AC T3 Bookkeeping

T3 Bookkeeping adds A2X string to bookkeeping bow

Digital tools save Trinity Scott – and her clients – time

Like many bookkeepers, Trinity Scott’s journey started with a degree in accounting. But after graduating from college, she found the idea of 60-hour weeks working for a big corporate not all that appealing. Her husband was in the military, and after his stint as a submariner in the Navy, the happy couple decided to start a family. Some years – and four kids – later, Trinity was ready for a new challenge.

She applied for a virtual assistant’s position – which she didn’t get. But it’s because of this job application that she discovered Xero. She quickly became a Xero Certified Advisor – and T3 Bookkeeping was born.

T3 Bookkeeping has been in business for just under five years and provides digital bookkeeping services and Xero training to clients throughout the US. For Trinity, it’s the perfect set-up – she can financially contribute to her family and still be a stay-at-home Mom.

It’s when Trinity took on her first e-commerce client that she discovered A2X – and it has become one of her most valuable digital tools.

Reconciliation by hand an arduous task

Most people discover A2X through a friend, colleague or searching Google, but Trinity met A2X co-founder and head of engineering Ashley Schroder at a Xero event in the US. She’d recently started working with her first e-commerce client.

“As part of their ongoing bookkeeping, I was doing their Shopify reconciliations by hand – and it was taking me hours to do it,” Trinity explains.

When her client decided to take over their bookkeeping – “The owner was very capable,” Trinity says – she suggested that they continue to use A2X. But at that point, it was an additional cost they couldn’t justify, she says.

It took one month before that same client came back to Trinity and said, “What’s this A2X thing you were talking about?”

A2X simplifies Shopify reconciliations

When Trinity was manually reconciling her clients’ Shopify transactions, she says it would take more time than she’d like to admit.

She estimates it took three or four hours every time she sat down to do reconciliations. It was costing her and her clients time and money. And as someone who has first-hand experience doing the manual nitty-gritty, she knows how arduous the task can be.

Now, when Trinity speaks with a potential Amazon or Shopify client, “right off the bat, it’s A2X or nothing,” she says.

A2X simplifies e-commerce accounting by categorising all transactions into tidy summaries and importing them directly into an accounting system. This automation “drastically reduces the time it takes to reconcile your accounts,” Trinity adds.

Better workflow efficiencies, more confidence

With four children and a business to run, time is Trinity’s most precious resource, so time-saving A2X delivers huge value. The more efficient she is at her job, the better.

“Part of the reason I started my business is so I could spend time with my kids. So, when I close up shop at 3 pm to get them from school, I don’t have to worry about coming back to reconciliation problems,” she says.

But A2X is also empowering Trinity to be a better bookkeeper.

“It makes me more confident being able to take on clients who work with Amazon or Shopify,” she says.

She also knows she can rely on the tool for accurate data reporting – the important stuff her clients need to make critical business decisions.

“All businesses have some monetary motivation. I care about my clients and hope to help them succeed in their businesses – while building mine too.”

Streamline, grow and conquer using digital tools

When Trinity graduated from college, technology was only just beginning to disrupt the world of accounting and bookkeeping. Now, digital tools are essential to the everyday running of T3 Bookkeeping.

Aside from A2X and Xero, Trinity and her clients use all sorts of apps and systems – most of which can be easily integrated with Xero. They use GoCardless and Stripe for facilitating payments, Deputy for scheduling and timesheets, Gusto for Payroll and Vend for point-of-sale (POS). She’s also considering Hubdoc for collecting and managing receipts and invoices.

Some people find working with multiple apps and systems intimidating.

“I’ve learned that a lot of them basically work the same,” Trinity says. “They all have their quirks, but it doesn’t take too much to learn a new app.”

If she’s ever in doubt, she knows A2X’s customer service team is there to help – despite the time difference. And if you need any more convincing, consider this:

“Even if you’ve got the time, doesn’t mean you should spend hours reconciling your accounts when you could be doing other things,” Trinity says. “Go with the tool – it’s totally worth it.”