Meet Jessica, an Accounting Pro Who’s Significantly Improved Her Cash Flow Using Cloud Accounting Software

Company: McCormick Tax Group

Industry: Tax

Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Problem:

Clients taking too long to pay

Solution:

FreshBooks Select Invoices, Online Payments, and low credit card fees

Results:

Significantly improved cash flow

When Jessica and her husband Michael McCormick started their business over a decade ago, they knew they wanted to do something that would really help people.

So they created McCormick Tax Group, a tax service provider focused on not only helping clients get through that dreaded time of year, but also providing bookkeeping assistance and financial consultation. But that was only one piece of the puzzle. With a legal background, Jessica and Michael started a second firm, McCormick Law Group, aimed at helping their same batch of clients navigate legal intricacies.

“We’re not just a tax firm and we’re not just a law firm,” Jessica explains. “We do a good job of mingling the two and use both to ensure our clients are fully protected from a legal and tax standpoint.”

But as they were busy lending their tax and legal expertise to their clients, Jessica soon felt the toll it took on her own bookkeeping and accounting.

Navigating Entrepreneurship Isn’t Black and White

As a tax and accounting professional, it was obvious that Jessica needed an accounting tool to run both businesses. So in the early days of McCormick Tax Group and McCormick Law Group, she used Quickbooks to help manage her books.

At the time, the service had its benefits but, as their business grew quickly, Jessica felt the burden of slow-paying clients, and needed to find a way that was simple and customizable.

“We’re a unique firm,” she says. “We’re not just an accounting or law firm. We didn’t want something that was black and white; we wanted something that was unique like us and could customize to what we were doing.”

Improve Invoicing and Payments: A Simpler Way to Manage a Growing Business

In the market for a new solution, Jessica created her wishlist of must-haves:

• The ability to email invoices to clients
• A tool that accepts payments online with low credit card fees

“Getting paid was a pain because I had to call clients for their credit card number and had to do everything manually,” she explains. “You could only do that during business hours so that really limited me in what could get done and how fast I could get paid.”

At the end of the day, Jessica dreamed of a solution that would cut the wait times, eliminate the cumbersome task of snail mail and, ultimately, help improve her cash flow.

So when she first started shopping around for a new solution, Jessica came across FreshBooks through a referral.

“When we first looked at FreshBooks, we signed up for the free trial,” she recalls. “I felt it out for a bit and it was very different from the traditional accounting software we were using. It was so easy that we just made the jump—we never looked back.”

I wear a lot of hats being a small business owner so, for me, anything that will save me a couple of minutes is the route to go.

Solution Discovered: How FreshBooks Helps Make Cash Flow Management a Breeze

After using FreshBooks, Jessica says she noticed an improvement in her accounts receivables. And as a member of the FreshBooks Select program, she’s able to collect fast, online payments from clients in a cost-effective way.

“FreshBooks helped tremendously with cash flow,” she explains. “We’ve collected on our accounts receivable at a higher percentage than we ever had before. A lot of our clients have responded well to FreshBooks.”

Jessica explains how she can automatically set up a payment reminder to send every 30 and 60 days. Whereas in the past, she had to mark it in her calendar and resend them through the mail.

“In FreshBooks, I don’t have to do any of that—it’s easy.”

What’s more, Jessica was also struck by the simplicity of viewing and managing her reports. It’s something that helped her understand how the businesses were doing at all times.

“There are so many reports in FreshBooks to help with my bookkeeping,” she says. “I wear a lot of hats being a small business owner so, for me, anything that will save me a couple of minutes is the route to go.”

Jessica’s Advice to Small Business Owners

Jessica explains that being a business owner comes with tremendous responsibility. So she advises swapping the cumbersome tasks for the freedom to do the work you set out to do.

“It’s going to make your life a lot easier,” she says. “I’m sure the last thing they want to do is spend time on their invoicing and accounts receivables. The more they can take off their plate the better. That’s what makes FreshBooks priceless. The amount we pay is much better compared to the amount of time I would spend doing those tasks.”