QBO On the go…

“Mom, I want to learn QuickBooks Online!(QBO)”, said my son Nick (25) who is the assistant controller at the ACE Hotel in Palm Springs. Naturally, there was a perfectly reasonable (and millennial) explanation. “Because one day, I want to travel and do my work….. like you.” Now, this was a young man who fell into accounting without prompts. After choosing Business: Hospitality in college, he learned that the Food and Beverage side was 24/7 and the front desk role was, well, 24/7. With a couple of very good grades in Accounting, he soon discovered that the accounting role was for him. Of course, this left time for him to travel the west coast, mountain bike, hike and camp. After moving to CA and settling into his job, the obvious question was “Ok, what’s next?” Nick finished his first segment of the QBO certification and, knowing him, will go full guns for the rest of the test. So,I’m hoping to give him some projects, make him a Team member on my QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA) platform and put him to work.

Katey Maddux

How lucky can I be? Well, here are two of my team members that fit the same profile! I’ve known Katey’s mom Carole for some year’s now. When we caught up with each other last year, she let me know that her daughter was home from her mission work in South Korea and that Katey was doing some QBO work to earn money. (I later found out that the money she earned was strictly to head out and travel and she did all of that and more.)

Katey’s story:

Working remotely was never the plan. The plan was to go to college, study abroad, do an internship and get a good corporate job. Of course, I worked hard and set my sights on achieving my goals. Fortunately, I achieved what I always wanted, but I wasn’t happy.  Between the high-stress environment, long working hours and the 10 days a year of vacation time, it just didn’t work for me.  I needed a change. What would a millennial do? I quit my job. Next, I moved to South Korea and spent the next 18 months working, volunteering, and traveling. This was the life for me. The next step was to find something that was sustainable, income earning and long-term.

A very wise woman (my mother) suggested I get QBO certified. I loved math, business and problem solving, and had worked with her in her accounting business since I was old enough to use a calculator. Within a month of getting my certification, I interviewed with my first client and was hired on the spot as her bookkeeper. However, she lives in France, so the working remote aspect was very real. Yet the more I worked, the more I loved it. I could take my work with me as I traveled. Love owning my working hours, and experimenting with new apps, and means of communication.  Over time, I learned what worked for my clients and me and even took on more clients.  I traveled more, worried less, and built relationships with other small business owners. Today, I have a thriving business, truly love my work and the people I work with, get to experience life overseas, have traveled to 35 countries, and couldn’t be happier.

Erica Edd

Erica, also a millennial, is my other team member who lives in LA and travels to Wyoming to see family while continuing to work with our clients and keep me organized using our project management tool Active Collab. When Erica moved to LA from Wyoming to pursue acting, little did she know what else she’d find in CA. Surprisingly, she also has her own T-shirt printing company along with providing accounting services to a host of companies Erica has some awesome fishing stories (I love her pictures where she holds up her catch) and just saw the real deal being at one of the closest spots to the solar eclipse in Wyoming!

So, Erica is the mastermind of my accounting organization, Katey rocks my social media channels and Nick? Well, when he’s ready, I’ll have plenty of things for him to do when I start MY travels! Are you ready to unplug your QuickBooks desktop software and venture out into the world? Still think you can only access your business’s vital statistics from the confines of your office? Be a boomer like me and be a virtual nomad with your virtual accounting systems. Ping me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or visit my website and schedule a 15 minute consult to find out more.

From L-R: Erica and Katey