Crossing Borders Shouldn’t Make You (or your client) Cross

Clearly, this is not a real accountant. Too well-rested.

Often what is good for the business, like expanding markets and shopping for the best price anywhere in the world, can create nightmares for the accounting team. It’s complex enough just figuring out shipping and logistics across international borders, but add to that the complexity of regulatory compliance and transacting in foreign currencies and you begin to understand why accountants generally want you to stay close to home – for both buying and selling/payables and recievables. They might even resort to begging. This opinion puts many accountants in the unfortunate position of being adverse to overarching business needs (and the rest of the company focused on driving sales) as they are overwhelmed by the effort required in managing everything. 

Covid made it clear to organizations that were already wrestling with aspects of their business built around manual check deposits, wire transfers with complex forms and trips to the bank, and manual bill payments both domestic and international, that something had to change.

We have good news for companies and the accountants who keep them moving forward. At least when it comes to global payments, it doesn’t have to be complicated – for either the sender or the receiver of the funds.   Digital solutions are available and affordable and can eliminate not only the hassle of transmitting the funds but also eliminate the inquiries resulting from invisibility once a transaction is initiated.

Here’s how to find a payment solution that can turn those cross-eyed accountants into business advocates.

1. Mass(bulk) Pay. Look for options to make multiple payments at once. This feature should be available without limits on either the number of transactions or the total amount of the batch.

2. Integration with Accounting Software. Your solution should offer full integration with your accounting application including incoming and outgoing payments (without requiring a monthly subscription to do so.)

3. Recurring Payments. By automating repetitive global payments, your systems will reduce the possibility of errors and you control the cash.

4. Workflow. Seek a solution that supports the internal controls you need in your business, rather than bypassing them for global payments. Look for different levels of approval.

5. Support. Look for a technology provider that provides timely, live expert support for your global and domestic digital payments.

6. Affordable. Look for global and domestic payment solutions that don’t take a big chunk out of your funds on a per transaction basis and then add a monthly fee for the pleasure. While you will still have exchange rate differences, you shouldn’t have to deal with bank fees on each side of the transaction and per transaction fees.

7. Transparency. The right solution will eliminate the guessing game that goes on between the sender and receiver of global payments. You need to know at the point of origination what you will be sending or receiving in your own currency.

With the right payment solution in place, accountants can become champions for more global business and can spend their time proactively managing those expanded forecasts they never had time to create. They can become advocates in the organization’s growth and evolution without having to take on additional low value work, respond to inquiries about the status of payments, or spend time reconciling different payments in different places.

An all-in-one solution like Veem makes it pain free to manage global payments while helping the company keep more of that important cash flow while doing it.

When you’re ready to start putting business goals ahead of AP/AR anxiety, its easy to get started and free to try Veem out.

About the author

Geni Whitehouse, CPA is a part-time consulting member of a CPA firm serving wineries and a co-founder of a bookkeeping business.  She is a speaker and author and is always in search of solutions that free accountants (both inside and outside companies) to add more value.

A Veem user herself, Geni has seen the challenge of selling products and services across borders and really appreciates the ability to manage it easily in Veem.

Common Myths about Advisory

Me?
Become an Advisor?
Can’t you see I’m busy?

What is keeping you from changing the way you work with clients? From becoming a highly valued partner in your client’s business success? From billing for the impact you make rather than the number of hours you spend?

I’m guessing it is one of these commonly held (but erroneous) beliefs:

• Small business clients won’t spend money on advisory services

FACT: Small businesses are desperate for insights, for advice, for automation that helps them do more with less. If you can show them how to improve their financial results they can afford to pay you. Teach them how to fund that small* additional investment it will take to get you on their team. *By small, I mean small in relation to the impact you can make on their business. What’s $10,000 if you can improve cash flow by $100,000?

• Accountants don’t make very good advisors

FACT: Accountants have the perfect skills to help their clients build the business of their dreams, but they need to apply those skills in new ways and get training from others (like me). They need detailed guides and “ how to’s” that make it easy for them to provide repeatable services across their client base. Anyone who can work with numbers and understand the flow of information through a business can deliver Level 5 Advisory services. There are no training prerequisites to this material.

• I don’t have time to develop a new service line

FACT: You would have time if you stopped serving some of those low paying, highly demanding clients of yours. What if you had 5 really good clients a year? How would your life change?

• Advisory work is difficult to systematize and leverage

FACT: It would be difficult if you had to create the materials yourself. But we’ve done the work for you. With more than 100 tools, including 14 hours of videos, you have everything you need all in one Online Training Program. These tools, created by Edi Osborne at MentorPlus, are the very tools I use with winery clients in the Napa Valley. They have been used by firms all over the world, resulting in millions of dollars of additional revenues.

All it takes is a shift in the way you see yourself and the great work that you do.
Don’t listen to the voices of doubt in your head.
Start now. Stop pushing that rock up a hill. Make an investment in yourself.

Making Space for Advisory: Kondo Your Clients

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Does it bring you JOY?

One of the main hurdles to offering advisory services is often the lack of capacity.  I hear from accountants on a regular basis who lament the fact that they have more work than they can handle and while they would like to offer advisory services, they just can't find the time to do so. 

Well, if this is you and you are doing the kind of work you want to do, are getting paid what you are worth, and are living the life of your dreams, then HOORAY. Go ahead and write that book, enjoy your yacht, and keep up the good work.

For everyone else (who like me, keeps so busy doing the oppressive, low value work that we can’t make room for the fun, high value stuff) it’s time for a change. It’s time to make space.

I gained new perspective as I just moved from one living space to another last weekend. I had no idea how much junk I could accumulate in a relatively small period of time in a relatively small space. While I was there, I spent a lot of time seeking out new storage solutions to hold more and more things that I didn’t really need. This move made me realize that I didn’t want to transfer and store items that didn’t bring me joy (yes I have tried unsuccessfully to do the Kondo method in my personal life numerous times).

It also made me realize that as accountants, we should do exactly the same thing. Only keep the work, the clients, the type of projects that bring you JOY.

Joy leads to great work, to maximum appreciation on the part of clients, and to all kinds of freedom along the way. And thanks to my recent move and applied KONDO cutting, I finally have room for that Abacus I have been learning how to use, not to mention my collection of Geni Lamps and kissing basset hound salt and pepper shakers* (pictured right).

*One poor basset is still missing her partner - I have a few more boxes left to search.

Is it a people or process issue?

The next time a business owner complains to you about an employee, or wishes his team could act or behave differently, or complains about not being able to go on vacation because no one will step up, ask her that one question.

She will stop dead in her tracks and look at you funny, cocking her head slightly. She will start to think or even say “Hmmm, I never thought of that.”

So which do you think it is? What causes an employee to perform poorly in his or her role?

Most of us would default to people. We think Bill or Sarah are just not capable. We assume it is a lack of skill, or motivation, or desire that keeps them from doing the job well. But when we ask an owner to consider this question, it opens the door for a new perspective. We can then ask questions of that owner.

• Does the problem happen with just Bill? Has it happened with others in this role?

• Is the process documented? Or does it live inside someone’s head? Does Sally have enough information to make the same decision you might make when confronted with a problem or challenge?

• What information do you share with your teams? Do they know how their actions contribute to your overall financial goals?

• Do you have a strategic plan?

• Who sits at your leadership table?

• Have you ever offered financial training to your employees?

From our experience, the root of most performance challenges can be traced to processes — either they don’t exist, aren’t documented, or don’t make sense. People don’t wake up each morning hoping to perform badly in their roles. They just spend their day working around unnecessary obstacles to success with no clear direction or understanding of what they are doing and why it matters.

Level 5 Certified Advisors have tools (starting with the first lesson they complete in the online training) that they can put work in helping those employees and their leaders succeed. It’s why we do this work.

Does Your Virtual Appearance Need A Facelift?

It used to be enough just to have a website, but expectations and devices have evolved at a rapid pace so that brochure-like website you built ten years ago simply won’t cut it anymore. It probably won’t look very good on a mobile device. And what about those colors that were all the rage back in 2006? Has your marketing focus shifted? Has your company direction changed? Is that mission statement still ringing true?

Now is the time to take a fresh look at your web presence.  Here are some elements to review: 

1. Design specs.  Today’s websites are developed using responsive design, meaning they are designed to shift based on the device that is being used by the viewer. Rather than having hard-coded fields in a fixed position, these newer websites optimize the size and placement of different components for individual devices.  Ask your web developer if these principles have been applied to your site, or just try accessing your site from your phone. Does it appear as a tiny, unreadable version of your standard website? If so, it is time for an update.

2. Content.  Have you kept the content on your website updated? Are new blog posts and articles added on a regular basis?  If not, and if you don’t have time to write the content yourself, you might want to consider getting some outside help. Hire a copywriter to help you refresh your articles and blog posts. Also, consider trimming down the amount of copy on your site. In today’s world, people have short attention spans, so less is more when it comes to content. 

3. Social media links. Your website should connect to standard social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In at a minimum. Ask your web developer to add social media toolbars to each page of your website. If you are using WordPress or other content management systems, ask them to locate plugins for this purpose. 

4. Email capture. Make sure you have a place to capture email contact information so you have a way to notify current and prospective customers when you have news, events, or special pricing. 

5. Contact information. Do you have a Twitter handle listed on your contact page? Do you really need to make that Fax number so prominent on the page? 

6. Tone. Does your tone still reflect the personality of your business? You might have changed the makeup of the business over time. If so, you want the website to reflect the voice of your team in an authentic way. 

7. Images. Check the photos and illustrations on your site. Make sure there are no conflicts with the messages or images that have become outdated or irrelevant. (Does that cellphone look like it came from the dark ages? Is that computer monitor taking up half of the desk? Is that copy talking about modems?)

8. Bios. Review these on a regular basis for employee updates, and be sure to look for information that can become dated. (Instead of, “John has been an employee for XX years”, say, “John has been with the company since xxxx.” This sentence structure will never go out of date.)

9. Colors. That shade of green might have seemed like a good idea when you first created your website, but color palettes change over time. Consider getting a designer’s opinion about how you might add new life to your website wallpaper. Be sure, however, to stay consistent with your corporate colors.

To keep your customers and prospects engaged with your website, you need to keep it vibrant and fresh, both visually and through content. Ultimately, your website, like all other forms of communication, should represent your company—it should give your visitors a sense of what to expect when they walk through the doors of your office. You also want it to be memorable enough that they are willing to share a link to it with everyone they know.