Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Lech.
Laura, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was working for a public accounting firm in Burlington for five years in which there were four male partners. I was one of the two senior staff accountants that worked at the office. I was working 60 hours a week managing clients and networking. I was the most extroverted so I was asked to work on client development. In my last year at the firm my sister in-law was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma at the age of 30. I am three years younger than her, it was a very large wakeup call! “WHAT ARE YOU DOING????’ Although I learned a lot from the firm I knew they would never make me a partner. I wanted/needed a change. I wanted to help people. I wanted to help the start-ups, the non-profits, the small business owners of the world and not in the confinements of debits and credits. So, the writing on the wall was clear, I needed a change. I interviewed at several other small to mid-size firms and were offered positions of manager. To become a partner in the accounting world you must create your own book of business. Knowing this I started the difficult task of creating my own book of business. I wanted to make my own decisions about who and how I helped clients. I didn’t want to be just another bookkeeper or tax professional I wanted to be that amazing resource/ a company’s right hand. You have a problem with IT, accounting, human resources, start-up of a business, workflow processes, etc. call Laura, I wanted to help. I didn’t want to define myself to a traditional role. With encouragement from another female business owner, family, friends and the most amazing husband in the World, I started Colonial Bookkeeping & Tax in June 2011. Being a conservative person I spent the next three years building my practice while working full time for a private accounting department at a company in Newton. I had no children at the time so I worked hard to get to the point where I could work at Colonial Bookkeeping & Tax full time, which came true in October 2013. This was paired with the birth of my beautiful daughter being born. It was a now or never point. I needed to take the leap of faith that what I had been building for past three years would flourish and help contribute to the support my family.
Since the great leap of 2013, we now have two offices one in Concord Massachusetts and another in Chester Virginia. There are currently three females (including myself) that are employed by Colonial Bookkeeping & Tax. We service clients from the east coast all the way to the west coast and states in between by the use of cloud based computing. We pride ourselves on real time data that is transparent.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Life is not a smooth road…it’s filled with difficult decisions, challenges, mistakes, etc. Starting a business is no different. There are great days, frustrating days, days that you want to pull your hair out. But at the end of the day they are days that you created for yourself by making that decision to be a business owner. As we have scaled there is inevitable something that goes wrong. It’s how you acknowledge the problem, take ownership of the problem, and have a plan to resolve the problem which I think shows the strength and accountability we like to offer here at Colonial Bookkeeping & Tax.
Work life balance is always a struggle. A life decision to work six days a week during tax season is and will always be a difficult decision, especially when you have a small child. But with the help of an amazingly patient, kind, loving, and supportive husband we make it work! Some of my clients are convinced I don’t sleep since they will see e-mails from me time stamped at 11 PM at night.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a full service bookkeeping and tax preparation service provider. But we do so much more…we offer advisory services, lobbying compliance reporting, accounting integration software analysis, cloud based integration, work flow process improvement plans, budgetary and cash management planning, basic IT and cyber-security recommendations, and human resources compliance recommendations. What I am most proud of is knowing that if a client has a problem we are the first resource they call regarding their business. I take much pride in knowing that we help make people’s dreams come true! Whether it be a person wanting to start a new business, to an individual struggling to curb their spending to buy a home, WE CAN HELP.
What sets us apart from other accounting firms is we are a niche mark. I am NOT a CPA, I don’t claim to be a CPA. We don’t provide attestation services. However, I have a strong tax background I am not a basic bookkeeper that writes checks and enters invoices. We strategically plan for tax purposes, manage cash flow, reforecast income and expenses. I have much more sophisticated approach to automating data, this allows us to better utilize our time and add value where it counts. Our attention to detail and always wanting to implement new technologies that make things more accurate, transparent, efficient and secure is what really sets us apart. Our responsiveness and personalize care of each client is astounding.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was always a hard worker. My parents instilled a strong work ethic at an early age. Every weekend they made us do work around the house. Whether it be cutting brush in the woods, weeding our 1/2 acre garden, raking leaves. I think I loved school so much because it was a vacation from working around the house Saturdays and Sundays! I have always been a talker. My husband it convinced I could talk to a tree if no one was around. Growing up I loved to dance, sing (I have the worst voice in the world- at a recital in which I sang Silent Night my parents informed me that they wished it was just quiet because my voice is so bad), being outdoors, and dreaming. I have always been a dreamer, I loved make believe. I could play restaurant for hours especially if a cash register or calculator was involved!
Pricing:
- We charge $100 an hour for our services. In some cases we do offer fixed pricing schedules.
Contact Info:
- Address: 18 Main Street, 2nd Floor
Concord, MA 01742 - Website: www.colonialbookkeepinginc.com
- Phone: 978-402-8888
- Email: laura@colonialbookkeepinginc.com
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