID-19 pandemic, "but our tactics have had to change."

Those adjusted tactics include the following …

With his company generating 50,000 transactions a month, this internet entrepreneur relies on Supporting Strategies for bookkeeping and controller services.

Todd Garland was working as a front-end engineer when he created a couple of design-oriented websites on the side. Frustrated with negotiating complicated online ad sales for his sites, he launched his own company, BuySellAds (BSA), to simplify the process.

The result, according to the website Foundora, was "a game changer in online banner advertising," with Garland serving as matchmaker between advertisers and website publishers whose content is a good fit for the advertiser's product.

Finding a Bookkeeper to Count On
Having his new business take off was good news, of course. The bad news? "I realized I needed to do my taxes," Garland says. He had created a custom system for logging transactions — the advertiser and the publisher each maintain a cash balance, with BSA receiving a cut of each transaction — but it wasn't designed for bookkeeping purposes. Garland needed someone who could translate the information into a form that his accountant could use for filing taxes.

More and more technologically savvy financial professionals are building successful businesses with Supporting Strategies' cutting-edge franchise formula.

Cheri Giglia, Managing Director of Supporting Strategies | North Shore Long Island, has achieved a significant milestone: five years at the helm of a successful outsourced bookkeeping services franchise.

"I can't believe it's been five years," says Giglia, who was the recipient of a Long Island Power Women in Business Award in 2018. "It's gone really fast. I've grown so much not only as a businesswoman, but also as a person."

According to Giglia, who previously held a series of financial executive positions in large corporations and technology startups, this is her first time owning and operating her own business. "To take everything I'd learned in my career and combine it with the Supporting Strategies model and be successful at it has been very rewarding," she says.

Supporting Strategies established cloud-based bookkeeping and streamlined back-office operations at this successful law firm — just in time for COVID-19.

Pabian & Russell, LLC, is one of Boston's most respected law firms, with expertise spanning elder law, estate planning, dispute resolution and several other practice areas. Bookkeeping, however, was causing a number of frustrations.

The firm's previous solution — an in-house team responsible for day-to-day accounts payable, accounts receivable and client billing, plus an outside accountant to close the monthly books — and processes weren't working. Attorneys were tracking billable hours on paper forms. An inefficient billing protocol led to delayed payments from clients. The firm couldn't produce reports that could guide strategic decisions.

"We were in the middle of making a lot of plans, but the lack of data was holding us back," CEO Margaret Burke notes. "Eventually we realized it made sense to hire someone and not try to do this in house."

The coronavirus pandemic is testing the ingenuity of American businesses as never before. Companies are conducting major overhauls of their business plans, profit models, operating procedures and even human resources policies. These changes would normally call for months of careful research and planning but are now being implemented in a matter of weeks, if not days.

While speed is of the essence, any changes your business makes in response to COVID-19 must still be rooted in solid financial insight and intelligence.

Inspiration Amid the Devastation
It would be easy to give in to despair in response to the daily onslaught of grim news. But each day also brings inspiring stories of business leaders who have made agile adjustments that have not only enabled their companies to remain open, but also preserved employees' jobs and provided the public with much-needed services and products.

As your business grows, so do the systems necessary to support it. Whether you have DIY bookkeeping or an outsourced bookkeeping services provider, your business may get big enough that you consider setting up an in-house bookkeeping department.

Some businesses may consider it a natural progression to move from outsourced bookkeeping to having an in-house department. However, continuing with outsourced bookkeeping services has many advantages over the alternative.

An outsourced bookkeeping services provider can be a great partner to your business — offering not only the skills you need at the levels you need, up to and including CFO, but also contributing valuable financial insights. And it all comes without the added expense and responsibility of hiring and managing new employees.

The Bookkeeping Expertise You Need Right Now
An experienced bookkeeping services provider doesn't have a steep learning curve. As pros who are familiar with a variety of businesses, they can quickly determine how much support you need in specific areas — whether it's a basic level, such as recording daily transactions and month-end close, or more detailed assistance, such as budgeting, planning and analysis.

Like many medical professionals who operate their own practices, Beverly M. Shafer MD, FACS (Fellow, American College of Surgeons), is under tremendous pressure to manage her time as efficiently as possible. "It drives me crazy when there are gaps in the schedule," says Shafer, a renowned plastic surgeon who has practiced on the North Shore of Massachusetts for over 30 years.

Shafer's combination of compassion and surgical artistry has created a high demand for her services. Meanwhile, her practice's back-office functions have become more time-consuming over the years, due to the growing complexity of insurance-reimbursement bureaucracy and a migration from paper-based to digital bookkeeping. Staff turnover compounded the problem; an outside CPA firm wound up doing many basic bookkeeping tasks. That wasn't cost-effective.

Specialized Bookkeeping Services for Healthcare Practices
A business contact encouraged Shafer to reach out to Supporting Strategies Founder and CEO Leslie Jorgensen. "I loved her immediately," Shafer says. A leading provider of outsourced bookkeeping services and operational support, Supporting Strategies began reconciling all of the practice's accounts on a monthly basis, "which is super-complicated, honestly," Shafer says. "They interface with my CPA to provide them the necessary information to do what they need to do, and they also interface with my paychecks company to get my staff paid and make sure that their taxes are correct."

Supporting Strategies is proud to announce that our Northeast Florida office has been named a Top Accounting Firm in an annual ranking by the Jacksonville Business Journal. 

"We've been in business for three years, and this is the first year we've made the list," says Supporting Strategies | Northeast Florida Managing Director Pete Denholm. "I'm excited to be on the list with national firms and with regional firms that have been around for decades, and I look forward to continuing to grow and climbing up the list in the years ahead."

"This is a testimony both to the hard work that Pete and his team have put in, and to the basic soundness of our business model," says Supporting Strategies Founder and CEO Leslie Jorgensen. "It's gratifying when outside organizations recognize our franchisees' success."

Congratulations to Cheri Giglia, Managing Director of Supporting Strategies | North Shore Long Island, who was an honoree at the Long Island Power Women in Business Awards & Networking Event on May 9.

The event recognized some of Long Island's most successful business, community, cultural, political, civic and religious female leaders. The evening included a business expo and trade show with networking, followed by a dinner and awards ceremony. Proceeds from a raffle benefitted rock CAN roll, a nonprofit hunger relief organization and think tank.

"It was a thrill to be part of this event and inspiring to share the spotlight with so many amazing women," Giglia says. "I'm very grateful for the award."

Prior to becoming a Supporting Strategies franchisee in 2015, Giglia held a series of financial executive positions in large corporations and technology startups. She has enjoyed applying her expertise at Supporting Strategies to serve growing businesses across the North Shore.

We join the Long Island community in recognizing Giglia's excellence and consider ourselves fortunate to have her as part of the Supporting Strategies family.