Editor's Note: This is the first installment of our ongoing series highlighting this year's Insightful Accountant's Top 100 ProAdvisors. Over the remainder of the year, we will introduce you to our winners—checking in on their insights regarding a wide range of topics, including what it is like to be a leader in their profession, how to stay on top and what the future holds.
Leah Berger is New York through and through. As the owner of Leah's Insights and QuickBooks Advanced Certified ProAdvisor with more than 30 years of experience, she is committed to helping fellow small business owners achieve their goals.
Starting out in the business in 1982 as a bookkeeper for a small business that did not need a full time bookkeeper, she worked closely with accountants who recommended her to their smaller clients in need of help. She gradually developed into a consultant for accounting software.
Through Leah Insights, she is committed to being the go-to resource for business owners looking for the best in guidance and support. To help make that happen, all communications are directly with her, which means her clients never have to deal with an inexperienced associate.
We sat down with Leah to get her thoughts on being a Top 100 ProAdvisor, her path to success and the best advice she ever received.
Give us a snapshot of your business.
I have been in business since 1982. I started out as a bookkeeper for a small business that did not need a full time bookkeeper. I worked very closely with accountants who then recommended me to their smaller clients needing my service. I then gradually developed into a consultant for accounting software.
My services included training and teaching businesses how to enter transactions reflecting how they run their business. I then taught them to use the software to analyze their financials and other reporting. This allowed them to make knowledgeable decisions about how to grow their company, and to be more successful and profitable.
How does the award fit into your overall business mission statement?
My mission statement has always been to educate companies with the right tools and knowledge so they can realize their own dreams of achievement and success.
How will you leverage the honor in your continued success?
I want to build on this honor by always increasing my knowledge, tools, and certifications to continue to assist businesses to grow and flourish.
What are some of your strategies/initiatives for 2022? Business? Personal?
My strategy has always been client centered and focused. In business, I am focused on trying to increase my skills and knowledge base with my client’s needs in mind. On the personal side, I am always working on spending more time with family and friends, and to have a little more time for myself.
What are some of the biggest issues/trends impacting the accounting space today?
I feel COVID, automation and cloud services are a few of the trends impacting how we do business. COVID introduced the power of remote working and doing business online versus the brick and mortar space. It also affected our economy which we are still reeling from, such as problems with the supply chain and rising prices.
Artificial Intelligence and cloud services have affected the automation and ease of doing business in a broader space of the world.
What's the biggest item on your to-do list right now?
Adding Business Advisory as another service for my clients. I am working on building my skills and knowledge through seminars and classes from Intuit, being a member of Mark Wickersham Value Pricing Academy, learning from webinars and finding time to read the latest thinking on the subject.
What are your expectations moving ahead?
My expectations are to launch my new service offering to bring more value to my clients this year. I still have a ways to go, but I am very excited about this initiative and have been enjoying the journey.
What's the best piece of advice you can offer your clients today?
To be to be proactive rather than reactive. My industry niche is wholesale/distribution companies having issues with keeping track of inventory and supply chain. My construction company clients are having issues with supplies, finding skilled laborers who want to work, as well as keeping track of job costing. Being proactive to identify and solve these issues—before they become problems—are paramount to running a successful company.
What was the best advice you ever received?
Whatever you do in life, be the best that you can with knowledge, preparation, hard work and perseverance. You can then achieve greatness in your life.
Is there a story you can share that really sums up the work you do for your clients?
I had a construction company client based in New York. They called me in to help them organize their QuickBooks Enterprise software. At that time, they had three companies under one QuickBooks company. They wanted my help on how to make divisions for the separate companies. After working with them for close to two years, I completely revamped their system, setting up new companies for each service.
They now have separate companies that can talk to each other when sharing employees and paying bills for sister companies. They have journal entries to help them navigate their Due To/From amounts, which companies owe what to the other companies and why. QB Time (formerly T sheets) was implemented for the original companies, as well as all those added after that to keep track of all expenses and labor per job.
They originally had a CPA writing out their payroll checks and mailing it to the office for distribution, only entering the net check in QuickBooks. I implemented QB Payroll instead, as well as getting the true cost of labor into their books and job expenses.
Their controller always says that I am her “professor who taught her everything she knows about accounting, financials and how to keep the books correct and accurate”. Since that time, I have been called to work on all their new companies. They expanded to their fifth company in New York, and just recently their sixth and seventh in Florida. As the owner always tells me that I am his "go to person" whenever he needs something done with any of these companies.”
Like what you're reading?
Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and we'll deliver content like this directly to your inbox.