Welcome to
Equalizer
Bookkeeping
Expert Bookkeeping for Small Businesses
Get on top of
your finances ASAP
I clean up messes
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Financial Assessments
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Monthly & Quarterly financial reports
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Detailed record keeping
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Tax Payments
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Payroll
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Invoicing
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Bill Payments
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Timely year-end reports for taxes
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Trust Accounting
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Real Estate
Schedule your FREE
15-minute consult
Proficient in:
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Quickbooks (Online & Desktop)
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Buildium (Real estate accounting program)
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You Need a Budget (YNAB)
Will learn any system to accommodate your needs
Having a grasp on your own financials is vital to the success of any business,
large or small
Having trouble
paying yourself?
Ask me about budget and profit coaching!
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Eric Fair-Layman
Equalizer Bookkeeping
About
BACKGROUND
I have been bookkeeping in Portland, OR since 2022 and running Equalizer Bookkeeping since 2024.
In a previous life, I was a science and math teacher. When I was 13,
I helped my mother write what would become the best-selling Algebra1 textbook in the nation.
Numbers are in my blood.
ACCOUNTING
I have helped Real Estate companies, landscapers, textile companies, restaurants,
as well as a variety of small business entrepreneurs get their financials in order.
I primarily use Quickbooks (both the Online and Desktop versions).
I also have proficiency in Buildium (property management software)
and You Need A Budget (YNAB).
I will learn any accounting software.
BUDGETING WITH PROFIT FIRST!
If you are having trouble saving money or living within your means,
or if taking a profit has eluded you, let's chat.
The efficacy of the extraordinarily simple Profit First! system will surprise you.
There are great budgeting coaches out there with some wonderful, if complex,
systems that serve some folks well. Yet, if that is overwhelming or has not worked for you
I can teach you a simpler budgeting method, like Profit First!.
Even if a deep dive into a complex budgeting system suits you,
I recommend starting simple and getting going on profitng TODAY.
Schedule your free
15-minute consult
The "No Shortcuts" Approach
At Equalizer Bookkeeping, I will take the extra time to sort out your messes. I have systems in place for double checks and quick reviews. Inevitably, the numbers will not match up at some point in any accounting process. Usually, it only takes a few extra minutes of "sleuthing" to sort out the numbers and get everything reconciled once again. This is where some bookkeepers take shortcuts. Occasionally, for miniscule dollar amounts, a slight discrepency might work out. But usually, it leaves your financials inaccurate and can have a compounding effect that leads to bigger problems. (Cash registers, especially at restaurants, are the exception to this rule, which regularly have small discrepancies).
In my experience, it is a very rare exception that we would leave even a small discrepancy in your books and even then, it is only done with full disclosure to the client, usually due to extenuating circumstances (again, restaurants & high-volume cash businesses are the exception this rule, on a small scale). In fact, these small discrepancies are often where the bookkeeper helps to unearth bigger problems within your company (including gross mismanagement, or even theft, by employees). Detecting big problems often originates in very small mismatches in the numbers, which is just one reason to keep the accounting tidy.
If your previous bookkeeper left you one of these messes, we can discuss the best options for getting your books functional again so you can resume making smart decisions for your business or personal finances.
Schedule a 15-min FREE consult
if you want to hear more!
Anatomy of Equalizer Bookkeeping's Services
Step 1: Set up your FREE15-minute consult
If we think we might be a good match, then:
Step 2: Set up second call to deep-dive into your books and develop a plan (first hour is also FREE). By video call or in person.
Step 3: I draft service agreement & set rates, then send to you for approval.
Step 4: Onboarding: you give read-only access to bank accounts. Then establish communication, timeliness & other expectations.
For Budgeting & Profit-Taking
Consulation Services
DIY: Read Profit First! yourself. Then, do it yourself. You don't actually need me, and you don't even have to read the whole book. Really.
but if you would prefer support, then:
Step 1: Together we look at a quick snapshot and organization of your existing bank accounts, discuss a brief rundown of the philosophy and basic tenets, and then I give a bit of homework (including skimming the book, Profit First!, which my system is inspired by, though you don't have to, even though you probably should, but no pressure).
Step 2: Setup your twice-monthly, self-payment routine: decide self payment percentages, co-create excel-type spreadsheet to make needed calculations, set calendar for recurring (twice-monthly) payments.
Step 3: Monitor the process in follow up meetings, tweak the percentages, assess progress so far.
Step 4: Do happy dance as profits start to accumulate*, slowly at first, then increasing over time.
*Even if it is true that you are not making enought to take a profit (yet) the Profit First! system will help you see your financial situation more clearly. Most small business owners spend money as it shows up in their bank accounts. This stressful, impulse-based system does not help make rational assessments of financial health. Does this sound familiar?
In my experience, most small businesses do not have a method to make disciplined, thoughtful financial assessments. I know because I've been there. Conversely, the Profit First! system provides:
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a more realistic look at your profitability
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a disciplined structure to organize business funds for most small businesses
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usually finds profits you did not know you had.
Once you become profitable, having this system in place will accelerate your financial goals.