Yesterday, startup company Zirtual shuttered its doors unexpectedly. With hundreds (thousands?) of business clients on their roster, they severed the ties between their virtual assistant support and their clients without even a hint of notice. If you were a client of theirs or were simply considering outsourcing work to a virtual service, this may have you a bit unnerved. However, we would like to set the record straight on this one: AccountingDepartment.com’s virtual accounting services are nothing like Zirtual. And here’s why:
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We Are Not A Startup
Sure, we like to say we operate like a startup. A lean, agile startup with passion and energy to build the very best accounting services company in the world. But we aren’t a fly-by-night startup and we don’t operate like one. We have not taken any funding or investment capital and are entirely reliant on our revenue. We have scaled slowly and methodically, adding clients only as we have the resources to support their needs.
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We Have Processes and Procedures For Everything
Wondering where the stability is in virtual services? You need to look behind the curtain. You are welcome to step behind our curtain at any time but we’ll cut to the chase and just tell you what you’ll find. You will find a process for everything. Documented, step-by-step procedures for every accounting task and redundancies and safety measures in place to back up staff and client needs. This extends to our servers, data security and information retention practices as well.
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We Are Scaling Responsibly
While Zirtual hasn’t made it clear why they shut their doors, there are rumors that they scaled too quickly and disregarded their business model. From grandfathering rates they couldn’t scale to growing too quickly, there are a few red flags we can surmise may be culprits. At AccountingDepartment.com, we add staff slowly and methodically. The same applies to our service offerings. We have postponed adding additional accounting software platforms and even adding specific specialties until we know we can service them at the same quality level as we provide current services.
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We Routinely Assess Pricing and Custom Quote All Clients
We also recognize that pricing models and services need to be reviewed regularly. We cannot simply quote low prices to attract clients because that model is not sustainable. We are careful and diligent about setting fair pricing that supports our clients’ needs and ensures the longevity of our service model. It is important that our clients understand this because it also protects their interests. All clients have fair, appropriate rates and no one is grandfathered into rates we cannot sustain and jeopardizing the company as a whole.
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Our Directors Lead From Inside and By Example
It takes about 2 minutes for anyone who meets Bill Gerber, Dennis Najjar and Kris Merritt to realize just how passionate they are about AccountingDepartment.com. The best part is every client meets them first—we don’t have a hierarchy here that puts the co-founder/director team behind the scenes in the C-level suite or at arms length from the average client. This hands-on approach to managing and developing our company directly supports the long-term view they have on growing a company brick-by-brick, client-by-client. Our staff naturally follows their positive leadership and the entire team reflects the company values and mission that drives our work. Shutting down over night simply couldn’t happen in our “virtual”, but all very real, world.
Would you like to take a peek behind our curtain and see what we're all about? We invite you to come check us out, meet Bill, Dennis and Kris and see why AccountingDepartment.com is a company you can rely on.
