How a second pair of eyes can save you money

When people think about bookkeeping, they often think about scanning receipts, categorizing expenses and reconciling accounts.

Those things matter of course, but some of the biggest value comes from something much simpler: having someone regularly look at your numbers and ask questions.

Recently, while finishing up a client's month-end bookkeeping, there were two things that caught my attention. I asked a few simple questions and together, they saved my client about $1'700 per year (and probably a bit of stress, too).

Finding 1: A duplicate subscription

The first thing I noticed was an invoice for a new annual subscription for an AI software tool. Nothing unusual there.

But while reviewing the subscription, I noticed that the client already had an active subscription for the exact same software and exact same plan!

After digging a little deeper, I discovered that one subscription was connected to a personal email address and the new one was connected to the business account.

Without realizing it, my client was paying twice for the same software. I'm sure the software company didn't mind 🙄

And so, luckily, the solution was simple. We moved everything to one account and cancelled the other one. A nice 'little' $300 win.

Finding 2: The forgotten balance

The second thing I noticed was actually something I had on my radar for a while.

When I first started working with this client, I pointed out that her credit card interest charges were quite high. On average, they were around $120 per month.

Over a year, that's roughly $1'400 😳

At the time, we talked about a few possible solutions. Some small changes were made, but when I reviewed her numbers again this month, I noticed the interest charges were still there.

After looking a little closer, I noticed my client was paying off the new purchases she made every month, but an older balance was still being carried forward. It was that recurring balance that kept generating interest charges month after month.

The thing is, she actually had the funds available to deal with it! They were just never transferred to the credit card.

So this month, I asked her about it. It turned out she simply needed the reminder, and she dealt with it immediately. The credit card was paid off by the next business day, and all interest charges were eliminated. Just like that, another $1'400 saved!

Why Asking Questions Matters

As business owners, we're constantly in 'operations' mode, making decisions and solving problems. We have a never-ending to-do list, and usually finance isn't at the top of that list 🙄

That's why having someone by your side who regularly looks at your numbers and isn't afraid to ask questions can make a real difference.

The money saved is obviously nice, but to me, the real value is knowing someone is looking out for your business, helping you catch small issues before they become bigger problems. Because as a business owner, you already have enough to think about.

That said... saving about $1'700 a year is still a pretty decent return on a few emails from your bookkeeper 😉

If this sounds like the kind of support you'd like for your own business, I'd love to hear from you.