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
