Bay House Bookkeeping Solutions, LLC
360-507-8711
joann@bayhousebooks.com
Hours: By appointment
There are word people — and there are number people — and ever since her high school days, Jo Ann Rohner has been nuts about numbers.
“I have a background in bookkeeping of 20-plus years,” Rohner said from her newly remodeled kitchen with a view of the strait.
“For the past 13 years we had our own business in the Tri-Cities and that’s just kind of what I do. Bookkeeping always has been my passion.”
About 18 months ago, she and her husband Robert sold their business and moved to Sequim to retire.
“We started to remodel our home and I met many trades people. I realized that although they were very skilled in their trades, they didn’t enjoy bookkeeping,” Rohner said, “so I decided to open Bay House Bookkeeping Solutions to assist them so they can concentrate on what they’re doing best and grow their businesses with me behind the scenes.
“I think I will do well here just based on the amount of local small businesses as well as the trades.”
In January, Rohner joined the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce and opened her bookkeeping firm, networking with the chamber and business owners she’d met, plus advertising in the local newspapers.
She is licensed as a certified professional bookkeeper through the National Association of Certified Professional Bookkeepers and invests in continuing education classes in the field.
“I’m also certified in QuickBooks, an accounting program probably 95 percent of small businesses use,” Rohner said.
“I offer all aspects of bookkeeping including full charge — payables, receivables, payroll, monthly and quarterly tax returns.
“Clients can hire me to do their bookkeeping piecemeal or I can do it all. I’ll assist with start-up businesses or train people on QuickBooks — I’m just here to assist with what small businesses need for their accounting.
“My goal is to let them concentrate on their trade and its growth.”
Rohner explained she’s not an accountant, which requires a four-year degree, but as a bookkeeper she works very closely with a client’s accountant or her own accountant.
Accountants, she said, are licensed by the state for corporate and/or personal tax returns and sometimes as a financial advisor.
“As a bookkeeper, I do the daily entry of your books, make sure your books are balancing and basically keep you organized, plus I get information to your accountant at the end of the year for filing your annual tax returns,” the 51-year-old Rohner said.
And if you aren’t organized, she stressed that this is a “great time” with tax time approaching to get a bookkeeper.
“Every small business owner knows that staying organized is a daunting task, but don’t underestimate its importance in your business.
“Knowledge of your trade is what brings money into your business, but being organized helps to determine how much of that money you keep,” Rohner wrote in the February edition of the chamber newsletter.
Also in that publication, she shared three key bookkeeping tips: First, don’t use your personal debit card for your business because receipts are lost easily and “it’s highly frowned upon by the IRS.”
Second, reconcile bank statements every month without fail; and third, back up your electronic files with a paper trail of properly filed income and expense documents.
In managing a client’s new business, Rohner explained, “I set up a chart of accounts, categorize income and expenses correctly, reconciling bank and credit card statements. I use QuickBooks because it’s user-friendly and I can use it for annual profit/loss statements, balance sheets and a variety of income and expense reports.”
Rohner also compiles for each business monthly sales, Business & Operations and payroll taxes and quarterly returns for Labor & Industries and Employment Security taxes.
She’s also responsible for knowing all of the state tax changes from year to year.
“Now is an absolutely phenomenal time to get organized,” Rohner urged. “I’ve always thought you hire the expert to do what they do best. There’s a time and place to hire someone and a time and place to allow someone to assist you.
“My trade, if you will, is bookkeeping. It’s about me helping someone else grow their own business and achieve their own dreams — it’s as simple as that.”
Call Rohner for an appointment at 360-507-8711.
Jo Ann Rohner is a full-charge bookkeeper, ready to help small businesses get their financial information organized. Sequim Gazette photo by Patricia Morrison Coate
