The AKOR Services Difference

The AKOR Services Difference

When you start looking for someone to help with your business finances, the search usually leads to a few common titles: “Bookkeeper,” “Accountant,” or “CPA.” Most people assume these roles are interchangeable or that they all offer the same basic service: crunching numbers and handing you a report at the end of the month.

But if you’ve been in business for more than five minutes, you know that numbers don’t exist in a vacuum. Your ledger is a reflection of your marketing, your sales, your operations, and your vendor relationships.

That’s where the “AKOR Services Difference” comes in.

I’m Allen Beck, and when I started AKOR Services, I didn’t want to be just another line item on your expense sheet. I wanted to be a partner. I bring a background to the table that is fundamentally different from any other Bookkeeper, CPA or Accountant. I’ve sat in the high-pressure seats of multi-million dollar corporations and navigated the complex waters of government contracting.

I don’t just record what happened; I understand why it happened and where it might lead you next. Perhaps most importantly, I don’t simply record “historical” number and report on them. I bring my background in business to the table to help you use those historical numbers, combined to up to date numbers, to help you spot trends and opportunities to look forward and provide you with useful tools to help you make your informed decisions in a better manner.

A Background Built in the Trenches

A lot of bookkeepers go through a certification course and start taking clients. There is nothing wrong with that, but there is no substitute for decades of “boots on the ground” experience.

Before I was helping small business owners find their footing, I spent 17 years as an integral part of the accounting department for a multi-million dollar hospitality company. If you know anything about the hospitality industry, you know it is high-volume, high-stress, and requires extreme attention to detail. Every penny counts when you’re dealing with food costs, labor margins, and thousands of daily transactions.

But I didn’t stop at accounting. My career path took me into the heart of operations and procurement:

Director of Purchasing: I served in this role for both a multi-million dollar company and a Fortune 500 company.
Government “GT” Projects: I have worked on multi-million dollar government projects (if you know… you know). The level of compliance and reporting required for these is staggering.
General Manager: I’ve run a multi-million dollar company. I know what it’s like to stay up late worrying about payroll or how to scale without breaking the bank.
Marketing & Sales: I’ve been a Marketing Manager and a Sales Professional. I understand the “top of the funnel” just as well as the “bottom line.”

Why My “Old Jobs” Matter to Your “New Growth”

You might be wondering, “Allen, that’s a great resume, but what does a Director of Purchasing background have to do with my monthly bank reconciliation?”

The answer is: Everything.

When I look at your books, I’m not just looking for a balanced equation. Because of my background in purchasing, I can spot when a vendor is slowly creeping their prices up on you. Because of my time in marketing, I can see when your ad spend isn’t correlating with your revenue growth. Because I’ve been a General Manager, I understand that sometimes the “technically correct” accounting move isn’t the best “business move” for your specific culture or goals.

I see the trends. I see the emerging opportunities. I see the red flags that a traditional bookkeeper: who only looks at the “what”: might miss because they don’t understand the “how” of running a business.

I have assisted many small businesses navigate exponential growth and the challenges that come along with it. I believe in controlled growth.

The Tools of the Trade

While I lean heavily on my experience, I am also a firm believer in using the right tools for the job. It’s like being a mechanic; you might have the intuition to know what’s wrong with the engine, but you still need the right wrench to fix it.

I am a Certified Bookkeeper and a QuickBooks Pro Advisor. QuickBooks is the industry standard for a reason, and it’s the primary platform I use to help my clients gain clarity. However, at AKOR Services, we aren’t “brand snobs.” We support the platforms that make the most sense for your specific workflow.

QuickBooks: Our primary focus for most small to mid-sized businesses. It provides a well-rounded suite of tools to help us work together.
Odoo Accounting: I am specifically trained on Odoo, which is part of a much larger, powerful suite of business applications (ERP). If your business is outgrowing basic software, Odoo is a game-changer.
Xero: We are also fully trained and capable in Xero for those who prefer that ecosystem.

Standing Shoulder-to-Shoulder With You

I want to be very clear about one thing: I am not an “Accountant” or a “CPA.” In full disclosure, I don’t need to be, and quite frankly, for the day-to-day success of your business, you probably don’t need me to be either. I don’t give financial advice, but I certainly can help you spot trends and opportunities to act on. My real job is to help you is to keep you organized and informed and make it easy for you to work with the proper “specialists” when needed. I am your financial watchdog partner.

Think of it with this analogy: Your CPA is your specialist surgeon. You see them once or twice a year for the big stuff: tax strategy, long-term audits, and high-level structural advice. I am your primary care physician and your health coach rolled into one. I’m with you every week, making sure the daily habits of your business are healthy. Your payroll and tax strategists are the specialists with specific skills in compliance and their field to make sure your specific needs are well-cared-for and you don’t have any blind spots. We work with all of those specialists seamlessly. It’s like in woodworking or being a mechanic. It’s critical that you use the right tools for the job. To complete the analogy, you wouldn’t use the highly-paid surgeon to care for your flu symptoms when your PCP doctor handles your routine care. It’s not worthy of their time or your money. Similarly, your PCP probably wouldn’t perform cancer care or open heart surgery on you. They would defer that care to a specialist. The right tools for the right job! It’s the same for your finances.

I work seamlessly with CPAs, Accountants, Tax specialists and Payroll specialists. In fact, many of my “friends and partners” are CPAs who love working with me because I hand them clean, organized, and accurate books at tax time. It makes their job easier and saves you money in hourly fees.

I don’t offer formal financial advice, but I am your partner in growth. If I see a trend emerging in your industry or a specific opportunity in your local market, I’m going to point it out. We’ll sit down and look at the data together. I’m standing shoulder-to-shoulder with you in the trenches.

A “Business Services” Powerhouse

I quietly market AKOR Services as a “Business Services” company because bookkeeping is just the beginning of how I can help. Because of my background in business, marketing, sales, printing, promotional products, purchasing and inventory control, we offer a level of support you simply won’t find at a bookkeeping firm or any other similar business. We have no equal in these areas. We offer a level of well-rounded business experience that just can’t be found.

Just try and find a bookkeeper, accountant or CPA, fresh out of training (or college) that can bring to the table what we do. You won’t be able to do it. We are a hybrid business, and we are affordable in the right kind of ways. We are the perfect combination of capabilities and qualities to be your partner without having to pay a full-time salary, benefits, provide an office, computer and all the other tools for.

Need promotional products? Need to understand the costs of a massive printing run? Need graphics support, research, copy writing, design work, or even high-quality photography to represent your brand? I have been there, done that, and I can consult with you to make sure those investments are actually driving growth, not just draining your bank account. Whether I do the work on simply consult with you, together, we will get the job done.

Many of the companies I’ve consulted with over the years have seen exponential growth because they had someone in their corner who understood both the “art” and the “science” of business.

Let’s Start a Partnership

I know it can be scary to let someone into the “back room” of your business. You’ve worked hard for every dollar, and you want to make sure the person looking at your numbers cares about them as much as you do.

I put my heart and soul into my client relationships. Your success is my success. I offer flexibility: we can work together for as long as it makes sense, and we tailor every service to your specific needs. No cookie-cutter packages, no “one-size-fits-all” mentalities.

If you are a shrewd business person looking for more than just a data-entry clerk, let’s talk. Whether you need a complete bookkeeping overhaul or a partner to help you navigate your next stage of growth, I’m ready to step in.

Let’s begin with a phone call. We can talk about where you are, where you want to go, and how we can get there together.

AKOR Services
Allen Beck, Owner/Operator
Phone: (360) 334-3373
Email: Allen@akorservices.com
Website: https://akorservices.com

Business Hours:
Monday – Friday: 9 AM – 6 PM