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About (ABI) Administrative Business Innovations:
Firm Size: Small bookkeeping business (4+ employees)
Where: Sumas, WA
Client Count: 10+
Client Industries Served: Construction | Retail | Dive Shops | Restaurants
Joined OnPay: November 2020
HOW IT STARTED
Empowering entrepreneurs one business at a time
Working in the bookkeeping industry for years, Bernetta Scully saw firsthand that the client experience had room for improvement. The firm where she worked at the time used a one-size-fits-all approach regardless of a client’s industry or business needs. Bernetta knew there had to be a better way and that cookie-cutter accounting would not help entrepreneurs master their finances.
After work, she often found herself returning to a vision of a bookkeeping firm focused on delivering personalized financial guidance for clients. When she shared this idea with her husband, he encouraged her to take the leap and start her own firm. Encouraged, the objective was clear: empower entrepreneurs with a deeper understanding of their business finances and recommendations tailored to their unique goals. From there, Administrative Business Innovations (ABI) was born.
GETTING THE FIRST CLIENT
The power of referrals
Bernetta hit the ground running with a couple of clients, and referrals followed as word spread. Her client philosophy continues to pay dividends. Since launching in 2019, Bernetta has grown her firm from a solo operation to a thriving business with four employees and a client base that continues to scale. At the core of her success is a simple yet powerful framework she brings to the client experience:
“I see myself as more of a coach or a partner – not as an advisor. We listen to our clients and find out what they need, what their goals are, and what they’d like to change, so we can come up with actionable tasks to guide them in reaching those goals.”
THE CHALLENGE
Finding payroll software that checks all the boxes
In 2020, while some businesses were shrinking due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ABI was expanding, and they proactively coached clients on how to navigate the unknown. Looking to streamline their services, ABI found their payroll software needed attention. Bernetta tried working with several big-name payroll providers, but they fell short, riddled with costly tax errors and poor customer support. Unsatisfied with their current solution, ABI needed:
- A payroll solution that handles all tax filings and payments
- An affordable, easy-to-use system with accounting integrations
- Easy-to-reach, knowledgeable customer support
THE SOLUTION
Leveraging OnPay to simplify the payroll experience
Bernetta came across OnPay while looking for payroll software that would better suit her firm and was impressed with its user-friendly features. After giving it a try, she quickly realized that OnPay was exactly what ABI was looking for. It had everything her clients needed. The best part? It was seriously easy to use.
OnPay’s dedicated Partners team set up ABI’s Partner Dashboard and transitioned clients from their previous payroll software without any holdups. The two-way QuickBooks integration made data imports effortless. Flexible permissions even helped Bernetta to delegate payroll responsibilities across her ever-growing team. OnPay delivered what ABI needed: automatic tax filings, free setup and migration, detailed quarterly reporting, and more.
SMALL BOOKKEEPING BUSINESS REVIEW
“We love the simplicity of OnPay. Our clients find it easy to read reports and their employees generally do not have a hard time with the employee portal. OnPay customer support is amazing. We love the quick, professional resolutions to immediate needs and constant communication when a resolution is going to take a bit. OnPay is our favorite payroll platform.”
— Administrative Business Innovations
The result? Gone are the days of spending too much time on tedious payroll and admin tasks. Now, Bernetta can focus on engaging clients, empowering her community with financial know-how, and building her dream team. This newfound free time lets her proactively anticipate client needs and confidently address potential issues before they arise. Bernetta proudly shares,
“Those are the things that make me excited, just being on top of things for clients and getting that ‘Hey, good catch.’”
Thanks to ABI’s partnership with OnPay, their payroll software no longer stirs up feelings of uncertainty. Instead, they have a payroll solution that’s built to scale with the business and caters to the evolving demands of clients. Bernetta’s story is proof that there is power in finding the right path, the right tools, and the right people to support a busy bookkeeping business.
