About Both Sides of the Books
Every business has two sides.
In double-entry bookkeeping, every transaction has two sides, and the books only balance when both show up. A business works the same way. There's the owner who runs it and the bookkeeper who keeps the books, and things go a lot better when each one understands what the other is dealing with.
A lot happens between an owner and a bookkeeper that never shows up in the financial statements. Both Sides of the Books is where I write about it, for business owners and the bookkeepers who help them.
Meet Karmen
Hi, I'm Karmen.
I've spent more than 25 years seeing firsthand where business owners get stuck. Some nod along to reports they don't really understand, some put off asking questions because they think they should already know the answer, and plenty assume their bookkeeper is handling things that were never actually handed over.
Usually it isn't anyone's fault. The owner is busy running the business, the bookkeeper is busy keeping the books, and nobody stops to check that they're talking about the same thing.
Along the way, I was learning what it takes to build a successful bookkeeping firm of my own. That taught me what good bookkeeping looks like from the inside, and where bookkeepers, me included, can miss what a client really needs.
That's what makes my advice different. When I write for owners, I know what their bookkeeper is dealing with, and when I write for bookkeepers, I know what's going on in their clients' businesses beyond the numbers. I give both sides straight answers about the books and about working together, and I won't always take the bookkeeper's side just because I am one.
Online I go by The Inspired Bookkeeper, and you'll find me on Substack Notes most days at @theinspiredbookkeeper.
If you found me through Bookkeeping Inspired or Own Your Bookkeeping, this is where both of them ended up. The two audiences were always connected, so it made more sense to write for them in one place.
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Short, practical posts about the books and about working together. Tell me which side you're on so I know what's most useful to you.
Prefer the longer stories? Read Both Sides of the Books on Substack.