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Firm of the Future Profile: Totally Booked

Welcome back to our Firm of the Future profile series about thriving firms and consultants who are benefitting from the cloud and QuickBooks® Online Accountant (QBOA) to better serve clients and find new revenue opportunities. In this new article, we spotlight Kelly Gonsalves at Totally Booked.


Shauna Maher: Tell us about your firm.

Kelly Gonsalves: My firm, Totally Booked, is a Bookkeeping and Accounting Services firm based in Queens, NY.

SM: How long have you been using QuickBooks Online Accountant?

KG: I have been using QuickBooks Online Accountant since I passed my QuickBooks® Online (QBO) certification test in February 2016.

SM: What convinced you to make the move to QuickBooks Online Accountant?

KG: I started out using QuickBooks Desktop to manage my firm, but as I started to take on more QBO clients I decided it made more sense if I was using something similar to what my clients were using. One big factor for me was the ability to set up recurring sales receipts. When I take on a new client as part of my contract with them I set up a recurring sales receipt so that my firm is paid on the first of each month or every Monday.

SM: What are your goals for your practice this year?

KG: This year we are looking to firm up our onboarding process, as well as decide on the best practice management program for us. Work within QBOA is looking pretty great right now!

SM: What’s your favorite away-from-the-office place to get work done?

KG: I definitely favor co-working spaces. I’ll get a day pass and make sure to wear a QuickBooks branded tee while I’m there so that the small businesses in the space know I’m a QuickBooks expert!

SM: Where’s the craziest place you’ve done work for a client?

KG: Once while standing in line at Six Flags I had a client that urgently needed their P&L . . . I was able to send it to them from my cell phone.

SM: What’s your number one time savings tip?



KG: Hmm . . . I’d have to say that, in general, utilizing apps has saved me a lot of time. Receipt Bank lets me match the bank feed to receipts my clients have already entered. Veem has enabled me to send international transfers in seconds. Within my own firm, QuickBooks Time has saved me time and money when paying my contractors – so it’s difficult to pinpoint one app in particular. Oh, and I recently signed up for CloudRunner; having one single secure sign-on for all my apps and QBO has helped save me time!

SM: When you’re not working, what’s your favorite way to spend your time?

KG: Away from the city! I like to head upstate as often as I can just to be surrounded by nature. We’ll go for a hike, or maybe camp out, hang by the lake . . . maybe even rent a pontoon boat. It depends on the season. Thankfully, though, using QBOA now allows me to spend time by the lake – or on it – and work from there if I choose to!

SM: What advice do you have for peers that are still on desktop?

KG: I think that ultimately you have to choose a platform that works best for you, your clients and your firm! Personally, if I were still on Desktop I’d definitely be in a hosted environment so that I have some of the flexibility that QBOA has. For me, being able to create recurring sales receipts that align with my value pricing structure has increased my income, so I can’t imagine going back.


To sign in to your QBOA account (or to sign up!), click here.


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