How Communications Expert Alexis Works With Her Accountant and FreshBooks

Meet Dr. Alexis Carreiro. After 15 years as a communications professor, Alexis took her expertise to the private sector and started her own business as a communications consultant and coach.

She started her business, The Pitch Prof, over 4 years ago and now travels across the U.S. to help executives, startups, and sales professionals perfect their pitches.

Alexis is a whiz at quickly helping her clients find their voice to tell their stories, but was spending too much time doing all the accounting herself.

That’s why she chose FreshBooks as her business’s invoicing and accounting software.

Today, with the help of her accountant, Rebecca, Alexis can confidently manage her books and make well-informed business decisions. (Read this story from Alexis’s accountant, Rebecca’s, point of view.)

Here’s what Alexis had to say about working with Rebecca and using FreshBooks for her business.

Tell me about your background and how you started your business.

Alexis: I taught college for 15 years, and I got my master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. My research and my teaching area focused on the art of storytelling and narrative strategies. While I still completely believe in the goals of higher education, I realized, philosophically, I couldn’t stomach working within a system where millions of people went into debt. But I realized that my skills were completely transferable to the business world, so I started my own company.

My business is The Pitch Prof, which I started 4 years ago. Broadly, I’m a strategic communications consultant and coach. More specifically, I help individuals and corporate teams pitch their ideas and stories in a dynamic way to engage their target audience. I also do a lot of work as a storytelling and public speaking coach for women.

How did you get started with FreshBooks?

Alexis: I’ve used FreshBooks throughout the life of my business. My husband owns a company, and he initially showed me QuickBooks. I just remember being completely overwhelmed. I just thought, “Oh, dear God, no.” To me, the interface was cold, off-putting, and daunting.

I wanted something far more user-friendly, and that’s why I chose FreshBooks. My friend introduced me to it. It made sense visually. It wasn’t intimidating and I could see myself using it. I started with FreshBooks and I’ve stayed with FreshBooks.

How has managing your business changed since you started working with your accountant, Rebecca?

I’m far more confident making financial decisions for my business now that I’m using FreshBooks and have Rebecca as my financial partner.

Alexis: Rebecca’s been with me for the last two years. My business has been night and day since she came on. I get to focus 100% on what I love to do and my specific skill set as a subject matter expert in storytelling, communication, and public speaking. That’s all I want to do. And I get to do that now almost 100% because she takes care of everything else, and we work together in FreshBooks. It’s incredible.

Do you have a favorite FreshBooks feature?

Alexis: The Time Tracking is far and away my favorite feature. The fact that it’s seamlessly integrated into the FreshBooks experience is exactly what I want out of accounting software. That’s primarily how I’m in the software. I’ll go in, add new clients and projects, and add time. The detailed Invoices are spectacular because it’s really important for me that I’m transparent with how I’m spending my time and the work that I’m doing for my clients. When it’s ready to go, I’ll message Rebecca and authorize her to send the invoices. And honestly, she pretty much does everything else.

How does using FreshBooks impact the way you work together with your accountant?

Alexis: My accountant, Rebecca, and I meet regularly to review and discuss my reports. Rebecca’s incredibly thoughtful with how she explains the information to me, which I appreciate as a communications person myself. My tax accountant also has access to my FreshBooks account. He and Rebecca work together on identifying line items, or if he has any questions about how things are categorized, he can go in and look at it. They can communicate with each other. So now my taxes are so easy to do because I have Rebecca, we have FreshBooks, and all the information that we have there is ready to go exactly when we need it.

How has working with FreshBooks and Rebecca impacted your business?

Alexis: It makes a huge difference. I’m far more confident making financial decisions for my business now that I’m using FreshBooks and have Rebecca as my financial partner. That’s how I see her.

I might not necessarily be in the software on a day-to-day basis, but I have the data. I’m someone who, as an academic, is driven by data, so that helps me understand where I am, what benchmarks I’ve met, what goals I’ve met, and where I still need to go. There’s a level of transparency there. Using FreshBooks and having Rebecca really helped me understand it better than I would on my own. That enables me to have more control and more confidence in how I’m building my business.