If the financial foundation of your business is a little rocky, you’re in the right place.
Why Bookkeeping Matters
-
Accurate & timely bookkeeping serves as a roadmap to achieve your goals. Understanding the revenue drivers and where your money is being spent is CRITICAL to getting the profit you need to enhance the quality of your life.
-
The responsibility to prove entries, deductions, and statements made on your tax returns is known as the burden of proof. When it comes to the IRS you def want your ducks in a row 🦆🦆🦆
-
Get clear on your business expenses. Accurate bookkeeping helps you track all of your vital tax deductions. These directly impact how much money you pay in taxes every year.
Why Elmwood?
-
I know what you’re thinking: “So how much is this going to cost me?”
So let’s talk about it.
Our pricing is based on the complexity of your accounting and the volume of data we need to manage for your business. Our pricing is not dependent on your revenue. Meaning you don’t pay more because you make more.
Unlike many firms, our starting prices are posted so you have an idea of what you’d be paying up front.
For our bookkeeping clean up clients, we offer generous payment plans that are clearly explained in our FAQs and even offer a discount for payment in full!
We never want cost to be a barrier for to get the quality service you need to grow.
-
You have a business to run and a life to lead. Protecting your time is important to you. That's why we send video messages when we need to send updates or explain scenarios that you can watch at your leisure. When you’re ready to talk money, book a video call for a financial check-in from the comfort of your home.
For our Night Owls and Weekend Warriors we have evening and weekend availability for meetings when life slows down a bit and there is more time to think.
We use a secure client portal to ask questions and request info so you never are digging through your email inbox for where our conversation left off. We send weekly reminders via email and text so you’ll neverfall behind.
-
As a digital firm, cyber security is a critical component of our cloud-based workflows and infrastructure. Aside from following industry best practices, here are a few of the steps we take to protect both your business and our own.
• We use Zero-Knowledge Encryption tools for sensitive credentials.
• We use 2FA throughout our tech stack where it is an option.
• Our client portal is SOC 2-compliant and the data shared is fully encrypted at rest and in transit.
To legally protect the confidential information our clients disclose to our firm, all our client engagements include an NDA.
-
Today’s entrepreneurs collect money via tools like Stripe, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, and other fintech platforms. While technology has made it easier to run businesses on the front end, the back end of a modern business is much more complicated to unravel.
Whether you are using Honeybook, Dubsado, or some other industry specific platform it’s crucial your bookkeeper understands the nuances of your financial ecosystem so you report accurate numbers to the IRS.
That’s where Elmwood comes in.
Identifying discrepancies and streamlining financial workflows are our expertise.
-
Every monthly client that signs on triggers a donation event. We also partner with non-profits like Start Small Think Big to broaden the reach of our efforts to give back. Some causes that are dear to our hearts are financial literacy and mental health advocacy 🕊️
Our belief is that everyone has a responsibility to give back to their community. I'm privileged to have the opportunity to build and run the business of my dreams, but not everyone has the circumstances that give them that chance for growth.
Certifications & Partnerships
You may have heard me on
Meet the Founder
Barbara J. Harley
Welcome to Elmwood.
What started as a passion project in 2021, has blossomed into a purpose driven business to support people looking for more agency over their lives.
Over the last 10 years, I’ve worked in the accounting depts of publicly traded agencies & global firms in NYC across different sectors like Advertising, Legal, and Financial Services. That is where my love of business and strength for working with numbers developed.
While the industries were different, the framework that was in place always stayed the same.
Accurate Recordkeeping
Financial Analysis to make strategic business decisions
With our help clients can finally get excited about "the numbers side" of their business because they have the right support, tech stack and mindset.
My vision for Elmwood is to support businesses that bring wellness into their communities. Whether through food, travel, yoga, or therapy; if you improve the quality of life of your clients, we want to help.
-
I'm a lover of books, vintage cars, and classic films.
I’m an amateur foodie and love trying out new restaurants and mocktails.
Born & raised Jersey girl, but I left my heart in Buffalo, NY!
Who we support
-
Mental Health Practices
-
Yoga Studios
-
Montesorri Schools
-
Travel Agencies
-
Massage Therapists
-
Prof. Serv Providers
Meet the Fam😊
Wall of Love
As an entrepreneur, you wear many hats. Bookkeeper shouldn’t be one of them.
If you are dealing with money stress & need to get things in order, here’s how Elmwood can help.
Our Services
Option to support your growth
Who this is for..
This is a low cost Fractional CFO option for business owners making less than $500,000 a year who need support in understanding their numbers and have questions around strategy and taxes.
Best part - you get 30 DAYS FREE!
If you are new to getting a handle on your business finances, this is a great way to get quality support on a lean budget.
Sounds great, but what do I ask a CFO?
How should I be deducting business meals? Are there limits on what I can deduct?
Am I paying myself correctly and am I paying myself enough?
Should I be considering an S Corp for my business?
How much cash should I have in my bank account?
I want to hire my first employee. Can you explain how payroll works?
-
To get started, fill out our application. Once submitted, you’ll be able to book your discovery call.
-
Our entire relationship will be based on trust, so before we take on any clients we start things off with a quick chat. This gives us a chance to get to know each other and really understand your needs and goals. It’s important that we have honest conversations so we know we are a good fit.
-
If we decide we want to work together, I’ll send you a service agreement & invoice. Once you’ve signed and paid we can rock & roll.
-
During onboarding, you’ll get our client handbook and onboarding tasks so we can get all the data we need and ensure our relationship is set up for success.
This is when we get all your systems connected, get access to the platforms we need, and make sure your payment processors are all set up.
-
Every month you’ll get all your business accounts recorded & reconciled in your accounting software.
You’ll receive easy-to-understand breakdowns of your financials so you can pivot or invest where you need to.
What’s Next?
Frequent Qs
-
Our motto is if you are serious about your business you should be serious about your bookkeeping.
Our best fit clients typically earn between 100k to 500k annual revenue.
If you’re still in the early stages of your business, our Bookkeeping SetUp Service will lay the right foundation for future growth.
If you have a small budget, you can purchase our bookkeeping spreadsheet in our Shop to get you organized on budget!
-
Once your file is set up or caught up, we move to the maintenance phase of our services.
During onboarding, we set up access to your accounting file and business accounts so we can service your business with minimal input from you throughout the month.
Here is what you can expect every month
All business transactions are recorded and categorized
All business bank and credit accounts are reconciled
Transaction questions that need client input or receipts are listed in the portal for easy response.
Books are revised with the feedback from the client
Financial reports are generated and published with a monthly financial recap
Books are closed for the month to prevent incorrect entries
-
Nope! That’s what we’re here for.
Before we begin monthly services we would complete a 1-time project to set up and/or clean up your accounting records.
Then we move to maintenance to keep them that way.
-
Clean Ups take a lot of time and expertise , hence the higher price point for these projects. To make this service more accessible, the following payment plans are available:
OPTION 1 - (6% fee added to base retainer for payment plan)
50% due upon signature
25% due in 30 days
25 % due in 60 days
OPTION 2 - (12% fee added to base retainer for payment plan)
25% due upon signature
25% due in 30 days
25% due in 60 days
25% due in 90 days
OPTION 3
Payment in full receives a 10% discount.
-
High transaction volume (over 150 per month/per account)
Commingling of personal and business funds
More than base number of accounts covered in service level (Ex: You have 3 biz accounts but want the basic package which covers only 2)
Point of Sale systems
You run payroll
Payroll provider doesn’t integrate
You have business loans
Heavy use of paper checks
-
Elmwood’s heart posture is to support providers in the Wellness industry. But we also work with service providers in other industries.
This can include:
Mental Health Practioners
Massage Therapists
Travel Agencies
and other consultants
What makes a great match for Elmwood is a client who is comfy with tech, an active communicator, and is seeking to grow their business.
-
We don’t work with:
Non-Profits
Churches
Real Estate
Attorneys
-
The best way to get your questions answered is to complete our new client application and book some face time on a Discovery Call.
But if you have something on your mind you’d like to ask, email us at: questions@elmwoodbookkeepers.com
