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Unknown

Welcome to the Profit First for Real Estate Investors podcast. This series is the simple CFO Case Files, where our CFOs break down real client scenarios, financial systems and practical decisions from inside the business. Enjoy the episode.

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Unknown

Back to our special episodes of the CFO Case Files. Where I am here I'm David Richter, I'm here with Christina Gutierrez, my business partner and friends. So Christina, thanks for being on again with us here. Always, always. So today, our title, you could see Knowledge is Power because I actually obviously that's a very famous saying, but this is where I also had someone where they worked with us and they sat down with their CFO one time, and I then I saw them at an event.

00;00;55;16 - 00;01;15;22

Unknown

They said, we sat down with their CFO. We had been working with them for a little bit. We had everything in place. We started actually going into our dashboard and looking at the numbers and they said the statement knowledge is power never made more sense than sitting in front of this dashboard looking at our numbers, because it felt like I was in control of the numbers now.

00;01;15;23 - 00;01;34;23

Unknown

Like they weren't telling me what to do. I was telling them what to do. And I was like, that is so cool. Because as CEOs, we have a lot of tools in our tool belt, right? Like for systems and operations, we use EOS from the book traction. And obviously to manage our money, we use profit first to know where every dollar is going.

00;01;34;24 - 00;02;05;11

Unknown

And these are real systems we have in place. Even in my own business with Christina, we use here at simple CFO, Profit First and EOS. But we also have a dashboard. So this is something, as a CFO that we provide to other people. But we even have this internally where we have a meeting to make sure that I know the numbers, because I'm the as the CEO and the visionary, it can't just be Christina, my business partner who's more of the CFO brain, knowing all the numbers, I need to be able to see them as well too.

00;02;05;11 - 00;02;23;10

Unknown

But I also need them in a way I can understand them. If Christina opened up QuickBooks to me every single week we met and was like, here you go, here's what we have to dig through. My eyes would even glaze over and you'd be like, what? Aren't you the owner of simple CFO? It's like, yes, but this is why I have Christina here.

00;02;23;10 - 00;02;49;08

Unknown

And because she helps make it so simple, because I don't even have to log into QuickBooks, because the dashboard that we have for ourselves, but also for the people we work with. Pull all the numbers in from QuickBooks so I can read them very easily and at any time. Like last week, Christina was on a very well deserved vacation slash trip with her, with her boys for going out for basketball and tournaments and whatnot.

00;02;49;08 - 00;03;18;13

Unknown

And I pulled up the dashboard because I had some questions and it was all filled in. And because it was automatically coming in from QuickBooks, it was up to date. It was great to be able to go in there and look at those numbers anytime I want to, which I know I've spent a lot of time talking here, Christina, but it's more of the I like the tools that are in place that make my life as a CEO and more the visionary, more of the one that goes out there to like, speak and do all that other stuff makes my life easier when it comes to the numbers.

00;03;18;13 - 00;03;36;07

Unknown

So number one, I want to thank you because you put this together. You put the whole dashboard together, which was incredible. But then we also you took it a step further to say, how can we make it easier and have numbers pull in automatically, like from QuickBooks. And you figured that out, which was nuts. So this this episode serves two purposes.

00;03;36;07 - 00;03;52;27

Unknown

We want to tell people what the power of the numbers are. But I also want to thank you for putting that together. So thank you, Christina, for putting that together. You're welcome. I love doing it and I cannot take all the credit. Andrew helped a lot. I'm not the technical person, but he I thought of it in my mind.

00;03;52;29 - 00;04;08;04

Unknown

I became the visionary on that side. Yeah, he became the integrator because I'm very good at selling him. What I need to see what I want to see, what it should, what a client would want to see what the output needs to be. And so, you know, I'm not going to lie, we did work on this for probably a year.

00;04;08;05 - 00;04;26;26

Unknown

Yeah. About what can I do for this? We have updates that constantly come out when we see that CFO knows that a client needs to see certain information, or we know that we can make it better. We're constantly making it better. But you're right. The best part is, is that we try to make it integrate with not just QuickBooks online.

00;04;26;26 - 00;04;42;24

Unknown

There's a couple other systems that it integrates with too, but I will say that QuickBooks online is the best integration out there, but it updates every morning at 5 a.m., so hence why I could go on vacation and I could leave and you could just log in to QuickBooks. It's you don't have to hit or to the dashboard.

00;04;42;24 - 00;05;02;22

Unknown

You don't have to hit log in QuickBooks. What's my password? Let me go to the company I need and which will take you a few minutes to get in. You can just save your favorite on your on your, what's it called? Like your favorites bar online. And then just type in the name pops up and you can see probably too much information.

00;05;02;22 - 00;05;20;04

Unknown

But the key is, is to hide things you don't need because everybody's different. But you can look and just say, where are we at? And the coolest thing is, is we got we have a budget. So here's to all the listeners. Don't ever create a budget and then not follow it and not look at how you're actually doing to your budget.

00;05;20;04 - 00;05;39;04

Unknown

So I know that something David and I go through a lot and I, I am very tough on. Okay, we budgeted this, where are we at? And I get really excited when we're really close. I know he sees me where I'm like, we're we're, you know, right within our budget. But he can just pull it up and look at a budget to actual and say, okay, we budgeted, you know, $30,000 for this.

00;05;39;05 - 00;06;03;08

Unknown

We're at 20. Maybe he has an opportunity that he needs to make a decision on. Do we have $10,000 in the budget to do. And it's already it's already there for him. And he knows it like creates better decision making, because you can just pull that up and see what you have left in the budget at that moment, and just know that what you can do from there without having to make a phone call, log in a QuickBooks, figure out where you're at.

00;06;03;09 - 00;06;25;11

Unknown

I think that's a lot of the power that you see when you just kind of log in and at a spots moment you'll see it. Yeah, I will, I think the other thing here too, is if you have a dashboard that's so powerful, it's also when you're there with me, I also have the confidence, a lot more confidence because now I can ask you questions.

00;06;25;11 - 00;06;47;22

Unknown

I can ask you like, okay, what does this mean? Or this number looks off, what did you see? Anything. And sometimes you'll be like, oh yeah. Or sometimes it's like, oh no, we need to look into this number or we need to cut this thing or we need to do it's it's so empowering as an owner where we're out there busting our beehives trying to get, you know, new business or we're trying to do the right thing and we're trying to help the people that we're serving.

00;06;47;24 - 00;07;02;14

Unknown

Then at the end of the day, we want to see how are the numbers reflecting all this hard work that we're putting into it, and are there things out of whack, or are there things that we could invest more into which having because I know when Christina, when you said the word budget, it's like it's the B word.

00;07;02;14 - 00;07;25;24

Unknown

Right? It's like that's where if you have someone good like Christina, a great CFO on your team, that helps you plan out, it's just a plan for your money to be like, where? How are we doing? Like if you're in the real estate investing space, especially in listening to this and you think, oh, I know these houses are going to close, so let's plan these next couple months like for the closings.

00;07;25;24 - 00;07;43;01

Unknown

But then what if they get pushed back like all closings do? It seems like in the real estate space, what are we going to do in that scenario? Okay. What if they did close and everything closes on time? Are we being a good steward of our money and putting it where it needs to be? Because do we have more in the pipeline?

00;07;43;02 - 00;07;58;21

Unknown

Do we need to put that back into marketing? Do we need to make sure that we're paying ourselves? Like if you're a profit first fan like we are, it's like we have to be very intentional and a lot of people don't do anything when it comes to their money. So we're just telling you there are simple systems out there.

00;07;58;22 - 00;08;19;19

Unknown

There are simple tools as an owner where it doesn't have to be overwhelming. It does not have to be overly complicated. Christina, how many people in our space, like in the accounting field, make things way too complicated for owners to understand? Do you see that a lot? Quick pause from the episode. I have exciting news that's expanding the world of profit.

00;08;19;19 - 00;08;39;18

Unknown

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00;08;39;18 - 00;09;12;06

Unknown

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00;09;12;06 - 00;09;38;15

Unknown

And right now they're free. You just need to cover shipping. You go to rework book. That's p e I workbook just like profit first for real estate investing. Free workbook com. Grab whichever matches your business or you can grab all three free workbook. Go get them. Make more profit. All right back to the episode. Yeah a lot. And CPAs do it.

00;09;38;16 - 00;10;03;17

Unknown

There's a lot of people say, can you be on my call with my CPA because you make everything so clear and I have no idea what they're telling me. So CPAs are known for doing that because they use the system. They're trained in that CPA language and they just speak because that's that's what they know. They're not used to having that personal not to knock anyone, but they're not used to having that personal translation with their clients.

00;10;03;17 - 00;10;33;21

Unknown

They just want to deliver what they want to tell them. So a lot of clients will say, I need you to be on my my call with my CPA because I don't understand what they're saying. Me or they'll copy on an email and say, do you understand what this is, right? Yep. This is why we started simple. This is one of the reasons why I started simple CFO almost seven years that I was in a finance seat in my early 20s and without much knowledge of the actual finances.

00;10;33;23 - 00;11;01;16

Unknown

And I remember talking to our CPA at that point and asking him some questions that were probably no, not probably. They were very naive and just feeling like the the stare, like, are you kidding me? You just asked that question. It's sorry. You know, I, I don't know what I don't know. That's where with a CFO. Yes, it's about the numbers, but it's also about a safe place to talk about whatever you need to about those numbers.

00;11;01;16 - 00;11;18;23

Unknown

Because if your numbers are telling you something really scary, you don't need someone beating you over the head. You need someone saying, what's the plan? What are we going to do next? That's why Christina really helped me with my mindset years ago. Like, no, a CFO is more like a financial partner. They're there to meet you where you are.

00;11;18;27 - 00;11;37;05

Unknown

They're there to help you get to where you want to go. They're there to be a sounding board and really listening to you. They're there as a translator. Like if you are diving into your dashboard and like, what do these numbers mean? How can I really get what I really want from the business? That's why a dashboard by itself is just good.

00;11;37;05 - 00;11;54;15

Unknown

But a dashboard paired with someone who understands, but is also someone who makes you feel safe around those numbers. It's real magic. It really is. It's great. It's a great pairing so that you as an owner don't have to feel alone anymore. Like, I'm just going out there. I'm busting my butt. I'm doing everything I need to do.

00;11;54;17 - 00;12;16;28

Unknown

Why aren't the numbers better? Like, why don't I have more cash now? It's someone who's actually there helping you understand those numbers which affect your decisions. Which is why this episode is called Knowledge is Power. Because if you know the numbers and what you really need to change, you have the power to change what you need to. So that's why a dashboard is so powerful.

00;12;17;01 - 00;12;35;01

Unknown

Christina, one time maybe we could share just some of the tabs. You know, even though a lot of people would just be listening to this, we can go through some of the tabs individually. But on this one, I think just getting this out there that if they need help, obviously they can go to simple CFO. Com and I've got my little banner here if you're on YouTube.

00;12;35;01 - 00;12;49;24

Unknown

So simple. Com you can book a call there or my little widget thing. Oh look at that. My little QR code thing that I love doing every single time that I'm on here with Christina. So if you're looking at the screen, that's how you can get Ahold of us. If you're listening, make sure to reach out to simple CFO.

00;12;49;24 - 00;13;06;23

Unknown

Com that's where we want to help you. We want to either implement these things with you and make you a better business owner, or just reach out to us to see where are you right now? Are you in such financial chaos that you can't even see, like, okay, I don't know about a dashboard and all that. I don't even know where my numbers are.

00;13;06;24 - 00;13;23;16

Unknown

The books and the cleanup and all that reach out. We are really good at diagnosing the problem. Where are you right now? Do you just need bookkeeping? Because it's an absolute nightmare and there's nothing for four years and you have no taxes filed? Or is it more? I am not I don't know where my money is. So you need profit first.

00;13;23;16 - 00;13;47;17

Unknown

So that's what we really want to help with. So Christina, any final words for people? Just, you know, again, knowledge is power. That's the name of the episode. But knowing where your numbers are. But it's not just knowledge is power, communication, relationships or power. So having someone that helps you review all this, you can look at your budget, you can look at all your financials, but you don't know.

00;13;47;17 - 00;14;05;13

Unknown

You may not know which levers to pull. And so knowing the exact lever to pull that will help move your business in the in the right direction toward your goal is is key. Because we don't expect business owners to know that you guys, you're out there, you know, handling everything that you can to keep your business on track.

00;14;05;13 - 00;14;23;02

Unknown

And we're, you know, looking at what's actually going on in your business, compiling the information, strategizing through it, using our analytical minds, and then figuring out, okay, this is your goal, this is what you want. This is what we're looking at. Let's make these moves. Let's pull this lever over here, do this. Maybe this month we do one thing.

00;14;23;03 - 00;14;39;23

Unknown

Next month we change it over to do another. It could be changing, but as long as we are moving in the direction to get you to your goal, that's key. And then you can see it all on your dashboard and it's viewing it's power. But having someone to actually look at it with you and strategize with you, that's key.

00;14;39;24 - 00;15;06;18

Unknown

It's like having that person in your pocket per se, because I know my clients will reach out to me in many different ways before they make big decisions, because any good financial partner would be there before you make a big decision. So having that person on by your side is is key. Yeah. Which makes me think any new client that joins with us, I train you on working with the CFO to get the maximum value out of that relationship.

00;15;06;18 - 00;15;24;18

Unknown

And I tell people, put a little sticky note on your laptop or computer like I have a CFO. So any big decision you have in the future, you're not taking yourself. Oh, shoot, I did the same thing I've always done, and now I have to go to my CFO to help pick up the pieces versus, oh, I reach out to them and they help me before I make that decision.

00;15;24;19 - 00;15;48;01

Unknown

That's really what we're here for. And I love what you said, Christina, is that we don't expect you as an owner to know everything on the financial side. That might be something you feel as an owner, like. If you walk into a room of other owners, you might feel inferior of, like, oh, they probably know their numbers. They probably know, you know, they're building this big business and they have all these KPIs and they they're throwing out all these different terminology and you're like, what is going on here?

00;15;48;07 - 00;16;06;01

Unknown

You walk through our door, or if you're meeting virtually with us, it's like we don't expect anything. All we expect is if you're coachable to be able to be trained on what do you need to look at? What is the things to be able to know to make a decision on, like from your numbers, and to be able to actually help you get to where you want to go.

00;16;06;02 - 00;16;25;04

Unknown

So that's what we're trying to do here at simple CFO. But it takes the pair. It takes the CFO and the owner really working together as that team to say, yes, I want to understand, I want to learn, I want to become a better business owner. So I'm going to take the CFO gives me and says, okay, I'm going to do that or yes, train me on this.

00;16;25;04 - 00;16;53;14

Unknown

I want to learn how to read this so I could be a wealthier business owner who knows what decisions to make. So we're hopeful that this helps you just understand a little bit more of those relationships and why the numbers are so important and why knowledge is really power. Like Christina said, it's not really knowledge. It's knowledge and communication and the relationships, those partnerships, the people that help you get to where you want to go by using tools like a dashboard or like the numbers that are put right in front of your face that are hard to ignore.

00;16;53;14 - 00;17;14;09

Unknown

So if you're out there and you need help, like I said, simple CFO, we would love to help you. We'd love to have a conversation with you if you would like. And you are someone that if you're hurting right now, we want to have that conversation because I promise we can at least diagnose. Even if we don't work together, we can tell you those next steps of what you need to do.

00;17;14;09 - 00;17;39;25

Unknown

So I'd love to at least have a conversation. Simple CFO Christina, as always, thank you for being here and for contributing to here and honestly, for everything you've done inside the business to make it incredible. And especially this dashboard that we talked about today. We'll have to unveil this to some people in a future episode, have to make you sit down in front of a computer if you're listening to this right now, so you can see some of the cool stuff that has been built for the people we work with.

00;17;39;25 - 00;17;58;03

Unknown

But Christina Anthony or book a call or desk for you. There you go. We can show it right then and there and for you specifically, because we build all these out and then we can make even custom things and things that you want to see on your numbers. So reach out to simple CFO. Com thank you for listening.

00;17;58;03 - 00;18;19;07

Unknown

And remember make profit a habit in your business. Thanks for listening to the simple CFO case files on the Profit First for Real Estate Investors podcast. If you found this helpful, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss our guest interviews featuring other real estate investors and our Profit First chats with David Richter. If you're ready to bring clarity and structure to the finances in your business, visit profit.

00;18;19;09 - 00;18;21;27

Unknown

To apply for a free financial discovery, call with our team.