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With Shoeboxed, there has never been one “best” way to use our service to stay organized. And after processing over a billion dollars of expense data since 2007, we say that from years of firsthand experience!
Shoeboxed takes enormous pride in serving clients from around the country and across the globe, all of whom use our service in a myriad of ways to fulfill a whole host of organizational needs in both their personal and professional lives.
It’s a super simple and super streamlined way to manage our finances. The Shoeboxed + Bench collaboration is a beautiful example of our own software and workflow philosophy: separate simple, yet powerful tools working together to create an exponentially more powerful solution!
-Ryan & Carlos of ryanandcarlos.com
Introducing: Ryan and Carlos
Profession: Business Consultants & Web Developers
Location: New York City
Website: ryanandcarlos.com
Shoeboxed: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Ryan and Carlos! Let’s start with you telling us a little about yourselves and your business. How did you get started?
Ryan & Carlos: We were both computer science graduates and working as software engineers when we decided to join forces and utilize our skills to help business owners and entrepreneurs use software to improve their businesses. We have known each other for years, and living amidst NYC’s thriving business and technology community, we knew that there were plenty of people who could make use of our shared expertise. So, at the end of 2010 we started our own company and have been helping others build theirs ever since!
SBX: That’s awesome! Congratulations on taking the plunge and starting your own business. So far, what is your favorite part of your job?
R&C: By far, the best part of the job is the variety of projects and the diversity of people that we get to work with. Every person and every business utilizes technology in a different way, and figuring out how best to help him/her keeps things exciting. Some days we are giving advice to an early-stage startup, other days we are designing and building a software solution for an investment firm. Making sure that we are best serving the needs of our clients can be tricky, but it’s definitely rewarding when we succeed in the end!
SBX: Being customer-centric certainly makes for a successful business, and so does having a solid small business accounting solution in place. Can you tell us a bit about how you use Shoeboxed and Bench to manage your business?
R&C: Shoeboxed and Bench are great tools on their own, but even better in tandem. We are able to scan my receipts, deposit slips, and bank statements directly into Shoeboxed, and our “bookkeeper-in-the-cloud” Luke over at Bench receives them right away after they’ve been processed. He uses those documents to update our financial records, and we are able to see an image of the relevant document alongside each transaction he enters.
It’s a super simple and super streamlined way to manage our finances. The Shoeboxed + Bench collaboration is a beautiful example of our own software and workflow philosophy: separate simple, yet powerful tools working together to create an exponentially more powerful solution!
SBX: That’s quite a rave review, guys — thanks! We’re honored to be a part of your paperless accounting workflow. So, how did you handle your bookkeeping before you started using Shoeboxed and Bench?
R&C: Being a company that builds technology for a living, we were naturally inclined to find a digital way to store our paper receipts and documents. We did not have to look any further than Shoeboxed, as it fit what we were looking for 100%. Despite having our receipt tracking in order, we struggled early on finding an adequate bookkeeping process. In the beginning, we did all the bookkeeping ourselves. This took us hours per week inputting transactions, categorizing them, making sure we didn’t miss anything.
Bench was a perfect fit because it allowed us to delegate this work to a more qualified person and freed us both up to focus on the business itself. Shoeboxed + Bench do for us what all great software solutions should do for any business: help us save time and money!
SBX: We’re so glad to hear that! That’s exactly what we aim to do: save our customers time and money so they can focus on doing what they love. Can you tell us a little bit about the features of Shoeboxed you use?
R&C: We use Shoeboxed to scan and store all of our receipts for tax purposes. At tax time, we print out expense reports and hand them over to our accountant, who is quite happy to receive a nicely formatted report instead of a folder filled with paper receipts. We’re meticulous with every aspect of our business and Shoeboxed helps us keep up that trend!
SBX: Awesome. Have you found any other benefits of using Shoeboxed and Bench together?
R&C: Absolutely! Shoeboxed + Bench has saved us hours upon hours of time each week, and this has allowed us to use that time saved on other important things for the business that help it grow.
Additionally, we’ve gained the peace-of-mind that everything is inputted and tracked correctly, and that our finances are in good shape come tax time. We can’t put a price on the fact that Shoeboxed + Bench helps us rest easy knowing that everything is in order. Every small business should absolutely have a system like this in place — we wish we had implemented it earlier!
SBX: But the important thing is that you’ve established a productive, effective workflow! Many businesses are struggling to get to that point, so congratulations. In closing, do you have any helpful tips for other small business owners that are trying to get organized?
R&C: Yes! We have a couple:
- Don’t leave it to the last minute. Stay on top of your finances throughout the year to save yourself trouble and frustration at the end.
- Make use of technology! Shoeboxed+Bench is an amazing example of how technology helps businesses run more efficiently, work smarter, and ultimately be more successful. If you aren’t leveraging technology to help your business, why not!? If you don’t know how, ask someone who does. In 2013, there’s no excuse not to :)
SBX: Those are great tips. Thank you so much for talking with us today, Ryan and Carlos, and sharing your small business accounting solution! We’re honored to be a part of your business as it grows and we wish you many years of de-cluttered success!
Are you a Shoeboxed user who has a success story and would like to be featured on our blog? Then we would love to hear from you! Please reach out to Emily at [email protected] for more information.
Until then, stay tuned… and stay organized!
