STAR Company Bookkeeper Judy Marcelline spreads the word about Freshbooks; a bookkeeping tool that makes life a whole lot easier for creative entrepreneurs and artists.

photo courtesy of: fortheloveofbookshops.wordpress.com

Customer service, customer service, customer service….yes, that’s right, customer service.  A rarity in today’s world of voicemail, email, facebook, text and twitter.

Imagine this… you  pick up the phone, dial a number and a real live human says:  ’Hello, Freshbooks’ !  If you have a question, they go out of their way to answer it.   Then and there.  On the spot.  I know, crazy isn’t it?!  Freshbooks‘  outstanding approach to customer service is  one of  many fantastic services offered by this people-friendly company.

What is Freshbooks, you ask?

Their tagline is ‘painless billing’ and that really sums it up.  They provide individuals, sole proprietors and small businesses the simplicity of:

photo courtesy of: shoeboxed.com

- creating invoices

- tracking expenses and  income billed and paid

- time tracking per client or project

- billing for projects

- creating reports that provide a clear picture of your finances

- And, with your own personal URL, Freshbook developers have created a page that is easy to use and follow

What about good ol’ Excel, you say?  I have nothing against Excel, it’s a stellar piece of software that’s invaluable to numerous businesses.  But for many creative small business owners and entrepreneurs, the built-in formulas and tracking tools within  Freshbooks save considerable time, (and you know what they say about ‘time is money’) and lots of mental gymnastics.

photo courtesy of: science.howstuffworks.com

There are now many cloud-based bookkeeping apps and software, (we know, we’ve tried lots of them), all offering ease, accessiblity and affordability, but Freshbooks stands out among the crowd.   With their daily blogs, client portraits and fabulous customer service, they have developed relationships with their clients and thereby created a community of satisfied customers .

As a STAR Company bookkeeper and an official Freshbooks ‘Beancounter’,  I feel good about spreading the word of Freshbooks.

Did I mention they offer great customer service?

Feel free to get in touch with us to learn more about STAR Company and Freshbooks at info@starcompany.ca.

 Shirley Marquez, STAR Company Bookkeeping Assitant and singer/actor offers three useful strategies to help you make a living from your art…see her tips below. 

Shirley and the STAR Company team will be at the Toronto Fringe Festival Tent Talk “Business of Being an Artist” evening, one of the ways that STAR Company is supporting the Toronto Fringe as a Community Partner.  So if you are an artist with a headful of questions about making a living from your art, then come by.  We’d love to meet you and answer your questions.

“The Business of Being an Artist”

Saturday July 7, 6-9pm

outdoors at The Fringe Club at Bloor and Bathurst.

One of the most commonly asked questions by artists and creatives alike is…

“How do I turn my creativity into a career?” Having been a performer in my twenties, I realized there was a lack of proper “business training classes” in theatre schools. Quite interesting, since as a creative artist you are self-employed. Yet there no core classes specifically addressing the step-by- step process of self-promotion – how do you produce, where do you get the money to produce a show – Just how do you start? How do you keep afloat?

There are many ways to go about this issue, but here are some basic beginner steps to take note of:

1. Have a Business Plan:

Yes artists – have a business plan. As creative people our first main focus naturally falls on the artistic side of things (deciding which plays to do, how many shows to do in a season, which directors to consider, etc.). While those are very important (of course!), realize that you need to have a business plan to bring it into fruition. Start with your wish list – where would you like to be in one year? How much money do you think you’ll need to accomplish that goal? Where do you think you can get help? What resources do you have, and how can you expand them?

 2. Create a List of Actions.

One of my instructors at NYU, James McGarry who taught a course called Financial Management for the Arts, said that starting a career in the arts is like planning a vacation. You plan in advance (at least a year in advance, not two months before you wish to open your show!) Assign specific dates to achieve a certain goal and make each step goal-oriented. Simply writing down “look for a venue” is not definitive enough. Something like, “1. Narrow down venue choices by July 15th, 2. Select a venue by July 30th, 3. Deliver venue deposit by August 5th “ initiates and demands action and planning, rather than simply stating what you wish to happen next.

3. Think Long –Term.

In the book “Yours for the Asking” by Reynold Levy (President, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts), one of the lessons that struck me the most is the idea of planning for long-term survival. How many times have we focused on how to have a successful first show with no plans on how to continue this success into the following year, the next five years, ten years, etc? Remember the old saying back in elementary school? Getting an A is easy, keeping an A is hard. If your goal is make your passion a career, you need a business plan and a list of actions that does not end after your show wraps up.

Some Helpful Links (grants)

Theatre Ontario – Professional Theatre Training Program Grants are given to professionals who wish to gain professional development within their own discipline or a “change of direction” within their careers (examples: an actor wants to become a publicist; a stage manager wants to become a producer; a technician wants to become a designer.)

Ontario Arts Council –  OAC offers grants to individual artists (Project Grants) and arts organizations (Operating Grants).  

Toronto Arts Council – TAC provides grants to outstanding artists and arts organizations that contribute to the cultural life of the City of Toronto.

Canada Arts Council – Provides funding to individual professional artists and arts organizations.

Metcalfe Foundation – Provides grants to registered charitable organizations in three areas: Community, Environment, and Performing Arts.

Recommended Readings

Management for the Arts Byrnes, William J. Focal Press; 4 edition. 2008.

Yours for the Asking: an Indispensable Guide to Fundraising and Management  Levy, Reynold, John Wiley & Sons, 2008.

Winning Grants Step by Step Mim Carlson, 2nd. Edition, Alliance for Non-Profit Management, John Wiley/Jossey-Bass, 2002

One thing is for certain, all entrepreneurs and self-employed creatives face the same challenge:  how to be creative and keep your business wits about you.

What’s your style?

photo courtesy of Bergen Health & Life

Are you…

Well-done  – you’ve got the financial know-how, but you don’t have the time?

Medium - you know your finances are important, you just need some guidance?

Rare - you haven’t had the a-ha moment, yet…the one that makes you understand that the creative side and the money side are equally important, if you want to succeed in your creative business.

1. Well-done

Many of our clients are very proficient at managing their finances.  Are they able to do their own bookkeeping?  Of course.  Do they have the time?  No.  They have a comprehensive understanding of double entry bookkeeping, know how to use their software and  how to analyze a set of financial statements.  They are incredibly busy building capacity, following sales leads, etc.  All the while thinking, “I can manage my own books, I don’t need to pay someone”’  This is when books fall months, or years, behind and suddenly, the very capable business owner no longer has the financial information they need to make solid decision about their business.

STAR Company Tip:  Acknowledge your skills, identify when your time is better spent elsewhere, and then quickly bring in skilled help to maintain your books before they fall behind.

2.   Medium

We often meet with people who understand the importance of bookkeeping, really want to keep things on track, but are lacking the understanding of how to manage financial information.  How do I use this software?  What is a revenue stream? How do I integrate my online sales with my accounting program?  Is it important to pay sales tax quarterly?  Unfortunately, the intention and desire to track their finances leads people to keep forging ahead, even when they don’t quite understand.  The result?  Bad bookkeeping, incomplete information and lots of wasted time…and money.

STAR Company Tip:  Get help!  Have an experienced bookkeeper set  up your process right…from the beginning.  If you want to maintain your books ongoing, then get the training but have someone “check your work” periodically to make sure you are on track.  Things done right the first time save an enormous amount of time and money in the long run.

3.    Rare

Sometimes when we are talking with business owners, we hear them utter phrases like:

“Money just isn’t important to the kind of work I’m doing”

“I’ve never been into money”

“I just don’t have time for all the fussy work”

“I’m more interested in helping people than focussing on money”

These kinds of attitudes require what a colleague calls, “an intervention”.  These entrepreneurs are lacking important information about the role of money in their business  – and someone needs to let them know!  Very few of us start creative ventures or social enterprise because of the money.  We are passionate about what we do.  But just as you would never start out on a big journey without checking your gas tank, so you should never undertake an enterprise without knowing what it is going to take in terms of money, time, and commitment.  It is an almost complete guarantee that you will run into serious trouble, if you don’t take your finances into account.

 STAR Company Tip:  Sit down and make a budget, all while keeping the focus of your work in mind.  What do you want to do and what resources do you need to manifest your vision?  And make sure you have someone with financial experience look at the information with you.  Friends don’t let friends plan alone!

The key in all these scenarios is to know yourself!

Know your financial style and figure out what kind of support you need.

Get the right kind of help so that you can continue to do the work you love to do.

Contact us at info@starcompany.ca and we’ll help you determine your style, and best practices for your creative and business success!

The first in our series of monthly STAR Company ‘Client Snapshots’…a chance to share, learn, explore and find creative and business inspiration from our STAR Company client roster.

Cheryl Bouzide-McKee, from the STAR Company team,  sits down for a virtual chat with STAR Company client  Olivier Berger to learn more about Olivier’s work with Wondereur, a truly 21^st century creative business.

Wondereur Preview Spring 2012 from Wondereur on Vimeo.

What is Wondereur?  Wondereur is a weekly iPad magazine. But there’s more to us than that… Photojournalism: each week, we unveil a photo essay on a new contemporary artist and give you three weeks to discover the artist’s life and work.  Mobile Shopping: Along with the artist’s story, we unveil a storefront. When you’re captivated by what you see, click “buy” to bring a piece of art home.

How did the idea for your business develop?  It started by a kind of frustration with how art is sold online and offline. So we thought there was something else that could be done, something that would bring a simple way of exploring what is behind contemporary art. To us, artists are adventurers, so we were excited to find a way to show the adventurous ‘journey’ involved in the creation process.

Olivier, 3rd from left, and the wonderful Wondereur team.

Tell us a bit about the Wondereur team.  We are a small collective of journalists, designers, creative entrepreneurs and art lovers, with a special love for contemporary art. We are from Paris and Toronto.  We are bearded and beardless, glasses and no glasses, but with a shared passion to make things beautiful and simple.

How do you find the artists you showcase?  It starts with our talent spotters. Then our editorial team takes over.  Leading figures in local art scenes around the world agree to be Wondereur’s talent spotters, finding and endorsing artists who are under the radar. Wondereur invites the artists to submit work for display in our storefront and autobiographical material to feature in our story.  From there, it’s up to Wondereur’s journalists and designers. They shape the artist’s autobiographical material, the talent spotter’s insights, an in-depth artist interview and documentary-style photography into photo essays in the classic style.

Can you talk about some of the challenges of bringing Wondereur to life?  The concept went through a lot of iterations, even through big changes in the Wondereur team. It felt sometimes, often actually, like we were hitting the wall with our head… but at some point the wall broke.  For us, this is just the start. The development of the Wondereur concept will continue, and even go faster, after we launch…thanks to response from users.

What was the break-through in the creation of Wondereur?  The wall breaks when suddenly you find a way to bring big value to each of your key stakeholders. In our case, the artist, the art community,  art galleries, the photojournalist and the reader.

What are your greatest joys and greatest challenges with Wondereur?  The joy comes from working with people who are not like minded, but share a common passion for the project, and a group dynamic where ego can be left out… where stress is kept at bay.

Where are you headed?  Launch! After quite a few months of hard, hard work, we will finally see if what we’ve built is meaningful or not.

What has been the most important lesson so far?  That surprises are always around the corner, even if you are very well organized.  So just be prepared for the unexpected.

What business tools can you not live without in your day to day life?  Basecamp.  Email on ipad.  Skype.  Home-made organic 1k calorie chocolate cakes…yes it is a business tool!

What do you wish you had?  More time.

How does STAR Company help with your life/work?  The backbone of any business, whether it’s for-profit or not-for-profit, is money and compliance toward government agencies and various other stakeholders. Without it nothing can become real or sustain itself. STAR Company is key in making this manageable and ensuring that things are done right.

Was there something/someone/a moment that propelled you to take the leap and turn your creative passion into a business?
Yes, finding the people who accepted to take the risk along with us and join our Wondereur team.

Where do you want to go?

Good financial management is like planning for a great adventure.

You create the vision of where you want your business or organization to go, but financial management provides the road map.

Where do you want to go?  What do you need? How will you get there?  Who will bring the snacks?

Here at STAR Company we work with all kinds of clients in the arts and culture sector: self-employed artists and creatives; sole proprietors and incorporated business; nonprofits and charitable organizations.  Although each of these different business structures has unique needs and considerations, all of them need a road map.

And because we work behind the scenes, we get lots of insight into the habits and practices that make good sense, are efficient – and most importantly – give you the financial picture you need for your journey.

 Here are the four important guidelines when considering how to track your finances.

1.  Figure out the right software solution for you.

We often have clients come to us who have very simple bookkeeping needs, but are using a complicated software program because their boyfriend/girlfriend told them to. We also see clients with very complex business operations and multiple administrators, using Excel. Bad software choices like these lead to frustration, confusion and inaccurate financial information.

Finding the right software is like having the right pair of shoes. If you are planning on climbing Everest, you don’t buy flip flops. And if you’re just planning on taking a leisurely walk around the block then hiking boots are complicated overkill. We are happy to talk with you more about the right solution for you, so give us a shout for a complimentary consultation.

2.  Separate business and personal. 

What does this mean?  Set up a separate bank account for your business or profession, then deposit all your income and pay all your expenses out of that account.  If you pay for business expenses out of your personal income, keep track of this by using a reimbursement form or out of pocket expense form.  Don’t know what that is?  E-mail us and we’ll send you one.

It may feel like an extra step in the beginning, but it will save you oodles of time in the long run.

3.  Use a deposit book. 

Everybody thinks they will remember what they deposited into their account last week.  But then another week passes, a month, sometimes a year and suddenly you can’t for the life of you remember where that money came from.  So, use a deposit book and write down in there who the cheque or cash you are depositing is from.  If you never go to the teller, then write a description of where the money is from on the ATM receipt and staple the receipt to the deposit book.  Again, it may feel like an extra step at the beginning, but in the long run will save you enormous amounts of time.

4.   Get help. 

Some of our clients are bookkeeping stars and could keep their own books (if they had the time).  Some of our clients are allergic to HST returns and income tracking.  The most important thing is to honestly determine when you are lacking time, skill, or both and act quickly to get help.  Letting your bookkeeping get behind, or setting up your processes incorrectly invariably leads to bigger headaches (and bigger bills) down the road.

Financial management is built on solid systems and regular maintenance.  Figure out the rights systems, and keep everything up to date.  The result?  Financial info that will help guide your adventures and give you peace of mind.