Bookkeeping made easy! 3 monthly steps with Courtney Martin

Are you struggling to juggle the financial side of your business with the demands of being a mom? Or maybe you're looking for ways to achieve a better work-life balance while still building a successful business from home? 

In this episode of Mompreneur Mastery, we dig deep into the world of entrepreneurship with the incredible Courtney Martin, owner of Quadrant Bookkeeping. 

We cover everything from the challenges and rewards of being a mom entrepreneur to the key steps for effective bookkeeping and how to avoid common mistakes.

Here are some key takeaways from this empowering conversation:

- Set aside specific time each month for bookkeeping, following the three major steps: categorizing, reconciling, and analyzing.

- Importance of open communication about money and seeking personalized assistance in areas like bookkeeping, to avoid costly mistakes and provide peace of mind for your business's financial health.

- Overcome the stigma and shame around discussing money by creating a supportive, open environment where you can share experiences and learn from others.

- Utilize personalized resources and tools to streamline your bookkeeping process and avoid unnecessary expenses while choosing suitable software for your specific business needs.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Number Navigator: Your Bookkeeping Software Match Quiz

Follow Courtney on Instagram!

1 Month of Conversation Starters Content Calendar

Double down on your efforts, not your time with the Content Maximizer System

Music courtesy of Pixabay

Transcript

sydney (2): 0:39

Hey there and welcome back to another episode of mompreneur mastery. Do you ever feel like your business finances are a total mystery. You are not alone today. I'm going to chat with Courtney Martin, the financial fairy godmother, who is empowering female entrepreneurs to unlock the secrets of their numbers and turn them into profits.

Sydney: 0:59

I record this podcast while I'm home with my kids. So you might hear them in the background if that doesn't sum up mom, prenuer life. I don't know what does, but you will still be able to enjoy this really great episode..Hey, Courtney, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?

Courtney: 2:03

Yeah. So hi everybody. My name is Courtney Martin. I am an entrepreneur. I own my business called Quadrant Bookkeeping. So I do bookkeeping for female business owners, helping them out, managing their finances. Setting them up with a solid, um, financial foundation so that they can continue to grow their businesses and make sure that nothing below them is going to crumble as they, you know, get bigger and have more on their plates.

Sydney: 2:33

That is so important. Um, and what made you want to be a mompreneur, like doing this while staying home?

Courtney: 2:40

Yeah, so I have a two year old, he turned to about Oh my gosh, almost a month ago. March has gone by so fast. Um, so he turned two at the end of February and um, I had him, you know, two years ago and At the time I was a teacher. I taught high school cooking classes and I I love teaching don't get me wrong, but I didn't feel like I could be a good Teacher and a good mom because both of those things just require you to give your all while you're there And i'm a person who I need my me time. I need time to recharge. I'm an introvert I remember my first year teaching I'd come home and um my husband who was then at the time my boyfriend and he'd be like Why aren't you talking to me? And i'm like i'm literally just all talked out like I don't have anything else to give you Um, because it's just like I love teaching and I love being there for my students, but it did take so much from me. So when I was like looking at, you know, I became a mother, I had this newborn and I knew I wanted to be able to raise him. I knew I wanted to be able to be active and do things with him. I didn't feel like I could do both well. And when the pandemic hit, my district was one of the ones who, um, we had to teach in person students and we had to teach online students, but we had to teach them at the same time. I didn't have to put classes. So I had to be like, I had kids sitting in the classroom and then I had to sit there on the computer teaching everybody. And I had such a difficult time that year because I was, I was constantly feeling like I was filling one set of kids. Either I wasn't interacting enough with the in person kids because I was answering so many questions online, or I was ignoring the online kids because I had to be out in the classroom with my other students. And it really, that really, really affected me. So I just knew I was like, I cannot be put in the situation where I have polarizing needs and constantly feel bad that I'm failing one set or the other. And I was just like, I just can't do it. Um, when I was teaching, I also, um, opened a virtual assistant business and I did pretty good there. Um, but I did a lot of creative virtual work. And with that I found it wasn't very consistent, the constant trying to find new clients and, um, you know, just. Was applying for jobs never knowing what's going to be happening next month and When considering, you know, being a mompreneur and staying at home, I knew that for my family, we needed that consistency, which is why I transitioned into bookkeeping because it is like, I get to work with my clients month to month to month instead of just shorter term projects. And I like the bookkeeping of course.

Sydney: 5:21

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And the like introvert piece that you mentioned hits home a lot. I've actually talked to several different mompreneurs that like came from teaching, with like similar stories. And yeah, that It's a very like emotionally draining. It seems.

Courtney: 5:40

It is. Um, and I'm not going to say like every day is emotionally draining. Like when I was a teacher, you know, I had a really, I had a really great position. I had really great students. Um, but I wanted to be there for them and I couldn't. Also be there in the same way for my child at the same time. I just couldn't do both well and Not being able to do both. Well, I know would have just torn me up inside and it would have made me feel awful So yeah

Sydney: 6:14

that makes sense. It's really interesting to see This like huge shift and it might be because I live in like my little mompreneur or echo chamber on Instagram, but it seems like I just see like so many Moms, taking advantage of like this flexibility and staying home with your kids while also having a entire business. so it's really cool. And I'm so glad we get to benefit from that.

Courtney: 6:39

I'm very glad that I live in today where we get to do this because even 20 years ago this wouldn't have been really possible. Like, even if I'd opened up my own business, I probably would have still had like an office that I would have had to, you know, then pay for as an expense for my business. Like, it just wasn't really heard of like a virtual bookkeeper or social media manager, like even all these new positions that have opened up because of the way our world is. Um, so I definitely feel lucky that I am in this time period where not only is it possible, but I'm actually doing it, you know? Um, I, I see a lot of women who want to do something like we do. We want, they're, they don't want to put their kids in daycare. They don't want to have to go back into working, working in an office. And I think that was also one of my draws. Was, um, you know, seeing these moms who are so heartbroken after, you know, having to leave their kids at six weeks, eight weeks, you know, 12 weeks to go back to a job that they were like, I don't want to do that. One of the goals that I have is to be able to grow my business enough that I can hire. Other women and moms so that they aren't having to face Those heartbreaking decisions because I I was just heartbroken seeing all these women Um, I was part of like a due date group And so all our kids were bored within like a month of each other and just seeing those posts after post after post of like I don't want to and I have to because it was just heartbreaking So one of my goals when I get there is I want to be able to hire um Mom so that they have another option

Sydney: 8:23

That is a great goal and it's awesome. Not because it means so much for your business, but also the ability to help another mom like that because those kind of service based things are very easy to make virtual businesses. So I see a lot of like mom business owners that are like, do what I do, social media or like, uh, virtual assistant type of stuff in

Courtney: 8:46

and I I think that again just having the ability to do that is Um, I wish there were more resources out there on how to do it well and how to like, like set up that solid foundation because you can have a passion for what you do. But as a business owner, that's just not enough. Like we have so many hats that we wear. Like you do need to know the financial side. You do need to know how to market yourself. You do need to know sales. And so I think If if possible like just like what resources are out there and I understand people can't give away things for free I can't give away bookkeeping for free um Because then I wouldn't have a job and you wouldn't have a job like we can't give away these things for free but Even just giving them a point where they can say Start off where it doesn't have to be something paid, but they're, they're still able to learn. They're still able to get their own client so that they can further grow to the point where then they're not only like pulling an income in for themselves, then they can again, spread that around by hiring others. So it's just like giving away that, like, I don't giving away information to help them build their businesses is so important for other business owners to realize because they could potentially become a client later.

Sydney: 10:02

Yeah, that's very true. You can help more people that way. Um, in lots of ways, honestly. Why did you go to being like a bookkeeper specifically? Was that like a skill you already had or?

Courtney: 10:14

Yeah, so, um, bookkeeping was actually something that you did as a teacher. Um, so I taught mainly cooking classes and part of that is I was given budgets from the school, I was given budgets from the state, I was given money from like the students families themselves to go out and buy, and Ingredients and equipment that I needed in order to um, you know have the cooking labs that we did And part of that was like they were like here's all your money Now you got to keep track of it and record your expenses Reconcile your accounts every month. So I I knew that this was something I enjoyed Um, I I will say when I was a teacher. I didn't do it every every month even though I was supposed to um, I Because we just didn't really have the time. You know, teachers don't have the time. Um, but when I was able to sit down, and I was able to work through it all, it felt like, it was just very fulfilling to me. Like they each have a place and when you put them all in the right place, it makes a picture. And when you have the picture and it's not done, you have then have to be like, okay, what's wrong. And being able to like work through what's potentially wrong is really like, I just love doing that. Like what, what's wrong. And then just finding out what's wrong is like, just brings me so much joy. It's like, I did it. You know, so I knew I enjoyed bookkeeping. Um, when I had my son, I did a lot of research into different, you know, opportunities. Like, yes, I could, you know, continue with virtual assistance and find out ways that I could, you know, have longer contracts, new services that I could offer. Um, I was just concerned when I I was exceptionally niched down, um, which was so helpful because I was able to find clients who needed my specific services. And I was worried about trying to offer more generalized services as a virtual assistant, um, because I feel like it's harder to find clients for that. Um, whereas for bookkeeping, because that is a niche skill, like in and of itself, I felt more confident in being able to find clients who needed bookkeeping than just clients who needed a general VA.

Sydney: 12:29

that makes a lot of sense.

Courtney: 12:31

Yeah, I was I was very much looking at the stability and I also will say like I didn't just go into this because i'm like, oh I can make money doing this It is something that I enjoy and I think that those are two very important aspects Like if you are considering being an entrepreneur Making sure like it's something that you enjoy doing as well as something that you know, you can do to help others

Sydney: 12:53

Yeah. Getting that like satisfaction and having the joy doing it definitely makes it easier, like to keep going.

Courtney: 13:00

Oh, yeah

Sydney: 13:01

cause yeah, it can, it can be rough,

Courtney: 13:03

Oh yeah,

Sydney: 13:04

it's worth it if it's the right thing.

Courtney: 13:06

definitely. You, I was reflecting on this just a couple weeks ago. I was on a walk and I was thinking about how, while I love being an entrepreneur, sometimes it's like I just wish that someone would tell me what to do. Like I'd have a boss, you know, and I wouldn't have to worry about like getting clients and all this. All these other things but on the other hand I do get that freedom and flexibility I get to I get to choose who I work with I get to choose what I do every day I get like yes, I have deadlines and things but I can Figure out how i'm gonna get to that deadline I don't have someone sitting there being like you have to be here at 8 a. m And you have to teach this class at this time and you need the new like all these other things and so to me like Yes, sometimes I do miss the structure of being told what to do. I would not trade it for the flexibility.

Sydney: 13:56

Yeah. Same. Like it can be a little chaotic, which drives me insane at some points, but that like the freedom of the flexibility is just like a much better fit for like me and also my whole family.

Courtney: 14:10

right. Mm hmm. Exactly.

Sydney: 14:12

So we talked earlier about how kind of chaotic being an entrepreneur is and my audience specifically as mompreneurs, which just adds, as you know, this extra level of chaos. Is there some kind of structure that mompreneurs can follow when it comes to bookkeeping?

Courtney: 14:30

Yeah. And that's a great question. I think. One of the things that really intimidates people is they're like, Oh, I'm going to have to go spend hours. I have to do this every week. Those kinds of things. Like it immediately is almost like a stopping point for them because it just puts them off so much from, um, even starting their bookkeeping. I, uh, partially like to choose a day, the first week of the month. So, um, you know, Next month is april April 1st is monday So anytime that that full week i'm going to choose a day to do my bookkeeping for the previous month so it's not something that you have to like constantly be in Software or constantly do but I do recommend keeping up with it once a month because letting it pile up past that It becomes very hard to manage very time consuming Um, so that's the first thing is just set aside a day the first You Week of the month to do it for the previous month. Um, that way at least you're keeping up with it I like to follow three major steps. Um for bookkeeping. So the first one is going to be categorizing So when you're looking at your software What you're going to do is like you go in and it's pulling in the numbers from your bank That's what it connects to and so when it pulls in that that information, you know, it'll be like okay on march 18th You paid for canva and you paid this much for canva What was it for? And so that's categorizing. So you're going in, you're labeling, okay, Canva was a software subscription I have, so I'm going to label it a software. Um, you know, okay, I have my email, which is Outlook. That's also a subscription. Okay, I bought office supplies off of Amazon, labeling it as office supplies. Because your software doesn't know what you bought. It knows where you bought it, because that's usually what it, what it brings in is. The place it doesn't know what you've bought. So you have to take that and you have to categorize those transactions So that's the first step. The second step Um is to reconcile your accounts So at the end of the month, um when everything is already categorized What you want to do is you want to take your bank statement or your credit card statement? Um and reconcile your accounts. This is double checking that everything that is in your software Matches with your what your bank says Sometimes, you know, if there's like an update, something will get missed. Um, I have a bank that one of my clients has and it will purchase something and then she'll go in and cancel the purchase. And so it'll show the charge, but it doesn't show the refund. And so then it's like, I know that there's a mistake there. So you're really just reconciling is double checking that what actually happened in your bank is actually in your software. Um, and if not, like, okay, transactions are missing. I need to add them in. Okay. I've got extra transactions. I need to delete them. So, you know, like. Everything from your, um, software is correct so that when you do hand it over, there's going to be no problems with, like, your taxes, um, and, and, and making sure that, again, You have all your expenses, which are your tax deductions. You have your income and it's properly recorded. So categorize then reconcile and then the third thing is reading your reports Um a lot of people I will say like they've just glanced at their reports um, which If you're at like a beginner level in your business like you're you're just starting Um is is great. That's a great first step, but really Understanding your profit and loss report and your balance sheet because there's are two separate reports. Um that show different. Um, Financial sides of your business. It's very important to make sure that you're on track Um, and not just meaning you're like Income goals, like what do I want to make but also like, okay. Well, what's my savings goal? What's my um, What's the goal I have for? um The future because having those thoughts now And planning for them now and knowing how to look for them now is going to help you get there If you just say well I want to have a really successful business and I want to grow and I want to hire other people How are your numbers reflecting that what are you doing to strengthen? You All of your numbers across the board so that you can live out those dreams So it's not just reading your reports, which you should do. I, a lot of people just don't even do that steps. First of all, read your reports. But you know, really spend some time, I have a book here called the 60 minutes CFO, which stands for chief financial officer. first two chapters talk about your balance sheet and how to read it and your, um, profit and loss report. I think even just those first two chapters, I was literally over here going. My mind is blown and I almost feel like I almost feel like giggling and being like I know something you don't know Because it's just so powerful how this information is so impactful for your business. So Cauterize reconcile read your reports

Sydney: 19:28

super good information. And, um, Yeah, as you were saying that, and I was like, Oh man, a lot of this relates to Instagram. I would constantly tell people like, read your, read your insights, look at your numbers, make a plan around that. So, cause it's great to have goals and like, we all want to get those goals, but without like having a way, a specific way you have having a specific plan to meet those goals, like the chances of it actually happening.

Courtney: 19:55

Right and just even having that information To back up your goals. Yeah

Sydney: 20:01

Yeah.

Courtney: 20:02

You know, we can I could all I could stay here and say I want to make a million dollars this year well I mean could I i'm not gonna rule it out, but like You know, like do my fight do does my data support that? No

Sydney: 20:16

Yeah. That's, that's super good to know. Um, I, myself, I'm thinking, man, I need to, I need to read my reports a little closer.

Courtney: 20:24

Probably if you have any questions, you know where to find me

Sydney: 20:27

I do. You're like the best person to ask questions to. Cause I feel like I am not a numbers person at all. And like, especially with money things, I get so anxious. I'm like, I don't know what this is. Um, and that's why I really loved working with you. It's kind of intimidating to ask for help, especially, uh, with money things. Cause I feel like there's like this weird, like shame thing, like don't talk about money. Um, but you were always there. So like open and honest and like not judgmental. It was just amazing to work with.

Courtney: 21:01

I, I thank you for that. That's definitely something that I try to embody. I don't want anyone to feel ashamed of the things that they've done. Have I done things with my own money, my own business money that I'm not proud of? Of course. Um, have I made investments that weren't good? Yes. Have I, you know, put things on credit cards I shouldn't have? Yes. Um, and I think that you're right. There is a shame in there. It is. And I come from like a place of, I am ashamed, not that people are shaming me. Um, I saw a post recently about someone talking, um, they went to the bank with their young daughter and, and their daughter was like, why is everyone whispering at the bank? And it's because, and, um, and the, you know, the mom answered, well, people don't want other people who know about their money, like they don't want that known, um, And it's just something that I feel like as a culture, like we are, have been taught to be so private about even like my mom, like all I try to talk about money with my mom and she'll be like, what's on your business? And I'm like, You know, like it's just like you don't talk about that with people so It is something that's hard to talk about because you're taught not to And it's something that we're taught to feel shame of when we do make mistakes Um, and that's something that I grew up feeling a lot of shame for things. I didn't know. Um, I had a developmental delay and My teachers didn't know and so the things that I did wrong um, I feel like to me teachers had strong reactions to and I can feel how I can understand how it was frustrating like they told me to do something and I Didn't listen well on the back end of that. I have a really bad short term memory So you may have told me to do something but I literally forgot And so I can see how it was frustrating that they were constantly like Courtney do this, Courtney do this, Courtney do this um, so But, and I remember like going to teachers when I didn't understand things and I had a teacher in high school This is awful. I had a teacher in high school It's my senior year and it was like one of those classes like you needed to graduate and I was like I went to him After like our first test and I had marked an answer. I thought it was right I didn't understand why I got it wrong because I was like I thought this was a correct answer And so I went and I asked him I was like, hey, I I got this wrong and I don't understand He was like well explain it And I was like, well, I just don't understand it. And he's like, no, you need to explain it. And I was like, I don't understand. And he just would not, he'd like, no, you need to explain it. And I was just like, I literally just stopped. I put a zero effort in that class. I remember turning in my homework late all the time, sitting out in the hallway instead of being in class because I didn't do my homework, like, because I was like, I'm not going to try when I have tried, and this is how I met. So, unfortunately, like, with those experiences in mind, I never want anyone to feel that way. I never want anyone to feel like they're stupid or dumb. I never want someone to feel like they can't come to me and ask me a question. Because I've been there and it sucks.

Sydney: 24:11

Yeah, it, it does. And I know I am grateful for your like expertise and that amazing, just understanding and I'm sure like so many other people are as well, because yeah, there is like that weird hush hush around money and like, I kind of get it. Like it's personal, but also it just creates so many problems in the future.

Courtney: 24:37

Mm hmm.

Sydney: 24:38

Is it, is it worth it to be that hush hush about it? I

Courtney: 24:41

Right. Especially with certain people.

Sydney: 24:44

Yeah,

Courtney: 24:45

You know, your bookkeeper, your banker, your CPA. Those are definitely people like you should be able to open up to. I do think the financial industry as a whole, we're not great at communicating. I'm really bad at following up with people. Like if you ask me a question, sometimes I'll be like, I'll read it and then like my son will like go like step in the dog water So then I put my phone down and then I literally just completely forget to respond um Right because then i'm like, oh my god, I never responded. Are you still looking for help? Do you still need me? Um, that's like go back like a month later. And so I will say like we're not great at communicating as a whole I personally have a minor in communication like interpersonal communication. So talking with other people i'm better than I think most financial professionals because I hear all the time"I asked a question and they literally just even looked at me like I was stupid", you know, like, or"I was made to feel stupid." And I've even been on a call where I didn't know something. So I hired another bookkeeper to help me out and she was kind of expensive too. Um, and she asked me a question and I was like, Oh, I don't ask my clients for that. And she was like, well, you need it. And it was just like the tone, like everything, like I'd be, and then of course that turns into, should I even be doing this like that imposter syndrome? And I just can't imagine how it is for other people like, um, who are hiring these, like, again, like I even hired someone and they did that to me. So the financial industry as a whole is not great with communication. Um, and I hate that because at the end of the day, it does make people feel bad. And I don't, that's again, one of the things, like, I don't want people to feel bad.

Sydney: 26:37

Yeah, I totally get that. Um, and I feel like you can find that in like, it's an issue in lots of different like service providers because you have like this ongoing working relationship that should be, um, Uh, kind of like close knit. It kind of grows to be that. So you need to have that good communication for it to be like a good relationship.

Courtney: 27:00

Yeah, definitely.

Sydney: 27:01

sure. Now as a bookkeeper, do you see lots of entrepreneurs making the same mistakes in their bookkeeping?

Courtney: 27:09

I do for me, I think the biggest one is I get people who don't have business bank accounts that gets a little hazy Because it is it just becomes so much harder for you to like record your business expenses with your tax deductions That's what lowers how much you're going to owe on taxes There's some other things of course that go into lowering the amount you own taxes. But the biggest one is Having a separate business bank account is like number one, especially for like new entrepreneurs. Um, the second thing I see is I see businesses who are maybe a little bit bigger, maybe they have a loan or a credit card and just recording those transactions properly in their bookkeeping software, causes a lot of issues if they don't know how to do it properly. For example, if you, Say you have, you know your credit card and you mark a payment to your credit card as an expense and then income on your credit card and Those are wrong. And so I see a lot of issues with categorizing transactions, especially like I said as you get more in depth into your finances like having those loans and credit cards and making sure things are categorized properly I, do account reviews. So this is for people who have bookkeeping software, they've been doing it themselves. and on average, I save clients about 7, 000 and like, being like, this is wrong. You should change it. Like, just because of like little air, little errors that they made. And these businesses are making anywhere from like 30, 000 to 80, 000 a year. They're not like huge businesses, but, these mistakes add up and, You know, not only is it a mistake that you could potentially owe like fees like it's a mistake that you're gonna have to pay back Then you're looking at you have to pay fees and penalties because you did it wrong in the first place So then you're even out more money and so those are I think the two biggest things is Um, not having a separate business bank account and then if you're not sure what you're doing with your bookkeeping not like getting help

Sydney: 29:13

Yeah, that's, that is excellent advice. I had no idea what I was doing at all. And I actually reached out to you. So definitely highly recommend Courtney for that. and now we were talking a little bit earlier about, um, you know, helping other Mom business owners with hiring them and making services kind of like more accessible. And that's what you are a membership does. I feel it's like super accessible to help mompreneurs learn how to do it with having that, like those expert eyes on it.

Courtney: 29:46

Yeah. So, I have my monthly membership. I try to keep it affordable so that people who, like they need bookkeeping. Like one of my things, as I say a lot, a lot, is every business needs bookkeeping, but not every business needs a bookkeeper. Learning how to do it yourself is fine, but. If you're not sure if you're not even sure like where to go to learn that's what I feel like my membership is for because i'm teaching you specifically how to do your bookkeeping There are plenty of bookkeeping courses out there and i'm sure that they're wonderful But I don't think anything can replace having that person who's right there with you answering your specific questions about your specific business

Sydney: 30:25

Yeah, I feel that way about a lot of things, especially in business. I'm like, I would so much rather have someone talk about like my specific issues than like a course that goes over these very generic things and then still have

Courtney: 30:40

Mm hmm. No. So,

Sydney: 30:41

with something like bookkeeping where the mistakes add up, it's

Courtney: 30:45

they do.

Sydney: 30:45

great.

Courtney: 30:46

Right? Yeah, they do. They literally add up.

Sydney: 30:49

Literally. because we're. On the theme of mistakes here as a bookkeeper, are there mistakes that you have made that you can spare others from? Oh, no.

Courtney: 31:16

So the first one was like not having that bank account. I didn't I wasn't able to keep my my, expenses, especially separate from my personal expenses my second year of filing taxes was 2022 and it was right after my son was born I had a lot of Post birth complications like I had to go back into the house A lot of I wasn't even like and healed and I say healed Lightly until like the end of march taxes are due april 15th And so because I didn't have my stuff together. I didn't have everything already done. I didn't have Receipts, I just like filed taxes with my income instead of like taking any sort of tax deductions And that was a huge mistake because I owed so much more on top of having an unpaid maternity leave so that was um That was definitely a mistake there, and why it was a mistake, because you are, like, it may sound silly, like, I don't need a separate account, or I don't need software, when in reality, it does help you so, so, so, so, so much, at the end of the day, like, get to where you do need to be. As a bookkeeper, One of the mistakes that I made at first was I had connected my CRM with QuickBooks, which is the accounting software I use for my myself and When I did that, I didn't realize it was also pulling in the invoices from my CRM because I send my invoices through my CRM, which is HoneyBook. And so HoneyBook and QuickBooks were talking and I would receive the money like through my bank account and then I recorded its income while also Honey book was recording it as income. So then it was doubling my income And so when I looked at my reports and I was like, I didn't make like ten thousand dollars last month I was like, whoa, whoa What happened here? And I was able to kind of go in and I was able to look and I was like, oh i'm doing it wrong Because what I because again because honey book was already recording it as income I was categorizing it when it hit my bank account wrong. So even though like I'm a bookkeeper, I'm always learning new things. Like, and I'm very big on learning new things. I was just showing this to someone else. This book that I mentioned, the 60 minutes CFO, I'm not paying or anything, um, is great.,, so I can continue to learn and I can continue to do better. And I can continue to You know, just help others and support others the best way that I can, and so that's something that I learned. I've made several like posts about it, like, because it is something that people, I've seen this a lot too, where income is double recorded because they have an invoice and they don't market against the invoice. They would just market as income a separate time when it hits their bank account and then their income's doubled. That's what I will say. That's a big mistake that I see, with People DIYing their books and they're not sure on how to do their bookkeeping. and then when they hand that off to their tax preparer, their income is doubled for the year. And then the tax is the double amount. So.

Sydney: 34:10

very scary.

Courtney: 34:12

It was very scary

Sydney: 34:14

Oh boy, um, and now you have a tool that helps people find the right software to use for their bookkeeping, don't you?

Courtney: 34:23

I do so one of the things that I was looking at as I get I see a lot of questions on like what software should I use like what do I need to track my expenses and how do I keep it separate from my personal money and all this stuff? So I created a quiz you go in you answer a few questions about your business. It takes about a minute to answer the questions I think there's like six or seven And it's about your business. Like, what do you need? Do you accept Apple pay? For example, it's one of the questions, um, and based on your answers for what your business needs, it will give you a great option for bookkeeping software that meets your needs specifically. the options are wave. Zero or QuickBooks. Those are like, there's more than just those three options out there, by the way. You could do your research on all the different bookkeeping softwares. Those are the three that I see most often. Those are the three that most people are using. So when it comes to it, if you need help, those are the ones that you're gonna need. You're going to find you're going to be able to find the most help for, because there's other softwares out there as well, but, these ones I feel like are good. Like, you have your good, very basic option wave. you have your good like mid level option, which is your own. You have your good, higher level has a lot of extra capabilities, which is QuickBooks. Yeah. The reason I also wanted to give this is not, I see so many times people recommend QuickBooks, like it's immediate. QuickBooks, like 50 percent of small businesses immediately choose QuickBooks as their bookkeeping software. And while as a bookkeeper, I like QuickBooks, not every business needs it. it is very powerful and it is, it has a lot of great in depth, like financial reporting, options. But again, Not every business needs that. So, I hate for people to pay for it because it is the best, has the higher price tag. so I hate for people to pay for that, if they don't need it. Because, like, I don't want people to, again, have to spend more money than they need to.

Sydney: 36:24

Yeah, that's a great resource for people, um, and that's a free quiz. I'm going to put the link for it in the show notes so you can definitely check it out and potentially save money. That's awesome. And where can people find you on Instagram?

Courtney: 36:37

Yeah, so my, Instagram handle is at Quadrant Bookkeeping and I'm gonna spell that. I was like, man, this is a great name and then like spelling it. So that's Q U A D R A N T B O O K K E E P I N G.

Sydney: 36:55

Courtney. This was great. Thank you so much for being here.

Courtney: 36:58

Thank you, Sydney. I really enjoyed it. I know I had to reschedule like twice. So I was like, I need to be there. I was like, I'm gonna do it. Thank you for being patient with me.

Sydney: 37:08

Time I got locked out of my office. I

Courtney: 37:10

We got here. We did it.

Sydney: 37:11

it happen.

Courtney: 37:12

We did.

Sydney: 37:13

Yeah. That's what counts.

Courtney: 37:15

Exactly.

37:18

I know about you, but I gained so much insight. About bookkeeping, and I'm definitely going to be using Courtney's three-step strategy for a monthly bookkeeping. And don't forget to check out her free quiz in the show notes, and also give her a follow on Instagram. The link for that will also be in the show notes.