Your Outsourced Accounting Department

Clarity, calm, and decision-ready numbers for women-owned service businesses.

You didn’t start a business to wrestle with bookkeeping. You started it to do great work, make great money, and live well. Your Accounting Department brings you clean books, clear insights, and a partner who turns numbers into confident decisions.

Then we take it one step farther and invite you to join a cohort. Wait! What?

Yup. You get what you expect from an outsourced accounting department, including personalized reporting and mentoring time. You’re also part of a cohort of other amazing women business owners like you.

Because “If more information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.” – Derek Sivers

You’ll meet once a month within your cohort to keep each other moving forward.

As a group we’ll meet once a month for a Q&A session so you’re never stuck. Plus we’ll meet once a month for a knowledge transfer session. It could be a lesson, a fireside chat or a presentation.

You’re not on your own anymore and you’re increasing your abilities one month at a time.

Who this is for

Women-owned, service-based businesses past the start-up stage who want accurate books, simple reports that matter, and strategic guidance without hiring a full internal finance team.

How we work (what every client gets)

Step 1 — Set up and Chart Smart:
We set up your books in the appropriate accounting program. We rebuild your Chart of Accounts so your books reflect your business (not a software template). We also scan your workflows and tech stack to close gaps and reduce duplication. This is your foundation.

Step 2 — Monthly rhythm:

  • Bookkeeping done right and on time
  • GST/HST filed
  • Tailored monthly reports tied to your goals
  • Light audits on key accounts, budget vs. actual, and cash-flow watch

Step 3 — Insights → actions:
We translate what the numbers are saying into clear next steps such as pricing tweaks, spend adjustments, capacity planning, or simplification.

Note: We partner for payroll and income taxes. We do handle GST/HST.

Choose your level of support

Momentum (Clarity) — $500/month

For owners who want tools and habits that make numbers useful every month.

  • Bookkeeping Done
  • Oversight of your numbers
  • Proactive monthly insight report: what’s working, what’s leaking, what to adjust
  • Monthly Q&A/mentoring call
  • Monthly group training or fireside talk just for us
  • Every Quarter we run Financial Clarity Map Group sessions: together we build you a custom dashboard showing the 3–5 metrics that matter for your business. You create a personalized Monthly Money Ritual you can run in 30–45 minutes.
  • Annual strategy group working sessions (pricing, spend, capacity)

Best for businesses ready to move from “numbers exist” to “numbers drive decisions.”

Executive (Strategy) — $1,500/month

For owners who want a strategic finance partner and premium guidance.
Everything in Momentum, plus:

  • Numbers Deep Dive Day (included once per year): a full-day analysis of margins, trends, cash, and opportunity—leaving you with a 6–12 month action plan ($2,500 value)
  • Ongoing 1:1 strategic support (prioritized access)
  • Forecasts and simple what-if models for key decisions
  • Quarterly board-style review deck you can share with partners/lenders
  • Operator-level improvements to workflows and the tech stack

Best for business owners looking for a financial partner while you‘re making bigger moves like hiring, pricing shifts, productized services, or scale.

Why clients choose Frances

I’m Frances Schagen—serial entrepreneur, former founder of a 15-year bookkeeping firm, and your “warm-hug CFO.” I’ve run and supported 100s of service businesses. I make finance feel doable, keep your numbers honest, and translate them into moves that actually help you work less and profit more.

What’s included vs. add-ons

  • Included for every Accounting Department client: Chart Smart, set up and onboarding for a one-time $500 fee*.
  • Included in Momentum: Financial Clarity Map + Monthly Money Ritual group sessions every quarter
  • Included annually in Executive: Financial Clarity Map + Monthly Money Ritual and Numbers Deep Dive Day
  • Available to non-clients as stand-alone services:
    • Chart Smart (foundation session)
    • Financial Clarity Map — $1,200
    • Numbers Deep Dive Day — $2,500
      See Beyond the Books for stand-alone bookings.

FAQs

Do I have to do Chart Smart if my books are “fine”?
Yes—foundation first. It ensures your reports tell the truth about your business, which is what makes every insight reliable.

What software do you work with?
Modern cloud accounting and common app stacks. If there’s a better, simpler way to get the data you need, we’ll recommend it.

Do you do payroll or income taxes?
We partner for payroll and income taxes because other people do it better and more efficiently than we can. We oversee the process. We do handle GST/HST.

How do we start?
We begin with Chart Smart, set up and onboarding. From there, we settle into your monthly rhythm.

*Why is there a setup fee?
We want to make sure your books are set up properly, and that all your tech is flowing smoothly. It’s how we can keep our monthly fees so low while offering so much value.

If your books are behind or your tech stack is overly messy, we may have to charge you more in that one time fee to get you to a great place. We will assess your situation and let you know before we start.

Ready for clarity?

Prefer a one-off? Visit Beyond the Books to book stand-alone services without a monthly package.