***First posted on Tanya’s Bookkeepers Bootcamp Facebook page and Transcribed for our blog
Tanya: Hello Facebook World, Twitter world, whatever world you're watching this from. Tanya Hilts from Cloudbook Business Services and Tanya's Bookkeeper's Bootcamp. Back to you again from CPB Canada Ignite here in Calgary, and I am with the wonderful lovely Trifold ladies right now. So we have Marge, who is yes, the purple one. We have Dianne, who is yes, the green one, and then we have Shelley, who is the blue one.
Shelley: Which isn't really very blue today, sorry.
Dianne: You've got blue eyeshadow on.
Tanya: Yeah, blue eyeshadow and blue in there.
Shelley: Trying to make it.
Tanya: Your pants look like they could be navy. See, you've got the blue, you're still sticking with it.
Dianne: Blue nail polish.
Tanya: I have to say, what I really missed this year was the streaks and the hair. I loved that last time we were together. I loved it and I miss that. So I think you should do that for the next one.
Marge: Ok, I promise.
Tanya: OK. So, for those of you who may not know what Trifold is, or what it's about, first off, shame on you unless you're in the US, that's okay.
Tanya: It is for Canadians right now. I don't know if there's any plan to expand, and I'm getting the evil eye that I don't even ask that. So, what do you want them to know about Trifold, what does Trifold do?
Marge: We are, first and foremost a training company by bookkeepers for bookkeepers. So, we're quite proud of that. The three of us have been bookkeepers for quite some time. We are also certified instructors, and bookkeepers understanding the core of their activities when they're doing the tasks we all do, and understanding what they're doing is definitely a big part of our goal.
Tanya: Absolutely, and I think it's more important in today's world now than ever, because with cloud bookkeeping and cloud accounting, these products that make it so easy for people to try to go in and do their own, there's a lot of people who go out and try to do that. But they don't have a full understanding of what's happening in the back end. And so, that's where you guys are filling that gap in and going in and saying, here's what's happening in the back end.
Dianne: Yeah, well, software training is not bookkeeping training.
Tanya: That's right.
Dianne: It's software training. And making sure that is always kept forefront because frankly, it's really hard. That's what the software companies want it to look like. That anybody can pick up their software and do bookkeeping. And of course, bookkeepers know that that's absolutely not true. So, what Trifold is attempting to do is to take those bookkeepers that have been trained by software, there is unfortunately a lot of them out there. So, we're now saying, no, let us train you in bookkeeping, and then the software is going to look after itself.
Tanya: Absolutely, and I just want to throw out there too, and please don't throw anything at me. I'm not trying to age you wonderful, lovely, young ladies. But combined they have over 100 years of bookkeeping and education, teaching experience. So, there is nobody better in Canada to teach you than these three. Miss Marge here is the brains behind the textbook. She has been writing textbooks for quite some time. So, they are proper course outlines and proper textbooks.
Tanya: You even have an actual book that is out that people can purchase as well, correct?
Marge: I do, yeah. Training has always been a big part of my passion. I'm as much a bookkeeper as I am a trainer in making sure that they understand what they're doing. The advanced course that we've launched this past year has certainly been a collaboration of effort because it's just such a beautiful trio in that our experiences in bookkeeping, our different customers, different things going on in different industries, and whatnot. I think I can safely say that what we're bringing to the students in the course material, is something we're pretty proud of.
Tanya: That's awesome. And I have to say it's really important. I personally have not taken their course. I would have loved the course to have been available in the beginning. I did not go through school for it. I was self-taught, I spent a lot of time looking things up. I did work with a mentor, but I will tell you the one thing that I did not understand because it did not explain properly was the debit credit system. It was not explained properly in any books. It confused me. I obviously get it now, but I was, I think the first person outside the three of them and their spouses who probably knew about Trifold before it was officially announced. I threw all my support behind it. I have put both my team members through both the basic and the advance. And I trained my team opposite, I trained them in software. Here's what we do, here's what you can't do, so they knew what they couldn't do. We had review systems in place so that I could go in and do that.
Tanya: The confidence that has come off of them is absolutely amazing. I have seen changes in them. And both of them I could challenge them back and like, you've taken the course, you should know the answer to this. What do you think it is? And they can talk through and it is absolutely amazing with the confidence and I do believe, and I'm putting one of them on the spot, who's in the room and is probably going to give me evil looks. I do believe both of them are even going to try for their CPB designation this year. One for sure, don't know about the other one, she might try her technician first. But that's essentially what this is attempting to do so that when you've finished the advanced course, you should know enough to be, not necessarily the practical experience, but that will come. But you should know enough to pass your CPB, correct?
Dianne: That's correct. And that's how the course was originally designed, so that they could, in the fundamentals, because we have two courses, fundamentals and then the advanced. And the fundamentals will take them up to them having enough knowledge to write the technician level course, and then after that the advanced course they will have enough knowledge to be able to write the CPB. But of course, they do have to put in their hours and all the other requirements. So, they can't just come out of the course and write the CPB exam all the time. But they're certainly getting all the knowledge to do that. But if I can just back step one little bit, because I do want to bring out what you just talked about. You taught your staff data entry.
Tanya: Yes.
Dianne: And that's what software training does. It gives you a bunch of data entry people out there. And bookkeeping is not about data entry. It's about learning and really understanding what you're doing. And that's what makes the difference between somebody that can just do data entry and somebody that can be a professional bookkeeper. And that's what we're hoping we're helping to produce, are professional bookkeepers.
Tanya: And you absolutely are, because the model that we were under when I taught them to do that, I had to still be involved in every single file. I had checks to do, I had everything else that I had to do. I had to go back and teach them. And yes, both of them came out of your fundamentals course. Both of them passed their technician. They both finished, basically, one after the other finished the other course. So, they haven't challenged the CPB yet. I know it's going to be soon, but yes, they both did that. Now that they have that knowledge and I can see they're doing that, my plan is to step out of the bookkeeping business as much as possible, so they now have the knowledge to take over and do the day-to-day. So, Sandra is now the bookkeeping services manager and is going to manage the team, and she can handle those questions. Some of them that I used to be able to.
Tanya: She and I work closely together so that I'm now only answering the more advanced and she's learning from that as well too. And those are the ones that come with experience. Those aren't the ones that come up every day. So I can say first hand, I have seen the difference. And Leanne who's sitting over there, when she came out of the fundamentals course I think it was, she went and she actually came to me and she said there was something I never would have known before, now I know and I understand. And that was pretty eye-opening to her too.
Dianne: Understanding is the key.
Marge: A lot of the students refer to it as filling in holes or filling in blanks, and that kind of makes our hearts sing because it's part of the bigger picture.
Dianne: And working out puzzles as you always say.
Marge: Working out puzzles. And I mean, the debits and credits thing, Shelley can speak to this probably easiest because she takes them through that section, but, it's core. And it's also, I think one of their biggest struggles initially is getting that down.
Tanya: It is because it's not logical the way that it's explained. You know, if somebody had explained to me, it's like the scales they need to balance. But nowhere in any book that I read, and I spent a lot of time. It wasn't until the person that I mentored said to me, Tanya, look at the trial balance, she says to follow the trial balance. So, that's what I think. Now of course I know the equation. But at that point, I didn't know the equation. I knew it was something I didn't know because my focus was on doing that, not that part. She says to look at the trial balance. That's what's going to tell you. If you want it to go up, you go on the same side. You want it to go down, you move it to the other side.
Dianne: And how many trial balances do they do in the fundamental course?
Marge: A lot.
Shelley: That's like a secret. If I give that up.
Dianne: There's a lot of trial balances.
Shelley: There are a lot of trial balances, yeah. Because I always say that, people that do data entry do a great job of it. I would never argue that they don't, even if they don't have the training. But where they lack experience is when they have an error. And then trying to figure out, they don't even know why it's wrong, never mind how to fix it. And that's what we're trying to do. We're going to show you why there's a problem and how to get through it.
Dianne: And that's what builds confidence.
Tanya: Absolutely and then, of course, all of you that know Dianne and her passion, she actually started CPB Canada, which is still legally known as the Institute of Professional Bookkeepers of Canada. And Dianne was the founder. This was her vision. And it was to take our profession and try to elevate that because we are a profession. And again just to what you said, that point, data entry, you don't need to understand what you're doing with it. But we're not data entry people, and anybody out there who still thinks we are, you come to find one of us, we will set you straight. It's data management and data understanding. You need to understand the data in order to manage it and in order to properly communicate that and actually help our clients.
Dianne: That's right. That's the key. That's absolutely the key to raising us all up, is for all of us to have a level of understanding as to exactly what's going on in the books. And then there's value, then you're passing value to the customer, the business owner, and that's who we serve. That's ultimately why we do this, is to promote small businesses and help them contribute to their dreams and to the economy in reality so, yeah. And we're loving it. We're at a conference right now, but we're running into our students everywhere. So, they're taking it seriously. They're deciding that, yes, this is a profession. And maybe they didn't even know that before, right? But yes, this is a profession. I am going to have a professional certification, and I am going to have a career at this, which is really, that's the dream.
Tanya: It is.
Tanya: So, I'm just going to throw out here and ask a question because I don't know, things pop into my head. So, What would you say to somebody who was talking to you, and trying to debate your course versus a course that they can take online through one of the local colleges? What is the difference that you would say to somebody looking at that?
Dianne: Well, I think Shelley would be perfect to answer this because remember, Shelley had 20 some-odd years teaching at a local college teaching bookkeeping. So, she's now not doing it at the local college. So, she really would have a really good idea.
Shelley: Well, I would say that one of the things that usually happens, and I mean it didn't happen at the college because we were bookkeepers teaching bookkeeping. But I think that's sometimes where you find that the colleges have very qualified instructors that can teach the curriculum, but they're not actually bookkeepers. So, I think half the fun of teaching is telling the story about my client who does these bad things, or this client who does these things are a little bit dicey. And I think that is really what brings it back to... these are real stories. These are real clients. And we all have them. And I think that is what really makes the difference.
Dianne: Absolutely, that hundred years of experience means we've got 100 years of bookkeeping experience.
Tanya: Absolutely, because some colleges could hire somebody with an accounting degree, but if they don't have the practical experience in it, they're coming at it from a different aspect. And for those of us who want to go in it and get that, that will make a difference.
Marge: I was going to say, it's eye-opening for them because they are real-life stories. I mean, our intention isn't to frighten them, but to just, this is how things happen.
Tanya: This Is the real world.
Marge: These are things to be aware of, and then be able to guide them in a situation like that. This is what our response would have been.
Dianne: And this is really going to happen out there. When you start, this is really going to happen. It's not going to be textbook.
Tanya: Absolutely. And I think we're going to go overtime, and that's okay because there are a few more important things to discuss. You also have a follow-up system where your students can still continue to work for you. Let's say you had again somebody who wanted to try to go out on their own but yet still have that mentorship. You still have a continuing program that they can sell access that as well. You don't just say, sorry you're done. Bye.
Dianne: No, we don't leave our students alone. We call them graduates, but they've graduated out of the course only. But we're here for them.
Tanya: Your actual name is Trifold Bookkeeper Advisors.
Dianne: Yes.
Tanya: And so that's a structured program that they can stay on to continue to pay for that support.
Dianne: The guide me stuff. What do we say out there? What you want, any which way you want it.
Marge: What you want, when you need it, at the level you need.
Tanya: And that's available for anybody, not just students who have taken your course. That is available to any bookkeeper out there at any level who needs your help.
Dianne: The other thing we have too Tanya is, when they've come through a course, we have a private alumni group. So, once they've finished a course, they join that Facebook group and we invite them to ask questions. We set up resources for them there.
Tanya: For that continued support. That's awesome.
Marge: Be one of their go-to's.
Dianne: And hopefully get them to be able to build their own go-to's within themselves, right? Margie is always talking about that. The three of us met at a conference, I don't know, 25 years ago or something crazy.
Marge: Well not that long ago.
Dianne: No, really?
Shelley: Yeah, you were just learning to drive, yeah. I was probably like 16.
Dianne: A long, long time ago. And they became my go-tos, right? If I didn't know how to do something, I could call Shelley, I could call Marge. So, that's what we're hoping to do in the alumni group, is to get a bunch of people to know that I can trust this person. I can ask that question and it's going to be private and I'm going to get the answer. And then they have this insurance in the background that Dianne, Marge, and Shelly are watching. So, it is in the private Facebook group. They're not going to ever get the wrong answer. We're going to make sure that. The discussions are going in the right way and the right answer comes out.
Tanya: And I'm actually very glad that you mentioned that because I know you and I have both commented and personally spoke many times where people who are bookkeeping and learning to do it themselves have not found their way through your course yet, they go to the Facebook groups for the answer. No, please don't. Unless somebody is giving you the answer with a link to a qualified government site to back it up, you don't know what information you're getting. Diane and I have both talked and again, both commented on the same, somebody went and said, where can I go to learn to bookkeep, and they were told to go to the QuickBooks Online, that they had a course that you could take. Again, great course it will teach you the software. It won't teach you how to fix it when it goes wrong, or how to even recognize that it's wrong.
Shelley: Yeah, I think it's OK to Google how to cut my bangs, right? But probably not Google how to do bookkeeping. I would agree.
Tanya: Absolutely.
Dianne: And those Facebook groups are fantastic for how do I do something in the software? Because there are lots of people out there that have lots of knowledge on the software they specialize in, you know, QBO, or Sage, whatever the product is, and they can tell you how to do that. But asking questions about compliance, asking questions about, where this belongs? Is it on the balance sheet? Those things should not be asked on Facebook generally, because you're going to get yourself in trouble at some point because they're not always going to be correct.
Tanya: Exactly. So, go to the experts. And if you don't want to take the course, then go in and take there what you need to know when you need to know, because then you know you have that accessible to you. So, before we wrap it up, they are also sponsors of our Win a Bootcamp and our beautiful little puppies that they wanted to hold the puppies themselves. So, we will pass the puppies out. So again, if you don't know already about these.
Marge: We wanted to meet them first.
Tanya: Yes, they wanted to meet the puppies that they're sponsoring. And so, we have on, here again, the little card with the Trifold, with the blue, purple, and green, the hashtags. So, please do tweet, they want to see what happens with the puppies. They wanna watch the puppies grow up, so please do that. I know your puppy likes puzzles as well.
Marge: She does like puzzles. And I would suggest that her name might be Violet. I'm just saying. And they do come with other goodies. Just saying.
Tanya: They do. I haven't looked in, but I do know that there are some special Trifold goodies in there.
Marge: We are all dog lovers, so this is pretty special.
Dianne: Yes, as any one of our students will tell you, my dog Marlo is constantly barking right in the middle of sentences and all kinds of things. So yeah, we all have lots of dogs. Shelley's got the most of all of us. How many dogs?
Shelley: Well, two and a half.
Dianne: Yes, two and a half because he's so tiny. And he's missing a leg.
Shelley: Yeah, so I'm just gonna rip a leg off this puppy so everyone will know that's why.
Dianne: He could be called 3 legged tripod.
Marge: Violet, Tripod, and...
Dianne: I don't know.
Marge: Well you're green. You should be maybe Shamrock or something.
Dianne: Shamrock?
Tanya: Well that's cute.
Dianne: Or just noisy.
Tanya: If you say noisy, somebody out there might not want to take home a noisy puppy.
Dianne: Ohh, yeah.
Marge: Look at you always with the promo.
Tanya: They do not have a booth here at CPB Canada Ignite. If you are here, search them out. This is what I want you to do. Search them out. Do #winabootcamp and, what's the Trifold hashtag we're using? Just #trifold?
Dianne : #Trifold, #bookkeeping, #bookkeeper.
Tanya: So, any of those hashtags but also #winabootcamp, that will get you into the Bootcamp draw. So, if you can get a selfie with one of them individually, that is worth one entry. If you can get a selfie with all three of them, we will give you ten entries.
Shelley: That's fantastic.
Tanya: But you gotta get them together at the same moment. Do that selfie, get those hashtags out there.
Shelley: Thank you so much for letting us meet them.
Tanya: No, thank you. And again, $50 from each of them is being donated to Beagle Freedom Project. So again, if you don't know about that, look it up at bfp.org. So, I've been told several times I need to wrap it up already. So, thank you very much ladies for coming. Thank you for talking with me. Thank you for sponsoring. I'm so happy to see you guys in person. It's just been way too long. And thank you for the training you've done on my team.
Shelley: Yes, you're welcome.
Dianne: You're welcome. Thank you.
Until next time,
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