About 911 Bookkeepers — The Founder Story

 

I Have Done the Work You Do

Before I ever looked at a balance sheet for an HVAC company, I was on the equipment side of one.

I spent years in the trades before I came to bookkeeping. I know what it feels like to be in a crawl space in August in South Louisiana. I know what a 12-call day looks like, what an emergency refrigerant run costs, and what it means when a truck goes down mid-season and you have to decide between fixing it today and making payroll on Friday. That experience is not on my wall as a certificate. It is in how I think about your business.

I am also a licensed paramedic. I work in EMS communications for East Baton Rouge Parish alongside running this firm. That is where the name comes from — 911 Bookkeepers. Not because it is a clever play on words, but because the mentality I bring to this work is the same mentality I bring to emergency dispatch: assess the situation fast, stabilize what is broken, and build a plan that actually holds up under pressure.

Why I Started This Firm

I have seen what happens when a good trades contractor does not have clean financial visibility. Not just the tax stress, though that is real. The bigger problem is the decisions that get made without the right information.

An HVAC owner takes on a second truck because business feels good in July. By October the cash is thin and the debt payment is still due every month. He took that truck because he felt profitable — not because he knew he was profitable. Those two things are not the same, and the difference between them is a monthly financial picture that actually reflects what is happening in the business.

The bookkeeping options available to most trades contractors fall into two categories. They can hire a general-purpose bookkeeper who does not understand seasonal cash flow, job costing, or how HVAC revenue actually moves through the year. Or they can use one of the large payroll and accounting platforms designed for retail businesses and try to force their trades operation into a template that doesn't fit.

I built 911 Bookkeepers to be the third option. A firm that speaks your language because I came from your industry, built around a platform (Xero) that actually works for service businesses, and focused entirely on trades contractors.

What Makes This Different

Most bookkeepers will reconcile your accounts and file what the CPA needs. That is the minimum.

What I do is build a financial picture of your business that you can actually use to run it. Monthly P&L by service type. Job costing that shows you which jobs are profitable and which ones are eating margin. A 90-day cash flow projection updated every month so you always know where you stand going into the slow season or hurricane season or whatever comes next.

I work exclusively in Xero. I pair it with Google Looker Studio so clients have a dashboard they can check at any point without having to log into accounting software or read a spreadsheet. The numbers are clear, the picture is current, and you know what it means.

I work with HVAC contractors, plumbers, electricians, and general contractors. I also work with chiropractic practices. What they have in common is that they are owner-operated businesses doing real work, and they deserve financial infrastructure that is built for how they actually operate.

The Background, in Plain Terms

I grew up in Wisconsin in a family that owned a business. I understand what it means to work in a company where the owner is also the one driving the truck, answering the phone, and signing the checks. I understand the pressure of making payroll when you are the one making it. That context shapes how I approach this work.

I came to Louisiana and built a career that has run parallel tracks — emergency services on one side, trades experience on the other, and eventually bookkeeping as the place where I could put both together into something useful.

I am a BNI member in Baton Rouge's Central Chapter. I do not operate as a remote-only firm. I work with local businesses and I show up in the community where I live.

The Tagline, and What It Means

"When your books are on fire, you call 911."

That line gets a laugh at networking events. But the reason it lands is because it is true. Most of the contractors who find their way to me are not in a proactive, everything-is-fine situation. They are in a situation where something broke — the bank is asking questions, the CPA found a problem, the slow season hit harder than expected. They need someone who can assess the damage, stabilize the situation, and build something that holds.

That is what I do.

If your books are a mess, that is a starting point, not a disqualifier. If you are just getting started and want to build it right from the beginning, that works too. Either way, the first conversation is just a conversation.

Reach out through the contact page or call directly. No intake forms, no automated sequences. Just a conversation about your business.

911 Bookkeepers LLC | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | 911bookkeepers.com

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