A bookkeeper who has sat in your chair

25 years of making payroll

Dave's first business was a neighborhood pub he bought in 1999 and ran for 11 years. For 7 of those years he owned a second one across town. Then came a catering company on a college campus, a few years traveling the country doing odd jobs and freelance bookkeeping, and about a decade in recruiting, real estate, and mortgage lending around Philadelphia.

Through all of it, one job never went away: the books. He did his own bookkeeping and payroll in every business he owned. He learned what the numbers look like when things are going well, what they look like right before trouble, and how easy it is for a busy owner to stop looking.

That last part matters. When running the books gets confusing, owners retreat to what they're good at. The baker bakes more cakes. The contractor takes another job. The books sit. Dave has lived that pull, which is why nobody who calls him gets judged for being behind. He has seen worse, and he has been there.

Ask him what he'd change and the answer comes fast. He was good at the restaurant side: organizing a kitchen, building a menu, running food costs, staffing the floor. He did most of his own books, and that's the one thing he should have handed to someone else. He succeeded in spite of not having a strong bookkeeping background, not because he didn't need one. A furnace that died overnight and a financing conversation that went badly taught him what clean books and honest forecasting are worth. That lesson is the service he sells now.

Why bookkeeping

Because it's the part of small business ownership that decides whether the rest works. Dave wants small businesses to succeed. He believes they're the backbone of the economy and the best path for people to build the life they want. The owners he admires most are passionate about their craft. His craft is making sure their money story is accurate, current, and understood.

His philosophy fits on an index card: “If you don't take care of your books, your books will take care of you. And not in a good way.” Books reflect what your business is and how cash moves through it. Keep them well and they answer your biggest questions. Ignore them and they answer to the IRS instead.

How he works

Solo, on purpose. When you hire Dave, Dave does the work. He starts every relationship with a conversation about your business and your goals, because the books only matter in the direction you're trying to go. He explains things in plain language, adapts to how you like to communicate, and responds fast, usually within a day.

Two boundaries he sets on day 1: he works from read-only access to your accounts, and he will never have the ability to sign a check or move your money. Your bookkeeper should count the cash, not touch it.