← This Can't Be That Hard
This Can't Be That Hard
357 - Financial Organization: Peace of Mind is Priceless with Tiffany Bastian
00:37:33
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Over the past few weeks, we have been talking about organization. Now, sadly, organization isn't all color coded bookshelves and cute planners. But even if it seems less fun on the surface, I truly believe that the kinds of organization that we have been covering here on the show are the kinds that truly change our businesses and our lives, right? We've talked about the external organization that can drive better client experiences and therefore better income and all that sort of stuff. We talked about the internal organization that makes providing that experience a sustainable process. And today we are closing out this theme with kind of the granddaddy of all organization which is organizing your finances. Now, I know even if you didn't physically flinch just now, you may have done so internally, right? Because here's the thing. Most photographers did not start their businesses because they love spreadsheets or quarterly estimates or sales tax compliance, right? We started our businesses because we love light and connection and expression and storytelling and all of those beautiful things. But if you want your work as a photographer to be profitable and sustainable, which is presumably why you listen to this show, that's what makes photography a career, not just a hobby, right? And if that's what your goal is, then getting your finances in order isn't optional, it is foundational. The good news is that doing so really doesn't require you to become a CPA or know everything there is to know about tax code. In fact, the level of financial organization that most of our businesses require is actually pretty straightforward. It requires being being honest with yourself, it requires making a few smart decisions, and it really does require being willing to look at your business like a CEO, which doesn't take anything away from your ability to be an artist. Today I am joined by Tiffany Bastian, who is an accountant of over 20 plus years and whose firm, which is called Bastian Accounting, works exclusively with photographers around the U.S. which is unusual, right? Like an accountant who chooses specifically to specialize in photography not because she's a photographer, but because she likes this sort of group of people is novel and amazing. And I really enjoyed Tiffany's no BS approach and just kind of wish that I had met her 15 years ago. But better late than ever, right? So if you've ever promised yourself that next year is going to be different, that tax season is going to be calmer next year or whatever, this episode is just for you, so let's dive in.
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Welcome to this Can't Be that Hard. My name is Annemie Tonkin and I help photographers run profitable, sustainable businesses that they love. Each week on the Podcast. I cover simple, actionable strategies and systems
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that photographers at every level of experience
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can use to earn more money in a more sustainable way. Running a photography business doesn't have to be that hard. You can do it, and I can show you how.
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Tiffany Bastian, welcome to this Can't Be that Hard. I am so excited to have you on the show today to talk all things financial organization people. Stick with us. This is going to be a fun conversation, I promise. It really is.
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Really is.
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How are you today?
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I'm good, I'm good, good. Sexy some time, you know, but I
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know, I know, I know well. And I personally particularly appreciate you taking the time to chat with me because of that. When Dana and I were talking about this theme, this theme of organization, you know, there's a lot that comes up for. In terms of organization. There's a lot of things under that umbrella that we could have talked about, but especially because we're tackling this in February, we were like, we really need to have an entire episode dedicated to financial organization. Because I feel like this time of year, photographers around, certainly the country, if not the world, are, you know, trying to get themselves organized for tax season. And it's often sort of one of those. Either they feel really good about how the last year has gone and they're patting themselves on the back and thanking past themselves for being so, like, on top of it, or, and I think this is the much more common scenario, they are, you know, kind of smacking themselves in the forehead saying, I told myself last year I wasn't going to be in this position again, and here I am again. So today's episode is really all about making it so that moving forward, there is a structure to that organization that allows somebody to actually stick with it, keep up with it, but also not beat them up themselves up too much.
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For sure. For sure.
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Love it.
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Easy thing to beat yourself up about.
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Yeah, yeah, totally. Well, so let's actually start because it sounds like you've got a pretty interesting story. You are an accountant, but you work specifically with photographers. Tell me how that whole story goes.
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So it all started with sales tax, really, but kind of fun. I have a peloton. I'm in a peloton group locally. And somebody reached out to me in the peloton group, was like, are you an accountant? And I'm like, what does this even have to do with anything? And she was a photographer here, I'm in the Buffalo area. And she was like, will you come speak at a Rising Tide event?
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Oh, nice.
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Chapters all over the place, hated public speaking. And I was like, oh, my gosh, my gosh, I don't want to do this. But, you know, you just do it scared yo do it. I just remember getting into that room and talking about sales tax and they all looked at me like, what? And I just felt so like, called to like, oh, no. I'm like, these, these poor people, these people need help. I have no idea. And yeah, and New York's a really crazy one. So I started doing research and like built them whole. A whole guide, which is kind of how I started building a state by state guide. And then really just we did creative entrepreneurs for a while. And then in 2019, we're like, we really met photographers. So as we worked with clients, that's who we were working with. You wouldn't believe who thinks people don't know what a creative entrepreneur is unless they are one.
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Yep, yep, exactly.
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Um, so they, you know, I would get plumbers and all kinds of people saying they were creative entrepreneurs. And I'm not really sure how that correlated. But so then 2019, we were like, that's it. We're rebranding, we're putting, we're putting the camera in the logo.
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Yeah.
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We're calling it out. We're doing it. And then Covid happened and I was like, I don't know what we just did. Right, right. Photography was like one of the first things to sort of just stop.
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Yeah.
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However, I will tell you that our appliance, many of them had their best years. It's all about pivoting. It's about figuring it out. Resilience. It blew my mind. And here we are all these years later, which I can't even believe. It's what, five, six years?
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Six years later?
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I know, Here we are. So. But love it. I am a very creative, like minded individual, but I'm very like, accountant. My poor husband has to live with that.
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Yep.
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But I contain myself. So I feel like I can bridge. Yeah, I feel like I can, I can bridge that gap. And I love being able to help somebody be. I think, I mean, I'm the kind of person where like I could be getting a massage and I am teaching that person how they're going to be an entrepreneur and they're going to go do it on their own. Like, so I love being able to help with that. Um, because as we were just talking about, when it comes to financial stuff, a lot of people, it's the thing that they just kind of avoid. And I think I was thinking about this, this morning before our chat, like entrepreneurship kind of happens to people. I think a lot of us just, oh my gosh. And then the next thing is like, oh, and I could do this and I could do that and then I, I'm. This is what I love. And then it's somewhere you hit a wall and you're like, oh, it's a business and there's tax and there's this other. And you sort of start back stepping and going into a hole. Maybe even if anyone can relate to that because there's all those other pieces.
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Yeah.
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But yeah, that's how I ended up working with photographers. A lot of people will ask me if I'm a photographer. I am not. But I am a big believer. I am like the family documenter, the historian. I'm always, you know, capturing the moments. I think that's the most so most important thing, you know, so it just kind of aligned and I just appreciate the art and it's mind blowing to me what photographers can produce and also what they can make. I think I love when I tell somebody, they're like, oh, especially in the accounting world, you know, what do you do? I'm like, oh, we work with photographers and they think it's like cute. And I just think, no, I don't think you understand. There are six and seven figure photographers that are just like, they're blowing this whole thing up. Like they're so it's lucrative and it's, it's like rewarding and they get to do what they love. Like you have no idea. So that is why I'm here. And it's probably one of the best decisions we ever made. I love that we're. We're all in. We're all in.
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And not that this is what we're talking about today, but we do talk a lot in the show and in, you know, sort of in this world, this photography education world about the power of finding your niche. Right. Finding that slice of whether it's sort of, you know, I photograph just newborns, but it can also be like, I only work with people who xyz, whatever. So it doesn't necessarily have to be the subject matter, but when you can find and really latch onto your people, you end up creating a business that doesn't, you know, you're taking yourself out of that like price comparison price shopping field.
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Yeah.
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It really can be because.
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And I can do what I do so much deeper.
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Sure.
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Like I get all the things.
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Yeah.
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Versus if I'm trying to learn every CRM and How it would connect it. It's like, and we can help clients, like with other clients use this CRM. So it's like, you know, you, you just become an expert in that way and it's even hard. It's easier. Yeah, it's easier for me because I'm dealing with one set of things that have a lot of commonality where I can like, help them with other things I'm seeing. So it is scary though. It's a resistance. I always think, you know, don't resist the niche. It's super important. So. It is.
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Yeah. And it, I mean, even what you were talking about, the, the topic that you went and spoke at the Rising Tide function about is like, sales tax for photographers is different because of digital files versus, you know, products. And like, well, is it a service? Is it a product? Is it whatever? And it does vary state to state. And I think, you know, having, I remember early in my career talking to a couple of different accountants who had different, like, they, it was almost like an opinion. And I was like, well, can we figure out what the state of North Carolina is going to say about this? Because that's really where it comes down to. So having somebody who's done that research and knows definitively, like, no, no, I work with a lot of photographers. This is what it is. That's, there's a lot of peace of mind in that. So it's good. So let's jump into the actual financial organization piece. So I said at the beginning of the show, like, this is a thing that a lot of photographers struggle with. I would, that's me and my anecdotal evidence based on photographers self reporting this, that and the other. I would love to hear.
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I will say you are correct. I, I, I, I, I, I agree with you.
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Okay, tell me a little bit about when someone first comes to you, what their financial organization or lack thereof tends to look like and where you start. Because I think that for a lot of people, that's the, that's the wall standing between them and getting help is just figuring out, like, I don't even know how to explain the problem that I have.
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I think there's two things. So I think we'll talk about how they come to me in a second. But I think there's a lot of shame or embarrassment because I, you know, I work with all kinds of photographers and there are some, there's like, you know, they just had like their best year or maybe they hit six or seven figures and they like, wow. And my Instagram looks Great. And I'm booking clients and I'm up to my eyeballs and clients and everything's wonderful. But I lay down at night and I know nobody else knows. I'm a financial mess. I, maybe I'm even speaking at events or doing these things. But I, it's like that internal, like, almost like imposter syndrome.
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Ish.
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A little bit of like. But nobody knows that I haven't even registered for sales tax or Nobody even knows. So I think that we have to realize everybody starts somewhere, including myself. Like, it's, it really is the first step. Like, I, I, I'm so passionate about that, taking that first step and doing that one thing. As silly as it sounds like even in my own life, you know, I, I started doing some investing, like, I don't know, two years ago, and I remember talking to my guy and I'm like, no, like, you are not going to tell me how to do my money. Like, I had, and I started doing it, and next thing I know, now it's increased and I'm like, and I really believe, little by little, a little becomes a lot. That is like my thing. I say to myself all the time, just start somewhere and, you know, it's, and, and then there's the little, what if I make a mistake? Or I always do believe, too. It's like you make a decision because you can always make another one. Like, decisions are free. I think, we think that, like, we're, everything's set in stone and that it's not the world we, we live in and, and, and they, or we define ourselves by that. But I get a lot of photographers that come to me usually about this time because kind of like you said, they promised themselves they wouldn't be here. You know, last year at this time, now they're here. Okay, it's fine. We just need to move forward. But the biggest thing is, like, where to even begin. When I'm looking at the whole year and I've got to figure it out. Maybe I've been mixing accounts and I, I mean, I'm, I get excited about this. Just talking about, like, there's all the things and I could see it all, and we just need to start with one thing and bring it in and take time, get all of that stuff together and set yourself up when you're doing it now and then just keep up with it. Because what you don't realize is, like, bookkeeping isn't just for taxes. It's not just to get organized. Like, this is going to show you, like, you could imagine if you could start to know, okay, here's what my business looks like, here's how much I made last month and here's my profit. Because that's the other thing. It's like everybody's talking about six, seven figures. But I don't really care because the money you take home, right? Tell me what you take home.
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What's your paycheck?
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Yeah, yeah. And so again, it's one of those things laying in bed, being like, I make six or seven figures and then it's like, but I can't even make, you know, pay off my credit card. Like those things are real and I, I really know that. I think it's not talked about enough that money is such an emotional thing for people on every different kind of way. And I think that really adds to this overwhelm or this feeling or this stuckness. So, um. And it's not just you or anyone just listening. Everybody has their thing. Some people feel guilty for making too much money. I mean, we're just me. It's just so trying to realize like, this is my business and kind of remove, it's almost like removing yourself a little bit emotionally from it and being like, let me see the picture. Look at it as data. Because all of that's going to help you start to figure out, well, what am I trying to do at the end of this? So, you know, I like to go with like a good, better, best situation of what you need in your life. Right. Because you started the business so that you had money, which is okay to make money and to take care of the life that you want. And I say good is like, what does it cost to keep your lights on? Because a lot of people too, especially in photography might be trying to leave a full time job or trying to make this a full time thing. So you gotta understand that. So in order to keep the lights on and have a roof over your head and the basic things, what is that then? What is your better, you know, like that end of life and then what's your best? Like are you backpack, backpacking your Europe every summer or going on a cruise or whatever that is. And the thing is too is that's different for everyone. So, you know, social media tries to kind of like show us that we all want the same thing, but it's truly not, not the thing. So it's really stepping back again with yourself. Like, what do I really want?
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Yeah.
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Which is a huge question. Yeah. Which also can make you feel overwhelmed. But what's really cool is you get to have whatever you want. Yeah, well, you can create that.
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And I think that that's so important. And I think that one of the things you totally hit the nail on the head with, there are a lot of photographers out there who maybe they wouldn't admit to feeling guilty making money, but they, you know, I can see it and read between the lines in all these online forums where people are saying, like, oh, but I feel really bad because I wanted to work with this person and they said that they can't afford it, or, you know, like, okay, but you're running a business here. And I think that one of the things that was helpful to me when I was dealing with that particular stumbling block was, remember, remembering the reason that I got into running my own business was to create some amount of freedom in my life. Right. So, like, I want to be able to take time off to spend time with my family, or I want to. Whatever. Whatever. Your reason for starting a creative business was working from home, whatever the case may be, in order to facilitate that freedom. Like, money is part of it. It's not all of it, but it's certainly a part of it. And so figuring it out, setting those boundaries, like setting your pricing in a way that works for the bigger puzzle, it's just all part of finding whatever that goal is. And I would say that whatever somebody's goal is, money is a piece of it, even if they don't want to admit it to themselves.
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And to add to what you just said, I think is super important too, is because then, and I think I'll speak to this, I had this happen early in my career. Then you start going, and then it is, oh, God, I'm making money and I can do all this. And then somewhere you forgot about freedom, right? Because now you don't see your family because now you are working so hard and you love what you're doing. And that's. Yeah, I think there's just, like, these phases. Then you step back and you're like, what am I doing this for? But really leading with that thought all the time, I think would help. You know, I feel like I'm here because I've been doing, you know, I've been an entrepreneur for 13 years. Photography or not, it's a lot of the same things. And it's like, don't make my mistakes and make sure you keep stepping back and checking in with yourself.
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Yeah.
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And you're right. Money is really just, you know, really, really. Time is the only thing. Time is the only thing we can make More money. We can make other decisions. Time is important and we just think we don't have enough. But it's because we're not utilizing it in the way that aligns Right. With the reason we're doing this. Like we just said, it's a full circle event there. But love it. But yeah, I think, I think financial organization, I think it's organization in general because I feel like anybody could walk into a room too and be like, where do I begin?
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Yep, there's that.
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But then you have all the other stuff that comes along with finances, whatever your parents did growing up, all of those things, and then you have to figure it out for yourself. And I'm just speaking as someone who has done gone through all of that growth myself, and I love helping people realize that they can do it too. It's just pick up one thing.
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Yeah.
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You know, I would say if you want me to kind of go into, like, what I would do first, I would get a separate business and a personal checking account.
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Yep.
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This is going to help you for so many reasons. One, use just the clarity of what's going where.
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Yeah.
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But if you are an llc, which many people may be, it's required that you do that. So you want to make sure you're doing that for your own, like, you know, compliance. But, okay, let's say you are today and you're like, oh, God, what do I do? I don't know. Guess what? You can go download that one account, everything in it, at least. This is not ideal, but at least you're starting somewhere and put it into a spreadsheet and start to organize it instead of, you know, that one step can alleviate, like so much stress throughout the year and even just at tax time to just have it all in one place.
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Right.
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And it's so easy to do. It's so easy to do.
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So, so you're saying separate out your personal finances from your business finances. So opening a separate business business bank account, but also probably getting a separate credit, like, line of credit associated with. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.
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And then.
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And if that hasn't been done prior to now, or if you have those. But you tend to mix. You know, you're like pulling out whichever credit card is at the top of your wallet. Do you see a lot of that where you've got sort of a mixed bag of.
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Yeah. If I could tell you all the apologies I get every time we start onboarding a new client, I'm like, oh, no, I've always seen worse. Like, this is what I love. Like I'm here to help. But the thing is, when you're mixing it too, again, like speaking on the emotional side, there's something. When you're seeing that money coming in and you're using it for your day to day stuff, there is still an. There becomes this like I would say kind of an emotional separation. When it's like, this is my business and the money's coming in there and then my expenses come out of there. Now I can actually see what's my profit. And that starts to help you figure out your pricing, starts to help you figure out capacity maybe, you know, like there's all kinds of things that go along with that. But then you're able to know what you're paying yourself and then you can start to do that and see that coming over versus if it's all entangled in there. I mean, personal finance is kind of a whole other beast because we have so many things coming out and going, getting someone to sit down and look at that stuff. I mean, it's kind of also like you can't measure what you don't track, so you don't know. Yeah, but people think ignorance is bliss and it is till it's not. It is till it's not. And when it's not, it's usually not a good thing.
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Yeah, I know. It's like monsters and mushrooms grow in the dark. You got to open up the closet and dive in, as uncomfortable as that can be. So, okay, so we've got the, the first step being separate your accounts. The best time to plan a tree.
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So much.
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Yeah, yeah, exactly.
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Yes.
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Yesterday you can wish that it was last year, but if you haven't done it yet, go do it today so that next year you've got this, this good spot to be in. And then it's just a matter of either opening up that one account and or credit card statement or you know, this year separating out like this was a business expense, this was a, this was business income. And so we sort of make a, a big pile of those things. What comes next.
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That's a good time too to be like, even if you're doing all that, okay, what's coming out? So you can start to change that. Because that's the other thing. You start changing all those auto debits and your CRM and all those things to other account. That can feel overwhelming and like hard to do. So we're just not going to do it right. So it's just like making that list as you're going through everything. Okay, what Needs to be moved over and do is. I don't even know. It's like, I don't know. Have you ever read Eat that Frog? Like, that book is so sometimes, you know, my team and I will have something going on. Like, I just ate that frog. Because it's like you don't want to. But how you feel afterwards, like work it out. Totally ever really wants to do it. But after. But you've never, ever regret it. You never go, oh, I shouldn't have done that. Right. Like, you will feel so much better. And it. It does take some time, but there's so much clarity that you start to understand. I mean, looking at. Even at like your personal finances is. It tells you a story. And sometimes you don't know that person. Like, wow. I mean, if I can indulge for one second, I'm getting ready to move. So we are cleaning out the house. And do you know, I found out that I own four scales and I was like, oh, I have one for the Fitbit, one for the Goes for this one right now. Did I think that the scale was going to change my. How I ate and what I was doing? Because I just barely. I did. And I was like learning about myself. And I was like, this is an interesting thing. Like, I didn't even know I had them. And this is like, okay. You know, I think finance is a very personal thing and you have to have a financial relationship with yourself. You have to understand yourself where you've been, where you're trying to go, and also who you are. And that what other people think doesn't matter.
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Yeah.
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Cause that's the other. The other part of it. But yes, separating things out is going to make things so much easier. The next thing is like, now we've done that is some kind of bookkeeping. Like, I would love everyone to be, you know, set up in Xero and have everything organized and they're doing it every. But even a spreadsheet.
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Yeah.
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Even something to just. So you. Even if it's just Fridays that you sit down and you're like, okay, what's coming in? What's going out? But think about the power. If you could, you know, pull all of your like Honeybook payment, you know, you know, the payments coming in over the next six months and you really could actually start to see, oh, here's what I know goes out. Here's what I have contracted. Oh, look it. I could put. I should book some more people in March. Like, you can really start to have control over the things that I Think we, you know, feel like we don't. Especially when you first get started, everything happens so quickly. You have to, you have to have those step backs because there is levels of growth, but everything, you know, brings us to where we are. It's feeling like, you know, what's going on. I think that even people who think they don't care, they do in the back of their mind. It's like, I don't know what's happening here. And you don't, you don't get the tax time again. And then you're like, oh, I owe how much? Oh, right. Well, I don't even have that. And what about sales tax? And so it can be overwhelming. So you want to be on top of it so that you don't. I hate, I always say, like, tax day can feel like you're waiting in the hospital waiting room. And it shouldn't be like that. It should be, you know, and you're supposed to be making quarterly estimated payments. So when you're doing this, you can kind of see that and set that money aside and there are no surprises. And I will say it, it takes time to make time. Right. You get caught up, but it, it's so. There's just such a sense of relief when you kind of know what's going on that you almost start to shut everybody else out. Because you see your game and you see your stuff and you're like, I know what I'm doing now. Instead of looking for others to be like, what am I supposed to be doing? Or what are they doing. Yeah, it really is very like grounding to who you are and what you're trying to do in your business.
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A
And I have preached for years the, the empowerment that comes with that knowledge.
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C
Yeah.
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When you are creating prices that are based on reality and not just, you know, I'm copying the person down the street, or this sounds like a good number that I think people might pay. Whatever. Then when someone gives you pushback or, you know, somebody says, oh, we'd love to hire you, but we can't afford it, your. It just shifts your mindset to. Instead of feeling like, oh, well, maybe I am overpriced, or oh, well, maybe, you know, maybe I should switch it. It's like, you know, deep down that your pricing is based on meeting your goals, making sure that you're covering the necessities, whatever. Unless you want to be doing this as a volunteer job, you're going to have to charge a certain amount. And it just, it creates this, I think, confidence and peace that is totally magnetic to the right clients. Like they can hear it in your voice, you know, what you're talking about. So I think it ends up being a very positive sort of cycle that happens. But you do have to get there. You have to do the work to get there.
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C
It's true. And that is like the scarcity mindset. And it's interesting too because I see there's even just where I live, there's so many different kinds of photographers. But when I, you know, booked my brand shoot or things I do, I'm booking it with that person because of how they. People are buying you. And that's very real. Like they're buying you and how you do it, how you speak and how. And so I think when you're comparing for pricing and stuff and trying to figure out what you're doing or even making it mean something about yourself as well, but I think when you start to realize the right people will come. It's kind of like dating almost. It's like, oh, he doesn't like my laugh, I should go change it. Like what? Like, you know, but that, but when you are in a new frontier, it's like, well, I'm watching all these people who probably are professing online how great they're. We don't see the back end.
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Sure.
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C
Not many people are showing those sleepless nights of going, well, I gotta file my taxes and I don't know what to do. But it is mindset is everything. And I, I really just think, you know, I would love to offer the fact that I see so many kinds of photographers and they're all successful in different ways. And especially when I get new clients in that are like just starting out or they're, you can tell they're just trying to figure everything out or they're maybe, maybe they're still working a full time job and they're doing this on the side. But I love to be able to tell them what I see, what I know people can do. Like this is so possible. But you have, you're right. You have to do the work and you have to understand what you're doing and what, and, and your value. Because you know, people might think that you're there taking photos and maybe you're there for an hour, but we all know that's the tip of the iceberg. And everything else matters too. Everything else that you had to do matters too. It's not just that thing. So. Yeah, but pricing is, is a touchy, It's a touchy thing. And I have I get a lot of clients who, especially with sales tax, like, they don't want their clients to know that they charge sales tax. And I'm like, but this is just what you do. And, well, the other photographers in my state don't, or this one's not. And I'm like, I don't know what they're doing, but, like, the. And I tell them the right person is going to come book with you. And that alignment is so much more important than everything else.
- [29:13]
A
Yeah. Yeah. And it. It is one of those things where you just kind of have to trust that and move into that to get there. And I. We could sit here and talk about it all day long, but if you're listening to this and this is like, resonating for you, I would encourage you to, you know, get. Get your numbers straight, make this decision, and then come talk to us a year from now, because it will be. It's like a. It's a whole different ball game once you get there. Let's move a little bit past the people who are brand new to organizing their finances to the people who have gotten to a place where, like, their accounts are separate. They're, you know, keeping track of things. Where are the. It's still a growth process and a learning process. Those clients that you have, what do you see being either the biggest mistakes that they make or maybe the biggest opportunities, because once they are organized, they can. They can sort of take advantage of that in different ways.
- [30:15]
C
So we'll about both. So the biggest mistakes, honestly, still are the mindset of, like, the making the make, putting, you know, doing all the things, but not making estimated payments.
- [30:25]
A
Right.
- [30:25]
C
Not keeping any of the money. Like, maybe now they know what's coming in. And so they're like, sweet, I see the coming in, but they're not real concerned with the what's left part. And so they end up with nothing when it's time. The. The good part or the. I guess the. The benefit is like, then we help clients. A lot of them become s. Corporations or, okay, you're making this much money. And they're also, you know, there's a level of, like, you having professionals to help you in the places that you. You should learn. I totally believe in this. Like, we educate our clients for the simple fact of help me help you, help me help you. Like, it's a relationship. Right?
- [31:01]
A
Sure.
- [31:01]
C
And I don't think that's very common in accounting, I find, when people come to me. But the thing is, like, we want to help get everything organized and Figure out, okay, now we have some strategy. Like, now we're like, oh, okay, we know it's coming in. We know it's going out. It could. It could very well be that they're like, yeah, but I'm just. I don't have the time I need. It's like, okay, well, then maybe if you're so busy, maybe you raise your prices. So you're booking less, making maybe even more, right? So then you start to have, like, almost think of, like, those recording studio levers. You know, you start to dial in things and move things around and maybe business structure. Then maybe it's time to become an S corporation and be on payroll. We help a lot of our clients with that kind of thing. And my favorite part is, after the first year of S Corporation, my clients, you know, they've gotten really good, and they're putting all their money aside for taxes still. Even though we're making. We're. We're quarterly tax planning, we're making estimated payments. And they'll be like, well, what do I do with this $30,000? And like, I don't know. But they weren't trusting the full process yet, so they were still kind of like, I'm like, well, that's yours now. Like, you. You did all the things we. So. And it's also knowing. It's like. It's like levels of a video game. You know, level one is getting organized, and then you start seeing that stuff, and then you start tweaking things, and then you can start thinking like, oh, well. Or not even realize that you're paying for. Maybe you. You have paid for the year of Honeybook, but you're not even using it now. You're. You've. You know, something else. Like all those little leaks of money. You start to see that. And at first you might feel like, oh, I'm such a moron. What did I. I'm not. But then it's like, whoa, whoa. But now you have the power, because now you know, and now you can start deciding things. I really think you hit it earlier. And even in my own life, like, when you really know what's going on, even if you don't like what you see, it's still very empowering, because now you have the choice. Now you can make things different. If you don't know, you don't know. You don't know what you don't know, right?
- [32:52]
A
And just because your head in the sand doesn't mean that, you know, things aren't. It's all around. Around you so.
- [32:58]
C
And you might acknowledge your heads in the sand. The longer you do that, the more you start to think it's going to be worse. But then we all know that we've done that and we're like, like with a thing or like, can't get there. And then you take 15 minutes and you're like, wow, I put that off for six months. That took 15 minutes. And I feel so good. So, again, a lot of it is mindset on all of these things, of just getting organized. It's like any other thing. But then you have the power and then your business. I think, honestly, I thought it became even more fun because I'm like, oh, I see. Okay. I see all the things. If I tweak this, what happens if I do that? What happens? And then you really can be curious and you're not, you know, put your.
- [33:35]
A
Your.
- [33:35]
C
You're actually growing and learning as a business owner. Because I think sometimes too, you forget that you get. You're a business owner. Like, you. You're the boss. You can do it.
- [33:46]
A
Totally. And the. And I also think that there's something to be said when somebody's like, I don't have the time. I don't have the time. I don't have the time. I want to turn around and say, how much time are you wasting worrying about this? Thinking about it. There's, like a certain amount of time and effort that goes into avoiding something. You know what I mean? So, not to mention, obviously, if there becomes some sort of big problem, like, you have an audit and you need to go, like, pause the world to track everything down, that takes up a lot of time. So a small investment now could save you a lot of time and worrying.
- [34:22]
C
I just. I just sent an email this morning, and that was what it was about, because it was like, when you really rephrase, like, I don't have time to. It's not a priority. Right. It feels gross.
- [34:33]
A
Right.
- [34:34]
C
But it's true.
- [34:34]
A
Yeah.
- [34:35]
C
Whatever it is. And then you're like, oh. And then you think about when you prioritize your health and your finances, the rest of your life falls into place. But they are the two hardest things, to be fair. They are the two hardest things to wrangle in. But no, absolutely. 100 on that.
- [34:51]
A
So good. I believe that you have got a guide for people that I want to send them to remind me what that is.
- [35:02]
C
So we have. I've called the five money moves and the five things that you can do to sort of get yourself started into some organization in different Areas so that you can start to feel that sense of relief. And if someone's guiding you through it and I got you over here. I. That's the thing too. Sometimes cleaning a room is easier to do with somebody sitting there.
- [35:19]
A
Totally.
- [35:22]
C
There's something about that. But yeah. So it's. Do you want me to give you the address?
- [35:26]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. So check it out.
- [35:29]
C
So it's bash. Bastionaccounting.com TCBTH Amazing. Can't be that hard.
- [35:37]
A
And Bastion is B A S T I A N. Right?
- [35:40]
C
It is.
- [35:41]
A
Okay. It is so not like a bastion of health or.
- [35:46]
C
No, yeah, exactly. Or a bass. A bastion of. I think that's. Isn't there a bastion in chess?
- [35:51]
A
Yeah, I think that's right.
- [35:52]
C
The one fortified wall.
- [35:53]
A
So instead, it'd be cool if it was.
- [35:55]
C
It really go hard with my business name.
- [35:58]
A
Oh, listen, I am with you on the tricky to spell name situation. So I always like to make sure that people know. But we'll put that in the show notes as well, of course. And you guys can dig deeper into this in the dark room. If you sign in, you're gonna get your action items and all that sort of stuff, and we'll link it in there as well. But Tiffany, this has been super helpful. I love your approach. I love the fact that you work exclusively with photographers. So as a next step, if anybody else, if anybody listening wanted to get in touch with you about potentially working together, is it just bastionaccounting.com it is.
- [36:35]
C
I'm right there. Chat will pop up. And that's me. There's just certain parts of my business I always like to be. You know, I think talking to clients, that's. That's my favorite part.
- [36:42]
A
So good. This is great. Well, it has been a pleasure getting to know you and. And I appreciate you taking the here in your busiest season of the year.
- [36:51]
C
Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Because if we can help somebody right now in the busy season, like, get a hold of themselves, get off the floor and let's do it like I'm here for it.
- [36:58]
A
I love that. Wonderful. Have a great day.
- [37:01]
C
You too.
- [37:03]
A
Well, that's it for this week's episode
- [37:05]
B
of this can't be that hard. I'll be back same time, same place next week. In the meantime, you can find more information about this episode along with with all the relevant links, notes and downloads@thiscantbethard.com learn. If you like the podcast, be sure
- [37:21]
A
to hit the subscribe button.
- [37:23]
B
Even better, share the love by leaving a review in itunes. And as always, thanks so much for joining me. I hope you have a fantastic week.