Bookkeeping Systems For Creatives: Workstead

At Accountfully, we help business owners implement the tools they need to successfully grow their business. We empower them to leverage smart software solutions that will give them the power to control and monitor their own financials in real-time—a crucial part of business ownership.

While there are many solutions out there, not all are created equally. We created this three-part series to highlight one of our favorite software solutions, QuickBooks Online. Today we look at the usability and adaptability of QuickBooks Online.

Our Client

Workstead is a design studio, founded in 2009 by Stefanie Brechbuehler and Robert Highsmith. From their studios in Brooklyn, NY and Charleston, SC they focus on architectural and interior design, lighting, furniture, and exhibitions. Workstead's aim is to design responsible, context driven works that create a sense of place for both the objects they contain and the people that experience them.

The studio's lighting can be found in showrooms around the world or online. Their installations can be found in the collections of Barneys, Facebook, Levi's, Google, Yelp, the Harpoon Brewery, and in private residences all over the world.

QuickBooks Online is User-Friendly

When we started working with Workstead team, we were impressed by their desire to get involved with the bookkeeping and accounting processes. To empower them, we implemented QuickBooks Online. Visually interesting and easy to navigate, QuickBooks Online has a dashboard that makes accounting and metrics more approachable.

According to Robert Highsmith, partner at Workstead, “Quickbooks has provided a level of visibility and consistency that has greatly improved the way we run our business. Having immediate insight into our cash flow, accounts receivable, and month-to-month intelligence has allowed us to manage our overhead and have key strategy conversations that are far more detailed because of the intelligence that Quickbooks offers. Being a creative person in a creative field, it is an invaluable tool for our business!”

QuickBooks Online proves that bookkeeping and accounting doesn’t have to be something business owners fear and avoid. QuickBooks Online is user-friendly and helps business owners embrace the numbers that keeps their business running.

QuickBooks Is Adaptable

Workstead is both product-based and service-based, which meant we needed to implement a fully-customizable accounting solution. We helped them select QuickBooks Online because it’s an adaptable accounting solution that empowers them to track both products and services.

To cover all aspects of Workstead’s unique business, we synched multiple third-party applications to QuickBooks Online. We implemented TradeGecko for inventory management, Mavenlink for project management, Fathom for strategy, and Zenefits for HR needs.

We recommend QuickBooks Online to business owners because it’s easy to use and adaptable. While we don’t expect business owners to understand every number on every spreadsheet, QuickBooks Online makes those numbers more accessible and comprehensible.