SmartBooks, a Concord, MA-based firm that provides outsourced accounting and bookkeeping services, recently formed an IT division to better serve IT managed service providers (MSPs). The new division features accountants dedicated to IT companies, as well as support and resources for MSPs.
The division builds on the experience of CEO Calvin Wilder, who as a founder of Thrive Networks, an IT managed service provider (MSP) that was acquired by Staples, helped develop the managed services business model, build out the metrics and financial processes, and scale from 3 founders to 65 employees, all the while maintaining profitability and positive cash flow.
“IT MSPs have the dual pressure of keeping their clients’ systems up and running while simultaneously managing their own businesses and making sure that invoices go out, bills get paid, payroll is met, and financial performance is assessed and managed. That can be a difficult balance to achieve when your clients expect near immediate response to IT situations and crises,” said Calvin Wilder, CEO of SmartBooks. “With our similar business model—outsourced bookkeeping, accounting and payroll services—and our history with IT MSPs, our new IT division provides IT MSPs with an affordable option that will keep their business running while they help their clients stay up and running.”
In addition to general bookkeeping and accounting provided to all clients, some of the enhanced services offered to MSPs by the new division include: client profitability analysis; key performance metrics such as Gross Margin, Labor Efficiency Multiple, Contribution Margin, Cost of Client Acquisition and overhead rates; and support of ConnectWise and Autotask. As SmartBooks works with numerous companies in the industry, this includes comparing results against industry benchmarks.
As an added service, SmartBooks’ IT division can help clients with budgeting by setting annual financial goals and tracking actual results vs. budget to gauge how well the business is performing against the annual plan.
SmartBooks will also provide forecasting services for IT MSP clients. The annual forecast can be updated either weekly or monthly. SmartBooks reporting can be set up to display forecast vs. budget or forecast vs. metrics goals.
“There can be a frenetic nature to IT MSPs. They receive a lot of ‘urgent’ calls from clients and have to put out a lot of fires. Rightfully so, that becomes top priority. Unfortunately, it does not provide them as much time as most companies would like to take a big picture look at things,” said Wilder. “With SmartBooks behind them, we can be the ones to provide that information and even go so far as to analyze the profitability of each business line and client on a monthly and cumulative basis.”
SmartBooks Corp. provides bookkeeping, accounting, payroll and finance solutions tailored to the needs of each client for a fixed monthly price. The price is driven by the volume, complexity, and mix of services provided.
For more information on SmartBooks services, visit www.smartbookscorp.com or call 978-202-3064.
