Business helping business

Tami LaPole Edmunds has an artistic eye and an ability to connect with customers, but keeping track of data isn’t her forte.

“You can’t do it all,” said the co-owner of Art in the Alley and Art in the Alley Home. “Focus on your strengths, hire for your weaknesses.”

She turned to Certified Public Accountant Robin Rosenbaum, owner of Rosenbaum Business Consulting LLC, to fill that data need.

“You have to have a professional working for you who you can trust,” Edmunds said. “Robin is that person.”

Rosenbaum Business Consulting, housed in the Badger Building at 1225 Tower Ave., offers consulting, professional coaching and accounting services specializing in QuickBooks for start-up businesses to mid-size companies. Rosenbaum carries an advanced pro-adviser certificate in QuickBooks.

“I think it’s a great software so I focus on that, working with businesses, helping them grow, helping them uncover fraud, cleaning stuff up,” she said. Catering to client demand, the business also provides bookkeeping, payroll and tax services.

“I bring a lot to the table, my experience and education as well as understanding,” said the Superior native. Rosenbaum knows every piece of the business puzzle because she’s lived it.

“I worked in private industry for 15 years; I know what it’s like,” she said. “But I’ve also worked in a CPA firm so I have that structure, that education, the ethics from that.”

Now a small business owner herself, she appreciates how work and home life can become intertwined.

“I understand how hard it is to take care of business and family,” Rosenbaum said.

When Clover Valley Farms owners Jeff Hall and Cindy Hale tried to set up QuickBooks on their own, they “failed abysmally,” Hale said. So they consulted with Rosenbaum.

“We love her; she’s great,” said Hale, of Duluth. The Superior CPA came to their house, sat down at the computer with Hale and walked her through it.

“She’s been super helpful in me being able to do my own books,” Hale said. They still call on Rosenbaum for one or two hours of consulting a year to tune things up. She’s very reasonably priced, Hale said.

Rosenbaum, who has been a CPA for more than 25 years, began hiring part-time staff this summer. Currently, she has three. Hiring a CPA isn’t always financially practical for a small business. But Rosenbaum’s trained staff can provide what they need for less.

“I can’t reach the people I want to reach if I stay by myself,” Rosenbaum said. “And it’s the business owners that I’m really passionate about reaching.”

Although QuickBooks is an inexpensive software, Rosenbaum said, a certified professional can open a business owner’s eyes to everything it can do, like integrating credit card processing, pulling vendor lists for sending letters as well as budgeting and payroll. She especially enjoys when the “light bulb goes off” and owners see their business in a different way.

“I’m giving them information,” she said. “They can make better business decisions now because they have this piece of information.”

Rosenbaum said her goal is to turn on that light bulb for clients, and move on.

“I don’t want to do their work for them,” she said. “If at all possible, I want to train the business owners, I want to train their staff. If they keep their records in-house and keep them timely and accurate, they can make better business decisions.”

“You can take your business to the next level,” Edmunds said.

For more information, contact Rosenbaum Business Consulting at 218-348-0112 or email Robin@RosenbaumBusiness.com.

Tags: news, business, superior