dbooks bookkeeping services

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a company called Brooklyn Robot Foundry. We teach robot building and basic engineering classes to kids and adults.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with dbooks bookkeeping services?

Our previous bookkeeper wasn’t doing a good job, and I didn’t trust that their work was accurate. We needed someone new who could do that for us because we didn’t have time to do it ourselves.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

dbooks does all of our bookkeeping using QuickBooks. Donna (Owner) categorizes our income and expenses and creates our profit and loss (P&L) statements, while Chris (Operations Manager) creates our financial reports.

Donna started by getting my books ready. Eventually, we began to consider starting a franchise, and we consulted with her for that. She then helped us set up our chartered accounts so we could adopt a franchising model. After getting all of our books prepped and organized, she switched us over to Chris, who has been our day-to-day bookkeeper since 2016. We just hired a director of administration who’s in charge of forecasting and budgeting, and he works closely with Chris to conduct high-level forecasting.

What is the team composition?

I work primarily with Chris and Donna.

How did you come to work with dbooks bookkeeping services?

I forgot how I found Donna, but I met up with her. She's just knew everything about finance and bookkeeping, so I was very confident that she would be amazing. 

How much have you invested with them?

Their annual retainer is $23,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2016, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Thanks to dbooks, our taxes get done on time because they keep our books up to date. Every month, they input the money we put in and out. Their efforts ensure that we file our sales and income taxes on time without any issues. Donna was also really knowledgeable and helped us with franchising.

It’s also really nice that our director of administration doesn't have to do the nitty-gritty of the bookkeeping. It allows us to be more strategic and forward-thinking. Having a competent team to do it has been such a lift — we’re able to grow and expand with the confidence that our day-to-day finances are solid.

How did dbooks bookkeeping services perform from a project management standpoint?

The team is straightforward to work with. It’s easy to get a hold of dbooks whenever we have any questions. In terms of project management tools, we only use spreadsheets. Chris is also very organized. He keeps a spreadsheet that we use for our back-and-forth — all his questions are in one section, and I put my answer on the opposite of that, then he marks it as done. It’s just a very organized way of communicating, which is essential when it comes to bookkeeping. In the past, we had issues with our previous bookkeeper because some details were lost in our communications. However, Chris captures everything. The system works really well, and it allows us to track every important detail we need.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re on top of every single little thing, which is precisely how a bookkeeper should be. We have to discuss the very minutia of our finances. Sometimes Chris will ask questions about small purchases, and I’m amazed because I didn’t even think about that. He cares about everything down to the penny, and that’s what makes him do his job well. His attention to detail is remarkable, and it’s something I didn’t see in any of our past bookkeepers. He’s also very independent — now that he understands how our business works, we don’t have to guide him too much anymore. We're busy with other things, so it’s nice knowing that he’s got it covered. Overall, they’re wonderful, and I adore them so much.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There isn’t anything they could do better. I love working with dbooks.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I definitely recommend them to everyone, especially small businesses. They're fantastic.