ABOUT GUIDESTAR ACCOUNTING

THE WHY

GuideStar Accounting was first formed in September 2009 following a conversation Melanie Paul, the founder, had with a local tax preparer. She was hired as a QuickBooks Pro and as such, was to clean up client’s files so their taxes could easily be prepared. Upon finding that a client was double counting income, to no fault of his own, but rather not having a full understanding of how to record invoices and receive payments, it was pointed out that due to the increase in income, the client would be paying higher taxes than they should if this was fixed in their QuickBooks file. Unfortunately, the response was that this was not what they were hired to do, the books were managements responsibility, it was a Mom & Pop business and they could not afford to have their books cleaned up and to just clean them up enough to get their taxes done (it would have taken a lot of time to fix the income issue). That day, GuideStar Accounting was formed to find those business owners, assist them with their bookkeeping needs at a rate they could afford and that would fit within their budget, giving them a high rate of return on their investment (lower taxes, better decision making), and to provide support and training for those who had an internal bookkeeper, or who wanted to do their own books.

THE SECOND WHY

Just prior to the formation of GuideStar Accounting, Melanie went through some very tough life challenges and found herself in a position of having to start over as a single Mom with 2 children and shortly thereafter, no job right as the housing market crashed the economy took a nose dive. With experience as a non-profit CFO and very little for profit experience outside of what she learned in College, the job search was full of hurdles and challenges. She went from not having to worry about finances to having her first house go under foreclosure and not knowing where the funds to survive would come from. GuideStar Accounting was birthed during this timeframe. Adding to the desire to assist small business owners with their bookkeeping needs was to train single Mom’s, mothers of kids with special needs, individuals coming out of domestic abuse situations and folks who were trying to get back on their feet – bookkeeping skills to provide them with a source of income and a flexible schedule, along with experience they could use to open up their own bookkeeping business for those who wanted to head down that path.

The mission has several important pieces:

1. Assist small business owners with their bookkeeping needs allowing them to know their numbers to streamline operations and make better informed business decisions, thus leading to a strong, sustainable business.
2. Provide training and support to in-house bookkeepers so that when they encounter transactions that they are not sure how to handle, they have someone to run it by and help them figure out the best way to enter the information, along with having a second pair of eyes glance over the financials for peace of mind that everything is coded correctly.
3. Provide training and support to single Mom’s, mothers of kids with special needs, individuals coming out of domestic abuse situations and folks who were trying to get back on their feet – bookkeeping skills to provide them with a source of income and a flexible schedule, along with experience they could use to open up their own bookkeeping business for those who wanted to head down that path.