Form and Field

Case Study

How Logistis for Designers Helped Form and Field Gain Reassurance, Time, and Peace of Mind

INTRODUCTION

When owner and designer Christine Lin left her high-profile career in software product development to pursue her newfound passion for design, she never imagined her business would scale so quickly. Several months after founding Form and Field, Christine realized she needed help with her bookkeeping services, so she hired a 3rd party bookkeeper to allow her to allocate more time to growing her business. About a year later, Christine discovered her business books were behind, inaccurate, and not categorized correctly.

Feeling frustrated about her situation and worried that her numbers were incorrect, she sought Logistis for Designers’ assistance in making things right.

From the very beginning, it felt like a great fit. That’s why I’ve stayed with them for 4 ½ years.

-Christine Lin, Owner.

The Situation

  • Christine was dissatisfied with her current 3rd party bookkeeping service but needed to delegate this task to an expert that would ensure accuracy and give her peace of mind.
  • While chatting with peers in an Ivy software Facebook group, Christine learned about Logistis for Designers. Their strong web presence, professionalism, and industry knowledge compelled her to reach out to owner Marissa for a consultation.
  • After a phone consultation discovering Christine’s immediate needs and business goals, Logistis for Designers paired Christine with Emilie, who quickly began to execute a plan to make things right with her current numbers while also setting up her Ivy and Quickbooks software integrations for easy and accurate tracking.

Their Story

Christine Lin always saw herself in one of three career fields: doctor, lawyer, or engineer. She pursued her post-secondary education at the prestigious University of California – Berkeley and launched her tech career in software product management.

Then one day, her would-be husband stumbled upon a bare-bones house project for them to pursue as a fun side hobby. Christine found herself becoming more and more wrapped up in her project, designating 20 hours of her free time each week to plan and design. “It started to bleed into my workday. I wanted to pursue it full time” Christine recalls.

That’s when she had her aha moment and decided to make a drastic move: switch from software management to interior design. Christine signed on to a design firm and worked on projects for about 6 months before realizing she wanted to take more control over her work. That’s when she founded Form and Field.

Learn More about
Form and Field

The Problem

THE PROBLEM OF INACCURATE BOOKKEEPING

Winn and Lindye first signed on with Logistis for Designers after becoming disenchanted with their current bookkeeping service. They’d hired a CPA Accountant, and while reviewing their monthly books, Winn realized there were gaps and conflicts that weren’t being red-flagged. Expenses and cash flow weren’t being anticipated properly, and his firm failed to understand the nuances of his business and how he interacted with his clients.

The Galloways switched gears and hired Logistis for Designers, who quickly got going in setting up their books correctly, categorizing properly, managing accounts payable and account receivable, and integrating their software.

They now had peace of mind that their data was being handled appropriately and being managed well, allowing Lindye to focus on design while Winn handled business management.

After four years of sustained growth, Lindye Galloway suddenly experienced a massive surge in business with several high-volume orders. Winn became fearful that he may overlook something, and it might slip through the cracks. Once again, he reached out to Logistis, asking them to take on a CFO and advisory role to manage the new layer of complexity they were now experiencing.

We’ve doubled revenue every year for the last two years,” states Winn. “Our studio and shop are running a significantly higher volume of business. This new layer of complication with high-volume upfront purchases and revenue has necessitated us to bring on a financial advisor, or CFO.

Why Logistis for Designers?

Worried that her business numbers were inaccurate and not giving her visibility and foresight into her short- and long-term account balancing and management, Christine started exploring other options. She’d already been using Ivy software and was part of a Facebook group for Ivy users. It was there that peers recommended Logistis for Designers to handle her bookkeeping needs. Since Logistis for Designers works exclusively in the design space, their industry knowledge helps them act as an advisor and consultant in balancing finances, forecasting expenses, and keeping software integrated and aligned.

Christine sent an email to Marissa, the owner of Logistis for Designers. Marissa quickly responded to Christine with a phone call, and that was the birth of a relationship that’s been going strong for 4 ½ years.

Our Repsonse

“From the very beginning, it felt like a great fit,” Christine recalls. “The initial call felt very professional, and they had a strong web presence.” Christine was impressed at how knowledgeable Marissa was in terms of bookkeeping and accounting in the design industry, as well as the integration of Ivy and Quickbooks software. “They presented guidelines – written documentation – outlining their processes,” Christine adds. That gave her the reassurance that they were knowledgeable and had standard procedures in place to deliver proven time-tested results.

Once Christine’s immediate needs were assessed, she was paired with Emilie. Emilie has handled Christine’s bookkeeping services since day one, and they had a lot of work to do during the initial launch period. Christine never doubted their ability to get the job done.

“They met all my expectations in terms of responsiveness, timeliness, and deliverables,” Christine remembers that it took about a month to fix all the mistakes left by her former service, and another month to categorize and reconcile her Quickbooks and integrate it with Ivy. Throughout the entire process, Logistis for Designers’ fast and thorough communication and response time gave her the reassurance she needed after coming out of a poor experience with her previous provider.

“I’ve referred them to friends many times,” Christine adds.

Results

When asked what the biggest takeaways were from her experience with Logistis for Designers, Christine states “Peace of mind” she said. “…peace of mind that everything is in its place and the data is organized.”

Time delegation, which allows me to focus on my work as a designer; trust in Emilie, my bookkeeper; and a sense of security that I needed after coming out of a bad past experience."

-Christine Lin, Owner.

Why Clients Consider Us the Best Accounting Firm
for Interior Design Businesses

Interiors by Patrick_Patrick_Tennant_square (1)

Patrick Tennant

Interiors by Patrick

The thing that I love the most about having Logistis as a team member is that all of the stress of making a bookkeeping error has gone out the window. I look at Logistis as my “safety net” because my Logistis accountant is going to catch any discrepancies and fix it! It’s like having a teacher proof read your essay before you submit your final draft. So I don’t have any stress about making a mistake any more because we are going to catch it together!

Beatriz-Rose

Beatriz Rose

Byrdesign

The Logistis team are always responsive to our needs. Their knowledge of the complex interior design business, in addition to Ivy and Quickbooks integration, is invaluable.

Caitlin-Murray

Caitlin Murray

Black Lacquer Design

Logistis has made what was a burdensome and intimidating aspect of the business into something that is streamlined and easy to understand. Recommending their team to other designers, especially those who use Ivy, is always a no-brainer.

Kelley-Lentini

Kelley Lentini

Logistis helps designers do what they are good at — designing! Knowing that everything is being handled and the finance side of our business is in good hands lets us rest easy and frees us up to continue to grow the business!

Andrea-May

Andrea May

I would recommend Logistis to any interior design firm of any size that wants a customized, seamless, and best of all, stress-free bookkeeping/back-office process. Not only is Logistis knowledgeable in Ivy software, they consult with Ivy to constantly improve the accounting side of Ivy and the Ivy/Quickbooks Online integration. They’re pros!

Lucille-Buell-1

Lucille Buell

Logistis has been life-changing for me as a business owner and designer. I no longer have to worry about paying sales tax and income tax on time, reconciling my business accounts monthly, creating and sending client invoices or managing payroll. It frees up my time so I have the time to design and meet with clients – the part I like doing best. It was surprising just how much it reduced stress for me knowing I could completely let go of those responsibilities knowing Logistis had it all under control.

Sayre-Ziskin

Sayre Ziskin

I’ve seen steady year over year growth, and I’m confident Logistis is a big part of that.

Ross-Garrett-from-Alexis-Garrett-Design

Ross Garrett

Emilie and the team are awesome! They give us peace of mind about the many moving financial parts of the business and ameliorate many of the headaches related to running a design business.

Mika-Dubbe-Mika-Dubbe-Design

Mika Dubbe

Mika Dubbe Design

Logistis for Designers was an extremely valuable resource for my business by providing excellent services that have improved my business’s organization and financial understanding. I needed to free up time in the bookkeeping department to make more space for design, and their expertise and attention to detail have allowed me to do this. Their services are now an integral part of my business practice and have been instrumental in streamlining my financial process.

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