 |
Find out how SmartBooks has made a difference for clients like you.
Asset Management
AI Exchange Inc.
The Company
AI Exchange is the first managed account platform offering alternative investment strategies designed specifically for the Financial Planner/Advisor market. The platform allows financial planners to access long / short and other alternative investment strategies for their clients in managed account formats and at low investment minimums. The platform provides full client custody, liquidity, transparency and 1099 tax reporting. AI Exchange allows financial planners to expand their clients' investment options and to simplify their overall business operations. The technology allows alternative asset managers to seamlessly participate in a separate account platform without establishing the operational infrastructure historically required to manage multiple separate accounts.
The Situation
AI Exchange is an early stage start-up business and needed a low cost solution for managing the books. It has outside investors to report to, so although it is a start-up, the accounting needs to be done right. Additionally, AI Exchange needed an accounting partner who could scale rapidly with expected growth.
The Solution
SmartBooks created a QuickBooks-based accounting system and implemented an efficient accounts payable and document management solution. Co-founder Charlie Hipwood says, “SmartBooks was the clear solution given our expense and growth needs. Although we are currently a low volume customer, we get class A service from a very capable team. We look forward to growing with Smartbooks.”
Consumer Electronics
ThinkFlood
The Company
ThinkFlood is a software and hardware company founded for the purpose of developing technological solutions that allow people to simplify their lives. Headquartered in Waltham, MA, the company's first product, the RedEye Remote Control System, is an application that gives iPhone and iPod users touch control of their TV, stereo, cable box, DVD player and many other home electronic systems.
The Situation
Like the founders of countless other start-ups that have come before them, the principals of ThinkFlood began by doing their business accounting themselves. But in concert with the launch of a beta version of RedEye in June, 2009, they expanded their business operations, brought in new employees and began building up inventory. According to founder Matt Eagar, "things were starting to get really complicated. And we were also potentially looking at a bank loan to finance some of the inventory growth." Clearly, it was time for ThinkFlood to move to a more sophisticated accounting model.
The Solution
After first bringing in another bookkeeping service that failed to satisfy their expectations, the principals of ThinkFlood were introduced to SmartBooks by a trusted advisor. Their charge to SmartBooks – help them gain a clearer view of their financial picture. In less than a week's time, ThinkFlood's books were in good, working order, and the principals had become familiar with SmartBooks' way of working. SmartBooks has subsequently supported ThinkFlood's efforts to structure a national dealer network and contributed to its growth in other meaningful ways.
"Bookkeeping isn't something we really care to be specialists in," says Eagar. "SmartBooks makes sure that the bookkeeping process is low maintenance for us and low profile, and that's actually the way we like it.
"SmartBooks does something we try to do in our own business, which is to use technology to automate the process. We're a young company, and we're trying to be as lean and low cost as possible. We believe that technology can do that for us, and SmartBooks seems to have that similar mindset.
"We've structured ourselves so that everybody in the company has laptops and our phones are actually run on our computers. We can be anywhere in the world and do our work, and we really wanted an affiliation with a company that was compatible with that approach. The SmartBooks solution is perfectly in line with the way we work – mobile, on demand and very, very responsive."
Education
Young Broadcasters of America
Watch the video testimonial:
http://blog.smartbookscorp.com/2010/05/smartbooks-commercial-by-jimmy.html
Language International
The Company
Language International helps students around the world find the right foreign language immersion programs. It represents accredited schools from 165 countries and has assisted over 30,000 students. Programs can be found online and via assistance from the company's student advisors.
The Situation
Language International is a transaction-heavy business operating with multiple foreign currencies and multiple bank accounts to conduct worldwide business. It also has outside investors and needs to periodically report financial results. Language International had struggled to keep up with its bookkeeping and engaged SmartBooks to help.
The Solution
After significant catch-up work, SmartBooks was able to get control over the various currency and bank accounts and get the books closed. In addition, SmartBooks developed an accrual-based revenue and expense recognition system to deal with significant timing differences and visa-contingent enrollments.
Co-founder Michael Reich says, “SmartBooks had the expertise to configure QuickBooks to support our business needs, and the experience to prioritize what must be done in order to close our books each month without breaking the bank on unnecessary accounting. Although we continue to push them with growing transaction counts as our business grows, they are up to the challenge.”
TeenLife Media
The Company
TeenLife is a startup "go to” resource for parents, teens, and educators actively looking for meaningful student learning experiences, both regionally, nationally, and internationally. Its award-winning website, handy guides, and face-to-face events enable busy students, parents and educators to find interesting experiential learning opportunities for teens throughout the United States.
The Situation
TeenLife needed someone to help organize and configure QuickBooks and the chart of accounts to enable reporting aligned with the company’s business segments and to help managers understand the performance of various business units. TeenLife also wanted to get more efficient and better utilize technology in its accounting operations. Facing significant growth and evolving accounting needs, it wanted an accounting solution that could effectively scale with it and support its growth.
The Solution
Feeling constrained with its prior bookkeeping solution and needing an upgrade, TeenLife engaged SmartBooks.
President and Founder Marie Schwartz says, “SmartBooks has gotten our books in much better shape and automated many of our processes, which makes a huge difference when it comes to managing accounts receivables and closing the books at month end. SmartBooks also recommended an excellent new payroll service to us and helped us with implementation.
“We are very happy with our decision to work with SmartBooks.”
High Tech
ClickFacts
The Company
ClickFacts’ goal is to protect advertising networks, publishers and online advertising buyers from malicious web attacks. Founded in 2005, ClickFacts is based in San Francisco with teams around the United States and has leveraged investors’ capital to bring its product to market.
ClickFacts is one of the first companies to provide behavior-based testing of pages and ads for malware, and now extends the testing to MySpace widgets/applications. Its service is particularly effective in protecting online advertising networks, publishers, and advertisers from malicious web attacks. Additionally, ClickFacts can prevents advertisements from running on ineffective and inappropriate sites while maximizing ad inventory value for ad networks, publishers, advertisers and ad agencies.
The Situation:
ClickFacts had used a combination of an operations manager with a number of responsibilities which included doing some of the bookkeeping in QuickBooks, as well as an outside bookkeeping firm. Principal owner Michael Caruso realized “We needed more than a bookkeeper; we needed a turnkey solution for our business.” ClickFacts needed an automated billing and accounts payable system as well as general bookkeeping services.
The Solution:
After learning about the SmartBooks model, founder Michael Caruso decided he wanted the kind of efficiency, knowledge and internal controls that SmartBooks provides. SmartBooks delivered all those things, and also in the background brought the company’s accounting into better order. Michael says, “The value that SmartBooks provides is huge.’
Investment Bank
Progress Partners
The Company
Progress Partners is a boutique investment bank that works with the owners and management of emerging growth companies to plan for, build and realize business value. Progress helps companies obtain investment capital; realize potential returns through mergers, acquisitions and other strategies; develop and implement strategic plans; and grow through expansion into new markets and acquisition of new customers.
The Situation
A relatively small company, Progress Partners was doing business with a bookkeeping firm that simply wasn't giving it sufficient attention. The problem was compounded by the fact that Progress didn't have someone on staff who functioned in a CFO capacity. Consequently, the bookkeeping system wasn't well organized or systematized. In the words of Progress partner Nick MacShane, "it just wasn't a well-orchestrated partnership."
The Solution
Nick had worked with SmartBooks' co-founder Calvin Wilder when Calvin was a principal of Thrive Networks, so he had a personal understanding of Calvin's approach to process engineering. It was, Nick says, "a no-brainer" to entrust Progress Partners' bookkeeping to SmartBooks. In particular, Nick was impressed with what he terms SmartBooks' "modern business model". Almost immediately, Progress had on-demand access to its bookkeeping system; the principals could bring up anything in the system at a moment's notice. What's more, they are extremely pleased with the kind of responsiveness they enjoy as SmartBooks' clients. For example, they use Instant Messenger when they have questions they'd like answered quickly and get immediate response. Another factor in SmartBooks' favor is pricing. It is proving to be a far less expensive solution than Progress' previous bookkeeping relationship.
"I really saw SmartBooks as an extension of a mindset," says Nick. He explains. "I'm going to be good at what I'm good at, and I'm going to accept that I'm not necessarily good at other things. I'm going to outsource those things that I'm not great at.
"SmartBooks is a very innovative kind of company. I talk about them as being smart, responsive, competent – all the favorable adjectives you can think of.
"There's something about the immediacy and the ability to bring everything up at a moment's notice that is refreshing about what they're doing. It's accounting on your schedule. It's a way to bring your accounting into the 21st Century."
IT Services
G2 Technology Group
The Company
G2 Technology Group is an IT consulting firm, providing business focused technology solutions for small to medium sized businesses. Having the personal touch of a smaller firm and the resources of a larger organization, G2 Technology Group is able to provide clients with a higher level of personalized service to meet their unique needs. With in-house experts on all major operating systems, G2 has the knowledge and skills needed to manage multi-platform environments to their fullest potential.
The Situation
G2 Technology Group had some unique business needs and was operating with multiple bank accounts and credit card accounts which required a significant amount of bookkeeping. Initially owner Glenn Grant was handling the daily transactions, and he was looking to reassign that responsibility so he could invest his time in higher value activities.
The Solution
Glenn engaged Smartbooks for help with bookkeeping as well as consulting on select financial issues. SmartBooks was able to account for all the bank and credit card account transactions and get the books closed each month. Glenn says, “As an entrepreneur having your finger on the financial pulse of your company is key. An organization that can take the day to day financial responsibilities off your hands, while at the same time providing the next level fiscal insight a growing company needs is a hard find. SmartBooks is that company for us.”
Computer Troubleshooters
The Company
Computer Troubleshooters offers computer support and complete information technology (IT) solutions for small businesses. As part of a franchise, the local office leveraged the experience of its own people with the resources of the franchise to stay on top of IT industry trends and opportunities. Computer Troubleshooters provides responsive problem resolution as well as proactive managed service plans to maintain systems and prevent problems.
The Situation
"As a growing business we made various changes in our internal structure, more recently in the office management position and associated responsibilities. We found ourselves challenged to maintain consistency with the bookkeeping functions, including sales tax payments and vendor payments, during the candidate search. We were also concerned about having to take the time to train the replacement and maintain the required level of internal controls while running the risk of having to repeat the process if the new office manager did not work out."
The Solution
"After doing some research we contacted SmartBooks and were able to find a reliable solution to outsource our bookkeeping functions while also getting much improved financial reporting to understand our business’s performance . With SmartBooks overseeing the bookkeeping, we were able to lower the risk of problems related to staff turnover as well as keep processes consistent and efficient at all times without the bookkeeping being affected by our hiring process.
"We are very happy with our Accounting Associate, Sarah and SmartBooks services. Our company is excited about the future and we feel more confident about results with Smartbooks on our side."
Law Firm
Black & Buono, P.C.
The Company
Black & Buono is a law firm based in Framingham, MA specializing in real estate and bankruptcy law. Founded in 1979, the firm represents individuals, financial institutions, private lenders, developers and corporations in a broad spectrum of real estate transactions and land-use matters. Black & Buono advises advises individuals in the acquisition and sale of residential properties. It also provides bankruptcy counsel to individuals and corporations.
The Situation
For the better part of its history, Black & Buono drew upon the services of either in-house full-time or part-time bookkeepers. Most recently, it had a bookkeeper who came in two nights a week to do the work. "She would prepare all the checks and basically I would come in and sign them, and my secretary would mail them out," says Anthony Buono. "When I think back, it probably was a very 19th Century way of doing things."
The Solution
Black & Buono saw the SmartBooks business model as a meaningful break with the past. While the cost of bringing in SmartBooks was roughly comparable to what the firm had been paying for bookkeeping previously, the benefits were substantial. "The big advantage, and I think it was a huge one, is that my partner and I can manage the payment of our bills on the computer from just about anywhere," says Anthony. Additionally, Black & Buono now has complete understanding and control over how their cash flow is managed. In fact, they now have the ability to manage their cash any time changes occur in the practice.
"I’ve been in business for almost 30 years," Anthony says, "and I have never been so satisfied and pleased with the way cash comes in and out of here.
"I have complete understanding and control over how the cash flow is managed. I’m able to understand the receivables and pay bills with just the stroke of the keyboard. I’m not dependent on somebody. I can do it when I’m ready to do it. I don’t have to stay here Tuesday and Thursday nights and wait for the bookkeeper.
"I can’t even begin to tell you what a transformation it’s made in my daily practice. It’s a 21st Century way of doing business."
Marketing
Digital Bungalow, Inc.
The Company
Founded in 1999, Digital Bungalow is a Digital Marketing & Technology agency dedicated to producing measurable business results. It combines sound strategy, award-winning creative talent, robust technology and in-depth customer analytics to create digital marketing programs that enable its clients to connect with customers and achieve their most important business goals. It delivers website and e-commerce experiences, rich internet applications, email marketing, search engine marketing, social media and mobile marketing solutions for long-standing clients such as Amtrak, Amtrak Vacations, Bob's Discount Furniture, Dow Jones, National Amusements and Wall Street Journal.
The Situation
Digital Bungalow had grown significantly and was relying on an employee who had a number of administrative and operational responsibilities to also do the bookkeeping. With longer term client engagements and a significant number of large projects, the need for accurate accrual-based financial reports became apparent to its owners. Aside from efficient and effective core bookkeeping, management needed useful financial reports to help make good business decisions.
The Solution
The agency found the perfect ally in SmartBooks, which implemented efficient technology systems as well as an accrual-based revenue and expense recognition system and a customized monthly financial report . CEO Nate Wolfson says, "SmartBooks has proven to be invaluable during our time of expansion. They offer a clean and simple system with an incredibly responsive support team behind it. We are very happy with our decision to work with SmartBooks and hope to continue to grow with them as our business and bookkeeping needs change."
|
 |
