If you have ever retained the services of an accounting professional who did not make it a priority that you understand your roofing business financials, let me apologize on their behalf.  It is unfortunate that many accounting professionals have become comfortable collecting fees and providing financial statements without providing clients with crucial education in what these reports are revealing.  As a result, over the past several decades, clients experienced some level of intimidation in asking for clarity and guidance, assuming something was wrong with them for not already knowing these things.  This created a rift in the relationship between accounting professionals and their clients, which left clients in a less than ideal situation with regards to the decision-making in their business.

This rift left many small business owners under-valuing the insight that can be gleaned from their financial statements, and many rely on less-experienced individuals to handle their bookkeeping.  This is less than ideal for the sole purpose that often well-intended individuals are not able to deliver the quality oversight and translation of what the financial outputs are telling them, again - leaving the business owner in an unclear financial situation.

The fact is, you don’t need a financial degree to understand what these reports are telling you - you do need a solid system with an experienced person or team at the helm (making sure the data is accurate) and a healthy level of curiosity toward the results in your business.

You could consider your business’ financial statements as a scoreboard for how your business performed over a specific period of time.  The scoreboard, in any sporting game, does not provide a play-by-play on how the game is played - only the result.  For this reason, at Bean Countery, we use the financial statements as a measuring tool for the growth and opportunity within the client's business.  They aren’t the only tool you need and they won’t tell you everything - but a strong financial system (GL accounting software, processes and workflows, internal controls, review process, etc.) is crucial to building a business that will sustain ups and downs in the marketplace while keeping business owners informed on the results of their efforts and labor.

Financial statements aren’t useful if you only review them at tax time, but they can change how you play the game when reviewed regularly, and with someone who wants you to win!

At Bean Countery, we work with all of our clients to understand their individual needs, goals, and vision to design & implement a strong financial system, all while making it a top priority that our clients fully understand the information that is being conveyed to them.  We want to partner with our clients to provide the highest quality of service.  We want you to win!