Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Kilduff and John Heisler.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My Grandfather was a Boston Cop. In 1919, he was involved in the strike. He was forced to fend for 6 children so he started pushing a Fruit Cart in Roslindale Square. By the time the 1940s arrived my Dad was in the Navy as a See Bee. He was honorably discharged and started helping his dad sell produce to the area merchants. From there it morphed into a company still running to this day providing fresh produce to the Boston / Massachusetts Area as far south as the Cape and North shore and inland alike.
My parents had 6 children – all of us ended up working to support the family Business. But in 1983 my dad retired and left it to us kids. As the growth kept growing, we started burning out and in year 2000 I chose to leave and break out and do something different.
Something that did not do as much emotional and physical damage as a night shift job working 12 hour days will do to someone. I took a year off and thought hard about what I like. I was gifted and lucky enough to be around when Bill Gates introduced the 1st PC.
I co-wrote a piece of software that to this day runs that family business. We took the earliest versions of communication and turned it on its head. But I had no formal education in programming. Academia was only starting to understand it. I liked numbers and accounting. It was comfortable. So I met with a Tax Attorney and he said “Go get Incorporated”. People don’t like to work with someone who isn’t officially invested. He said “I have work for you boy” and so he would send me out into the field to gather evidence for upcoming Audits before the IRS. It was there that I learned the fundamentals of audit work. And so, after years of Audit work, I broke out and started “Traveling Onsite Bookkeeping Services”. It was 2006 that a Friend told me “Mark, you should centralize yourself so you can help more people. You running around Boston getting tied up in traffic is only going to add to your stress.” So I did just that. I was the first in this industry of Cloud bookkeeping to create a safe haven for client to host their data and allow me to work on it from one location. Remote Quality Bookkeeping was born
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s been a rough road in respect to reaching those who could use the expertise we offer.
For those who found us they love us. Our client testimonies prove that. We hired an outside company to call on our clients and ask for feedback which we turned into stories and blog postings. SEO and its counterparts have treated us unfairly in my opinion. Not to mention all the changes to the industry of SEO and advertising. Before it took like 3 impressions now it’s something like 12 and you have the Millennial factor to weigh in now. All things considered – it’s been tough keeping the trajectory of superior growth.
As far as the services we provide – that quite the opposite. We Leveraged software to perform many tasks that allow us to expedite and work efficiently. One of the software as we leveraged one’s laser fiche document management. Not only does it provide secure management but also provides the ability to create workflow for the staff as well as being able to search for keywords in a document which was never something you could do. Today we received everything in many forms but reduce it to a digital file which allows us to archive everything for the client for seven years and every new year we provide clients with a copy of everything we have archived for them on an encrypted disk or medium that we can ship out.
Before we used to keep paper in three ring binders and then shipped three ring binders all over the country which was costly. Today we use a medium that is much smaller and more durable thus saving us tremendous amount of logistic funds. We also created a proprietary database to track our Associates time spent on any given client so that we can offer static pricing to the client and be able to gauge whether or not we can live within that allotment of time agreed upon in the initial phase of signing up a client. Very huge difference between my competitors and I. Along with that database is another solution that speaks to keeping client’s sensitive information relative to bank logins state and federal agency credentials as well as payroll criteria secure from anyone outside of my staff.
Another process we leveraged is the ability to export from laser fiche necessary accounting activity and be able to import it into the accounting software we use. Thus, taking on a forensic cleanup job is not as daunting as it used to be.
Please tell us about Remote Quality Bookkeeping.
So a lot of competitors offer “bookkeeping services” but they tend to lowball their pricing because their clients don’t understand the exact science of what it takes to provide certified summaries of activity for tax preparation purposes and once they have the client locked in they start to point out that the contract only provides for three transactions per month or something similar to that and so what started out with a $125 per month fee turns into a $300-$400 monthly fee.
At RQB we specialize in “cost-effective” bookkeeping services including payroll. We are comprised of CPA level staff, CFO level staff, payroll specialists, banking specialists and interns enrolled at Stonehill College for data entry and educational purposes. With all the knowledge and expertise within my staff and I – we offer a very adaptable solution to every client and every situation. Not all clients are equal. Not all industries are equal but the one thing that is similar with all variations of clients and industries is that they want expertise and a cost effective price. I could tailor my services to higher net worth individuals but see a much better value in working with clients who are trying to strive and grow and have an equally balanced lifestyle.
There are not a lot of people in my industry that offer quite the array of services we do but for those who find us they realize that it’s a one-stop shop without having to pay for every intricacy like a quarterly review meeting to look at the upper level numbers and help the new owner or seasoned owner understand where his business is going. That’s what makes us cutting edge – that’s what makes us different – that’s what makes us invaluable
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Hmmmm… I would have joined the Air Force and learned fly F18s like my Uncles. The rewards are the same as helping clients find their way in this rough existence in the world of Business and Taxation.
All kidding aside – I don’t know that I would do anything different than what we do.
Oh – but as far as Advertising – I wish I could have all that money I spent on failed attempts to grow through print ads and radio etc. In this industry – word of mouth and personal referrals are king.
Contact Info:
- Address: 12 Spring Terrace
Bridgewater, MA 02324 - Website: www.MyRQB.com
- Phone: 866-567-4258
- Email: sales@RQB.co not to be confused with .com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RemoteQualityBookkeeping/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/2641656/
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