About Us
Our Story
We love to help other businesses succeed. One of our greatest joys is taking a client from a completely messy situation to a productive, prosperous one. Showing the client who really doesn't enjoy numbers that they are able to achieve their goals makes it worthwhile.
How We Got Started
Hi. I'm Michelle Webb, President of Nature Coast Professionals, Inc. While I've always been good with numbers, my true accounting career began in 1999.
Over the years, I've worked in the public and private accounting fields, handling anything from simple bank recs to budgeting, forecasting, tax prep and comptroller services. In each position that I held over the years, I would go in, establish procedures that would help the business clean up records, train staff on how to handle the finances and then....things would settle down. It presented a problem. See, I love helping people. I love making a big difference in someone's life. As an employee, once I got all records where they should be, life became normal.
So, Nature Coast Professionals was born. It was the perfect answer. I'm able to help new clients straighten out any issues that they have while keeping current clients up to date. Everyone is happy.
I can't wait to see how I can help your business!
The products and services we offer
Products & Services
We believe that keeping all balance sheet accounts reconciled through the year not only gives you a better sense of security with your financials, ...
Have you entered your transactions but are unsure of where you coded the transactions to? We can review the transactions for consistency and accur...
We'll prepare your balance sheet and Profit/Loss Statement on a monthly or quarterly basis for you.
Recommendations Given (5)
"I contacted Marla about creating some personalized books. I found her to be very helpful. The..."
Read more
"I contacted Marla about creating some personalized books. I found her to be very helpful. The books came out great and the children loved them. If you're in the market for a unique, thoughtful gift for a young one, I'd highly recommend Marla's Gifts."
"We had the opportunity to meet with Mike and Cherise recently and to try the shave ice. It's..."
Read more
"We had the opportunity to meet with Mike and Cherise recently and to try the shave ice. It's amazing! Cool, refreshing and a twist unlike anything else in the area. If you are looking for a treat for an upcoming event, check them out. You won't be disappointed."
Recent Activity
Looking back over the last several years can help you discover trends. How much are your sales fluctuating in the slow months? Is your cost of goods percentage staying consistent during those months? Are there areas that you can tighten the belt for those months? You can then apply the trends...
(more)
Looking back over the last several years can help you discover trends. How much are your sales fluctuating in the slow months? Is your cost of goods percentage staying consistent during those months? Are there areas that you can tighten the belt for those months? You can then apply the trends moving forward, factoring in expected changes. Do you expect your payroll to stay the same or drop during the slow months? What about insurance? Are you using any cash back cards appropriately? Depending on your level of purchases, that can help quite a bit.
There are always clients who are late paying or just fail to pay. I suppose it depends on what your goal is with the client.
If the goal is to salvage the client and move forward, then I'd work with them and establish a payment schedule. I've had some pretty good success with stating...
(more)
There are always clients who are late paying or just fail to pay. I suppose it depends on what your goal is with the client.
If the goal is to salvage the client and move forward, then I'd work with them and establish a payment schedule. I've had some pretty good success with stating "Listen, I'd like to keep your account active. Let's work to keep your current usage paid and pay $xx.xx towards the prior balance each month."
If the goal is just to get the money owed and release the client, then, given the details listed, you may have your work cut out for you. You may have to resort to hiring a collection company if communication has become strained, as it seems is the case.
All that being said, I try and be really clear up front as to what I'm going to do and what it will cost. I check in with the clients pretty frequently in the beginning stages so that there are no shocks. You don't want to hit a new client with a large unexpected invoice. It just doesn't go over well.
Both bookkeepers and CPAs can call themselves accountants. It's two very different skill sets though. The bookkeeping side of the business tends to be very detail oriented. The tax/financial advisory side of the business tends to be more big picture. Some CPA's will hire bookkeepers to do the...
(more)
Both bookkeepers and CPAs can call themselves accountants. It's two very different skill sets though. The bookkeeping side of the business tends to be very detail oriented. The tax/financial advisory side of the business tends to be more big picture. Some CPA's will hire bookkeepers to do the books for their clients. They then either compile the taxes themselves or have someone do it for them and review it for accuracy. I've known bookkeepers who are terrible at seeing the big picture. I've met CPA's who are terrible at the detail side of the business. The key is to find a firm who can meet both needs. My firm offers bookkeeping services; however, we are forward thinking as well. We keep an eye out for potential issues, income possibilities, and tax savings for our clients.
I prefer QuickBooks. The version depends on my client's needs. Most of my clients are online. This allows access to the company file from multiple locations at any time. It's also nice that the program is always up to date, eliminating the upgrade fees periodically. There are a few clients...
(more)
I prefer QuickBooks. The version depends on my client's needs. Most of my clients are online. This allows access to the company file from multiple locations at any time. It's also nice that the program is always up to date, eliminating the upgrade fees periodically. There are a few clients that require a desktop version for functionality.
A good time to get your foot in the door is during tax season. If you develop relationships with the local accountants during the year, you can let them know that you're available when it comes to their busy season. That being said, they would typically hire you on as a contractor and bill...
(more)
A good time to get your foot in the door is during tax season. If you develop relationships with the local accountants during the year, you can let them know that you're available when it comes to their busy season. That being said, they would typically hire you on as a contractor and bill under their firm. It's not a way to build a business, though it will likely keep you busy if you are very skilled. I don't know your background so I don't know your level of experience. If you have the background, you can market directly to businesses in your area and then create referral networks with accountants in your area. I partner with an accountant who doesn't particularly like working with QuickBooks. I send her taxes. She sends me clients who need help with QuickBooks. It works out well. Wishing you much success in your venture.
I get most of my clients from word of mouth referrals. Networking has helped a bit as well.
(more)
I get most of my clients from word of mouth referrals. Networking has helped a bit as well.
