Motivation

Making a difference is what motivates bookkeeper Neeta, as she celebrates the second anniversary of ‘taking the plunge’!

Rosemary Bookkeeping Northampton

If you take a look at what was happening in the news on Thursday, September 1st, 2016, you might struggle to find anything significant. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were exchanging their non-stop verbal blows in the campaign for the White House, the fall-out from the Brexit Referendum was continuing to gather pace, and, that, really, is about it.

But closer to home, one extremely significant event was taking place: on September 1st, 2016 Neeta Patel launched her business, Rosemary Bookkeeping, Northampton. It might have been one tiny step for mankind, but it was one enormous step for Neeta. Two years on, she has never looked back.

Rosemary Bookkeeping is a specialist bookkeeping franchise, and was precisely the opportunity Neeta was looking for, with her background in the accounts department of some big-name businesses including Homebase and Argos.

Now she is using her experience for the benefits of her growing list of clients, and is not just extremely fulfilled in her work, but is loving being in charge of her own destiny, and already thinking of expanding in the New Year.

“Having a good bookkeeper means a business owner delegates the managing of invoices, expenses, cashflow, and dealing with VAT returns, among other duties,” said Neeta. “That is what I love doing, and it means my client can concentrate on doing what he or she does best, and what they set up in business to do in the first place.

“Too many businesses fail because the owners are often so busy doing the day-to-day work, the administration gets forgotten about, there’s no one to chase up non-payments, and then there’s the annual panic when it’s time to submit tax returns.

“But that’s where someone like me comes in, and hopefully by doing that, I can play my part in helping businesses be organised and efficient behind the scenes, and through that, be in a position to grow, thrive and go from strength to strength.”

It was circumstance that led to Neeta buying in to the Rosemary Bookkeeping franchise, but since doing so she has never looked back.

“I loved working in the corporate world, and had a great experience with Homebase and Argos, and more recently with T-Systems in Milton Keynes,” said Neeta. “I worked my way up at T-Systems, but in 2015 I had the option of taking a redundancy package, and decided to take the plunge, spurred on, to be honest, with the desire to be more in control of my work-life balance, as the mum of a young son.

“I thought long and hard about what to do next, took lots of advice, and then came across Rosemary Bookkeeping at a Franchise Show,” she said. “It immediately appealed to me, and after meeting the management of Rosemary Bookkeeping at their headquarters in Watford (now owned by ServiceMaster in Leicester), I liked what I heard, and in July 2016 I went for it, with my official launch a few weeks later, on September 1st.

So why do you need a bookkeeper if you have an accountant? It is a question Neeta has been asked countless times, and finds it an easy one to answer.

“What I do is manage your books on a day to day basis, and ultimately have everything in order ready to deliver to your accountant,” said Neeta.

“It goes much further than that though: what I offer my clients, is the management of cash-flow, making sure invoices are paid, issuing useful reports, deal with VAT, make sure the money side of the business is well organised and in good shape, and that the books are all in good shape for passing on to the accountant for tax return purposes.”

Neeta has already built up a healthy client list that continues to grow, as more business owners learn of her services, and her abilities to keep them in good financial health.

“I love what I do, and take enormous satisfaction in helping my clients, and freeing them up to build up their businesses without the administrative worries that so often weighs many people down to breaking point,” she says.

“I’m looking to work with sole-traders, which I love doing, and also looking for small to medium sized businesses who I genuinely believe I can make a difference to.”

As Neeta celebrates the second anniversary of launching Rosemary Books in Northampton she looks back sure in the knowledge she did the right thing. And is now looking forward to many more anniversaries ahead!

For more information about Neeta, and Rosemary Bookkeeping Noethampton, go to www.rosemarybooks.co.uk/northampton, or call her on 01604 422314.