Ep. 1: Intro + Why Every Boutique Owner Needs Bookkeeping in 2022
This is our first episode of our new podcast Boutique Radio and we are really excited to be here with you and to share a little about who we are and what the podcast is about before we dive into this week's episode on why boutique owners need bookkeeping in 2022 and how to set your boutique business up for success. Boutique Radio is HarQuin Boutique Bookkeeping Co's first podcast and I'm Jennifer here with my co-host Cristy. I'm the content creator for HarQuin Boutique Bookkeeping Co and Cristy is one of our boutique bookkeeping experts with a wealth of knowledge—and some humor. You may already know her from her Instagram reels!
HarQuin Boutique Bookkeeping Co is a team of over 50 in more than 20 states— equipping boutique owners to run a business, so they can build a legacy and have more time with their family while doing it. Our podcast is now an extension of this! We help boutique owners grow their businesses through our bookkeeping, sales tax, payroll and consulting services—and our online resource and community in Boutique School. Lindsey Roberts, the founder of HarQuin Bookkeeping Co, will join us here on the podcast and you will get to hear her wisdom and knowledge - she started HarQuin in 2008, as a homeschool mom (and she still is one) with a desire to serve small business owners. Since then, Lindsey’s husband has joined HarQuin full time and they are building quite the legacy. It is such a blessing to be a part of their mission and purpose to glorify God in helping small businesses and boutique owners.
What does the word bookkeeping mean? Let's define it first.
Bookkeeping is a word that gets tossed around a lot, especially this time of year - and it can bring some anxiety and sleepless nights especially you're a shop owner and the letters IRS may be flashing in your mind. The term bookkeeping in its most simple form is organizing your income and expenses. It doesn't have to be a scary thing - but simply a clear picture of money coming and money coming out.
Top three reasons WHY boutique owners need bookkeeping in 2022 to set themselves up for success.
#1 WHY: You have to pay your taxes
If you are making any kind of money on any level, the IRS needs to know about. You'll have to submit any income and sales to the IRS. Bookkeeping benefits you because if you have all of your organized expenses coming through your bank accounts, you can claim all of your business expenses that it took to make that money. This is where bookkeeping really benefits you in getting you organized - to keep you from overpaying on your taxes. We claim our income and we can claim our expenses and if we don't have accurate books, we will overpay or underpay on our taxes. This is key. You worked hard for your money - so you don't want to pay more than you have to!
#2 WHY: Bookkeeping gets you organized from a managerial standpoint
You have to know where you are financially. A lot of shop owners get themselves into trouble, especially in the beginning, when they think "I'm not big enough to need bookkeeping right now". This is a lie - so if this is you, this is your warning! You need bookkeeping - even starting out. Getting started out on the right foot will bring you the biggest benefit in the long run. From a managerial standpoint, you have to know how much money is coming and how much are you paying out in expenses and don't rely on "bank account bookkeeping" - a phrase, Lindsey coined (HarQuin Boutique Bookkeeping Co's founder) - where your head is in the sand and you see how much money is in the bank so you think this is how much you have to spend. You'll get yourself into major trouble, maybe not at first, but eventually you'll run yourself into the ground because you'll have expenses you're not preparing for, not considering (your merchant account fees for example, those fees are coming off your deposits before they ever hit the bank), so if you don't have accurate bookkeeping, you're missing those expenses, not preparing for the things you have to pay out like sales tax, or estimated income tax.
From a managerial standpoint it just makes sense to see in front of you, this is how much came in and came out. Then, month-to-month you can start to see trends in your business, where you're overspending, where you need to invest more money, if you can outsource more things now. But you can't see any of these if you're not organized and don't have accurate bookkeeping. You do not want to be walking blind-folded in your business, hoping you're not going to bump into something. You want to be pointed in the right direction so you don't need to backtrack. Many shop owners wait so long to do this because they're afraid of the numbers, and they got too excited over a holiday season or bought too much in another time and they don't know where they stand financially now. But if you have your books in order, you now have the freedom to be creative and have fun with your buying. Create financial limits and boundaries to have more freedom in your business - and knowledge is power. This makes you a true leader in your boutique business and affects all areas of your life. There's a biblical precedent. How many Proverbs do we read about being wise with your finances, being honest with your finances, paying wages when they're due, doing good when it's in your power. If you can't see your standing, and the holes in your spending, you're not being wise, you're being frivolous and what the Bible calls a fool. We reap what we sow.
#3 WHY: Opportunity for Growth
When you have number one and two in place, now you have an opportunity for growth, which is exciting! Being organized with your bookkeeping, knowing where you stand, seeing right in front of you what the raw numbers are of what's coming in and going out, allows you to now set real budgets and implement systems like Profit First (when you're a client or in Boutique School, we support you with this, too). You can also begin to make future plans and bigger plans. Let's say you've started a small online shop and you're wanting to know if you can open a brick-and-mortar or invest in a warehouse or scale and expand in other states. You won't be able to make these plans until you know your numbers. Just because you've saved over X number of years and have $50,000 it doesn't mean this money is available to go in that direction and make this big jump. You might've gone $15,000 into the red without even knowing. Once you know where you stand, you can make these big, exciting changes in your business!
You may be great at bookkeeping or terrified of it, but you'll want to decide if it's something to outsource, as you weigh the cost/benefits of not outsourcing. Sometimes not outsourcing is at the cost of precious time with your family. Knowing your priorities and specific needs will help with this. As a first step to take and in closing, we want to encourage you if you don't already have a bookkeeper, to get an estimate here.
Boutique School is now officially open. And if you don’t know what that is, Boutique School is our membership that pairs a training program to help boutique owners reach their goals with a community to keep each other accountable along the way. We are very pleased to announce we are now accepting new enrollments for 2022 so if you are a boutique owner and you have felt overwhelmed by your numbers, struggled with time-management and productivity and you want to truly learn how to run a business so you have the freedom to focus on what matters—you’ve found your community. Lindsey Roberts, the founder of HarQuin Boutique Bookkeeping Co, offers expert training in the membership program along with our other boutique bookkeeping experts - and Cristy is in there, too. So we invite you to join us, and check out Boutique School. See you there and be back next Thursday in our next episode.