Fractional Finance 101 with Rebecca Blankenship

Is the money management side of your fractional business stressing you out? You’re not alone. In this episode, fractional CFO Rebecca Blankenship joins Amanda to break down the top 5 financial questions fractional leaders ask her most.

From S Corp timing to how to pay yourself (without triggering red flags), cash flow vs. P&L, sales tax surprises, and profit margin benchmarks—this conversation is packed with practical, approachable advice for fractionals at any stage.

Whether you’re brand new or 5 years in, this episode will leave you feeling more confident about your numbers.

In This Episode:

✅ When should you become an S Corp?
✅ How to pay yourself and stay compliant
✅ Why your P&L doesn’t match your bank account
✅ Do you need to worry about sales tax?
✅ What’s a “good” profit margin—and how to know if you’re on track
✅ How to avoid tax season panic
✅ What is “Profit First” and why Rebecca recommends it
✅ Why confidence with finances is a skill anyone can build

Connect with Rebecca:
🌐 SnowdropBookkeeping.com

Enjoying Female Fractionals?

Please like, comment, share, and follow to support the show!
Full transcripts & resources → FemaleFractionals.com

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to Female Fractionals, the biweekly podcast for successful female fractional executives and those ready to take the leap. In each episode, I'll bring you actionable lessons and inspiration through interviews with thriving fractional leaders and experts. Let's dive in. Hi everyone, and welcome to this episode of Female Fractionals.
I'm your host and fractional CMO, Amanda Nazari. In this episode, I'm speaking with Rebecca Blankenship, a fractional bookkeeper and CFO, who helps women entrepreneurs feel confident, not ashamed about finances and their numbers. After transitioning from mechanical engineering and time as a stay at home mom, she built a thriving virtual bookkeeping and advisory business that now supports women-led companies across stages of growth.
In this discussion, we dig into the top five financial questions that fractionals often ask her from, should I become an S Corp to why isn't my net profit [00:01:00] what's in my bank account? And we offer real practical advice that listeners can take action on immediately, immediately. Whether you're brand new to fractional Life or five years in and still unsure how to pay yourself, this episode will leave you feeling more empowered, informed, and ready to take charge of your finances.
Without further ado, let's jump into the discussion. Hi, Rebecca. Welcome to Female Fractionals. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for having me. I'm really excited too. So I like to start every discussion kinda talking about everyone's background and kind of how they landed, where they landed. And I think your background is so interesting, but like from mechanical engineering to stay at home mom to fractional bookkeeper and CFO.
How did you get here and why is working with women entrepreneurs so important to you? That's, that's a great question. Um, so corporate job, mechanical engineering. Went to college, ended up getting into the industry. Stayed there until I was [00:02:00] pregnant with my first, had her went back to try it out and realized that it wasn't as fulfilling as a mother as it was prior, and I really wanted that one-on-one time with her.
And thankfully my husband agreed and was willing to be supportive, and so I stayed at home with her for a few years. Ended up actually have, um, getting, getting pregnant again, but ended up having a miscarriage. And during that time I was really. Big struggle of what I wanted to do. I wanted to do something more, a little bit more than just being a stay-at-home mom.
Not that that's not amazing, but for me, I felt like I had something else to give and so was looking at different options that had the flexibility that I wanted. 'cause I didn't want to put her in full-time daycare at the moment. So I ended up, um, finding bookkeeping as a solution. I'm really good with numbers and I love partnering and having a solution oriented.
Service for others, um, who are struggling with finances or, uh, have questions around [00:03:00] that. And so that's kind of how my business started. Um, I started really slow and intentionally in that, um, because I wanted to be present and wanted to be present with my child and subsequent children, I had another one.
Um, but I also wanted to serve who I partner with well. And so, um, intentionally slowly built that up. And, and now I've got. Several clients, but I just, I love. Intentionally partnering with women entrepreneurs because I find that they're the ones who I can see the biggest impact with. Um, they understand the need to outsource aspects of their business.
Um, they're motivated. Women are amazing. Um, and I find that they look at the relationship as a partnership because I support them. I don't work for them. I work with them to get closer to their goals. And so I do think it's a mindset and a way to, um, really. It, it really fills my cup up when I can serve them well.
That's great. I love it so much. [00:04:00] Um, when we were having our initial conversation, there were so many topics that we could explore. You were so helpful to me. And so what I would love to dive into today are just the top five financial questions that you get from your fractional clients. And so let's just dive in.
So I think number one was, when should I become an S corp? And how would you answer that question? Like what factors should someone consider before they're making the switch from LLC to S corp? And um, maybe we'll have a couple of follow up questions after that. Yeah. So, um, one of the biggest questions I get initially is that when can I be an escort?
Because you hear a lot of information on the internet, a lot of very specific, um, big numbers, big tax savings, things that you feel like, oh, you're leaving all this money on the table. Um, so that's what a, a lot of people come to me and now I don't do taxes, but I do prepare financial statements so that, [00:05:00] um, you can partner with a, a tax advisor or a tax filer.
So one of the biggest things I. Communicate that is you need to have a reasonable salary. So can you pay yourself a reasonable salary? That's the the first question, right? So if you're not, if you're not, um, if you're not an S corp now and you're looking too into that, you're not taking money out of your business as a distribution consistently and enough to warrant a consider, uh, like a reasonable salary in the way where you live and how you go about doing and your your specific business, then that's.
That's like the first question. And there's also a lot of subsequent questions that I think partnering with the right tax advisor and planner is really important because it's not only, um, your business as, as an S-corp, but it's al also your tax burden and liability as a whole. So do you have, are you, uh, married filing jointly?
Does your spouse own their own business or does your spouse, is your spouse working for someone? Do [00:06:00] they have a W2? Um, do you have rental. Properties and rental income. So there's like a lot of other, um, important things to consider instead of it just being a checkbox. 'cause a lot of people hear that and they think, oh well then based all that information, I should be an S corp.
Well, it's also expensive. You have a separate tax filing, so that's two tax filing, so a personal tax and then also your. A tax filing for your business. And you also have to pay yourself through a payroll service. Right? Well, you could also not do a payroll service, but I always say do it because they do the filings for you.
Mm-hmm. So not only you have to pay for that. So that's additional expense. So there's a lot of, it's it, it does save you money, but it's only saves you money if it's in the right context and the right specific situation for you. And the only way to do that is look at your situation as a whole and very uniquely.
'cause it's not gonna be a. One size fits all. And honestly, there's been a lot of times where people have so elected it too early and [00:07:00] now they're, they're reaping the consequences of that. And so that's not what we want. We want it to be the right decision, um, based off of you and, and your trajectory of your own business and where you see yourself in the next.
5, 10, 15 years in your business. Yeah. Are there common myths or mistakes that people make around that s corp timing, to your point of people maybe doing it too early and getting a little aggressive or excited around these savings? Yeah. I, I find that people like aren't even taking money. Like you're, if you're not taking money outta your business, you're not.
You should not be an S corp because that to me means that either A, you're uncomfortable taking a distribution because you don't understand your numbers or you don't have the right ca cash flow, or B, you are, um. You're just trying to, like, your, your, your income is inconsistent and so if you're, if tho any one of those things exist, it really does, it's a hindrance because you're not gonna meet the [00:08:00] require.
The, when you go to file with IRS, they're gonna ask more questions. It could be a potential audit re you know, like you could have an audit because they're like, this doesn't make sense. Um, you also need an accountability plan or accountable plan, not accountability plan. It should be accountability as well, right?
You have to follow these guidelines. And so if you're not doing that and you do get audited, you're gonna get fined. And so, um, and then also the payroll. That's the biggest thing I see is people elect s-corp, but then they don't know what that means, or whoever filed the s-corp filing for them did not explain it.
And so. They're halfway through the year or the end of the year and they're filing taxes and they should have been on payroll. Even if they do one paycheck through the whole year, they still have to file it under a payroll and, um, they're just doing distribution. So I think it's, it's, um, mistakes in regards to, it's not just an election with, with taxes, you also have these other steps you have to do afterwards that people just seem to think, oh, well it's one time election.
Well. Once you make that [00:09:00] election, that is what you are. Mm. Um, so if you don't plan on growing or you plan on, you plan on changing the amount of revenue or any of that, that needs to be communicated when you go to evaluate that with your tax professional, because they're probably gonna tell you not to do it, because in the long run, it's actually gonna cost you more money than it actually saves you.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I do think often that when the conversation around S Corp comes up and the discussion around paying yourself a reasonable salary comes up, the word that will often surface in that same discussion is audit. And so that kind of lends ourself to the second question, which is, how do I pay myself?
And stay out of trouble while doing so. Great question. Yes. That is the second most common question I get asked is, how am I supposed to be paying myself? I don't want, um, to get in trouble. I want to most people that, you know, approaches me. Most people that approach our, our company to help provide them with bookkeeping [00:10:00] services, they want to do it right.
And so in the correct way. And so one of the things I say is, okay, well if you're an s. Corp Corporation, you're electing that as a tax entity status. Then you need to make sure that you are on payroll, otherwise a distribution. So that means you can either, um, transfer it to your personal checking account, you can write yourself a check.
Whatever you deem is the best way for you to keep up with it, as well as your bookkeeper, provi, bookkeeping provider. If you outsource that, um, that's fine unless you are electing S corp. Um, and if you are doing that in your own payroll, then it needs to go through that, um, process. And I really love, there's some great payroll providers that are third party that do a great job and they do the filings for you and they issue your W twos at the end of the end of the year.
Um, that I use those because I find that, um, for the, for the amount of money you spend, it's a huge, they do it [00:11:00] right. They, they don't have to think double, double time on how to the, how, who do you need to contact in the payroll schedules? They already have it all a plug and play situation for you. So, um, and making sure you get those, those are like the two, you know, like are you a designation?
Are you a payroll? Um, do you need to be payrolled? Okay, well then this is how we do it. And if not, then these are the ways that are best way to keep you, um, clear on your distributions and making sure that, uh, they're categorized correctly. Um, they go on your balance sheet, they do not go on your p profit and loss.
And so at the end of the year, we wanna make sure we review that and make sure that any, um, personal expenses are identified. Um. There as well as any distributions for, um, money that you take away from your business to pay yourself. Mm-hmm. So it's really making sure that you're paying yourself consistently from a salary perspective so that legally you're covered and then you can take those [00:12:00] distributions at will.
Yes. Yes. Okay. Exactly. So you still take distributions if you're on payroll. So I, like, I just selected S-Corp last year and so I was in business almost five years before I did that. And so, um, I did it intentionally because I wanted to make sure that, um, that it was the right timing. So I talked with the tax professional and made sure that.
It was the right timing for me. And so I do the, the salary and then I also take distributions with the understanding that I've not paid taxes on those distributions, so they, I will end up having to pay taxes on that. That's the benefit of doing the payroll side, the majority of your salary being through there.
Um, so that you already pay taxes. That's one of the big, big, um. Helpers at the end of the year. 'cause a lot of people are like, I don't understand why I owe so much money. And the reason why you, you owe so much money is you haven't paid Yeah. Or you haven't done prepayments. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, you've made, you've, you've added a source of revenue stream to your [00:13:00] business that you didn't expect.
And now. It's been great. It's, it's brought you in a lot of revenue. However, you still have to pay taxes on that. Yeah. And so, um, that's why I think it really is helpful to have a bookkeeping professional as well as a tax planner who can work with you throughout the year so that you don't get at the end of the year and you don't have the money to pay the tax burden or the tax bill that you have.
Mm-hmm. That's one of my, my clients, one of their huge, you know, hesitations as well. They wanna be prepared and I think that's the right. The way to look at it. They don't want to get to the end of the year and they see that big amount of money in the bank and they think, oh, I can, I can, um, I've already paid all the taxes.
Now I can take that out as a bonus at the end of the year. And then they get their tax bill and they're like, oh, I guess not. I guess I can't take that. You know? And so, uh, we'd love to know that. Ahead of time so that you can plan, or if you wanna invest in something in your business and you don't know if that money is, you know, [00:14:00] earmarked for taxes or if you could use that as an investment.
And so, um, all of those things are really important, but you have to, you have to work with someone that knows your business and knows your tax, um, situation across your whole, your whole, um, family. If you are a, a part of a family that has other tax liabilities, it's just really important and it makes a huge difference.
So you're not surprised at the end of the year. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that one of the things that's so helpful is that many of the people that are starting a fractional business, they have, many have come from the corporate environment where all of this was just taken care of for them, right? Yeah. Yes.
They had to file their own personal taxes at the end of the year and make sure that they were, you know, investing in other ways or, you know, whatever, managing their money, but. Doing this for your own business while you're also doing business development and delivering client work and all of just kind of the new things that are happening.
I think one of the things that I really like about your approach [00:15:00] is that you're, you really educate around things and there really are no kind of dumb questions. I think one of the questions that we. A discuss that you often get is like, what is cashflow and why is it different from p and l? And so I would love for you to talk a little bit about that and just like get into the meat of, of things a little bit too.
Yeah. Yeah. So a lot of times people are like, well, my bank balance is this. My p and l is this. Why don't they match? Or, um. My PP and L says, I have, um, you know, I netted this amount, but my, I have nothing in the bank. That's usually how it goes down. Mm-hmm. Um, and so something I like to say is, you know, as.
As a service provider in this field, it's really important to look at three reports together. Now you can't look at individual ones without really seeing the full picture of the health of your business. So your profit and loss, which we like to say, income statement, um, [00:16:00] uh, your balance sheet and your statement of cash flows.
And so all three of those are really important because. Depending on what aspect of your business you're speaking to, depends on how it shows up and which report is important. So something I like to say is, you know, when you look at your bank balance or your profit and loss, you're not looking at what's.
Incoming or what's supposed to be outcoming that's already scheduled. You are not looking at your liabilities, you're not looking at any, um, loan loans that you've taken out or any, um, credit cards, um, that you've taken out and that you've already paid for expenses. Yes, you have seen the expense side depending on when it hits on your p and l, but you don't see the balance of it.
You don't understand kind of what that looks like from a. Um, you know, liability side points aside from your business. So I really think it's important to look at all three. And something also I like to think about is, you know, cashflow really is, um, a view of how [00:17:00] your money is going in and out of your business at any given point, whereas your profit and loss is looking at, okay, I brought in this much money and this is how many, how much expenses went out and this is what my net is.
So it. It does not combine any, um, liabilities or anything that's on the balance sheet necessarily on the p and l. So, um, it's really important to look at all three Also, when, depending on type of the business, depends on kind of what's also important to look at. So. Something that has a reoccurring revenue, like something I do, it's gonna be a little bit easier to look at the p and ls and balance sheet and the, uh, cash flow because it's pretty consistent.
Whereas someone who's in a product based business might be seeing, um. Areas throughout the year, like, or like Q4, is a huge, um, money maker, revenue maker for product-based businesses, usually because of the holidays, right? So [00:18:00] you are going to be looking at a time like a a, a set of time, like a QQ four, you're gonna look at a.
A, a three month window, whereas maybe for my business it one or two months really is pretty consistent. So, um, it's really important to look at that as well. Um, and also, you know, when you look at, um, the health of your business, people want, people always talk about, well, I'm a six, I'm a seven, eight figure business.
Okay, that's great. I think that's fantastic. I do not, I don't want to minimize that. However. I personally think I'm more impressed with what are you take, what is your net? What are you taking home? Are you in the red or are you in the black? Um, because I don't really care how much money you're bringing in if you're not managing it well or if you aren't.
If you don't know where your money is going, it's not really that impressive. Right. So, and I think as women, we love to compare ourselves. Like that's just something that we struggle with at times. Now, not everyone does, but I would say. [00:19:00] Generically speaking, we, we see something and we think, well, how, how does that compare with me?
And so I, I hear a lot of people like, well, you know, am I different? Like, am, am I the one who, who is struggling with this? Or am I the only one struggling with it? And I don't wanna say that women and collectively speaking, we tend to undersell ourselves. And whereas men are a little bit more apt to. To maybe speak in more confidence around money specifically.
And so I just, I think it's important that we educate ourselves with what does a p and L look like and why is it important? And when you hear someone say, I make X, Y, and Z, that's not how much they take home. That's how much they bring in as a revenue, and that's completely different. And so, and, and just because you.
You don't bring in that amount of money, you actually might have a healthier business because your net is probably a bigger, bigger per percentage [00:20:00] of a profit margin than that person that's talking a bunch of information. You know? So I think it's just, I, I think being specific on how, who we allow in our ears.
That's something that Bat business mentor has told me a lot as well, is that, you know, you, you have to be selective with who we allow to give us advice. And then also. Being honest with, um, getting the answers that we want or what we need so that we can educate ourselves and make a better, better decisions for our family, our businesses, um, and how we show up in our business.
Um, more confident and more empowered with the knowledge that we have. Yeah. So much of this is about education and learning just as much about this side of the business as it is about continuing to learn whatever your area of expertise is. So I think that's a really important reminder. This next question that we discussed I thought was really interesting, and it was, do I need to worry about sales [00:21:00] tax?
So can you talk a little bit about what triggers sales tax requirements and why this comes up? The most, um, sales tax requirements for product based businesses, they're, they're all generated by the state. So, um, so depending on what state you operate in is, you know, that's really who will dictate what, whether sales tax is required to be, um, remitted to them or like charged and then remitted.
Um, primarily all product based businesses. So if you sell a product, retail space or even online, um. Service-based businesses are very different and, and it's actually changed a lot over the last 10 to 15 years because it's digital products. So a lot of times, some, some states say that that is a product and not a service, whereas some, some states say that's a service.
So really it's important to look at your state's website and if you have questions about it, most of we're in North Carolina. A lot of times they have like sales tax, um, online [00:22:00] sales tax training, and you can also just call them, but also your tax provider, depending on who you use, should obviously be able to help you as well.
Um, because depending on what. Because you could be in a business that has both a product and a service, right? And so that's why it's really important to dictate that, especially in your bookkeeping side, so that you can earmark those as well so that you know what your liabilities are so that you're not over like, that you're not, um, over or undercharging, and that you're making sure you're remitting the sales.
Tax on that schedule that's required by your state as well. So I, I just think it's really important to look at it for your specific business and ask that question. Um, because what was done last year or even, you know, six months ago, depending on how, how often they do it, um, might not be an accurate information.
So that's why it's really important also to talk to your tax provider as well. Yeah. That is something that I quite honestly had not thought about until we [00:23:00] had discussed it, and so I think it's, um, it's really an interesting thing to make sure that people are thinking about and capturing and looking up.
Yep. Then I think in general, I love this question because it pops up constantly, but just generally, am I doing okay? Like mm-hmm. Not in the broadest sense of everything. You can't, you're not here to, uh, help everyone with everything, but like in terms of, um, like what is a good profit margin? Let's start there.
Yeah. So I really think that this is indu industry specific. First of all, I want to say that because. Service-based businesses are gonna have a higher profit margin average because they don't have as much overhead. Whereas retail businesses are gonna have a lower profit margin because they have inventory costs.
Right. So, and they have a little bit more overhead that they have to, so they actually have to, so it's, it's hard to, to say abroad, but what I like to say is [00:24:00] there's like, and I, and I will give these. To you so that you can put 'em in the notes. But, um, there's two free websites that you can, um, visit to get some stats for your specific business type and entity.
Um, so Biz Stats is what it's called. It's really good. It's free. And then also the United States has, and I don't know if you say it, Edgar, E-D-G-A-R, I think that's how you say it, but, um. But they also have that information too, so it's good to pull that. Um, so I would say a really great profit margin for like a service-based business would be, um, 20%, 15 to 25%.
I mean, that would be great. Um, I think for retail, something that's product-based, it can ra it can really vary depending on that. Um, I think, um. In the teens and in the single digits sometimes depending on the type of the year, right, or time of the year. So it's really important for you to know that you're not comparing, you shouldn't be [00:25:00] comparing yourself, um, for profit margin to someone who is not in your industry and also.
Who is not in your entity type. Right? So because you know, if you are S corp, then those payroll costs are gonna be on your p and l. Whereas, so your profit margin will be different than if you were an LLC that is not filing S-corp. So it's kind of like the, when do I do S-corp? Right. It's a little bit more of a, a loaded question, but I do think it's important to really ask those questions to yourself of like, okay, well.
I love to run the report for p and l and do a percentage of income. 'cause not only that gives you profit margin, but it also tells you where you're spending your money in regards to the expense category. So when you go to look, how much of my percentage of my income am I spending in this category? So for instance, um, advertising or, um.
Sub subscriptions are huge. Mm-hmm. Like, that's like, they just take money, take, take, take any, like professional development. It's, I have several [00:26:00] clients that just love to, to be intentional about developing themselves, which I think is great, but when that gets out of control, then it of, wow, it, it, you can see how it.
It's away the profit margin, but also it takes away money from other areas that has to have that money for them to continue. So, um, so I think that that's a good way of looking at as well, in conjunction with where you're at in those, in those two locations, you can kind of see where, where others are as a healthy.
You know, benchmark. Yeah. Yeah. I think especially as you're first starting out, I mean, I hear in all of my fractional circles of everyone just trying out all of these new subscriptions to your point, and new tools and software, and it's like over time it, it really does add up, you know, to, to see where, where do you really, and should you really be allocating your money versus potentially hiring a contractor or additional support.
So I think that's, um. A good view to have for reasons even beyond what I just mentioned. But, um, for that, for [00:27:00] that purpose too. Um, given that you primarily work with female entrepreneurs and you are helping them really figure out what could potentially be a, an an important and sticky piece of their business, how do you help clients really build confidence around finances?
That's a great question. Um, a lot of times people come to me and they're just like afraid to ask the question. They know they need help, but they don't know they should. They feel like they should already know the question or know the answer to the questions that they have. And I first say like, well, how are you gonna know, you know, if you've not been exposed to those, those, uh, questions or answers or been in the circles where that's a common.
Topic you're not gonna know and you're not gonna know who to trust. 'cause there's a lot of information out on the internet and it's very overwhelming. And we're not meant to spend all this time, like we're just not meant to take in as much as we're taking in every day. Um, so a lot of times it calls people to shut down or just [00:28:00] not know where to turn, and then they're afraid to ask the question.
And so I think first is just, um, finding the right person that jives you, that you trust. Is is important. And then also a lot of times, you know, a lot of people are like, well, I'm just not a money person. That's what they'll say. And I'm, or I'm not a numbers person, I'm guilty right here. I've said that so many times.
My husband can attest. That's true. Because if, if you weren't those things, then you just don't, you don't have the confidence in that. It's not that you're not, it's just that you don't know how to even go about building those. Muscles. So, um, a lot of times it's a, like the first six months I wanna say, with the, a new client that I have, that's all we do really is focus.
Obviously we do the bookkeeping side, but we talk about those and how do you pull, like, I want them to know how to pull the reports themselves in between our meetings. Um, ask me the question that you have in, in regards to this or. Do you have any questions about this or, you know, just having [00:29:00] that more open dialogue and also letting them know.
Send me an email. I would love to talk to you about these things. So I don't want, A lot of times the shame is associated with, I don't want to impose, or I don't want, I don't want it to be a stupid question, or I don't want it to be a silly question or, um, I never say, you should know this because it's, it's unrealistic to expect someone who has never.
Gone through training or have, like, a lot of times I meet people that they've gone into entrepreneurship or even fractional side of things by happenstance or it's not something that they set out to do, so why would they know these things? They wouldn't, it's all, it's all been done for them or in a particular job or with a partnership or whatever.
Um, and so I think first just acknowledging that, that they're not different in that regard, but also I think just working with them to understand what. Usually there's one or two things that confuse them or that they don't understand fully. So we talk about what the flow looks like and why, how their money comes in and out, [00:30:00] and understanding questions to ask themselves when making a business decision or, um, just kind of running through what's important for their specific business to keep an eye on.
Because what's important for me to keep an eye on is not gonna be what's important for you necessarily. It could be, but I would say, um. A majority of times it's, it's different. Even if it's slightly different, it's different. And so I think it's re repetition and also the negative self talk. I mean, we all do it.
I have negative self talk about different things than you do or, or than my clients. Um, but I, I will say I'm not a website person or I'm not a, whatever, you know, um, which. Is not necessarily a hundred percent true, I just don't have the tools. Mm-hmm. In order to do that, or I choose not to do that. 'cause I realize that it's better for me to outsource that so I can focus on what's important and what I do well and what I wanna do.
Um, and that's the benefit of owning your own businesses. 'cause you know what you enjoy doing [00:31:00] and you have the. Talent to do and, you know, um, when to outsource, even though we try not to outsource as well. I do. Delegation is hard sometimes. Um, but it's also just I think partnering with the right person so that, you know, you have the ability to ask the questions that you need to ask and the com and have that comfort level that knows that, um, you're not gonna be shamed or talked down to or talked in a way that makes you feel less than.
Because I think first of all, creating a business. And going outside of the norm. That's, I mean, that's huge in itself and I feel like we don't give ourselves credit for, for creating something outside of the world of a norm, what that looks like, the norm. And people don't really talk about that. I mean, you hear it more than you used to, but acknowledging, like creating something like that and stepping out and knowing that, you know, you don't know a majority of the things you need to know.
That's scary, but you're doing it anyways. You're doing it scared and you're [00:32:00] gonna figure it out and you're gonna find the right people that you need to partner with. Um, it might take you a little bit, but you will survive and you will get through it and then you'll look back and say, why I didn't do that sooner, you know?
So, um, yeah. So I think that that's how you build confidence is just partnering with the right people and knowing that, um. You shouldn't give yourself, we already talk negative to ourselves enough. We shouldn't fuel it more, especially in the entrepreneur side of things. Mm-hmm. I am gonna use that not only in the not, I'm, I'm never gonna say I'm not a numbers person again.
I'm going to use that in other areas too. It's just, I know now that I am better off outsourcing that to someone else because That's exactly right. Like I know enough to be dangerous, but. It's exactly right. I, I need to just hand that off to someone else to feel better about it. Right. And know that it's being done accurately correctly, and is gonna keep me out of an audit [00:33:00] situation ideally.
So, ideally. Exactly. Yeah. And, and reframing that. And that's, I think that totally. That's what takes away the shame associated with it. One of, you know, I was talking to one of my, my, my business coach about it and I, you know, I was like, I feel like this, this, and this, and she said, you know, that's not true.
I'm gonna speak truth to you. You're actually in the, you know, you are actually in the season of, of, of reframe and like. Refining what you're doing. And so it's not that you've done it wrong or that, you know, and so I think that that has really changed my perspective because, you know, not everything that we do now is gonna serve us well in the next couple months or even a year.
And so giving ourselves permission to do different things, um, not because we're less than, but because we're actually serving ourselves better by doing that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm gonna lean into this and your whole approach of feeling very comfortable and asking you questions, and I'm gonna ask a couple of questions that I have.
Okay. [00:34:00] And I think partially it's because I'm up against this timeframe and I am an S corp. And my question is just like, how can fractionals like set themselves up to avoid like. The tax time panic mm-hmm. That I'm starting to feel with my quarterly filings coming up. Like, do you have tips and tricks for me and others to, to stop, stop the, the panic.
The panic, yeah. So I would first say like, quarterlys are great that you're doing it. First of all, give yourself a high five on that. So that you're not feeling like overwhelmed at the end of the year because you're already paid into it. I think also like, um, I hope that you're working with a tax professional on it.
If you're not, it sounds like you are. Um, but if you're not, that would be who I would, that's number one. Right. But also, you know, I think it's important to give yourself. You know, a, a a a schedule in regards to every three or four months, I'm reevaluating and I'm gonna contact this. And you have this kind of schedule to yourself that you put on your calendar and you give yourself.
[00:35:00] Because a lot of times people, it, there's a lot of, um, anxiety associated with the numbers, right? Or like. When, oh, I don't wanna do this wrong. Or I'd, so a lot of times I say, block out like an hour or two. Give yourself a nice coffee, go to a coffee shop or whatever. And then just say every, you know, third month at this time on this date, I'm gonna sit down.
I'm gonna do these things. Um, leading up to that, I would also ask your tax pro provider professional can, what would be helpful for me? To give to you in a more consistent fashion so that I know if I need to pay more. Right. So a lot of times, you know, you, a lot of my bookkeeping clients will say, Hey, I'm gonna actually, I need, um, my p and ls for year to date, or I need my p and ls from last year and then comparison to this year so that I can send it to my tax preparers so that they can help me.
Right? So a lot of times it might, it might mean that you need to reach out to your bookkeeping provider to say, Hey, I need to, I need to. Another report or can you help [00:36:00] guide me on how to create this report if you're not as familiar with that? Um, so I think just try to take the pressure off of it. Know.
Most of the times you, you might get a, you also might get like a, a fine necessarily for doing it late, but it's not gonna be the end of the world. There are things like people do file late at times. Give yourself that, you know, understanding and that sometimes we make mistakes. Or humans. Or humans, however, um.
Just having, I think a routine and expectation. Yeah. And also assigning yourself like, this is my responsibility, this is their responsibility. And kind of having that conversation of what that goal looks like between your providers or if it's you, you're telling yourself, Hey, I gotta do X, Y, and Z. So that.
Come tax time at the end of the year. Everybody else you're looking around like, why is everybody so upset? Like, I've got this down. You know? 'cause it's a routine. Yeah. It's like you post on social media or just like you, you know, send out your newsletters or you provide your client con you know, communication.
It becomes this [00:37:00] routine and then it, it has less hold over you or this like black cloud of unknown because you're like, I just do it. It's just a part of what I do. Um, quarterly, it's kind of hard because it's not every month, but also that kind of gives you that. Um, breathing room that says, okay, not this month.
I know what month it's gonna be next month. I gotta make sure I've got time. But, um, I think that just giving yourself a more consistent schedule, I think also helps just alleviate the stress and the anxiety associated with it. Yeah, that, that already makes me feel better. I'm gonna put that calendar entry in right after, right after we hang up.
What is profit first and why do you recommend it? I think this is important. So private First is a book. You should go and look at it. It's also like a, a system. And I'm not a profit per professional. However, I do have implemented it in my own business, and I, I highly, I also support others who have decided that's what they wanna do.
Ultimately, it's a assigning, um, you're, you're focused on. [00:38:00] Profit first, which is the whole point, right? Which is paying yourself first instead of what we've all talked about. It's like, okay, so zero based budget budgets or whatever you, however you wanna call it. It's like, oh, well we've already have these expenses.
This is what our revenue is, and then this is what we have leftover. Well, when you look at that, then you're gonna get the leftovers. You're not gonna get what's, you know, what's best or what should be first. Um, and the whole mindset. Said about it is, what can, how can I get better? Even 1% better or half a percent better?
I might not be able to pay myself what I want to pay myself now, but I know I have to do these things to get to that point. So it's kind of like a, a framework really of how you can. Um, get marginally better, um, and get closer to your goals, but also it shows that you can cut expenses and this is how you can do it.
Um, a lot of times people are just like, well, these are my expenses. This is just what I have to do to run my business and private, versus like, [00:39:00] Hmm, I don't think so. Um, because in this revenue range, you really should shoot for this. And, and so it gives you these guidelines of, you know. It's, you know, what, what you really, what does a healthy business look like?
Mm-hmm. Not even profit margin wise, but like, if a healthy business is looking like this in this revenue range, you should do this. Mm-hmm. And it talks about real revenue, which means like if you do have inventory and cost of goods, what that looks like too. It kind of walks you through that. Um, I just. I think it's been, even for my business, has been a game changer because it gives me permission to take the money out that I've earned and I have worked so hard for that gives me permission to be like, I can't take this money and I can take it for myself and my, and my family and don't have guilt about it because I know that my expenses are covered and this is how I know.
And so, and it's also the way they kind of talk about it is you can kind of [00:40:00] look at your. Bank, um, accounts in a way that allows you to give you permission to make in. Real time decisions, whereas the previous way that you do go about business, you might not feel comfortable doing that. But a part of implementing that system is that you can say, okay, this is how much I have left for this month for this category.
And feeling more confident in saying, no, I cannot cash flow this, this, this month. I need to wait or. I have to do this. Okay, well how am I gonna pay for it? And it's not a, it's a just a different change of mindset and it really does make a huge difference. And I've, I feel like I've. Paid myself way more than I would have or would've felt confident doing up before now, even as a bookkeeping professional.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, I also feel like it from a fractional perspective, one of the things I feel like I'm constantly talking about on the podcast is pricing and making sure that you're pricing for your value. And so if it helps you [00:41:00] also think about how much money you wanna be paying yourself and like pricing yourself.
Yes, at that range that is gonna enable you to even make more money, then that is obviously just a benefit as well. So, yes. Okay. So at the end of every interview, I love to jump into rapid fire questions, and you gave me a lot of really good ones to ask you. So these are questions that are meant to be, um, answered in one word or one sentence or less.
So are you ready for rapid fire? Yes. Okay. Best investment you've made in yourself. Mastermind being a part of a mastermind. Can you say a little bit more about that? I'm breaking the, I'm, I'm breaking the rapid fire rule, um, investing in a mastermind with other women entrepreneurs that are not in my same business type.
So, um, I have, it's my. Technically third year in that, and it has been, I've don't even recognize, recognize myself prior to that. So [00:42:00] finding a community that you feel like you can be your, your authentic self and, um, supporting other women and they can support you, and it's just been, it's been game changer.
Yeah. That's great. Okay, back on track. What's a fun fact? What's a fun fact about you that's not on your LinkedIn profile? I own a motorcycle and I'm a motorcycle license since I was 16. Yep. Okay. Early bird or Night owl? Night Owl. Favorite way to celebrate a win. Hanging out with my husband and my kids and going out to a nice meal and just celebrating, I think, and just talking about what that win meant for me and just sharing so my kids see that and can, can enjoy in that celebration.
Mm-hmm. Most used emoji in professional texts. Smiley face. I try. It takes off the, um, even if it's like, I don't want them to feel overwhelmed. It just gives, it gives it like a little bit of, you [00:43:00] know, a lighter Yeah, a softer edge. Yeah. Softer edge. Exactly. Exactly. If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be?
I had an answer and then I blanked. Um, I think the, I think being, um, a singer is what I always wanted. Like just being very good at singing and be a vocalist. Like that's, I just have never been given that gift. God did not show that upon me, so I've always wanted to be like a Mariah Carey or like just a Adele, like a really.
Like soulful voice. I really appreciate them. I'm just, just don't have physical talent, so
that's great. Okay. This has been an amazing conversation. I do. I will link to everything in the show notes, um, and in the transcript. But if people wanna get a ahold of you, how can they reach out to you, connect with you, et cetera? The best way is my website, snow drop [00:44:00] bookkeeping.com. And um, I'm, I do have a LinkedIn or, um, a LinkedIn and then I also have, um, Instagram, but I'm not as, as active on those.
But website has a form. You can reach out to me and my email is listed there too. Um, I'd love to, to, even if you have a question or you have, you know, any questions in regards to what we talked about today, I'd be more than willing to, to talk about it if, if you just need a sounding board too, so, okay.
Awesome. Great. Thank you. This has been so helpful. Um, I feel like you are helping to make a tough conversation very approachable, which is a huge benefit to the community. So thank you so much for coming on. Thank you so much for having me. I had a great time as always. Please remember to follow, like, comment, and share.
And don't forget to head over to female fractionals.com for a full transcript of the show and links to everything we talked about during our conversation. Thanks for [00:45:00] listening.