Results
Problems solved for businesses like your own. Outdated records, looming deadlines, and money going places it shouldn't.
Richmond Restaurant Losing Money on Deliveries
The Problem
A restaurant owner was busy every night but couldn't figure out why the bank account never reflected it. Between third-party delivery fees, tip payouts, and food costs, he had no clear picture of what was actually profitable.
His books were four months behind and tax season was approaching fast.
What We Did
We caught up the backlog and set up tracking to separate dine-in, takeout, and delivery revenue. We broke out the delivery platform fees so he could see the true margin on each channel.
The Result
Delivery orders that felt busy were actually losing money after platform fees and packaging costs. He adjusted his delivery menu prices and cut one platform entirely. Dine-in focus increased and margins improved within two months.
His CPA got clean books before the deadline. No extension, no scramble. He now reviews his channel profitability with us monthly and makes menu pricing decisions based on actual numbers instead of guesswork. The next tax season was the first one in years that didn't involve a single panicked phone call.
General Contractor Who Couldn't Get Bonded
The Problem
A general contractor bidding on commercial work needed to increase his bonding capacity. The surety company wanted two years of financial statements, but his books were a mess of personal and business expenses mixed together.
What We Did
We rebuilt two years of books, separated personal spending, and produced proper P&L and balance sheet reports. We set up job costing so he could show profitability by project.
The Result
The surety approved the increased bond. He landed a school renovation project he couldn't have bid on before.
We now handle his books monthly so the next bonding review will be straightforward. The job costing setup also changed how he bids. He can now see exactly which types of projects make money and which ones eat up time without much return. He walked away from two jobs last quarter that would have looked good on paper but lost money once you factored in the real costs.
Property Investor Flying Blind Across Six Units
The Problem
A real estate investor with six rental properties was tracking everything in a spreadsheet. He had no idea which properties were actually cash-flow positive after repairs, management fees, and mortgage payments.
His accountant had been asking for better records for two years.
What We Did
We moved him to QuickBooks and set up class tracking by property. Every expense, rent payment, and repair bill now ties to a specific address.
The Result
One duplex was bleeding money on maintenance. He sold it and reinvested in a property that actually performed.
His accountant now gets clean reports without the back-and-forth. He can evaluate new purchases using real numbers from his current portfolio instead of optimistic projections. When a seven-unit building came on the market, he was able to model it against his actual operating costs and make a realistic offer. He closed on it three months later with financing that came through faster because his records were already in order.
Salon Owner Confused by Booth Renter Taxes
The Problem
A salon owner had a mix of W-2 employees and booth renters. She wasn't sure if she was handling the 1099s correctly and had received a notice from the IRS about a previous filing.
What We Did
We reviewed her worker classifications, corrected the 1099 filings, and responded to the IRS notice. We set up a system to track booth rent separately from payroll.
The Result
The IRS issue was resolved without penalties. She now has clear records for both employee payroll and contractor payments. No more guessing at year-end about who gets what form.
The separation also gave her a clearer picture of her actual business. She could finally see how much revenue came from her employees versus the booth renters, which changed how she thought about growth. When she decided to bring on another stylist, she had the numbers to know whether an employee or a renter made more sense for the business.
E-Commerce Seller Ignoring Sales Tax
The Problem
An online seller shipping out of her garage had grown quickly on Etsy and Shopify. She had been ignoring sales tax for eighteen months and had no idea where she had nexus or what she might owe.
What We Did
We ran a nexus study based on her sales history, registered her in the required states, and set up automated sales tax collection. We filed voluntary disclosures where it made sense to reduce penalties.
The Result
She went from non-compliant to fully registered and filing on time. Two states waived penalties because she came forward voluntarily. She no longer worries about a surprise tax bill derailing the business.
The cleanup also gave her confidence to scale. She had been hesitant to push marketing because more sales meant more tax exposure she didn't understand. Once the system was in place, she ran her first real ad campaign and doubled her monthly revenue within a quarter. The sales tax just handles itself now.
HVAC Company With Payroll They Couldn't Trust
The Problem
A growing HVAC company had eight employees and was still calculating payroll by hand. The owner spent hours every two weeks on it and still wasn't confident the withholdings were right.
What We Did
We moved them to a proper payroll system with direct deposit and automated tax filings. We set up time tracking integration so hours flow directly into payroll without manual entry.
The Result
Payroll now takes minutes instead of hours. Employees are paid correctly and on time. The owner got a full day back every month and his year-end tax filings were accurate for the first time.
The time tracking integration also reduced disputes. Techs log hours on the job site and the data flows straight through. No more arguments about overtime or forgotten hours. When he hired two more techs later that year, adding them to payroll took five minutes. The system scales with the business now instead of becoming more painful as it grows.
Greater Richmond's Small Business Bookkeeper
The Next Step:
A Short Conversation
Fifteen minutes to tell us what you're dealing with. We'll let you know how we can help and give you a clear price quote.
