Well, Hey There!
Hi, I’m Laura Solt,
And here at Solt Bookkeeping & Advisory, we exist to equip construction, trades and home improvement business owners with modern accounting so you can understand the link between your goals and business performance because we believe you deserve to grow and thrive in your business. When you grow and thrive in your business, you have lasting impact on your family and community.
You’ve likely noticed sunflowers sprinkled throughout our website and materials. This is intentional.
For one, we’re in Kansas. Did you know that the Kansas state flower is the sunflower? 🌻 No? Well, now you do!
For two, sunflowers are bright and cheerful and happy. Which is exactly what we aim to be.
We aim to be different from the traditional, stuffy accountant persona that so many people picture and expect from their accounting professional. When you work with us, you work with people who aim to bring a little cheer and happiness to your experience.
I started my professional career in banking, where I met and developed relationships with many business owners. The conversations with these business owners fueled me. You see, in banking, you work with all walks of life. I had a front-row seat to business owners who were thriving, while others struggled to stay afloat.
During my banking days, I absolutely saw businesses close down. Sometimes the business owners who were struggling would surprise you. Their queue of projects was always full, and they were swamped with their workload. But their vendors wanted to be paid. Their employees wanted to be paid. There didn’t seem to be enough cash in the bank to meet all the demands. So these businesses would come in for a line of credit “just to get by”...but they’d never make any real progress paying down that line of credit. In fact, the outstanding balance would get bigger and bigger each time they needed to “just get by”…let’s just say that things snowballed from there.
And then my husband began his tile business in March of 2008. I began to understand the breadth of challenges facing business owners because I lived it!
My husband, like many business owners, was wearing so many hats and doing so many things in his business. He implemented some systems, but he was still struggling to get clarity around how to effectively price his projects. He knew his business was profitable overall, but he didn’t know his individual projects’ profit margins or if they were in a healthy range for our family’s goals and needs.
It was time for a change. I finally stepped in and took over his business finances. I implemented processes and systems to understand how each project was performing, not just the business as a whole. That allowed my husband to pivot and course-correct. It became clear which types of projects were generating revenue and which projects were actually losing money or at break-even. (HINT: Those ‘quick’ repair jobs that only took 1-2 hours were actually sucking cash out of his business EVERY time he agreed to take one on.) He was empowered to change his pricing structure or completely axe services he was offering.
My ‘aha’ moment came when our tax preparer wanted to hire me to come work for him as a bookkeeper. I was providing value, and our tax preparer was the first person to recognize and speak into that. I realized that the tools I implemented with my husband could help others too…and I thought back to my customers from my banking days.
Fast-forward to today, I’ve built a firm and team focused on bookkeeping and advisory for clients in the construction, trades and home improvement industry. We are on a mission to equip our clients with the knowledge and tools they need to understand how the various parts and pieces of their business are performing so they can pivot and change, too. Because you, my friend, also deserve to know where you can implement change and course-correct to align your business with your goals.
We have packages tailored to the specific stage of business that you find yourself in
Tax-Ready - “I’m really nervous that I’m going to make a mistake or miss something, and I’d like to be ready for tax time.”
Strategy & Insight - “How is my business performing?” “What is profitable?” “Do I have enough cash to meet my obligations?” “What is my business telling me that I need to pay attention to?”
Building Profit & Legacy - “What is my business going to look like down the road?” “Do I have the capacity to hire someone by X date, and what can I afford to pay them?” “Can I continually meet my financial obligations?” “What will my projected income look like?”
You can customize your package further, too, with the add-on services we have available to serve your business’ needs.
Once you’re ready to take the next step to move forward, here’s what you can expect:
DISCOVERY 💻
After you reach out, we’ll meet virtually to ensure we’re a good fit to work together.
DIAGNOSTIC REVIEW 📊
We’ll review your accounting file to understand your business better and come up with a plan to move forward.
ONBOARDING 🗂️
Once you’re a client, we’ll get everything cleaned up and establish a flawless accounting system.
RECURRING SERVICES 🔁
Your accounting becomes “wash, rinse, repeat” as we keep everything running smoothly through routine work.
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT 💡
As we get to know your business better, we identify areas for improvement and excellent guidance.
We aim to be different.
We are a CAS practice (Client Accounting Services practice) and handle your business finances so you are freed up to do more of what you do best and make informed decisions based on clear, accurate data.
Are you ready to transform your relationship with your business finances?
You are juggling all the things. You are wearing so many hats. You are making endless decisions for your business. And you do this day in and day out.
Holding so many things on your plate makes it hard to see the big picture and set yourself up for long-term success. When you are stuck in the weeds, it’s hard to know what is/isn’t profitable, what’s sucking cash out of your business, if you can afford to hire, how much you can pay yourself, etc etc.
One last thing to ensure that we’re a good fit for each other…
It’s important to us to work with clients who hold similar values. Here are ours:
✔️ Approachability
✔️ Integrity
✔️ Empowerment
✔️ Accessibility
✔️ Always Improving
✔️ Purpose-Driven
If you’re ready to get started, head over to our Get Started page to schedule your complimentary Discovery Call. We are here to support you!
PS: If you found this content helpful, bookmark this blog to follow all things accounting and business! We aim to tackle topics that you care about and deliver value with each post.